Hi I got a 1st class distinction in my msc, so got offered a 2 yr phd fully funded. I accepted because i really liked my supervisors and they were the top of there field. 4 weeks later both my supervisors got sacked from uni, now ive still not got any new official supervisors 2 months later. The dept is running aground, im buying my own software and theres no money to get data to carry on with my study. I need to use HPGE detectors every month im being told ive gotta wait another month....nothings happening, its beyond my control and no one seems to give a fuck!

Im so stressed out with it, since my supervisors and 9 staff got made redundant its all gone to pot! Is this a reason worth quitting?
I want to enter the environmental sector, and i dont think 2 years of heart ach and failure are going tyo do me any favours, i defo dont want to get mixed up in academea after ive had to put up with all this crap!
Opinions are greatly accepted!

Why did your supervisors get sacked? I always thought these things are unlikely to happen in academia. What happened?

Well they were forced to take redundancy....it was either take voulantary redundancy now, or get sacked in 9 months, so 9 people had to go. My 2 supervisors where the ones to go, along with 7 other environmental staff, my dept is no like a gohst town!

are you working with CEH?

No im not....why is someone goig through the same hard time?

CEH is a Government-funded environmental research organisation, with 200ish researchers being made redundant. I only ask because they're a popular CASE partner, so a lot of people have joint supervisors there.

It's a bit crappy when the Government say that Climate Change is really important, yet the people researching it are being pushed out

Hi there,i've been surfing round some forums about those wanting to quit&have heard some pretty helpful stuff and, upsettingly and suprisingly, some pretty useless and hurtful stuff from people i can only assume are mean spirited (insert your own swear word here)'s! So i thought i would add my own experience and thoughts (in lots of little posts as i keep being told to reduce its size)...

After about four months of indecision and many more of unhappiness and confusion i have decided to leave my phd (leave - not quit!). Yes there are two year itches and the doldrums, whatever, the point is that i realised that,for me,after weighing up both sides, the stress and worry and unhappiness my phd was causing was not worth the positives i was getting from it, either now or in the long run.
Leaving was not an easy decision - i felt the usual guilt and anxiety and 'may be i should just stick it out' but i tried to look positively &5productively at what i could gain from leaving. I realised that the things i wanted to get out of a job (after my phd) were obtainable now and also not necessarily dependant on me having a phd or even working in the area of my phd...

Leaving is a lot harder then sticking with it when you are unhappy - you are facing the unknown again - and all the extra stress that accompanies that. But it is a positive step - you are proactively holding your hands up in the air and saying, it wasn't for me, i made the wrong decision, but now i am trying to put that right and get myself on the right path.

If you are thinking of leaving - only u can make the decision - &probably none of your friends will be able to fully understand why, because they haven't been there themselves, so bare that in mind when asking for their advice or support. I considered starting a phd a career move - to get me where i believed i wanted to be - and i have tried to look at my decision to leave in the same light, it may not work for you but it helped me.
I just wanted to let anyone facing this decision that it is not quitting or taking the easy road, that, unless you are a masachist, there are no guarantees that continuing along an unhappy will make you happy afterwards.
oh and there is nothing i can say that will help you when you tell your parents - disappointment is a word parents should be banned from using!!! They'll get over it eventually (mothers take longer - 'you mean you wont be a doctor???')

Now, does anyone have any advice on how to actually leave? HOw the hell do i deal with my supervisors given that i dont want to leave before the end of march or face paying back my stipend???

Hey coastalchick,

I couldn't agree more with the sentiments in your post. Leaving IS often harder than staying, and you should feel proud that you have had the courage of your convictions.

As for leaving itself, am I right in thinking that you only have to return the part of the stimpend which you have received but will not be working for? If so, won't this still be in your account? Working with supervisors who know you want to leave - this could be tricky. However, they have no right to make you feel bad about your decision, and I would hope that they would still act professionally towards you.

Coastalchick, are you going to do proper research until March or just faff about pretending you are working?

and are you related to coastman?

H - Not related to coastman but obviously we are equally unimaginative in chosing our names
I am hoping that i can use the time doing something really productive - i want to talk to my supervisors about trying to get soemthing that could be published (it probably all just a pipe dream given that i haven't done any real work for ages). I have been really unhappy with the direction of my phd over the past couple of months so i am hoping i can drag it back into interesting topics until the end of march.
Matthew82 - the money is in my account but isn't if you catch my meaning - brought a house last year and really cant afford to pay them back especially if i dont have another job to go to (hopefully it wont be the case) i have saved some of it but again would rather i could keep it. Besides i really would like to feel that i left on a high note and was productive with my work