RESEARCHER DEVELOPMENT

www.exeter.ac.uk/as/rdp/

Making the Most of Your Relationship With Your Supervisors – 14th July 2016This meeting has been placed on hold. The host will start the meeting at 11 am. Please ensure that your speakers or headphones are switched on and the sound turned up so that you can hear the presenter when the webinar begins.

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MAKING THE MOST O

F

YOUR RELAT

IONSHIP WITH

YOUR SUPERVISORS

K E L L Y P R E E C E

R E S E A R C H E R D E V E L O P M E N T P R O G R A M M E M A N A G E R ( P G R S )

SESSION AIMSTo reflect on your current relationship with

your supervisorTo reflect on your supervisor’s ‘style’

To enable you to develop strategies to make the most of your relationship with your supervisor

SESSION OUTLINE

The role of your supervisorsExpectations and issuesSupervisor’s skills and styleMaking the most of your supervisorsCommon pitfalls and dealing with conflict

PADLET

PART 1: THE ROLE OF YOUR SUPERVISORS

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A SUPERVISOR?

THE ROLE OF YOUR SUPERVISORS

To be interested in your research To be available to discuss your ideas To provide feedback on your written workTo provide feedback on your progress

THE ROLE OF YOUR SUPERVISORS

To encourage you to participate in group meetings, seminars and occasional conferences

To develop your professional research qualities by example

To be supportive of your professional development … whether in research or beyond…

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES AT EXETERStudent

Co-Supervisor

Lead Supervisor

Mentor College

SUPERVISORY AGREEMENT

PART 2: EXPECTATIONS AND ISSUES

POSTGRADUATE RESEARCHERS EXPECT SUPERVISORS

To supervise themTo have a broad understanding of the

research areaTo read your work in advance of the

supervision timeTo be constructively criticalTo encourage open exchange of ideas and

advice in supervision meetings

To be available for advice when neededTo be friendly, open and supportiveTo provide guidance on areas of research

training need(s)To provide support in the annual report/review

process

SUPERVISORS EXPECT YOU

To have a general understanding of the fieldTo be independent To have your own ideasTo be able to communicate clearly in oral and

written form To be committed and enthusiastic about their

research project

To seek advice and comments on your workTo attend regular supervision meetingsTo submit written material(s) in good time

before planned supervision meetingsTo follow any reasonable advice given when it

has been requested by the student

To be honest in reporting progress (or lack of!)Join/contribute to the research culture and

profile of the College

These are a lot of expectations

PART-TIME SUPERVISION ISSUES

You may find your supervisor• Is not available when you need to speak with

them• Has unrealistic expectation of how much you

should be achieving in the time available• Is often slow to provide feedbackAny others?

(Vitae, 2009)

PART-TIME ISSUES FOR YOUR SUPERVISORS

Your supervisor:• Cannot easily contact you in working hours• Does not know what your other commitments are• Cannot monitor how much time you are putting into

your PhD• Can get frustrated if your research sometimes appear

to be going very slowlyAny others?

(Vitae, 2009)

WHAT DOES YOUR SUPERVISOR KNOW ABOUT YOU?

(Vitae, 2009)

THE IDEAL POSTGRADUATE RESEARCHER

• Contacts their supervisor and updates them on progress regularly

• Produces ideas for discussion• Participates in group meetings, seminars and

occasional conferences• Meets agreed deadlines for research targets• Is committed to gaining their PhD

(Vitae, 2009)

BARRIERS TO THE IDEAL

• What working style do you prefer?• Are there any limitations on your time that may

not be apparent to them?• Have you encountered difficulty in areas of

research that you have not brought to their attention?

• Do you need any specific help?(Vitae, 2009)

CONSIDER A DISCUSSION WITH YOUR SUPERVISORThings my supervisor needs to understand about

me (e.g. family commitments)Things I could change to work more effectively

(e.g. meeting deadlines or setting more realistic deadlines)

Areas where I need help (e.g. specific research suggestions, making contacts)

Anything else!(Vitae, 2009)

PART 3: SUPERVISORS SKILLS AND STYLES

YOUR SUPERVISOR’S SKILLS

They know what it takes to get a PhD

They have one themselves

They will offer you different skills over the period of your research programme

YOUR SUPERVISOR’S SKILLS

At the start:

Identifying a good question (…?) Knowing what has already been done (…?)Anticipating when a problem will be too hard or too easy

In the middle:

Watching over the ‘bigger’ pictureNudging you in good directionsIdentifying common pitfallsKeeping an eye on the clock

