>3 months into my PhD in maths
>supervisor tells me he's moving to a different university at the end of the year
>it's a plane trip away
>the student I'm collaborating with is following him
>gf is staying here, doesn't want to do long distance
>supervisor is the only one in the country doing what he does, so staying means switching topic

I feel pretty screwed. I need to make a decision as to whether I follow him or stay here where my gf lives. By the time my supervisor leaves, I will have about 2 and a half years left of my PhD, and my gf will have finished study and will be either starting a job, or still job hunting. I asked her to consider finding a job where my supervisor is moving, but she's having enough trouble finding a job here where it's much easier.

I can't switch to a different supervisor at this university, nobody else knows this field. So I've narrowed it down to 2 options:
>follow my supervisor, do long distance with gf, try to fly over to see her as often as possible
or
>keep PhD at current university, but keep current supervisor as a secondary supervisor to maintain research continuity. Fly over occasionally to check up and collaborate, but mostly work long distance while living with gf

so basically either long distance relationship or long distance PhD. I'm expecting the consensus to be to just ditch the gf and focus on my research, but if a long distance PhD is easily feasible then I may as well make life comfortable and stay with her. That's the biggest unknown that I'm trying to gauge

>>33290130 (OP)
What career were you intending to pursue? Are you good enough to become an academic (the main reason for getting a PhD)? If not then drop it and pursue a career within your reach. You will need that in order to marry and provide for your family. If your gf is just a sex toy then please kys.

>>33290130 (OP)
I hate to say this but if you're trying to gauge the feasibility of doing a distance PhD you'll probably get better answers on reddit than this shithole

>>33290205
yeah a career in academia is definitely feasible and I would like to keep that option open, but I am also interested in trying my luck at quant trading. I'm going to wait until a bit later on before I make that decision though, for now I'm just focusing on my PhD

>>33290236
maybe, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask

>>33290130 (OP)
That's a bitch and there's something vaguely immoral about his doing that to you. I'd say stay where you are, find a local professor willing to be your nominal advisor even if it isn't strictly his field, and keep the leaving guy on your committee. I don't see any reason to do much flying - surely you and he can confer online, Zoom, etc.

In a more primative era, I was forced to move away from the university to make money, and worked with my advisor by mail.