Research Supervisor Training Programme

Obligations of the Supervisor

What is required of the Supervisor(s)

• Set out in the Code of Practice for Research Students and Supervisors (section 4 of Handbook)– Contact– Feedback– Record keeping– Regulations & Administrative Processes– Monitoring & Progress– Training– The ‘Research’– Networking

• Other obligations– Ethics– Confidentiality

Contact• Every Research Degree student will normally

expect the following:– Contact with the DoS (and/or any other internal

supervisor) amounting to a minimum of 20 hours per year (or equivalent) for part time students and 30 hours per year (or equivalent) for full time students. This contact may be in the form of face to face meetings, e-mail or telephone correspondence but this and the frequency of contact should be agreed at an early stage of the research degree.

– A meeting with the whole supervisory team once per year for part time students and at least once and normally twice a year for full time students to formally review the student’s progress and plan the next stage or phase of the programme.

Contact• Obligations of the student

It is expected that Research Students will:– maintain regular contact with all

supervisors, including external supervisors to ensure that the fullest advice on the research project is maintained.

• Obligations of the Director of Studies and supervisorsIt is expected that the Directors of Studies and Supervisors will:– initiate and develop contact with other

supervisors to ensure that the fullest advice on the research project is maintained.

Feedback• Every Research Degree student will normally

expect the following:– A response within 10 working days to any e-mail

communication, documentation and other work submitted by the student to the Director of Studies.

• Obligations of the Director of Studies and supervisorsIt is expected that the Directors of Studies and Supervisors will:– make evaluative comments on work as the research

proceeds.– suggest development of the work submitted.

Record Keeping• Obligations of the Director of

Studies and supervisorsIt is expected that the Directors of Studies and Supervisors will:– ensure that the research student

maintains an ongoing record of their research progress (to include material 'written-up' in semi-finished form).

Meetings – good practice• Schedule regular, formal meetings at the beginning

of the year• If you don’t do this then ensure at the end of each

meeting you schedule the next one• Have an agenda (set by student which you feed into)• Keep a record of meeting:

– Get the student to email his/her notes of the meeting to you (and the team)

– Keep an excel log– Use the GRS proforma

• Provide written as well as spoken feedback on written work

• Make a distinction between formal meetings and informal ‘chats’

Regulations & Administrative Processes

• Obligations of the Director of Studies and supervisor:It is expected that the Directors of Studies and Supervisors will:– ensure that appropriate administrative

arrangements are made for changes in the student’s circumstances (such as approval of the research proposal , transfer, examination arrangements, suspension, extension, withdrawal etc.).

Monitoring & Progress

• Obligations of the Director of Studies and supervisor:It is expected that the Directors of Studies and Supervisors will:– provide the GRS Manager with a formal

progress report once a year (RDB7) and evaluation forms related to the students personal development planning were appropriate.

– liaise as appropriate with the Manager of the GRS about the general progress of the student.

Training• Obligations of the Director of

Studies and supervisor:It is expected that the Directors of Studies and Supervisors will:– explore, at the outset, the student's

academic background in order to identify any areas in which further training (including language training) is required.

External training resources• Vitae

• British Library Training Programme

• Social Research Association

• National Centre for Social Research

• CAQDAS

The ‘research’• Obligations of the Director of

Studies and supervisorsIt is expected that the Directors of Studies and Supervisors will:– give guidance about the nature of

research and the standard expected, the planning of the research programme, relevant literature and sources, research methods and instrumental techniques

Standards• The length of the thesis

– PhD• 80,000 words for Social Sciences and Humanities (excluding ancillary

data)• 40,000 for Sciences and Art & Design MPhil (excluding ancillary data)

– MPhil• 40,000 words for Social Sciences and Humanities (excluding ancillary

data)• 20,000 for Sciences and Art & Design MPhil (excluding ancillary data)

• FHEQ Descriptors• Doctoral Degree Characteristics• Examiner’s expectations• Subject standards

FHEQ descriptor (PhD)• Doctorates (PhDs) are awarded to students who have

demonstrated: – the creation and interpretation of new knowledge, through

original research or other advanced scholarship, of a quality to satisfy peer review, extend the forefront of the discipline, and merit publication

– a systematic acquisition and understanding of a substantial body of knowledge which is at the forefront of an academic discipline or area of professional practice

– the general ability to conceptualise, design and implement a project for the generation of new knowledge, applications or understanding at the forefront of the discipline, and to adjust the project design in the light of unforeseen problems

– a detailed understanding of applicable techniques for research and advanced academic enquiry

FHEQ descriptor (MPhil)• MPhil degrees are awarded to students who have demonstrated: - a systematic understanding of knowledge, and a critical awareness of

current problems and/or new insights, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of their academic discipline, field of study, or area of professional practice;

- a comprehensive understanding of techniques applicable to their own research or advanced scholarship;

- originality in the application of knowledge, together with a practical understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in the discipline;

- conceptual understanding that enables the student:to evaluate critically current research and advanced scholarship in the discipline; to evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses.

What the examiners are asked to look for…

• The thesis shows evidence of sustained independent effort by the candidate

• The thesis demonstrates the exercise of critical powers

• The thesis provides evidence of originality

• The thesis is satisfactory as regards literary presentation and succinctness

Networking• Obligations of the Director of Studies and

supervisorsIt is expected that the Directors of Studies and Supervisors will:– arrange, as appropriate, for the student to present

his or her work at seminars within the University and to attend external academic meetings or conferences and where possible to present their work, and to provide encouragement and assistance with possible publication of the student’s research.

Ethics• Responsibility of the supervisor to ensure the

student undertakes and completes the University’s (and any appropriate external) ethical approval process for the project

• Responsibility of the supervisor (along with the student) to flag up to the Institute and/or University Ethics Committee(s) any unanticipated ethical issues that may arise