My supervisor nicked my final thesis

M

======= Date Modified 18 Feb 2011 18:26:17 =======
I had submitted

S

Does rather depend what he did with it. To be honest you should probably just email him and say something like "could you please not take work and/or other files from my computer without my permission in the future".

I'm guessing he "nicked it" because you were not around to ask as opposed to any malicious intent.

I

I agree with screamingaddabs, you should first email your supervisor for an explanation incase he has a good excuse. At my place of work, everyone's file system is viewable to others. However we have the option of changing the permissions to each file i.e. readonly etc. Very often people here view other theses which are stored on the main file system to gain insight into that line of work which was perhaps missed out in the corresponding paper. Hope that helps.

J

Err why did you leave them where anyone could access them Doesn't your supervisor get copies of work anyway to read through?

D

I would write a letter to the head of the department and send a copy to the vice chancellor, maybe even your local member of parliament and possibly to the queen expressing my outrage at such a heinous act and demand your supervisor be beheaded at once.

Or I could just go and actually ask my supervisor why he did it given he is the only person that can actually answer the question?

D

I cannot imagine your supervisor has any malicious intent for your thesis, if you fail then it also reflects on them! I would be interested why he wanted a copy but to be honest my supervisory team have all had a copy of my final draft for reading. Could it be that he needed an electronic copy for your submission, plagerism checks etc?
I would also remind you before confronting your supervisor that as you have submitted the thesis it is usually bound under copyright and as such the institute generally has copyrights over the document for one year (at my uni). He (the institute) is therefore entitled to the thesis.

M

======= Date Modified 18 Feb 2011 18:28:42 =======
======= Date Modified 17 Feb 2011 18:26:31 =======

C

Dude, calm down

Firsty, i'm assuming the presentation was internal, ie given within the university itself. If this was the case, then his name would appear on the presentation, and your contribution would probably be acknowledged at the end. While it's not great that he was presenting your data, supervisors do this all the time. What else are they supposed to do, they have to give presentations but they don't do lab work themselves -so they borrow someone else's stuff.

It does'nt mean you won't publish any of this, and you can still get it done after you have left your institution, you know how to use emails right?, so this should be sufficient contact to allow drafts, etc to be finalised.

I think you shouldtalk to your supervisor, if you don't like ome of the stuff he/she is doing then tell them this, but do not be angry, you have no reason to suspect this was done for malicious reasons as such.

S

My supervisor did this too, as in took some of my figures and presented them then told me afterwards. It actually didn't bother me, he got feedback about it which he passed on to me and it put my work into context of his and others. He likes my work enough to present it, that came as a shock to me! Do you know what he is saying in the presentation? He may well say 'and this is something one of my students has worked on' etc. Are there an associated conference papers being published with the presentation?

Also, did you actually ASK to go to any conferences etc. rather than expect 'to be sent'? If there was one I wanted to go to but there wasn't funding from my dept. I could usually find funding from somewhere to go (university/associated organisation etc.).

You don't have to be in the same office to publish work together either, scientists from the opposite sides of the world collaborate to publish papers.
Calm down and speak to your supervisor.

M

======= Date Modified 18 Feb 2011 18:28:14 =======
out

D

For plagiarisation checks the electronic thesis can be uploaded onto software accessed by the uni for detection of plagiarisation.  The examiners do not usually fulfill this role themselves but in conjunction with the uni.

The copyright details will be in the uni rules and regs but based on mine that they have copyright ownership for the first year before it is mine. This does not mean that he can publish without your name also on the paper.  I would suggest that you press on with your paper and see if he will read it and agree its publication while you are awaiting viva.

M

======= Date Modified 18 Feb 2011 18:27:49 =======
out

C

"Please suggest me what I can do about this? "

Nothing. What's your problem? He's your supervisor and ultimately he's going to have to see your work anyway.

Your results probably belong to the University anyway (at least this is the case in the Sciences).

If you don't like people accessing your computer, just put a password on it.

M

======= Date Modified 18 Feb 2011 18:26:55 =======
======= Date Modified 18 Feb 2011 07:06:14 =======

C

======= Date Modified 18 Feb 2011 18:33:38 =======

Quote From myPhd:

So at this stage why my supervisor is nicking my documents and thesis pictures to use in his presentation.

This is all my original work and hard work. I am being paid from my sponsor to work on my project. I do not know why and how he should be allowed to use it?


That's quite flattering. So long as he cites your thesis when he uses the figures it should be ok. I would take it as a sign that your work is good and your supervisor respects it.

If you feel strongly about him using your work, and if he isn't citing it, I would just raise your concerns with him. He e-mailed you to say he used your work, which gives you the opportunity to reply and say what you want.

e.g.

Hi Boss,

Thanks for letting me know about taking my thesis. I'm flattered that you're using it for your slides and I take that as a good sign. Please remember to cite my thesis though or I may be forced to sue your ass for plagiarism and breach of copyright.

Peace,
Moi



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