(posted by Smag-Al)
It's that time of year… RFA time, when the foundation's scientific advisory board, comprised of a select bunch of highly respected scientists, convenes for a two-day meeting to review all the applications for this year's round of grants. It's quite the dazzling, nerdtastic 'melding of the minds'; there's so much brain power in this building right now, the air is almost palpable.
As with other scientific meetings, a spirit of gleeful one-upmanship accompanies this event, as the nerds are let out of their cages (read: universities/labs) and encouraged to intermingle and exchange ideas, but mostly just attempt to prove to each other that whatever obscure research project they've been slaving away on over the past several years has had (or will soon have) some sort of measurable effect on the scientific community at large. Case in point, this discussion I overheard in the elevator this morning, on the likely contenders for this year's Nobel Prize:
Nerd 1: "So, do you think John* will get it this year? That stuff he's been doing with enzyme X is amazing."
Nerd 2: "What about Ben*? I'd say he's definitely in the running."
Nerd 3: "Nah, I mean, Ben does everything, but to win you really need to focus on just one thing… and 'help humanity.'"
[nerdy chuckles.]
Nerd 2: "Ben sure isn't gonna cure cancer anytime soon."
[more nerdy chuckles all around.]
Nerd 1: "John will definitely get it sometime in the next 5 years, but I don't think this is his year."
Nerd 3: "But have you HEARD what his lab's been doing lately?"
And so on and so forth.
As Lydia said when I gave her the recap, it's crazy to think that we're 2 degrees separated from a future Nobel Prize winner.
* Names have been changed; nerds deserve their privacy, too.
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