Meeting with your Supervisors

Regular meetings and communication with your supervisors are essential to ensure that you have frequent opportunities to raise any concerns or problems and to receive feedback on your research progress. For this reason, the University stipulates that supervisor(s) meet with (or otherwise contact) research students at least once per fortnight.

You are required to take brief notes at these meetings and to circulate them to all your supervisors afterwards so that everyone remains fully informed about the progress of your research and its future directions. Some Schools may request that a file copy of the notes of your supervisory meetings, signed by all participants, be kept in the School Office or by the Postgraduate Coordinator. Where this is not the case you should, as a minimum, maintain your own signed file copies of the notes for future reference.

If you are studying remotely, halftime or are on study leave, meeting with your supervisor(s) in person can be more difficult. However, it is still essential that you maintain frequent contact: phone calls, video conferencing and email discussions about your research are all regarded as interactive forms of communication and these can usefully supplement your less frequent face-to-face meeting times.

It is normal for most students to meet more frequently with their principal supervisor than with their co- or external supervisor(s). However, it is expected that all members of the supervisory team will meet together with you at least twice per year to ensure that all parties have a common understanding of and approach to the development of the research. More regular meetings with the entire supervisory panel are recommended, particularly in the early stages of your research project when the research proposal is being shaped and, of course, in any situations where your supervisors have expressed differing opinions about your research.

It is worth remembering that your supervisors are busy people who have many demands on their time and may not always be immediately available to advise you. Having said this, you are not expected to wait until you are approached by your supervisor(s) before you can raise a problem or have a discussion about your research. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Your supervisor(s) will make time for you as soon as they are able; it's their job! Other members of the research group may also be able to assist you with technical or methodological problems and don’t forget your Postgraduate Coordinator is there to help.

A useful tool to ensure that regular meetings with your supervisor(s) proceed is to take the lead early on in your candidature for scheduling a regular timetable of meetings with your principal supervisor and with your whole supervisory panel.