======= Date Modified 09 Feb 2011 00:18:57 =======
Hii All

Am a recent PhD student submitted my lit review ...past mnth..
n
got feed back (today) as overall poor standard.

The reason being they say I have covered wide range of literature but the organisation and content indicated superficial understanding . In deed I was been asked to rewrite my lit review.

My supervisor was not satisfied with the lab aswell and it was with some errors which I made initially and were been exploited and highlighted to the max extent. until yesterday I dint knew that PhD students got to set their own protocol and continue experiments.

It was my mistake that I was expecting my supervisor to be behind me as it was with MSc project.
If there are step1,2,3,45....I was waiting for him to show the results of 1 and take guidance for step2 and then proceed for step3....and so..onnn....I came to know few days back...that protocols we need to design ourselves.

There was no proper communication between both of us which led to confusion and though I have shown to him draft of my lit revw....at that point he dint point any mistakes and now...pointing out...this that irrelevant....etcetc..
And also he say Am unfit to do research and am not the standard range of his students with perspective to lab skills+technical knowledge. he say U CANT PROCEED IN RESEARCH(this was told nearly 10 times) and Iam UNFIT FOR CONTINUATION REPORT ASWELL.

The matter became serious where it has reached to the xplanation of mine towards my lowlevel of progress in research to the main chairperson ..

At this moment there are three routes in my hand:
1) to rewrite lit review perfectly minimising all the errors.
2) doing lab properly n with gd results
3) Proper communication with supervisor.

According to tutor the routes were:
1) Quit PhD
2) Look for different topic and diff sup
3) Additional supervisor...

But Am not assured that eventhough I struggle much n put up to max extent How far can I succeed in my progress and in continuation report??? Even if now this stage is passed Are there any chances of stopping me in next report which is crucial fr next couple of years.

My mistakes were:
1) Communication gap with supervisor
2) errors in lab at start of project
3) Lit review written in my own style(explanatory with diagrams)

By the above told mistakes, my sup came to conclusion that IAM UNFIT N SHUDNT PROCEED ...n also confirmed me that he is not goin to support my funding apps(mine was self funded project).

So no help for me with regard to lab/research project/funding apps/report.

I would like to ask people in this website...one question:

HOW FAR IT IS BETTER TO CONTINUE WITH MY PHD??(accessing all the above told risk factors....)


Please any one help me....with your valuable suggestions...

Wow, sounds like a bad blow for you, but you will get through it by talking to your supervisor, other students etc.

Firstly, I'd start with, the difference between MSc and PhD is HUGE (in Australia, where I am from). Basically, it seems as you experienced during yours, a MSc is and hand-held walk through lab based research, which your supervisor dictates protocols and experiments for you to do, and it's but to you to analyse. A PhD is completely different. You are on your own, leading your own research designing and researching protocols etc, I assume is this was not explained to you when you began (which is either due to a crappy supervisor or perhaps by you not realising how difficult a PhD is, especially for scientists, which from what I have seen, many fresh PhD students don't realise).

First of al, your lit review (although I cant comment too much because I havent seen it) is far too basic. A scientific lit review should be relevant exploration of all research done in your project area where you provide details, holes and gaps that are apparent in the research. No basic mumbo jumbo.

Of course, lab work is not meant to be easy, if it was easy everyone would do it. It's common to have problems in your first, second and third years etc. so don't beat yourself up too much about poor results thus far. I would go back to square one and look at experiemental design which is VERY important aspect to have down pat at the beginning of your PhD.

In Australia we have panel members which "guide us" through our PhD (from an outside supervisory perspective) and are there if we have any problems. I assume you would have someone like this for you as well, discuss your concerns about your supervisor with them, thats what they are there for.

As for quitting your PhD, it's only the beginning. I say rewrite and resubmit and talk to people about this who may have gone through this before. It's sometimes better to talk to people face to face, get your feelings out and destress.

I hope that helps, I'm sorry if some of it sounded a little harsh, I didn't mean to be!

Good luck with everything and let us all know how you go.