Overview of Delta on PostgraduateForum.com

Overview of Delta

Signup date: 19 Jul 2008 at 9:25am

Last login: 15 Nov 2012 at 10:20pm

Post count: 2307

Recent Posts

Supervisor won't check my thesis. What should I do?

Delta 2307 posts
12 years ago

======= Date Modified 15 Nov 2012 22:25:53 =======
I had similar trouble, didn't know if or when I'd get feedback and when I did it was minimal which made me doubt my work had been read. I'm with eimeo, I didn't want to take action but knew I'd feel worse if the thesis received a fail and so I contacted the research office and had my fears recorded. Do what you must to protect yourself.

unsupportive supervisors...

Delta 2307 posts
12 years ago

AQ, I've sent you a PM.

nasty comments about co-student

Delta 2307 posts
12 years ago

Quote From BilboBaggins:

======= Date Modified 01 Nov 2012 14:58:26 =======
Afraid I have a different take on this. I don't see it as bitching, but more a realistic assessment in these academics' eyes. If they were bitching I'd expect far more criticism of her as a person and of her work. Not a discussion of her likely career progress.

Now it's wrong that they should assume that someone aged 39 or 40 would not be in a position to start an academic career. I have a very big issue with that part of this. But otherwise I don't see their actions as that wrong, or that dissimilar from what I saw a lot as a postgraduate student myself.

Absolutely 100% do not tell her. It would only upset her and cause unnecessary ructions. And not be of any help to her at all.

Actually, I agree with BilboBaggins - well said BilboBaggins. I suppose my hope is other academics are not so short sighted as regards age.

nasty comments about co-student

Delta 2307 posts
12 years ago

No, don't tell her, as it would serve no purpose and might knock her confidence. Hopefully, she'll determine her own path in life and if she wants to be an academic I don't think her age should hold her back.

nasty comments about co-student

Delta 2307 posts
12 years ago

Advantages and disadvantages of a self funded PhD

Delta 2307 posts
12 years ago

Quote From hazyjane:

======= Date Modified 29 Oct 2012 11:15:02 =======
Sorry to be negative, but I'm a pragmatist, and I don't think the risks associated with doing a PhD are worth compounding by paying for it as well.

I actually think that's very good advice and would second it.

HELP ME PLEASE Supervisor a nightmare

Delta 2307 posts
12 years ago

Quote From bewildered:

Have you any idea how problematic the vast majority of proposals are from even really good students? Frankly it's been a massive eyeopener for me, since I started getting asked to look at applications with a view to supervising them. If an applicant isn't applying for funding, there's often no opportunity to work with them to make the topic feasible - our application system makes it impossible and I know at some universities (oxford and cambridge for examples in my subject) applicants are forbidden to contact prospective supervisors. You have to say yes or no based on whether you think the supporting documentation suggests the person has the ability or reject everyone not applying for funding. It's hardly surprising the proposals aren't great when you think about the process of writing and rewriting that funding applicants go through for the research councils where you define your own project. I applied for ESRC funding and it took three months of intensive work on the proposal before it was deemed good enough to enter the competition, but this gave me a headstart over my self-funded fellow students, who had to start off with that process when they enrolled. Very few proposals remain the same or even that close to the original version. I suppose the true spirit of the consumer knows best, means a supervisor should let the student waste their tuition fees finding out what they'd proposed wasn't feasible, but it doesn't strike me as very ethical (particularly given universities have increasingly strict upper limits on how long someone can be registered for).

In the OP's case, that's why I asked whether the issue was access or ethics because these are good examples of things applicants very rarely have enough knowledge about to make sensible decisions in proposals, and it often comes as a terrible shock to practitioners embarking on PhDs, when they discover their employer won't give them access. Medical doctors are apparently a nightmare on this front according to our annual ethics training session the other week. It appears in this case to be a very strange set-up though - I just wanted to check that there wasn't some horrendous misunderstanding going on.

