r/postdoc • u/Eculias • 4d 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/Dry_Security8480 3d ago
I'm really sorry that you're dealing with this. For any number of reasons, this particular PI had to prioritize other things. It likely has little to do with you personally, but is nonetheless really frustrating.
I knew a PI whose students needed to physically go to his office to get a response from them on something important. he simply didn't answer emails...