I'm sorry to hear that.

There is actually an easier way. But I think it's too late that I tell you now.

You don't have to divorce your supervisor (since it's so difficult to get your supervisor's signature). You just need to withdraw from the course and then reapply. Since your proposal is only 7 pages.

why? Because you don't need your supervisor's signature to withdraw from a research program. You just need to send it an official letter to the university telling them you are withdrawing.

Immediately, after you handed it your withdrawal letter to the University, you can send in your application for the very same course (appointing another supervisor) to the University on the very same day.

my advice now is that you send in a paper together with your ex-supervisor's name in it to a conference (Yes, I repeat, put in your ex-supervisor's name). That will totally exempt her from becoming your examiner in the future. If she becomes your examiner in the future, she will brings trouble.

This post has been edited by Blofeld: Jun 26 2015, 03:52 PM

Sorry to hear about your previous issue babyJab. I would say that in hindsight, when you think your supervisor is not meeting your needs you could have seeked out some students from different supervisors or the admin office to discuss your options. And when you finally decide to change supervisor, you could have done that through the office as well, without resorting to some final b***s***t with her. But as they say, hindsight is 20/20.

Anyway, I have a different opinion on supervision - it also depends a lot on the student's personality itself. My Master's supervisor was away most of the time (travelling, sabatical etc) of my study and we mostly communicated through email. Which was mostly fine with me, since I know mostly what to do and just need her to sign off on purchase and other admin forms. But she was also very supportive of my work and sends me to conference and overseas attachment. So different styles of supervision for different people.

For my PhD right now, my supervisor was actually a brand new research group leader setting up his group. And I was the first person to join it - there was no one else to ask for comments or reputation to check out. I decided to join as I was highly interested in the project and personally I"m quite independent and don't require constant supervision. But turns out that he like to keep a tight leash on supervision and we have weekly face-to-face meetings. It was a bit unnerving at first from what I'm used to but I've gotten used to it. So I think the advice of looking for a reputable supervisor while generally good, does not necessarily apply all the time. I think it's analogous to other professions e.g. doctor etc where if everyone only looks for experienced folks and don't give the newer ones a chance, how will the newer ones gain experience?

Congrats on your new position! What are you planning to research on?

One thing that I occasionally worry about and is the main reason I'm not keen to stay in academic in the future is because you're expected to start your own research group etc. I've always wondered how do you get idea for original research - it seems like everyone is tackling so many niches in biology and I'm always amazed at how they can come up with new ideas on what to study. :/

Thank you man, appreciate it

I have applied for grants and is not setting up my own research group, will mostly be working on molecular biology and phylogenetics
Yeah I used to feel the same way before I did my phD, but along the way you will notice that there are actually a lot more research that people have not yet touched

wow, i wasn't aware of that (withdrawal). but considering the fact that i am taking MyPhd scholarship, it might not be a workable alternative. probably need to go thru with all sorts of paperwork, or worst might be terminated from the scholarship, haha! thanks for the info tho.

about the publication with my ex-supervisor's name, i'm afraid i can't do so. =(
i escaped far from her field, what i am doing now is totally non-related to hers. and with all the internal politics among lecturers in my school, i doubt my new supervisor would want the ex-supervisor's name on our paper. (although yes, its common that some people just 'tumpang nama' on other's paper)

and just to share, recently there are few phd students in my school have the opportunity to go abroad for attachment. to my surprise, the school/management actually discouraged them! i am one of them lah. i thought the school/management should be proud when their students managed to explore deeper in the field and interacted globally, no?! and we never ask for any funding from the school, it's all from our pocket. one of the supervisor even told her supervisee, "i will not allow you to go for those oversea attachment, such a waste of time and you better stay here." the supervisee felt so heartbroken and cried in front of me, asking why does the supervisor stopping her from exploring while other supervisors are encouraging their students to go out.

for my case, i had the opportunity to visit Vienna for 6months . i don't want to waste my time just holiday-ing there, so i discussed with my supervisor that i might be getting a phd attachment at Uni of Vienna. she told me if my attachment is giving her KPI, she will support my trip. (does that mean if she dont get any KPI, she will not let me go? i dare not ask further) when the news went to the school management, they told me to suspend my study for that particular semester because the school does not have any MOU with vienna/austria. why can't they see it as an opportunity? why can't they take me as an subject to create the initial contact? its comical when they told me to suspend my semester, or don't go at all. perhaps they are just too lazy for some extra works. and fyi, i'm with the prestigious UKM, one of the top universities in the country. with these type of mentality, macam mana nak maju?...

