Choosing a thesis supervisor
Author: Kathy Bell
Published on: May 4, 1999
Spring usually means a break in academic work for
most university students, but for graduate students
it seems the work never ends. A thesis or dissertation,
indeed, can seem to take over your life! So now that
the undergrads are off on holidays and at summer jobs,
let's devote a few columns to the academic writing
needs of the grad student.
A graduate thesis/dissertation is, of course, the
work of the student, but it is in many ways the final
product of a team effort, the team being the student
and his/her advisor or supervisor. The comments and
critiques of the supervisor have a huge impact on
the student's research and subsequent "writing
up" of that research. Therefore, it's crucial
to choose a supervisor that you can work with, and
whose comments you can trust to guide you successfully
through the sometimes agonizing process of writing.
Thus, choosing a supervisor is an important "prequel"
to writing a thesis. Here are some pointers on how
to choose effectively, especially when you're new
in a department and may not know which person is the
best one for you to work with.
1. Become familiar with the type of research each
faculty member does. This means reading journals,
attending conferences (or reading the published papers
from conferences), and sitting in on any presentations,
colloquia or "brown bag lunch" talks given
by various faculty. You will want to choose someone
whose research interests are similar to your own,
and who uses a research methodology you are comfortable
with.
2. After getting an idea of a few professors you'd
be interested in working with, make appointments to
sit down and talk with them about your research interests.
Listen to their feedback, and see which one(s) are
the most encouraging and who show the most interest.
If they express little or no interest, they may suggest
other people to talk to.
3. At the meeting, ask the professors, too, about
their availability during your graduate program. Find
out how much time they will be on campus for consultations,
and whether they will be taking any leaves of absence,
sabbaticals or long holidays. It is frustrating to
be in the middle of a thesis with a huge problem,
only to find that your supervisor is away for a semester
at another university!
4. Talk to other students to get a sense of who is
good to work with. You can meet other students by
attending social functions in addition to the regular
academic events put on for graduate students. Find
out who is organized, who shows up for scheduled meetings,
who is well respected in the department and in the
academic field, and who makes the most reasonable
demands on their graduate students. Weigh all these
comments carefully, though; it takes two to make a
partnership work, and a student/professor partnership
is no different.
Here is some advice given by various graduate departments
around the world:
http://www.soci.canterbury.ac.nz/grad07.htm
http://polpc09.politics.unimelb.edu.au/www/postgrad/pgguide.htm#super
http://www.cs.indiana.edu/how.2b/how.2b.research.htm#advisor
http://www.arts.cornell.edu/medieval/advice.htm
http://odur.let.rug.nl/engels/h-plan.htm#Setting
up agreements with supervisor
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/education/jlemke/guidepgm.htm
© Kathy Bell 1999
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