I'm a PhD student about 1.5 years into my degree.

My supervisor fluctuates between being friendly to very formal and cold. She is fixated on the fact that I am not in my office 9-5, 3-4 days a week, and is very abrasive when raising this point. She says I am too emotional, unprofessional, and this not how I should behave as a PhD student, and that I am being paid to do this research.

I'm really upset with how little progress I have made so far in my PhD. I only have a systematic review finished and even needs a lot more work. I feel that I have not been given proper guidance by my supervisor. She can rarely answer any of the methodological questions I have and her feedback is usually only concerned with writing style and structure/clarity, rather than methods and analysis thus leaving a number of problems being unnoticed until someone else (e.g. 2nd supervisor) reviews my work. I received feedback for my draft transfer to to PhD report today from my second supervisor, and there are quite a lot of things in my review that need to be fixed before it is of publishable quality.

My relationship with my supervisor has been very strained since last November. In November she was angry with me and said I should be working at a faster pace. Now she is fixated with me not being in my office all the time. I feel that my supervisor is completely unapproachable and that anything I say or do will only be met with harsh criticism. Some times I get conflicting advice from her. Upon receiving feedback today she commented that the point of the PhD is to learn how to write and do research, yet said I should send her a "perfect" transfer report next Wednesday. She said she is "concerned" about me but when I tried to explain my feelings she said that I am being too emotional and unprofessional.

I feel completely trapped and hopeless.
What do I do?

Is there anyone else in the office you can talk to that is supervised by her? What about going to the academics that provide pastoral care in your department?

I agree with your supervisor that you should be in the office during normal working hours since you are receiving funding (it is a job). First of all, we learn by "osmosis": exchanging ideas with people who do something similar. Secondly, you should be involved with what happens in the department: teaching, marking, presentations. lunch hour lectures etc. Thirdly, it will help you organise your working hours. Seems like you are not very productive as it is now. I am not a morning person myself, but during my PhD I aimed for an 11:00 - 20:00 (or similar).

You should always keep in mind that your supervisor is not there to tell you what to do, or how to do it. I am pretty sure that many people here will agree: many of us were supervised by an academic who had a vague idea on the specifics of our topic (especially interdisciplinary PhDs).

Regarding the analysis, unless your supervisor is a statistician, then I am pretty sure you will have to read and read, and talk to other people to come up with the best statistical or analytical framework. There are seminars in the graduate school that provide face-to-face advice based on your data. If they can't help you, they give you contact details of someone who can. Also, that's exactly the point of going to conferences and publishing. You get feedback from a different point of view. I once received a rejection from one reviewer because of my statistical analysis: it was the best thing that ever happened, as my supervisor was finally convinced that I was right.

Anyway, this is a support forum, and what I am saying is that you really need to put the effort.

When and where are you doing your work? I work best at home tbh and put in an appearance about twice a week on average but this is only because it's a long journey in and I'd rather be working than travelling.

Hi there,

It seems like you are having a few problems there. I think that Jeckyll raises a good point. Look, you are a PhD student and you do get money to do your research.

Trust me when I say that in 100% of cases maintaining a good relationship with your supervisor throughout your PhD can make the whole thing so much easier because if you have a good working relationship with them then they are MUCH more likely to look on you favourably if things start to go awry for any reason (and believe me they can and often do go awry)

If your supervisor wants you there 9-5 then I really think you should be there - it is more than reasonable to be honest with you. I am not saying this to make you feel bad because you have come on here looking for support and advice and this is the best advice I can give you.

So chin up and start nice and fresh on Monday - put what is behind you firmly behind you and begin with a new outlook.

There is a lot of truth in the phrase

'When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change'

All the very best!
Bevcha

Hi Angantyr

I'm sorry to hear you are having a bad time. But I do agree with the others on the forum that 9-5 in the office is completely reasonable.

Can I ask what type of PhD you are doing (science, humanities, engineering?) as this may be very fundemental to the issue - if, like me, you're in the science bit, then yes your supervisor will have a point.

I have two supervisors, and both, at one point or another, have critiqued my work that maybe I don't agree with - but I always remember that they are a lot more experienced than me, and that without that critiquing, I'll never improve. Plus, any work I do is a reflection on them as supervisors and scientists - if they let me produce sub-par work, then the university and the wider community would question how good at their jobs they are - and believe me, they are good!

I always think, try aim for the 'perfect' bit of work they expect, and if you do feel it's less than perfect, it may be actually better than it would have been

on a more symphathetic note, is there any other academics you can talk to? I've recently had a review with the other major academic in my department, to let me bring up such issues i may have with my own supervisors - its a good way to sort out issues before they snowball. Or is there a mentor you can talk to?

hope you feel better

I agree with all others that getting your hours in is very, very important. You're not mentioning whether you work from home or not, but if you're not working at least 8-10 hours a day, you'll fall behind.

I still think you raise a point - your relationship with your supervisor doesn't seem very constructive at the time, which might negatively affect your progression from now on.

Regardless of what happens, you need to start getting your hours in. If this is the only source of frustration for your supervisor, she will probably become more friendly with time. If she remains negative, you still have that 2nd supervisor which seems important to you as well. If you find this to problematic, you could perhaps change supervisor?

Anyway, your first step should be to work normal weeks at least. It might solve several of your problems.

I don't see why you should be in the office all the time especially if you work from home and are producing good work. It sounds like there is a personality clash between you both. She sounds like the slave driver type of supervisor with high expectations, zero pastoral ability and zero people skills. You sound like a person who needs emotional support rather than rational support. The fact you are independent in your research and she is highly structured/micro-managing in her supervision suggests a clash of supervisory style vs learning style.

Do you work a lot from home?

Hi angantyr,
I am almost in the same situation. The difference is only that they do not ask me to be exactly in the office, it is up to me. I am very stressed. And scared. Cannot imagine to loose my PhD and funding, but cannot go back anymore, I would say, I burned all bridges with both of my supervisors very recently saying at the meeting straightforward that I have decided to change my supervision team. I was sure that I make a right decision to move forward with new people, because I even got a support from the funding centre's director. I was trying to make it not as a complain, but as a decision to find the best for my PhD and my working style. The last comment from Huxley is exactly what I need to keep in my mind next week when I will speak to the Head of my Department. Like in yours situation, it is difficult to explain your feelings and position as a reasonable evidence enough for department's decision to change my supervision team. That is what my supervisors tried to say after my decision. I could not avoid offence and disappointment from their side and look this as a complain, but I got this as an opportunity not to waste my time anymore, because only 2 years left for my PhD. I have support from my boyfriend (also a PhD student), parents, friends, and even now from the funding's director (in which they could not believe). At the end of the day, I am not English and it is a huge stress for me to express my feelings in English. I am very tired to feel bad about myself. This is not a life.

Please let me/us know in this post how is going your situation now. I really hope your problem is solved and remember that you are not alone! At the end of the day, all relationships cannot always work in this world...

Hello,

First post, but after reading this, I thought it worth adding to.

Anyway try and see this from your supervisor's perspective. You are one student they supervise, probably of 4. They also ahave a teaching load, papers to publish, and their own research to get done. You are about 8% of their time according to University calculations. They are also probably a fairly early career researcher, and haven't done lots of supervision or management.

They see they you are 1.5 years in, and by your own admission, have not got very far in. You are absent often, so they are suggesting you should be in the office where you might make more progress, and if not, they can see why.

If it was all going very well, I don't think they would care how you worked. I really don't think they are being mean, I think they are trying to help you as best they can. I would try following their advice, as there is a reason they are the supervisor and you are the one being supervised - a lot of experience!

Good luck :-)