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I was a PhD student and forced to quit as my PI doubted the new work I did and this PI did not mention any constructive feedback or comments. I signed a resignation letter. Then, I submitted my work to a conference and it was accepted to be published, despite the fact that the supervisor did not help me at all in any step of this proposed methodology that I proved.

The PI found out that I am going to present my work and threatened that (s)he is going to block me from the research field unless I put their name on my work, even though I resigned and they doubt the work. It is clear that (s)he is very appreciated in the field and no lab could accept me if (s)he blocks me. (S)he suggested that it does not help me to present my work alone.

Another question is from where does one get the money to attend a conference without the support of a supervisor. I am really shattered and see this as clear bullying and retaliation. By the way, this PI has forced another student who also did great work and published in top tier conferences and journals to leave after four years of hard work.

I don't know what to do. I did this work on my own, and he has no right to be a co-author.

Yacine
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    How is he going to block you? I don't understand the mechanism for that. – Buffy Oct 04 '18 at 15:46
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    As with all your other questions about your supervisor / situation / phd, you should go and see the Dean of Students or equivalent - we can’t give you a definitive answer. – Solar Mike Oct 04 '18 at 16:08
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    @Buffy It was clear messages that s(he) is very appreciated in the field and s(he) will working on that no lab could accept me adding that do you think by presenting the poster, you help your self, you will see. I think what the OP means is that their PI will slander them. – Clarinetist Oct 04 '18 at 16:28
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    The head of school will do nothing they support this PI and he did the same for another student! I am shattered I dont whether to present my work that I worked hard on it or be afraid from this PI –  Oct 04 '18 at 16:46
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    @buffy the PI asked me to meet outside conference, and then told me what do you think to presented a poster, do you think you are going to help your self! Then this PI mentioned that how s(he) is so much appreciated and he already told the people of the workshop badmouthing about me, then continued saying lets see and continuing no one is going to accept me in the lab because s(he) is appreciated! I feel like a bullet in my heart because it is clear bullying –  Oct 04 '18 at 17:05
  • @Monika: does the poster has a proceeding? You must have submitted something, don't you? In my field (CS), posters are submitted together with a 2 or 3-page abstract, and are peered review? – sean Oct 04 '18 at 17:09
  • @Monika I monitored all your questions and answers in the Academia SE and I think there are some untold problem in your stories. First of all you are not saying which country you are studying for an unknown reason. It really limits assessing your condition cause the situation you are describing as an overall story is really unlikely to happen in developed western countries like US or European countries. Also, the way you are describing your adviser, makes me think of him as a crazy guy. But you are saying he is reputable. So that's a contradiction if a crazy guy be reputable among academia. – Mithridates the Great Oct 04 '18 at 21:25
  • It is developed country! If you are star in academia and you dont have morals and being arrogant, you dont deserve to be mentor! (BTW) s(he) is always saying that s(he) is reputable and appreciated in the field although there are some of their papers have been rejected! Honestly, what are the metrics to consider well-established professor. –  Oct 04 '18 at 21:39
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    @Monika If some of his papers got rejected that's not a good measurement for his reputation. My adviser is a really nice guy and reputable but he has a lot of unpublished materials. BTW if you are saying this story is happening in a developed country you have well defined rights according to law even if you are a foreigner. For example, you could disclose your story to some "ombudsman" type people and they will assess your case independently and your adviser will not be able to harass you. Have you ever tried this option before? – Mithridates the Great Oct 04 '18 at 21:47
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    @AloneProgrammer How's that a contradiction? It'd hardly be the first story of a manipulative and ruthless person in academia. It happens in universities, just like it happens in the workplace in general. As for not mentioning the country, it is presumably a measure to preserve some amount of anonymity. – Anyon Oct 04 '18 at 21:50
  • @Anyon I'm not saying find a ruthless guy in academia is a contradiction! In fact, the academia is filled with ruthless people completely. But, it is really unlikely a ruthless guy that cannot work with his students stably become a reputable professor in a developed country. If he forces his students to resign after sometimes as described in the question, how he got his reputation? I mean how he could spare sometime to do research besides these kind of harassing activities of other people? I mean maybe I'm wrong but that seems contradictory to me at least. – Mithridates the Great Oct 04 '18 at 21:54
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    @Monika Wait, *s(he) is always saying that s(he) is reputable and appreciated in the field* it means s(he) is saying that himself/herself is reputable or it's the opinion of other people in your field as well? If s(he) is saying that just by himself/herself so that completely makes sense. S(he) is definitely crazy. – Mithridates the Great Oct 04 '18 at 22:03
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    Yes, s(he) said that, BTW they have papers that have been rejected! There is also another research group during another conference reported that his/her work is not accurate. –  Oct 04 '18 at 22:48
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    My impression is that (1) you believe that your adviser is reputable and appreciated in the field and (2) your only reason for believing this is that he said so. If both of these impressions about your belief are correct, then I'd advise you to stop believing it. – Andreas Blass Oct 05 '18 at 01:51
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    @Monika most academics have had papers rejected. That is normal. It does not even necessarily mean that those papers were bad. – Flyto Oct 05 '18 at 13:09
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    @AloneProgrammer Unfortunately such maniacs do get successful in many places in academia nowadays. Just because you've been lucky so far it doesn't disqualify the testimony of so many. Just peruse SE Exchange and elsewhere on academic bullies. I hear some of that kind even got nobelled ?.. – Scientist Oct 05 '18 at 13:31

