PhD students worry about advisor behavior and reputation
12 posts across 4 communities in the last 60 days; 67% from r/PhD.
“I'm a second year PhD student in Computer Science at a top university in the US. I don't go well with my mentor, also, before someone says I could try to change my mentor, none of the other professors in my department are taking students right now and it will also create a…”
“Hello everyone, I was offered a fully funded PhD position in a well-known university in a European country. The professor seems well-respected in science circles and offered me full freedom in my dissertation. It's a very good offer and fits pretty much perfectly on my profile…”
“Hello everyone I’m looking for advice on whether to leave my phd. I am a year into doing a phd in computational chemistry in the UK. My supervisor is an amazing guy and we get along but he expects me to work literally 24/7 considering i can take a laptop anywhere with me and…”
Multiple posts reveal anxieties surrounding the conduct of academic advisors, including rumors of unethical practices and concerns about their treatment of research group members. Students fear negative impacts on their own careers due to an advisor's questionable actions.
SOURCES (20)
“I switched advisors last year because my former advisor had a very toxic advising style. Some examples of what the environment was like: It was very common for everyone at the lab to work through weekends, vacations, and to be sleeping 4 hours a night…”
“Hello everyone I’m looking for advice on whether to leave my phd. I am a year into doing a phd in computational chemistry in the UK. My supervisor is an amazing guy and we get along but he expects me to work literally 24/7 considering i can take a laptop anywhere with me and work. On my days off or when I am on holiday he requests that I send him my work for him to to do purely because he is obsessed with the project, which I don’t think is normal. I am company funded so my supervisor is incredi”
“I'm in a very privileged position where I get to choose my own supervisor for my PhD project, but I’m completely new to the university and don’t really know anyone there. I see so many posts about people having terrible experiences with their supervisors, so I’d love some advice on how to spot the red flags early and, equally, what to look for in a genuinely good supervisor. If you were choosing your supervisor again, what would you look for? Are there particular questions you’d ask, things”
“Hello all, I have my first meeting scheduled with a potential advisor coming up shortly and just wanted to get some different ideas on a few different topics. Any advice/input on as little or as many would be greatly appreciated! Questions to ask the advisor Questions to expect from the advisor Is it appropriate to ask about funding in the first meeting? Things you wished you had asked/known before starting in your respective programs Thank you in advance for any and all advice and personal expe”
“Approved by Mods! Hi! I’m working on my dissertation and looking to interview Ph.D. students about negative interactions with their advisors. Basically, I’m interested in what happens when an advisor says something that feels hurtful, dismissive, or just unexpectedly negative. I want to understand how students interpret those moments and whether they affect the advising relationship. You may be eligible if you’re 18 or older, currently in a Ph.D. program or graduated within the past two years (e”
“So I asked another PhD student who has obviously worked on the same data but he acted as if he don't know anything. PhD students and their advisors act more insecure than teenagers. submitted by /u/Key-Character-5852 [link] [comments]”
“I'm a second year PhD student in Computer Science at a top university in the US. I don't go well with my mentor, also, before someone says I could try to change my mentor, none of the other professors in my department are taking students right now and it will also create a conflict between my current mentor and any other professor I would want to work with. I have guaranteed funding and I know it's really such a privilege to have, but I just can't, it's too much and I feel li”
“Hi, everyone! I’m in my first year of my PhD I’ve been wondering about my relationship with my advisors. Basically, I have a weekly one-hour meeting with my two advisors to go over what I’ve done during the week, etc. I’d like to know if this is standard practice or if it’s usually normal to have more time set aside for supervision so that I can rely on a true mentor from whom I can also learn how to become a better researcher, how to better direct my research, or simply to exchange ideas. Of co”
“Hello everyone, I was offered a fully funded PhD position in a well-known university in a European country. The professor seems well-respected in science circles and offered me full freedom in my dissertation. It's a very good offer and fits pretty much perfectly on my profile. My only problem is that the professor is very vocal about his right-wing views online. He posts basically daily on X and has tens of thousands of followers. The views he directly states are right-wing but not necessar”
“My PhD advisor is chronically absent. He's kinda famous in his field, his last students are in really good postdoc positions, and he's always organizing nice conferences. Nevertheless, the guy is absolutely absent, I rarely see him, and that's even worse because he's new at this University (in the last two decades he's been moving from institution to institution, all good institutions, but it looks like he's not really stable). Being new, I'm his first PhD student and”
“I am currently in my 5th year of PhD and I will be submitting my thesis this December. Due to no new recruitment of professors in my university, my advisor is forcing me to take lectures and threatening to withhold her signature on my thesis if I don’t follow what she says. She says it is a compulsory criteria for all but none of the other PhD students have been told to do the same, it’s only me. If I fight back, she shouts at me in front of everyone and stalls my monthly JRF scholarship. Becaus”
“Hi all, im a 1st year clinical psych PhD. My advisor is setting up 1:1 meetings with me biweekly. I’m the only person in the lab right now, so I don’t have current lab mates to ask. But folks from past cohorts told me they met their advisor weekly at the start. Is this arrangement weird? I thought biweekly check-ins were more for later years, like 3rd/4th year, not the first year submitted by /u/LL3_3 [link] [comments]”
“I’m an incoming 1st year PhD student in the physics program at an American university. Initially, I was interested in working in Professor A’s group, and before committing to the program I reached out to them to confirm that they have the funding to take me on as a student. However, that was in April, and in the meantime I’ve had the chance to gain experience in an adjacent subfield that aligns much more with the work done by Professor B. I’ve realized through this new experience that I would mu”
“My advisor is very very hands-on. They are aren't mean but are kind of obsessive. They look at every data file the minute I generate it before I even get a chance to analyze it. I've started keeping the files to myself until I've had a chance to look at the data and think about it on my own, but we also have lab techs and interns doing some work for my project who upload it to the cloud immediately. I get emails every morning as soon as I walk in telling me what all of my data means”
“I will be having my first meeting with my PhD advisor next week and was wondering if anyone had any questions that they recommend asking? We’ve only met once for my interview and it was fairly brief due to time constraints (20 minutes). (USA, Non-Clinical Psychology Domain) submitted by /u/frostluna11037 [link] [comments]”
“Hi everyone, I'm using a throwaway account for obvious reasons. I am in a very tough spot and need some brutal, realistic advice on academic systems and career strategy. My situation: Background: I did my Bachelor’s and Master’s in Europe, then moved abroad to Asia for my PhD. I have now been at this current institution for over 5 years. Publications: I have a couple of first-author publications (a journal paper, conference paper, book chapter). However they currently have very low citation”
“I have started a PhD program at a local national R&D company two years ago. I have an academic supervisor at my university that is academically very successful. Rumors say the professor does some shady business and I've heard from his group members that he does not treat them well. In the company, my advisor was an researcher (with PhD title). The advisor was initially very motivated. Our group leader had hired many PhD students which would eventually work on different interdisciplinary”