Hi guys,

I have a major problem with my supervisor. The story is a bit long so please bear with me.

I was offered a studentship for a PhD in 2005 which I accepted. My supervisor did not give me any advice throughout my studies and I finally decided to finish my studies with an MPhil. The reason was that I could not carry on a PhD on my own without any kind of support.

Meanwhile, I applied to another university for a PhD studentship and after a lot of hard work (research proposal, interview etc) I was awarded a studentship from this other university on the condition that I was awarded my MPhil prior to joining them.

So, I wrote my MPhil thesis, once more on my own, without any comments or advice from my supervisor whatsoever. My supervisor arranged a Viva examination without reading my thesis. However, the external examiner he proposed was rejected from the school. I asked my supervisor to find another external examiner, but he said he did not have a person in mind and thus could not arrange the viva in time (in order for me to fulfil the condition).

I tried to explain to him again that if he did not find an examiner I would loose my new studentship and a second opportunity for a PhD. He was reluctant to help me. Finally, I told him that if I lost the studentship, I would ask for compensation (I did not have any other option!). I also spoke with the Dean of School who only warned me that I should be careful with my supervisor and it was better for me to try and calm him down. This situation became very stressful for me and resulted to my visiting the university nurse because of panic attacks and stress. After I mentioned compensation, my supervisor said that I had not sent him my thesis, which was not true as I had kept all my e-mails from when I sent him my thesis. Anyway, I re-sent him my thesis and he read my work for the first time in two years. As expected, he said that my work was not good enough (other people who read it gave me really positive feedback).

He then said that the problem is only my discussion chapter and I had to send him the interviews I had done as part of my MPhil. The problem is that I do not have the interviews since no-one told me that I should keep them. So, after I had finished my writing up and when I moved to another city in order to start my new PhD I got rid of them because I did not assume my supervisor would be interested in reading them and I did not want to be reminded of this situation in any way! The problem is that he now says that unless I give him my interviews he won’t put me forward for a Viva examination and I will thus loose my new studentship. This situation has become really stressful for me to the point that my nose bleeds and I have a nervous breakdown every time he contacts me. I really cannot stand to think that after two and a half years of hard work, I will loose everything because of only one person.

If you have any suggestions, I would really appreciate your help

Is there anyone (i.e. your potential new supervisor) at the uni you want to attend that you could talk to ... or are they already aware of this situation? They might be able to advise you on this matter ... and will give you a clearer picture of what your possible options are (i.e. they might say you can start the PhD even if the M.Phil doesn't materialise immediately).

Hi there, so sorry you've got ths hassle to deal with. As BB says, I think it is worth talking to the new uni - most unis offering PhD studentships only register PhD students as MPhils in the first year they're there, then they have to upgrade to PhD status at the end of the first year. Therefore is your existing MPhil an absolutely necessary pre-requisite?

Thanks for your support.

I contacted the new uni when my supervisor could not find an external examiner. They said I could take up the new studentship but there is still a prerequisite to get my MPhil as soon as possible thereafter. However, my supervisor has caused me a bunch of other problems since I last contacted my prospective uni. How can I tell them that I now have fallen out with my supervisor (although I have tons of e-mails showing how he has treated me throughout my studies)? I do not want to start my new PhD and then fail to fulfil the condition.

I have discussed my problem with some colleagues and was told that the only solution, for now, is to give him the interviews (which I do not have). The problem is that I do not trust my supervisor and I doubt that I will ever get my MPhil. Even if I somehow overcome this problem with the interviews, I am sure he will come up with another problem and I do not have much energy left to deal with him.

Try to be as strong as you can. Go and see the Doctor and get a medical diagnosis of severe stress. Get him to write a letter for you. Then, file a formal complaint against your supervisor for professional misconduct. Make it clear you will make a fuss if something is not sorted out. That would be the course of action I'd take.

Do you feel your supervisor has harassed / bullie you at all? That would also be ground for complaint, especially if you have evidence.

When he asks for the interviews, does he mean transcripts or the recordings themselves? With recordings, it's normal to be asked for those - there are ethical guidelines about how long data is kept after finishing a project. If that's what evil soop requests, I wouldn't be too concerned as I think it's standard practice. (when I finished, I gave recordings to my soops and kept copies myself) If it's the transcripts he wants, simply say that you don't have them.

