Thank you both Joyce and Bejasus. I've had a couple of informal crisis meetings with the one supervisor who I feel is more sympathetic to me. Of course I couldn't explain the whole problem but I discussed the pessimistic attitude that I've been encountering from the department. It probably didn't change anything, but at least I got some of it off my chest.

Bejasus: I totally relate to your situation. The measures you described are pretty much what I'm doing and planning now. Now the situation is that I've decided to stay at this department. Just like you described, you just have to work around the department and they will provide the bare necessities. But it's such a shame. This was supposed to be fun. And although research is often lonely, it makes you so utterly marooned when there is no community you could pop into every now and then.

The funny thing is, whenever I go to the local pub (filled with uni graduates and staff as it is next to the campus) or talk to academics in other universities, everyone seems to be very interested in my research. So it is hard to understand the total lack of interest at the dept. I'm getting used to the fact that even though the people there are usually not in my field, pub nights are much more fruitful than the so called supervision meetings.

8-)

Hi all. Found my way here googling for things like "phd stress". :)

How did / do you survive lack of understanding and support from your supervisors and/or your department?

I'd like to hear if you've had similar situations, so I can get some perspective. I'm close to the end of my 1st year and preparing to the registration. My topic is fun & engaging but I'm horrified stiff from the lack of understanding from my supervisors and my dept.

My topic is interdisciplinary and theoretical, connected to media and design. I had a hard time choosing which uni to go to because there wasn't anything exactly right.

In the end I chose the department where I did a theoretical MA a few years ago. I thought that there might be some problems but at least I already knew most of the staff etc.

The dept. assigned two brilliant people as supervisors. It felt like a dream come true as I was using their research as stepping stones. I knew we would have differences, but they were smart and could probably accommodate my ideas. They had both done fairly theoretical phd's like the one I had in mind.

Halfway through the year they both left. One for a sabbatical and one got fed up with the academia completely. The remaining staff are all doing practical or historical research. They like to keep things clearly measurable. They often do quantitative tests with user groups in controlled environment.

Now I have two new supervisors and I feel that I have no understanding from them or from the rest of the dept.

I get blank looks when I try to talk about things having also social values. When I plan doing qualitative interviews, they talk about how difficult it will be to arrange my interviews and get people talking.

Whenever they read my writing or hear me talk they still always seem to think I'm into looking at the functional aspect like they. As they don't understand it, they're constantly commenting in a pessimistic tone that "hasn't that been done before?" (as it has from that perspective)

I've read the horror stories on the web. And my supervisors are not bad supervisors in the real sense. They are quick, give fast feedback, meet with me regularly.

But every supervision meeting feels like an hour in a black hole of despair where these leeches suck all the energy and enthusiasm from me.

Afterwards I feel paralysed and get nothing done for a week or so. Then I go back doing exactly what I planned in my proposal 18 month ago. The new supervisors haven't contributed in any way to my work.

I'm not sure what to do. Should I just bare with them? Like I said, I enjoy my topic. I love the work. I know from the literature that there's a hole in knowledge which I can fill.

I'm very scared about the registration process. It just seems there's no point in doing a MPhil if they fail me.

Or should I seek to change my dept? But like I said, there isn't a perfect alternative available (maybe could talk with philosophy, applied linguistics or something).