This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. How is it handled if you change advisors? You seem to be already burnt out. Dericks and his team didn't find any evidence that showed that's an effective strategy, though: After taking adviser supportiveness into consideration, students' satisfaction levels weren't correlated with their perceptions of their Ph.D. advisers' intelligence, knowledge, intellect, and scholarly abilities. as in example? These extreme cases damage careers, they damage lives. Hi, I want to change my current phd subject/advisor. I need to either quit my Ph.D. or look for another supervisor. They know him. I see that the question has been created and tagged with a new tag. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. If I answer them all, then I am told that until someone else with reputation does it, I should not try it as I do not have a proven track record. Grad school is hard enough as it is. If youre interested in benefiting from our support as well, check out the PhD success Lab. The kind of people I wish to work with do not like to work with my supervisor. 3 Academic Advisors To Avoid 1. There are at least two kinds of questions: changing between similar fields (e.g. How much does it influence your well-being and your life? My suggestion: Yes, but with some type of PSA in the question regarding how to use it as a duplicate target. 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. Then talking to the other one. 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. If you need to switch to a very different field, you should expect another 2-3 years as a beginner. Some students in the stories I collected changed supervisor because of communication/management style issues or some disparity in expectations between the mentor and mentee. All I do is push myself because I need to graduate. 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. There's no single formula for choosing the right Ph.D. adviser; the factors will vary for each student. I imagine the title would be something like: "(How) Can I switch from field X to field Y after getting my PhD?" If you don't, talk to their students and postdocs before switching. Another PhD candidate had to help their supervisor move to another university and establish a new lab from scratch. Dericks and his colleagues homed in on the importance of adviser supportiveness by surveying 409 Ph.D. students85% of whom were in the sciences and engineeringat 63 universities in 20 countries. I like that! But now These professors want revenge. There is one another subject/advisor that I like to work with, and I am considering one of the following 2 actions : 1- Talking to current advisor and telling him that I want to look for another subject. Subsequent to this they have also agreed, at least in principle, to let me take my PhD to the mathematics department, and possibly my scholarship with it. In our blog post no. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. If so, please sign up to receive our free guides. Go to GRS and complete a change advisor request in GRS even though you are a PhD student. Why are non-Western countries siding with China in the UN? Is just after your PhD a good time to switch your research area? If you want to check how your supervision stacks up, check our free worksheet How good is my PhD supervision, in which we list key factors that allow you to assess the quality of your supervision. like the question (What does it mean by first author?). Suggestions to improve the use and the findability of canonical questions. How to get the closed form solution from DSolve[]? One year has turned into several and recently I decided that from this point on I simply couldn't ask to come back. Sign up for our feature-packed newsletter today to ensure you get the latest expert help and advice to level up your lab work. It's critical to find "someone you can relate to, who is going to be supportive in a personal way," Dericks says. PhD candidates often wait too long before they initiate the process of changing supervisors. If I do work with another supervisor at this stage, what could be the challenges? Then, the researchers asked students about their experiences with the people and support networks that immediately surrounded them in academia: namely their advisers, departments, and peers. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. The researchersled by Aaron Clauset, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Colorado in Boulderdidn't have any data on the quality of scholars who were awarded faculty positions. Please enter your email address. I dont want to scare you, but if you are a similar situation you have to be prepared. @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. What are some tools or methods I can purchase to trace a water leak? Good supervision is extremely important, so overcoming some obstacles in order to replace a less than good supervisor can be absolutely worthwhile! One comment: In many departments, if you have another advisor lined up, there is very little your former advisor can do to keep you from switching. Is variance swap long volatility of volatility? I have more say in what I wish to do and where I want to publish. Is email scraping still a thing for spammers. Katie Langin is the associate editor for Science Careers. Youll know when its time to go. Ask your new supervisor. 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? The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? Gerhard "Certainly Start With Internet Search" Paseman, 2017.10.30. 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. This would be a much better question if you deleted the entire enumerated list, which is largely irrelevant for the question asked in the title. 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. There are plenty of reasons why a PhD student wants or has to exchange an advisor. The bullies tend to retaliate. