PhD students struggle to navigate conflicting guidance from multiple supervisors on interdisciplinary research direction

PhD candidates in interdisciplinary programs face paralysis when their supervisors from different disciplines disagree on research design, methodology, and program structure. Students lack a clear framework to resolve these conflicts, leading to delayed progress, wasted effort, and emotional stress. Current solutions (asking advisors to meet, departmental policies) are ad-hoc and often ineffective at actually resolving fundamental disagreements about research direction.