======= Date Modified 18 08 2010 17:08:26 =======
I have just started my 3rd year of a health informatics PhD studentship and am concerned at the low level of support from my supervisor. He has graduated many PhD students, so perhaps I am just unlucky. I have asked to change to a different project as the one he encouraged me to do is too complicated I think for a PhD. I wasn't sure at first as I've never done a PhD, but this project sounds much more complex than any other of the PhD students I know and I have been held up for nearly a year trying to access a component I need for the research. I am a librarian and we are taught how to help students focus their project. It's ironic that mine has turned into a mess.

My advisor has replied to my e-mails only sporadically for the past few months (we both live remotely from the university). I am afraid it will make me look really bad if I change advisors. I am also unsure that there is anyone else at my university who would be suitable.

I am planning to e-mail him and let him know I need more and better communication from him, but am worried I will offend him. Health informatics is a small field and I would also need to be careful about criticizing him to others.

Any tips?

I would recommend you talk to the director of postgrad research within your school/department. I have had a similar experience -- details different, but came to the PhD with a lot of experience, in project management but my supervisor has made managing my own project a nightmare! I thought it was me. I thought there was a cultural issue in our communication (I'm not from the UK). I thought I wasn't working hard enough. I thought I should be able to solve this problem. When I finally spoke to the head of postgrad research, I found out there was a long history of supervising problems with this member of staff. That's probably not the issue in your case, but there may be more going on behind the scenes than you think or could know.

Also, if you have an enlightened department, they may approach the issue the way mine did: they OWE me (director's words) competent supervision. Now they are helping me make the change gracefully for all concerned. I was blown away by the support I got. Just saying: you might want to get some input or advice from within the department. They will want you to finish, and finish on time, so they may be motivated to help more than you suspect. Good luck!

Many thanks for your reply. I am not British either. Nor is my supervisor (we are from different countries though). He has a good reputation at the university, though I'm not sure how hands on he is in any of his students' research. Some of my fellow students are also having difficulty getting support from him, so it may just be a spate of carelessness. I think maybe I should have been more assertive with him about the direction of my project from the beginning as he wanted me to do something different from my proposal that got me the studentship in the first place.

He replied straight away to my e-mail, as I asked if I could bounce my idea off one of his former students who is now on the faculty of a different UK university. He said yes. Diplomacy is not a strong point for me, so I am pleased this may blow over. Fingers crossed.

I am in a similar position really, lack of prompt replies to work sent etc. today though I was in a meeting with other PhDers and the person in charge of PhD students and another prof who run the sessions were really helping another student, who they also supervise and whose work she had asked us to read and comment on. I was amazed at the level of help compared with what I am getting, not that I need anyone to stand over me, but help is obviously useful when it comes to getting your point across and making sure those outside your area can understand what you are getting at isn't it? It also helps to reassure you that what you are suggesting is not a load of rubbish and is also needed for things you can't do for yourself, which is where I am at at the moment. Anyway this person asked why I was so quiet today, and was I alright, so I told him how amazed I as at the level of support compared with what I was getting, the result was so supportive, the person in charge is going to e-mail my supervisors tomorrow morning and ask them gently (because I don't want feathers ruffled as I don't want to upset them really and they are the experts for part of my thesis, although less so than I originally thought and, like you, this is a small field) to get on with things. I'm hoping that will do the trick. The admin secretary told me when I bumped into him a week or so ago that there was talk of getting me another supervisor (because I think people have noticed the lack of help for others, and that their 'laid back' approach is practically horizontal) but if this happens it will be my third change, so I'm not sure if that is such a brill idea. The first change was instigated by one of my present supervisors. However, the die has been cast, so I will just have to wait and see  and hope that it works out alright, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.