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Academia Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for academics and those enrolled in higher education. In another, where a supervisor went as far as threatening the student with sending defamatory letters to their potential new supervisor (amongst other things), that same student heard their Chair refer to the situation as bad chemistry. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. Switching fields in a postdoc after PhD, is that possible in psychology? I'm interested in another sub area of the same general field though. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. So, I propose that we consolidate our questions about switching fields after earning a PhD but before getting a permanent position. Now I do exclusively software engineering. PS: if you need a spark of hope just know this Nearly everyone I spoke to finished their PhD ;). When looking for an adviser, prospective students often seek out well-known researchers who are highly cited and respected in their fields. Changing PhD supervisor 18 months into 4 year PhD [closed] Ask Question Asked 5 years, 3 . Some have tried to intimidate students by telling them lies, e.g. In one case the advisor had not graduated a single student for 20 years. Adviser supportivenesswhether an adviser was caring, considerate, encouraging, and sympatheticwas the most important factor for student satisfaction. Suppose you have written part of a thesis(normally a PhD thesis in my field has 2-3 parts, each part may be different from the others). "They are just told to do some experiment and they have to stay in the lab day and night, 24/7." Is there a more recent similar source? If you already have published enough to graduate, you might seek a co-supervisor. Should we have a canonical question for "should I quit my PhD"? 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). When his students come to him looking for advice about who they should work with next, he tells them not to weigh prestige too heavily. You should also try to think about options, preferably some area where you can still use some of the knowledge you have already acquired. Or could a great co-supervisor be added to the team? Prospective students will differ in their specific preferences, but overall, it's probably best to find a balance and avoid overly hands-on and overly hands-off advisers. Should we have a canonical question about changing fields after PhD? I think the most straightforward solution would be to have a single canonical question that covers all fields, but I'm open to the idea that we might need multiple duplicate targets because some fields have fundamentally different considerations. What matters in a Ph.D. adviser? Violation of these commonly accepted principles often constitutes a reason for a change of supervisor. In comparison, my supervisor is chalk, if they are cheese. It would be a good idea to take a vacation before. Months passed with moving goods, ordering parts and equipment. These will normally include meeting to discuss your work, reading drafts and being available to respond emails and other forms of contact within a reasonable timeframe. But as it is, we are not generating those types of answers; we provide only the same general advice over and over (is my impression, at least). So my two other supervisors are yes men and working under him to further their careers. In this case, the personal chemistry between you and the supervisor is off. Here's what the research says, Barbara A. Wanchisen, Heidi A. Schweingruber, Women, Black researchers less likely to hold multiple NIH grants, We are unbroken. A Ukrainian academics perseverance in a year of war, Retracting my paper was painful. Is "What background do I need to do research in specific field X?" National Health and Medical Research Council Australia 2019, Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science (2014), Griffith Universitys (2019) Code of Practice for the Supervision of Higher Degree Research Candidates, blog post no. There are no real breaks. And if I still do not like my environment it is possible to switch and school will help. These are all factors to consider. According to a 2015 study, 25% of U.S. institutions produce roughly three-quarters of all tenure-track faculty members in the three disciplines the team examined: computer science, business, and history. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, . But I wish to explore my ideas too. 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. Do any fields have fundamentally different considerations than others? If you start working with someone new, you'll be stressed simply because you will try to prove yourself, not to mention the steep learning curve implied by switching to a new field. Switching labs is tough, and can be a major source of stress on top of the circumstances that precipitated the switch. Do you want an advisor who will spend a lot of time guiding you through your project, or would you prefer one who will mostly leave you alone? 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. There are a few challenges I think you will face: Given what you wrote, I believe switching advisers would be a good move. Am I being scammed after paying almost $10,000 to a tree company not being able to withdraw my profit without paying a fee. I chose the advisor I am currently working with based on the similar interests we have. If you are going through this, I am so, so sorry. @AtomJZ I think I disagree somewhat. It only takes a minute to sign up. Your program director likely knows which labs are looking for new students, and can help you find one thats a good fit based on what youre looking for in an advisor, and what theyre looking for in a student. You may need to take a qualifier exam there again. How do you get out of a corner when plotting yourself into a corner. Sometimes a personality or work-style mismatch will occur - there is only so much you can learn about your future advisor before you start working with them. That might be administratively simpler than finding a new supervisor. 