Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Heres how we adjusted, How to get what you need from your Ph.D. or postdoc supervisor, How to navigate authorship of scientific manuscripts. 1) When choosing advisor When you apply for your project, make sure you enquire about your prospective advisor. Multiple people I talked to were even harassed by their previous advisors, some were called names in collaboration emails, others found that their science results were in limbo and couldnt get published as their previous P.I.s made claims over their work even though they hadnt contributed. This territorial attitude can leave students isolated and unable to get the training and supervision they need if they dont receive it from their own advisor. To figure out what a professor's approach to advising is, Sverdlik encourages students to ask a lot of questions of prospective advisers and their advisees when they're interviewing. During the meeting, be proactive. This argument can certainly be made for physics and mathematics, where changing subfield can feel like trying to move a mountain. Why are non-Western countries siding with China in the UN? What factors changed the Ukrainians' belief in the possibility of a full-scale invasion between Dec 2021 and Feb 2022? Suggestions to improve the use and the findability of canonical questions. The United States, Australia, and countries in Europe yielded the most survey responses. Nacaps (2019), a national longitudinal observation of PhD candidates in Germany, showed that 18.6 % are not satisfied with their supervisory situation. Are there conventions to indicate a new item in a list? Otherwise, my assumption is that it's possible to write one answer that addresses most/all possible switches (the advice for intra-field switches vs. switching to a remote field might be different, but we can address both in one post). Well let you know what makes PhD candidates want to change advisors, what you should consider in the process, and whether it makes sense in your situation or not. General idea on how do Committee Members read PhD thesis. In the Helmholtz Juniors Survey Report (2019), there are 25.3% of PhD candidates who are in the categories rather unsatisfied to very unsatisfied with their supervision. Learn how your comment data is processed. Browse other questions tagged, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. So, a prestigious academic pedigree may help you get where you want to go after graduation. In addition, postdoctoral groups, such as YPA, may . I think this is a fair canonical question but a bit fraught. These question askers are the people whose advice you might value. In all the stories I read, there was a forest of unfortunate circumstances that brought people to change advisor. 3 Academic Advisors To Avoid 1. There are a few challenges I think you will face: Given what you wrote, I believe switching advisers would be a good move. In most cases, a change of supervisor is possible, but there are a few things that need consideration. So it does not seem that we risk losing something valuable. I personally got a PhD in Electrical Engineering, specifically DSP. Changing thesis supervisor to avoid bad letter of recommendation from current supervisor? The area in which I work is also quite small in the sense that very few (in fact, only one that is comprehensive - as far as I am aware) textbooks have been written on the basics and even my supervisor admits that these few books are exceedingly dry. - Bryan Krause Jul 21, 2020 at 0:50 Not all of these are horror stories and quite a few reported a very positive denouement (even if, obviously, it can still be a very stressful process). It usually requires that you follow departmental procedures. Duress at instant speed in response to Counterspell. I have no responsibility to continue and don't see any obligation. It is possible that asupervisor is not an expert in the area in which the PhD student works. (2) I agree that asking for a specific period of time is probably not smart. He might tell other faculty there will be consequences if they take you as a student. He found that when advisers were largely responsible for dictating the design of their students' research projects, students initially benefited because they published more papers during graduate school than peers who were given more autonomy. The reason for the move is that I have become increasingly interested in the formal verification of mathematics and have devoted all of my spare time to writing a proof assistant. @Damodar You don't need to bad mouth him. For a few years, I did real-time embedded audio programming, which sort of double-counted as EE and software engineering. These are all factors to consider. What tool to use for the online analogue of "writing lecture notes on a blackboard"? Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, . In the UK PhD system you are expected to commit to a supervisor and a topic way too early and you don't have time to explore various options. If so, please leave a comment on this answer explaining which field needs handled separately and why it has different considerations. Because we know that problems with a supervisor are tricky to handle for PhD candidates, we want to give L., and everyone else who is in a similar situation, our advice. You should also avoid spreading news of your decision to leave its better if your advisor hears about it directly from you rather than through the grapevine. You can ask for a 10 minutes appointment via email if they seem to be busy, but in my department, I used to just walk into professors offices. Academia Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for academics and those enrolled in higher education. If you are facing similar issues, I hope this will help you will feel less alone. With all this in mind, I decided recently that I will leave the PhD and do something else (I actually have no idea what yet). The most you should say about your adviser is that your working styles clash, and you would need a little more freedom to chose methods and explore your own ideas. Please make a tax-deductible gift today. If this field-specific advice already exists in an answer somewhere, please link to it. Shibayama recommends that prospective