I'm not disagreeing with you about how problematic proposals can be - you would know better than me. However, at the universities I applied to we were encouraged to approach supervisors before or at the stage of application and I had three meetings with one supervisor (Head of Department) to discuss my research ideas / proposal. Unfortunately, my research wasn't considered a priority area for that school (they had them clearly stipulated) and I wasn't prepared to self-fund (they offered me a self-funding place) but had I decided to self-fund I would have expected to be admitted on the basis of my proposal and although changes may have been necessary further down the line (research is full of twists and turns) I would not have expected my proposal to be dismissed so early on.

HELP ME PLEASE Supervisor a nightmare

Delta 2307 posts
12 years ago

Quote From pikirkool:

lol bewildered, i think u got it all wrong. the caveat is pretty much unwarranted. self-funders do have the prerogative to decide.

as clients, we're paying experts to give advice on *how* we can solve a particular problem that we're facing
and NOT how we can help the experts instead.

That's the way I see it. The reality is the supervisor in this instance should have read Chelsea's proposal and made a decision as to whether it was essentially workable or not (allowing for some amendment) and should have discussed this prior with Chelsea prior to accepting her as a student. The way I read it, and I could be wrong, Chelsea seems to be paying for something that she didn't plan to do.

HELP ME PLEASE Supervisor a nightmare

Delta 2307 posts
12 years ago

======= Date Modified 28 Oct 2012 21:14:15 =======
Actually Bewildered, if someone is paying for something they should expect to get what they have signed up for and are paying for and academia should be no different. Unless I've picked something up wrong, the academic agreed to act as a supervisor (having seen a proposal or such) and is now attempting to change the topic to one that better suits him. If someone is funded it is often because there is a project that needs doing by an academic or department and so very often a funded PhD student has less control over the design or topic of the PhD but that's understandable.

Quote From bewildered:

I would also add a large caveat to the general notion that self-funders call the shots as consumers. You're paying for expert advice on your project. It seems potentially rather self-defeating to reject that advice to me at least.

HELP ME PLEASE Supervisor a nightmare

Delta 2307 posts
12 years ago

Sorry, I meant more *right* to call the shots.

HELP ME PLEASE Supervisor a nightmare

Delta 2307 posts
12 years ago

If you requested a different supervisor, within the same department, I can't see what problems there would be for the department or the university (aside from some additional paperwork). You're self-funding and so you've more rights to call the shots (try to remember this). Just be tactful in how you deal with your current main supervisor.

As regards the other offer, you may not necessarily have to move. If it's lab based you will have to move but otherwise could you not work from home? Perhaps you could discuss this with staff at the other university before you make your decision. I didn't move for my PhD but worked from home and just went to the university about 9 or 10 times throughout.

It's better you change your mind now than much further down the line. What is your gut instinct telling you? At most, your main supervisor will be annoyed but three years down the line you'll have been supervised by someone else who knows your work and they'll be the one who you'll be looking to for a reference.

HELP ME PLEASE Supervisor a nightmare

Delta 2307 posts
12 years ago

If you are self-funding, could you not get your 2nd supervisor to become your 1st supervisor? Reading your post I have to say if I was self-funding I know I would be alarmed at how things are going and would try to nip it in the bud. Could you not even seek to do your PhD at another university? I say this because you are bringing money to a university.

Supervisors can make or break a PhD and so do what you think is right.

job dilema/apply or not to apply

Delta 2307 posts
12 years ago

Start looking and applying for jobs NOW. I started looking 18 months ago and very seriously looking 12 months ago and I'm still unemployed (2 rejections today) and I've read other posts on here over the years and my experience is not unique. You need an employer more than they need you, in this climate and so please start applying now. You wouldn't want to be in my position - trust me!

Car crash in slow motion - five weeks to submission

Delta 2307 posts
12 years ago

It's amazing what you can do in a short time. In your post you produced a 'tick list' of things you need to do. Starting doing them and ticking them off. You can make it happen.

Good luck!

self funded how to contact supervisor

Delta 2307 posts
12 years ago

I'd have grave concerns about self-funding because that's a lot of money to invest in a PhD (added to the money you'll not be able to earn because you're busy doing a PhD) and PhD's are not always useful or take you to where you hope to go. Please give the advice you've been given serious consideration.