I have definitely seen students like that. I am even surprised how many end up getting PhDs. Is it making you depressed that some utter slackers do the absolute bare to scrape past the viva with major revisions while you work hard to both be called Dr? I sat beside someone in my office who somehow managed to "collaborate" her way to a paper and a thesis. Where all she did was ask people for advice or what they thought and wrote it down. I might be exaggerating but I do harbour some resentment but I don't think I have had any bad experiences per se.

Why do you ask? Are you having a bade experience?

Hi fakename,

I would consider my PhD project a difficult one. For context, my PhD project was trying to couple tow processes together and the theory was sound and well though out. However, my supervisors didn't consider the methodology and when I came to do the first experiments in my first year I found that the two process were completely different scales. One process produced samples in 10s of mg and the other required 10s of grams! I spend nearly two years working on methodology, scaling one process up and another down. I also did it on a tight budget without the right equipment, no research group and supervisors who were allergic to the lab. It might be survivorship bias but there is light at the end of the tunnel. To be honest, what kept me going was that I genuinely believed in my project concept.

I can't tell you whether your perseverance will pay off but I can give you some advice. Focus on what you can do, and not what you can't. It is easy to get carried away blaming the equipment but it is not probably going to change, so accept it. Establish what you can and can't do with your equipment and go from there. It is easier to improve a method that semi-works than it is to develop an amazing method in one go. If you think the methods are okay but the results aren't what you wanted, take the experiment to the extreme. Qualitative data around the extreme points can give you valuable insight into what is actually happening in your experiments and allow you to plan further work. Also if you don't have the right equipment, you can do different tests. You may find that other departments/research groups have equipment that can provide alternative analysis that is semi-relevant. I do SEM images of virtually everything even if it isn't relevant, simply because my university has too many electron microscopes. What I am trying to say is that you can sometimes solve limited lab equipment problems by being creative.

Hi jdt1831,

Are you in the UK or USA? As the situation could vary significantly between countries.

To be honest, my concern would be have you planned out the focus? It is easy to find a new passion project but the real question is the project significant enough for a PhD or achievable? The worst thing that could happen is that you could explore this new project focus, love it but find there isn't for a full thesis. Before you make any major decisions, write a detailed plan with a sound understanding of the current literature, your research gap, set reasonable goals and be honest with yourself and highlight any potential issues you might see. Not only will it reassure you about whatever you choose but it will make it easier talking with your supervisor or approaching a new one.

If you are asking about how to respond to a random question like that at a conference, use the good old answer; "That is a very good question, we have not considered it but it would be outside the scope of this project which was to look at ...." Or something like that. It is impossible to do everything as part of your project, so it is acceptable to acknowledge their point and say it is outside of scope or say you will investigate it at a later date.

Hinting at it might makes move faster. You don't need to outright say it but suggest that if he is having issues he can remove his name himself. There is being kind and being taken advantage of. So sometimes you need to stick up for yourself to stop people thinking they can be awkward with repercussions.

My supervisor was a 5th choice external examiner recently and was chosen entirely because thy knew she was available at short notice. I haven't submitted my thesis yet but I am supposed to contact an external 6 months before submission because it can take time, so don't worry if it is taking a while. Also, you can't really ask too late, if you don't have an external it just delays your viva.

You can still email them and ask. The admission teams are used to people asking and will share what they can. There is nothing lost asking for a final confirmation.

You will be surprised how highly scientific outreach is valued. Universities compete over lecturers who can/willing do outreach activities to teach the public about their research. I am not sure how they rate outreach during the PhD admissions process but being able to engage children about science is a very useful skill in the long term.

I am sorry to hear that you have left but your health absolutely must come first.

I doubt the university will sue you to get a copy of your data if that is what you are asking. Normally I would say hand it over to keep a good relationship with your supervisor but if that is already gone there isn't much to gain. Obviously your supervisor wants your data to do something with it, so you might be able to trade it for a qood written reference. Is there any reason you want to keep it for yourself? Though there isn't much they can do other than not give you a good refence.

abababa, that was very well explained. I love it when you can add a detailed perspective from the supervisors side.

