Dear All,

I am a phd student in my second year and am doing my phd under a scholarship where I receive a subsistence stipend. I have finished all my coursework and have successfully presented my research proposal to the committee. However, the committee has assigned me a supervisor that I was not so passionate to work with. I complained to my Head of Department whereby he said that in order to change my supervisor, I had to have a "reasonable cause." I would like to know how common/uncommon my situation is and how how much rights should a phd student have in choosing the supervisor? Does receiving scholarship from the university make a difference, in other words because the university is paying me, do I have to follow along with what I am given/told?