Hi, I have recently been upgraded from an MPhil on to a PhD. I have been struggling with my research, but finally feel like I want to carry on and don't want to leave. My supervisor left half way through my first year and we still meet regularly. However, the supervision has been quite random, ranging from airy-fairy non answers to telling me the wrong thing to do (i.e. advising me not to do somehting when I should have done it).

I have been advised to have meetings with my second supervisor, which I did... And, I've been honest and said how I feel about everything. I figure if, half way through I am not honest, then I will continue to feel miserable and fed up about everything. I really like my supervisor as a person, but they have never supervised anyone before, I wonder if this coupled with my own lack of experience is making our supervisory sessions problematic?

Has anyone ever felt like this? I didn't want to drop my supervisor in it, and I feel like I have a bit because of the questions my second spervisor has been asking.

Hi Annieslim, I am not sure I completely understand what you situation is - your first supervisor left? Where is he now/what is his position in the department etc - maybe providing a bit more info could be useful..
From what you say, it can certainly be that the fact that your supervisors have not supervised before could be bit of an issue - just in terms experience, but I suppose it takes two to tango, and if you feel unsure etc they might feel even more unsecure themselves... Although I think it is always good if one is able to talk to sups openly about how one feels about things etc, I think it also important to recognise that some sups are generally good with dealing with content of the work and not so much dealing with the person and the problems/issues they might face.. at least that's what I have experienced to some degree. I think it is important to get a feel for what your supervisors can deliver for you and what they can't. If you have generic issues with the PhD process etc, sometimes it can be equally helpful to talk to other understanding students or post-docs, to get things off the chest. In your case, considering your first sup has left (?), would it be possible to focus more on the second sup and make him first sup as it were?
I am not sure whether this has helped or whether I have completely misunderstood what your post was about?

My supervisor left 2/3 of the way through my part-time PhD. We carried on meeting for a while, and he's given me great feedback on the writing stage, but things were much more hands-off, even though he's a very experienced supervisor and someone I was keen to hold on to if possible. If he'd left as early as your supervisor had left I would seriously recommend that you get a new first supervisor who can give you the attention and focus you need.

I was supposed to talk to someone else, effectively as a second supervisor (though one had never officially been appointed), but he was really too busy, it wasn't fair on him or me. Things came to a head at a thesis monitoring committee meeting, when it was recognised that I really needed at least a new joint supervisor, because of the time commitment involved in meetings and going through my thesis chapter drafts. And that was arranged for me, and is working well.

Is there someone independent you can talk to in the department about your supervision arrangements? I was supposed to have a thesis monitoring meeting each year to check that things were working out ok, and that's what picked up on the unsatisfactory arrangement, and set in place an alternative.

Good luck!

Hi, thanks for your replies. Yep, my first supervisor left but is still within commuting distance to my university. It was in my monitoring session that it was suggested that I might want to have another supervisor in my own uni who can help a little more. I'm still not sure how it will work out, because my 1st (away) and 2nd (here) supervisors have very different ideas/backgrounds/research interests. However, I think it will be useful to have the input of another member of staff in my work, at the moment i am worried everything is still quite vague and I really need to sort everything out.

Thanks for your repiles though, I might have a chat with some of the other postgrads at uni and see what they think too :)