3 Answers3

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Don't be panic.

If everything you said is true, your PI does not deserve to be a co-author, and I would suggest you not to put his/her name in your poster.

It is clear that (s)he is very appreciated in the field and no lab could accept me if (s)he blocks me.

This is not true.

As you already resigned, the worst they can do to you is not writing a letter of reference. Nothing else.

Just think about it, would they ask/email other research groups "Hey, I just want to check if you-never-heard-of Monica is applying to your group, (s)he is very bad blah blah"? If that really happens, it is them to be questioned.

Note that they do not gain anything by badmouthing you. People can question their ability to select students. And if this behaviour is consistent with different students, they will make a bad reputation for themselves.

Updated:

From @CaptainEmacs:

Sorry, but this is not realising how blacklisting works. If the PI is indeed that powerful, they can do a lot of damage. While OP tries to continue in the field, the PI can basically make a side dismissive comment or explain how difficult a person OP was or - outright false - statements about what OP did, including making underhanded claims about sabotage or thefts, out of knowledge of OP. The best chance for OP is to switch fields where PI doesn't have a reach or name or go to some other big shot who is not influenced by PI and try to convince them about their qualities, but this is hard.

I've never heard of such things. Do you have a source for it? or is this a rumor that you hear?

"Powerful" in academia just means that somebody does a lot of good research, and has a lot of collaborations. It doesn't mean they can affect the decision of anybody outside their department.

And if somebody is trying to tell me about their bad former student, the first questions come to mind will be: why this guy needs to spend so much effort going after a random student? why does he think I will care? why can't he just move on?

