Even good relationships can break down at some point. It’s vital that you address any problems immediately to avoid disrupting your research. Here are a few tips for avoiding the most common problems:

• Meet your supervisor’s deadlines – they might have specified a date, knowing that they’d be too busy to read your work the following week
• Don’t make your supervisor the first point of contact for every issue – take a look at the Who can I talk to? page for other people
• Remember the limits of supervision – they’re not there to edit your work or to organise your time

If you are facing a significant issue, there are official University procedures that must be followed. They are detailed in the Handbook and Regulations for Doctoral Researchers, which is updated each year. In most cases, you will need to first discuss the matter with the Director of Doctoral Studies for your School.  You can also request a confidential chat with the Student Life Centre.