Establishing a relationship with your supervisor
- Opening up the discussion
- Clarifying expectations
- Induction
- Initial meetings
- Supervision meetings
- The Candidature Agreement
- A joint responsibility
Opening up the discussion
It is important to find the right supervisor and to remember that the relationship you develop with your supervisor will be unique, however don't expend too much energy on what you see as the 'right' or 'wrong' supervision experience. Focus on what is possible, and how you want the supervision to work for you. Keep in mind that supervisors will expect you to make suggestions about how you can best work together. Here are some general questions to consider.
- What do I see as the most important attributes of a supervisor?
- Will this supervision style work for me?
- Do I feel confident discussing my ideas?
- Does he or she listen to my ideas and provide effective feedback?
- Am I able to understand concepts and ideas being explained?
- Does she or he suggest helpful resources?
Student comment
Your supervisor will be crucial to your progress. you're going to need them to craft your work and help you plan. You need their input and their ideas. They're experienced. They know what it's all about.
Generally supervisors are keen to establish a climate of confidence and open interaction. So, even if you have had little contact with your supervisor in the past, approach your initial meeting with a willingness to share your ideas and ask questions. It will be most important in the first few meetings to clarify mutual expectations - expectations that both you and your supervisor see as reasonable and realistic.
Clarifying expectations
Research shows that postgraduate students have very different and wide ranging expectations of their supervisors. In general, students expect their supervisors to be:
- experts, who are willing to share their knowledge
- advocates, who provide support and motivation
- colleagues, who provide an introduction into a research culture
- critics, who review and critique written material.
Comment from a supervisor
The way the University is going and the way research is going, it's all about working in groups. It's about collaboration: people bouncing ideas off each other, and being supportive...In a sense, I treat my research students more as colleagues than students.
Induction
The Guide to candidature provides information about the induction program offered by your school or faculty. This will be an excellent introduction to research in your discipline and to school and university facilities and programs. However, throughout your candidature, regular one-to-one sessions with your supervisor will give you a high level of ongoing support. These meetings can focus on a broad range of issues, but initially they represent an important learning opportunity. The discussion during these meetings may be about the overall direction of your thesis or about one specific aspect of your research.
Student comment
I'd be better off if I'd just gone in every week with what I'd found so far. In my head I felt I had to have something complete, before I talked to him. Now I'm starting to get away from that, and realise it's best to just keep up regular contact.
Initial meetings
In your initial meetings with your supervisor you will need to focus on how the supervision process is going to work. You and your supervisor will both have preconceived expectations of the process, but you should both clarify how you plan to work together. This will involve negotiating expectations at the outset, and re-visiting and re-negotiating them as the research project progresses through various stages.
Comment from a supervisor
For some students it just works. They're good communicators. For most it's important to have a structure - particularly with meetings and short-term goals.
Supervision meetings
To get the most benefit from supervision meetings you need to think about what you would like to achieve during the time available. Have a clear idea about the questions you need to ask or issues to discuss, and take notes during your meeting so that you can re-visit the discussion in your own time. Keeping a more formal journal of your supervision discussions can provide you with a helpful tool for reflecting on the development of your ideas as you progress through your research project. If you expand on your rough notes you can further clarify your thinking, and these expanded notes can also be the basis for further reflective writing.
The Candidature Agreement
During initial meetings your supervisor will explain the purpose of the Candidature Agreement. This document represents an agreement between you and the University. It includes the names of your principal supervisor and associate supervisor and describes their roles. It is completed during the first three months of your candidature, and you will 'sign off' on the recorded details, although it can be changed at any time, subject to agreement. It should be reviewed annually as part of your review of progress.
A joint responsibility
Keep in mind that making the supervision process work well is a joint responsibility. Getting some initial agreement is best done early in the supervision process so that you avoid a mismatch of expectations and potential misunderstandings.
Comment from a supervisor
The supervisor should facilitate. Obviously, in the early stages the supervisor should play a fairly active role in the planning - directing the student into what they should be reading or what sort of field work they should be doing. As time goes on there is a transition, and the student takes more and more responsibility for their work.
