How to nicely communicate to my professor that I prefer a different topic/project Soon I will be assigned to a project with industry partner X which will start in couple of months and is very loosely related to my major research interests. The project might not be very challenging and time-consuming, but it has close to zero contribution to my actual research, that is why I am not so keen working on it. Also, there is very little potential to get any publications (although unrelated to my topic) from there. 

On the other hand, a new industry partner Y is approaching our group. This partner is willing to offer funding for multiple topics, and they work in the field 100% related to my research.

I fail to understand why the principal investigator would assign me to a project with X, while we were anticipating the collaboration with Y, and knowing that the X project will not be mutually beneficial. But, I guess the decision was made just because X approach first.

How can I communicate clearly and nicely to my PI that I would fancy working in project with Y, and make the point that it will be beneficial in terms of tangibles (more research output in an area of interest to PI, me and company Y) and intangibles (more motivation for me)? 

I am sure all this is obvious to the PI, but the PI is probably note concerned about anything but the money.
Directly and honestly. It's your job to champion your concerns, not your professor's. They might not have realized Y would be a better fit or have some thoughts about X you are not aware of.


  Hey Prof. Awesome,
  
  Do you have a few minutes to talk about the recent projects assignments? I'm much more interested in working with Y because of reasons. I also think it would be more beneficial to my research because reasons. Can I stop by sometime this week to discuss your thoughts on X and whether it would be possible for me to switch to Y?
  
  Thanks,
  
  Kristof Tak