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[weathered]

Academic collaborations (between professor/student and colleagues) begin and end. It'd be great if every single case worked out, but some academic break-ups are tough to endure and can have serious repercussions on your career and even wellbeing. What was your worst (or best) academic break-ups? How did you get over or mend them? What lessons are learned?

[lettuceleaf]

My best academic break-up story has to do with a grant proposal. Two associate profs in one department approach me (then an assistant professor) and a full professor in two other departments about a collaborative grant proposal. Since I was the low man on the totem pole, I got to write up the grant. I work away and get as much done as possible, but I am missing key information from the associate professors including a vital letter of support (the grant hinges upon this). Things go downhill when one of the associate professors is called abroad due to a death in the family,  a week before the deadline. On the morning the grant is due, the associate professors call us and say they cannot get the letter of support and they want to pull the plug.  The full professor gets REALLY angry, calls an immediate meeting and tells us that we are to finish the grant to the best of our ability and submit it. Once this decision is made, I consult with the other two to get the missing information, do some rewriting and we get the grant submitted on time, sans letter of support.

As expected, the grant didn't get funded.

When we left the meeting room, the full professor said to me "We are not going to work with them (the two associate professors) again." and we never have... I was really happy that the full professor said "we" and put me on his team because it has resulted in an excellent, long-term collaboration that led to funded grants, joint publications and other career benefits.

And happily there were no repercussions with the other two associate professors - we are all very cordial and have served on committees together, etc. But I don't think they will ever propose to write a grant with full professor and I again.

[weathered]

Interesting. It seems like most serious academic break-ups are over breach of trust. Mine was also of the same nature. I have not managed to make up with the person (big name bully), but have often wondered if that was even possible. Broken up academic relationships are almost impossible to repair.

[klaradeb]

I once quit a PhD after 3 months to start again in a much better program. In the first program I had been working with the same advisor since my master. The guy was brilliant, fun and charming (after all, he had got me interested in the field), but also immature, irresponsible and completely unreliable. Leaving for this great opportunity was the best thing I ever did, but even after all this time, it's still bittersweet.

Back then he wrote me what I hear was a great letter and promised to stay in touch, which of course he never did. I figure it's just as well.

[ruralguy]

After I left a foreign post-doc after only one year, my post-doc adviser was quick to write me a note at my new address in the US just to let me know that I was the worst advisee he ever had, and the poorest behaved citizen of my country he had seen.

I think the real issue is that I had complained about him to the president of the university, so he was pissed off. He was well known in his field, and in his country, very well regarded. But, amongst the people who knew him well, and didn't get on his good side, he was seen as erratic and ill tempered. The reason I complained is that the president actually wanted to know why I would be returning to the US (I know how he found out and cared, but thats a long story). So, I told him that this dude ignore me, and kind of seemed erratic, and not well suited to advise much of anyone.

I was very glad to see that his huge administrative and experimental effort died a horrible death soon after he sent me that letter.

He was a jerk.

As a result, I was underemployed for sometime, then lucked into a somewhat prestigious post-doc, which is what led to a bunch of interviews, and my current position (and although really a teaching school, they probably hired me on my research).

[oldfullprof]

I tried to collaborate with Professor "Craze," who'd been one year ahead of me at UT, Austin.  Because her field was way shortage, she ended up at an Ivy, when I was a VAP at an HBCU (for two years.)  Craze had done her diss on a topic very close to mine, and she suggested we collaborate.  Her diss was qualitative and mine was mixed.

I wrote an article based on my quantitative findings, and sent it to her.  She sent it back with weird, carping changes and suggestions, which I (as first author) mainly kept.  (I hadn't liked her diss very much, but I thought, "What the hell...)  We went back and forth a few times, but then one day I sent something to her second day, rather than overnight, which we'd been doing (this was sort of the pre-attachment era.) 

She came unglued, sending me a several paged toxic email, which assaulted my character, skills, etc.  She suggested that she and another person from her department become the first two authors.  I then fired her as second author.  Later, I published the original article (sans her ideas) in a fairly good journal.

Later the Ivy let her go at the three-year mark for publishing in bad journals.   

[southerntransplant]

Mine will occur in 8 months, when this project ends.

[lohai0]

Mine will occur in 8 months, when this project ends.

With shouty with a chance of cursing?

[menotti]

I collaborated with a researcher on a proposal.  Although I tried to give everyone plenty of time, meet early, and so on, as is usual with these things, everything only got put together at the last minute.  About two days before the deadline, crucial collaborator said, "I don't think this is going to be funded.  I've never had a grant not funded, and I don't intend to start now."

She was right - it didn't get funded.  It might have if she'd put in her work.  And I can't help thinking that she's living in a dream world if she thinks her stuff will never be turned down.