had my first year viva yesterday. got torn apart limb from limb by my advisor and supervisor. i have a week to resubmitt my report and will have another review in three months. i had no feedback on my ropert before i handed it in. so i effectivley handed in what was a first draft. i was pretty much told that i was lucky not to be kick out of this university straight away. ive never had such a hurtful meeting in my entire life :(

what a tough way to begin your phd! get used to handling criticism. it never stops from now on. it is a shame though that your supervisors have let you present a first draft of your proposal and have given you no feedback so far. that's really unfair. good luck! it looks like you are going to need it if you are going to keep working with them.

I've had some pretty bad advisor's meetings. They've said I don't know stuff, and tried to get me to drop 2/3 of my thesis at one point. Luckily my supervisor was on my side. I cried after the 2nd and 3rd year ones, and I'm about to submit, so OK so far.
Can you talk to someone else about it, or change advisor? Either they're being honest in a really unpleasant way, or they've let you down badly.

That's shocking. Any good supervisor should have read your report beforehand - how are you mean tot know if you're going down the right track without feedback? Your supervisory team is contractually obligated to give you regular feedback - check your university regulations.

the interesting thing is that i have never really asked my supervisor for feedback or advice all year. when i started i was told, he was not interested in answering peoples questions, unless they have got answers. During april last, i had a meeting with him and said he didnt think i was cut out for this university or to do a phd and that if i needed to be pushed along by him, this wasnt the place for me. i had a very good degree behind me when i started as well as a publication, so i have to believe that i am cut out for this. research is all ive ever really wanted to do.

it has always seemed to me that he is not interested in what his students do and as he nevered asked for a draft, i didnt submitt one. i was even accused of fabricating an sem image of one of my results! i am going to do what i can to improve my report for next friday, at which time, i will request a transfer to another project or else i am dropping out

Your supervisor needs to understand that there is a difference between a) giving students all the answers, and b) providing them with a sounding board for useful discussions (i.e. allowing you to figure out your own answers, but with a little guidance). How experienced is he/she? What is the general faculty opinion of them?

he has been in research less than twenty years now. he came from another university with lots of money and has been at this university for about four years now. from what ive been told, the opinion of him is not that high within my department.

"when i started i was told, he was not interested in answering peoples questions, unless they have got answers"

Didn't this set alarm bells going when you heard this? He sounds like a right loon to me. Why would anyone ask a question if they had the answer already?

This sorry tale really underlines how important it is to be on good terms with your supervisor. He should be your ally not your enemy! If I was in your position I'd be tempted to cut my losses and find something else. You state that you have a good first degree and even produced a publication before you started, so I think the ball is in your court.

sounds like your supervisors are really not doing their job. they should have read your work before hand and offered their criticism before you went to a panel of strangers. a good supervisor reads your work before hand and offers comments which you may/not incoperate in your final draft. next time i would say hold your supervisors down before you go before a panel. i don't know what your circumstances are but it wasn't fair of them. anyhow don't let this keep you down, take it as a learning process, next time am sure you will know what to do beforehand. wishing u well

i think alarm should of gone off when i was told by the guy who replaced me that my supervisor's way of dealing with students is to give them enough rope to let them hang themselves

on further reading this thread i think you should request for another supervisor. how on earth did you go for the whole year without seeing him??? and then when you see him he is so negative!!! goodness i think u should have a talk with him, how can he say that he cant answer your questions if you dont know the answers. jeez i really dont envy you. if he is not willing to be your supervisor then he should say so. does he supervise any other students?? at the end of the day if you fail no one will ever say it was your supervisor's fault. so rise above the situation and do something about it, even if it means making a complaint. the other thing is every uni has a code of what you must expect from a supervisor and also the research office if its a sound one will do checks; you know like a monitoring process of how you are getting on and how often you meet up and if you are having any probs. u need to do something before its too late.

I was really shocked to read this post especially after I had such good supervision. I think you need to ask for a different supervisor, remember that a PhD has to be paid for and this supervisor is providing a service. Also the route to getting a PhD is tough even with good supervision - this kind of relationship will destroy your confidence - change supervisor ASAP

Thanks a lot for your comments. i was told by my tutor, a number of months ago that it is possible to change phd projects and its not uncommon for that to happen. Im praying i can stil do this, but it may be too late. ill find out next week. ive been told that if i drop out or am kicked out it puts a black mark on the department which isnt looked upon very well by funding bodies. They lose the rest of my research funding

Well if you are resubmitting, try and get any friends or fellow PhD students to comment on your work. Maybe you could do a seminar presentation for them and ask them to comment. This might help you to pass. I know your supervisor may have let you down, but I think it is up to you to not be defeated. Even if he is a poor supervisor, you should try and be the best student you possibly can. Make sure you keep in frequent contact with your supervisor. Don't rely on them to chase you up. Send them drafts of your work, even if not requested. It is their job to read and comment on them and send them back. They can't give you feed back if you haven't submitted anything. Then at the end of the day, if this doesn't work out, you will know that you did everything you could to make it work, you gave it 120% and can feel blameless. I am sure that you are good enough for a PhD. Believe in yourself. If you work hard and consistently you will succeed.

Hmmm he sounds like the 'go away and research something and come back and tell me what you have found out (if it is interesting)' type of supervisor. In other words, 'don't come and see me and ask me loads of questions, if you haven't done much work.' He sounds like the type that expects students to be fairly self sufficient. To jump out of a can and be read to go and hit the ground running. They expect the student to produce considerable amounts of work under their own steam, and only arrange to see them for feedback and checking of work. They want a 'low maintenance student' who isn't going to cause them any hassle or need constant reassurance and will work well independently. The supervisor wants to get on with their teaching and research.