I am writing a journal article at the minute that I published the preliminary results in a conference paper. I was told that you should substantially rewrite it and add significant data. I am not sure if I supervisor was being melodramatic but she told me that the majority of text needs to be changed to avoid copyright issues, reformat the graphs (again copyright issues) and add a lot more data to justify the extra contribution. Also, I think it is recommended to mention the conference paper in your letter to the editor and you don't want them to be able so see too many similarities at a glance.

Can you pose an ultimatum and tell him if he doesn't agree with the final version you will remove his name?

If you have not submitted the paper to any journals already, you should be able to publish even without his approval (it is iffy if you have already submitted/presented it somewhere with him as co-author). The university probably owns the rights and not supervisor, and the university will be happy as long as you affiliate with them on the submission.

Not to sound obvious but are you sure the supervisor has lost interest or is he just busy? You are still a prospective student without funding and professors are usually very busy people. It is probably not a good sign that they turned cold so suddenly but he may simply have something more pressing and will come back to you. Though as rough rule, the more prestigious/senior the supervisor the less time they will have to supervise you. If you feel you want more support/contact time, going for a younger academic might be better, but they will have less money and experience. I know some students who see their professor supervisor once a month and have a younger second supervisor who they can talk with more frequently to balance it out.

I would still do the interview, just for the practice. There is no shame in doing the interview and turning them down if you get it. As the practice could help you land other PhD places.

I have never heard of modest corrections before but I would assume that they are minor corrections. Though it really depends on how long you are given to do them; 3months should be minor and 6 months major.

Hi rrock,

You have a toxic supervisor. Your supervisor should not be shouting at you, saying that you are dumb or threatening you, that is not appropriate or nor should you accept it. I wish you had a better supervisor and you you are totally justified in losing your motivation. Bad supervisors are not healthy for you or anyone else. Do you have a second supervisor you can talk with or another academic at the uni? You could also possibly try to get a new supervisor and your student handbook/ students union might be able to help.

Hi springtime,

That is a lot to unpack but to answer your main question; no, there isn't much you can be doing. Don't panic about it taking time to get started as in a few months time you might be utterly swamped. You still have plenty of time to collect and analyse data. As, it isn't uncommon for PhD students to get most of their data in their third year. I wouldn't worry to much at this stage about lack of data. I know it can frustrating and anxiety triggering but your struggles sound standard for the first year of the PhD, so don't overthink it.

Not to be stupid but hasn't the weather been pretty awful in the last few months? I would say field work would have been pretty grim the last few months with it being so bitterly cold. Are you sure your supervisor hasn't just delayed it until the weather is a bit nicer? Maybe when contacting your supervisor, you include the weather forecast and keep saying that it will be a lovely day in order to motivate him.

Equipment parts, do you know what needs buying? My supervisor was like yours and took forever to order. However, I started sending her the details of what I wanted in the correct format for the purchasing system. I know every uni/PhD is different but you can speed things up by doing by telling them exactly what to buy yourself.

Meetings, again had the same problem. Supervisor didn't really care until I started to get data and something to talk about. I think the trick is to get them to want to talk with you and them not to see it as an obligation. I know the logic is perverted and it shouldn't be that way but it is a sad reality.

Non-fieldwork work, I said in the other thread, is there any lab work you can practise or methodologies you want to try? Though if you have nothing to do, you have nothing to do. Don't waste time by worrying about something completely outside of your control.

Lack of support, I personally think PhD offices/labs/communal areas are an essential part of the PhD system. I think you gain far more from your peers than anyone else. I completely feel for you due to COVID and it must be tough. However, everyone else is the same position, so don't blame yourself. Personally, I have used this forum for support many times and used this time to connect with long lost friends, so that I at least talk with someone. Some departments are offering coffee break meetings or online events for PhD students, which can sometimes be nice. Also, you can always ask any dumb questions here.

EDIT: Woaw that was long :)