Dossey, indeed you do have a life. But with no spouse and no kids, you have no basis for understanding what those who do have kids face in managing to work while managing their families. It is a great loss to science for them to drop out of work, or to have to miss work in order to care for children.
This isn't money to hire a baby sitter. It is to allow the working parent a little time off in the early stages of parenthood, while keeping the NSF project he or she has committed to going by hiring a temporary replacement. Not having children, you would not face that concern, and thus would not have that expense. This is sort of like a lot of things going on in society right now. You oppose something that has no effect on you. In Europe, new parents get extended leave. I do not know how that is worked out for ongoing projects. Here, I do know that new parents working at enlightened institutions that provide family leave have found that even with taking the leave, they still had to work in order to keep a project going. They just didn't get paid, and they still had the problems of providing for their family to be cared for. ---- "Aaron T. Dossey" <bugoc...@gmail.com> wrote: > Sounds like institutionalized discrimination against unmarried people > without kids to me. But with nepotism (spousal hires, etc.) running > rampant in the ivory tower, I don't expect better in academia. > > I wonder if I can get some funding to hire a maid or help with various > things as such. I am not married and have no kids, but society forgets > that people like me still have a LIFE. Some help with laundry and > cleaning, maybe some errands now and then, would help me a lot to > balance my LIFE and WORK. > > I don't like the direction this NSF thing is going at all. > > > > On 7/3/2013 11:01 PM, David Inouye wrote: > > <http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13109/nsf13109.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click>http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13109/nsf13109.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click > > > > > > > > > > Date: July 2, 2013 > > > > > > BACKGROUND > > > > Instituted in 2012, NSF's Career-Life Balance (CLB) Initiative is an > > ambitious, ten-year initiative that will build on the best of > > family-friendly practices among individual NSF programs to expand them > > to activities NSF-wide. This agency-level approach will help attract, > > retain, and advance graduate students, postdoctoral students, and > > early-career researchers in STEM fields. This effort is designed to > > help reduce the rate at which women depart from the STEM workforce. > > Further information on the CLB initiative may be found on the > > Foundation's website. > > > > The primary emphasis of NSF's CLB initiative in FY 2012 was focused on > > opportunities such as dependent-care issues (child birth/adoption and > > elder care). These issues initially were addressed through NSF's > > Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program, where career-life > > balance opportunities can help retain a significant fraction of early > > career STEM talent. In FY 2013, the Foundation intends to further > > integrate CLB opportunities through other programs such as the > > Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) and postdoctoral > > fellowship programs, as well as expand opportunities such as dual > > career-hiring through the Increasing the Participation and Advancement > > of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers (ADVANCE) > > program. Each of these opportunities will be described and implemented > > separately. > > > > > > PURPOSE > > > > The purpose of this DCL is to announce a gender neutral supplemental > > funding opportunity for NSF research awardees that support > > postdoctoral investigators. NSF recognizes that dependent care > > responsibilities and other family considerations pose unique > > challenges for postdoctoral researchers. > > > > Principal Investigators (PIs) of research awards are invited to submit > > supplemental funding requests to support additional personnel (e.g., > > research technicians or equivalent) to sustain research while the > > postdoctoral researcher is on family leave. These requests may include > > funding for up to 3 months of salary support, for a maximum of $12,000 > > in salary compensation. The fringe benefits and associated indirect > > costs may be in addition to the salary payment and therefore, the > > total supplemental funding request may exceed $12,000. > > > > Special instructions for use by PIs and Sponsored Projects Offices in > > preparation and submission of postdoctoral investigators-Life Balance > > Supplemental Funding Requests are included as an attachment (see > > below) to this DCL. > > > > Additional questions should be directed to the cognizant NSF program > > director identified in the award notice. > > > > Sincerely, > > > > Wanda E. Ward > > Office Head > > Office of International & Integrative Activities > > > ATD of ATB and ISI > -- > Aaron T. Dossey, Ph.D. > Biochemistry and Molecular Biology > Founder/Owner: All Things Bugs > Capitalizing on Low-Crawling Fruit from Insect-Based Innovation > http://allthingsbugs.com/about/people/ > http://www.facebook.com/Allthingsbugs > https://www.facebook.com/InvertebrateStudiesInstitute > 1-352-281-3643 -- David McNeely
