Hi guys, first post so I hope I am doing this right.

I started my PhD in England october last year so am about 7 months in. From christmas it was clear me and my supervisor didn't work well together. He insists i work in the lab or office from 9-5 (I prefer to work evenings and totally alone). I have only managed to take 1 week of holiday (wouldn't be an issue if i had more flexibility in working hours and so could occasionally finish early friday and start a little late Monday I would still be able to visit friends and family and just put more work in in the week).

We argue alot, we have totally different working styles. He likes everything to be done to paper quality, i believe if I'm doing an experiment that I would never need to publish, it is a waste of time to analyse it beyond what i need to find what I was looking for. Ive spent months synthesising reagants that can be bought for not much more than the cost of what im using to make them (at this point would perfectly happily pay the dofference from my own pocket if it saved me months more work), but when I've tried to ask I'm totally shut down.

There are many more issues, but i wont go into everything. My school is aware of the problem, both with me and from historical evidence.

My issue is, I've found out that i may be able to move my funding to a different supervisor on a different campus in a similar department. How do I show, when speaking to new potential supervisors, that the delays in the project and issues in relationship aren't just me being difficult, without playing the blame game and seeming unprofessional?

Why is your supervisor asking you to make things instead of buying them? Could it be he is trying to get you to learn something from the process? Same goes for all the extra analyses.

Regarding working hours, I would do what works for you. I bet if you check your university handbook or similar there's no stipulation that you have to work the hours that your supervisor says you have to.

Regarding how you show the problem is with your supervisor and not with you, honestly you haven't convinced me here. You need to rephrase your comments for a start. E.e. supervisor "insists", he thinks this, whereas I think this (why is your opinion 7 months in better than your supervisors' with years of experience?), "waste of time" etc.

How do you know your next set of supervisors won't be just as bad?

What attempts have you made to improve your relationship with your supervisor?

Hi,

He claims it's financial but this is not the case as the difference in price is negligible. Originally it was a learning experience, but there are other chemicals requiring purification in the same way which I have managed successfully. He wont even discuss the option of buying with me when I have tried to ask (literally I get the response "I will not discuss this"). This isn't the only case where there is insistance from him to do things one way, which other chemists in the department say is either long, unnecessary or unusual.

The university handbook says nothing about hours but one day when I was noticed coming in at 9.30 I got a huge lecture so I have to stick to supervisors word. I'm terrified of starting arguments again, so I just have to follow what is said.

complaints from past students have apparently been very common and my supervisor will not budge on any of the issues, I just want to be able to work on my work in the way I feel is best- It is my project after all.

Speaking to students from another potential supervisor (at length) they haven't experienced any of the attitude or behaviours I get.

I have spoken at length to my second supervisor and my grad studies director and they don't believe I am being unreasonable, but are unable to aid the situation beyond helping me to switch supervisor. We have had meetings with others present to try and diffuse the situation but there is no movement on his side.

On first reading I have to say that I am on your supervisor's side here for the most part. There are health and safety concerns involved in working in a lab totally alone and at night. You just should not be doing that.
I am more concerned about your attitude towards analysing data. This is not a good attitude to have. Most great research results from analysing things which did not work. Simply looking for the results you want and ditching the rest is not a good research mindset, it is a technician mindset. That is fine if being a lab technician is what you want as a career.

I have to say though, that if my supervisor lectured me for turning up at half nine in the morning it would be a pretty short conversation.

You probably need to do two things. Firstly look for a new supervisor who will give yo the relationship you want. Make sure you interview THEM properly next time. You should know their working hours practices before you start. Ask them directly.
Secondly and most importantly, you need to review your attitude towards your PhD. You give the impression that you are quite confrontational. I recognise it because I am the same.

I would be interested to see an example of this negligible price difference. Also when you mention other "chemists" in the department commenting on this being unnecessary or unusual do you really mean other students?

Hey sorry if i came off confrontational, I'm just frustrated. (Doesn't mean it's ok) When i say analysing maybe I'm explaining wrong, i guess i mean more processing of data. So imagine youve ran an experiment for a simple reason (e.g. checking for impurity) you can see very clearly that the impurity is not there and in this case you know you will never need to publish the data, yet i have to create paper quality figures which for me seems like a waste of my time and effort.

I think i also felt differently until I heard how many complaints there had been over this guy. Made me realise how many issues there were.

My math makes it about 20-40 pounds annually based on my assumed usage. Doesnt seem like a massive price to pay considering ive spent a month trying to perfectly purify it, and even now the protocol to purify is optimised it takes about a week to make it fresh for each experiment. I do mean other students, but i am talking about students that are finishing or have finished their PhDs. Sometimes i would just like the freedom to try a protocol that has worked for someone else rather than feeling forced to stick with a past used one for which any past users have left.

I definately want my PhD, i think i just want to move somewhere where i can do it more on my terms, choose my methods and not be afraid of trying different things. Its very hard to get excited when someone is standing over your shoulder telling you everything is wrong and isisting you do it how they would (down to the positioning of the clamp stands).

I didn't mean that you were confrontational on here (which you are not). I meant that it sounds like you are confrontational at work. You remind me so much of myself that it is eery :-D

Yes, I thought you meant other students. Their opinions are irrelevant and you should ignore them. This is not their problem, their supervisor or their project. Listening to them telling you that what you are doing is unnecessary is fuelling your frustration. Your calculations are £40 per year but presumably your supervisor has other costs to consider and a strict budget to adhere to. Have you considered that he may not have £40 left in his budget or that he wants to leave a slush fund for emergencies?

I understand your desire to try your own protocols and I wouldn't stand for anyone standing on my shoulder either. You should definitely try and find someone better but this time remember to interview any potential supervisor thoroughly to avoid this happening to you again.