PhD Supervisor Leaving? What to do when your supervisor leaves

PhD supervisor leaving? “We’ll find you another one.”

Ah. Lovely. Like replacing a missing member of the Sugababes. 😂

Except changing your PhD supervisor isn't always quite that straightforward.

Something came up in my Momentum PhD Community recently that really got people talking: what happens when your supervisor leaves?

Universities have processes for replacing supervisors. Of course they do. Lots of fun forms to fill in. Ask me how I know this.

What can be really irritating for you, though, is that your PhD supervisor spent months – sometimes YEARS – learning your research, your methodology, how you think, where you tend to get stuck, and what you're trying to say when even YOU aren't entirely sure what you're trying to say.

The whole “There are plenty more fish in the sea” thing that your mother used to tell you isn't much help here.

Not that it was much help when she did. 🙄

Anyhoo...

No matter how your PhD supervisor left your institution – retirement, new job, quit to join the circus, flounced out in a huff – you're probably going to feel a range of emotions, from relieved (if they were rubbish 😉) to crisis-level-10 “HOW AM I GOING TO DO THIS WITHOUT THEM?” style panic.

But there’s another side to your PhD supervisor leaving

Your PhD may have changed enormously since you first started working with your supervisor.

Plot twist: you probably have too.

So perhaps the first question shouldn't be:

“Who can replace them?”

Maybe it should be:

“What supervision does my PhD need NOW?”

Perhaps you need more methodological expertise. Someone from another discipline. A different supervisory style. Someone closer to where your research has ended up rather than where you thought it was going three years ago.

Also, if your PhD sits between disciplines, there might even be a bigger question lurking underneath all this:

Is my PhD still sitting in the right academic home?

You might not get complete freedom over what happens next, but you CAN go into the conversation knowing what you need.

Try:

“Before a replacement is decided, could we talk about what my project needs from supervision at this stage?”

That's a perfectly reasonable conversation to ask for.

Where next?

If your supervisor leaving has made your PhD feel a bit wonky, you might find these helpful:

▶️ WATCH — The stuff nobody tells you about doing a PhD

My Hidden Curriculum of Qualitative PhD Research video series explores some of the confusing and rather bizarre parts of doing a PhD that nobody really prepares you for.

📥 FREE — 10 PhD struggles, solved

From difficult supervision to feeling behind, doubting yourself and wondering whether you'll ever finish, this little guide tackles 10 of the worries PhD researchers have but don't always say out loud.

📘 GO DEEPER — The Hidden Curriculum of Qualitative PhD Research

Your supervisor leaving can expose something much bigger: doing a PhD involves navigating relationships, uncertainty and your own judgement in ways nobody really explains at the beginning. That's exactly what my short book is about.