Working relationship with master thesis professor

Question

First of all let me explain my situation a little bit.

I am writing my masters thesis in theoretical quantum field theory and have a very bad contact with my promoter. I see him once every few weeks and he doesn't have any concrete feedback. (40 written pages have been lying on his desk for months without any feedback on them) There is a PhD student that is helping me but our ideas are not in line and all he does is give negative feedback up to the point where I cannot value it anymore (it feels personal instead of professional)

This situation is becoming rather desperate since I was hoping for a PhD in physics but I have no recommendation letters from my promoter which ruins much of my chances...

I have talked to another professor at the faculty and they tell me that that they know him and that it doesn't really surprise him, but this does not help me. That same professor might be willing to get me started in a PhD but I am afraid that he'll ask my current promoter how I work, and whatever he says, it will not be representative of how hard I work.

Last but not least, the deadline for my thesis is in a couple of months and I am yet to get some feedback on a crucial, very unorthodox step that I made. I motivated the step and anybody asking me will see that I thought about it for a very long time but still, it might be wrong. Can I get a total fail for my thesis if this is the case? And how does this influence my further career ?

I felt really confident at first for a PhD; I am very motivated and work a lot, but this whole situation is really taking away my academical drive.

Any tips and advice ?

Answer 1

There are three ways to get your work reviewed by people other than your supervisor:

• You've probably already done a related work survey. Look for other professors and PhD scholars who are doing or have done work that is very similar to yours. Contact these people by sending them emails and ask them to review your work. Don't send them a 40-page document. No body is going to review that. Send them a summary of your work with emphasis on the main idea. Then if they are interested, provide them with more details. If have done a really good work, someone might offer you a PhD opportunity.
• Try to get your work published in some reputable journal, conference, or magazine. During the process of publication, your work will be reviewed. Of course, you need to do that before the deadline of your thesis submission. I do not study physics and so I cannot recommend any publication venue.
• Ask your colleagues who are working in the same or similar field to review your work. You said there is one PhD student who reviewed your work. Remember to accept any constructive criticism and use it to your advantage. Try to find other people.

If some people expressed interest in your work, tell your supervisor and try to get him/her engaged in your project. Hopefully you'll get a recommendation letter from him/her at the end.