19 Funding, Grants, Travel, and Professional Development
This chapter covers how the group is funded, how members engage with grants, how we support conference travel, and how we invest in each member’s growth — including protecting against burnout.
19.1 How the group is funded
Funding comes from the PI’s grants and the group’s portfolio of extramural, foundation, society, industry, and institutional support, pursued along the IAP trajectory (seed and trainee support now, building toward R-level and center-scale awards). In keeping with our transparency value, members can learn from our funding work:
- Grants are open intra-group. Members may read grant documents (funded or not) in the shared drive — both to learn how grants are written and to see the group’s vision for the years ahead.
- You will often be asked to contribute a figure, preliminary analysis, or feedback to a grant. This is real training and a credited contribution.
- Purchases or grant charges go through the PI; never commit group funds without approval.
19.1.1 Which entity holds the funds
Funding determines process: the entity that holds an award sets eligibility, spending rules, and reimbursement path (Section 2.2).
- Lynn-administered awards and accounts follow Lynn University procurement, travel, and reimbursement procedures; EBDL members use these for Lynn-funded work.
- RIPLRT / LLC funds (foundation, society, industry, or consulting awards held by the LLC) follow LLC and sponsor terms.
- UPR or external members may also have home-institution funding and travel paths; confirm which applies before incurring costs.
Practical rule: confirm the funding source and its umbrella before you book travel or commit a purchase. Reimbursement runs through the entity that holds the money, and mixing them creates problems that are hard to unwind. When unsure, ask the PI or the named project lead first.
19.2 Engaging with grants as a development activity
Grant-writing is part of the development ladder. Depending on your stage, you may:
- Build or refine a figure or preliminary-results panel.
- Run an analysis that becomes preliminary data.
- Draft a biosketch, specific-aims critique, or mentoring-plan section.
- Help assemble letters, budgets, or data-management/sharing plans.
Mentees pursuing their own paths are encouraged to apply for fellowships and trainee awards (the group actively supports trainee-support applications, per the IAP). We help you find and write them.
19.3 Travel and conferences
We advocate conference travel to present work, network, and stay current.
- Every member presents at least once a year; mentees aim for a regional or (preferably) national conference aligned with their goals.
- Cost should not be a barrier. We actively pursue travel awards, scholarships, and trainee grants so members can attend. Some group funds may be available on request.
- Plan submissions against the shared abstract calendar (AAAAI, AAI, ATS, SOT, ASM, ISES, ASBMB, ABRCMS, and others).
- Confirm authorship before submitting (Chapter 15), and rehearse as a pod.
Exact travel-funding sources, amounts, reimbursement procedures, and institutional travel policies vary and must be confirmed with the PI and the relevant institution for each trip. Apply early for external travel awards regardless.
19.4 Professional development
We invest in members’ growth beyond project deliverables:
- IDP-driven. Development goals live in the Individual Development Plan (Chapter 8) and are revisited each semester.
- Skills. Coding, statistics/ML, scientific writing, presenting, and science communication are all explicitly developed, not assumed.
- Sponsorship. Mentors put members forward for opportunities, awards, and roles (Chapter 8).
- Pathways. We support transitions into graduate, professional, research, data-science, public-health, and leadership positions — a named IAP goal.
19.5 Wellbeing and sustainable productivity
Productivity is a core value, but so is sustainability. A burned-out scientist is neither healthy nor productive.
- Protect rest and boundaries. We do not glorify overwork. Connected, rested teams do better science in fewer hours.
- Plan the semester. Use a semester plan and weekly writing/analysis blocks (aligned with the IAP cadence) so work is steady rather than frantic.
- Watch for burnout — in yourself and teammates — and raise it early. Naming overload is professionalism, not weakness.
- Say no strategically. Not every opportunity advances the through-line. Declining or deferring low-alignment requests protects time for high-value work; the PI and project leads help you triage.
- Use available support. Institutional wellbeing resources, counseling, and accommodations exist; using them is encouraged, not stigmatized.
The best protection against overwork is alignment: spend your energy on what advances a SMART goal and the through-line, and let the rest go to the backlog. If you’re overwhelmed, that’s a planning conversation to have early with your mentor — not a failing to hide.