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PhD victim

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  • Location
    texas
  • Application Season
    Already Attending
  • Program
    biological sciences

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  1. Hello, I am in my second year of PhD but technically have been working on my real project for just one year. It is mandatory in my school to finish coursework in the first one year. So before moving abroad for my PhD I was supposed to join a particular lab but after joining the program I realized that the project I was told I will join has been discontinued. Left with very less options to choose from, I decided to join another lab. My professor seemed to be a nice person in the beginning but eventually I found out that she is very disorganized and fickle minded. The postdoc who works in her lab is very short-tempered but helpful when she is in a good mood. She is an experienced person and has taught me a lot but my professor doesn't like it if I consult with her about any experiment. My professor's disorganized nature makes her change plans and her decisions like sand dunes. This throws me off my timeline and goals and is delaying my progress. Half way through the experiment she asks me to stop everything. For the last one year I tried various means to adapt to her whimsical and fickle minded nature and even tried to tell her directly and indirectly that I find it hard to focus without a clear goal. I did not have the liberty to choose my project, nor to come up with a self-designed plan for the topic I was given. After designing a certain hypothesis for 2 months, I was told to follow what the previous grad student had done with some additions here and there. Whatever I suggest during our lab meeting is outright rejected by the post doc and my professor. I feel there is no freedom of suggesting things or deciding my course of action. If I ever design an experiment she doesn't even take a look at it. This is not letting me develop the skills that I need to learn in grad school. There is too much of micromanagement with respect to time and work and it is suffocating me. After working 7 days (roughly 9-7 per day) a week for 5 weeks, she tells me I need to spend more time in lab. I am expected to be inside the lab for strict number of hours each day. If I ever fall sick and need to take leave, I am interrogated thoroughly the next day. This suspicious attitude of my professor can be attributed to her cultural background. Things seem to work that way in her country. But it is getting on my nerves. I feel so depressed and disinterested every time I think about my work. I have 3 to 3.5 years left to complete my PhD. I am wondering if switching to a different lab will be a better option. Kindly suggest. I really need help to get out of this frustrating situation.
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