Thesis Committee Meeting in a Research Based Master's Degree

[RyanPika]

Hi all,

Today I'd like to discuss a topic related to a thesis-based master program in molecular biology. Hopefully someone can discuss or give your inputs on this topic.

Based on my past experience:

I was in a research-based master program in XXX University for a year, and I withdrew from the program.

I was deemed not qualified and lack of expertise to be in the master program by my supervisor during my first journal club presentation, after the first 4 months in the program. (It was my false because I didn't make an effort to understand in-depth the gist in the literature and data analysis). To make it worse, I was asked to make my own decision either to switch lab or quit the program because my supervisor can't fire me. I ended up staying in his lab and proceeded my experiment to prove that I can make a difference on my project. 

Now, after 6months, I had my thesis committee meeting. Reading different publications relevant to my research project was the method I utilized to better prepare for the meeting. Again, I did it on my own without the help from my supervisor. I sought help/ advice from him, but he seemed to avoid giving me suggestions and advice to improve my PPT presentation. He said I'll be evaluated on that, and he can't help me with it.

In the meeting, I mainly discuss the ideas and rationale involved in my project as well as the method and data analysis. I was asked questions that's beyond my ability to answer. Because I mainly focused on topics related to my experimental workflow and background information, I didn't read additional information other than that. I failed the meeting and was deemed as lacking background information and the skill as a master student, can't think as a scientist as others did. 

So, what's the job of the supervisor? Do they guide us hand-in-hand throughout project development and help set a clear roadmap to help us review for the exam OR they just cared about what we did in the lab and present the progress? 

Also, is thesis committee meeting in the master program should be treated like a thesis defense in PhD program?

 

 

Please feel free to comment and discuss below. Thank you.

Edited December 25, 2019 by RyanPika