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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.

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.

*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 one day workshops to explore some of the above issues.

In 2019/20 the following workshops will be held:

Effective Supervision – Workshop for Doctoral Supervisors:

30 January  2020    – 9am – 4.30pm

8 July 2020          – 9am – 4.30pm

The Doctoral Examination - Workshop for examiners and candidates:

31 January  2020    – 9am – 4.30pm

9 July 2020          – 9am – 4.30pm

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 HERE

Please find links to further information below: