January is a month of new beginnings. New year, new career, new diet …. the list is endless! For many students, the first month of the year is when they meet their research supervisor. Sometimes these initial encounters do not pan out as anticipated. Just like countless well-intentioned new year resolutions, ‘the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry’. This quote from Robert Burns reminds us that there is always the potential for setbacks.
What can you do to prevent unexpected events adversely affecting the way you interact with your supervisor? How can you create and maintain a constructive and positive dialogue with them? We suggest the 5 R’s to help you successfully work with research advisor.
Our first ‘R’ refers to appreciating your respective roles. The specifics of your role as novice scholar, and your supervisor’s role as experienced academic, will be defined by your institution. At a minimum, you will independently research your thesis, dissertation or capstone project and your supervisor will support you to produce the finished work. They oversee your research activity and mentor your research actions, so we advocate seeing your supervisor’s role as a significant (and sympathetic) advisor and ally.
The second ‘R’ represents recognising responsibilities. Whether undertaking undergraduate or postgraduate study, your research endeavours are your responsibility. This includes identifying your topic and title, critiquing the existing literature and carrying out your primary research. It also involves analysing and interpreting your collected data, reporting on your results and findings, summarising your conclusions and contributions, and making recommendations. Your supervisor is responsible for guiding you through this research journey, offering academic advice and safeguarding scholarly standards. While it is your decision about the phenomenon to investigate, the onus on your supervisor is to ensure your approach is intellectually rigorous.
Your supervisor will be experienced in the process of supervision. More than likely, they will be a subject matter expert in your topic area. Our third ‘R’ recommends realising your supervisor is a valuable research resource. Their assistance is more meaningful than any textbook, article, lecture, workshop or seminar can ever hope to deliver. So, welcome and embrace their ability to:
- Provide guidance on your field of study with reference to relevant literature.
- Offer direction on the use of suitable research methodology and methods.
- Advise on appropriate analytical techniques and reporting mechanisms.
- Instruct on matters of academic integrity, such as plagiarism and AI usage.
- Authenticate the rigour of your submitted written work.
- Review your written work.
- Furnish timely and constructive written feedback.
- Check and monitor your scholastic growth.
- Ensure your progress is satisfactory as assessed against preset criteria.
The fourth ‘R’ is realism. Be pragmatic when dealing with your supervisor. They lead a busy life. You will be one of numerous students trying to contact them. For the first meeting, we suggest you send them an email and ask when they are available to meet. You will, therefore, not waste precious time chasing your supervisor around campus, especially if outside of core teaching times. We also recommend you leave a supervisory meeting knowing what you need to do, when it needs to be done and the logistics for the next session. Use a structured approach to establish clear expectations. So, when your supervisor gives you work, ask them SMART questions to:
- Specify clearly what is required (that is, to be specific).
- Identify how your progress will be gauged (that is, to be measurable).
- Confirm that what is required is doable within the given constraints (that is, to be achievable).
- Understand how the task helps achieve the purpose of your research (that is, to be realistic).
- Determine realistic submission timelines and deadlines (that is, to be time-bound).
Our fifth, and final ‘R’ is to reach agreement on the parameters of your working relationship. Mutually agree on a way to productively work with your research supervisor. As soon as practicable, decide on the procedures for submitting work, the standards required for submissions and the preferred channels of communication. When you submit work, it is generally understood that you have taken your learning to a level where you can only move forward to the next stage with additional input from your supervisor. Take advice from one of the many students our team at Thesis Upgrade have assisted. Alex Scofield (MSc Human Resource Management) deftly captures the sentiment of the fifth ‘R’. “Plan your meetings (virtual and in-person) with your supervisor carefully. Be able to talk about your work. Show your excellent project management skills. Manage your time. Send written work early. Have an agenda. And remember, your supervisor is integral for your research success!”