Roles of the Supervisors
The principal supervisor carries the primary responsibility for your supervision, including the coordination of all communication between the supervisors and you. He or she will be a member of the academic staff of the School in which you are enrolled, or an affiliate, adjunct or clinical titleholder with that School. Your principal supervisor will normally hold a degree at the same level or higher than the degree for which you are enrolled, have a proven and current record of research in your field and be experienced in supervision.
The second and any additional members of your supervisory panel are referred to as 'co-supervisors' or 'external supervisors': these supervisory types can be distinguished by their level of affiliation with the University. A co-supervisor is a staff member or titleholder with any of the University's Schools, whilst an external supervisor is not a University staff member and has no formal affiliation with the University. Co and/or external supervisors act as a source of independent advice, or add specialised expertise to the supervisory panel. They need not be discipline experts, but are sufficiently familiar with your topic area to be able to follow the progress of your research. Each co- or external supervisor on your supervisory panel will have a minimum of 20% responsibility for the supervision process, except where there are four or more supervisors on the panel, in which case each co- or external supervisor will have a minimum of 10% responsibility for the supervisory process.
In broad terms, the role of your supervisors is to help guide your research and assist you to develop the skills and knowledge that you will need to complete your research project within the time allowed for the degree. In the early stages of your candidature, your supervisors are likely to know more about your chosen field of study than you do and can therefore offer valuable advice on preparing a realistic research proposal, together with instruction in the methodology and (any) technical skills that are necessary for your project. As you progress in candidature and your expertise grows, your relationship with your supervisors will gradually change; their role will increasingly be to act as a sounding board for your ideas, to review and comment on your written work and to provide you with feedback on your progress towards completion.
In addition to the academic guidance they provide, your supervisors can also help you with any personal difficulties you may be experiencing either directly or by referring you to support services provided by the University.
Detailed information about the roles and responsibilities of your supervisors is available in Appendix 2.
As each student and supervisor relationship is unique, it can be beneficial for students and supervisors to discuss their mutual expectations at an early stage of candidature to avoid future misunderstandings. To facilitate this discussion, you and your supervisor(s) may find it helpful to independently complete the 'Expectations in supervision scale' and then to compare your answers. This document has been reproduced in Appendix 6 and is also available in a PDF document.
