What should I do if my advisor is incorrectly advising me?

Question

I am a fourth year PhD candidate in theoretical physics at a U.S. institution. Two and a half years ago I began working with my advisor on a topic I found interesting, despite my limited prior knowledge. A few months into research my advisor experienced a health issue that lead to them taking a semester off from work. Upon their return, I noticed a subtle shift in their research capabilities. For instance, they would assign me problems that seemed peculiar and unreasonable, but I attributed my concerns to my own lack of expertise in the field.

As I became more familiar with the field, I began to realize that the work we were doing was flawed and that my instincts were correct. When I raised these concerns with my advisor, they did not take what I was saying seriously. They insisted on the correctness of our approach, dismissing my scientific objections and refusing to allow me to work on other problems.

I shared my situation with my advisor's only other student, who is working on an independent problem, and they shared similar doubts about our advisor's guidance and their own lack of progress. I also shared my situation with a professor who supervised my master's thesis, and they were surprised by the kind of advisement I have been receiving and agreed that our current work is undoubtedly incorrect. I have also overheard whispers from other faculty members expressing similar concerns, but no one has directly said anything to me. It appears that my advisor is no longer able to do research or advise students like before. I am not sure if this is related to the health issue they faced two years ago but it seems likely.

Given that what we have been doing is incorrect, I have no published papers and have made virtually no research progress despite completing my fourth year. While it took me longer than it should have to recognize the problem, I hope it is not too late for me to graduate with some good results. My field of research is not pursued by anyone at my institution other than my advisor, so my options are either contacting professors at other institutions or changing fields/advisor with someone else in my department.

I would like some advice on how I should handle my situation and complete my degree. How should I handle this with my advisor without ruining my relationship with them? Is it reasonable to approach professors at other universities, and if so, how can I explain my situation to them without tarnishing my advisor's reputation?

Answer 1

Talk to your graduate program director. These are faculty members whose role includes addressing student concerns. Here's an example:

Graduate Program Directors are responsible for managing all aspects of their graduate programs and for advising students on academic matters.

The GPD must have a strong commitment to graduate education and be willing to devote the necessary time and resources to ensure the smooth day-to-day functioning and overall academic quality of the graduate program. The GPD functions as the primary point of contact for all academic matters concerning Doctoral and Master’s students in the program and facilitates conversation between the graduate degree program, the academic department and GPS.

And one of the responsibilities is:

Advises students how to resolve problems that may arise during their program

Given that you're 2.5 years into the program, you've likely encountered them already, since one of their other roles is "Works with faculty members to monitor the progress of students throughout the graduate program". They might have, e.g., been present during the annual review of your progress (if you have such a review). They might even have asked you if you have any problems with your supervisor. You've encountered a problem, so they can help you resolve it.

Answer 2

Institutions have something called an ombudsman. This is a conflict mediator that exists for exactly this type of situation.

As for the degree, you will probably get it, papers or not. It is important that you understand that a PhD is not awarded due to research progress in the traditional sense, but rather by the demonstration that you can act as a free-thinker.

To that extent, even a "failure" is a success, as long as you can clearly outline why the failure happen.

Answer 3

Something else to consider is that (in the US, at least) your readiness to defend the thesis isn't just up to your advisor, but also your PhD thesis committee. Being 4 years into your PhD, I assume you probably have a thesis committee by now? When did you last meet/present to them?

It might be worth meeting with some of the other members of your committee to explain the situation and get some input from them. I would be tactful and not overly critical of your PI, in case they are friends with them. However, if 1 or 2 of the other committee members know your field well and share your concerns about the research direction, then they may be able to apply some pressure to your PI. For example, if you hold a thesis committee meeting; present your current work/methods to them; and they voice some serious concerns about the validity of what you are doing, then it might prompt your PI to reconsider the direction. The thesis committee is there for a reason - so that feedback and guidance on your thesis progress isn't just in the hands of a single faculty member.

The other members of your thesis committee should also be able to give you some indication of how much further work they would like to see, for them to be comfortable signing you off on the thesis.

Another idea (which would likely involve more work and may be less efficient) is to submit a paper to a reputable journal that describes the methods you find suspect. If the reviewers push back on it, then that also may prompt your PI to reconsider the direction. As with your committee, peer review is also there so that other experts besides your PI can get involved in reviewing/vetting your work.

Otherwise, I agree that the next step should probably be to discuss with the Graduate Dean of your department about your concerns. If you feel your advisor is giving you poor advice and won't listen, then it may make sense to switch to a different PI. Whether that makes sense may depend on the situation and how much additional work you need to do to graduate. If you only need a couple more semesters and another Professor in your department/institution knows your work/field well enough, they might be willing to take over advising, to allow you to complete your work and defend.

Answer 4

It depends on what you want to achieve from your situation.

First you need to speak with your graduate coordinator and find out exactly what the current requirements are for you to graduate.

You then need to have a discussion with your advisor, no matter how uncomfortable it may be. The discussion needs to be factual, you need to be well prepared and not adversarial. When you say something doesn't work, you need to back it up with what you have tried and literature context. Your goal will be for you to carve out a reasonable path to graduation based on your informed requirements from the graduate coordinator. If, after this you are still not satisfied, then reach out to the department chair.

If it still doesn't work, go higher up. But what you have to understand is that the moment you have gone above your advisor and are essentially asking their bosses to correct them, your relationship is over. So be prepared to live with that and related consequences, and be able to move on with whatever options you are given. Perhaps this may even entail switching to another group/advisor until you can come up with enough work to meet graduation requirements.

Unfortunately, the worst outcome I have seen is the Dean forcing the advisor to keep working with the student until they graduate. This creates nothing but seething resentment and is the most toxic and unhealthy outcome.

So my advice, if you cannot fix it yourself, amicably with your advisor, then be prepared to walk away, because any scenario where a higher up has to come in and force an outcome where you have to maintain a fraught working relationship is not good.