Supervisor and Responsibilities

There is no simple formula for guaranteeing a good relationship with your supervisors but there are certain things you can do to help manage the relationship:

Attend the ‘Managing your Supervisor’ workshop

The Managing your Supervisor workshop will equip you with the skills you need to make the relationship work for you.

Understand your responsibilities and those of your supervisors

These are available on the academic standards and guidelines page under Section E: Code of Practice for Research Degrees

Be independent

This is your project and your supervisors will expect you to take the lead. Remember that your supervisors are there to guide you but will not have the answer to the particular problem you are researching – it’s your job to find it.

Meeting etiquette

• Arrive on time for supervisory sessions and make sure you have completed any actions required of you.
• Be open and honest with your supervisors.
• If you are experiencing a problem, talk to your supervisors about it.
• Always agree a date for the next supervisory session and stick to it.

Record keeping

Always keep notes of the meeting with your supervisor and agree targets to be met before the next session.

Have reasonable expectations

Remember that supervisors are busy people with a number of other commitments competing for their time. Your supervisors may not be able to meet with you at the drop of a hat so make sure you give them notice and time to prepare if you need to meet with them outside of your agreed series of meetings.

Write

The sooner you start writing, the easier you will find it to clarify your ideas and progress your research project. Written work is also very useful to supervisors as it enables them to see how you have organised your ideas and allows for focussed feedback and guidance.