NSF dishonesty dilemma?

[betweenarock]

Hi all,

I have a bit of a situation that's making me feel uneasy.  I'm a 2nd year PhD student who has joined lab A within the last 2-3 months.  I'm also working on an NSF proposal, as well as some other fellowship proposals.  Unfortunately, I find myself really drawn to the research being done in another (topically, rather different) lab B in the department.  At this point, I'm rather determined to leave lab A and join lab B possibly within the next 3-6 months.  My current adviser in lab A has some inkling that I may be interested in switching groups, but does not know definitely yet of my plans.

However, in all of my fellowship applications, I'm writing as if I were highly committed to the work I'm currently doing in lab A, and committed to becoming a leader in this field, as one must do in order to sell the fellowship application.  In reality, I have no intention of remaining in this field or lab.  To me, frankly, this is dishonest, and especially an affront to my adviser in lab A who is writing a LOR for me.

At the same time, everything I'm doing is technically permissible by the rules of the fellowships (as the 2 labs are in the same department).  I could pass it all off under the guise of having a change in research interests after the writing of the fellowships.

Any advice?

Edited September 13, 2015 by betweenarock

[TakeruK]

I don't think you have a problem here at all. The NSF is a fellowship awarded to you as a person, not for a specific research project, even though you have to write essays about a specific research project. However, you will encounter later fellowship applications that are for a specific research project and you will see that they are very different.

In my opinion, since you have not yet permanently put in place a plan to switch from Lab A to Lab B, it should be acceptable to write a NSF proposal for Lab A and then do the correct paperwork to switch to Lab B once you actually switch. It doesn't matter that you want to be in Lab B, the fact is that you are still in Lab A and your request to move to Lab B is not even approved yet!

But if you are unhappy with this method, why not finalize the switch to Lab B now, before NSF proposals are due? Then, write your NSF application as a member of Lab B. 

Note: I do not hold an NSF but I have the Canadian equivalent of the same award. From talking to my friends with NSF both the NSF and Canadian award is awarded to the student, not a project and awarded in a very general category, not a specific subfield. For example, my PhD NSF-equivalent was awarded for "Physics & Astronomy". I wrote a proposal before I started my PhD with brainstorming with a specific professor and I ended up not even going to that school and not even doing a project in that subfield. But the fellowship is awarded to me to do research in Physics & Astronomy. It is not awarded to my PI, it is not awarded to a specific project, and it is not awarded to me to perform a specific task. If the NSF is the same way, then what you are doing is perfectly fine and within the intention of the award. After all, the award is there to give the student/awardee the best advantage and resources possible to succeed as a PhD student in the field. If changing labs is what will help you succeed, then do it.

[littlemoondragon]

I don't think you have a problem here at all. The NSF is a fellowship awarded to you as a person, not for a specific research project, even though you have to write essays about a specific research project. However, you will encounter later fellowship applications that are for a specific research project and you will see that they are very different.

TakeruK is correct! The NSF is a fellowship awarded to you as a person, not for a specific research project.

The only thing NSF would be upset about is after you have been awarded is switching institutions (which does happen, but you have to explain) or switching fields.

[Eigen]

Just to second the other replies, the research proposal is mostly to show that you have good, coherent ideas. If you change projects, there's no issue. As long as it's within the same general field.

[betweenarock]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the responses; they do make me feel better.  I mainly feel guilt when writing the application essays and I talk passionately about how I envision my future in a lab and field where I don't actually envision my future.  I guess I will just have to accept the reality of the situation.