Difficulty dealing with my advisor

[topspin1617]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here. I'm happy to find a forum catering specifically to graduate students.

I've been a Ph.D. student in mathematics at my university since fall of 2007. I completed the introductory classes and exams well within the alloted time, and chose my advisor. Well, chose may not be the best word for it; the professor I originally wanted as my advisor was apparently very busy with other students, as well as with just becoming chair of the department. He referred me to who my advisor is now (partly, I suspect, because this professor needed an advisee, because I can't imagine anyone willingly seeking him out for this).

Don't get me wrong; my advisor is brilliant. Perhaps too brilliant. I've learned a ton of things under him in the areas of abstract algebra, specifically algebraic geometry. The entire time, though, I've had an enormous problem communicating with him. About pretty much anything. I guess he's so smart that any of the stuff I'm trying to learn is already trivial to him, and it is nearly impossible to get him to explain or help me understand something with which I'm struggling. More often than not, I find myself going to other professors in the department with questions.

If it were just that, I would deal with it and move on. That's frustrating, but manageable. Another, perhaps larger, problem is the difficulty in communication when it comes to matters of progression through the Ph.D. program. On the way to the degree, after choosing an advisor, I had to pass two preliminary exams. I did accomplish that, but about a year later than most Ph.D. students do here. Not because I struggled with them; I passed both easily on the first attempt. My advisor just didn't seem to be aware of the proper timeframe, and very rarely listens when I ask questions about this sort of thing. He usually goes into a monologue about there being "too many rules and procedures; people around here are too concerned with paperwork when they should be concerned with math".

I'm really beginning to worry (well, maybe not beginning; I've been worried for a while) that I may never come anywhere close to actually finishing this degree. Technically the only thing left for me to do is a dissertation. While he has had me working on this and that, there's never been a sense of "okay, this is really interesting, this is worth really working on". I guess what I'm trying to say is it feels like I'm doing a bunch of exercises to keep me busy. Not that they are worthless... I am learning a lot of things, but whenever I get to the end of something, whether I come up with an answer or not, he seems to write it off and move on to something else.

I don't really know what to do at this point. I mean, I can keep going on like this... well, until the day the university informs me that I've been there too long and they can't pay me anymore. I've tried asking him about a dissertation, or even just specific things that would be worth researching, but I always end up working on whatever he's working on. Which I don't mind, but I feel like I'm being used just to test some theories out as opposed to being set on a course for something major.

Maybe I could take some of the blame; I can be very timid, and that only amplifies the difficulty that is had when trying to communicate with him. It's not just me; the entire department, students and professors alike, have as little communication with him as possible. He doesn't attend staff meetings, students that are taking is classes are terrified to go to his office for help. I've tried asking other professors, even those on my Ph.D. committee, about the track I'm on, but the answer is always "that's a conversation you need to have with your advisor". Which is exactly the issue.

Sorry for the wall of text... I would really appreciate some advice, but it was also nice just to get that off my chest.

[Sigaba]

How do you get along with the other professors in your department? Do any of them have a well-earned reputation for being a "go to person" when a graduate student is having issues with some aspect of your program?

[Eigen]

You should also have someone designated as a "graduate advisor" that oversees all the generalities of the gradaute program- they'd be a good one to talk to.

My PI is pretty easy to talk to, but he really doesn't concern himself much with out progress through the program- that's up to us. Most of the faculty are the me way, honestly- if you really don't understand the requirements, you go to the chair or the graduate advisor more often than your advisor.

[topspin1617]

How do you get along with the other professors in your department? Do any of them have a well-earned reputation for being a "go to person" when a graduate student is having issues with some aspect of your program?

I have a good relationship with many of the professors. I'm not sure if any in particular have a reputation for that, though. There are a few professors that are more than happy to discuss things with me when it comes to math, but as soon as I bring up questions about the program itself, I always get "you should talk to your advisor about that". The graduate student advisor and chair of the department are actually both on my committee, and the response is the same.

You should also have someone designated as a "graduate advisor" that oversees all the generalities of the gradaute program- they'd be a good one to talk to.

My PI is pretty easy to talk to, but he really doesn't concern himself much with out progress through the program- that's up to us. Most of the faculty are the me way, honestly- if you really don't understand the requirements, you go to the chair or the graduate advisor more often than your advisor.

PI?

I understand the requirements... it seems more of an issue to get my advisor to understand them haha. Or, understand why it's important. I don't know... like I said, I know I probably need to be more.. proactive or something. As I mentioned, I'm pretty shy/timid, and fairly young I suppose, so that's never been easy for me. Especially in a situation like this, where I'm obviously not even dealing with peers, but a bunch of well respected, very intelligent professors. Too many times of having my advisor all but laugh at me when I ask him a math question have made it even more difficult to work up the courage to talk to him about anything of consequence, honestly.

[Andsowego]

You should also have someone designated as a "graduate advisor" that oversees all the generalities of the gradaute program- they'd be a good one to talk to.

My PI is pretty easy to talk to, but he really doesn't concern himself much with out progress through the program- that's up to us. Most of the faculty are the me way, honestly- if you really don't understand the requirements, you go to the chair or the graduate advisor more often than your advisor.

You might need to organize a joint meeting between yourself, your supervisor, and your graduate advisor (or dean, or whatever that person is called at your school/department) where you can sit down and discuss a completion timeline for your dissertation, and talk about expectations of the department, etc.

Edited January 12, 2012 by Andsowego

[Nanomaterials]

I'm really beginning to worry (well, maybe not beginning; I've been worried for a while) that I may never come anywhere close to actually finishing this degree. Technically the only thing left for me to do is a dissertation. While he has had me working on this and that, there's never been a sense of "okay, this is really interesting, this is worth really working on". I guess what I'm trying to say is it feels like I'm doing a bunch of exercises to keep me busy. Not that they are worthless... I am learning a lot of things, but whenever I get to the end of something, whether I come up with an answer or not, he seems to write it off and move on to something else.

I don't really know what to do at this point. I mean, I can keep going on like this... well, until the day the university informs me that I've been there too long and they can't pay me anymore. I've tried asking him about a dissertation, or even just specific things that would be worth researching, but I always end up working on whatever he's working on. Which I don't mind, but I feel like I'm being used just to test some theories out as opposed to being set on a course for something major.

Perhaps the tasks he gets you to work on serves as a kind of exploration so if a specific problem interests you, then you tell him "Hey, this looks fun. I'm investigating this...".