Dear PhD colleagues,

I am in going through a terrible situation in my life. I am a final PhD student (4th year) and I am about to finish my writting process. During my PhD I went through several, many many and many (many again!!!) problems of all kind: with my supervisor that was completely helpless and had absolutely no clue and no idea what i was doing; with people (other PIs) that didn't want to help and even tried to destroy my work.
This whole situation brought to my life lots of sadness and maybe a kind of depression, fears....
My supervisor is still not helping, no correction, no comment on my thesis, no real input or suggestion.
I am very frustrated and afraid of submitting my thesis to the university and got a rejection.
I have enough results to finish a PhD but I've been really struggling with the fear that I might fail.
I would really like your opinion, ideas and what to do. I know my supervisor won't change in 1-2 months (he hasn't changed in 4 years...) but I'd love to get any advice from you.
I am from Germany and my PhD is related to Medicine (diabetes)

Thanks a lot!!!

Best

Do you have any publications?

Hi pm133

No.... as first author no. I have written 2 manuscripts but they're dusty already in my supervisor's desk. Terrible. I have publications as second author, with some collaborations I did.

Best

Hi, Gummibaerchen,

Yes, you are in a bad situation. But you still have one final chance to salvage things.

The important thing that you have mentioned is that you have enough results to finish a PhD. which means that the only thing stopping you from getting your PhD is your thesis writing.

Do not rely on your supervisors since they have not helped you. Calm down and think - Is there anyone, anyone at all who is an experienced researcher who is willing to read your thesis and comment for you. This person may not be necessarily in your field. Bear in mind that your examiners may not be directly in your field, so as long as you are able to write rationally and persuade the reader, you should be alright. So identifying this reader is key.

Invest in a thesis proof reader as well. Having two sets of eyes - the experienced researcher and thesis proof reader should be helpful in getting you across the finishing line.

I won't worry about publication at this stage. It would be ideal to have at least one, but it will not be the determining factor in getting your PhD at this stage. Work on your thesis.

Hi,

Many thank for all your help!
@tru: Thanks! I'll do that!
@pm133: Actually I wrote already two publications but as I mentioned they are waiting ages (more than 6 months) at my supervisors desk! He simply doesn't care!
In Germany (where I am from) you do not need publication to finish your thesis and get your PhD. There are two ways to get your PhD. The first one is what is called Kumulativ Disssertation which is based on publications within a topic. Generally is 2-3 publications as first author. It doesn't matter which journal or impact factor (thing that is stupid and is based on the traditional and old-fashioned German academic system). The second is a normal dissertation. In this case, you might have no publication. Some people has one or two publications. The thing is: in Germany if you have worked on your PhD, in the end you will get it... it doesn't matter if you have publications or not. However, you will get a note in your PhD diploma and this makes the things harder. If you get a bad note your chances to stay in academia or research are really dropped.
The german PhD system is old-fashion and the supervisors follow the same rules. Just google the "12 years rule for academic positions at the Universities". This is somehow ridiculous and senseless.

Best