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Doing a PhD with an SV that specialized in a different field

T

I will be doing a PhD soon with an SV that has a different field then what I'm going to work with, would that be advisable?

The PhD that I'm working is something related to education and the SV has almost 2 decades worth of teaching experience so I might find his input valuable. The only concern that I have is that his PhD is in an unrelated field, and his research interest would be different as well, but his willing to supervise me. Would the be ok or advisable?

Has anyone done their PhD with an SV that has a PhD unrelated to your own research interest?

S

Hi, I think it is possible, but it very much depends on how much other support you will be able to call upon during your phd. Obviously to some extent it differs from field to field - for example, I am in the sciences, and would have found it really difficult to find someone to help me with the very technical aspects of my phd if my supervisor hadn't been an expert. So if you could discuss with your supervisor who else is available that you could turn to for specific help, that would be useful. The fact that he is willing to supervise you suggests that he feels he understands and is able to help you with the project - is there any overlap at all with your research and his, such as methodology, techniques, etc? It isn't ideal, but shouldn't be impossible either. However, be prepared for the extra work that it may entail, researching things that you are unable to get help with, looking for others within your department/uni that could help, etc. For example, in my dept there is no one to help with statistics, but the maths department runs a workshop where you can go to get help with specific problems.

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