Hi everybody, I am new to this forum.

I am something over half way through a part time PhD and it seems to be taking forever.

I was very fortunate when I started in being able to chose a supervisor who had only just joined the University and had the ideal background for my research.

However things have changed, the University department is really going downhill with the economy, and I know my supervisor is looking for a position elsewhere. There is also the problem that she is supervising a greater number of students than when I started and so is less accessible as a result. I am worried in that being ready to "jump ship" that she seems to have lost enthusiasm. My second supervisor, to whom I would transfer, does not have the same background at all, indeed no-one else in the department does have, to understand some of the concepts I am using in my research since it is drawing on other fields.

I am wondering what the experiences are of people who have lost a supervisor, half way through or late in the progress of a PhD.

Shh. I have a confession to make, I don't even have a first degree, or a masters so it can be done. I not only don't have a first degree, I failed one, and thereafter the highest level I achieved after A level was an HND, which was more of an embarrasment than anything else. I applied for my second bite of the cherry to begin at Masters level but was initially refused and was forced to enrol at undergrad level.

However I found that so frustrating and the level of work below my standards that I found a loophole in the University regulations that allowed me to transfer to a Masters before even submitting my first assignment. I never completed the Master's either, I transferred to a PhD after a year. Whether I will ever get my PhD is another thing, I have too many distractions, if I could get a post doc position without having to complete it, I might just do that, though I think that would be a leap too far as I still have some 60,000 words left of my thesis to write and I am disappointed in not having made any world shattering discoveries so far :(

My advice is to make out a case for yourself, present alternative evidence of your abilities and go for it.

Oh dear, what an unfortunate thread to have stumbled on as my introduction to this forum, which I have just joined.

I fear everyone is going to hate me now, as perhaps I am one those intimidating sorts since I have been involved in starting charities (there is nothing to it really, don't waste your money on lawyers) we are human you know. In fact I would say for the first 40 years of my life, until I had the opportunity to return to education and ultimately higher education, I was something of an underachiever, and by conventional tests my IQ is not stratospheric.

What sets me apart is that I have a whole different attitude to education than a younger person, it's my last chance so I am going to give it all I have got. It's an effort for sure, even for those for whom it seems effortless there is going to be effort involved. Maybe if I had started my postgrad career at a younger age I would feel intimidated by others who I perceived to be higher up the scale than me, in the way I am say, intimidated by virtuoso musicians when I cannot even read music.

Never mind anything else I doubt if there is any one who has not felt the faking it syndrome, as if they did not really belong and were not worthy.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if many of these high achievers who seem to be intimidating are not suffering from an even higher sense of insecurity that has driven them on, but they will never be satisfied nor, know when to stop.

Larry