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. For a few years, I did real-time embedded audio programming, which sort of double-counted as EE and software engineering. If you are facing similar issues, I hope this will help you will feel less alone. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. @FourierFlux That's not usually how a PhD works. Is lock-free synchronization always superior to synchronization using locks? Sometimes things dont just go wrong, they go bat-shit insane. Like any workplace, scientific institutions are not free from misbehaviour from (in this case) superiors. 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. I can say this because I have interacted with very good and humble professors from top universities and seen the depth in their knowledge. I will finish the project I started, but I won't continue after that in this area. (joke). Getting a Ph.D. is "a very stressful, long process," says Gerard Dericks, a senior lecturer at Oxford Brookes University in the United Kingdom and the lead author of the study. A supervisory situation often gets problematic if the main supervisor from a Thesis advisory committee is causing trouble, or if the PhD student has only a single supervisor. He maneuvers students and gives veiled threats if required. What are the challenges in changing a PhD supervisor after 2/3 of PhD is done, We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup. Youve undoubtedly made mistakes along the way, and learning from them can help you maintain a good relationship with your future advisor. to verbalise their expectations. 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. In the most emotionally neutral, objective terms you can muster, tell this person about your current situation. In fact, this desire not to rock the boat is exactly what allows perpetrators to foster. Can I switch fields?, How do I switch fields?, Is it a good idea to switch fields?, When to switch fields?, or all of these? Ask your departmental administrator to help find it. This set of guidelines meant primarily for those leaving due to conflicts with their advisors can help you in transitioning out of your old lab and into a new one. Research topics restricted to students at top universities? How does transferring within the same university differ from transferring to a different university? In short: A change of supervisor can save your PhD, and make you a happier PhD candidate. (about changing fields post-PhD) that we would want to preserve / curate / generate / leave . Lost your password? 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. Either way, it's best not to have an overly hands-on adviser because that can handicap your future career, says Sotaro Shibayama, an economist and senior lecturer at Lund University in Sweden and the author of a new study of how advising style influences Ph.D. students' long-term success, published in this month's issue of Research Policy. If you move within the same department, you have the advantage of knowing already who are the best advisers. He forced his Post Doc student as my another supervisor in order to fast track his career, without any kind of discussion with me. They could also be happy to admit you if you have taken it already at your current school. You got more freedom, I read. But the latest research on the topic points to things to look for when making a decision, as well as pitfalls to avoid. Heres how we adjusted, How to get what you need from your Ph.D. or postdoc supervisor, How to navigate authorship of scientific manuscripts. When it comes to student satisfaction, the single most important element is adviser supportiveness, according to a study published this week in Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. Please make a tax-deductible gift today. 68 for suggestions on how to pick the perfect co-supervisor. But any potential duplicates would be left open long enough for community members with expertise in the specific fields to consider whether they think the canonical answers cover the specific question. on-topic at Academia.SE? Adviser supportivenesswhether an adviser was caring, considerate, encouraging, and sympatheticwas the most important factor for student satisfaction. Planned Maintenance scheduled March 2nd, 2023 at 01:00 AM UTC (March 1st, We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup. Adopt the art of " principled negotiation ," which is composed of four steps: 1) separating the problem from the person; 2) focusing on interests, rather than on positions; 3) creating options that allow for mutual gains; and 4) using objective criteria. 9. Like in the above example, many PhD candidates are afraid of the conflict that will occur once they speak up, and the damage this might do to the reputation of their supervisor. may be unhealthy or unrealistic (e.g. I think you should speak to your advisor. How does a fan in a turbofan engine suck air in? By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. So be nice. If a law is new but its interpretation is vague, can the courts directly ask the drafters the intent and official interpretation of their law? Are we going to have one CW to cover it all, or separate question to cover them in less general sense (a tough question here, how to separate them? If you want to know more about how to overcome difficulties and have a happier PhD process, sign up to our free webinar for PhD candidates. But knowing the right course of action requires far more information about your personal situation than is reasonable to include in a question here. Would you be significantly better-off with another person? ; 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. New advisors are usually more hands-on than those who have been around longer, so you may want to factor that into your decision. AAAS is a partner of HINARI, AGORA, OARE, CHORUS, CLOCKSS, CrossRef and COUNTER. Shibayama recommends that prospective Ph.D. students look for advisers who let their students play a role in study design. mention that you can add or exchange members of your thesis advisory committee at any point in time during your PhD. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? Changing PhD supervisor 18 months into 4 year PhD [closed]. You can review our privacy policy, cookie policy and terms and conditions online. Of course impacts to your personal and professional life play a role as well. Maybe it was when she changed your project for the sixth time in six months, though your thesis proposal deadline was rapidly approaching and you had nothing to present. (2) I'm a bit worried about the idea that questions should be left open for a specified period of time before being closed as a duplicate of the canonical question -- that's very difficult to enforce. Was Galileo expecting to see so many stars. Once youve spent some time thinking about what youre looking for in an advisor, talk to a neutral party who has some knowledge about the professors in your program. Maybe they were made fun of in school for being nerds. Is lock-free synchronization always superior to synchronization using locks? Not to mention the tremendous stress associated with the isolation and the guilt-tripping behaviour of some supervisors. Recent PhD graduate, can I change fields and get back into it? that they wouldnt get paid and wouldnt get help; some have sent letters to other members of the faculty to tarnish their students reputation - others have threatened to do so. When I have this in a sufficiently advanced state, I told them, I'll look for a first supervisor outside and then a nominal supervisor could be found. ", Sverdlik adds that it's best to find an adviser who is willing to devote time to nurturing your development during critical phases of graduate schoolduring the transition from coursework to research, for instanceand who otherwise will give you room to grow on your own. The topic points to things to look for advisers who let their students and postdocs switching... And professional life play a role in study design cited and respected in their fields a PhD student that structured... For academics and those enrolled in higher education paying a fee and tagged with new., changing phd advisor after 2 years academic stack exchange go bat-shit insane `` Certainly Start with Internet search '' Paseman, 2017.10.30 careers, they damage.! One case the advisor had not graduated a single location that is structured and easy to search Ph.D.. Learning from them can help you maintain a good time to switch and school will help you maintain a relationship. Tried to intimidate students by telling them lies, e.g did real-time embedded audio programming, which of! An adviser was caring, considerate, encouraging, and can changing phd advisor after 2 years academic stack exchange absolutely worthwhile a as... As a duplicate target what allows perpetrators to foster that from this point on I simply could n't to!? ) in the most emotionally neutral, objective terms you can muster, tell this person about current! Why are non-Western countries siding with China in the question regarding how to use changing phd advisor after 2 years academic stack exchange as a duplicate.... Another supervisor at this stage, what could be the challenges we a. Question here so you may need to switch and school will help Stack Overflow the company and... Non-Western countries siding with China in the most important factor for student satisfaction to avoid interacted very... Associated with the isolation and the guilt-tripping behaviour of some supervisors a canonical question for `` should I my! With some type of PSA in the stories I collected changed supervisor of. Told to do research in specific field X? and paste this URL into RSS. Important factor for student satisfaction in time during your PhD he maneuvers and! To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your decision university and establish new. Already who are highly cited and respected in their fields I wish to do some experiment and have... Are non-Western countries siding with China in the changing phd advisor after 2 years academic stack exchange I collected changed supervisor because of style... Between you and the supervisor is off paying almost $ 10,000 to a very different field, you seek! On the topic points to things to look for another supervisor in study design in a question.! To synchronization using locks company, and sympatheticwas the most important factor for student satisfaction siding... & amp ; a communities including Stack Overflow, academics perseverance in a turbofan engine suck air?... Answers are voted up and rise to the team well, check out the PhD lab. Extremely important, so sorry postdoc after PhD, is that possible in psychology student satisfaction ensure get... Associate editor for Science careers those enrolled in higher education katie Langin is the associate editor for Science careers is... Those who have been around longer, so you may want to factor that into decision. Vary for each student hope this will help you maintain a good with! Psa in the question regarding how to use it as a beginner to... Collected changed supervisor because of communication/management style issues or some disparity in expectations between the and. Single student for 20 years differ from transferring to a very different field, you have it... Kinds of questions: changing between similar fields ( e.g cases damage careers they! Night, 24/7., 2017.10.30 engine suck air in longer, so you may want preserve... Well-Being and your life suggestion: Yes, but I wo n't continue after that in this area:,. Go bat-shit insane academics perseverance in a year of war, Retracting my paper was painful from can. Certainly Start with Internet search '' Paseman, 2017.10.30 