sean
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    Well, this is far from something that can be resolved logically, but: I agree with this answer. Badmouthing your own graduated students makes you look bad whether the comments are true or not. It is so unprofessional that I have almost never witnessed it. – Pete L. Clark Oct 04 '18 at 19:50
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    I am the OP, what I can do now, it is unfair! I dont know whether I have to present my poster tomorrow or just be afraid and go away! I like my research so much! In the same time, when I see this PI, i felt so sick besides the mental health I suffer, my body is burning out! It is unfair what I should, I am going to lose my mind, all of that I did something new and the PI didnot accept it, and now want to damage me and monopoly this field! Why the destiny not to revenge from those people, they think they control every think in the life! I am so tired –  Oct 04 '18 at 20:11
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    I paid the registration on my own! you cannot imagine how I suffer, I dont eat very well because I am in foreign country, no one can imagine how I much I am tired because of this psycho PI who said to me every one the field appreciate me and you not helping yourself to attend the conference, it nasty bullying! Please if you were in my position, should I present the poster, if not every one will believe what s(he) said that I didnot do that work. –  Oct 04 '18 at 20:15
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    @Monika You should present your poster! – sean Oct 04 '18 at 20:28
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    @qsp that what I am going to do, thanks for your encouraging, and I wish nothing not good is going to happen to me after that. –  Oct 04 '18 at 21:40
  • "would they ask/email other research groups" -- this is common practice around academic circles in some countries, e.g. China. I have heard of a lot of such cases where some ex-PhD student couldn't find another position (in the same area). – Scientist Oct 04 '18 at 21:47
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    I agree with @PeteL.Clark. In my experience, a professor going out of their way to bad-mouth their own former graduate student is a serious red flag against the professor, not the student. – JeffE Oct 04 '18 at 22:41
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    @JeffE My former supervisor routinely badmouthed his own grad students, other faculty, and other people in his field. He even badmouthed me to a professor who was hired after I left the program. He's now the department chair. I haven't seen a single shred of evidence that his unprofessional behavior raised a red flag to anyone. – user113878 Oct 05 '18 at 19:01
  • @user113878 I am often not sure whether there are truly bubbles in academia where misconduct and unprofessional behaviour (such as largely is widely reported) are abnormal, or whether some users here are keen to sell this impression. Badmouthing supervisees who refuse to play puppet is the oldest card in the game... – Scientist Oct 06 '18 at 15:34
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    @Scientist Murder and theft is widely reported in the non-academic world. It's still not the norm. – Frank Hopkins Nov 16 '18 at 18:20
  • @Darkwing There's a clear distance between murdering and showing unprofessional behaviour. I believe one of them is widespread in academia and elsewhere. – Scientist Nov 16 '18 at 19:13
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    @Scientist Well, I'd contest the widely reported. In my perception there are rarely substantial cases of misbehaviour reported - my perception in general is contrast to yours, I have yet to find a bubble of egregious misbehaviour. I'd just wanted to give you a hint to maybe re-evaluate your perception, as it seems similar with other criminal activity that statistical occurrences are way lower than what many perceive from the reporting (in most of the world, granted, there are regions where the rate is pretty off). – Frank Hopkins Nov 16 '18 at 19:19
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You do need to be very careful with authorship rules. According to many funding agencies in the US, the student doesn't own the data if you are in funded in the lab. It is the university who accepts the funds owns all of the data and the PI is the steward of the data. Your professor may be justified in requiring authorship given some of these rules. I would dig into this and find out the specifics before making a big claim about what you want to do. If you're not in the US, or even if you're in the US, I would check with your university's research or ethics offices. They will likely know the legality of data ownership that is implied by the granting agencies and help you know what you can and cannot do. I would suspect this data ownership rule is more similar than different when looking around the world.

But my advice is to just not fight it. Some battles are not worth it. This can be messy, and putting a name on a paper is a cheap fix. That's the safe and courteous way to handle what could possibly be legal issues due to data ownership.

Edit

There were some questions in comments, so here's more details. The primary resource is very dense, but most university research departments are pretty explicit about data ownership. At least the NIH and the NSF has this rule. A Good overview and quick summary of what counts are provided here. There was a pretty big case awhile ago where postdocs published without the data owner's consent, and it had to be retracted (this one is a very interesting data ownership case!). As you can see, ask your university research department, and if you don't know the specifics, assume you do not own any of the data.

