An Aborted PhD Career at Ulster University

A man can be destroyed but not defeated.

PhD Work at AIRC UU

I embarked on my PhD journey in September 2021 at the Artificial Intelligence Research Centre (AIRC), Ulster University (UU), Belfast, UK, as a recipient of a fully-funded international studentship from the Department for the Economy (DfE). Relentless persecution since the very beginning of my studies, multiple attempts to inflict physical harm on me, and a toxic relationship with the main PhD supervisor led me to leave the program prematurely, despite multiple formal reports to various levels of UU. After two harrowing years, I decided to discontinue my PhD on November 30, 2023. I’m grateful, however, for the sincere support I received from those faculty at UU, who consistently prioritized students’ interests and committed to integrity.

In this blog post, I wanted to share some of the research I conducted at AIRC, particularly in the areas of Deep Generative Models and Satellite Image Time Series (SITS) analysis. I hope these findings may serve as reference for fellow researchers in the field. More importantly, I hope to help you identify manipulative behaviour in academic supervision, a key negative indicator of professional ethics, thus safeguarding your well-being and career development.

1. Communication
2. Research Proposal Earth Observation
3. Initial Assessment Slides
4. Confirmation Assessment Slides

Safeguarding Your Career & Well-Being: Identifying Manipulative Behaviour in Academic Supervision

Supervisors hold significant influence over the career development of students and junior researchers. In today’s academic community, being a professor does not necessarily imply positive correlation with professional ethics. Being manipulative is, however, a strong negative indicator, especially in supervisory roles where there is an inherent power imbalance. When supervisors manipulate those under them, they exploit this power to their advantage, often at the expense of the mentees’ well-being or professional growth.

Such behavior can foster a toxic work environment, shifting the focus from learning and collaboration to a downward spiral where moral standards are lowered, or even human values are disregarded. Additionally, it can harm students’ long-term attitudes toward academia and research careers, or distort their understanding of what it means to achieve academic success. This may perpetuate unethical practices in the next generation of researchers, further undermining the ethical foundation of the research community.

Navigating unethical behaviour by senior supervisors can be particularly challenging for early-career researchers, as those affected may fear retaliation or potential career risks involved. As prevention is better than cure, in the following, I aim to help you recognize manipulation by academic supervisors by exposing those dark psychological tricks.

• Imposter Syndrome Induction One common tactic used by manipulative supervisors is to diminish and devalue students, undermining their self-esteem and deepening self-doubt, known as imposter syndrome induction. Such tactics can push students to overcompensate and strive excessively to prove their worth. It’s important to remember that your abilities and accomplishments were thoroughly assessed during the competitive selection process. If your supervisor actively seeks opportunities to make you feel inadequate or incapable, they may be trying to make you feel vulnerable to gain more control over you.

• Silent Treatment Manipulative supervisors may punish students who do not conform to their wishes by withdrawing communication and being unresponsive, forcing the student to comply in order to restore normalcy. For examples, they might ignore your emails, refuse to meet with you, or withhold support and feedback on your research for extended periods after a disagreement or their opinions being questioned.

• Fearmongering Manipulative supervisors often use fear to control their victims by exaggerating potential dangers or negative outcomes, implying that disobedient students are doomed to failure, a tactic known as fearmongering. They might make explicit or implicit threats regarding key evaluation milestones, potential extensions of your PhD study, funding cuts, project terminations, or damage to your career prospects. In extreme cases, some may even investigate your social background to identify weaknesses they can exploit more effectively.

• Gaslighting Gaslighting is a manipulative tactic where a person distorts the victim’s perception of reality, causing self-doubt about their own experiences or sanity. In the supervisor-student relationship, examples of gaslighting include denying that certain instructions were ever given to avoid accountability, trivializing reasonable concerns by accusing you of “overreacting” or being “too sensitive,” downplaying your contributions to research work, or even claiming credit for your ideas.

• Isolation Cutting students off from potential support networks to ensure control and dependency is a common tactic of manipulative supervisors. They may go to great lengths to restrict your access to activities where you could gain external perspectives or advice, such as discouraging you from collaborating with other research groups, limiting your interactions with other faculty members, or making you feel unwelcome in the work environment by spreading rumors.

• Unreasonable Expectations with Moving Goalposts Rather than setting clear and well-established evaluation criteria, manipulative supervisors often impose unrealistic goals and change them arbitrarily to assert authority. For example, they may require multiple drafts of a paper, with approval criteria shifting each time, or delay signing off on your thesis under the pretext that more work is needed, without providing concrete feedback—or with demands that contradict previous guidance.

• Favoritism Manipulative supervisors may use favoritism as a divide-and-conquer tactic to prevent the formation of a united network of students such that collective actions may be taken to challenge their unethical practices. They may cause friction or resentment among students by giving preferential treatment to some while making disparaging comments about others.

• Micromanagement Instead of guiding students to develop skills essential for their career growth, manipulative supervisors tend to exert excessive control and limit autonomy to serve their own agendas, e.g., overly dictating the direction of research without transparent discussion, insisting on approving every minor detail of the student’s work, or depriving students of opportunities to make independent decisions.

• Guilt-Tripping Manipulative supervisors often use guilt-tripping to coerce compliance by making students feel unjustifiably indebted. This tactic is often subtle, framed as “for your own good.” For instance, they might pressure you to work on weekends or skip holidays, implying that otherwise, you would be seen as “ungrateful.”

Prioritize Your Well-being

These dark psychology tactics are often employed by individuals who exhibit personality traits of Machiavellianism, narcissism, or psychopathy. Given the power dynamics in academia and the risk of retaliation, confronting your supervisor or addressing the issue openly is generally not advisable. The best protective measure is to recognize manipulation as early as possible, seek professional help from trusted colleagues, faculty members, or specialized committees for academic misconduct, and plan a safe exit if necessary.

Please bear in mind that It’s crucial to prioritize your physical and mental well-being above all else. While there are manipulative individuals in academia, many upright and supportive staff members can offer help. Don’t lose faith in humanity, and always seek out those who uphold moral principles and research integrity.

Concluding Thoughts and Career Advice

Undertaking a PhD program is a significant commitment, and it’s essential to make an informed decision. I’ve often pondered what constitutes the “perfect” career option. Inspired by esteemed scientist Michael Black’s insightful tweet, I would like to share some of my thoughts on career development:

When you find joy in your work, excellence follows naturally, and the sense of fulfillment becomes a reward in itself. Plus, working in an environment where you’re surrounded by good people who share your excitement can be incredibly fulfilling. Finding the right career path may require some searching and possibly some trial and error. However, prioritizing your enjoyment and fulfillment in your career is an investment in your overall well-being and long-term satisfaction.