Ph.D. students look for advisers who let their students play a role in study design. If you are going through this, I am so, so sorry. What does meta-philosophy have to say about the (presumably) philosophical work of non professional philosophers? Now I have no interest in further continuing this association. Ask your departmental administrator to help find it. Of course impacts to your personal and professional life play a role as well. There are no real breaks. Now I do exclusively software engineering. Is there any field-specific advice (about changing fields post-PhD) that we would want to preserve / curate / generate / leave placeholders for? The reputation or some other characteristic of an institution, they concluded, probably played a role. Why does the impeller of torque converter sit behind the turbine? Ask the P.I. Are you okay with continuing to see your current advisor on a regular basis? Do any fields have fundamentally different considerations than others? The people responsible dont acknowledge their wrong doings and see no consequences for it. In fact, this desire not to rock the boat is exactly what allows perpetrators to foster. In my experience, she is not of the understanding or empathetic kind, but rather resentful. Or could a great co-supervisor be added to the team? It would be a good idea to take a vacation before. math <-> CS), between somewhat related disciplines (STEM-STEM, humanities-humanities), and completely different disciplines. They are in a situation where they experience problems with one or several of their supervisors. Good supervision is extremely important, so overcoming some obstacles in order to replace a 'less than good' supervisor can be absolutely worthwhile! rev2023.3.1.43269. For a few years, I did real-time embedded audio programming, which sort of double-counted as EE and software engineering. But don't think that such a calling is necessarily tied to a career in academia, because I think that this is increasingly not the case, and probably never really was. Be part of an amazing group of academics from all over the world! The number of distinct words in a sentence. I guess my question is whether others on this site (PhD students or PhD supervisors) have had a similar experience or have any advice regarding this situation? "That's more important than somebody who might have a famous name or someone who's particularly skilled.". I'm generally a bit concerned about trying to strike the right balance between good curation and accessibility. Violation of these commonly accepted principles often constitutes a reason for a change of supervisor. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. So my two other supervisors are yes men and working under him to further their careers. I wish you the best of luck and hope that you dont fall into the next category. How do I fit an e-hub motor axle that is too big? Instead, wait until youve figured out your next steps in transitioning out of the lab and are ready to speak to your advisor in a calm, respectful manner. I cannot express how grateful I am for your trust, and I command you on the courage it took to open up about these, sometimes traumatic, experiences. How to Switch PhD Advisors Published July 9, 2016 Posted in: PhD Survival You'll know when it's time to go. ; if this is the case, the right thing to do is probably to merge some of the existing questions so that we have clear duplicate targets going forward. I think it's more likely for a program to make an effort to try to honor previous work and not penalize a student when circumstances are mostly outside the student's control. Katie Langin is the associate editor for Science Careers. So they will never co-supervise! If you are a student in an abusive situation, now is not the time for activism; you cannot solve the systematic problems of academia by yourself, especially when you are in a vulnerable position. @FourierFlux Based on your history of questions, I suspect you don't really care what people think so I don't know why you keep asking here. There are surveys that back-up this overall observation. In such a case, there is transparency around the process and you will be able to find out what you have to do and who you need to talk to in order to change yours. Whats harder is figuring out what to do next. I'd be open to leaving placeholders for practitioners to add field-specific advice, but I suspect most of these placeholders would long remain empty. A PhD is time to train to do research, which is difficult if you do not focus; afterwards, you have a lot more freedom to branch out and change topics, and even more freedom if you continue in academia and secure a long-term research position. This will be released on the 15th of November. But the latest research on the topic points to things to look for when making a decision, as well as pitfalls to avoid. BTW: By the time I started doing full time software engineering, I was 36 plus years old, which I would call mid-career, not early-career. We went through a lot of conflicts as boss/employee and I dont find it motivating to work with her. What matters in a Ph.D. adviser? 68 for suggestions on how to pick the perfect co-supervisor. If I do work with another supervisor at this stage, what could be the challenges? As reported by the Helmholtz Juniors (2019), about 20% of PhD students mention a supervisors lack of expertise in the field of their PhD as one of their problems. A complication here is that changing for disinterest in the doctoral field is quite different from forced changes due to economic factors (as I had to do). Many Higher Education Institutions, funding agencies, or governmental bodies have developed codes of good scientific practice (see e.g. Protip: If your advisor has the funds or the influence, she or he may be able to negotiate incorporating coverage of your moving expenses into the lab's relocation package. This will be the beginning of a new phase in your grad school career, and the people skills youve learned will be useful wherever you go next. "A bad or even just mediocre adviser can make your time as a doctoral student miserable or simply not pleasant, which could undermine the excitement that got you interested in research to begin with," Clauset notes. "You'll have setbacks. I have seen a lot of people switching advisers during my PhD. Can non-Muslims ride the Haramain high-speed train in Saudi Arabia? There are fundamental character traits or ways to work that do not match well, and are a reason for perpetual annoyance often on both sides. In another case, the science just didnt work out early in the program. "They are just told to do some experiment and they have to stay in the lab day and night, 24/7." Adviser supportivenesswhether an adviser was caring, considerate, encouraging, and sympatheticwas the most important factor for student satisfaction. In some cases the expectations of you P.I. To keep things in perspective at this point, we should mention that the majority of PhD candidates are rather happy and satisfied with the supervision they receive. Your interests may change (the most reasonable explanation), you may not be able to develop good rapport with your advisor, your advisor may be on leave, a new person may have joined the Department whose interests are closer to yours. In these cases, when students had made substantial process, their prior work was included in their thesis when they moved to a new advisor within the same program. Science and AAAS are working tirelessly to provide credible, evidence-based information on the latest scientific research and policy, with extensive free coverage of the pandemic. I now for the wisdom: it really doesn't matter. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack . Should we have a canonical question for "should I quit my PhD"? If it is less than what you currently make, ask your advisor if s/he can . Earning a Ph.D. takes years and poses many challenges, so it's important to choose the person who will shepherd you through the processyour Ph.D. adviserwisely. Is it possible to change the application area of research while looking for a postdoc position after PhD? Should we have a canonical question about the relation (or lack thereof) between plagiarism and paraphrasing? Many arrangements are possible, and depending on the reasons for the change, the parties can also determine what is and is not made public. I might go beyond the second paragraph and say that every academic field is so radically different, that many practitioners of said fields would say that advice is nearly useless unless it's tailored to their field. (If not, should we have one?). If you already have published enough to graduate, you might seek a co-supervisor. According to the researchers' findings, switching from an adviser who was strongly unsupportive to one that was highly supportive would be expected to increase the Ph.D. satisfaction scoreon a scale of one to sixby nearly two points. This is not because I am "stuck" - I am not really at a point where I have been able to engage enough with the work to even become stuck. Lets face it: it is never ideal to have to change your supervisory arrangements. Not the answer you're looking for? How do I fit an e-hub motor axle that is too big? AAAS is a partner of HINARI, AGORA, OARE, CHORUS, CLOCKSS, CrossRef and COUNTER. Changing PhD supervisor 18 months into 4 year PhD [closed]. None of the other factors consideredincluding age, gender, years of study, country, and department and peer qualitieshad such a strong effect. The road ahead may be long, and your journey will be unique, but you are not alone. I am currently having my PhD in UK and on a scholarship. Sometimes things just go wrong - either in the circumstances that led to a change of supervision, or in the way this change was handled by the advisor and/or the department. If you need to switch to a very different field, you should expect another 2-3 years as a beginner. Changing advisers is common in some fields of study and less so in others. I have no doubt that this post will almost instantly be marked as "off-topic" - however I really think that it is difficult to obtain the opinions of professional mathematicians on other forums whereas (quite often) they respond to questions of this type on this site. I like that! Depending on how specialized your current labs focus is, the latter may not even be an option. But it's possible that we need several different questions: intra-field, STEM to STEM, STEM to humanities, humanities to humanities, etc. Are you experiencing problems with your PhD supervisor? Talk to Your Bad Academic Advisor. And agree this should be limited to early career (i.e., between getting a PhD and getting tenure). Good supervision is extremely important, so overcoming some obstacles in order to replace a less than good supervisor can be absolutely worthwhile! from computer science to humanities). If a supervisor engages in behaviour calls into question these commonly acknowledged practices, or violates them, this will negatively impact the PhD candidate, the quality of their research, and their relationship. I think this is a much, much larger undertaking than just having a few broad subcategories in the canonical question. Should I do my Ph.D. with a supervisor who rarely responds to my emails? As just one example: A supervisor of one of the PhD participants in our courses published an article with data from the PhD candidates research without that persons knowledge or consent. Be calm and respectful, but be honest about the reasons youre leaving. Applications of super-mathematics to non-super mathematics. is there a chinese version of ex. @FourierFlux A PhD advisor is not an employer, they are a mentor and resource to your learning. What's the difference between a power rail and a signal line? But unfortunately, this is the reality that some students may face. I will finish the project I started, but I won't continue after that in this area. I don't know of any examples where someone transferred from one university to another and used prior work towards a thesis, but transfers between universities are rare for PhDs in general. I'm interested in another sub area of the same general field though. I know of several people who changed PhD advisors for a variety of reasons: loss of advisor's funding, advisor moving to a different university, unexpected inability of an advisor to continue advising (illness, death, etc), personal conflict. 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