2. The things that no-one tells
you… and your chance to ask
• What is a PhD and what are the products of a PhD?
• Whose PhD is it?
• How should your supervisors help you?
• How much time will you spend with your supervisors?
• How much time should you spend on the PhD?
• What if you have a problem with your supervisor?
• How should you address your supervisor?
• How do you find out about the University’s facilities?
• What causes failure to progress?
• What are the rules on publishing papers...
• How much holiday do I get?
• What are the common viva failings?
3. Matt Might, Professor of Computer
Science at the University of Utah
What is a PhD...?
4. What is a PhD…?
Don’t forget, there are two outputs from a
successful PhD:
• The new knowledge – this is captured in the
thesis that you produce. Over time, this will
may become dated
• You – the skilled researcher. You will be able to
generate new knowledge over a lifetime
Don’t focus on one to the detriment of the other.
5. Whose PhD is it?
• A PhD is a contribution to knowledge in your
chosen field
• You will get advice from colleagues, including
your supervisors, and from other researchers
in your field, but...
• Ultimately, the responsibility is yours. You will
need to specify your project, carry out the
research work, interpret the findings, write up
the thesis, submit it and defend it at the viva
exam
• Supervisors will advise, but it is your PhD
6. How should your
supervisors help?
• Help with choice of project
• Advise on literature (at least at the start)
• Advise on methods
• Help arrange access to resources e.g.
equipment
• Discuss results
• Read thesis drafts
• Advise on submission
• Help you to develop your career e.g. by
supporting you in building a network of contacts
7. How should your supervisors
help?
There are things that (some or many) supervisors
won’t do:
• Do the research for you
• Tell you the answer – this is real research and
they can’t predict the outcomes
• Find unlimited resources for your work
• Write or re-draft the thesis for you
• Proofread the thesis for you
• Always agree with you
8. How should your supervisors
help?
Students guided by supervisory teams:
Joint supervision
Lead supervisor plus co-supervisor
Lead supervisor plus advisor
The primary supervisor is responsible for quality
assurance of the programme. Normally:
Full-time member of staff
With a doctoral degree/equivalent experience
Research-active
With previous experience of successful supervision
9. How should your supervisors
help?
As time develops the relationship between student and
supervisor will change – you should be aware of this
To start with you will be largely dependent on supervisors
You will become more independent and engage in
academic debate
On completion you will, or should, know more than your
supervisors about the topic but supervisory advice useful
Key point is to get balance right – to become independent at
the right time; too early and you may follow unwise
approaches. Too late and you will struggle in the viva and
subsequently
10. How much time will you
spend with your supervisors?
• The university expects you top remain in contact
with your main supervisor regularly e.g. meet at
least 10 times per year
• Most students will engage with supervisors,
formally and informally, much more frequently
than this
• Supervisors will also spend time doing other
things on your behalf (e.g. reading your thesis)
• I think that this might reasonably total <100
hours per year – what do you think?
11. How much time should you
spend on the PhD?
• The minimum duration of a research degree
varies with the degree and the mode of study. As
an example, it is 2 years for full-time PhD
• Full-time study equates to a normal working week
of about 40 hours if you are to complete on time
• Some students will do more than this – after all,
one of the reasons for doing a PhD is that the
subject interests you
• Part-time study would be about half as intensive
but you get twice as long
12. What if you have a problem
with a supervisor?
• First point of contact – another member of your
supervisory team
• If the problem remains unresolved – School
Research Student Coordinator then Head of
School and
• Keep the Deputy Vice Principal informed
• Most problems can be resolved on an informal
basis
• Formal procedures e.g. University Complaints
Procedure through Academic Registrar (see
section 12 of CoP)
13. How should you address your
supervisor?
• This might seem like a simple one but it was
raised by one UK student as an example of the
difference between undergraduate and doctoral
studies
• Most supervisors at British universities will expect
their research students to address them by their
first name
• Maybe play safe with senior colleagues (e.g.
Head of School) who you don’t know well
• Follow their lead – if they sign their email as
“Fred” or “Sue”, respond using these names
14. How do you find out about the
University’s facilities?
• Sometimes you will want access to equipment or
other facilities which are not available in your
immediate research group – how do you find them?
• Asking your supervisors is one way, but how will
they know?
• Probably through their research network
• You will need to develop your own research network
– Campus seminars; seminars in your School and
other Schools
– University events
– Conferences
15. What causes failure to
progress?
• PhD research not what student thought it was
going to be – failure to adjust to different type of
study
• Topic seems so daunting you find it difficult to start
• Not understanding the research project
• Rush to start experimental work
• Passivity – my supervisor never told me to….
• Failure to start writing early enough
• Failure to start thinking early enough – critical
thinking especially – a thesis is not research diary
16. HWU is a research intensive university with a
population of research students. Most will submit
good theses and will successfully defend them in
viva examinations. Some wont. The most
common failing is a lack of critical thinking.
• A PhD is not a research diary
• A PhD must describe more than just what you
did and found
• A PhD must demonstrate that you understand
the place your work within a wider context
• Training is available
What causes failure to
progress?
17. Publishing and authoring
papers...
• A PhD should be of publishable quality and you
are encouraged to publish your work
• Listing of authors can, sometimes, be contentious
and this is true across academia
• Find out if there is a convention your discipline:
– Ordered by contribution (intellectual not time)
– Ordered alphabetically e.g. some “big science”
– First, last and corresponding (becoming more
common?)
18. What is your holiday
entitlement?
Holiday Entitlement
The University provides PGR students with a holiday
entitlement of 6 weeks per year; discuss with your
supervisor in advance
NOT HOLIDAY BUT…
Maternity (Paternity) Leave Policy
The University has a Maternity and Paternity Leave
policy. This applies to PhD students too.
19. What are the common viva
failings?
HWU is a research intensive university with a
population of research students. Most will submit
good theses and will successfully defend them in
viva examinations. Some wont. The most
common failing is a lack of critical thinking.
• A PhD is not a research diary
• A PhD must describe more than just what you did
and found
• A PhD must demonstrate that you understand the
place your work within a wider context
• Training is available
20. What are the common viva
failings?
Another issue which external examiners
sometimes raise is thesis length. In some cases
the examiners are unwilling to examine over long
theses!
• A PhD at HWU should not normally exceed 80,000
words or 400 pages
• An MPhil thesis should not normally exceed 40,000
words or 200 pages
• Don’t make life difficult for yourself
• Theses should be A4 and in English. More detailed
guidance is available
21. What are the common viva
failings?
Within the viva:
• Being too nervous – examiners will usually try to
put you at your ease – do your best to remain
composed
• Too passive – the examiners will probe your
thesis and your understanding of the topic – this
is their role. You should engage in scholarly
debate to defend your thesis .... BUT
• Don’t become too defensive. You might need to
concede some points if the examiners construct a
better scientific case
