PhD Research Supervision

May 30, 2008

To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.
Chinese Proverb

A fundamental characteristic of PhD research is that it is carried out under the guidance of one or more academic supervisors. It is the supervisor's responsibility to monitor the progress of the research and to ensure that the student is mastering the appropriate research skills and that the project is likely to come to a successful conclusion. The supervisor's role is therefore crucial to the whole enterprise, and indeed it appears that the chief reason why students fail to get their PhDs is because of inadequate supervision. It is therefore vitally important for students to ensure that they receive proper supervision.

The following further points about the supervisory role should be noted:

The supervisor should be fully conversant with the student's research topic and should closely monitor the preparation of the thesis. In general, the supervisor should serve as a good role model of what a professional researcher does.
A good working relationship should exist between supervisor and student, with the supervisor providing encouragement, personal support and guidance at all stages.
It is likely that the relationship will adjust as the project progresses. Initially the supervisor might function largely like a tutor, providing much training and help. Subsequent stages might find the supervisor operating more like a coach, building up skills and confidence, and then finally acting more like a colleague and equal.

In view of the crucial importance of the supervisory role it is vital that the student is provided with a suitable supervisor and that a high standard of supervision is delivered throughout the duration of the project. If you are a PhD student who is dissatisfied with your supervision you should seek as a first priority for this to be resolved. In the first place, it is possible that your supervisor may be unaware of your concerns, and that once alerted appropriate corrective action will be taken. However, in other circumstances it may be that the student-supervisor relationship is not working satisfactorily and that the only proper solution is for a new supervisor to be appointed.

Source: http://www.jwelford.demon.co.uk/brainwaremap/super.html



For further information about PhD supervision see:

1. Code of Good Practice for Graduate Research Supervision (University of Western
Australia)
http://www.postgraduate.uwa.edu.au/policies/good_practice

2. Code of Practice for Supervised Postgraduate Research (University of Dundee)
http://www.somis.dundee.ac.uk/registry/pgcode/

3. Meeting of Minds by Estelle Phillips
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/postgraduate/story/0,,1563159,00.html

4. The Missing Links by John Wakeford
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/postgraduate/story/0,12848,1169926,00.html

5. Nowhere to Turn by John Wakeford
http://education.guardian.co.uk/egweekly/story/0,5500,557465,00.html