PhD: alignment with a supervisor

Question

I am contemplating a PhD degree where an industry partner connected me with a senior lecturer at University.

I have full confidence in the said partner as their contributions to the discipline are many and have substantial dollar value attached to them. Put simply: they work on real-world problems and have proven ability to deliver complex projects.

That being said, I don't have a sense of connection with PhD supervisor. There are two major concerns:

1. Their expertise is alarmingly non-technical given the directon of work. I have scrutinized their publications and was left wondering how much they can contribute to the subject matter. I was told there is no "research group" and supervisor expects PhD candidate to work in relative isolation.

2. It has proven to be rather hard to have an open conversation with them regarding the project. I do receive a rare cold letter referring to "other candidates" though, so at least they are reading my e-mails.

Now, the problem is that I actually want to do the research. Despite the fact that I will need to move to a different state. Notwithstanding that I will live on a stipend that is <50% of what I was earning while working in the industry.

I believe this problem is of high importance and have few ideas on how we can improve current state-of-art. What I would appreciate from this community is an advice and their own experience that might relate to my situation.

Positive:

• I might be able to create a positive impact in an area that (literally) saves lifes.

Negative:

• Might turn out as 3 years of misery with apathetic PhD supervisor.

Answer 1

To sumarize your problem, the industry partner is ready to fund a PhD position, but their academic reference person is not responsive.

You have a simple choice in front of you:

• if you are motivated to pursue a PhD, ask the industrial partner if they are open to look for another supervisor with your inputs (i.e.: you look for a receptive and possibly technically involved supervisor);
• you take the money and you prepare for looking for another supervisor (risky: the current non-responsive supervisor will still be official PI with the industry money, they may feel overridden by you ... you risk finding yourself after some time in having a good external supervisor, but no funds)

Answer 2

The advice I always give to those who are considering collaboration/supervision (especially to undergraduates and masters students) is that you can't just work well with the other person on a technical level. You need to be able to relate well to them as a human, as well, obvious as this might sound. Sometimes, both of these things are imbalanced, sometimes it's one more so than the other. So, I would look for another supervisor, in this case.