I would really appreciate your suggestions. I have supervisors in 2 Universities with expertise in 2 different areas I am combining for my PhD. Now one of the supervisors is leaving (to the other side of the world, he has no academic job yet - has recently had a baby and he is going back to his wife's home country). What tips do you have to dealing with this change successfully...what should I ask for at this time? I would really hope to still get access to the other Uni's (he is leaving from the institution I am not based in) instruments etc...as otherwise I would need to rethink my project. But do you have any other things I should look out for? Sorry for the mumbled up post, but I am quite confused at the moment. Would love to hear from your experiences. Thank you

Hi Ailicec,
I have had exactly the same experience, but I am at the end of my phd ... my supervisor is leaving the country and wants my thesis in ASAP ... .. my tip would be to have the leaving prof. introduce you to another faculty member before he leaves who will help you with accessing what you need. Also it might be helpful to speak with the postgraduate administrator of his uni.. cause they should be able to help you considering the prof. was at that uni... try and meet them face to face with your prof. before he lives that way there is an established link with the uni and perhaps even get something in writing with the profs permission to say you have met these people and they will do their best to assist you. Thats what I would suggest !! hope that helps- all the very best

Me too. My second supervisor left the uni and the country when I started my PhD. I still haven't replaced him, so I am basically with the principle sup alone. He offered to proof read my work, which is an excellent offer as I totally trust him and he had really helped me in the past. Still, the fact that he is not around and I cannot just pop in his office and brainstorm makes a difference.

I don't know what to suggest. I think I will need to choose another supervisor as the upgrade is smiling at me with rotten teeth :)

My supervisor left halfway through my part-time PhD. He hoped to continue to act as my supervisor long-distance, including meeting me occasionally, but it didn't work out well. I needed more face-to-face support than he could give, and was having huge problems with the writing up stage of my thesis.

Another academic volunteered to be my supervisor (I never had an official second supervisor appointed, even though this other academic had been who I'd asked for as second), and took over, with my original supervisor continuing to read my chapters and give feedback on this. This worked much better.

My advice would be that you should look at getting a replacement supervisor at the university where your supervisor is leaving. They need not be such a specialist in the field, but have a general interest. And if your original supervisor is still willing to give feedback on your written stuff take up that offer. But, despite their best intentions, they are unlikely to be able to support you much after they move, not least for geographical reasons.

I also had the option of transferring to my supervisor's new university, 500 miles away from where I live. But I wasn't happy about this, not least because I needed disability support as well as good library provision etc., and was getting all that from my existing university.

Good luck!

My supervisor left the uni and said they wanted 
to stay on the team, the team that was mostly them with a teeny bit of input  
from another one,  who did nothing - except make a few huge mistakes which
have  been glossed over. The result is that this year I have had virtually no  
supervision because the one who moved has other fish to fry and is hardly  
available and when they are, I'm not. I have made several protests about this,  
but being part time doesn't make this easy, and I think you tend to hang on  
thinking that maybe this week you will get the feedback you need, except it  
never materialises. My subject had been tossed about in the department like a  
hot potato and no-one wants to take it on. I have had five different  
supervisors, three of whom have taken one look, done a session with me - and  
then decided they didn't want to do it. At the moment the head of faculty is 
looking at it, but they have no expertise in my area ( and to be honest 
although the supervisor who left thinks it is his area in fact it isn't and
is  probably  taking a completely different take on the subject to theirs). My
advice is to  make sure that this person will be available to answer your
queries, will  actually reply and comment on your work in a reasonable length
of  time and most important HAS TIME TO DO IT. Make sure the department has 
something in place if it all goes pear shaped. Keep a very close eye on what 
is going on and as soon  as it looks like it won't work, get something done
about  it sooner rather than later.

Thank you very much for your suggestions...I will definitely talk to the postgraduate administrator (have to find out who they are) and see how it goes from there. It is helpful to see that others have gone through this already