======= Date Modified 25 Aug 2011 19:00:20 =======
Hello everyone!

I'm new here... Unlike most of the forum members here, I'm a foreign student doing PhD in Japan and English is my second language. My problem is, my supervisor seems like a nice and very polite person but I always have trouble working with him. Last Friday I told him what I wanted to do but he told me it was wrong and replaced my idea with something simpler, that I think was wrong too. Although there were few things that he mentioned were correct (I accepted that), but sometimes I think he just make suggestions based on something he just knew/ heard/ has not much idea about it, and I think he didn't really believe in what he had said too. I don't know whether to follow his suggestion as this might waste a lot of my time (last time I followed his advice and wasted about a year), and I always feel lost after following his idea. Or should I pursue my idea (with some additional methods after I have researched more) or find another way of solving the problem? But the thing is, I really don't know whether the idea is right or wrong (I know, that's why we have to conduct research) and I'm afraid that he will reject everything that I do. Am I being stubborn? What should I do?

On top of that, although I am in my second year, I still have no clear idea/plan what I want to do in my PhD (I know, this is really bad). Unlike in other universities/ departments, I didn't have to prepare/ present a formal research plan/ proposal. However, I did prepare a proposal of what I wanted to do and showed it to my supervisor at the end of my first year, but he just glanced at it without giving any constructive comments. Within these 1.5 years, most of the time, he refuses my idea and asks me to settle on simple things that I think do not worth a PhD. I want to do something more interesting but I think he has no confidence in me and I lost mine too due to this. I can't change my supervisor because I'm halfway through and I may have to live without a scholarship. And worse, there's no one I can discuss about my subject or anything with here. I am really worried if I can not finish my study within the next 1.5 years. Time is running out but I feel like I can't do anything... I really don't know what to do...

Due to this pressure, I have become a short tempered person- I get angry easily at my family and friends. I feel very bad and stupid. And it is also depressing to see other friends who used to have lower grades than me during undergraduate doing well in their PhD since they have chosen the right supervisors...

What can I do to improve this situation? How can I handle my supervisor and my research plan? When should or shouldn't I follow his advices? How can I know which suggestions to follow and which ones to ignore? Anybody wants/cares to share his/her experience/advice/suggestion? Any comments are most welcome.

Thanks.

Hi Huhu

It sounds like things aren’t going great but you can get back on track. I’m probably not the best person to give advice on dealing with supervisors since my approach is keep you head down and out of their way! I can give you some advice though on planning etc. You say that you didn’t have to submit a proposal but there is nothing to stop you doing one anyway - in fact I am amazed that you can embark on such a major undertaking without some form of plan. I submitted my proposal a couple of months ago and was subsequently asked to come up with a chapter list and timeline. I did this fairly superficially as a chore that had to be done to tick a box rather than as something that would be useful but have subsequently (having read someone else’s chapter list from a completed PhD) added considerably to parts of it so that it is a useful document. I have fleshed out a fairly detailed outline (using mindmaps as that kind of planning works for my brain) of my lit review with arrows showing links and so on. I plan to do the same for the methodology and other chapters as well. I go back to my proposal regularly to see what the specific aims were (some already only two months down the line (part-time) need changing) I think if you did a detailed plan (even if some bits are sketchy) you could share that with your supervisor and get some feedback to see if you are on the right track.

Hi Jepsonclough

Thank u so much for your advice. Yup, I think I should prepare a more detailed research plan and show it to him although I think he won't give much comment on it, but at least it's for my own self check. I just want to know, in case there is a change in the middle of the plan, will it affect the rest of the plan? That means I'll be lost again and need to replan everytime there are any changes in the middle?

Hi Huhu
I don't think you need to keep redoing the plan but you can add to it if things change - I am doing my lit review at the moment and am using mindmaps (spider diagrams) to plan out - as I read thing I am adding more to the different legs but then have made some bits into new legs as they have become more important. I see the plan as a livign document that I add to (but not necessarily share with my supervisors). I also have a rough time plan - more detailed for this summer, less detield fro 3 years time.

Hey,

Just thought its worth mentioning that from your supervisors point of view its in their very best interests to do whatever they can for you. Some supervisors can be very difficult but they dont want you to fail, remember ultimately when it comes to your progress the buck stops with them.

Also remember their is a reason that they have a PhD and you dont. I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm being harse or unsympathtic but like alot of students I've learned to just 'do what your told' when it comes to supervisors, over time you'll probably find your supervisor will start to trust you more and eventually you'll get the freedom to make more decisions regarding your progress.

It does sound like your not having a good time though which is regrettable, my advice really is just to 'pay your dues' do what he says and see how it goes. I'd much rather the world was not like this but in acedemia at least i've never found it to be any different.