Im interested in how long people's supervision meetings last? im in the social sciences, and i have a strict 'one hour', and it always seems like, as soon as the hour's up, my supervisors look at their watches and wind things up. i sometimess feel it would be more beneficial to keep going a bit, cos often ive only just warmed up! - even if it meant fewer meetings (i have one meeting a month). What do others have?

Thanks Bibi. Thats really helpful, and you're right, i am thinking of requesting something longer. Problem is, i have no frame of reference as to whether I'm being unreasonable (I feel this with a lot of things!) - hence my posting to see what others have/get. Its hard because my supervisors always make it clear that they're always pushed for time.

I am a physical geographer, however, one of my colleagues is a human geographer and has requested more frequent meetings with their suprvisor & for them to be less formal, and thankfully her supervisor has agreed (granted she is Tawianese, and is getting use to life in the UK). However, I think speaking to your supervisor, and telling them your problems/issues is a good start, as it varies from student to student how much contact is given/needed.

i think its great you get an hour!!!! I don't get that! If you need more then do ask... if they are unwilling to give you time then nag. Or e-mail loads. Dont stand for second best. I think supervisors forget what its like to be a PhD student.

Hi Zelda. I'm lucky if I get a full hour and it's usually interrupted by people knocking on the door. Should've mentioned I'm social sciences too. Finding it all a bit traumatic at the moment. This guy is my new supervisor because my original one left for a job elsewhere. Hoping things get better or I'll be asking to change to someone else It really gets me down sometimes.

That sounds harsh, Soda. How far into your PhD are you? All this chopping and changing must be stressing you out.

I'm also doing a social science PhD. My meetings are every month to six weeks and average length is an hour and a bit, sometimes an hour and a half.