1. Towards quality PhD supervision:
A look from a PhD studentlessons learned so far
Mauritz Panggabean
Department of Telematics, NTNU
Seminar for PhD Supervisors, IME Faculty
March 8-9, 2012 | Orkanger, Norway

2. Brief introduction b. 1980, Indonesian citizen, married Education:
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
- Søren Kierkegaard
Brief introduction
b. 1980, Indonesian citizen, married
Education:
B.S., EE, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Indonesia (2003)
M.Sc./ir. (ingenieur), EE, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (TU/e), The Netherlands (2008)
Full scholarship from the Dutch government
One-year full-time intern at Philips Research Eindhoven
Ph.D., telematics, NTNU, December 2012 (expected)
Full scholarship from NTNU and the Research Council of Norway
PhD topic: Image sequence compression and transient traffic synthesis for delay sensitive collaborations
Advisors: Professors Leif Arne Rønningen and Harald Øverby
(Co-)author of 14 refereed conference papers (to date)
Journal articles: two submitted and more in preparation to submit in 2012
: a lecturer with a private higher education institution in Indonesia, supervising and coaching 20+ students

3. Outline Objective PhD and PhD study: what is and is not
Some facts about PhD at IME
The main contributing factors to PhD programs at NTNU
Modeling ‘the PhD story’
Some potential problems from the factors
A case study

4. Objective
To share ideas and suggestions to PhD supervisors at IME faculty toward higher quality in PhD supervision
Data from IME faculty (objective)
Accumulated experiences and observations from the journeys of mine and other PhD students toward PhD (subjective)

5. PhD and PhD study: what is and is not
Begin from the end in mind.
- Stephen Covey
PhD and PhD study: what is and is not
PhD: fully professional researcher
At the most basic level you must have something to say that your peers want to listen to
Must have a command of what is happening in your subject so that you can evaluate the worth of what others are doing
Must have the astuteness to discover where you can make a useful contribution
Must be aware of the ethics of your profession and work within them
Must have mastery of appropriate techniques that are currently being used, and also be aware of their limitations
Must be able to communicate your results effectively in the professional arena
All these must be carried out in an international context; your professional peer group is worldwide
What is a PhD program?
A comprehensive training to be a PhD, supervised by experienced researchers

6. Some facts about PhD at IME
Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.
- Albert Einstein
Some facts about PhD at IME
% PhD at IME to total number at NTNU?
Max years* by regulation to complete PhD at NTNU?
% PhD candidates at IME who
Never finish their PhD?
Get PhD within max years after start date?
Get PhD long* after contract end date?
Goal: successful PhD completion (submitting thesis by contract)
ca 20%
Six
ca 20%
ca 60%
ca 20%

7. The main contributing factors to PhD programs at NTNU
Culture
Logistics
Supervisors
Courses
Publications
Student
Environment
PhD research
Thesis
Selection & recruitment

8. Modeling ‘the PhD story’
Environment
Quality
PhD Supervision
Culture
Duty work*
Supervisor
PhD student
PhD defense
Courses
Publications
PhD research
Constraints:
Time and funding: 3 or 4-year PhD contract
Fact: 24 hours a day
Logistics
Research, expertise and interests

9. Research, expertise and interests
Culture
Potential problems (1)
Environment
Supervisor
PhD research
PhD student
Publications
Logistics
Culture
Courses
Duty work*
Research, expertise and interests
PhD defense
(Particularly for foreign students who are abroad for the first time)
Different values, e.g. honesty, assertiveness
The right to say ‘no’ (esp. for those from Asia)
More direct exchange of ideas
Flat hierarchy (e.g. calling professors by name)
Handling assumptions
Difficulties in using English during conversations
The student and the supervisors do not address these issues together during PhD supervision

10. Research, expertise and interests
Courses
Potential problems (2)
Environment
Supervisor
PhD research
PhD student
Publications
Logistics
Culture
Courses
Duty work*
Research, expertise and interests
PhD defense
Too much time and effort spent to finish courses, less for research (esp. for students with 3-year contract)
Continuous failures in exams
Courses very difficult to pass
Low motivation in completing the courses due to, e.g. no relation to research or lack of interest
Courses favored for research are not available
Inflexibility in planning the courses
The student and the supervisors do not address these issues together during PhD supervision

11. Research, expertise and interests
PhD research
Potential problems (3)
Environment
Supervisor
PhD research
PhD student
Publications
Logistics
Culture
Courses
Duty work*
Research, expertise and interests
PhD defense
Lack of focus and direction in research vision and planning
Lack of skills essential for research
Lack of knowledge of the topics related to the research
Lack of passion and character for good research
Source:

12. Research, expertise and interests
Publications
Potential problems (4)
Environment
Supervisor
PhD research
PhD student
Publications
Logistics
Culture
Courses
Duty work*
Research, expertise and interests
PhD defense
Lack of academic English skills for preparing papers for international publications
Lack of motivation to produce quality publication
Requirement for publication too high, not clear or not agreed for PhD defense
Too much time and effort to cope with paper rejection
Low confidence to publish results from research
Lack of research results worthy of publication after considerable time and effort
The student and the supervisors do not address these issues together during PhD supervision

13. Research, expertise and interests
Environment
Potential problems (6)
Environment
Supervisor
PhD research
PhD student
Publications
Logistics
Culture
Courses
Duty work*
Research, expertise and interests
PhD defense
Loneliness: no/few people known to be working on the topic/field at the department/faculty/university
Little research network available outside the university
Each fellow PhD student under the same supervisor addresses topics with no/little overlap (fragmented research strategy and planning)
Very good job market overshadows PhD work
External issues, such as from family life
The student and the supervisors do not address these issues together during PhD supervision

14. Research, expertise and interests
Logistics
Potential problems (5)
Environment
Supervisor
PhD research
PhD student
Publications
Logistics
Culture
Courses
Duty work*
Research, expertise and interests
PhD defense
Essential equipments for research are not available
Too much time and bureaucracy to provide or fix equipments essential for research
Reduction or termination of project funding
The student and the supervisors do not address these issues together during PhD supervision

15. Potential problems (6) Research, expertise and interests Environment
Supervisor
PhD research
PhD student
Publications
Logistics
Culture
Courses
Duty work*
Research, expertise and interests
PhD defense
The supervisor is not an expert on the research topic
Perceived little appreciation or interest from the supervisor in the PhD research and the progress
The supervisor is not actively involved in research that covers the topic
The student and the supervisors do not address these issues together during PhD supervision

16. Research, expertise and interests
PhD supervision
Potential problems (7)
Environment
Supervisor
PhD research
PhD student
Publications
Logistics
Culture
Courses
Duty work*
Research, expertise and interests
PhD defense
Quality
PhD Supervision
Constraints:
Time and funding: 3 or 4-year PhD contract
Fact: 24 hours a day
Wrong assumptions or partial understanding on PhD supervision
The supervisor takes PhD supervision too lightly
The supervisor is very busy and has no/little time for quality supervision
The supervisors during supervision are interested only in research results, esp. publications
No regular time allocated for progress meeting
The student is afraid to ask for quality supervision

17. Case study: what should you do if these happen to your student?
The PhD student is smart, but shy and lack of initiatives
One experiment to get data may take six months
Replacing broken equipment might take three months
Too much time spent to pass a difficult course
You are no expert on the PhD topic
The student could be the only person working on such a topic at the department, and perhaps at NTNU
Two of THREE years left with no papers published yet
You are really very busy with various roles
Many nice jobs with attractive packages outside PhD
What is the chance of the student quitting PhD?
What is the chance of the student finishing PhD on time?