I ask this question a lot on here, but I'll ask again. Do you have a director of research(DoR)? By that, I don't mean the head of research/Dean/senior bod, I mean someome who is assigned as a 3rd party to manage you in case of problems with supervisor. At my place we a supervisor AND a DoR - a departmental staff member responsible for chairing our upgrade/review meetings and **for dealing with problems that arose with supervisors**.

If so, they should helping you to deal with this

This is what I will do:
1. Ditch the idea of MPhil- trust your instincts. The interview tapes or transcripts is just a red herring, intended to string you along and drive you to complete the nervous breakdown. And as you said, something else will crop up after you've given him the interview material.
2. Any uni worth its salt should not accept a student on condition of an Mphil- make a fresh start. There are lots of Studentships around if you are prepared to move.
3. Send the supervisor to the cleaners and get the university complaints officer, the VC, the QAA, your MP and the local press involved. That'll teach this piece of dead wood a lesson.
4. Remember, they are only as powerful as you allow them and they are definitely not above the law. I know the academic world is small, but its not that small!
5. Keep us posted and good luck with the new institution.

Hi guys,

Thank you so much for your support.

Krokondile, he asked the transcripts and the interviews. I don’t have the transcripts and I have less than half of the interviews (for reasons I described above). I only have the names of the people that I interviewed. See, I did not know about how long I should keep the data since no-one in my Uni explained it to me. I was only told by the Dean of School that in order to do an MPhil I don’t need primary data. Also, I don’t have a Director of Research or anything like that. Now, my supervisor questions if I have done the interviews at all!!! He is also saying to my prospective supervisors that my thesis is not good (this coming from a guy who asked me how an MPhil looks like since he had never seen one before). The most ironic is that I recently was given a best paper award for a paper I had written(obviously on my own with only my name on it). Anyway, I will contact the new Uni and explain the situation. I will keep you posted!!!

the number one thing you must do is keep calm. Do your utmost to avoid antagonsing this character. It will cost you little in the long run to keep him a bit sweet, but if you are still working in the same area you are almost bound to come up against him later on in another context and he could cause you trouble. If you can, go to see him and talk face to face, explain your problem and ask for his advice (people usually love to be asked for their advice ). Be an eager learner and flatter him a bit say you really want to finish and ask him for the best way forward, if there is no way forward, let it go, put it down to experience and move on, don't dwell on what might have been, because it hasn't happened, but don't burn your boats either because you never know when the chap might be of use to you later - and when you have made it, go back and thank him for his help, be gracious in victory, revenge may come later!!!

1) You dont need to have an MPhil to obtain a PhD studentship. Funded PhDs are not THAT hard to find, and if you found one once, you can find one again.

2) Make yourself known to the medical team and get a formalised notice of stress due to the circumstances of your PhD supervisor. If anything happens in the future this will be important.

3) Seriously consider Harui and Belisarius suggestion of filing a formal complaint. This helps a) you as your future employers will be under no impression that your problems were due to your own incompetence, but harrassment, b) gives hope to every other PhD student that is going through the same shit as you, and reduces the possibility of it happening again.

Remember, if this sort of behaviour was highlighted by someone preceding you, YOU wouldnt be in the position you are in. With that in mind, you can make a difference.

Good luck. This sort of stuff should never happen, and its an embarassment that people like your supervisor are hired, whereas there are plenty of decent hardworking PhDs that are not able to work in academia.

I would only ever go down the formal complaint route if you are absolutely 100% certain you will never again want to work in the academic world in the same field. They have long memories, and tend to consider a complaint against one of them as a personal affront, after all you are suggesting they have employed someone who is very substandard. Only you can decide if you want to take that risk at the moment, decide what is most important for you and if you can still get on the PhD go for that and put the rest down to experience. It will perhaps be a hard decision but it will be better than tying yourself in knots because you are pursuing something that just isn't going to happen.

ive gone down the same route as you. i dont think its a case that you should need an Mphil to get another PhD studenthsip. i have already been offered a studentship at another university even though i didnt make it past first year of my PhD.

i do agree that if you want to work in the same field and your supervisor carries a lot of weight, you will need to proceed carefully. From what ive seen, academic fields tend to be very incestuous in that a lot fo the researchers in that feild might be well known to each other which can make applications for studentships awkard.