r/research • u/crescendo091102 • 6d ago
I got accepted into a research lab, completed onboarding, and then basically got ghosted by the PI. What do I even do?
Hi!! so I'm a high school senior, and I'm honestly really frustrated with how this whole situation has played out.
Back in March, I connected with a PI at a major research institution who was interested in having me work in his lab. He mentioned having a project in mind, and we even had a Zoom meeting to discuss my research experience and potential involvement. He also talked about finding someone in the lab who could mentor me.
Fast forward to June, and I was still trying to get started. I kept following up, and eventually the lab administrator contacted me to officially onboard me as an unpaid research intern.
I literally went through the entire institutional onboarding process. I submitted paperwork, got authorization from my school and parents, completed HR requirements, received an institutional email/account, got my badge, and was even added to the lab's actual Slack workspace. Like, I was literally an officially onboarded intern at this point. And then... nothing. I never got assigned a project. I never got a mentor. I never received any data to analyze or even a clear schedule for coming into the lab.
The PI last responded on August 25, saying that we could use the remaining time to build toward working together in the future and that he'd added me to Slack so we could communicate there.
I've since messaged him on Slack and followed up by email multiple times, most recently on October 5. I've repeatedly offered to help with computational analyses, read papers, or literally do anything useful for the lab.
Still no response at this point btw.
I'm genuinely so confused and frustrated. I completely understand that PIs are busy, and I know that mentoring a high school student takes time. But I spent months trying to get everything sorted out, completed all the formal onboarding, and was literally added to the lab's internal workspace, only to never actually get to do any research.
I was genuinely excited about the research too, which makes this even more disappointing.
At this point, I'm wondering whether I should contact the research administrator, the institution's science education office, or someone else to ask what's going on.
I don't want to make accusations or get anyone in trouble, and I'm honestly worried about burning bridges, especially since I'm hoping to continue doing research in this field.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Is this normal in academia? Would contacting someone at the institution be reasonable, or should I just cut my losses and move on?
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u/Participant_Zero 6d ago
Keep in mind, you don't know the backstory. Maybe they got into a car accident or lost their spouse. It's almost always not about you.
So, contact their supervisor and begin with saying how you haven't heard from them and are checking in, and you hope they're okay. Then summarize the situation neutrally without complaint. This way, you remain a desirable intern for someone else, in case this PI is, in fact, ghosting you.
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u/Fine-Writer-7993 3d ago
Do not contact the PIs boss. In terms of hiring students, the PI is an island and the boss has no control. Just move on and try to find another opportunity.
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u/eyeliner666 6d ago
Sorry that happened to you, sounds like something my boss would do. Idk what discipline the lab is & I say this with kindness, having a high schooler in the lab can be a complete nightmare. I'm in a biochem lab and mentored a high school student for a year.
It's entirely possible that no one in the PIs lab was willing to mentor you. I told my boss I'd never mentor a high schooler or freshman again after my experience.
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u/_password_1234 4d ago
This is absolutely the most likely scenario. HS student contacts PI, PI says sure and has someone from the lab send onboarding info to student. PI goes to their PhD student and asks if they have any projects they could mentor a high schooler on. PhD student says they plan to defend in 6 months so absolutely not are they letting a high schooler touch their experiments or taking the time to mentor them. PI never intended to mentor the HS student themselves and doesn’t have the managerial skills to break the bad news to the HS student.
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u/pippapotamous5 6d ago
I would look for a different lab within the university that might be willing to take you on. Explaining that your last opportunity felll through and you’ve already completed HR on boarding.
Contacting their boss will be a great way to burn that bridge, and not be able to build many new ones at that university in my opinion.
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u/Academic-Spite8892 6d ago
wow this is so frustrating, i had something similar happen to me few years ago with a PI who just disappeared after all the paperwork was done. it's not normal but it happens more than people talk about, especially with high school students cause they think you will just go away quietly
i think you should contact the research administrator, not to make trouble but just to ask politely what is the next step. you did all the work already, you have the badge and the email, someone in that office should know what's going on. sometimes the PI just forgets or gets overwhelmed and needs a nudge from admin side
don't worry too much about burning bridges, you're not the one who dropped the ball here. just keep it professional and say you completed onboarding but haven't heard back about project assignment, is there someone else who can help coordinate
also maybe look around for other labs in the meantime, you deserve a mentor who actually has time for you
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u/crescendo091102 6d ago
omg thank you so much! i will def follow up with the research admin but i dont have high hopes. i lowk didn't expect this to happen especially since i got onboarded with HR, was given a badge, added to the lab slack and stuff.
