Professor Robyn Owens - PhD Supervision Award

'Excellence in Teaching - what is it?'

There are no standard rules for supervising PhD students, since each student brings a unique set of talents and skills to research. However, I have found the following points a useful guide in my supervisions:

1. Choose a topic where early progress is possible;
2. Arrange regular meetings - these don't have to be weekly meetings at a set time, but at least an agreement that you will see each other once a fortnight, say;
3. Provide encouragement and support - positive feedback is a great boost!
4. Reinforce the idea of what a PhD is. Some universities stipulate that a PhD is precisely that amount of work that a good student can achieve in three years. In my general area, a PhD equates to about 3 refereed papers' worth;
5. Encourage continuous progress - writing up papers along the way links in with the point above;
6. Allow the topic to change - the student needs to take control at some stage;
7. Insist write-up starts early;
8. Encourage a structured top-down approach to writing - when the final write-up is underway, the student must have the "big picture" sorted out;
9. Encourage the student to write the concluding chapter as if writing the examiner's report - that is, overview the whole thesis and emphasise the contributions;
10. Choose mature, prestigious, international examiners - they are better calibrated as to what a PhD is!