How to manage a colleague in your research group taking your idea? I have been a newly appointed lecturer (18 months). Within my first 6 months I have advertised a PhD subject in order to recruit a good student. The specific project was advertised a year ago. I completed the recruitment of a very promising PhD student that started about two months ago.
In the meantime one of my colleagues that belongs to the same research group, has an already established collaboration with a company. After a brief discussion, my colleague informed me that the company is open to new ideas and that we could collaborate on a similar idea, which was not specified at that point. After a month, my colleague sent an email saying that they are going to submit a project for funding but again, no specifics were given.
I have asked to check the application (as I was included, but my colleague was the lead) and see the objectives/deliverables/commitments etc. I highlighted the fact that we will need to avoid any potential conflict of interest, but received no reply. After checking with my organization's research team I found that the project idea was based on the subject of my PhD student. However, I do not have a copy of the application to understand the extent of overlap, just the summary of it.
The whole process was dodgy and I have lost trust in my colleague.
I found out later that my colleague is known for such tactics but at the same time has the support of a senior member of the group that has the power to block me from pursuing my research plans. I am not sure how to manage the situation and would appreciate any advice on the matter or if you could share similar experiences and how you handled them.
Let’s start with one simple fact. On paper, your colleague didn’t do anything unethical. Perhaps they were thinking about something similar and you happened to as well, it’s not unheard of. So I don’t think that there’s much you can do apart from noting a colleague who’s not a very good collaborator.
If this is a pattern, then perhaps a discussion with a more senior person is warranted. I’d suggest you focus on getting more than one person to attest to this behavior and perhaps back it up with evidence e.g. email correspondence or the like.