Thank you SO very much for replying. My friend and I are in the US, but looks like the situation in the UK is not very different. Here in the US the PI holds the life of the postdoc in their hands. In this particular situation looks like the PI wanted the grant all for herself, so she did not include my friend. My friend was unhappy about this but since a career in science is so dependent on the reference or good words spoken by the supervisor, (in this case the PI), she continued to work hard hoping that in return for giving up her claim on the grant, the PI would support her for a faculty position. Since the PI terminated her it seems like she is not in favor of doing this either. Yes, it is a moral right issue, maybe we could talk to an attorney here to figure out if she has any legal rights at all. Thanks again, so very much for the insight.

I have a friend who is a post doc. She has made some novel discoveries in her last 3 years of work. Based on her work a grant was written which is on the verge of being funded, the last revision came back with a ranking of 2 and very postive feedback. Unfortunately her PI did not want to include her name on the grant. With her title as post doc researcher she was not able to write for grants on her own either. Now that the grant is going to be funded, the PI has cut off her funding. She was given a 1 month notice of termination for lack of funds. This puts her at a terrible disadvantage. She will be without a job and that will make it all the more difficult for her to get another job. In a situation where the post doc makes a major contribution to the grant, she should either be the co-pi of the grant or the PI would support her to find a faculty position, right? Why would they terminate her funding with such short notice? The PI never mentored her or allowed her to write for grants. If the post doc had the funding she could take it and establish herself in a good insitution. So in this situation what is the post doc to do? Her intellectual property was stolen and she has been left with nothing. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you very much.