🔺 r/gradadmissionsuProud-Water-4291·42 days ago
How to answer gracefully when a PhD supervisor asked why you are not working with your previous research supervisor again?
Hello everyone! I’m currently in the process of searching for a supervisor for a PhD after finishing my Honours year last year. I received a high grade for my thesis, enough to acquire a scholarship for a PhD (it’s primarily grades based domestically where I live). When I contacted my prior supervisors about PhD opportunities, they said they had exhausted the amount of students they could take on, apologised and wished me well in finding something else. One of my supervisors invited me to their end of year gathering, showed excitement in me staying in academia and seemed very happy for me when I shared my results. I reached out to another academic at the university who had been very encouraging about me pursuing a PhD prior (and is also the head of the department, very accomplished in his field) and asked to meet to discuss what he might have to offer in terms of topics. He was lovely but his work at the moment was not really what I was interested in / not my particular niche. In that meeting, he informed me that my supervisors were, for reasons he didn’t feel it was his place to share, just not interested in taking me on as a student and declined to co-supervise. He made it clear…