Hi DrCorrine,

Thanks so much for your kind reply :-) I do suspect that this has something to do with her uncertainty and fear of having a student fail/major corrections on her record as I am only her third PhD student. And you're right- anything I say may backfire on me so I guess I just sit tight and hope that she gives me the go ahead in 2 weeks time.

Thanks again!

Hi everyone,
Im not hugely sure why I am posting- I suppose moral support/hearing about similar experiences/ or really just a huge rant.

My PhD experience has, work-wise, been fine but supervisor-wise…well we’re talking academic bullying multiplied by twenty plus a little bit of sadism thrown in for fun and next to ‘control freak’ in the dictionary, you will find a picture of her face.

I was supposed to submit on Friday 16th December. A deadline which has been in my supervisor’s diary all year. It was a strategic deadline as my sister is getting married the week after, and then the week after that I head off abroad for an internship.

The week before she decided that she didn’t want me to submit. Reasons being a) she is on holiday on the 16th December and b) “its not quite there.” My supervisor is the kind of person who looks at drafts, repeatedly, unnecessarily, and insists on changing the words and offers no conceptual-meaning feedback. I have 8 chapters. She has looked at each one an average of 10-15 times each- this is not an exaggeration. And has looked at the full draft of the thesis 4 times.

I am not questioning my ability to write etc. without sounding arrogant I know full well that I write well- so this crazy checking is no reflection on my ability, but a reflection on her (as all students under her are treated the same).

Either way, her inability to relinquish control, and her instance that I constantly keep changing ‘words’ means that I now miss part of my sisters wedding celebrations (note, her initial suggestion was that I submitted my thesis on the morning of my sisters wedding [22nd December]). Unfortunately I can’t do that anyway as the administrators office will be closed.

Her other suggestion is that I submit the day before I fly off for my internship. Which leaves me with a whole 2 days to relax before I start my post (5th January). The best bit is, she hasn’t even guaranteed that she will let me submit then. She said that I may have to finish it after I come back from my internship in March. I have no idea why she would do this to me, other than for her own sick amusement, because in all seriousness my thesis is finished. I have had 5 other people look over it- who have given me some great but minor feedback about improving it- but who otherwise think its good to go.

I know that I am able to submit without her permission at my university, but I would not risk doing that, as the last student who did that (the one before me), has been utterly screwed over by her, and in some strange way I think it’s kind of rude to submit without supervisor permission unless there is an excellent reason.

I suppose I just wanted to rant. I’m quite emotional at the moment which makes tinkering with the thesis quite tricky. I have coped for 3 years 2 months with this woman and am now finally cracking (first time she saw me cry was 2 weeks ago when she said I could submit?!).

Argh- that’s all
:-(

Thanks for the comments.
Bonzo I am such a metal fanatic, the few lines keeping me going at the moment are killswitch's "fear is failure and this is my motivation".

problems are: i dont want to change supevisor because i love this area of research and she is the only person doing it in this country, who is worth doing it with. so there will be no changing of the supervisor.

more problems: whilst i could knuckle down with the projects, arrange conferences, look for opportune places to publish etc. she is hindering any progress on my project. i started experimenting in february, which is when she took maternity leave. she then delayed my project by requesting changes that she didnt really understand because she was away from the lab, resulting in errors, and wasting 6 months of my first year. i am now just starting my second year and i am basically in the same place i was in my first year. i also suggested some conferences to her, some i would like to attend and some to present at. she sort of waves away discussing it, by saying 'we'll review your progress in a couple of weeks and then see' (since when was attending a conference reward based?). she wont let me do any undergrad teaching (am qualified to do so) and basically cancelled some side projects i was involved with on the basis of me being injured (i was on one crutch, it would have barely impeded my ability to experiment and analyse and write up)

moan moan moan moan moan.

I have a lot to say but am too exhausted to get it all down now. Im another one of those lucky people whose supervisor is making life hell. I feel as though I have reached a point of complete despair. I am usually a positive, confident, extremely social person. I'm now a crying wreck, locked away in a basement office away from the rest of my team who are on the 1st floor (courtesy of supervisor) .

I have no intention of reporting her. Ive notified bullying/harassment officials to keep them posted but thats about it. Im just interested to hear how people have deal with supervisors who are (in the clinical and popular sense) psychopaths.

examples of insanity: on the day my mother nearly died in hospital i rush back to my department (mother was in hospital in a different city), having managed to do as much work as possible for my meeting with my supervisor, only to be told "between the ages of 22 to 30 shit happens and you need to get on with it" i was then told that i was incapable of explaining things clearly ( i was a little frazzled during the meeting) and she then proceeded to write an email to the head of department explaining that im crap at everything (out of the blue).

Im not the kind of student who needs a hug and a kiss and a pat on the head, but a little slack would have been hugely appreciated. This type of madness occurs on a weekly basis, I would say every 2 days. I have never felt this low in my life. I cant see an end to this.