Not that I'm going to do this, but...

What happens if you start research at one uni and then decide that the uni isn't for you? Is it possible to still use your old proposal to apply to another institution, or does it somehow become this uni's property? (resulting in having to choose an entirely different topic?)
If I ever decided to do this myself, I would feel a bit guilty about it.
(tree)

I would have thought that it is perfectly possible to "recycle" your own proposal and use it to apply to a different uni/institution. Depending on how small the field is, the people from the first uni might find out and might not like it, but I dont think there is much they can do about it. It's just competition in research - or am I missing something here?