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justmeandmycells

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  • Location
    Boston
  • Application Season
    2015 Fall
  • Program
    Biomedical sciences

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  1. Thanks for your input, guys. @sigaba and @ilovelab, you are right, nowhere does it say that a PI is obligated to mentor their students. In the little communication that I have had with her, however, I did say that I need guidance and mentorship and she agreed. Historically, students in this lab have received great mentorship from her and have gone onto great jobs and endeavors, which is part of the reason I joined the lab in the first place. This is also why I expected her to be around and a mentor. It's not just about the lack of mentorship, though. She does not attend ANY meetings at all! Sometimes she makes promises that she will come to meetings/presentations and ends up not showing up at all. No one is surprised when this happens, at this point. I have talked to others in the lab and they are similarly worried about this issue. There are 3 new graduate students (including myself) as well as a newly hired postdoc. We are all confused and not sure what to do. We don't really know what is going on with her but are beginning to be concerned that it is a very serious issue. Talking to other faculty is a good idea, but I am afraid to ask for a co-mentor without my PI's permission. I am also unsure about asking for co-mentorship if I do end up leaving. I don't want to get others involved if in the end I won't be here after all. I have managed to schedule a meeting with my PI this Thursday and I absolutely plan on telling her my concerns.
  2. Apologies in advance for the long story. I started my PhD in an immunology program in the fall of 2013. Throughout my first year of classes+rotations I never really found a lab that I fit into: most labs had poor funding, not enough room for new students, or just projects I interested in. I rotated in a lab outside of my program with a cancer biology focus a great reputation: good funding, happy, successful students, productive and meaningful research. I left immunology to join the new program (molecular bio) so that I could be in the lab. I passed quals and looked forward to starting my thesis work in my new lab and program. Major problem: My PI, who was supposed to return from maternity leave in January 2014, never came back to the lab. She was becoming more and more difficult to get a hold of, and to this day I have never seen her in office. She does not attend thesis committee meetings, seminars, conferences, lab meetings, office hours, or journal clubs. Others are starting to panic and morale is at an all-time low in the lab. I am contemplating applying to immunology programs elsewhere to get into the type of research I originally wanted to be a part of and leaving with my masters. I want to be excited about my work and I need mentorship. Am I jumping the gun? If I do decide to leave, should I be contacting PIs at universities I am applying to directly so that they know me on some personal level, understand my complicated situation, and can vouch for my application? Application deadlines are coming so soon and I can't seem to decide whether I should wait this out a few more months and see if anything changes or if I should just cut my losses and move on with my career now while I still have time.
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