Hello again those with experience... If your PhD is changing a bit and isn't really what you had first planned it to be about, is it normal and expected to request a change in supervisory team, or could this be perceived as "bad"?

This happened to me I ended up gaining a new supervisor from a completely different discipline. Makes for plenty of differences of opinion but that's probably all to the good!

Thanks. Did you just get an extra one or actually get rid of the old one? :D

Sorry. I didn't make it very clear - I have all the originals plus one more. One of the originals knows very little about the research area now the topic has changed, I doubt he even understands the key terms, but the bigger panel dilutes his input!

I like the sound of that! A nice way to do it.

hi, Tudor_Queen,

It depends on what changes you want to your supervisory team. IF your PhD is going in a new direction which your supervisors have no interest/expertise in, then adding new supervisor(s) in the new field may be the way forward. Bear in mind to be very diplomatic when asking for it. I have seen relationships fails because the original supervisors took it as an insult to their knowledge and ability.

If your PhD has been going through many rabbit holes and dead ends, and you feel that your supervisors are lacking interest or not giving you any/sufficient feedback due to lack of knowledge/expertise, changing supervisors may be the way forward. If the project you are on is the supervisors', then you may have to change project as well. Changing of supervisor and project would be recomended only when you are in the early stages of your PhD. Eg. First 1-2 years in a 3-4 year PhD. If you are past that and feel that there is not much hope in finishing with a good PhD, perhaps go for a masters, then do another PhD. Academic career post PhD is quite competitive and you can only apply for fellowships within limited time after your PhD. So, if you finish with no/little paper, this unfortunately makes you less competitive for fellowships. Try to give yourself the best fighting chance, if you want to be in academia.

Think deeply about what is best for you. All the best.