<p>It seems to me that a lot of undergrads have multiple research experiences and I was wondering how people manage that. In my case I officially committed for one year and I think I said something in passing about doing work beyond that, but at this point I want to leave after my year is up. I want to be able to explore other areas and get internships before I graduate/apply for grad school. I'm just not sure how to go about this gracefully and still be on good terms with the professor, especially considering that I am going to be leaving work unfinished. (Although to be fair, this project probably won't be finished for years). I'm also the only one working on this project, so that might be an issue for the lab as well...
Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Just be polite and respectful. Say that you learned a lot and really appreciate the opportunity, but you’d like to get experience in other areas of research to get a better idea of what area of research you’d like to pursue for graduate school (or some other variant of that). Let them know in advance. Don’t tell them right now, but let them know with enough time to find another student to take on your project. Offer to help them find someone and train them in what your doing, if they’re planning on getting another student to replace you.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it too much. Professors are very used to high turnover with undergrads. Students want to get different experiences, have other opportunities, are exploring new areas, have busy quarters/semesters where they don’t have time for research/internships, etc. They’ll be fine. I would recommend that you wait until you find something else before dropping this position. It’s one thing to want other internships, and it’s another thing entirely to have another/better one.</p>
<p>I agree, as a professor who has had many undergraduates in my lab, it is not a problem if one wants to get a different experience.</p>
<p>Thanks guys! I’m just really bad with people so I wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something.</p>