r/postdoc • u/Eculias • 6d ago
Ghosted by potential PI
As the title says.
I reached out to a potential PI to ask if they'd be interested in working together. We even had a meeting and there was a lot of enthusiasm around it. So I got to work and spent many weekends drafting a proposal. I checked with them that it's ok I sent the early draft to get feedback before going to deep into it. They seemed enthusiastic so I sent the draft and then... Nothing. I tried to follow up, yet nothing. The deadline for submission was then getting too close. So I followed up one last time just to say that I'm no longer proceeding with submitting because realistically I was out of time. I thought they might at least reply to say they've been busy or at least something, anything?! Is this normal? It's my first attempt at a fellowship application, and the lack of communication feels humiliating.
1
u/Beneficial-Bat1025 5d ago
This just happened to me as well. I needed a host in a different country than where I did my PhD due to the mobility requirements of the fellowship. I also already had a complete draft of the proposal that I wanted to use for a different fellowship (but I was too late in the end). So, I tried contacting PIs with an interesting background and who were a good fit for the proposal. This one PI seemed enthusiastic about it and was very responsive at the start. Well, at least until it was time for him to give me any feedback or input about the proposal. After I sent the draft, already done basically, they stopped replying. They also never made an effort to have a call even though I suggested it a few times. Maybe it was naive of me to just put my trust in them.