Hi,

Not long in the PhD programme, started in September 2010. Anyway, I'm having a bit of trouble with my PhD supervisor. At the beginning, I would email him to arrange a meeting to discuss current developments in my work. He told me I didn't need to email any more, just call in any time and we can discuss things. Now, every time I call to his office, he is not in. When I email him, he doesn't get back to me. I have even sent him two draft papers that the Department require of 1st year PhD students and he never got back to me with any notes/criticisms, etc. I am going mad at this stage, what do I do?

Thanks

Hi Kitten, sorry to hear you're having this trouble. Although your supervisor doesn't sound unpleasant, he clearly isn't fulfilling his role properly. Do you have a second supervisor you could speak you about your work? If not, I would contact the research administrator or whoever is in charge of PhD students and tell them what is going on as it is probably only going to get worse. Good luck!

A common problem I'm afraid. IF you can ever get hold of him then ask him what is honestly the best strategy for being in touch, explaining that things are not working well in that regard at the moment. In the mean time I would suggest:
-Asking around in your group to see what other people's experiences and strategies are in this matter
- Copying in a friendly but persuasive co-supervisor/administrator who might help you lean on your supervisor for a response. Or at least it shows that the ball is in his court not yours.

Good luck with this one. You are not alone in this issue!

I’m in the same boat. I’m near the end of the third year of my humanities PhD, and my primary supervisor has not once provided written feedback on any work I’ve submitted to him. He never replies to my e-mails. When I find him in his office, he gives bland, generic advice, nothing detailed, nothing useful. From what he says to me in his office, as rare as that is, it’s clear he hasn’t even read what I’ve sent him in the past.

My second supervisor does respond to e-mails, but he’s my secondary supervisor, and he knows next to nothing about my research field (my primary supervisor‘s research field also has little, if anything, to do with my research field).

Basically, I’ve been working unsupervised for three years. Never complained - I don’t want to rock the boat. (Also, my second supervisor is the Doctoral Programme Director in my Dept, so not the best person to talk to about this!)

Look on the bright side: your supervisor’s neglect, if continued, could constitute grounds for a viva appeal, should you ever need one. I’m going to submit next year. I’m confident I’ll pass, but if I don’t, I think I’d have rather good grounds to get some kind of appeal lodged.