YoungFemaleScientist has a nice post discussing the PI-mentee relationship, describing it in terms of master and apprentice.
During my time at LargeU, several new hires were made. One was a senior hire (and a very, very famous one, at that). Multiple labs, a large conference room, and numerous offices were promised in order to bring in this established research group. Despite being a very Large U indeed, space here at LargeU is quite limited. As a result, other groups down sized lab space, shuffled offices, and, in a few cases, were relocated to entirely different locations on campus.
Research space here (and at most of your schools, I'm sure) is the hot commodity. It's a carrot that has been dangled in front of many a PI for various reasons over the years. If you are not productive as a PI (as judged on high by other faculty members)-- meaning no grants, no graduates, no publications, or some combination of the three, you lose your research space. In my <5 years here, I've seen at least nine faculty lose their lab space to some degree-- in some cases, completely.
In contrast, a few years ago a senior faculty member (and a very, very famous one, at that) semi-unexpected died. Although no plaques were hung or memorials dedicated, the lab and offices were locked and left as they were. Even more unsettling, the research posters are still hanging in the hall, despite the fact that all of the students have since moved to other institutions. I find it very strange that the lab space vultures haven't moved in on this prime real estate.
Could it be that the LargeU PIs have some unspoken rule about moving in on a dead man's space? How is this different then when they swoop in on lab space of a non-funded (i.e. dead financially) group?