Chris Rackauckas
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  • I dont have this PhD in US, and I dont think so that the data is related to them, as as I mentioned this methodology I have developed on my own! But from your words, I dont know if you warn me from presenting my work! That is going to make me looks like I stole the work and it is not mine and this what the former supervisor want. –  Oct 04 '18 at 22:47
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    @Monika If you don't take the people's advice here and want to present your work, so what's the point of asking question here? If you really want to do that and ignore your former adviser, so go ahead and do that but keep mind you should deal with its consequences and that's it. At the end of the day, it's really a personal decision and you should consider all positive/negative sides. – Mithridates the Great Oct 04 '18 at 23:50
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    Just because your PhD is not in the US doesn't mean that the data ownership rules are not similar. You need to check your local rules to make sure it's even legal to claim sole ownership of the work. – Chris Rackauckas Oct 05 '18 at 00:48
  • @monika If all your ex-advisor wants is to have his name on the work, then what does it cost you - except pride - to do that? No, it isn't right, but it means that you still get to present without angering him. It's the pragmatic thing to do. – Flyto Oct 05 '18 at 13:11
  • @Flyto that is exactly what this person wants , while badmouthing her, and others who didn't "dance", just the same. – Scientist Oct 05 '18 at 13:59
  • Yes, it is. And sometimes it is worthwhile to swallow one's pride, and let the bully get their way, in order to move on. Monika may or may not feel that she can do this, but it seems like the option with the lowest risk of bad consequences. – Flyto Oct 05 '18 at 18:04
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    You are conflating legal issues and academic authorship here. Academic authorship is about creative contributions. Supplying some data (whose acquisition procedure was already published) doesn’t count for this – though this rule is often broken, but that does not matter here. As for legal issues, I have never heard that you can “own” data in a way that gives you control about results obtained from that data (publishing the entire database may be subject to copyright though), except for specific contracts, which I would consider very questionable if they cover this case. – Wrzlprmft Oct 06 '18 at 06:42
  • I am not conflating legal issues and authorship. The university as owner of the data has the sole right to choose how and when results are shared, and the PI as appointed steward is the one who has the right. Many universities are very clear about this and require students to take a research ethics course where legal cases about this are read and discussed (like this one). I edited to add links and make the statement more exact. Again, if one is any bit uncertain, the answer is to ask your local research office. – Chris Rackauckas Oct 06 '18 at 07:17
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    I have presented the poster, and there were audience interested and asked me for more details to send them and a professor who understand my situation! I would like to clarify something what I have presented is my own methodology not data related to university or something like that, it is my own idea and they dont have the right to put their names as what they have mentioned they doubt my proposed methodology without any evidence and based on that they forced me to resign and now they want their names to be displayed and threaten me and he already made badmouthing as I figured out –  Oct 06 '18 at 14:03
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    , it is a long story, but I think I am thankful for left this lab,stroy me and already that has been done to another senior student. I dont care what will be the sequences as in the both case s(he) have already hurt my emotionally and trying to destroy me in away or another. However, I am expecting the worst from him/here –  Oct 06 '18 at 14:04
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    @ChrisRackauckas: I haven’t read all the sources you gave (and some are behind paywalls for me), but nothing so far seems to contradict my claims: 1) Data ownership and academic authorship are independent things. Producing some data entitles you to authorship of papers about the data acquisition, but not of papers that just use some “known” data. Some of the example cases are exactly about authorship of papers involving some yet unpublished a data. 2) Publishing the entire dataset may be a copyright issue; publishing some results derived from the data most probably isn’t. … – Wrzlprmft Oct 06 '18 at 16:41
