Hi tru, to answer your question about Dr. FL, no. She too received her PhD in 2016 and her area of speciality doesn't even align with mine. Hence, my concern. She does come to meetings, but doesn't contribute constructively.

I will be student No.3. However, her students 1 and 2, are visibly doing alright. Student 2 agrees with a lot of points I made above, but she is in a rut (had issues with a previous supervisor and was put with Dr. Ambitious because she was 'available').

I have not yet started my PhD, but about to. This is the point where I make my decisions, and I have to make them soon. Your response has given me the courage to step out of this rut I'm in, and to move forward for my own good, from a place that would otherwise only bog me down with his norms. Thank you!

3. The university where I am in now, doesn't particularly allow for independent research- research on something I'm interested in. A PhD aspirant has to bend to the rules and themes of the School to fit in. I don't agree with this, especially because my area of interest doesn't match up too well with the theme. Dr. Ambitious told me that if I wanted to do a PhD with her, I'd have to follow the theme. I would basically be forcing myself to research on something I don't particularly have any interest in.

4. I can ask another lecturer to supervise me. I have cordial relations with all lecturers. But the nature of relations between the lecturers in the School is so tight-knit, I'm afraid it may cause friction if I go to another lecturer in the same school.

5. Australia doesn't offer PR for international students, unless their course falls under the given professions on the SOL. Marketing isn't one of them. I am aware that track tenure jobs are growing lesser by the year, and for me, there is no guarantee of a job or permanent residency after graduating. I was in an absolute soup after finishing my Masters, because I couldn't get a job and I actually went into the research line, to occupy my time. Thankfully, I actually love research, so it's not a burden. In line with this thought, Canada offers me the opportunity to get PR and settle down in academia, which is very attractive to me right now. But this would mean, leaving my life back here and possibly disappointing Dr. Ambitious.

Based on all these pointers, I honestly feel like leaving and going to Canada, which just has more certainty, along with the points about Dr. Ambitious. What do you think? I want to hear your thoughts!

And go!

Hello! For a bit of background, I'm an international student in Australia and I've recently graduated with a Masters in Marketing, with a distinction. I grew to work well with my supervise of my dissertation, let's call her Dr. Ambitious and after that went well, we discussed working on my PhD too, with her as my supervisor. There were several conundrums in my subconscious which I ignored for a long time, but now I can't ignore them much longer.

1. Dr. Ambitious just got her PhD in 2016 and is an early career researcher. She is well-recognised, won awards and is ambitious. But with all this ambition, comes the fact that she can never say no. She has the tendency to take on a tonne of projects and other work, which leaves her with little to no time for research. In fact, she hasn't published anything for 2 years now, because of this (this came from the horse's mouth). She already has two other PhD students. Her feedback is fine, but she tends to lack eye for detail, and one of her current PhD students agrees with me. As a result, I feel she may not be able to allocate much time for me, along with her lack of experience.

2. Dr. Ambitious is particularly close to another lecturer in the same School. Let's call her Dr. Free Loader (FL), because that's exactly what she is. Dr. (FL) has been third author on two paper I've published. While she did contribute with feedback on my first paper, she hasn't done anything to deserve third authorship on my second. I've read the rules of authorship, so I'm not talking through my hat. She deserves an acknowledgement at best. Now, the other day, Dr. Ambitious TOLD me, instead of ASK me, that Dr. FL would be my second supervisor for my PhD. I dislike this approach, considering it is MY PhD and I should be able to decide who I want to work with.

To be continued.