Just wondering, can you change supervsior (might be too late?) or write up as a master degree? The thing though is that if you decide to write up a master degree, there is potential bad treatment that will be thrown your way during the write up period... and you may also need to get his reference if you decide to do a PhD again in future. By just leaving, you don't have to get his reference and actually, no one ever has to know that you left a PhD unless you volunteer that info.

Hi, munchen,

Can you take maybe up to a month off if you are depressed and then make a decision?

If you want to leave with a master, you will have to present a body of work that is suitable for a masters degree. That criteria is based on your university, so you will have to check with your Grad School, post grad coordinator and supervisor for this.

Are you depressed because of lack of support from your supervisor? Is it something that could be sorted out before you decide to quit?

Hi, Karmah,

Sorry for what you have been through... So your star project has been scooped by someone else and you have been blamed for it. How unfair... My condolences over the passing of your grandmother. It is very difficult to face all these at the same time.

My suggestion is to change supervisors. They are probably only interested in the star project and now that it is gone. they are not interested in supervising you anymore. And they are horrible people, why stay with them?

Can you make your side project your primary one? Can you take it with you to another supervisor? Can you talk to your postgrad coordinator or Grad school under confidentiality to ask for help to change supervisor? How are you funded? Can you take your scholarship with you?

You are still very early in your PhD candidature. Make changes necessary to ensure that you have a high chance of completing your PhD successfully. Many times students ignore multiple warning signs of bad supervisors which exist since the start of the PhD, and then only want to take action when it is far too late. Supervisors also normalise bullying which doesn't make things any better for students to voice out their problems.

Have a think. Do what is right for you. However, I just don't think this place is good for you any longer. Take care

Hi, iwan,

Your decision to quit is not completely unexpected given all the issues that you have been facing since the start of your PhD in 2016.

You have invested a lot of time and effort and sufferred much anguish over your PhD project.

Do what is right for you and let your professor sort out the rest of the issues after you have left. If your project has been a big interest to him, he would have given you far more support than he had. And he is a "professor" after all... He has the brains to sort things out.

How to quit? Hmmm, tell him in person, send an email immediately after to have it in writing, cc your postgrad coordinator/school administrator/grad school officer, if there is a form - fill it, pack up your stuff in your lab (shouldn't take too long, max 3 days if you really do have that much crap), and leave and never look back. Oh, and don't badmouth anyone.... Just go.

Note: Expect the brainwashing to make you feel guilty and absolutely worthless as a PhD student to have quitted your project. In all honestly, you don't owe them anything when you have not been supervised properly and have been treated poorly, so do not succumb to their tricks....

Oh, and take a nice break somewhere... You need to detoxify. Take good care of yourself from here onwards...

Hi, omt271,

Have you sat down and told your supervisor how you feel? Could you discuss your project outline, expectations from each other and project deadlines with him? Is it possible to bring in another supervisor who is more aligned with your project aim than your current one?

I would also suggest a 2 week break to clear your mind. If after returning from the break and having done the above mentioned you are still unhappy, then perhaps you may wish to either change project and supervisor or wrap up the current project as a master and leave. I do not believe in prolonging your sufferring if you know in your heart that the project is not viable due to lack of supervision and support.It is a tough decision to make, but please do this as a last resort after you have tried the suggestions above. I wish you all the best.

Dear Feelingdrained,

It is an unfortunate situation that you are in, but all is not hopeless yet. My suggestion to you would be to steel yourself and complete the writing up of your PhD thesis. You are in your final year, and while you do not feel like you will make it, you still have a chance as long as you submit your thesis. "Just keep swimming," as Dory says.

I was once in a similar situation to you. Saw my supervisors at one point, once in 5 months and yeah, they were clearly not interested. Had to do everything myself, from planning my experiments to developing assays from scratch. Experiments didn't work, progress was slow and hypothesis was proven untrue... I was going to quit, was already ready to write a letter when I gave myself just one more chance.... and wrote that darned thesis and finished my PhD.

