Hi Helen,
Such things happen much more often than you think. Personally, I
encountered a lot of similar problems at the beginning of my PhD. My
first supervisor left the university during the first year of my PhD. I
felt disheartened and disoriented for quite a while, as my university
couldn't provide me with someone to replace him immediately.
At the moment, that first supervisor is still getting payed by my
department as my external although admittedly he doesn't help me in any
way at all. Although I've got a new supervisor now, the actual person
really involved in my project and really helpful is, on paper, only my
'second' supervisor.
All of this can jeopardise your research project and breaks the
continuity of what you are doing. Yet, it also makes you more
independent and confident about your own project. You should definitely
'shop' around and try to find a better supervisor if you are not
satisfied with yours at the moment, especially if he's leaving for about
6 months. Your university should have a policy for that anyway and
should be able to provide you with an interim person in the meantime.
Ultimately, however, one should confuse supervisory problems and
'Mid-PhD Breakdown (also known as MPBD). Most PhD students have a low
period half-way through their PhDs and it is quite common to blame
external circumstances for one's shortcomings. I don't mean to say that
it is your case, as you seem to be facing serious supervisor problems,
but I went through similar crises, where I felt that the best thing to
do was to move supervisor, project or university. Yet persevering pays
in the long run.
Hope this help,
Good luck,
Cedric Ginestet
PsyPAG Chair
Thames Valley University
-----Original Message-----
From: Research of postgraduate psychologists. on behalf of Mann,
Helen N
Sent: Thu 21/07/2005 15:03
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc:
Subject: Supervisory problems
Has anyone else had problems with their supervisor being
unsupportive and just someone you don't get on with particularly because
they are researching into a different area/from a different discipline.
I'm having a terrible time of it with added problem of my supervisor
having a terminal illness and being off for the past 7mths.
Basically, is there anyone who has resorted to changing their
supervisor and if so how did they go about doing it? And how do they
cope with seeing their old supervisor....
Helen
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