Science is unpredictable. Well-researched projects with solid preliminary data can go nowhere, while a chance observation can open a novel and fruitful line of inquiry. However resources are fixed, and faculty have limited time, funding, personnel, and brain power to devote to ongoing projects. Not everything is worth pursuing.

Reasons projects fail

Projects can fail for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the simplest is that the project is a bad idea. It didn’t seem like a bad idea when the project started, but with more and more effort, nothing has come of the original idea. Another reason a project can fail is that there is a poor match between the project and the person (usually a grad student or postdoc) charged with executing the project. This could be a mismatch of technical skills, a lack of time, or general disinterest in the work. Money can also be a reason for failure. Some projects are unfundable, while others are funded, but not at the level the work requires. Still others can fail because the project goals are too meager for the costs required to achieve them. 

What to do

Regardless of the underlying reason the project is failing, you need to take stock fully of where the project is to understand your options for how to best proceed. First, it is worth getting a clear picture of how much data, both yours and in the literature, exists. Second, the data gathered needs to be assessed for its quality. Are experiments reproducible, or is a lack of reproducibility the primary issue? Are different types of data consistent with each other, and if not, are the differences easily explained? Are all experiments clearly documented and organized? Once the data situation is clear, the next thing to assess are the people involved. The student or postdoc who is the lead on the project- how important is this project to their career progression? How interested in the work are they? Do they have another project ongoing? If the project is collaborative with another lab, it is important to know how they feel about the direction the project is moving, and how important it is to them. You also should think carefully about your time and energy, and how continuing to work on this project will affect you.

If people are invested, and the data are solid but scant or negative, can the work be included in part of a related study? Can you publish a short form article? Can any large datasets gathered in the project be included in repositories to benefit the community? Is a review article that includes what you’ve learned a possibility? Can the data be used to seed a grant to fund a different strategy of addressing the root question? These options serve the community, but they do require a significant investment of time and effort on your and other involved researchers’ parts.

If people are not invested, or the data are poor, sometimes it is best to just stop working on the project and focus everyone’s efforts on a more fruitful line of research. If the idea keeps tickling the back of your mind, you can always have another lab member pilot a few experiments in the future. You might also learn something new that changes your strategy and can return to the project in the future. The benefits of this approach is that the time, effort, and funding going to the project stop immediately, so no further costs are incurred. 

Preventing future failures

It’s also essential that you learn from the situation so you don’t repeat it. Where did things go wrong, and what can be done to prevent errors in the future? Is it a money issue? Perhaps you set a fiscal limit on how much discretionary funding can go towards an idea before it must be supported by its own grant. Did you not have interested and invested people on board? Why was that? How can you make sure wherever is in charge of executing the project is genuinely interested in its success? Did you not research the project well enough? Writing a grant or a short review article can help you and your team organize available data and think through outcomes.

Communicating your decision

Open communication and idea sharing are fundamental to a functional lab environment. When you decide to stop working on a project, it is essential that everyone involved understands why you’ve made this decision and what the plan going forward is. You don't want people to feel like their projects can be canceled at any time, so share your logic and how you arrived at your decision. Focus on the project and not the person who is doing the project and have a plan for what that person will be doing both in the immediate few weeks and more long term. Also communicate any strategies you’ve decided to adopt to help minimize the chances of the same thing happening in the future.

Not every project works out. How you manage a failing project is more important to your long term success than any individual effort.