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    … 3) Data ownership comes from contracts not from laws. 4) If the asker’s work had been based on some data (which it wasn’t), she would have gained access and worked on that data in accordance to whatever contract governs the data (as she was paid to do exactly this). If she took the data and continued working after quitting, this may be a breach of contract (but would not result in any changes of authorship). Publishing results based on this data after leaving the position could again be a breach of contract, but that would be a weird contract since something like this happens all the time. – Wrzlprmft Oct 06 '18 at 16:42
  • "2) Publishing the entire dataset may be a copyright issue; publishing some results derived from the data most probably isn’t." No, some of the links I give directly contradict this. Results derived from data are considered part of the primary research. "1) Data ownership and academic authorship are independent things." No, this is again directly contradicted. The owner or steward of the data (university + PI) has the right for whether the data or results derived using the lab's funding can be published. Publishing without their consent is not intellectual property infringement. – Chris Rackauckas Oct 06 '18 at 17:54
  • "3) Data ownership comes from contracts not from laws." The links also mention the some of the laws that establish this, like the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980 established what all counts as research content which includes things like interpretations of results (going back to 2). "4) If the asker’s work had been based on some data (which it wasn’t)" If you are funded by the university or grants, you are an employee of the school and you cannot assume intellectual property isn't always yours. Not just data (though data is somewhat more clear). – Chris Rackauckas Oct 06 '18 at 17:59
  • Again, at my university this was made clear since every student had to take a research ethics course which covered this. These rules may be local to your area, and what I detail is what I know (the US). If you are not in the US, it may be different, and the people to talk to would be your campus research office or research integrity/ethics office. I just hope it is at least clear that anyone looking to do anything like this should get legal advice on their situation from someone who knows your local laws. – Chris Rackauckas Oct 06 '18 at 18:03
  • I am sorry, but I didnot get any data, or any kind of guidance and support and I did all the methodology on my own, so is my work still belong to them! They asked me to leave my PhD as they doubt my methodology and now after resignation and presenting at the conference, they want their names to be in my work and they have never helped or give data or any thing! I am expecting the worst from them because they are liars and there nothing in the contract mentioning what to do or not, I did that because it is a real problem in research and they underestimated me. –  Oct 06 '18 at 23:40
  • This PI took me outside the conference and began to threat me and saying that I am supposed to put his/her name and then they can agree or not, but firstly I have did the work on my own, they doubt without any constructive feedback and then I resign! It is effrontery, because it is contradictory what this PI want, he/she was trying to cancel my presentation by sending emails to organizers, anyway I am expecting the worst and they already made badmouthing about me –  Oct 06 '18 at 23:43
  • If they already doubt data, why they wanted their names to be on my paper at the conference where they doubt already! It is illogical! They wasted year of my life and now he/she will slander from me and not letting any lab to accept me. –  Oct 06 '18 at 23:44
  • So, I wonder what is the case and how to deal, there is no data related to them as there is no devices to work on, I was alone alone and did all of that on my own! –  Oct 06 '18 at 23:45
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    "I am sorry, but I didnot get any data, or any kind of guidance and support and I did all the methodology on my own, so is my work still belong to them! ". No support means you weren't a TA, RA, on a fellowship, or supported by grant funds. Remember, money from the institution has the same contracts and places the PI as steward in almost all of these cases. No support means you didn't use lab equipment were not paid a salary by the school. If you had no support, then you're in the clear and have nothing to worry about! That is just very rare for a PhD student. – Chris Rackauckas Oct 07 '18 at 01:09
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What you report is unfortunately fairly common. I have been in similar situation, which I will detail further down.

