Was this cheating? I could just about see the competing grant application on the screen across the room. The authors were huddled around the computer, unaware of my presence. I didn’t know any of them personally, even though two of the names were identical to those of other people familiar to me: MS and Kim White. (The third was Karen Something-or-other.)

Their work looked extensive. I asked the woman from the funding body what she thought of this team’s chances of winning the grant. Her reply gave the impression that she thought I shouldn’t even bother making a submission of my own. This was just the incentive I needed to get down to business and prove her wrong.