1. TRANSLINK Training Effective Management and Supervision of PhD Candidates University of Indonesia, 9-10 May 2006 Postgraduate Supervision Dr. Paul Timms Institute for Transport Studies University of Leeds

2. Overview of Presentation Presentation focuses upon practices at ITS, Leeds Typically a wide variation of practice between –Universities within UK –Departments within Leeds Presentation mostly focuses upon full- time PhD students –Needs of part-time PhD students considered at the end of presentation

3. “Big Picture” (1) Student needs to produce A piece of original research –i.e. NOT a textbook or a “consultancy report” Within – 3 years (target) for full-time students (4 years maximum) – 5 years (target) for part-time students (7 years maximum) And will effectively become a “world expert” for a (highly) specialised subject area

4. “Big Picture” (2) Two supervisors will –Guide the student throughout the 3 years –Encourage original thinking –Help the student finish “on time” By the end of 3 years, the student should know more about the specialised area than the supervisors It is the student that gets the PhD, not the supervisors –All activities should be “student-centred”

5. “Big Picture” (3) The relationship between student and supervisors is a “partnership” As with any partnership –hard rules cannot be set in advance as to exactly how it should operate –much depends upon personalities However, general guidelines can be given to avoid unnecessary problems Relationship will change over the three years Communication to take place “face-to-face” and via email

6. First year At start –supervisors need to encourage student to think up clear aims for research –supervisors should seem “well thought out” For first 6 months –student should be encouraged to think of research from a wide range of perspectives –reading varied literature on subject –supervisors should be “inspirational” For second 6 months –student needs to create a plan as to how to reach objectives within 3 years –plan to be assessed by independent staff member –supervisors should be “available”

7. Second year Second year is often the “difficult year” –Subject is no longer “new” –Still a long time till the end Students can often lose concentration –Questioning why they are doing a PhD –Losing momentum Supervisors need to be like “coaches of marathon runners” –Method depends very much upon relationships developed in first year

8. Third year Third year is generally much “easier” than second year –End in sight –Final (or “near to final”) text being written –Expertise established Plans to be made by student on what they will do after the PhD has finished –Hopefully not too much of a distraction –Can help with a sense of “need to gets things finished” Supervisors relate to students as “collaborators”

9. Listening All through the research period, supervisors need to be “good listeners” –image of “remote academic expert” not helpful –“people skills” required Pick up on problems faced by student within research, e.g. –Lack of confidence in scientific methods –Overconfidence in methods, plans Student might not be aware of problems Pick up on “outside” problems Use information provided by student to give advice on how student can deal with problems –Need for flexibility

10. Communication Throughout the PhD period a “communication norm” needs to be agreed –Regular formal meetings between supervisors and student Keep written records of discussions, agreements etc in formal meetings First draft of records to be written by students –Informal meetings –Email communication Email communication important since it encourages communication in writing –In the end, PhD is judged according to what has been written –Not the good ideas discussed

11. Relationship between supervisors Important that the two supervisors work out an effective way of relating to one another –Clearly, as individuals, they might have differences –However, these differences should be seen (by the student) as providing “complementary” inputs within a “harmonised” approach Student should not be in the position of “refereeing” between disputes of supervisors

12. Revision of Objectives Inevitably a PhD student will revise their objectives as their research develops, in response to: –“Logic of research direction” –Perceived strengths / weaknesses of student –Influence of others (e.g. sponsors) –External developments However, care should be taken if: –It seems (to the supervisors) that the changes are strong and/or frequent –A change of direction has been suggested in order to avoid some “methodological” difficulty All PhD research involves the overcoming of difficulties One of the main benefits of PhD research is to learn how to overcome difficulties

13. Additional Training (1) Any PhD student will require “additional training” in particular skills –Needs vary over the 3 years –Supervisors are responsible for constant monitoring of training needs of students –Students should be encouraged, as much as possible, to think up their own training needs

14. Additional Training (2) Much training in not associated with a particular discipline –Can be provided centrally by the university –e.g. computing skills, writing skills, “library” skills, statistical skills, “research philosophy” Specialist training comes from involvement in –departmental activities (seminars, courses etc) –ad-hoc discussions with other students and members of staff –external conferences, workshops etc

15. Part-Time Students (1) Most of previous comments about full-time students apply to part-time students However, there are some important differences In particular, part-time students probably have other commitments, e.g work and family –Inevitably these commitments will take priority at (most?) times

16. Part-Time Students (2) Although there is a large amount of time available for a part-time PhD (5 years target, 7 years maximum) –This time needs to be planned very carefully –Particularly in the “middle period” equivalent to the second year for full-time students –With frequent student-initiated reviews of progress helped of course by supervisors On the positive side, part-time students are usually more mature than full-time students –So have more experience in dealing with “life issues” (including time management) –Can relate to supervisors in “more adult” way

17. Part-Time Students (3) For pt students who are employed elsewhere Employment might provide an important source of information that can help PhD –Information on “real world issues” –Existing data and funds to collect more data –Computer programmes However –There can be a conflict between “consultancy” needs of job and “academic” needs of PhD –It might be difficult for student to take an independent viewpoint –Employment might change!