hi,
I am a current phd student, in the field of applied science. i am starting my second semester (my university follows a system of 2 semesters per academic year) of compulsory course work now.
I am not sure if my project has the potential to give me a phd. It is supposed to be an international collaboration between my home uni and another research institute somewhere in Europe, so it’s supposed to be a rather large-scale project, whereby there is at least 1 other phd student from another faculty working on it for his own phd. The phd’s will then be led by a postdoctoral fellow. I think it is quite a serious project because there are a number of faculty members from my home uni and researchers from the European institute sitting on the oversight committee. In short, the project seems large-scale enough for at least 2 phd’s.
What worries me is whether my own potential supervisor is able to guide me through it. Although I am his 3rd phd student, his role was co-supervisor in the previous 2 projects. His latest student had a hard time getting his own phd, as the phd review committee felt that his project did not have enough theoretical depth. This caused him to drag his phd for a number of years. Others, including his colleagues, have also cast doubt on his abilities. To make matters worse, my home department refuses to allow him to be my main supervisor, as his status does not meet some requirements set by the department (that is the reason why he was co-sup all this while). For my case, he wishes to be the main sup as he is a PI in the project. When I raise this matter with him, and prompt him to get it settled with the department soon so that my project can start rolling, he is unwilling to talk about it. To add to this stalemate, he forbids me from seeking out a main sup as he feels that he can still be my main sup.
Quite a number of friends who have worked with him before have told me to run, as they know that this might not come out to be what I expect, while others who do not know him say that it is normal for a phd project to be in limbo in the beginning, as no one knows for sure if a project is phd-worthy or not. What should I do? Would appreciate any 2 cents worth.