kleinbl00 - I know copy-fu. If you don't want it to stay, I'll delete it.

kleinbl00[67172718]:I've probably mentioned Sayre's Law a dozen times on here: "Academic politics is the most bitter form of politics because the stakes are so low." What you're dealing with is a group of people who are overqualified for their jobs by definition, who feel themselves underappreciated by everyone around them, and whose only ego recourse is to stomp on someone beneath them in the org chart. What you have to recognize is that many people play this game avidly and spend much of their time egging others into playing with them. If you refuse to get your emotions involved you're no fun to play with. Recognize that everyone hassling you right now has Peter Principled themselves to their ultimate station in life, while you still have unbounded potential. Thus, their most satisfying life move is to impede your progress. Being mad at them, ultimately, is as effective as being mad at a pot hole in the road. The best thing you can do is drive around them and keep your eyes on the horizon.

I'm in my first year as a Ph.D student (CS, cryptography)

Cool! Cryptography always sounded cool, but I don't have a head for number theory beyond Project Euler. ;) I'm finishing second year on theoretical physics. Probably best advice I can give is to pace yourself and disregard any people-related advice or insight I'd ever offer.