I’m about to enter my third year of PhD studies and it’s becoming clear that I won’t be able to finish the degree within the MEXT scholarship period. I’m also increasingly unhappy with my overall research direction so for the past half year or so I’ve been focusing on job hunting.
I finally managed to find a job in Tokyo and was planning to withdraw from university and the MEXT scholarship in order to work full time.
I’m not on good terms with my professor and I would describe him as a very vicious personality. I just found out that in order to withdraw from MEXT a letter from my professor is required as part of the paperwork.
Now I’m very scared. Could my professor write something negative about me that would make me have to pay back the scholarship money to MEXT?
I don’t know what to do or who to talk to about this. I feel trapped and helpless. I cannot complete the studies because cannot afford the tuition after the scholarship period is over. But now I’m also worried about quitting and potentially having to pay back the scholarship money which I can’t afford either. How much power does my professor hold over me in this situation?