Agreed. This is an academic route, not a route to riches.

We've been over this before, Belford is not a prestigious as Instantdegrees.com. I know because it took me 10 minutes to fill in the Belford form and only 7 for Instantdegrees.com.

Chris, anything you can work on in the next week or so that you can complete and tick off before breaking for Christmas? It'll give you a moral boost heading into the break.

Likewise, a good break at Christmass will do everyone good. After Friday week, no work till January - that's an order!

Showing motivation is a big part of it and you clearly have it in abundance. Make sure that prospective supervisors are aware this in your initial application. Likewise, rather than apologise for the last 3 years, draw out the positives and how it makes you a determined, organised and strong-willed PhD candidate. Sell your strengths!

I don't think academia is particularly different from anywhere else. I suppose the difficulty arises if you are dependent entirely upon one supervisor in which case you have a pretty enclosed relationship.

Even if new laws (or guidance/good practice procedures) were implemented, they only have limited practical power. For instance, some people sue their employers for wrongful dismissal and might even win (albeit rarely, most employers can contrive a good reason). OK, they get a few quid in compensation but they still have to move on. In the commercial world you simply go and work elsewhere, perhaps in a new industry. In academia, it's not as easy to start over if you make big waves. I still think it's better to avoid academic infamy if you intend to make a career of it.

Absolutely. You must socialise with them (ditto everyone else). Likewise, I concur with regard to department politics - stay out, or rather just nod or shake your head as appropriate without commenting on said member of staff being bitched about.

I've thought about this some more, and I'm afraid that I still believe you're on a hiding to nothing if you take the retribution route. Rather than concentrating your energy on a negative strategy (and subsequently destroying your academic career with it), focus your energy on doing something positive like moving on.

Indeed, if your aim is a career in academia then you do not currently have the clout to challenge the rules. Move on, play the game, and if in a few years time when you've made it but still feel the same way, then consider what you can do to improve the PhD experience for students in general. By that stage, your former supervisor will be a distant memory and hardly worth expending your energy on.

I agree PC_Geek. Whilst some people do have a torrid time, they tend to be in the minority. My supervisors are generally fine, albeit rare sights around the department right now. To prospective PhD students, don't be deterred by the large number of depressing threads on the board right now. Get on and apply!!

OK, just re-reading my previous remark. I'm not disputing your position - you certainly have a right to be upset. I'm merely trying to place it in the context of the bigger picture that most people pass through with no significant issues, hence no need for a pressure group. However, one slightly less combative approach might be to form some sort of Association of PhD Students which is there to improve the PhD student's experience. For instance, it could appoint a mediator to liaise with universities over disputes etc.

Perhaps cc, but would there be enough visitors to make it work. Speaking of which, dear PGF Team, bearing in mind that the Off Topics section is not too burdensome in terms of the number of messages, can we have it routed into the "Latest messages" page?

This is interesting, but doesn't match my experience, nor the experience of any of my friends who have been through the PhD process. I don't dispute it goes on but unless I'm wrong most PhD students have no problem with the system.

In any profession there are a number of bad eggs. The problem is, academia is a small pond and if you start making big waves then everyone gets to know about it and I very much doubt you'd win. You'd just end up with baggage that prospective future employers will wish to avoid in favour of a quieter life with someone less burdened. Sorry to be blunt, but washing your dirty linen in public is not the way. Can you not ask for a meeting with your sup to clear the air?

And to think, I was a 20-something when this was originally posted.

Unfortunately, we have something called the Data Protection Act which prohibits this sort of thing. Why do you need to know?

Didn't Maya sing "what's she gonna look like with a chimney on her" in that Tamperer-Feel It song back in 98?

Strikingly familiar. Hmmm.