Workshop: How To Work With Your Supervisor

To get back into the swing of writing here regularly, I thought that this week I would talk about my day job, which is delivering workshops to postgraduate researchers. I’m aiming to make these a mix of the why and the what – why I do the workshop and what I see and do. First up, How To Work With Your Supervisor, a session I regularly run to help PGRs explore working with their supervisor.

I want PhD students to have the opportunity to explore good practice for working with their supervisor. I had a great experience of working with my supervisor, Hugh, but I knew that others in my department had a more varied experience. As with the viva, there are horror stories – but they are the exception rather than the norm. I like running the session because I think it helps to explore what to expect from the supervisor relationship.

There was a time when the session was called Managing the Supervisor Relationship. Over time I came to think that this wasn’t quite the right approach to take. It’s not the responsibility of PGRs to manage their supervisor. I think that PhD students have a responsibility to be pro-active and do what they can to get what they need from their supervisor. The session aims to have a big impact. I never assume that participants have come to the workshop because they have a problem with their supervisor. The workshop is designed to improve working relationships for everyone.

I hope that these posts are interesting this week. On Wednesday I’ll write about a session I deliver called Creativity for Researchers, and on Friday I’ll share what I love about delivering Viva Survivor.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)