Need advice regarding unpleasant research situation

[theproffer]

Hi all,

I am desperately in need of some advice with my current situation. For the last ~2 years I have been working full-time in a clinical laboratory studying esophageal cancer. The research has been truly exciting, and for the most part absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, now things have begun to take a turn for the worse. My PI went down to 25% time last winter, which was fine for me at first because I basically could finish the trials, run the assays, and write up the results independently. Since my PI's "retirement" I have been reporting to one of his/her old grad students who is now a PI on the floor as well. This person for a variety of reasons is not easy to work for. Now, I have basically finished our first project and am currently awaiting the the review of the manuscript. We have also started a new large animal study (~250 animals) which requires weekly injections and upkeep, but only really requires ~10-15 hours a week. During the rest of the time, I have VERY little I can do, and my current supervisor is killing my soul. I have an offer to work in another lab at my same location (different floor and dept) for one year, but I feel bad leaving my retired PI in the lurch here as there would not be someone to finish this ongoing study. I should add that I am currently applying for MD/PhD programs, so the one year position would work perfectly. The last thing I want to do is upset my true boss, I couldn't care less about his/her past grad student. Again my current situation is not really helping me move forward or improve as a researcher and is also stressed to the max in regards to interoffice relations. My questions are as follows; how would you approach this situation? If I move on, how can I inform my true PI that I will be leaving (it has been 10 days since I have gotten a reply to any of my emails or calls) and he/she is out until this September? Is there any way I can move on without my true PI being upset with me? My boss (retired PI) wrote me an amazing letter of rec., and in case of reapplication, I would like to reuse the letter. Appreciate the help!

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[debateg]

It seems like you've decided to leave your old lab, which is probably the best decision. You don't want to be working in a lab when you're miserable simply because you put a bunch of work into it. Lots of grad students try doing that, and they usually end up getting necessarily lengthy PhDs full of misery, kicked out of grad school, dropping out of grad school, or trying to tough it out and eventually switching labs after years once they realize it's futile. Knowing when to move on is a very important lesson, so take this is a learning experience to the vagaries of academia.

Your old PI is not going to withdraw your letter of recommendation.

Simply tell him the truth, somewhat sugarcoated. Something like, "A great new opportunity opened up for me in a new department. I really appreciate all did to help me, but since you retired, I realize that perhaps I too should move to try something different to strengthen my MD/PhD application. We have a manuscript under revision, so I'll be around to help out with that, but I think we should work to transition my current project to someone else."

 

[theproffer]

Thank you for the advice with this. I think you are right, it's all about spinning it for PI.