Prof. Lydia Plowman, Dr. Scott Hurrell and Prof. Sue Fletcher-Watson draw on their experiences of supervising doctoral research students to reflect on progress throughout the PhD, from identifying your research topic through to submitting the thesis and preparing for the viva. They will discuss questions such as: What can I reasonably expect of my supervisor(s)? What can the supervisor(s) reasonably expect from me? How can I ensure a successful working relationship? What is the role of the second supervisor?
They will be joined by three SGSSS student reps – Emanuella Christensen (GCU), Surbhi Sachdeva (UWS) and Katherine Stephen (Napier) – who will gather questions, concerns, and suggestions for good practice from attendees and bring them back to a plenary for discussion by all of us.
Please note: the details of the supervisory relationship and expectations in terms of frequency of meetings and level of support vary across disciplines and from one university to another. We won’t be able to engage with individual problems or grievances because these are internal matters for your faculty or university. However, we will sketch out some of the norms in the social sciences and encourage you to be pro-active in interacting with your supervisor.