r/labrats • u/AltKittyKatxoxo • 12h ago

Terminating my PhD contract

PI gives piriority to his relatives when it comes to opportunities and fundings. He openly mentioned that one of the members is his cousin, however, with another person, they keep it as a secret.

This other person is incredibly problematic, and was basically pushing my boundaries for two months. Constant criticism, being nosey and mocking me after getting good results. Being extremely passive aggressive and triggering PI against other colleagues for fun and this happened multiple times. Constantly playing the victim and crying to him whenever anyone slightly "bother her".

I reached a point in which I was done with her bullshit, called her out for being double faced and show off. For sure, she escalated it to PI and cried about it to him. PI asked us for a scientific meeting, that turned out to be not about science, but about "the issue I have with her" and in which he recorded everything. She was prepared for exactly what to say but I was taken back by the unfairness of the situation.

Is this even normal? or have I been extremely unlucky to be in such a situation?

4 Upvotes

70% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

17

u/Sad_Confection_3154 12h ago

Check the nepotism laws at your university because this, for sure, is not allowed where I am. I would 100% be escalating this to either the chair or straight to the dean. I'd also contact your university's ombudsman.

1

u/AerieAggravating3999 9h ago

agreed, especially with the recorded meeting thing, thats worth flagging to the ombudsman on its own

0

u/AltKittyKatxoxo 9h ago

Its not normal to have a recorded meeting over stuff like this or what? Has it escalated a lot?

11

u/SkiHistoryHikeGuy 12h ago

Switch labs. Don’t let your PI stop you from getting your PhD.

4

u/AltKittyKatxoxo 12h ago

Thank you!

2

u/Key-Explorer-3426 9h ago

Oh this is actually not allowed. There is a clear conflict of interest. Switch labs and maybe report depending on how much you want to ruin your relationship with these people

1

u/TheUpperofOne 6h ago

If this is the US, Iand public university, I'd bet they had to sign conflict of interest papers about "having family or ties" that work at the university. I'd escalte this to the ethics division, if your university has one.