How do I diplomatically tell my collaborators that I've accepted a different postdoc position? I wrote a 20+ page postdoc grant last year and was rejected, but decided to revise and re-apply with the same collaborators. I am probably days away from it being ready to re-submit, with slightly better odds this time around. In total it's gone through maybe 4-5 months of work with multiple drafts making the rounds among myself, the PI, and 2 other collaborators. However, I just got a postdoc offer that is too good to turn down (funded position at the perfect balance between learning new skills in a new system while flowing naturally from my PhD work). I know I will accept this new offer, so how do I contact my collaborators on the grant we were writing to turn them down? The timing is awkward as hell. Should I just submit it (since it's nearly ready) and then once the new offer is finalized (signed contracts, etc) tell them? Or, tell them now and propose that we sit on the proposal for 2-3 years to submit around when the first postdoc ends? I don't want to burn any bridges as the grant collaborators are also important names in the field and I'd like to keep future collaboration possibilities open.
I certainly wouldn't recommend sitting on the project for a number of years. Science moves on and so do the participants.
But, even if you have to take a different, lesser, role, you can probably move forward with the project.
I don't know if  you need a &quot;diplomatic&quot; response, just an honest one. If you can stay connected with the project, if even as the &quot;idea&quot; person, it should be fine. But you will need to make a commitment that you will do &quot;something&quot; for the project even though you will be busy with the new duties. Collaboration with people from different institutions is normally a good thing.