On August 9, 1927, in New York City, Marvin Lee Minsky was born to Dr. Henry Minsky, an eye surgeon, and Fannie Resier, an active participant in the Zionist movement. At an early age he developed an interest in science, a characteristic that was encouraged at the private schools he attended as a child. Nevertheless, after high school he joined the United States Navy. Following his two years of service, Minsky entered Harvard University, where he pursued a variety of subjects, including psychology, physics, neurophysiology, and mathematics. After graduation in 1950, he transferred to Princeton University to pursue his doctorate in mathematics, and during his first year there he constructed the first neural network simulator. Subsequent to receiving his PhD in 1954, he revisited Harvard, but this time as part of the renowned group of scholars known as the Society of Fellows.

Lord Rayleigh was a British physicist and mathematician who worked in many disciplines including electromagnetics, physical optics, and sound wave theory. The criteria he defined still act as the limits of resolution of a diffraction-limited optical instrument. Rayleigh wrote over 446 scientific papers but is perhaps best known for his discovery of the inert gas argon, which earned him a Nobel Prize.

I originally submitted a proposal to talk about physically constructing our new facility at Miami University. Owen Mills contacted me and asked me to talk about how we got to the point of building a new facility. In their presentations, Debby and Reza both talked about preparing and submitting an equipment proposal. Some key factors they brought out in their presentations were: “institutional commitment,” “broader impacts,” “other opportunities,” and to not simply focus on the quality of the research. These are the areas that I would like to talk about.

Selected postings to the Microscopy Listserver from November 1, 2011 to January 1, 2012. Complete listings and subscription information can be obtained at http://www.microscopy.com. Postings may have been edited to conserve space or for clarity.

My name is Reza Shabhazian-Yassar, and I am currently an assistant professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Michigan Tech. I am a junior faculty member and have gained some experience with MRI NSF proposals. Fortunately, I have been funded in one of these grants, and also I have served as the reviewer in MRI panels. When Debby was talking about the reviewers' comments for the previous proposal, fortunately, I was not among those who provided those kinds of comments. I am going to share a little of my experience. I see a number of young faces and newer junior faculty who may benefit from what I am about to say. When I started at Michigan Tech, I didn't have much experience with proposal writing, so it was very difficult for me to figure out what sort of discussions I should include in my proposal. I read the solicitation and program description, but some of the details you gain by actually writing the proposal. It's something like writing a paper, you just need to practice writing, and you will be good at it. Please note that following my recommendations does not mean that 100 percent of you are going to get funded (I am not a Superman!). Rather, I intend to help you write a more efficient proposal. What I report complements Debby's point of view. Debby mentioned a general overview of the review process. Here, I will give you steps on how proposals are reviewed and how to write a more competitive proposal. Since I will talk about NSF, I will cover the MRI goals. In NIH or other agencies, there may be different goals.

Selected postings to the Microscopy Listserver from September 1, 2011 to October 31, 2011. Complete listings and subscription information can be obtained at http://www.microscopy.com. Postings may have been edited to conserve space or for clarity.

Following is a list of microscopy related meetings and courses. The editors would greatly appreciate input to this list via the electronic submission form under “events/other microscopy events” at the MSA webpage: www.microscopy.org. We will gladly add hypertext links to the notice on the web and insert a listing of the meeting in the next issue.

Selected postings to the Microscopy Listserver from January 1, 2012 to February 29, 2012. Complete listings and subscription information can be obtained at http://www.microscopy.com. Postings may have been edited to conserve space or for clarity.

Selected postings to the Microscopy Listserver from March 1, 2012 to April 30, 2012. Complete listings and subscription information can be obtained at http://www.microscopy.com. Postings may have been edited to conserve space or for clarity.

Our Office of the Vice President for Research has lost so much money investing in real estate that our operations budget has been reduced dramatically. We are looking into alternative means to supplement our revenue stream. Someone suggested taking in outside work. Can you suggest alternatives?

Following is a list of microscopy related meetings and courses. The editors would greatly appreciate input to this list via the electronic submission form under “events/other microscopy events” at the MSA webpage: www.microscopy.org. We will gladly add hypertext links to the notice on the web and insert a listing of the meeting in the next issue.