If life gets in the way and you’re worried you are not progressing with your research degree as initially planned, take action as soon as possible. Read Anna’s story to learn more.
Published Date 14/05/2025
Case study: Anna
Anna is an HDR student at Monash. She was enjoying her studies, but she didn’t have a great relationship with her supervisor, who she found intimidating and standoffish. For this reason, Anna mostly kept to herself and tried to work on her research degree with little support or guidance from her supervisor.
When Anna fell sick, she had to miss several meetings and lab sessions to recover and attend doctor appointments. At the time, she didn’t think much of it because she heard nothing from her supervisor or the University. She tried her best to continue to progress in her degree on her own.
When it came time for Anna’s milestone, she was shocked to hear from the panel that she had failed. The reason they gave was that she hadn’t made enough progress in the amount of time that had passed. Even though she explained to the panel that she had been unwell, they said that they could not accept this as a reasonable excuse seeing as Anna had not taken any sick leave, nor had she discussed any of these issues with her supervisor. When Anna explained that she wasn’t comfortable speaking with her supervisor, who she had problems with, the panel told her that was something she needed to manage as a research student, and that her faculty could have helped her if she’d said something earlier.
Sadly, Anna is now facing the possibility of being terminated from her course entirely. This could have been avoided had she spoken up sooner and communicated with the University.
What could Anna have done in retrospect?
Anna should have explored options to improve her relationship with her supervisor or to sought out a new supervisor who could provide the support she needed.
Anna should have taken sick leave and provided relevant supporting documentation (doctor’s certificates, etc.) and contacted her supervisor as soon as she fell ill.
Finally, Anna could have contacted the MGA’s advocacy service for free, confidential and independent advice on how to go about managing her milestone prior to meeting with the panel.
Don’t leave things too late - act now, speak up, and get in touch with an advocate today.
Do you have more questions?
Get in touch with an MGA advocate for free and confidential advice. We can help guide you through delays in your research progression. Email us at mga-advocacy@monash.edu - the sooner the better!