Towards the end:

Giving feedback on draftsHelping identify an external examinerMock vivaLooking at next steps i.e. career plans, publication

THE BALANCE OF KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge of your thesis subject over time

Supervisor

You

EVOLVING SUPERVISION STYLES

Candidate status

Supervisor’s recent style

Completely Autonomous

Dependent

Hands on Hands off

Appropriate support

Possible conflict

Autonomy generation

Benign neglect

PART 4: MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR SUPERVISORS

TAKING CONTROL OF THE SUPERVISION PROCESSIn order to get the most out of your

supervision you should take control of the process using some of the following suggestions…

From Vitae https://www.vitae.ac.uk/doing-research/doing-a-doctorate/starting-a-doctorate/supervision-and-key-relationships

Discuss and agree key issues, e.g. authorship of papers, research ethics and

intellectual property, at the start of the project

Be proactive and arrange formal supervisory meetings 

Prepare an agenda and send it to your supervisor in advance 

Prepare some work before each meeting to provide some focus to the meeting. Early on in your project you might just produce a list of what you have read or done, but as the

project develops you are likely to be able to give data, analysis, papers, presentations

and early drafts of chapters. 

Expect to receive feedback and criticism and use this to improve your work 

Deal with problems as they arise. Often these will be related to technical or resource issues

but also be prepared to discuss issues around the style and frequency of

supervision. Supervisors generally want to do a good job so if you make suggestions for improvements they will usually be willing to

try them 

Summarise meetings and keep a copy for your own record and send one to your

supervisor. This will help to ensure follow-up on any actions and will highlight

any misunderstandings

APPROACHES TO TIME AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Structured preferences

Unstructured preferences

PART 5: COMMON PITFALLS AND DEALING WITH CONFLICT

WHAT ARE THE COMMON PITFALLS?

COMMUNICATE!Keep the communication ‘channels’ open!

Most problems in life are caused ineffective communication

Nearly all PhD/doctoral failures (less than 1%) can be attributed to a break down in communication between student and supervisory team!

DEALING WITH CONFLICT

COMMUNICATING ASSERTIVELY

Describe the situationExpress your feelings about itEmpathise with their positionExplain the consequencesSpecify what you want from your

supervisors(The Thesis Whisperer, 2014)

‘Most difficulties in the supervisory relationship are ‘cock-ups’ rather than ‘conspiracies’. Always start from the assumption that all parties are acting in good faith. As is often the case, prevention is the best cure: if you have good work habits (e.g. networking effectively, keeping good records, letting other people know what you’re working on, publishing internal and external reports promptly, communicating clearly and promptly), then many difficulties can be avoided altogether. Good habits will also make early diagnosis easier. Good communication can usually sort problems out before they become serious.’

(Rugg and Petre, 20014: 42)

REMEMBER:

WHERE TO GO FOR ADVICE AND SUPPORT:

Your other supervisor(s)Your mentorYour PGR repStudent Guild

…you can “change” your supervisor

•Formally or informally•Funding may be an issue•Not just because “you don’t like them”•Has to be agreed and approved by Faculty, via your school and the postgraduate office

IF ALL ELSE FAILS…

SOME ADVICE:

Find out exactly how supervision is coordinated in your department; there will be a procedure for changing supervisor.

Establish the paper trail: write things down, keep all emails etc. Write down the facts, with dates and details, as dispassionately as you can. If there really is a problem, the facts will speak for themselves.

Consult a third party, confidentially. This could be your mentor, or your staff-student liaison officer. Speak as calmly and dispassionately as you can, bring along your documentation, ask for advice and listen.

Call in a third party to act as a mediator in a meeting with your supervisor.

(Adapted from Rugg and Petre, 2004: 43)

FURTHER RESOURCES

Teaching and Quality Assurance Manual: REMEMBER it is your responsibility to discuss issues with your supervisory team and to check regulations

http://as.exeter.ac.uk/support/admin/staff/qualityassuranceandmonitoring/tqamanual/

THE THESIS WHISPERER AND OTHER RESOURCESConsider the resources and discussion threads available at www.thesiswhisper.com The following posts are linked on the Padlet:Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle … of two supervisors who don’t agree

How to tell your supervisor you want a divorceMum and Dad are fighting – what should I do?

…as well as a link to the category archive on supervision, and articles from The Guardian Higher Education Network on supervision

WHAT WILL YOU TAKE AWAY FROM TODAY?

THANK YOU!

researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk

www.exeter.ac.uk/as/rdp

@UofE_RD