======= Date Modified 08 31 2010 15:31:25 =======
Hi all,

I dont knwo where to put this as I am new here :)

Ok so my story is that I started a PhD and now I feel as though I have been bullied out of it by my supervisor. She lied to my PI about my work saying I had done no lab work for 3 months when I had been working on something for her. She corrected my writing in a way that was unnacceptable and when my PI read it he said it was rubbish. She gives me random verbal beatings whenever she is in a bad mood so now I feel as though I am walking on egg shells. I dont trust her to give me a good reference. I have decided to settle on my MPhil and walk away from here before everything is lost. I have about a week and a half until I leave and she is stil piling the pressure on, moaning at me to do something that isnt even part of my project! When she arrived she was loverly but from about the 3rd month she started being overly aggressive and rather territorial. The good parts of my project were taken away and given to her but yet she still expected me to do the hard parts for her.

Sorry for the big jumbled rant but has anyone else ever felt this way? Do I have a cat in hells chance of ever getting another PhD? I dont want to put all this on my CV because it looks like I cant get along with others but I get along great with everyone else here.

Gemma

You are in the exact position as me! I should be entering the final year of my PhD but cannot stand it any more!

Do you feel completely exhausted by it all? Its good to know Im not alone but bad that we are both in this horrible situation. I am considering never going back to science and changing to Medicine.

I do yes, i am so tired and constantly miserable with nowhere to turn! Check your inbox.

Hi Gemma,

Sorry to hear about your awful experience. I had similar problems in my masters course, where my supervisor had all the power and I had none at all. I managed to hang on through sheer bloody-mindedness and, when I had confirmation I had passed, I submitted a complaint. I included photocopies of my diary detailing the (bullying) conversations, details of the additional work I was being asked to (unfairly) complete and a breakdown of the University's student learning contract detailing how my sup had breached almost every clause. My sup refused to acknowledge my complaint and was subsequently 'released' from future supervision, which in effect has damaged his career.

All I can suggest is to write everything down. Even if it is retrospectively, write as much down as you can remember and note the time, date and who else might have been present. Check on your student contract - after all, it is there to be used. Finally, seriously consider complaining. It takes time, effort and a fair amount of guts, but it may prevent anyone else going through something similar. After several weeks of being ignored by the head of dept, I finally cc'd my complaint to the VC with a query regarding the professionalism of the department - I had a reply the same week and a final decision within 28 days.

Best wishes, MF

This is exactly what i am going to do. I believe if we do not complain then this will happen again and again and it is not fair on other students. My PhD may not be able to be saved but i will not let it happen again.

Thanks everyone for the great replies. I will start writing down thing she has done. I have mentioned this before to my graduate tutor who has been great but nothing has gotten done about her. Another thing is she isnt even qualified to be teaching me... she hasnt yet submitted her PhD thesis and my PI is never in the country. When she was correcting my work she would put very unhelfpful comments like 'think before you write!!!!' etc instead of teaching me how to write it better. I do not expect anyone to do the work for me but sometimes it is nice to have a few pointers. Also I asked my PI loads of times to check my upgrade peice which he didnt then it came to about 3 months before submission and he said my writing wasnt good enough after she had told me it was fine. Then it came to about a week before the submission date (after 3 months of being in tears every night) and the PI said I didnt have enough results for my MPhil. I didnt have a supervisor for 8 months and then they wondered why I didnt have any results!!!

arg it makes me so mad Im going to complian formally about both the PI and supervisor. I dont want anyone else to go through this...