Is supervisor asking too much?

OP

Original post by Reality Check

Please don't bump a thread almost immediately after making it. All this does is irritate people.

Your supervisor is in a better position to know what you'll be talking about during these preliminary meetings than you will. Be thankful that you've got an attentive supervisor - at least you're not having to endlessly try to arrange meetings with him/her to fit around conferences,field-trips, teaching obligations etc!

Are you doing a PhD?

Reply 3

bones-mccoy

19

Original post by cantore_kutta

bump

stop
bumping
this
thread

Reply 4

OP

Original post by bones-mccoy

stop
bumping
this
thread

you kind of bumped it for me?

Reply 5

Original post by cantore_kutta

He wants to meet once a week for my PhD and I just started last month. The research proposal hasn't be submitted, but is due in 2 months. I don't know what we will talk about once a week for, since not much will happen in these 2 months.

Even once I start the writing up, isn't meeting once a week too much. I was thinking more once a month, so he can see actual progress being made.

He's not asking too much to simply meet weekly - it won't take up a lot of your time, and he can let you know early if you're on the wrong track with something this way. Would you really want to meet after a month, only to be told your work was wrong or on the wrong lines, and lose 4 weeks of work?

Reply 6

OP

Original post by shadowdweller

He's not asking too much to simply meet weekly - it won't take up a lot of your time, and he can let you know early if you're on the wrong track with something this way. Would you really want to meet after a month, only to be told your work was wrong or on the wrong lines, and lose 4 weeks of work?

It's the lack of progress, nothing will be done in the first 6 months of my PhD. All I'm doing is modules and writing a good research proposal.

Reply 7

OP

Personally I would want to meet once a month (and any extra times if I need it). I'm sure we will have weeks where nothing has changed bar a few extra papers being read.

Reply 8

Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by cantore_kutta

It's the lack of progress, nothing will be done in the first 6 months of my PhD. All I'm doing is modules and writing a good research proposal.

A proposal which you will presumably also need feedback on, if you want to do as well as possible, which is exactly the kind of thing you could look over in the weekly meetings :yep:

As long as he's not expecting vast amounts of work that you can't complete in the time frame, I think he's making a reasonable suggestion, and it stops people putting off doing work for too long, which is likely to be something they often have to deal with. I'd expect he has his own rationale behind it too, perhaps based on the university guidelines, or on his own past experiences with supervising projects.

Reply 9

PQ

Original post by cantore_kutta

nothing will be done in the first 6 months of my PhD

Then you're doing it wrong

Reply 10

Clearing and Applications Advisor

OP

Original post by PQ

Then you're doing it wrong

Have you done a PhD?

Reply 11

PQ

Original post by cantore_kutta

Personally I would want to meet once a month (and any extra times if I need it). I'm sure we will have weeks where nothing has changed bar a few extra papers being read.

Seriously - you're in a full time research degree and you expect to spend a week just reading a few papers?

Reply 12

Original post by cantore_kutta

Personally I would want to meet once a month (and any extra times if I need it). I'm sure we will have weeks where nothing has changed bar a few extra papers being read.

Even then, you could discuss the views on the paper, the influence it will have on your PhD, etc. There are unlikely to be weeks where you have no progress whatsoever, if you're managing the project well. As PQ said too, you should have progress in the first 6 months of it too, in some form!

Reply 13

OP

Original post by shadowdweller

A proposal which you will presumably also need feedback on, if you want to do as well as possible, which is exactly the kind of thing you could look over in the weekly meetings :yep:

As long as he's not expecting vast amounts of work that you can't complete in the time frame, I think he's making a reasonable suggestion, and it stops people putting off doing work for too long, which is likely to be something they often have to deal with. I'd expect he has his own rationale behind it too, perhaps based on the university guidelines, or on his own past experiences with supervising projects.

I know why he wants to do it, so I can't slack, but I am pretty good with time management. I just don't want to go in every week having to show him something new every time, like that will tire me since I have to attend other classes and go to seminars.

Reply 14

OP

Original post by shadowdweller

Even then, you could discuss the views on the paper, the influence it will have on your PhD, etc. There are unlikely to be weeks where you have no progress whatsoever, if you're managing the project well. As PQ said too, you should have progress in the first 6 months of it too, in some form!

I think I will give him all the papers I have read and my research proposal early. Problem is he wasn't meant to be my supervisor, so he lacks experience in my field. The second supervisor is probably a better match for me, but I've never met him.

Reply 15

Original post by cantore_kutta

I know why he wants to do it, so I can't slack, but I am pretty good with time management. I just don't want to go in every week having to show him something new every time, like that will tire me since I have to attend other classes and go to seminars.

But you need to prove that to him, and show that you are in fact making progress. It will most likely be a short meeting, and you can even propose time slots around where you'll already be in for classes or seminars. Yes, it might seem a bit of a nuisance now, but it's worth it for the feedback you'll get, and the extra progress you'll be able to make as a result.

Reply 16

Good bloke

19

Original post by cantore_kutta

that will tire me since I have to attend other classes and go to seminars.

Are you sure you are cut out for a PHD?

Reply 17

The_Lonely_Goatherd

20

Once a week every week at the start of the PhD does sound like a lot to me. I tend to meet my PhD supervisor every 2-3 weeks if we're both in London (we both have periods of doing fieldwork abroad). I find meeting that regularly very helpful, as it keeps me motivated and on my toes! Sometimes when we meet not much has really happened but then we can talk over why that is and how to get motivated again, etc.

Did you express your feelings about it to your supervisor when he said about meeting once a week? I can see that once a week will feel like a lot but (presuming you're a full-time PhD student and all you're doing atm is your studies) a lot can be achieved in a single week if you put your mind to it! As others have said, there is something to be said for have an attentive supervisor. Most people have the opposite issue!

I'd say trial it and see how it goes and if you really feel after a few weeks that it's hindering rather than helping you, pipe up and say so!

Reply 18