Having spent yesterday writing my Expression of Interest for the University of Nottingham’s Advance Research Fellowship Scheme, I’m abandoning this funding bid after advice from the department I had hoped would support my application. I was told that the key criteria they are looking for are:

• a steller track record at the world’s top universities;
• a considerable list of significant publications, including at least a contract for a major book based on a PhD dissertation; and
• prior experience of a post-doctoral fellowship.

They then said that only after these criteria are met do they consider the intrinsic significance of the research project.

The Dean of Faculty has specified that a published book should be the minimum for a successful candidate, so I’m wasting my time applying. “It is probably not worth re-working the EOI [Expression of Interest] at this stage.”

Well, at least they were honest about my chances and didn’t string me along giving me false hope!

I’m coming to the conclusion that I need to stop applying for jobs, since it has been distracting me from writing my book which, in turn, stops me from getting appointed when I do get shortlisted for interview.

So I’m going to spend the next few months on my various writing projects and hope that enough things are published by the 31 Dec 2013 REF publication submission deadline to make me irresistible to employers.

I have to remind myself to stop getting distracted by applying for jobs.