I think most of the supervisors are just concerned that students might not be able to finish their phD on time if they spend too much time overseas. Short-termed attachments of up to a few months (especially to learn new techniques) are okay, but any longer you are jeopardizing your own phD studies. Continuing your research overseas may be a bit challenging since you are not sure of the conditions there (facilities, supervisor, environment etc.). The grass is not always green on the other side, I have some juniors stopping half way due to stress/ sexual harassment/ sabotage cases etc.

Hi guys!

I have an opening for those interested in obtaining a Masters
The duration is 1 year (with pay, of course ) and the topic is on spider diversity and biological control.

If you need more details, please contact me at jtan@utar.edu.my. I'm an Assistant Prof. in UTAR, and I have published ~10 Q1-Q2 ISI papers.

Thank you and have a nice day

This post has been edited by [PF] T.J.: Jul 6 2015, 09:50 AM

Hi Dr. Tan,

The research topic sounds really interesting!

Could you specify the Skills and Competencies needed to succeed in carrying out the biodiversity research project?

For example, researchers working in bioinformatics need to be not only good in analyzing data from different perspectives and summarizing the relationships identified into useful information, but also comfortable with computer programming in multiple statistical tools like R, SAS, SPSS and Stata, not to mention the prerequisite knowledge of probability and statistics.

Does the student need to take lots of stunning macro spider photographs?



Here is the last question. What is the risk to get bitten by a radioactive spider and turned into Spider-man?

Thank you kindly for the reply man
Masters is all about learning I suppose, as long as the student has a degree in Biology with good attitude and grades that qualify for the registration its good enough
The project will cover mostly Biology, Taxonomy (conventional and molecular) and Bioinformatics

The ability to take macro photos would be nice, though its not compulsory Taking such photos allow proper cataloguing of samples, quite useful.

Hmm we have to come up with radioactive spiders first haha, and even if bitten, I doubt anything will happen haha.. not easy to become spiderman XD

This post has been edited by [PF] T.J.: Jul 6 2015, 09:50 AM

Hello All,

So I have done with my data collection at a school. The problem is I didn't get the official letter of approval from the MOE (for some stupid mistake) in order for me to do the research there. But I did get the permission from the headmaster by showing him a letter from my University stating of my status. I had called the MOE asking if its possible for me to apply and they say no.

The question is, is this gonna effect when im having my VIVA?

Sounds like you've breached research ethics related to human
experiment.

Perhaps u can discuss this with your supervisor, and get a letter or some form of consent from the headmaster.

All the best. Malaysia has recently enforced personal data protection act. It means that all research participant must give consent by signing an acknowledgment letter.

yeah..im planning to tell my supervisor tomorrow (scary moment) hahah

Not necessary for research undertaken in organizational settings.

But for his case in a school, I'm not sure.

mind to clarify? Can an organization represent each employee in disclosing their personal data?

This post has been edited by alexkos: Jul 7 2015, 10:17 AM

Say at the organizational level unit of analysis, the manager will answer on behalf of the organisation (such as sales, cost, number of employees, etc.) not the employees. So, it's all up to the management to reveal their organisational details or not.

And also, no organisation will disclose anything personal about their employees or else they will get into trouble.

i see. You're correct then.

Let's say if the unit of analysis is the employee, which require response from the employee themselves, then we should let the employee participant to fill in the personal data collection act consentment letter.

Agree?

I would agree if it does not create additional work for the employees. Filling in surveys is already a hassle for some.

Hi Blofeld,

The popular phrase "the damage was done" is often used to mean that it is too late to repair a bad situation.

In OB case studies, Can a business salvage its reputation and restore public faith with a defamation suit?

I'm not sure either

I shall search for that but probably that will fall under Strategic Management and Consumer Behaviour.

I realize this is an interesting research proposition considering the current situation

This post has been edited by Blofeld: Aug 20 2015, 12:21 PM

im finding IT coder to help me with a learning software. Will get grant from my uni. Pm me if you got recommendation ya.

got $$ of course =D

in the meantime, I just received graduation scroll =D

This post has been edited by alexkos: Aug 22 2015, 08:45 PM