Viewpoints on Supervision Presenter: Nigel Topham (PhD tutor)

The supervisory team Each student/supervisor relationship is different Minimum of 2 supervisors (University Regulations) Principal Supervisor Responsible for daily and strategic direction Member of School staff or from an Associated Institution who has been approved by College Second Supervisor Must be from School staff if principal supervisor is not If outwith School appointed and agreed by Graduate School Role varies depending on project These are an adapted version of some slides on supervision that I put together with Kate Heal from GeoSciences. The purpose of this short talk is to explain the roles and responsibilities of students and their supervisors, to explain the formal structures, and to make students aware of the flexibility and variability of how supervision works in practice. My ideal would be to see this presentation (or something similar) be shared between a supervisor and a pdoc or phd students

Student-supervisor relationship changes over time 1st meeting: “What do I want from my PhD?” (career aspirations, skills,…) Month 1: "What am I doing here?" is there a project out there somewhere? Months 2-3: "What should I do next" is that where the project is? Months 4-6: "This is what I've done so far - what should I do next?" aha ... I've got a clue what the project is now! Months 6-36: "This is what I've done and this is what I'm going to do next - is that OK?" it's your project! – take ownership This is kate’s attempt to show how the supervisor/student relationship varies through time. Starting from a position where supervisors are providing lots of advice, guidance and maybe even structure, to a position where the student takes over the project and works as an independent researcher getting feedback and advice on ideas (as the student becomes the expert on their project).

Groundrules (from Code of Practice) Student to: Work diligently, and meet expected standards Be responsible for the academic quality of the thesis Maintain regular contact with the supervisor, and submit work as required Publish and present conference papers Play a full role in the intellectual life of the School Seek advice from supervisor (or others as appropriate), immediately if a problem arises Lifted straight from the Code of Practice and pretty obvious

Survey of Supervisors’ Views Characteristics encouraged in research students Enthusiastic, curious, open-minded, creative, critical Soon takes ownership of and responsibility for project Uses time effectively Regular meetings/communication with supervisor Appreciates that research does not always goes smoothly; takes constructive criticism well Views PhD as an apprenticeship in research; small amount of good quality work Unhelpful characteristics Does not inform supervisor of progress Stuck in subordinate role, passive Reactive rather than proactive Thinks can write up in last 6 months Avoids interaction with intellectual community And what this means in practice – the way in which most supervisors like to work with their PhD students (this is based upon a survey of supervisors in GeoSciences)

Groundrules (from Code of Practice) Supervisor to: Be available throughout study period (or have made alternative arrangements) Comment on written work within a reasonable time period Provide access to appropriate equipment and advise on necessary training Straight from Code of Practice

Survey of PhD students Characteristics students like to see in supervisors Honesty, enthusiasm, organised Helpful, defend interests Approachable, good listener, reassurance Characteristics that are unhelpful in supervisors Too busy, absent, forgetful, controlling Not committing enough time to you Not finding out what you want from the PhD And the results of a survey of GeoSciences PhD students

What to do if things go wrong Don’t panic! Seek advice as soon as possible Speak to your Supervisory Team Speak to your Institute Director Consult tutor for research students Nigel Topham (or Alex Lascarides) Speak to Head of Graduate School Postgraduate Secretaries can offer advice on non-academic matters University advice services NB This will need to be updated to reflect the terminology, roles and procedures in informatics.

General advice You are all perfectly capable of succeeding So: Be confident, communicate your ideas to colleagues, listen to others, and seek out PhD “best practice” from others in your group / institute / school Avoid common pitfalls Impractical plans (or none at all) Too much implementation, at the expense of innovation / novel ideas Irregular or infrequent contact with supervisor Getting diverted or tinkering / re-working previous results Procrastination – “I’m OK, 3 years is a long time…”

Practical suggestions Read a few Informatics PhD theses.. see what is expected Break your work-plan down into 6 – 10 month chunks Each one builds on previous achievements Synchronize completion of ‘chunk’ with conference submission deadline Avoids the ‘’all or nothing’’ problem Provides externally-defined milestones (will keep you on track!) Avoid common pitfalls Impractical plans (or none at all) Too much implementation, at the expense of innovation / novel ideas Irregular or infrequent contact with supervisor Getting diverted or tinkering / re-working previous results Procrastination – “I’m OK, 3 years is a long time…”