<p>I think I might have gotten myself into a rather sticky situation.</p>
<p>K here goes...</p>
<p>I've been working in my current PI's lab since April. Initially things were going splendid. However, things have soured substantially since then. I am forced to work now and again with a lab tech that doesn't think much of me and is a total ass. My P.I. asked me to go to him for advice and he gave me rlly lousy suggestions that set my project back abt a month. The protocol for my experiments were changed suddenly and I am no longer getting results although my PI asks me now and again how much progress I've made. He seems like an okay guy but I honestly don't know what he thinks of me. I spend a lot of time in the lab (I used to anyways. I haven't showed up once in the last 2 weeks). On top of a full 3rd yr course load that consists of some very difficult courses, I was pulling 20+hrs in the lab. I know I can't keep it up and course schedule changes make it even more difficult. This is a project that requires quite a few hours in the lab. Otherwise, I won't make much progress. Progress was mediocre during the summer when I was in the lab 50hrs/week but I honestly can't do more than 10hrs/week with my course load. I don't want to continue working in this lab and would prefer switching to a microbiology laboratory. My current lab covers genetics and proteomics.</p>
<p>I interviewed with a microbiology professor in my department a few days ago for a volunteer position in his lab where I'd be working with a grad student of his. He seems like a more upbeat guy I could actually work well with. However, before I can start in his lab, I need to send him a reference from my current PI.</p>
<p>This is where things get a bit messy. I told the guy I was interviewing with I was going to finish up in my current lab in about 2weeks. However, my current PI doesn't know I don't plan on continuing work in his laboratory.</p>
<p>My plan was to tell my PI the truth. I was going to tell him that I can't continue with my project because of school commitments. It would be in his best interests if he handed it off to one of his many lab techs if he wanted real progress to be made. I'll also tell him I need to work in a lab where I can find a position where I can work part-time with very few time commitments. Then I'll ask him for a reference.</p>
<p>You're fine, most undergrads will work for a few different professors prior to graduating.</p>
<p>I think one of the best things you can tell your current PI is that your interests have changed since you started working for him and you've realized you're more into X than Y and want to see if your passion lies there.</p>
<p>During my time as an undergrad I worked in one steel lab, a nanotech lab, another iron/steel lab, and a lab doing electrochemical deposition of nanowires. After graduating I worked in a lab where I did TEM/thin film type work dealing with fundamental problems in materials science, and now in grad school I'm working on amorphous metal alloys (which I enjoy the most of all my labs so far). Each time I swapped around labs I was able to figure out a little more what my true research interests were.</p>
<p>You shouldn't have been dishonest but I can understand why you made the decisions you did. Rest assured that an undergrad who shows up only sporadically isn't going to be a huge loss to your PI. He wasn't hoping to get the kind of results from you that he would have gotten from his lab techs/grad students (btw, not all lab techs are jerks). If you want to switch to something more relevant to your major, explain it that way. Offer to come in when he needs to transfer the project to somebody else and be sure to thank him for the experience he provided you. You will probably also get a letter of recommendation from his as well when the time comes.</p>
<p>Look bad to whom? To your parents- yeah, they may not understand the training aspect of undergrad lab jobs (mine certainly didn't). To admission committees- no, they will see the net effect of your actions is that you have a more diverse research portfolio. To your current PI- refer to the previous post, he probably won't be too troubled and will probably hope that you find a situation where you can show up and make a better impact on the lab.</p>
<p>You don't know what your PI thinks of you. He defers you to the lab tech for advice. He asks you on and off again how things are going...it doesn't sound like he's terribly invested in you. I worked in no less than four labs in the past three years; three psychology and one genomics/bioinformatics (with daphnids). In only two of those labs did I have any sort of contact with the PI, despite my sometimes 40-hour work weeks (in the summer or breaks...when those lucky tenured folks were at home enjoying their vacations); and that was limited more or less to the weekly lab group meetings. The other two were always off on conferences or doing something much more interesting and important than the trivium I was assigned to. No one was ever particularly broken-hearted when I left for the next job...there was always a batch of fresh victims waiting at the door to replace me anyway ;)</p>
<p>So what will he think? He'll think that you're an undergrad who's exploring his options. And that you're the latest in a long string of undergrads over the years that didn't give him much notice, but probably made fine researchers later in life.</p>