Problems with your supervisor

Doctoral students are in a vulnerable situation. Supervision at this level means that to a large extent the student is dependent on their supervisor. Without the support from a supervisor it is difficult to overcome the major obstacles that are part and parcel of doctoral studies. If the supervisor-student relationship is unsatisfactory from a student perspective then they may often feel powerless to change the situation and feel that there is nowhere to turn.

I suggest the following course of action when you feel that your studies are not going as well as they should. Reflect on what has been accomplished so far in your candidacy. Very often students get overly pessimistic when in fact they may be making reasonable progress. Try to pinpoint the reasons behind your dissatisfaction. Even try to think of some possible solutions to the problems. Arrange a meeting with your supervisor to discuss the issues. Try not to be too critical but to put your case in a neutral manner and then listen to what your supervisor has to say. Many of the issues that arise are due to a lack of communication. Once you have had the meeting, spend some time thinking rationally about what was discussed. If you think there is no real way forward you may want to talk to another academic about it in order to obtain a second opinion. If you have an associate or secondary supervisor you can talk to this person. If not, you may want to talk with the Head of Department. Try to be fair to your supervisor and keep him/her informed of your thinking or decisions. If you approach it in this way you are more likely to arrive at a reasonable solution that you are happy with.

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Follow Through

As you are as a person then so you are as a researcher. If you are persistant, hard working, creative and keep your word as a person then that will describe you as a researcher. What I have noticed over the years in my dealings with academics is that many, if not most, just don't follow through. They say they will do ABC but just never get round to it. Of course, they blame their high teaching workload, a change of dean and a million other things. The reality is that what they say is often not what they do.

Happy New Year to you all

Happy New Year to you all. It is that time of year when we should be thinking about our research plan for the year ahead. What should a research plan include? Well, it depends at the stage someone is at with their research.

If you are on a phd then you might be planning to gather data and write some papers, develop some skills and knowledge in data analysis and so on. The objectives can be well defined as taking a phd should be about following a well trodden research path.

If you have a PhD, your research plan might inlcude what projects you will start or continue and the papers you will write. You may also be thnking about your research network and how that will develop. You may be thinking about conferences to present your work and meeting people that you may collaborate with in the future.

If you are more advanced with your research you may be thinking about developing a research centre, expanding an existing centre, acquiring resources and funding, employing support and so on. You may be targeting certain journals or even organising a conference.

Your plan for 2010 should be part of a 3 year plan to take your research to a higher level. However, be careful that it doesn't get too mechanistic. Think about what you enjoy or might like to experience. Maybe you would like to go on a sabbatical to a beautiful part of the world and discuss your research with some interested people.

Whatever your plans are for 2010 I wish you success and enjoyment.