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Hi all,
I started my PhD 5 months ago. I still cannot figure out what exactly I would be doing. Along with that, I think I am left without much of support or supervision. My supervisor is accessible and has good background (but has not done herself any work recently in my area of interest). My topic is more multidisciplinary in nature than the previous work my supervisor did 15 or so years ago, meaning that I must be trained in remote sensing and geographic analysis. The question here is: should not I offered training opportunities or my duties as a PhD student include teaching myself these techniques without a push to get me going?!

Lab wise, I asked a colleague to let me know whenever she is in the lab working so I pick up some analytic techniques. She did not. I am a bit less worried about that because I am starting a training course at another University next week. Yet, I should, I think, have been shown around the lab because after all the specific procedures may vary from one place to another. I am mentioning that I was not shown around just to clarify how consistent the patten of negligence I am experiencing.

I approached the professor responsible for monitoring the progress of students and the possible problems they may have with their projects or supervisors. He felt that I am not in the best situation but still I am not too far behind, I do not think he understood my situation owing to the different approaches of work (me being heavily experimental, and he is extensively theoretical).
any feedback would be truly appreciated.
yours truly,
Biologist.

Sorry I could not understand your thread completely. You are Biologist and studying remote monitoring of plants. Is that in the form of aerial photography? or is this some kind of microbiology related research?

Sounds like you are going to have to learn it by yourself mostly. If you have the software (Envi, Erdas, ArcGIS, etc.) there are usually plenty of tutorials, etc. online that will do just as good as any training they give you. My background is in remote sensing / GIS so if you have questions I might be able to help a bit.

I can't speak for any other disciplines, but I was asked what I wanted to do, told what training my sups think would be necessary and then left to get on with it myself. Mostly I just taught myself, but I have also been on a few training courses. From my experiences in the social sciences, you just get stuck in and, if you need help, it is up to you to ask for it, not for others to offer.

So, i don't really understand what topic you are doing, but since it is lab-based and somewhat biological, i can understand that sense of being lost with techniques. I am nearing the end of writing up a PhD where i too had to teach myself most of the techniques i needed - and it is far from fun. My suggestion, talk to people and ask for help and ideas, if necessary follow people around in a non-annoying way if you need to learn a technique from them (but be grateful, appreciative and nice to them because it takes time and energy to teach new people). Hang about the lab. And when you need to learn about certain equipment or things then that is the time to learn. No need to know where the acid is hidden unless you need it, right? (Although, health and safety training is a must)

Persist, 5 months is really early on in the PhD, but the earlier you realise that you are in charge of your research, the better!

(But, fundamentally, i do believe that guidance is necessary at all stages of a PhD, although you can do it with less than adequate supervision)

Hi Biologist, the problem with a PhD is that it is very self-motivating and the point is to make you independent as a researcher. That makes taking most of it from your own initiative - your supervisor is there to be a guide and not to tell you what to do. You already said your supervisor is accessible, which is good.

I did an interdisciplinary project as well which meant none of my supervisors were experts overall in what I was doing. But they were there to help in their own specific areas and then it was for me to go away and fit it together and see how other people had done that.

It can be quite frustrating but you have to get rid of the expectation that someone else will do it for you - you have to be proactive and take the lead. If you want to learn something, just learn it. If you are in the lab, don't be afraid to ask where things are. But you have to take the lead.