Timeline for How to turn down a Postdoc scholarship offer after signing a contract
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
29 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| S Aug 27, 2014 at 10:00 | history | suggested | enthu |
two tags added.
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| Aug 27, 2014 at 9:42 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Aug 27, 2014 at 10:00 | |||||
| Jun 21, 2014 at 11:45 | comment | added | Steve Jessop | @DavidRicherby: right. Now that Pete has added his very informative answer, I no longer think the issue is that they expect the contract to have no termination clause, it's that they expect someone who signs a contract to show up for work as an ethical obligation, regardless of whether the contract itself legally binds them to do so. So while it's nice for the questioner to know his contractual obligations, there seem to be consequences of backing out that behave as if there were obligations beyond what's stated. Abruptly exercising the contractual terms would be viewed most dimly. | |
| Jun 21, 2014 at 11:23 | comment | added | David Richerby | @SteveJessop I may be wrong but, in the UK at least (and, I would speculate, in any modern democracy), I don't think it's legal to have an employment contract that doesn't allow the employee to quit with reasonable notice. Certainly, every employment contract I've ever seen has such an option, including fixed-term contracts. The fixed term is an upper bound on the duration: the job automatically ends after X years but either side can end it earlier, with notice. | |
| Jun 21, 2014 at 10:40 | comment | added | Tobias Kildetoft | While this does not answer the question, I think it is important to point out that this situation should have never happened in the first place (unless the other offer came out of the blue). Once you accept an offer (which happens way before signing the contract), you need to inform all other places where you have applied that you are no longer interested. | |
| Jun 21, 2014 at 7:54 | vote | accept | Stephan Tarasov | ||
| Jun 21, 2014 at 3:42 | comment | added | Pete L. Clark | @Steve: I agree with your comment. On the other hand, there is another route for the OP to take, which I explained in an answer I just left. | |
| Jun 21, 2014 at 3:37 | answer | added | Pete L. Clark | timeline score: 27 | |
| Jun 21, 2014 at 2:52 | comment | added | Steve Jessop | @PeteL.Clark: Sorry, I take back "grudge", I had no basis for phrasing it that way. Keep a written record of fact. I think my point stands in reference to what David said, though, that anything the employment contract or the law says about a right to terminate, is pretty much unusable for those wishing to remain in academia, if your reaction is the norm. At least, it is if they're public about what they're doing. | |
| Jun 21, 2014 at 2:43 | comment | added | Pete L. Clark | ..... Most places get hundreds of candidates for every position. The hiring process, even for postdocs, is arduous and requires the expenditure of political as well as financial capital. Whenever a top candidate reneges, you usually have the hard decision of filling the position with someone much worse or leaving it vacant. Someone who doesn't understand that at all and who is willing to back out of a written contract to entertain a somewhat better offer is quite a risk. It just doesn't seem rational or wise to hire such a person. | |
| Jun 21, 2014 at 2:38 | comment | added | Pete L. Clark | @Steve: "Bear a permanent grudge" makes what I said sound personal or emotional. In academia, there's liking people and then there's hiring them. This is someone who in a public forum has said things like he doesn't think that a faculty member who jointly applied with a fellowship for him "invested significant effort", who is wondering if it makes a difference if the contract he has signed and mailed has not arrived yet, and so forth.... | |
| Jun 21, 2014 at 1:59 | comment | added | Steve Jessop | ... I also observe from Pete's comment that he is entirely open about the fact that he would make a written note to bear a permanent grudge just for hearing about this action in his field, never mind it happening to him as the professor in the equation. As such it seems likely that even if the contract does allow for termination, that contractual right is of limited use to anyone who wishes to remain in academia, since it would be rather harmful in certain circles. | |
| Jun 21, 2014 at 1:50 | comment | added | Steve Jessop | @DavidRicherby: interesting point, but xLeitix and Pete L. Clark below have both made statements that suggest to me that they believe backing out now would be to breach the contract, not merely to terminate it under its own terms. Words like "major breach of trust", "that's what contracts are for", and "renege" are in the air. Not being an academic, I wonder whether they're working on the assumption that in a typical contract the questioner has already contracted to work for the full duration of the scholarship without notice period. Of course "typical" is regional. | |
| Jun 20, 2014 at 23:19 | comment | added | David Richerby | When you signed the contract, you indicated your agreement with the terms. That gives you certain rights (that the university will provide you with work to do and pay you for doing it) and certain responsibilities (that you will turn up and do that work). One of the clauses of the contract will deal with termination: both you and your employer can presumably terminate the contract at any point, with a certain amount of notice, which might range from a couple of weeks to a few months. | |
| S Jun 20, 2014 at 16:52 | history | suggested | Christian Clason | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
removed rejection tag, added fact that contract was signed in the question body
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| Jun 20, 2014 at 16:46 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/#!/StackAcademia/status/480028886789398528 | ||
| Jun 20, 2014 at 16:22 | answer | added | xLeitix | timeline score: 21 | |
| Jun 20, 2014 at 16:17 | comment | added | Stephan Tarasov | Thanks, I really appreciate this option you bring out. This could be the best... | |
| Jun 20, 2014 at 16:14 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Jun 20, 2014 at 16:52 | |||||
| Jun 20, 2014 at 16:07 | comment | added | Christian Clason | (Well, maybe not a legal problem, but still a personal problem.) In this situation, @BenWebster's answer mostly still applies, but be aware that with a contract already signed, such a request would much more likely to be taken poorly. A better option if you want to keep a working relationship is to take the position and either negotiate a year of (unpaid) leave or negotiate an early release to go work in the other group. Although I wouldn't bring this up the first day at work... | |
| Jun 20, 2014 at 15:54 | history | edited | Stephan Tarasov | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
edited title
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| Jun 20, 2014 at 15:53 | comment | added | Stephan Tarasov | Yes, exactly. Thanks for asking to clarify this. It's in written contract. Otherwise it should not be a problem;) | |
| Jun 20, 2014 at 15:50 | vote | accept | Stephan Tarasov | ||
| Jun 21, 2014 at 7:54 | |||||
| Jun 20, 2014 at 15:42 | comment | added | Christian Clason | OK, so this is your money he helped you get, not his money he got for you. That does change things. The size of his research group will also play a role: losing your only (potential) postdoc hurts much more than losing one of ten... | |
| Jun 20, 2014 at 15:38 | comment | added | Stephan Tarasov | Thanks. I don't think he invested significant efforts. It's more like half day lab visiting/discussion + altogether half day or one day of proof read of the proposal + recommendation letter. So one or two days together at most, that's why I am daring to think about this possibility. But yes, this is still bad that I am at the edge of burning bridges... | |
| Jun 20, 2014 at 14:55 | review | First posts | |||
| Jun 20, 2014 at 15:59 | |||||
| Jun 20, 2014 at 14:55 | comment | added | Christian Clason | It sounds like the professor has already invested significant effort specifically on your behalf. This means you are well past the point where you can just pull out without burning bridges. | |
| Jun 20, 2014 at 14:49 | answer | added | Ben Webster | timeline score: 8 | |
| Jun 20, 2014 at 14:36 | history | asked | Stephan Tarasov | CC BY-SA 3.0 |