Question about lab funding

[toyingwithathought]

I am considering joining a relatively new lab run by an assistant professor. The PI is fantastic, the research is right up my alley, and I know I'd be more than content in the location.

 

The only concern I have is the funding. Since this is a newer lab, the research is being supported by small grants that have to do with disease states. The research I'm interested in doing is more along the basic science track. This PI has already acknowledged that if he can't secure funding for the basic science questions, that the lab may have to "change direction" and pursue more clinical/translation research.

 

I know this is sort of a loaded question, but I'm wondering how heavily this should weigh into the decision making process? I've heard people say that regardless of the project, the most important factor is having a good PI. However, I am sort of nervous about having to do research that isn't necessarily interesting to me. Has anybody been in a similar situation, or does anyone have any thoughts about whether or not I should be concerned about this?

[fuzzylogician]

I know this is sort of a loaded question, but I'm wondering how heavily this should weigh into the decision making process? I've heard people say that regardless of the project, the most important factor is having a good PI. However, I am sort of nervous about having to do research that isn't necessarily interesting to me. Has anybody been in a similar situation, or does anyone have any thoughts about whether or not I should be concerned about this?

 

I vote for PI over project, too. At the end of the day your dissertation project is going to be your entry ticket into the academic world, it doesn't need to be (and shouldn't be) your utmost achievement. That aside, interests change and develop while in grad school and you can't know for sure that the topic you have in mind now is what you'll want to do 2-3 years from now. What's most important is to have a PI who you are comfortable working with and who will support your work as much as possible. If that means a slightly more out of the way topic - but still one that interests you - that sounds like a good deal to me. However, if what you're saying is you might get stuck with work so uninteresting that you might lose interest in completing the project, that's a different matter altogether.

[selecttext]

Here's a better question, is your PI publishing frequently in good journals? If he is funded for applied research, you might have to submit your manuscripts to specialist journals. Applied research is fine but you want to have a healthy mixture of applications and theory in order to appeal to a broader audience. Your concerns are valid.

[toyingwithathought]

I vote for PI over project, too. At the end of the day your dissertation project is going to be your entry ticket into the academic world, it doesn't need to be (and shouldn't be) your utmost achievement. That aside, interests change and develop while in grad school and you can't know for sure that the topic you have in mind now is what you'll want to do 2-3 years from now. What's most important is to have a PI who you are comfortable working with and who will support your work as much as possible. If that means a slightly more out of the way topic - but still one that interests you - that sounds like a good deal to me. However, if what you're saying is you might get stuck with work so uninteresting that you might lose interest in completing the project, that's a different matter altogether.

Thanks for the advice! I've worked in this PI's lab as an undergraduate and a research technician, so I know what he's like as a boss and know that he will be supportive of my work. The applied research would also be interesting to me, but not nearly as interesting as the basic science questions.

 

Here's a better question, is your PI publishing frequently in good journals? If he is funded for applied research, you might have to submit your manuscripts to specialist journals. Applied research is fine but you want to have a healthy mixture of applications and theory in order to appeal to a broader audience. Your concerns are valid.

He's been at the university for about 2.5 years, and he's published 2 papers in decent journals(impact factor ~7), and has had several others papers come out from his previous work. The lab will probably have at least 2-3 more papers sent out this year. Honestly, I'm not sure how to gauge if this is considered productive or not.  The lack of a major R01 or other funding source is what freaks me out a little bit, and I'm not sure whether that's valid. How risky is it to join the lab of a pre-tenured faculty member without major funding?

[Tall Chai Latte]

I'm speaking from my experience, just my 0.02 here. 

 

When I was deciding on a lab to join, I considered people over science. However, the funding scene at the time was tough, so I had to change my research interests (basically brainstorming and be open about other tangentially related works) multiple times until I rotated with a PI whose interests aligns somewhat with mine and is well funded. The lab becomes my current lab home. One PI suggested I "follow the energy landscape" of funding, because what you do for your thesis isn't necessarily what you will do for your post doc (assuming you stay in academia). I'd say this lab is still a good choice if the PI and the rest of the lab work well with you. 

 

As for the funding question, it depends on what stage is the pre-tenure faculty at. A 5th year assistant professor without a major funding source spells trouble, but for your PI, it's still too early to tell. 

[Eigen]

Another vote for PI over project.

 

I was advised to be very flexible going into grad school, because your PhD isn't what you'll do for the rest of your life, but is a starting place. At least in my field, it's very common to stitch together your PhD with a few different (short) post-docs that will define a "new" field and skillset for you to work in. In fact, if you stay too close to what you did in your PhD, you're considered to not have sufficiently branched out!

[oldgrad]

I would find someone else funding is still very tight right now. Anything clinical is not what you want to be involved with trials/projects take too long with horrible authorship and little money to be spread around. My old PI was a new guy with a decent start up package but his basic research money dried up, he's well funded but all from pharma and NIH contracts, it has seriously stunted my career.  

[TakeruK]

Yet another vote for PI over project for the reasons mentioned above. Also to note that no matter how much you might like a project initially, after working on it for a long time, the novelty can wear off and it's like any other project. I think most students will go through a cycle of hating and loving their thesis topic!