John Walkup. Emeritus
Texas Tech University
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Faculty Commons Staff
Acquiring research funding is one of the most challenging tasks we face as faculty members. And when you’re untenured, struggling to establish your research credentials and trying to master classroom teaching, it can make you wonder if you’re in the right profession!
I vividly recall my early efforts to obtain research funding. My Ph.D. advisor had stressed the need to publish in order to establish a reputation. My department chairman told me to go visit program managers at the funding agencies to let them know I existed and to learn what areas they were currently funding.
With Lots Of Prayer
With lots of prayer, I made those first trips to Washington, D.C. Some of the program managers were helpful and encouraging. A few made condescending comments, implying that they only funded the top researchers at elite universities, and that it would be an uphill battle to build a research program in my field at a university without a well established research reputation. Those early trips, the resulting proposals my colleagues and I wrote, the follow-up phone calls, and the constant waiting all stretched my dependence on the Lord.
After two tries I was awarded an NSF research initiation grant. I had a good MS student who was willing to develop some of my research ideas while contributing his own and spending long hours on the computer. I also became involved with two colleagues whose experimental abilities complemented my own analytical bent and assisted us in developing the experimental lab we needed for our optical systems research.
Through this process I learned a lot about the need to trust God daily while not giving up. I also learned the truth of the cliché “timing is everything.” Three years after receiving my first grant, one of my colleagues left the university, so I took over supervision of his MS student.
I submitted an NSF education grant proposal to develop a set of optics experiments for engineering undergraduates. I also heard that the Air Force research directorate had just hired a program manager who wanted to develop a program in my specialty. He liked one of our ideas and asked if I could submit a proposal to him within a month. Naturally I said yes! My colleague and I found a way to get that proposal submitted.
God’s Timing Was Perfect
God’s timing was perfect, and we received both the NSF and Air Force grants. That summer my first Ph.D. student arrived, one of the best students I was ever privileged to supervise. We were able to publish eight refereed journal papers based on his Ph.D. research. Those early grants and the graduate students who worked on them played key roles in my obtaining tenure and a promotion to associate professor.
During my career my colleagues and I had many opportunities to experience God’s faithfulness in providing research funding and some outstanding graduate students. Along the way, I was also able to collaborate closely with several outstanding Christian colleagues. These experiences convinced me that if we desire to put Christ first, He will indeed provide our needs—including those associated with the need to find funding for our research.
I shouldn’t conclude without a word about what we do when the funding doesn’t come in. My current ministry experiences with professors reminds me that finding research funding can be very challenging, and clearly follows cycles. I know that over the years I definitely had more proposals rejected than accepted. This can be our lot as academics, whether one is talking research proposals or refereed journal papers. We learn that revising a research proposal or a journal article is really the norm and not cause for despair. If we, as followers of Christ, have confidence that God brought us to where we are, I believe our best response is still one of praying, trusting Him and moving forward until (or unless) He shows me His Plan B.
© 2009 John Walkup