Hi all, I need some advice on what to do. So, I am working in a topic on the political campaign financing, and I feel like I need some extra help on it. My supervisors are not super familiar with the topic but they try to be supportive because they know I am interested in it. I am not sure where or whom can I ask for help to talk a little bit more about my topic. Is it considered rude to email a professor from another university and seek them for help? I don't want to offend my supervisors, but I feel as if I really need to talk to someone who knows a little bit more in that area.

Hi. I think you should discuss with your supervisor first, and ask him/her to introduce someone who is really knowledgeable in the research area. If your supervisor is a well-socialized professor, he/she should have many collaborators and can introduce them to you (maybe as 2nd supervisor). In this case, you have a high chance that you can work on the project with the collaborator for the long-term. Finding secretly new supervisor have a risk that makes professors angry (it often depends on their personality though). And when you find conflicts in the comments between your supervisor and another professor, it's sort of crisis.

However, networking with researchers is really important in my mind and often it helps to accelerate your projects. I hope you will find someone who can help you.

Yeh, try and get your supervisors on board - ask for suggestions about who you could contact. If it is going to be a big part of your project then you might even want to consider inviting another supervisor on board - or perhaps even switching so that they are your main supervisor. Try and talk about stuff with your current supervisors so you know they are on board with anything you do first.

I always email other professors from other unis or even countries and ask them to clarify things. |They are always helpful and send me unpublished papers. I tell my supervisor or show him the emails. He's okay with it. Why would not he? It is my project. But you know your supervisor, if you think they would be offended, tell them first.