Dealing with rejections

Remember that large proposal I worked on last year? It got rejected – and was one of 43 proposals submitted for the same call which would fund only one project.

So yes, of course it is not good news. Of course I felt a bit sad and deflated.

Yet, at the same time, I know that these calls are competitive. I know that I learned a lot from this, and that this experience is a benefit long-term.

After wallowing a bit in self-pity, I thought of how to move forward. I looked for other relevant calls, called the consortium for a meeting, and armed a battle plan. Because this time we did not get funded, but we can always learn from the experience, improve, and move forward again.

How do you deal with rejections of proposals or papers?