My first advice is: Whenever you're being stalked by an unprofessional individual you must gather evidence of the harassment. There's no excuse for not doing that in modern times. You know your abuser, so have a recorder (e.g. your smartphone) ready and turn it on as soon as contact begins. Keep records of threats, insults, abuse. Had you recorded what you just described, you'd now be in the advantageous position. If you haven't documented them yet, induce the threats to be made again so you can record them somehow.

Second advice: Usually PIs are way less "powerful" than they have their students believe. The typical professor barely knows any faces outside of his/her own department. Exaggerating a couple of cold emails exchanged with "being friends with" other more influential professors is common practice. Anyone who's truly influential needs not to make any threats. Bullies are usually just weaklings, acting. So, stop believing this person, completely.

Third advice: Keep your distance from this person. You're psychologically affected, and the abuser can see it. Only come any closer if you want to gather incriminating evidence (feel free to act), otherwise just completely shun from any interaction. This includes your professional sphere. You must move away from this person also professionally. As mentioned in advice 2, you'll be surprised to find out that nobody knows this person in so many other circles just around the corner. Attending this specific conference was a mistake on this (surely there are so many others where you'd be way more comfortable), but alas, now you're there just do your best and avoid the maggot.

Fourth and final advice: Stay awesome! Present your work, don't give undue credit to anyone, nor keep any collaborator in the dark. Enjoy your conference, make contacts, reinforce ties, meet new peers, smile, dress well, keep your head up. You're an independent scholar, you believe you have great ideas to share, so do it with great style. Your confidence will naturally attract good colleagues and keep the fake ones and vampires away.

Some of my experience: (i) feel free to read my fairly recent question where I had to deal with toxic ex-colleagues in a large conference. Everything worked out just fine. (ii) also as a PhD student I had a bad supervisor (though probably not as bad as yours) who wanted to either sabotage and take credit over my projects. Once I was set to attend a large international conference, and I submitted a work completely of my own without adding his name. He heard about it from another professor, so I vaguely apologised having made some confusion and just pretended to correct it. I knew how the conference proceedings worked, he wouldn't be there, and saw he'd never really check (fuzzy to find, foreign language, online-only, too many pdfs, etc). I then just handed him pdf files with his name showing, for the text and poster. In reality it, it didn't. Nowadays I feel is childish and risky and I don't recommend you do exactly the same (I was outraged), but the main message is: you don't play fair on bad guys.

Have a good conference!

