How to find a good supervisor?

The guide is authored by Professor Lene Schøsler of Copenhagen University, who has several years of experience as a supervisor for both regular and Industrial PhD-students.

The good supervisor

This text is intended to introduce future students to a range of issues in connection to choosing a supervisor.

1. Expectations from the student

The future PhD-student must be aware of misrepresented expectations, e.g. about the supervisor as a father / mother / social support / psychologist, i.e. the one who helps when the student cannot cope with the situation. Reversely the supervisor is not to be interpreted as a scary controller, who constantly monitors the student. The realistic expectation can be summed up as follows:

The supervisor should be:

• Academically well-founded: an active scientist; well-informed on relevant theoretical development; be methodologically aware. This is the most important part of choosing a supervisor. History shows sad examples of projects off course among others because the supercisor was not academically adequate
• A good role-model. Even though the supervisor is not meant to be social support, the personality is still of great importance
• A person of great empathy - without empathy it will not work, as a PhD-project is highly demanding
• Forthcoming. A rejective and reticent charisma in the supervisor is a bad omen for the working relationship
  
• A person with enough time. 45 hours of supervision per semester is assigned to the project
  
• Available. This can be a problem if the student is not able to meet his or her own deadlines: Is the supervisor also meant to be available for example during holidays?

It is important to understand that supervision is built on a contract between the student and the supervisor, which must be founded on realistic expectations from both sides, and on a basis of mutual trust and respect.

2. Expectations from the supervisor

The student must establish a professional relationship to the project and the supervisor, which implies that:

• The student should have a fundamental trust in the supervisor
• The student must take responsibility for the process and respect mutual agreements
• The student should accept disagreement without it causing problems
• The student should be able to undergo the pressure of performance
• The student should be careful of asking too much, as it can seem confusing, and eliminate potentially good adjudicators
• The student should remember that both parties can terminate the relationship if things are not going well - this should not be seen as a failure

3. Advice and suggestions

A PhD-project is a demanding and troublesome process for the student (and the supervisor!). Therefore it is important to plan carefully. These are some specific advice and suggestions meant to guide you in the process:

a. It is important to establish both internal and external networks

Internal networks:

• Make use of the graduate school and its network
• Consult with the student further ahead in the PhD-process
• Establish study-groups and forums for discussion in order to avoid isolation
• Establish writing-groups to avoid writers block
• Arrange formalized presentations for the others in the groups to train how to give and receive critique
• Focus in the training sessions on developing a flair for structuring academic texts and delivering arguments.

External networks:

• Make use of the supervisors national and international networks
• Visit other academic environments for example some of your supervisor's colleagues
  Take iniative and arrange symposiums or congresses in the field of study, which is both challenging and valuable experience
• Take on presentations of your project or partial results at international events at home or abroad to test your own academic level 
• In short: Take on challenges!

b. Concerning the writing-process:

• Work with an interaction between theory and empirical data from the beginning - do not postpone one aspect for later
• Start the writing-process early on, and do not be afraid of subsequently throwing away early drafts
• Start by writing a tentative conclusion as a point of orientation for your work

c. General advice:

• Learn to make constructive use of criticism instead of interpreting criticism as defeat - A PhD-process is meant to be used as an apprenticeship
• Speak up about any personal problems that may arise instead of letting a bad situation develop
• Attend PhD-presentations and learn from them - both what to do and what not to do!
• Remember that the job is tough - and exciting! - and takes concentration and determination