Doctoral Supervisors

Doctoral supervision is a challenging responsibility: completion rates are now becoming key data for applicants, the Doctorate itself is changing in nature, we are dealing with an audience who have diverse needs and expectations; along with those issues, Bangor has a policy of increasing numbers of PhD students.

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THE ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SUPERVISOR

( As given in the Regulations for Postgraduate Research Programmes)

Each Postgraduate Researcher has a named Principal Supervisor, and one or more Co-supervisors, who may share supervision responsibilities as agreed with the Principal Supervisor.

Supervisors must be:

  • A full-time member of academic staff.
  • A part-time member of academic staff with academic, clinical or professional experience.
  • A suitably qualified member of the staff of another university or research institution.

The responsibilities of the Supervisor(s) are to:

  • Participate in the selection of Postgraduate Research Candidates for research projects in their area of expertise.
  • Know the requirements of funder/sponsor.
  • Confirm that the candidate has received University and College/School documents relevant to their research.
  • Make sure that the candidate has access to facilities and resources required for the research work and to identify ways to support disclosed disability.
  • Help define and plan the research project.
  • Give guidance on the nature of research and the standard expected.
  • Give guidance on research methods, techniques, data collection and data storage.
  • Give guidance on Intellectual Property, research integrity and avoidance of plagiarism.
  • Give guidance about published literature and other sources of information.
  • Give advice, where relevant, on procedures to obtain ethical or other approval.
  • Make sure that risk assessments are completed and that the candidate is informed about relevant Health and Safety procedures.
  • Give advice on training for research and general skills.
  • Explain the roles of the Supervisory team members as appropriate.
  • Provide pastoral support and refer to other sources of support eg. Personal Tutor and Student Services and check that other support used is effective.
  • Liaise with Co-supervisors, External Supervisors, and Personal Tutor as appropriate.
  • Make sure that the candidate is informed if the standard of work is below that generally expected.
  • Explain arrangements for Progress Reviews and the role of the Review Committee.
  • Maintain contact with the candidate through regular formal recorded meetings.
  • Be accessible to the candidate at other appropriate times.
  • Give advice on completion dates for each stage of the work.
  • Return written work with constructive criticism and in reasonable time.
  • Arrange, where appropriate, for the candidate to talk about their work, including at internal seminars and conferences.
  • Oversee any arrangements for the candidate to attend conferences or conduct work away from Bangor, including, where appropriate, arranging agreements with the hosting organisation.
  • Provide progress reports to external sponsors.
  • Provide guidance on suspension/interruption of study and extension requests.
  • Make sure that the candidate understands the requirements of the examination process and Viva Voce.
  • Provide advice on the selection of an appropriate external examiner.
  • Provide advice on the timing of submission, contents and format of the thesis.
  • Encourage and mentor publication and grant writing.
  • Provide career guidance and support where appropriate and provide references.
  • Provide supervision between the end of the period of registration and when the candidate receives the award or equivalent.

*It is not the role of the Supervisor to examine the thesis*

Some of the Supervisor’s roles may be assigned to designated individuals within Colleges and/or Schools.

Workshops to support Supervisors

The Doctoral School arranges workshops led by John Wakeford, from the Missenden Centre is holding workshops to explore some of the above issues.

In 2021/22 the following workshops are scheduled:

Effective Supervision – Workshop for Doctoral Supervisors:

20th & 21th January  2022    – 9am – 4.30pm (Online)

11th July & 12th July 2022 – 9am – 4.30pm (Online)

The Doctoral Examination - Workshop for examiners and candidates:

10th & 11th January  2022    – 9am – 4.30pm(Online)

27th June & 28th June 2022   – 9am – 4.30pm(Online)

More information about John can be found here: www.missendencentre.co.uk If you want more information please contact Penny Dowdney: p.j.dowdney@bangor.ac.uk You can book a place by visiting our Events page. Our first 5 events are listed there. Please use the calendar to register for Supervisor workshops.

Please find links to further information below: