Hi all,

I am nearing the submission - about to submit in two weeks time. Suddenly, I received a shocking email that my main supervisor is leaving. She might have time to give feedback for the first drat thesis as she is moving to other uni after two months. But, I wonder where will this take to me? Will my sup support me until my exam? What is the normal practice? Until now examiner not contacted though we finalised prospective examiner. I am really in a big tension...looks like i will never ever get thru Phd.....crying for all day long :-(
Swetch

Hi Swetchha
Sorry to hear you're in a stressful situation!
My supervisor left half way through my PhD but has remained really supportive, even though she's now working in a different city. Since thesis drafts can be sent by email, she's been able to send me comments on my work electronically, and will come back to my uni each month. I've also gone to her city to visit her there.

It's likely that your supervisor will be a little busier than usual, but she won't have forgotten about you, and even though she is at a different university, I assume she will be contactable by phone or email. Maybe you could speak to her and arrange a definite way for you to maintain contact. You could both decide on days from now up until you viva when you can talk by telephone or Skype, or even visit each other.

Rememember, there's no way your supervisor would want you to struggle, so it's in her best interests to make sure you get through the exam :) :)

On the positive side, you now have a contact at a different university, which opens up a whole bunch of new opportunities for you for after your PhD :) :) :)

Hey, Im sorry you are feeling such a tension. I would say that you really should not worry as this is much more common than you may realise - it actually happened to me half way through. Universities are used to this, and there will be solutions for sure. Also, I am sure your supervisor has invested in your project and wants to see it through to the end, especially as you are so close to submission. Could you ask your second supervisor to help you with the feedback on your draft thesis. If your supervisor is not moving for another couple of months, then it seems likely she will have chance to read your draft since you want to submit in 2 weeks. Once you submit, it is more or less out of your supervisors hands anyway - they don't even sit in on the viva (though I think in some universities this is an option), so her support is not so crucial. It is unfortunate, but on the plus side, this news has also come at the best time - when your PhD is almost completed rather than at an earlier stage when you would need to find another supervisor. I imagine you are feeling very tired with the pressure and hard work of this stage of the PhD so please console yourself by remembering you are almost through, and no university will let a PhD student slip through their hands especially at this stage - your success = success for their research assessment :) You are almost there - stay positive!

Dear Clementine and Beth12,
Thank u so much for yr replies. This made me think posivitively and I did email my sup congratulating her. In reply she assured me that she will support me until I complete. You both were right. I was really upset in the morning but now I have started to work on my thesis - taking it as nomal. Thanks again, swetch :)