Moving to do research with a collaborator?

[Nacobas]

I'm originally from the northeast US, and the only PhD program I got into was in the south, 12 hours away from my home state. I liked the university when I visited, but the PI I was most interested in working with has since left the university. All of my friends and family are up in that region, and moving so far away caused me and my girlfriend to end our relationship, so I had some serious doubts about coming here.

 

I was having thoughts of backing out of the program before I even moved, but for lack of options and that I was already committed to an apartment, moving expenses, and the program, I decided to go through with it. I'm doing my best to be proactive and meet people around here and get things in order for starting my program, but I'm unsure about spending 5-6 years of my life in this area. I don't want to put my life on hold until I'm finished, but nor do I really want to get established here, since I'm wary of this city. I know one student in my program was offered the chance by a collaborator to move to his lab to complete the rest of her research after she finishes coursework in her second year, but I'm wondering if this is one of the rare exceptions to "you must spend 6 years of your life in this lab/city" or if it's more common for grad students to do research away from their university.

 

Does anyone have experience with moving somewhere else to complete your research project with a PI's collaborator, or know someone who has? I don't want to be planning my escape before I've even started, but I feel like having the option of moving somewhere where I'm more comfortable would allow me to be a more productive researcher. I have every intent of making this work, but if this environment/distance is truly a problem then I don't know that I should necessarily "tough it out" when I could be doing great work in an environment that suits me better.

 

My other thought was taking an MS and applying to programs in a related field elsewhere, but I feel like that is a political minefield that could burn bridges at my current program, and likely delay my time to PhD completion by at least a year.

[kaister]

If your only issue is that your friends and family are far away and you broke up with your girlfriend, I say, stick it out.  You'll eventually come to find a new social circle at your new school and make great new friends/relationships. I don't think it's a common thing to just switch advisors mid program, I think it's a situational specific thing, so I wouldn't put all my cards on just that notion.  If you really don't want to be at that school and program, you better think hard about it before even starting.  If it's a school and PI that you really like and are excited about, I would stay with it...everything else will fall into place once you start school.  But, if you know this distance is going to make you depressed, then you should think about finding a more suitable program.

[risingsun11801]

If you are in a biomedical field, you should look into the Graduate Partnerships Program at NIH. You do most of your dissertation research at the lab of an NIH faculty member in collaboration with your mentor at your home school. That would give you some years in the northeast near friends and family.