No offence, but anything worth to be published would be the new trend that other peers want to see.

It was my PhD research topic, but not in the ares of Cardiovascular Engineering. I have done quite lots of working in the similar field in Biomechanics. May I know which German university are you targeting now?

What do you mean about "Not in a good condition"? 1) he was not happy about your performance from a pure technical perspective, or 2) Two of you had some conflicts beyond the field of research.

If it is the first one, you should not worry about that too much. You can ask him to be your referee.

I had two supervisors when I was doing my PhD. One is local, the other one is a German professor. I really like the German guy who gave me quite lot support in my study and life. However, he was too far away from me. So I am some sort of in-charge of the local supervisor. This local professor did not care about me. I have not talked anything with him for about entire one or two years!! And at the end stage of my research, he started to intervene my research and showed a strong commitment in the research detail, that however dragged me about further half year for submission of my thesis. Unfortunately, none of them could give good support in academics field, which is a shame. I learned almost everything by myself. That is my story. Now I hope I can finish my so called "minor" corrections as soon as possible, and get rid of this nightmare.

On the other hand, I have to say the local supervisor is not that bad as I thought before. My current employment was somehow depending on his recommendation. After my first interview, my current boss had a long chat with him, it seems he highly recommended my skill and abilities. So, I must say, I am now in a much better position comparing with most of the low-age fresh graduates.

My suggestion is that, 1) you'd better to keep a good relationship with your supervisor, 2) over communication is always better than less communication, 3) keep patience.

Congratulations!

I am in a similar situation. I have passed my oral defense with minor correction. Indeed, there were only a few rewording, typos etc. need to be done. In the report, there is a section called questions (or similar), which has been asked in oral. They are not a part of correction from a perspective of official documents.

There is a long question that seems examiner would like to propose a new hypothesis. It aims to a part of my dissertation that tested a hypothesis from a published paper. That question is not relevant to my context, but talking about a field which close to what I have presented in that section, and the examiner has been working in that field for many years. However, my supervisor insists my to do a couple of more tests to answer those questions. I am not very sure if this is necessary. Indeed, I have already written a discussion to answer it. If I do this test, it becomes I am testing examiner's hypothesis, rather than the original purpose of that chapter.

I am very confused now.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated！

Hi, MeaninginLife,

Thanks. Yesterday, the B sent me an email about he would like me to ask a 3-month extension for reading a 20 pages long chapter, because it is unpublished. I am shocked by this. Today, I expressed a few reasons that I am able to wait in such long period. He said (1) I should ask extension, and (2) he also believe I should go to work and not worry about my extension. I do not understand what suddenly takes him 3-month to read a chapter, and why he thought I could secure a job without submitting my PhD Thesis.

They know I am not going to work on this subject after I finish the PhD. The current chapter he is reading has not been published yet. I guess, they (A and B) worried about no one will continue this work and some content in my thesis will remain in an unpublished state. They want the paper.

electricwizard,

Your CV might need some works, an issue of job searching skill. According to your post, there is nothing related to your academia achievements or qualifications.

I recommend you find your university career advisers for trimming your CV and cover letter, and keeping looking at the career advisory web of other UK universities. It is really impressed that your master research was achieved in a commercial environment. It is the best selling point for an engineering graduate.

MeaninginLife,

I just recalled a case in my department. Some supervisor and co-supervisors had been holding several paper drafts of a student for a couple of years by using excuse of "I am busy". That student left the department without any publications in the early of last year. After he's leaving, these supervisors started to publish these articles, of course, the student is not the first author.

If your supervisor does not productive, and does not have many students working for him/her, you'd better the keep your draft and data in a safer place.

Zheng, I was not in Germany. German universities are very good universities for researching, especially, in engineering field. German researchers are very friendly and supportive in a team environment. I have made lots of negative points here, however, those only happens in my case. Remember keep producing publishable results is the best way to keep you safe.

Hi, MeaninginLife,

I do believe the whole consequence is due to politics between A and B. The original plan of after my graduation was doing my post-doc with A in Germany. The B also expressed a willing that collaborates with the A through me. It means the B bet some hopes on the A to apply funds in Germany. We only had a verbal agreement on that. However, I have to apply my own fund that there is no guarantee I could secure the money. At the beginning of this year, I started to spread my CVs to the available open positions on the job market. One day, the A asked me about whether I was looking for a job. I suppose an employer had checked my background with A, which is very strange to be happened before interviewing. So there is no reason to let them thinking I would like to stay at University.

The thesis is comprehensive enough at this stage. I have done all necessary experiments. Certainly, there are more I could do, which, however, will beyond my topic. I have deleted about a fifth of my original draft content, because those contents (1) seems not relevant to the main point of the thesis, (2) the content of the A could not understand, (3) the content of that the B thinks I should delete and A would like me to add.

This morning I get back a chapter which was published before. The B have spent a week of making many comments on this chapter. In a hour later, the A sent back an email showing he disagrees the ALL comments. I was thinking the B just need have a general look on it. and now he disagrees the content has already published with his name on it?! and he has spent a week to do so. So what is the whole point of this revision ?? Note that I have paid the activity :)

There are only two chapter left, which the last one is a much shorter chapter for conclusion. I hope the B can finish the whole thing soon. I do not deserve this.

I have been being opened mind for 4 years, my dear friend. These two supervisors do not care about my progress or research. They just want papers. I hate they have suddenly picked things up, and pretend to giving me some advise in two or four weeks time. This is all on my personal expense. I am the one paying their faults, not only money but also the most valuable time. The A adapted a very wrong approach that ask the others who might have slightly different ideas to have look the thesis. How could I change everything in two weeks time ??

The structure of thesis followed the idea of A, otherwise he was constantly not happy with the structure. Indeed, he did not know anything in this field, he wants me to explain everything in an idiomatic language. If he cannot understand, he just simply say this is bad, etc.. B seems unlike those standard things, he want me to delete them all. What can I do ?? To ask A telling B, this is all he does not know ??

It really depends on what "paper" you have taken/enrolled. Doing your PhD thesis in modern days is taking a research-based paper which has a title and paper code as other conventional papers. This paper is offered by a department that eventually confers you the degree. And in your qualification, the specification, in most of cases, will be clearly stated. You should check the department you enrolled.