Many thanks metabanalysis, for your words of encouragement. You seem like you know the politics of academia reasonably well..

Yes you are right about needing to find someone with a 'can do' attitude. I met with my masters supervisor who was very helpful and recommended a couple of people to talk to. One of the recommended academics was very helpful, 'transparent' and offered to supervise. I have spoken with a number of people now, at least 7, however this academic seems like someone i could get along well with. Fingers crossed it goes exceptionally well.

Just need to move forward now and finish and pass my phd. Many thanks again :-)

Hello there

I am just hoping to get your experiences / advice on changing supervisors 2.5 years into a PhD.

I have had ongoing issues with my primary supervisor, and subsequently my supervisory panel (3 academics) for about 1.5 years. My primary supervisor was the only supervisor who had 'expertise' in the area. All went well, until data analysis, when I felt I wasn't receiving the expert guidance, nor the support that I needed to analyse the data. The work relationship hit the fan, my primary supervisor was saying nasty things about me to my face, and to other academics. Long story short, in order to continue my PhD I had to seek the services of a lawyer. I won, and thankfully, the University has recommended that I change my whole supervisory panel.

I suppose, I just need some moral support at the minute. I'm wondering if there are others who have been in a similar situation, and have had a good outcome (e.g. passed their PhD).

Also, I'm in the process of finding new supervisors. Wondering people's experiences, and how you approached potential supervisors, following a 'situation' like this?

Thanks very much