What you can do to go through this sh!tty situation are
1) Meditate + exercise + eat healthy (Take care of your body!)
2) Find an experienced mentor who is willing to read your thesis (I found a wonderful mentor who was completely not in my field and used her feedbacks to structure my thesis. It works)
3) Hold yourself accountable for your writing. Do weekly and daily plans, breaking down to the hour and stick to it. Give this plan to a trusted friend who can come by and check on you from time to time (Works so well for me. Had to be extra extra disciplined to do this)
4) Don't be so hard on yourself. You have tried your best. Submit the thesis knowing that you have done your best and hope for the best outcome (This was by far the hardest for me because I was free falling at one stage, so I know how you feel)
5) Counselling - If there is free counselling session in uni, it maybe good for you to talk to someone

Hang on. I do hope that you will find the strength to overcome this challenge and finish your PhD

Hi, applepie,

You may not be compatible with your supervisor. Just how far along are you in this PhD? You may break down if you stay with this supervisor any longer. So, can you switch to a different project under a new supervisor? Might as well cut your losses now rather than later.

All the best, Tenzin. I am sure your perseverance will pay off in the end...

I would say that who your supervisor is plays a more significant role on your career outcome than your uni rank. If possible, he/she should be well-established so he/she can write good references for you or recommend you to good labs within his/her network for future roles. This is of course on top of having funding to pay for your project and having knowledge and time to guide you in your studies. While it is hard to get all this combo in one person, you can have a couple of supervisors and spread all these factors between them. Good luck.

Hi, MissUCA,

It is highly unusual that you are not assigned a new supervisor when your supervisor left. I feel so sorry for you as I can imagine how awful it must have been to work completely alone. However, it should be your right to nominate your supervisor, so I do not understand what has happened.

On the bullying and closing of ranks, unfortunately these are common in academia, with the intention that the students will be forced to leave on their own accord. Many before you have sufferred too. Read faded07's posts on this website. Do hang on and don't give up. You are so very close and giving up will only make your enemies happy.

You will need help and the right pressure to get the department to do their job. Seek the advice of your Students Union which defends student.Do they have a lawyer? Speak to them too. Is your department different to the Grad School? If yes, speak to the Grad School about your predicament. Are you an international student? Speak to the International Students department. The point is to spread the word out about what they are doing to you to pressurise them to do their job and grad you so they can get you off their back. Do you have any super established, high ranking Prof who is willing to talk to the dep on your behalf? Try that too.

If all fails and there is nothing more to lose, I wonder if you could threaten to sue since you have all the evidence of research fraud and mistreatment of student.

Try to match the area of research strengths of the unis with your Phd interest. Sorry, but I can't really recommend since I don't know much about your field.

Normally you can't use publications from a previous degree eg master to automatically qualify for a higher degree eg PhD. Usually you will also have to work on a new project although the project can be an extension of your previous work. It will have to be a body of work that will demonstrate min 3 years of research.

Hi, Saadliaqat,

Personally, I won't take a PhD unless it covers all my tuition fees. PhD is stressful enough without financial issues. Would you consider free PhD in Germany or New Zealand?

Hi, Kenziebob,

Try getting the list of students from the postgrad coordinator. Otherwise get it from the mailing list to all students in your institute.

About making friends, I won't worry too much into why it is a bit hard. It might be a case of pure jealously. You said that work is great for you. And that your work is ahead of schedule. Most students are not in such a good position and are stressed out, and perhaps jealous of you. Hence they take it out by complaining. Just continue being nice to everyone and try not to talk about how great your PhD is in front of other students who maybe struggling. If you bake, maybe bring in peace-making muffins during tea. They will come around, hopefully.

However, rewt,

What I learned besides all the technical side of things is that the currency of research is PUBLICATION. What these long hours, months spent developing methods meant delays in obtaining results using these methods. And publications generally want results, not methods.... So, this means less publications. And when the second or third student comes along, he/she will enjoy the fruits of your labour.

However, if someone was in a well-supported lab with established methods, they can use the methods already developed to get their results with little delay. They have all the equipment necessary so they don have to go round asking for help or use inferior tools. With their established collaborators, they can generate a lot of high-impact papers.

When these ppl from well-supported lab with lots of high-impact publications graduate, they will apply for the same pool of jobs and grants as you. Their big name PIs can also give reference for them. Guess who will have the advantage and have higher chance of job and grant success? There is no column anywhere on the application form that asks about how supported you are during your PhD or how many methods you have developed. That is why how established your supervisor is means so much to your survival post PhD.