Episode 128 - Listen To This If Your Paper or Grant Just Got Rejected

Transcript

Jen (00:00:11)

Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of Listen to This If… from Jen and Michael, the team at Let's Talk SciComm. And in these little episodes, we take just one problem that you might be trying to manage at the moment and we give you our top tips.

So Michael, asking for a friend, what do you do if your paper or grant just got rejected? Not that you know anything about that at all.

Michael (00:00:37)

I... It's very hard for us to give advice on that because umm, what's that? Yeah.

Jen (00:00:44)

If only we knew, right?

Michael (00:00:46)

Oh, as I know. The struggle is real. I mean just, yeah, everyone knows that feeling, right? Of like waiting for the email, opening it, scanning it for the word unsuccessful, and then just throwing your coffee in the air.

Jen (00:00:58)

Is that what you do? Does that explain all those stains?

Michael (00:01:03)

Yeah, yeah.

Jen (00:01:04)

I didn't realise that was your habit.

Michael (00:01:05)

That was my top tip. Yeah, just fling your coffee in the air. Yeah.

Jen (00:01:09)

Have a tantrum.

Michael (00:01:10)

Yeah.

Jen (00:01:10)

Throw things.

Michael (00:01:11)

It's really hard to say because you know, I think a lot of the advice, it's not necessarily a good consolation for the fact that it's just, you know, it's just a crap situation really. Like funding rates are so low. There's just not enough money to go around or not enough. You know, there's too many applications, I guess.

So it's really, it's not, it's not necessarily a reflection on you know, the quality of your work. I mean, to some degree it is, but the truth is there are so many outstanding and highly excellent applications that are just not funded or just not considered.

I think my main piece of advice is don't let it stop you. Don't let it stop you from trying again, perhaps with a different funding scheme or you know, with some slightly tweaked ideas. I mean, you've put in so much effort into writing these ideas down and putting your best case forward that to make the most out of that effort, I think you really have to try multiple times and just understand that you know, rejection and failure is going to be a normal part of the process.

But yeah, don't let it stop you. You know, don't just apply for something once. And if you get rejected, you know, [don't] be just say, "I'm quitting" or "I'm never doing it again". You have to try multiple times. And the first time is always the hardest. And then if you're just kind of reformulating or tweaking an idea, it's a bit easier the second time around.

Jen (00:02:56)

Yeah, I think that's all such golden advice Michael. Because the reality is that rejection and failure, they are normal parts of the cycle that we all operate in. They are no judgment of your worth as a human being or as a scientist. You just have to expect that there's going to be lots of rejection. That's just how it is. And I think your advice about [recognising] that you've put in a lot of work and that work has been valuable and try again, I think that's fantastic advice.

I guess all I can add to that is allow yourself to feel really frustrated or upset for a little while. I think venting is really important. And you know, make sure you debrief with colleagues, a mentor, a friend, a partner, whoever it is that can just allow you to feel just glum for a bit. Because I think this sort of pressure that you should just get over it and keep going because it's normal, you're allowed to feel crap for a while. And yes, it is really important to pull your socks up and have another go for sure. But it's fine to feel miserable for a bit, to vent, to be frustrated, to be all of those things.

And then beyond that, I think I would just... If you're fortunate enough to have got some feedback with a rejection, which doesn't always happen. But if you have got some feedback, get yourself into a place that you are mentally strong enough that you can see what useful stuff you can get out of that feedback.

Because of course, your initial response is just, I don't like whoever it was who judged this because they gave me a big fat no. I'm just going to disregard everything because it makes me feel bad about myself. But if you can spin it around to be, Okay well, I wasn't successful this time, but I am going to make sure all that work I put in is useful. So I am going to try again, either with a different journal or a different funding scheme or the same funding scheme in a year's time or whatever it is. What value? You know, what can I extract out of this feedback that I can actually take action on to make it better?

But it can take a bit of time to get to the point that you're ready to be open to that feedback, I think. So in the meantime, feel free to be a little bit miserable because of the feedback.

Michael (00:04:55)

Yeah, it does take time, doesn't it? I think that's really good advice about allowing yourself to vent. And actually thinking about it now, it's probably helpful for other people as well. You know, you don't often hear about all of the failures or rejections. But if you talk about your failure or well, you know, I don't like the word failure. Let's not use that word.

Jen (00:05:19)

A short-term, short-term failure.

Michael (00:05:21)

If you talk openly about that rejection and how it makes you feel, it's probably going to be helpful to other people because they might, you know, get a rejection and then they might be feeling the same thing. But then they say, "that's normal", you know, "happened to Michael".

Jen (00:05:40)

It happened to Jen...

Michael (00:05:39)

It's a normal part of the job. Yeah, happened to Jen.

Michael (00:05:43)

So you'll be doing other people a service I think, by following that advice.

Jen (00:05:44)

Yeah, so...

Jen (00:05:49)

So we are with you. Whichever rejection you are currently feeling all of the feels with, we are here. We see you. We see all your hard work. Feel miserable for a bit. Keep going. Get some feedback. Get some support. Yeah, we think you're great. Just getting a rejection doesn't say anything about how fabulous you are.

Michael (00:06:27)

Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the episode, we'd love you to tell a friend about the podcast or leave us a review. And you can reach out to us on social media.

And we're very excited to announce that we're launching a new newsletter called the ChitChat. Check out the link in the show notes or our posts on Instagram.

And also a big thank you to our production team, Steven Tang and Madeleine Kelly.