PhD student's contract with the university ends before his thesis is completed. He study forms a relatively independent part of a larger study and he has collected and analysed most of his data to date. His results are likely to support conclusions and analysis of other parts of the larger project. After his contract with the University ends, he secures a job in the field, which will provide him with an income and an ability to use his skills. The new job significantly slows down his analysis of the remaining data and the subsequent publication of the results. The project leader or other PhD students want the data to be analyzed and results published, but the student doesn't want to lose the data he has collected, because it is essential for him to complete his PhD. He only needs one more good article before he can submit his PhD.

Questions:

  • Do you think this PhD student has a right to take his time to analyse and publish the data?
  • Do the others have a right to the data?
  • How would you seek to resolve this situation before it becomes a major problem?

Last modified: Tuesday, 12 March 2019, 2:03 PM