Change of PhD - (May/05/2010 )

A friend of mine has asked me to post this She was wondering what the chances are of getting another PhD position are if she quits her current one? (she is 18 months through). She is really very miserable where she is and was just wondering what would be the chances of getting another position in another field at a different institution?

Thanks all,

Bex

Hi Kami,

If she wants to transfer to a different lab or institution, this I can understand, but to change to a different field? Unrelated to the one s/he's in right now? And she only realised this after 18 months? Is this the reason why s/he's miserable? Sorry, all I have are questions...

casandra on May 5 2010, 03:39 PM said:

hehe its ok Cassandra we all know you for your wisdom I think she means different field as in bacterial genetics instead of human not like biology to physics. She recently got a new supervisor who gives her alot of trouble such as general nastyness etc who doesnt help and pretty much doesnt trust the new postdoc to steer her right if she needed it. The PI sides with the postdoc when concerns are raised.

Sorry another question, but 18 month is a long time already, how long does she have to go on before she gets her PhD? Here most people finish their PhD within three years (we must get a Master first), so she would have half of the time already?

gebirgsziege on May 5 2010, 04:27 PM said:

yeah thats exactly right. she should go on to finish the full three years buti have no idea how long she wil lbe able to stick it out. She doesnt want to not get a PhD but this is crippling her

Kami23 on May 5 2010, 11:29 AM said:

but is she progressing with her work/ lab projects or..... if she does actually tough it out will she have anything or at least enough for a thesis...bec if not, then perhaps, it's better to cut her losses now and save her mental (and physical) health.....but I guess we're being too pessimistic here...are you sure she doesn't wanna come here and partake of all my wisdom? ....we can at least cheer her up...

casandra on May 5 2010, 04:37 PM said:

hehe yeah ive said this to her. Im hoping she does sign up even if its for a good rant... certainly helps me out lol. She says she may not have enough for the thesis which is heartbreaking. Ill tell her to get her butt on the V&Cs for a bit

Kami23 on May 5 2010, 11:44 AM said:

yup, a little R and R is good for the soul.......but seriously, isn't there anybody else, a committee or some such that she can consult regarding her problems? She's more than halfway thru and if she doesn't have anything yet- that shld be a code red and the university or the department has some responsibility too. Besides, she's already thinking of quitting so she better start looking for other recourse.....

actually, I'm wondering what you (or she) meant by "general nastiness" ....some people are just mean by nature and perhaps they don't really intend to cause serious harm....and some "bad" stuff happening in the lab is a result of this garden variety pettiness which I think is also quite normal and we can put up with it. Perhaps she's just overreacting and there are also other factors involved?

I'm just going to come in from left field here and I'm not sure if this will apply to your friend or not.

I would encourage her to go and speak to someone else in her Department if there is another supervisor she feels more comfortable with. They may have some words of advice and encouragement. If that is not an option, then perhaps a University counselling service or careers counsellor.

I have personally dealt with nastiness and bullying during my time as a post-doc and left one position because of it. In my view, my mental health was more important than whatever consequences were going to come from leaving that job.

She might be able to get someone else in the Department (or even another Department or another university) to take her on half-way through, particularly if she has a scholarship that is not dependent on who her PI is or what Department she is in. She potentially could talk to her PI about completing her project in another lab because she is uncomfortable with the people in her own lab or come up with a crazy new collaboration idea that requires her to work in another lab or with someone else.

I hope she is able to figure out a solution that makes her happier than she is now.

Hey guys, sorry its been a while! Im up to my neck in it failing my upgrade peice bleugh looks like i will never be Dr

anyway she wont even use my account to cover her tracks. She has spoken to others in the department and generally they are being really negative about her chances of finishing, and the post doc is generally using her as a lab assistant... making her generate stuff the PD can use in work they are doing but not leaving her many results of her own... any results would be accredited to the PD

there is a load of other stuff too but Ill go into it later.

thanks for all the advice guys!