by veriste » Sun Jul 31, 2016 1:30 pm
Unfortunately the time limit in my department is 10 years. It was difficult to track down information for my professor because he is somewhat new to the school, having only started work there two years before I applied. I am hoping to be the first person to graduate from the lab while taking less than 8.5 years to do so (some students transferred with him from his old job to finish up).
While I appreciate that you are generally trying to be supportive, I do not think I am in the kind of situation that happens "all the time." Three members of our lab have had complete psychiatric breakdowns and quit within the last year, and my PI is under investigation by the school but they do not seem inclined to risk the PR disaster of upsetting him.
Just one example: One time my PI called me and a few others in to work at about 10 am on a sunday because he was worried about a looming project deadline. A deadline for a project which, by the way, was not actually helping any of the students in the lab progress towards their degrees but rather was just a grant he thought sounded interesting. We worked continuously until he finally released us on Monday at 6 pm. None of us were allowed to sleep or had access to any food during this time (30 hours total). At one point some non-university DoD personnel were present and offered to bring us lunch. His response, and this is a direct quote because I wrote it down, was "Don't treat my people like they're human. They'll start to expect it in the future." This is not the only example, just one that lends itself to a summary in an internet chat forum.
So yeah, it's a bit trickier than the normal PhD student drudgery, especially since much of the lab equipment I've been using was bought with DoD funds. I've survived several years but have now fulfilled all my agree-upon graduation requirements and am ready for it to be over. My SF is very concerned and is consulting their legal department. I've sent a few emails to SMART and have not yet received a response. I was just hoping someone else on this board had some insight that might give me some hope.
Unfortunately the time limit in my department is 10 years. It was difficult to track down information for my professor because he is somewhat new to the school, having only started work there two years before I applied. I am hoping to be the first person to graduate from the lab while taking less than 8.5 years to do so (some students transferred with him from his old job to finish up).
While I appreciate that you are generally trying to be supportive, I do not think I am in the kind of situation that happens "all the time." Three members of our lab have had complete psychiatric breakdowns and quit within the last year, and my PI is under investigation by the school but they do not seem inclined to risk the PR disaster of upsetting him.
Just one example: One time my PI called me and a few others in to work at about 10 am on a sunday because he was worried about a looming project deadline. A deadline for a project which, by the way, was not actually helping any of the students in the lab progress towards their degrees but rather was just a grant he thought sounded interesting. We worked continuously until he finally released us on Monday at 6 pm. None of us were allowed to sleep or had access to any food during this time (30 hours total). At one point some non-university DoD personnel were present and offered to bring us lunch. His response, and this is a direct quote because I wrote it down, was "Don't treat my people like they're human. They'll start to expect it in the future." This is not the only example, just one that lends itself to a summary in an internet chat forum.
So yeah, it's a bit trickier than the normal PhD student drudgery, especially since much of the lab equipment I've been using was bought with DoD funds. I've survived several years but have now fulfilled all my agree-upon graduation requirements and am ready for it to be over. My SF is very concerned and is consulting their legal department. I've sent a few emails to SMART and have not yet received a response. I was just hoping someone else on this board had some insight that might give me some hope.