Illuminating systemic barriers within academia
Detailing the PhD complaint process
Academic Light is a space that exposes the systemic problems faced by PhD researchers who report bullying, discrimination, or harassment within academia.
This project documents what followed after I lodged a formal complaint against my supervisors at the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow. The response was not protection, but retaliation — including the removal of all academic resources over a four-year period.
I was left without supervision, without access to library systems, and without any institutional mechanism for support or appeal.
What you’ll find here is a factual account of how these events unfolded — showing how policy can be exploited, bent, or ignored entirely, even when challenged. Every document, decision, and delay is recorded to illustrate the structures that enable institutional silencing.
Snap Shot:
- Complaint 1: Held at Stage 1 for two and a half years — never investigated against two senior members of staff.
- Retaliation: During this period, multiple irregular applications of University policy occurred.
- Institutional Abandonment: Within days of submitting the complaint, academic supervision and system access were withdrawn — a procedural response with no explanation or support mechanism.
- Policy Deviation: At senior management level, the complaint was channelled through a Fitness to Study process — a route not designed for grievance investigation.
- Complaint 2: Submitted six months ago (May 2025) — left uncategorised and unprocessed by the same Complaints Resolution Office.
Understanding the Structure:
The handling of these complaints involved multiple layers of oversight — both internal and external — each with distinct responsibilities but overlapping influence.
This project documents how, within such systems, accountability can become dispersed, delayed, or lost entirely. By mapping the sequence of interactions across these bodies, Academic Light illustrates how structural opacity sustains institutional silence
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I hope this record will help others navigate their own complaint processes and encourage them to share their stories too.
— what lives in the dark, survives.