Hi guys,

I have some simple and short question. I want to know how unique I am in the since of receiving no help from my supervisors. They even do not know how to approach the project and what the question is!

- Did you find and define the topic of your project or it was defined from the beginning?
- Is your supervisor helping you in your research? How many hours per week does he/she spend for talking to you about the project and possible approaches, how to proceed, what to do, etc?
- After you talk with your supervisor about your project/problem, do you feel that you learned something or you feel that you just wasted your time and (s)he has no idea about what to say and (s)he doesn't know even the subject?
- Is your supervisor able to give you useful advice/comments after you send him an interesting paper/publication to read?

Cheers,
Rouzbeh

Hi,

I used to worry about this when I first started, but soon realised that there's a lot of it about. Possibly, it shouldn't be so, but the truth is that some people hardly get any support from their supervisors. With mine, it depends firstly on his mood and secondly on whether he is off around the world promoting his latest book! Sometimes he is very enthusiastic, sometimes I don't hear a word for months and months.

If you have a look back through this forum you'll find lots of similar threads about supervisors which should assure that if nothing else, you're not alone.

In answer to your questions:

I came up with my topic by myself, but my supervisor okayed it.

My supervisor does't help me much with research, though he will sometimes direct my reading if he thinks I am getting sidetracked.

Fortunately, my supervisor really is an expert in his field so talking to him is never a waste of time and he knows his stuff backwards... but working out time when we are both free to meet can be a problem - so we don't talk very often.

In answer to your final question: My supervisor emails me detailed commentary every time I send him work. (He generally responds within about 4 weeks.) I don't always agree with every point he makes but I do find it useful.

I'm sure other people have different experiences... but if you're unhappy with your supervisor, I think you should try to be proactive and perhaps ask for specific things that you want in terms of feedback.

I see mine about once every 2 months.

I've never sent an interesting publication/article to my supervisor for comments - this is not the done thing as far as I'm aware.

Meetings involve going over the work I have submitted, and then general questions.

I defined my research topic from the beginning, my supervisor has never directed me on what to research. However, my supervisor is very aware of what I'm researching and is always helpful, and gives me suggestions when I ask. However, I am definitely an 'independent' researcher.

Hmmm. I designed my project and have no input for my supervisor. We rarely meet, and on the rare occaision I have given him something to read, I have had few, if any, comments. I think now that I'm writing up this will improve (although that remains to be tested as I submit chpaters) as we are both keen for me to submit end 08.

It has been very frustrating. I would like some interest and someone to talk to about my project. There have been a lot of serious problems with the methodology which I have just had to batter away at hopefully (or quit). My supervisor is a top guy in his filed, but my project is quite tangential - an area he would like to get into - as long as someone else actually does it. He has never made time to really get to grips with it and I am worried that he will not give me adequate feedback.

I think I am at the extreme end. I never wrote a first-year report or had any offical upgrade. Just a letter in the post one day to say I had been upgraded. I think if I were younger, less determined (utterly tenacious more like it) or self-funding I would have quit when I got pregnant. I have gone through stages of being alternately furious, bewildered and miserable about the lack of support. But in the end, I have got used to it.

My funny problem with my supervisors is that they are not experts at all in the research field of my project!

Well, my problem is that my advisor is also the chair of the department and he is always busy with that. He's also the kind of advisor that lets you design your own project. Now, my problem with that is that I'm in a "new" area of research for me. I'm currently studying Microbial Ecology, but I come from a Biotechnology and Botany background. We use some of the same techniques, but the questions/hypothesis are complicated for me to design. And I don't think my advisor understands this.

My supervisor usually ignores my first email and then when I finally send a second one I get feedback such as "This is fine." No hello, no goodbye... it's like his emails have a three-word limit.

I get quite a lot of support from my supervisor in terms of techniques, ideas and approaches. Our meetings are planned in advance and regularly. In the first year it was once a month, the second every fortnight or so and the third year every fortnight.
Most of the time I choose my own directions and we discuss the work I've completed in between the meetings. Sometimes, if she comes across a relevant article or conference she forwards it to me. Other times I go to her (we're quite informal here in Australia) and ask for advice on matters like teaching, conference abstracts, etc.
The level of exchange has changed with each year. In the first year she was my main avenue for advice and assistance. In the second year, I was off and away on my own and checked in only during meetings. In the third year, as the second draft progressed the exchanges have become more specific.

- Did you find and define the topic of your project or it was defined from the beginning?

my first year, the project that was "defined" for me, was a pile of poo. i had to fight for it to get changed.
2nd supervisor came along. and that project was again a pile of crap.

then I had to make my own project and idea by talking to a visiting professor, in the begininng my supervisor didn't care for it. and i had to work on it after i did my experiments for my main crappy project. as soon as i started to get good data and results, he jumped on it.
---

- Is your supervisor helping you in your research? How many hours per week does he/she spend for talking to you about the project and possible approaches, how to proceed, what to do, etc?

- nope! none of that. all my supervisor ever cared about was papers. and never talked about my thesis or anything else. i was pretty much thrown into the deep end to figure it out on my own.

- After you talk with your supervisor about your project/problem, do you feel that you learned something or you feel that you just wasted your time and (s)he has no idea about what to say and (s)he doesn't know even the subject?

- i feel very very scared and intimidated by my supervisor. so much so , i avoid talking to him or contacting him. because he makes me feel like i am incapable of defending or understanding my work.

- Is your supervisor able to give you useful advice/comments after you send him an interesting paper/publication to read?

- not really.

- Did you find and define the topic of your project or it was defined from the beginning?
I found and defined it myself.

- Is your supervisor helping you in your research? How many hours per week does he/she spend for talking to you about the project and possible approaches, how to proceed, what to do, etc?
Hours per week? Are you kidding? In my first year, I saw her once/month for 1 hour. Now in my second year I saw her a total of 3 times, for 1.5 hours.
- After you talk with your supervisor about your project/problem, do you feel that you learned something or you feel that you just wasted your time and (s)he has no idea about what to say and (s)he doesn't know even the subject?
I "chose" my supervisor because she is the leading expert in my field. Our meetings are rare, but extremely helpful and valuable. I usually walk out there and can't believe how much useful stuff I just heard.

But there might be a problem with your question: Yes, she is the leading expert, and our meetings are useful. No, she doesn't know anything about my PhD. Well, ok, not nothing. But obviously, I am trying to find out something - I am doing research. So, obviously, she doesn't know the answers. And that's what it's supposed to be like, I think!
- Is your supervisor able to give you useful advice/comments after you send him an interesting paper/publication to read?
Do you mean my own writing, or just random interesting stuff? Never did the latter. For the former, when she gives me feedback, it's usually brilliant. But more often than not, I don't get feedback - because she is too busy, I guess.