a little advice needed...

[att159]

so a few months ago i had applied to a few labs for summer internships (i'm in high school by the way - going into 9th grade). i heard back from one (let's call it lab #1) , and i've actually already started there, yesterday in fact.
another lab (lab #2), at the same university, had initially told me that although they would like to have me, their lab was full. however only a few days ago they got back to me and said that some things had changed and i could be a summer student/intern there.
it is clear to me that i could do a much better science project at lab #2 - the PI is very nice and has asked me what i would like to work on as a summer project. whereas it seems that the work at lab #1 is repetitive and would not lend itself to a science project. an undergrad who had previously interned at lab #1 told me that the focus is on getting free work from high school students, not teaching them.

however, would it be really rude to terminate the internship at the first lab? this is my second day working there, and it's fairly clear to me that i won't be able to create a decent science fair project out of the work i will be doing. there are quite a few other high school interns, so it's not like it would be a huge loss to the lab or anything - it's just that i don't want to alienate anyone.

i would appreciate any input!
thanks.

[MelissaB]

Hi,

This is a tough one. I would start by talking to the person in charge of lab number 1 and explaining your situation. Don't say anything bad about lab #1--just explain that you really really want to work on what lab #2 is working on. You will definitely alienate them if you tell them that you find everything boring and repetitive (and definitely do not repeat what the undergraduate said... the PI might find out who the undergrad is and then they could get in trouble for being honest with you).

Anyway, talk to the PI in lab #1 and ask them if it would be possible to replace you and that you don't want there to be any hard feelings if you were to leave. Then see how they react, and you'll have a good idea of whether you would be burning bridges if you left.

That said--your happiness and needs are important too. Think about whether or not you will need good contacts in lab #1 (or whether you will ever talk to anyone there again). Keep in mind that science is a very small world and you could very well run into them later in your career. I would suggest writing down a list of the pros and cons of both decisions (staying/leaving for lab #2) and let that guide your decision.

Hope this helps!

[att159]

thanks for the advice - i really appreciate it.

possible reasons for staying at lab #1:
- prestigious lab/reputable PI; lots of very smart people
- maybe trivial, but they have obviously have had high school students before (which lab #2 has not) and know what to do with them - i have my own desk and laptop, and they got me a university ID, which is all nice
* however i think they have a lot more limitations on what HS students can do - it would probably be near impossible to initiate my own project, which I could see happening at lab #2
- although a science project is unlikely, i could possibly get published (which a previous HS intern did - however, he worked during the school year too and told me that he was working until 3 am some nights during the summer)
- lots of funding - recently got some $25m grant

the other lab, lab #2, is much smaller - lab #1 has about 40 or 50 people, whereas lab #2 has around 10. the PI has taken the time to meet with me personally, where she summarized the different projects going on in her lab. i really do find her work to be far more interesting than what lab #1 is doing - also, my previous science project dealt with similar concepts so I am familiar with the basic theories, etc.
her lab definitely publishes less often however - their last publication was in january 2009, whereas lab #1 has at least 10 publications for 2010 so far. however, both labs have been published often in journals like nature and science. when i met with her a lot of what she told me about was unpublished so they will probably be publishing several papers soon.

also, i'm doing a part time (6-8 hrs/week) job at a startup in addition to working on a research project in collaboration with a company - thus my hours need to be somewhat flexible. at lab #1 i'm supposed to come everyday at 9:30-5, which i'm not sure if i'll be able to do later on in the summer.
so, i think after looking at the different angles i will most likely leave lab #1 to work at lab #2.
could you advise me on the best way to tell them i'm leaving? i.e. talk to the PI in personal or via email? i think in person might be difficult because he's quite difficult to get ahold of. he hasn't actually spoken to me directly at all over the course of my internship - he's an extremely busy guy, head of 4 departments/programs or something like that. i think that's both a good thing and a bad thing - obviously if he wrote me a recommendation it would carry some clout at other labs at this university (which is also quite a prestigious university - top 4 i think). but, i doubt he would ever get to know me well enough to write a personal recommendation.
i'm sure that offending this PI could really hurt me later on, especially as this is a university I am definitely interested in applying to four years from now.

i've also thought about some alternatives - like working at lab #1 as planned, for the rest of the summer, then working at lab #2 for the school year? my school ends at 12:30 every other day so it would be possible to get over to campus a few times a week. i do think that if i worked really hard it might be possibly to do something innovative at lab #1, especially if i managed to impress the PI somehow. they do have a lot of resources, and there are a lot of projects going on, some of which are quite interesting - it's just the one i'm working on currently is kind of boring.
do you think it would be possible to do significant research over the school year alone?

thank you so much!
anna

[MelissaB]

I think it would be possible to do research over the school year, and I think that (working at lab 1 for the summer, then lab 2 during the school year) might be a better option for you.

If you do decide to quit, I suggest speaking personally with whomever hired you. If the PI hired you, then you should try to meet with them personally even if they're really busy. However, if a post-doc or graduate student hired you, then you should speak with them about leaving. It's okay not to go through the PI if they really didn't have a say in you being hired.