Hi folks, I'm just trying to canvas a general opinion regarding how much your supervisor actually appears to know about their chosen subject. In recent imes I havefound my old PhD supervisor to be woefully ignorant on stuff like BLAST searches, modern molecular genetics, the difference between immunohisto and cyto chemistry, and recently, I had to explain splice variants and how they are generated to her! (seriously, she even stuck her neck out and told me I had misunderstood papers based uon her misunderstanding of alternative splicing!). BTW this is at an ok 60's modern uni, so alright but not amazing academic standards are expected. I'm just thinking although everyone is human, aren't our supervisors supposed to know a bit more than this?

All opinions welcome, although I apologise for my examples being a bit biology specific

One of my supervisors is incredibly knowledgeable on his topic, and on surrounding topics. It's actually a bit weird. I think he just has an excellent memory for details. I have yet to see him unable to talk about something with authority. I don't like him, but its hard not to admire this, a bit. My other supervisor isn't so good. There are a lot of gaps in her knowledge, and i've had meetings before which i've been unprepared for and been able to pull the wool over her eyes quite easily. She nods and smiles a lot and says 'yeah that sounds good to me'. I much prefer to work with the latter because I find it less intimidating. She's smart and knows her own subject, but just doesn't know the ins and outs of everything I'm reseaching.

Hey guys! Interesting question. My primary supervisor really is at the top of her field, so is incredibly knowledgeable about her main topics, yet my PhD topic is a little out of her speciality and seems to be an area she is trying to break into. I really expected her to know everything there is to know about what I am studying, and of course she does know an awful lot, but not everything! There have been quite a few times I have mentioned research and measures that she has never heard of and I have been surprised, but on the plus side she always follows it up and seems to really respect my views and opinions about what I'm doing and how I'm doing it. And then of course there are loads of times when she mentions a whole load of literature that's relevant that I've never even heard of, but it is refreshing to realise that she doesn't know every tiny little thing and she's quite happy to ask me about it! So yes, your supervisor should have a good grasp of your subject and experience of your methodology, but in terms of knowing every tiny little thing and every last relevant journal article then I guess even the best people their field can't have read absolutely everything about everything! Best, KB

My supervisor is also at the top of her field, and seems to know everything about my subject area. She is hugely respected and knowledgable and able to steer me in the right direction (I assume!). There is one tangential are I specialised in, in two previous degrees and which I know a bit more than her, and she respects this. She also knows enough about this area to guide me, I just know a bit more of theory. So, yeh, it's important to have a sup who knows a lot more than us, I think.

My first supervisor is really interested in my subject area but doesn't know much about it, but is an expert in a related field and wants to get into mine. Or so he said at my interview though he hasn't yet actually read any of the literature I've suggested, and I was shocked to find that he hadn't even heard of the main academic in my field despite having major crossovers with his own work! But he's sharp about methodology and about the structure and content of a PhD so I'm hoping that's enough. My second supervisor is from a different slightly-related field, and much less experienced as an academic and as a supervisor, but his knowledge of the literature is closer to my area (though still only a little related), but he's very approachable and chatty and helps me think things through. So neither of them know much about my subject, and I do sometimes wonder if I made a mistake choosing my university, though overall I think it was the right choice. For me, the input they give me on the structure of my research is the key bit, and I'm making contact with other academics within my specialty off my own bat (there's only really 2 in the UK and neither are at my university!!).

hmmm that's tricky...You can understand that there might be gaps in their knowledge in new research papers and techniques cause the field is constantly moving forward and I found myself sometimes trying to work out new concepts together with my supervisor (who is fantastic) and it happened that sometimes I or he says something that is completely wrong but then we correct it as we think about it again. However your case is a bit worrying as things like BLAST search or immuno, histo chemistry are quite basic knowledge... Which year are you? How is your second supervisor? Are you sure she's not actually testing your knowledge by playing ignorance?

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Mine is an expert in the general field that I am in, but not in the specific subject-matter that I am doing. He doesn't like theory very much - prefers statistics - so I am reading about the relevant theories behind those statistics, and informing him about them really! I wrote a theoretical paper a few weeks ago and he used it to try and get himself up to date on it :)

I have two supervisors. I originally thought one of them had some knowledge, but it gradually dawned on me during the first year that neither of them are very knowledgeable about my area of research. My main supervisor has read a few papers, but that's it. He didn't start me off by suggesting something to read, I just tried to read as many papers as I could and I still do, but I do worry that with them knowing nothing I might get a shock at the viva :-(

I have a supervisor (Prof.) who can’t get spellings right and don’t know a lot of things and yet he reviews journal articles. Most of the supervisors learn from the students. Mostly, what they share with us are from their past supervising experiences. Worst is a scenario when you are stuck with a supervisor without much experience but big ego. Frankly we, research students should know more in our research topic than them, I guess. Whatever, happy researching and have a nice weekend, Cheers.