If you're a K award recipient right now, your inbox probably feels like a minefield of "opportunities" — RFAs, collaboration requests, suggestions from mentors — and every single one feels urgent. Meanwhile, you're toggling between two competing feelings: a defeated, what's-the-point nihilism and a panicky, I'm-running-out-of-time anxiety. In this episode, I talk about why those feelings are coexisting right now, what it costs you when you let panic drive your grant decisions, and how to tell the difference between an opportunity that genuinely deserves your attention and one that just looks fundable on paper. I share four questions to ask yourself before you say yes to the next thing that lands on your desk — so that your decisions come from clarity and direction rather than fear.

Interested in joining the next cohort of K to R Essentials? Join the waitlist at https://sarahdobson.co/k2r

The K-to-R transition asks you to do something that sounds simple but isn't: zoom out from the project you've been working on and start seeing yourself as someone with a research program. That shift is harder than it looks — and it's exactly where Deanne Tibbitts found herself in the final stretch of her K award, while simultaneously navigating a nine-month job search in one of the hardest years academic research has seen in recent memory.

She arrived in K to R Essentials thinking she needed to tackle "a big mountain" of an R01 — and what she got instead was a realization that her net was too broad, that only one of her research directions was actually lighting her up, and that her R01 wasn't an isolated problem to solve but an expression of the ecosystem of her work.

We also get into what it means to see yourself as the most important asset in your research program, and why that reframing matters even more when you're staring down the end of your funding without a job offer in hand.

Interested in joining the next cohort of K to R Essentials? Join the waitlist at https://sarahdobson.co/k2r

The rules you inherited about academic success—churn out more grants, stick to the old playbook, be grateful to be here—can shrink your career. In another of our Greatest Hits episodes, we flip that script with a simple, powerful idea: create the conditions for success by defining success on your terms and designing both grants and career moves from purpose and possibility, not from constraints.

Interested in joining the next cohort of K to R Essentials? Join the waitlist at https://sarahdobson.co/k2r

Feeling pulled into every committee, side project, and “quick favor” while trying to make the K-to-R leap? In another of our greatest hits episodes, we explore one of the most powerful tools you can deploy in your research career.

We start by naming the real friction: early career women are socialized to say yes and keep the peace, even when it derails the work that matters most. Then we get concrete. A well-defined North Star sets standards for what earns a yes, reframes no as integrity, and turns scattered opportunities into a focused path. You’ll hear how we translate values and mission into decision filters you can apply to service requests, collaborations, and grant invites without second-guessing yourself.

Interested in joining the next cohort of K to R Essentials? Join the waitlist at https://sarahdobson.co/k2r

Fear, pressure, and momentum can quietly shape a career you never meant to build. In another of our greatest hits episodes, we take a clear-eyed look at how unconscious choices creep into your career, leading to unintended consequences.

We help you understand the difference between conscious vs unconscious decision making and why it matters for early-stage investigators chasing R01-level funding. From the dangers of track-thinking and the shame of “falling off the path,” to the pitfalls of advice that reflects someone else’s goals, we unpack the hidden drivers that pull your work off course.

Interested in joining the next cohort of K to R Essentials? Join the waitlist at https://sarahdobson.co/k2r

You don’t become a PI after you get funded; you get funded after you start thinking and acting like a PI. In another one of our show's greatest hits, this episode unpacks the crucial mindset shift from mentee to independent leader: focusing on self-trust, clear decision-making, and protecting your research vision from well-intentioned but ultimately misguided advice.

We dig into the hidden forces that keep talented women researchers second-guessing themselves: academic hierarchy that rewards deference, gendered socialization that trains us to please and defer, and a review culture that can make bold ideas feel risky. Rather than vilifying mentorship, we reframe it: the K award is designed as a runway to independence, not a holding pattern. You’ll learn how to spot mentee habits—waiting for permission to submit, leaning on mentors to set direction, or endlessly tweaking aims—and replace them with deliberate practices that move your work forward.

Interested in joining the next cohort of K to R Essentials? Join the waitlist at https://sarahdobson.co/k2r

Ready for a candid look at the K‑to‑R leap no one warns you about? In a replay of our most popular episode of all time, we go straight at the hidden work behind a fundable R01: reshaping priorities, setting boundaries that stick, and building the focus required for mastery. Instead of treating the R01 as a one‑off writing sprint, we reframe it as the natural output of a well‑designed research life—one where your yeses and nos serve your science.

We break down three core shifts. First, the move from mentee to PI means your value pivots from being trainable to leading a coherent program of research. That demands clarity on impact, a long view on trajectory, and the courage to disappoint people when their asks compete with your goals. Second, chasing funding alone backfires; without intentional design, you inherit a career shaped by other people’s priorities. We unpack why focusing only on “grant‑getting” leads to slower timelines, deeper burnout, and scattered effort—and how to choose higher‑quality problems that actually move your work forward. Third, mastery comes from specificity, consistency, and deliberate practice. We connect the dots between protecting deep work time, saying no to low‑leverage percent efforts, and accelerating your learning curve so each R01 iteration gets sharper and faster.

Interested in joining the next cohort of K to R Essentials? Join the waitlist at https://sarahdobson.co/k2r

In a moment when the funding landscape has been unstable, institutions have been unpredictable, and many of you have been carrying more emotional and intellectual weight than ever, it can feel self-indulgent to pause and look back. But this practice isn’t about creating a tidy narrative of the year. It’s about locating yourself again — your values, your choices, your direction — so you can step into the new year with clarity and intention.

Below, you’ll find all of the questions from my long-standing end-of-year reflection practice, along with a new set of prompts that speak directly to the realities of 2025.

Take your time with these. Paste these questions into a fresh document and give yourself an hour or two to really reflect. Let the answers come slowly if they need to.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS — Looking Back

1. What went well this year?
2. What did I do that helped those things go well?
3. What accomplishment or milestone did I not celebrate enough?
4. What didn’t go well this year?
5. What did I learn from what didn’t go well?
6. What else do I need to reflect on so that I can do better going forward?
7. What do I want to remember about this year?
(Think beyond achievements — consider character, values, and how you showed up.)
8. How did I stay true to my values this year?
9. What am I most proud of?

REFLECTION QUESTIONS — 2025-Specific

This year brought its own challenges. These questions are designed to help you integrate what 2025 required of you.

10. What did I hold together this year that no one saw?
11. Which values guided me when external rules or expectations kept changing?
12. When things felt unstable, what choices did I make that I’m proud of?
13. What did I learn about my capacity under pressure?
14. What did I stop tolerating this year?
15. What did this year reveal about what I no longer want for my career?
16. Where did I find steadiness, connection, or meaning — even in small moments?
17. What did I learn about the kind of researcher, colleague, or leader I want to be going forward?
18. What expectations or habits did I let go of — and what space did that open up?
19. Despite everything, what persisted in me?

INTENTION-SETTING QUESTIONS — Looking Ahead

20. What do I want?
(For the next year — or further out.)
21. Who do I need to become to make that possible?
22. What kind of internal or external transformation is required?
23. What lessons or insights from this year do I want to carry forward?
24. What am I most looking forward to in 2026, and why?
25. What am I worried about or dreading, and why?
26. How do I want to show up this coming year — for myself, my loved ones, my colleagues, my community?
27. What makes it easier or harder to show up that way?

BONUS: Optional Closing Prompt

If next December’s version of me could write me a note, what would she thank me for?

Interested in joining the next cohort of K to R Essentials? Join the waitlist at https://sarahdobson.co/k2r