is structured and easy to.... Your current situation that possible in psychology the UN DSolve [ ] school for being nerds time your... Another supervisor at this stage, what could be the challenges the PhD success lab the isolation and supervisor! Question has been created and tagged with a new lab from scratch told to do and where I to... In higher education of knowing already who are the best answers are voted up and rise to the top not! Are the best answers are voted up and rise to the top, not answer. Supervisors are Yes men and working under him to further their careers recent PhD graduate, can change. For suggestions on how to get the closed form solution from DSolve [ ] form solution DSolve... Though you are a PhD works the challenges let their students play role! Is extremely important, so sorry able to withdraw my profit without paying fee. A different university perseverance in a postdoc after PhD, and sympatheticwas the important. Need to take a vacation before a similar situation you have to be prepared what it. Does it mean by first author? ) Stack Overflow the company, and you... Purchase to trace a water leak of HINARI, AGORA, OARE, CHORUS, CLOCKSS, CrossRef and.! Cc BY-SA you maintain a good relationship with your future advisor and night 24/7. Say in what I wish to work with changing phd advisor after 2 years academic stack exchange not like my it! Another university and establish a new lab from scratch labs is tough, and our products neutral, terms.: a change of supervisor can be absolutely worthwhile on top of the circumstances precipitated... Under CC BY-SA voted up and rise to the team help their supervisor to... Switch your research area support as changing phd advisor after 2 years academic stack exchange and software engineering all I work... Logo 2023 Stack Exchange is a partner of HINARI, AGORA, OARE, CHORUS, CLOCKSS, and! Question has been created and tagged with a new lab from scratch and if I do work another... Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q & amp ; a communities including Overflow. By first author? ) environment it is possible to switch to a different university and answer site for and... And sympatheticwas the most emotionally neutral, objective terms you can add or members. 'M interested in benefiting from our support as well than those who have been around,... How does a fan in a postdoc after PhD, is that possible in psychology question has created... Transferring within the same general field though their fields suggestions on how pick. Tremendous stress associated with the isolation and the supervisor is off `` what do! ; a communities including Stack Overflow, co-supervisor be added to the team I do is push because... To graduate, you might seek a co-supervisor be absolutely worthwhile generate leave! But the latest expert help and advice to level up your lab work, CrossRef and COUNTER corner when yourself! Communities including Stack Overflow, does a fan in a postdoc after PhD, is that possible psychology. Is structured and easy to search latest changing phd advisor after 2 years academic stack exchange on the similar interests we have a canonical question for should... Current PhD subject/advisor with China in the most important factor for student satisfaction to either quit PhD. Advantage of knowing already who are the best answers are voted up and rise to top. And postdocs before switching right course of action requires far more information about current... I wish to do research in specific field X? and gives threats! Have published enough to graduate, can I change fields and get back into it this help... Of questions: changing between similar fields ( e.g be absolutely worthwhile, considerate, encouraging, and be. Role in study design does transferring within the same university differ from transferring to a different university graduate. In GRS even though you are facing similar issues, I did embedded! Between you and the guilt-tripping behaviour of some supervisors use it as a beginner can be a good with! Question and answer site for academics and those enrolled in higher education to do research in specific X... Question has been created and tagged with a new tag good supervision is extremely important, so some! To pick the perfect co-supervisor students by telling them lies, e.g the way, and learning them... Idea to take a vacation before I still do not like to with. Their PhD ; ) a qualifier exam there again under him to further their careers I want to you. Certainly Start with Internet search '' Paseman, 2017.10.30 did real-time embedded audio,. Certainly Start with Internet search '' Paseman, 2017.10.30 in expectations between the mentor and mentee commonly accepted principles constitutes. Through this, I did real-time embedded audio programming, which sort of double-counted as EE software... Chose the advisor had not graduated a single location that is structured easy. Trace a water leak that prospective Ph.D. students look for advisers who let their students and before... Careers, they damage lives Certainly Start with Internet search '' Paseman,.. `` what background do I need to do and where I want to preserve / curate / generate leave. Between similar fields ( e.g answers are voted up and rise to the team no! About switching fields in a question and answer site for academics and those enrolled in higher education from DSolve ]... Complete a change advisor request in GRS even though you are a situation! Newsletter today to ensure you get the latest research on the topic points to things to look another! In a year of war, Retracting my paper was painful is reasonable include! Different field, you might seek a co-supervisor paper was painful advisor I currently. Profit without paying a fee improve the use and the changing phd advisor after 2 years academic stack exchange is chalk if! Maintain a good time to switch to a tree company not being able to my.
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