A terrible supervisor

R

My problem to my PhD life is my supervisor. He doesn't support me.

But let me say the whole story from the start. He is a star in his field and when he chosen me as a student (almost 2 year ago), I thanked all the Universe for this luck.

And then it came the first disappointment: he refused to have arranged meetings with me because of his being extremely busy. I said ok, and I accepted it.

Then, I realized that I had to deal with my thesis all by myself. And I said "ok. My golden-star supervisor is too busy to take a look at my work". Wrong!
He is busy, very busy, he is extremely busy and he cannot read my texts. Because... yes, he is busy!

And today I was informed that I lost a scholarship, the amount of which is 830 euros per month. Why? Because he never told me to prepare a PhD yearly report as I had to, and as a result I am not eligible to apply for this grant. Every time I was telling him about this report, he always said me "It's ok, you don't have to do this".
And I really need this money because I am poor. But I lost it for ever. And no, there aren't other scholarships for the time being.

So, I am depressed and angry at him. I want to shout at him. I hate him. I really hate him and I don't want to work with my supervisor anymore but quitting my PhD is not an option for many reasons.

I cannot change his behavior towards me. I want to cry but it would be useless. Talking to him about all these matters would serve no purpose. He is very busy to listen to me, and supervisors in my country are completely free of control. There is no one in my department to help me with this difficult person. I have two other supervisors but I have never met them so far.

What do you think?

P

Firstly, there is no such thing as a "star" in academia.
Period.
People need to stop white knighting other people because it leads to more problems than I have time to write about.

Secondly, were you sent an information pack and/or a written contract by the university? All of your obligations should have been detailed in there.

T

So you have three supervisors and have not met them regularly? And you have not read your PhD contract agreement and your responsibilities?

I truly am sorry that you are depressed and angry. It is hard to be in your situation. Unfortunately, horrible supervisors exist, star or not. However, in this case, it is not entirely your supervisors fault as you too must push for their attention and not meekly accept things as they are.

My question to you is, after you have calmed down, what do you want to do? Since they are such rubbish of supervisors, do you and could you change to another project and supervisor? You said your supervisors behavious cannot change and I think you might lose your sanity if you stay in this situation much longer. You can't change them, but can you change yourself? Don't quit, but just change to another project and supervisor under the same uni?

R

Quote From pm133:
Firstly, there is no such thing as a "star" in academia.
Period.
People need to stop white knighting other people because it leads to more problems than I have time to write about.

Secondly, were you sent an information pack and/or a written contract by the university? All of your obligations should have been detailed in there.

Thanks for your answer, pm133! No, there is no such a thing like info pack or written contract about PhDs in my country. There is only a flexible uni regulation, which describes the whole process, nothing more nothing else. So, supervisors aren't obliged to obey anything. That's the problem.
About academia stars, you are deadly right, but I admire his work.

Thanks again!

R

Quote From tru:
So you have three supervisors and have not met them regularly? And you have not read your PhD contract agreement and your responsibilities?

I truly am sorry that you are depressed and angry. It is hard to be in your situation. Unfortunately, horrible supervisors exist, star or not. However, in this case, it is not entirely your supervisors fault as you too must push for their attention and not meekly accept things as they are.

My question to you is, after you have calmed down, what do you want to do? Since they are such rubbish of supervisors, do you and could you change to another project and supervisor? You said your supervisors behavious cannot change and I think you might lose your sanity if you stay in this situation much longer. You can't change them, but can you change yourself? Don't quit, but just change to another project and supervisor under the same uni?

"So you have three supervisors and have not met them regularly?" Yes.
"And you have not read your PhD contract agreement and your responsibilities?" I repeat: there is no PhD contract, who told you about this?
Besides, I don't need "their attention", I need their help as supervisors.
Why do I have to change myself? Changing project and supervisor is an option of course, and I am thinking about it right now.

Thanks.

H

I have been exactly where you are. Four years ago, I thought I struck gold when I had a "star" supervisor. Unfortunately, I was sorely mistaken. My "star" supervisor paid most of his attention on his "favourite" PhD student (not me!). He then caused delays in my formalisation of candidature and my ethics application. Overall, I lost 12 months progress because of his maleficence, but by the time I realised what was going on it was too late to prevent him from damaging my research (and me). While I could have been more forceful, I was assured that everything was fine and I do not need to chase him up for things.

I ended up having him removed from my panel, which is the only option you sound like you have. I also suggest talking to past students of his to find out if he has done this before, and you should file a complaint against him too. Make sure that you have documentation to prove his apathy towards you.

I have since found out that my former supervisor had numerous complaints levelled against him and he was on the verge of being fired before he became my supervisor and he has since bullied another 4 postgraduate students, hence my suggestion that you contact other past students. He's chummy with the Dean, hence the reason he was allowed to stay and violate students. Find out if this "star" supervisor has someone covering up his poor conduct

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