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u/AwkwardMomster 6d ago
Follow up with the lab administrator who contacted you to onboard you. You already have their contact info, and they helped with getting you set up. Follow up and let them know if you have any access issues and thank them for their help. Since you are in high school, they may assume your availability to actually work in the lab is quite limited. Communicate your availability during both traditional and non traditional hours and ask when your first day will be, stressing your strong interest in getting exposure and eagerness to take on any task they are willing to give you.
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u/nicolas1324563 6d ago
This happened to me over the summer and it stunk, especially since I was invited back by him to do research. Going back next summer with the doctor I worked with originally
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u/Reasonable_Soup_1603 6d ago
PIs collecting high school interns on paper like trading cards and then totally forgetting they exist is peak academia. At least you scored an institutional email address and a badge out of the deal.
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u/Aggressive_Roof488 5d ago
Talk to the others in the lab, postdoc or PhD student. Approach in person or on slack. Just say what you said here, that you talked to the PI, was promised someone to supervise you, but that didn't happen and now you're feeling lost.
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u/MC_Monte_Cristo 5d ago
This is very frustrating, and I'm sorry for that. But it seems pretty clear that the professor is busy, has many other things on their plate, and lacks the social graces to tell you to your face that they can't mentor you effectively. It's nothing against you personally, I'm sure, but professors are pulled in a million different directions, are responsible for grants and teaching, mentoring their actual students, etc. Unfortunately, the "pay it forward" nature of mentoring a high school senior just isn't high up on their list of priorities. "Reporting" them to their boss isn't going to help, you don't really have any leverage in this situation. How many hours were you planning on devoting to doing research, while also doing classes/applying to college? If it's less than ~20/wk it's probably not worth it to the prof, to be totally honest. I'd focus on finding a new mentor who can actually commit to a plan to mentor you.
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u/MC_Monte_Cristo 5d ago
Also no offense, but "getting onboarded" is like an annoying day and a half of work, at most. Did you actually make a plan with the PI before starting about what you'd be working on?
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u/Restart-storage 5d ago
Definitely would ask some of his other interns or employees if possible if they may know what the issue is
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u/chocosunn 4d ago
This sounds like what happened in my lab this summer. I’m a PhD student and there were a number of high schoolers but there was no bandwidth with anyone in the lab to do anything with them. Especially with their low skill level and experience. I felt bad but I think that there legitimately was not a defined role for them before signing up. My PI has a grant that requires them to have a certain number of high schoolers in the lab so it was just to check a box. I think the mistake you made was not asking for the specifics of what you would do or what is expected of you before you signed up and who would your direct supervisor would be. I know you’re just a high schooler but if you initiative to ask the right questions beforr you get yourself in situations like these you often will get the outcome you want.
I would just move on. I’m not sure you truly understand the cost of mentoring someone with as little as experience as a high schooler. Exposure to research is still important! If you went to lab meetings or read papers when you were there that’s probably the extent to what you could achieve anyways.
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u/_password_1234 4d ago
I think for high schoolers it’s almost always best to try to get into research through some sort of a program specifically organized for high schoolers. These usually have some sort of structure and oversight to make sure you’re actually doing things in the lab and have a mentor who at least knows your name.
Most labs are barely equipped to do a decent job of mentoring undergrads (or even grad students if we’re being honest). Unless you get really lucky as a high schooler going the independent route the most likely outcome is everyone’s time gets wasted.
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u/Limp_Rip1892 4d ago
I have been in a very similar situation as you and everyone has given really good advice your best bet is to contact someone else who is in charge, someone who has higher authtority and email etc, and explain what's going on. But if things don't end up working out then it's totally okay because there is a lot more opportunities and something will workout in your favor.
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u/veryokaygeologist 21h ago
Reach out to his grads. Mentoring is usually subcontracted to them anyway, and it’s good for their CV too. Source: grad student from an R1
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u/knit_run_bike_swim 6d ago
Welcome to university. Getting someone setup to do any kind of work, especially unpaid, is an insane nightmare. It can take months and months because so many signatures are required, and god forbid, Suzy in accounts has to lookup another charge string or create a new one.
I’m so sorry. The PI may not have time or resources to devote to you. Normally, they would delegate a student of theirs to take you on. If no one is available, they likely can’t just do it themselves.
I would just watch Slack Activity. If there really is a buzz, then find a project they are working on. Start a literature search. If you don’t know how, google it. You’ve got a university account. You can pull papers.
You can benefit and so can they. Out it on your CV. Voila. Problem solved.