Scientist
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    What?! You are preaching to treat bad guys with iron punch in their face?! *induce the threats to be made again* really?! If she takes your advice I think she will do exactly the thing that her adviser wants to ruin his professional career. I agree her adviser may have not a good personality but I don't think so you are allowed to advice people to behave like this cause you've just heard her story and it is not fair to judge based on evidences from one side, at least not at this level that you are advising. – Mithridates the Great Oct 05 '18 at 13:32
  • "induce the threats to be made again really?" -- Really. So that they can get properly documented. This is how unprofessional threats ought to be handled. Sorry if the idea makes you uncomfortable. – Scientist Oct 05 '18 at 13:38
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    Sounds crazy to me! At the minimum, if she really "*induces the threats to be made again*", it will make her name famous and it's not the good thing to be famous for these kind of activities, at least among the academic community I believe. – Mithridates the Great Oct 05 '18 at 13:41
  • I making someone repeat threats (which is easy, and looks like it will come out naturally in this case) won't make anyone famous, but effectively suing an abusive PI might. – Scientist Oct 05 '18 at 13:46
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    childish and risky and I don't recommend you do exactly the same — Yes, this sums it up. – JeffE Oct 06 '18 at 00:48
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    Thanks for answers! Honestly, I did what I believe and who I am ! I just want to move on and continue my passion in research! @AloneProgrammer, you are right you have to hear the other side, but how if you can pretend to false facts and the victim is the student –  Oct 06 '18 at 14:13
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    When I proposed a new methodology, s(he) said good and after that s(he) told that s(he) doubt this work and s(he) dont think that I can continue! In the other side, his/her colleague ( collaborator) I asked after resignation why you doubt what I did? the answer was " there is someone else who did that", I answered who, s(he) replied I dont know!!!!! –  Oct 06 '18 at 14:16
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    Then again the same person ( collaborator) after I asked him/her to get a reasonable answer: s(he) answered: you are the only who did that and you take a different direction, following that they are going to propose another methodology in the coming six months that tackles what I did, I was like what is the hell! –  Oct 06 '18 at 14:18
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    All I would like to say, this PI was trying in many cases to stop me from presenting my work, I cannot describe how was her/his attitude, it was awful and I cannot describe it @Scientist Actually I set the recorder of digital audio recorder, however, the recorder switched off, I feel pity because now I dont have any evidence about that, and this conference is related to my field and top tier and by the end there were many students and professor interested in this work –  Oct 06 '18 at 14:20
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    Honestly, I dont know what are the consequences are going to be, I feel deeply proud of myself and I wasnot afraid from these threats, however, in the other side, I feel so much exhausted as I still have one month to stay in the lab before leaving so that I can get the salary and move on, but I have already resigned from my position. –  Oct 06 '18 at 14:22
  • @Monika Many people have similar problem when wants to try something new in their PhD research but if your adviser is saying I don't want this method/approach or whatever you should just move on and don't insist on using something that your adviser does not like. If you really insist on something they will torture you (scientifically of course!) to confess that's not suitable and they could do it cause they're professors and at least they have some experiences in science which me and you as a PhD student does not have that to defend a new approach and convince them. – Mithridates the Great Oct 06 '18 at 15:43
  • @Monika It happened several times to me that I proposed something but my adviser said I don't like this approach cause it's not efficient or accuracy is not good or whatever and I said OK and that's it. You should not insist on something cause it raises a red flag for them that you want to belittle them. If that approach is really good just keep it for your self and sometimes after your PhD you should be able to continue that but don't insist to use it in your PhD research. That's my advice. – Mithridates the Great Oct 06 '18 at 15:47
  • @AloneProgrammer I think you're advising on a quite different situation, read the question again. Either way: why not make it an answer? – Scientist Oct 06 '18 at 15:50
  • @Scientist If you read all of her comments, answers, questions, chats, etc. the only reason she gave why her adviser behave like this is that it seems she proposed something new but his adviser does not like that or does not want that for whatever reason. So, I'm just saying if you want to survive in academia you should obey and sometimes it will hurt you but that's the way if you want to grow and take your PhD successfully otherwise the best advisers in the world also does not like students, who confront them and do not listen to them. – Mithridates the Great Oct 06 '18 at 15:54
  • @Scientist You are advising her to confront her adviser with counter attack but It will not work. Sometimes it's hard to wrap your head around why I should obey the adviser's command while it looks silly to me but you should do it if you want to survive and when you become a professor just behave your students in a better way. Otherwise, you are out of academic business and it's my personal opinion. – Mithridates the Great Oct 06 '18 at 15:57
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    @AloneProgrammer Sure I appreciate we have different views here. Still, perhaps you'd like to make your own answer?.. Just perhaps mind to answer the specific situation. On your parallel discussion, I'd recommend this thread: https://academia.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/4332/avoiding-conflicts-with-supervisors – Scientist Oct 06 '18 at 16:00
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    @AloneProgrammer sorry you didnot read my story from the beginning! BTW, my advisor said about my approach is good and then in front of committee he said I doubt it without mentioning any reason! The field I am working on is new and he is not specialized in that point particularly! If he is a good supervisor he must tell me what are the reasons that makes him doubt and propose another solution, but he didnot and that is my case, I know you will not believe! but that what happened! please before accusing people, read their story carefully before judging –  Oct 06 '18 at 16:31
  • @Monika I didn't not accuse you! I just said sometimes it's better to move on and that's it. But if you took my words in other ways... I don't know... – Mithridates the Great Oct 06 '18 at 16:34
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    @AloneProgrammer I do appreciate what you have mentioned and for sure it is a good advice! but my case was different, yes I proposed something new and he accused me that I take it from some where else and sometimes saying good and finally doubt and then forced me to leave my first year and now they want to put their names on my methodology after I resigned! I would be happy if they tell me something else to do rather than that. –  Oct 06 '18 at 17:00
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    I am sorry to say that this PI had made scientific mistakes in my topic which will lead to block completely, I understand every point, but sometimes I have to tell that this should be like that, and may be this a result that they dont want to continue however they just mention they doubt, so it is true may be the didnot like that I am proposing a new solution which is required and essential given the feedback by audience in the conference. –  Oct 06 '18 at 17:02
  • I think it is good to realize that this behavior by PI is not accepted and I am not the only case in same group! However, I am feel sorry for one year and feel comfortable to leave this prison which affected me mentally and the abuse I faced and many days I cried and no one care and the belittling I faced, it is enough, I dont want to see more students face that! –  Oct 06 '18 at 17:04