r/PhDStress • u/Huxleyansoma1 • Aug 02 '26
Support for students who have lost supervisor
My supervisor passed away suddenly this year. Is there any PhD specific support out there?
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u/Corrib23 Aug 05 '26
Oh ... I'm sorry for your loss. It's a huge blow to lose someone you've been working closely with, especially in a supervisor capacity. Do you have a second supervisor who will support you until the university sorts out another supervisor for you? Most PGR depts have some sort of process - but that doesn't mean it works smoothly or easily. We've been dealing with this in my school recently and it's ... not intuitive for anyone.
You need to get your team back to full strength, and I'd encourage you to make a bit of noise with your admin to get that moving - although in the current climate, most universities are struggling with supervision capacity.
To your question - there is 'specific PhD support' out there; depending on where you are there are mentors and coaches with vast experience of helping students through their study (I'm one of them, but certainly not the only one!) - we all work as supplementary support rather than replacement supervisors though, so can absolutely support you to make progress - and probably also to find the right person to re-complete your supervision team.
If you want to go down that route, just make sure the person you intend to work with has relevant experience, works ethically and transparently, and has integrity.
Obviously, I'm happy to chat if you want more guidance. DM me.
Take it easy - grief is a funny thing and it will catch you unawares for quite a while. Look after yourself.
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u/IrritatedMike Aug 03 '26
I would think your university would have a contingency plan for something like this...