Responsibilities of supervisors
Responsibilities of the Principal Supervisor
The Principal Supervisor is accountable to the Faculty Sub-Dean for advising and monitoring the progress of a candidate and leading the supervisory team. The Principal Supervisor has final responsibility for the decisions made by the supervisory team.
Responsibilities of a Principal Supervisor include:
- negotiating roles with co-supervisors, in conjunction with the candidate, at the commencement of the candidature
- facilitating the operation of the supervisory team to ensure support for the candidate by encouraging all supervisors to be actively involved in supporting the candidate’s research endeavours. Where this does not occur, the Principal Supervisor shall consult with the Sub-Dean;
- monitoring carefully the performance of the candidate relative to the standard required for the program, and advising that inadequate progress or work below the standard generally expected is brought to the candidate’s attention;
- ensuring that no research data are collected until the necessary approval is obtained from the relevant University and/or other ethics committees where the research deals with human or animal subjects;
- advising the Faculty Sub-Dean when problems are occurring with regard to issues of academic misconduct;
- at any time during candidature, bringing to the attention of the Centre for Research and Graduate Training issues of intellectual property rights and/or commercial or other confidentiality matters which relate to the content of the thesis or portfolio;
- advising the Board, through the relevant Faculty Sub-Dean, of the names and credentials of suitable examiners;
- ensuring the candidate has accurate information about any planned, long leave (or retirement) during the candidature and, in consultation with the Faculty Sub-Dean making arrangements to provide for supervision during absences;
- contributing to the development of supervisory skills in co-supervisors who are inexperienced in co-supervision.
Responsibilities of the Supervisory Team
Co-supervisors may have responsibilities relating only to certain aspects of the projects.
Responsibilities of the Supervisory Team include:
- providing guidance, where appropriate, on:
- the nature of research,
- the standard expected for particular degrees,
- the choice of the research topic,
- the planning of the research program,
- ethical issues relating to the research,
- methodological issues,
- data analysis issues
- exploring solutions for unexpected problems which arise in the research;
- maintaining close and regular contact with the candidate and establishing at the beginning the basis on which contact will be made;
- responding in a timely manner to queries and when providing feedback on drafts;
- requiring written or other work from the candidate on a pre-arranged and agreed schedule so that progress can be assessed at regular intervals;
- monitoring carefully the performance of the candidate relative to the standard required for the degree, and ensuring that inadequate progress or work below the standard generally expected is brought to the candidate's attention. The team should help with developing solutions to problems as they are identified;
- ensuring that the research work and the production of all categories of examinable work are the candidate's own work and ensuring that where the candidate receives substantial assistance that such assistance is acknowledged in the examinable work and does not conflict with the requirement that the intellectual content of the research and examinable work is that of the candidate;
- commenting in a timely manner on the content and the drafts of the examinable work prior to submission;
- provide general support and encouragement to the candidate;
- encourage the candidate to publish the research;
- fulfilling other obligations imposed by the University regarding postgraduate supervision.