tilex8595

Hi fuzzylogician, What you said are mostly very accurate. She doesn't know if she will be staying or getting an extension, and if she gets, how long. She is definitely being optimistic as if nothing has happened. I feel extremely bad and sad, and at the same time, I can't be responsible and need to do what's best for me and my family. I know she will do the same and expects the worse things as well. I will keep it posted after I finish talking to the new PI. I know this thing can happen to anybody here. I hope me posting my story on here helps to someone in the future.

Thank you for your reply. I know it's normal that PI doesn't actively seek PhD students and try to have a conversation with them unless there is an emergency (for them). But our lab doesn't even have a weekly former lab meeting even though we are in the biology lab. This is how much we are lack of conversation. The project that I am doing with her is going super well, oddly enough. It's not because we meet weekly and closely exam and investigate what we can do next systematically, it's because I do mostly independently (search the references, writing the method section, preparing the figures, coming up with hypothesis, analyzing data, building a model etc..). She just says "ok it's very good.. yes keep working on that. I would like to see that and that by the way..if you have time". Very ambiguous and not conclusive. This kind of conversation makes me think we are not "almost" done yet, but she is being optimistic and holding me up. I think she doesn't have a clue that I am leaving her lab. She seems very happy with my work. I am having a meeting with my future PI on Monday. I am going to ask him how to start a conversation and future plan. It's a rough start...

Some background : I am in the biological science field, 2nd year grad student. When I applied to this program, I knew I will be working in this lab for my thesis and started pretty early. Now, I have 2 separate projects going on with this PI. One is almost done (meaning data collection is done and analysis is also 80% done). The preliminary result was presented in the conference for another project, but still I need to collect more data from other animals. The problem is that my PI didn't get a tenure. Her contract with university will be terminated by June. She called lab members as soon as decision was made, telling us we will be here at least 8~12 months after June because she is expecting getting an extension. Her reasoning is that it's typical for department to allow an additional period or contract to move the animal lab. And she said I shouldn't be worried because I will be publishing these 2 papers before she has to leave and those are enough for me to graduate (I suspected that of course..). After a few days, department chair contacted me and told me that I have to switch the lab. I agreed since I don't even have a committee members formed yet. He even arranged a meeting with another professor whom I did a rotation project with a year ago and liked me as a potential graduate student member in his lab. After having that meeting, my PI seemed very unhappy and surprised that I had discussed that with a department chair. I certainly didn't ask a meeting to "switch" the lab but other professors and department chair simply "assumed" I will have to move the lab. Only my PI didn't think I am interested in switching the lab. I could clearly see that there are something is going on between my PI and department chair. Chair told me there won't be an extension and I have to hurry. Although I like what I am working on now and my PI (as a person), now everything is awkward with my PI. We had a conversation, but she still insists that I will be able to submit and publish the papers in lower journal (meaning low impact factor journals) and no problem with graduating. But I don't understand how she can do it within a year when she doesn't have a long list of publication in 5 years of staying in the university. It didn't seem like it's going to happen so I compromised myself and decided dropping one project and focusing on finishing the first project. And I think I should switch the lab if I consider my stable academic career. But I don't know how to start a conversation with my PI again. Department chair is actively looking after me and he told me he had a meeting with my PI, mentioning I will have to switch the lab. He told me to have a conversation with PI and sooner is better, although it seems that my PI is pretending she doesn't know anything believing that I am actively working on her things. How should I start a conversation? What kind of attitude I have to have when I talk to her to avoid awkwardness (no hurting)? Any advice?