What must I do to finish my PhD?- project manage
- balance time and money
- cope with life
- manage the data I have
- learn skills
Supervisors help by guiding, approving (e.g. conferences), and mainly advising on writing (
I think). There are books available, like Rowena Murray's. Your university supports you by providing details of processes and what you and your supervisors can expect in a PhD Student Handbook. A Google search reveals lots of handbooks from lots of universities. A Google search "difficulties with supervisors" reveals plenty of advice. Advice to supervisors can also be helpful to students; I like
this page at Oxford.
I wonder what
hidden agendas supervisors have
- to cover their backs if something goes wrong
- not give too much help (but see PhD Comics early Nov 2009)
- join you in writing papers in the longer term relationship
At a recent seminar on managing your supervisor, the advice was to shape your relationship with your supervisors, find a
hook to engage them. Initially the metaphor appealled, but then I thought of
nasty fish hooks like in the anti smoking ads
here, and
pirate hooks and
hooking kicks in tae kwon do. Boxing uses hooks
here. So I'm looking for a different metaphor. Anyone got one?
MURRAY, R. (2002) How to write a thesis, Buckingham ; Philadelphia, Open University Press.
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