How to Change the Superviosor - (Jul/20/2008 )
I have some problem with my superviosr, actually we are completely different indivuals. how to change the supervisor. I am completely serious about this. what can be the strategy for this.
with best regards
It would certainly be easier to change yourself than to change somebody else...
yeah in some cases its easy, but i already try to compromise too much and some people started to interfere in my personal life, and rather to make me professionally strong, started to make me professionally weak, its unjustice, yeah phd is also a cheap labour but it should not be professionaly unjustice. i am firm in my decision and i will surely change my supervisor.
why dont u sit down and talk with him.
May be you could resolve some problems
instead of trying to change him which mite
be a very long process
May be you could resolve some problems
instead of trying to change him which mite
be a very long process
... and how many of us would be prepared to change our ways as a scientist and a supervisor if a student had a problem? Talking through the problems is the best way to go!!!
Just remember to keep your cool at all times. Your supervisor is a supervisor precisely because he has done a great deal more than you, and unless you are a mature-age student (as I was for my PhD), will be older than you. I had very little in common with my supervisor, from hobbies to world-view! But we were able to work professionally, and he guided me through my PhD.
If you're unsure, talk with your associate supervisor, or whoever looks after your interests in the department. No need to start a war if diplomacy can work. All the best.
I'm sorry -- I may have misinterpreted your post. Did you mean change as in "alter behavior or attitude" or change as in "switch from one supervisor to another"?
The former is difficult if not impossible, while the latter depends on your institution's policies.
Can you talk to the postgraduate coordinator in your department?
yup. talk to somebody from the department. If you just started your project, this should be easier...
It is very important to talk to the postgraduate coordinator / course convener.
Some PI are a challenge to work with. But make sure that the difference is irreconcilable. That is you cannot and will not work with that person. Remember, the grass always appears greener on the otherside.
Changing supervisor boils down to money. Who is funding you and the relationship you have with the person who controls your money. If the funding is attached to you, then you can move although you may have to restart a new PhD project and this will require dicussion with your funding body. If the funding is attached to your supervisor that I afraid you can't move, without losing your funds. If the funding is attached to the project, then it is even possible to work to a different PI and keep working on the same project.
Thus depending on how your money and uni is configured, getting a new supervisor can be a simple as saying 'sorry Dr X, I am afraid we have problems and would like to work with Dr Y.' Or a little more difficult and you will have to find a different lab and different project to work on. (Losing what ever time you have already spend in your old lab... in which case you will have to talk to funding body.)
It is possible to even have several supervisors at the same time, although it is a bit of a headache to shedual join meetings.
I even heard of girl who was very very agressive. She had 5 supervisors during her PhD, after she learned everything from one, she more on to another. I also know guy who has 4 supervisor, due to some retiring before his PhD finished, and since his PhD was a cross disiplinary one.