I am doing a PhD in Australia. My supervisor is abusive towards me although he praises my work and i have reason to fear that he will not give me a good enough reference to allow me to get a Post Doc. He discusses confidential things about me with students he likes better who suck up to him, he has made me look bad, he has called me stupid although my academic record is very strong, he sneers and becomes vicious if i report other staff harrassing me or if i get nervous with him, he has supported other students harrassing me, ... there is so much. I have been in the middle of a serious bullying, mobbing, and harrassment issue at the department which other people there have noticed and been shocked at. The head of school has said nasty things at me in front of other people as i walk down the corridor, without even looking at me. Other people were shocked at what she said. I feel too humiliated to remain in that department. One problem is that a previous supervisor who bullied me and is well known in his field has definitely spread malicious rumours about me which has resulted in negative behaviour towards me from academics i have never had any contact with before.

I need ideas as to how to contact and impress a new supervisor in another state and how to test the waters to see if they already have a negative view of me. Also, what excuse could i give for leaving? I have some ideas on these things but i need more from people who understand my point of view. Also, i have not quite finished my APA scholarship and have strong case for getting an extension on it. I wonder at what point i should leave and change supervisors so they will get to know me and give me a good reference. Will my present supervisor have to get credit, although he knows little about my topic? Would any supervisor be likely to be willing to take this over after the field work is complete? How would i make it attractive for them under the circumstances if my work is strong and has good results? How could i ensure noone at my present university finds out where i've gone? This seems a bit complicated!

Also, has anyone had any experience with trying to take legal action in an extreme case of mobbing and bullying of a postgraduate with no hard evidence?


You can give me any serious brainstormed ideas if you are interested in this question, perhaps! :-)

Hi there. Sounds like a rotten situation. In the first instance, I would suggest going to your university union to get some advice. I am doing a PhD in Australia as well, and am 99% sure that most universities have a union, with a dedicated person(s) who is completely independent (e.g. not employed by the university) and whose role is to provide informal and legal advice and advocacy for exactly these kinds of situations. I had some problems with my primary supervisor in the first 2 years of my PhD where I felt that she was not fulfilling her role or behaving in a professional manner, and I found talking with the university union's student advocate was a really effective way of finding out what my rights were, separating the personal problems from the professional issues, and in the end, resolving the problem (by adding another supervisor from within the dept). It helped that student advocate was completely independent, as I felt I was getting unobjective advice. Although thankfully it never got to this stage for me, the student advocate also told me that they commonly sit in on and mediate meetings between eg you and your supervisor, graduate coordinator, head of school, or even dean of research. Or, if you are not comfortable with that, they can contact them independently and lay down the law! Apparently these kinds of problems are more common than you might think, I got the feeling our student advocate had seen it all!

I think depending on your field, it will be very difficult to get a new supervisor in another state without them contacting your current supervisor for an informal chat or more formal reference request, especially if you are in the last year of your APA. Obviously I don't know the whole story of your current situation, but I don't know that your current supervisor would let you go - even if you feel that he has had little intellectual input in your project, he probably feels he has, and probably knows how to make a case for it. Also, I'm pretty sure that your APA is tied to your current university, and they would have to agree to you transferring it to another university. If you have less than a year to go on your APA (without extension), they would like quite hard at it, as letting you transfer would mean letting another university get the $80,000 funding for successful completion of PhD.

I think you are best to try and tackle this problem head on. My advice - go to your student union - today! now! - and get this sorted! If for some reason you don't have a union, go to student support and see a counsellor, they can guide you to the right place. But don't wait any longer!

HI There,  it might be late, but on my opinion,
and based on advices I had for a similar problem, you should not do anything. As
you are scared for your future career and thus future reference letters, remember that
a change in supervisor means to make a formal complaint about him/her, and this
can only worsen the situation. how many years do you have
left?