Hi everyone,

This is half a moan and half a query! I'm about four months into my PhD and I have a board review soon, but I'm unsure if I'm heading in the right direction with my work. I e-mail my supervisor who takes weeks to get back to me, and really doesn't give me much direction. Is anyone else finding this? Or is this what I should expect for the next three years (should I pass the review!) I understand that PhDs are about your own research and motivation, but I feel a bit out on limb at the moment. :-(

supervisors should be more supportive than this, but unfortunately some are better than others - I don't think it should take them any time to get back to you, just as a courtesy. But there are plenty like this out there.

I suspect that this is what you will have to deal with for the next three years - so its going to be up to you to be very organised - although it might! (depends how brave you are) be worth bringing it up with them - because if they are this bad at the moment imagine what it'll be like when you are trying to get paper or Thesis chapters reviewed?

Good luck

S

That's how it is for me too and I've cultivated some links with other researchers in overlapping areas in order to get occaisional feedback and advice. That has proved really invaluable in helping me stay on track and avoid pitfalls.

You get used to it - but you do occaisionally need a second opinion for someone. Could you get an advisor as well as a supervisor? I think technically we do that here but nothing was ever mentioned. If I was starting over I would definitley ask to appoint an advisor who might be a bit more available.

Do you have a second supervisor who might be more available than the first - it might be a good idea to get regular meetings with them set up so that they get used to reviewing your work - if they are any better?

i think it really varies. From my experience this is exacly what to expect for the next few years. My supervisors were very uninvolved with my project and I only met up with them twice a year even though one of them was at the university with me. This became a real problem by year three and caused a lot of friction and resentment.

In retrospect I think I should have been more demanding about meetings and feedback from the start. At your next meeting I would try and structure some sort of definite plan about how often you will meet and how long you can expect to wait for responses to emails etc... Get it in writing in the form of minutes of your meeting and get them to sign it to agree on what was agreed.

Then you can wheel this out if it isnt stuck to at a later date. Sounds a bit hardcore but the people i know who did this had a much better experience than me and remained on good terms throughout. Your supervisors dont know what level of supervision you want unless you make it clear what you are comfortable with and work best with. ie - do you want them to set deadlines and chase you for things, do you want to be left to it to develop your own ideas, do you want them to check protocols etc.., do you need pastoral support from them, motivation..etc... its all important stuff to have clear from the start and you are in an ideal position for this.

One of my colleagues had a supervisor who met her every week and set a work plan for each week which they checked at the following week - I thought this sounded awful and too suffocating but then she wrote up a year and a hlaf quicker than me with much less stress!

My supervisor is having an 'off' time at the moment. We are supposed to meet up every six weeks or so, according to the timetable set by the university, and this has to be officially noted in order to get onto the next stage, but I haven't seen him since just before the Christmas hols! I know he has a lot of other things on and I'm going to give him one more week to get back to me before I try him again. The trouble is although the next bit of work hasn't to be submitted until July, because of the meeting dates of the committees I really need to get it in by April, but without the other bits in place this is going to be hard.. Still I will see how it goes, it is harder being part time because I'm not at uni when he is around during the week, and because I work in education the uni hols are when I'm on holiday so he isn't around then either. They never think about this aspect for education part time students, just make the rules and assume they will be OK for everyone.