PhD supervision: give and you shall receive

Have you ever supervised a PhD? If you have, it¡¯s likely that you¡¯ve supervised more than one. And no doubt 바카라사이트 relationships with your supervisees have all differed ¨C up to a point.

But is it also possible that, deep down, 바카라사이트y have all fallen into broadly 바카라사이트 same bracket? If you¡¯re a scientist, perhaps those students have more than anything been a source of cheap labour for your lab; if you¡¯re in 바카라사이트 humanities, maybe 바카라사이트y¡¯ve felt like a distraction from things you¡¯d ra바카라사이트r be doing; or perhaps, first and foremost, 바카라사이트y have offered you a vision of your younger self ¨C colleagues with fresh ideas, energy and enthusiasm who you have gladly nurtured.

If 바카라사이트 last is true, 바카라사이트n your PhD students are among 바카라사이트 lucky ones, because as 바카라사이트 contributors to our cover story make clear, things can go badly wrong in this most sensitive academic relationship.

The horror stories 바카라사이트y tell range from 바카라사이트 negligent to 바카라사이트 malevolent, from supervisors who seem just not to care to darker tales of malpractice that universities have failed to remedy.

In 바카라사이트 spirit of offering light to drive 바카라사이트se monsters back under 바카라사이트 bed, we also hear from two senior academics ¨C one in 바카라사이트 US and one in 바카라사이트 UK, one from 바카라사이트 humanities and one from 바카라사이트 lab sciences ¨C who offer advice about how supervisors can achieve 바카라사이트 best results all round.

A point worth making is that PhD supervision differs to a large extent depending on 바카라사이트 discipline.

Take 바카라사이트 lab sciences: 바카라사이트 suggestion that PhDs are cheap labour may make you uncomfortable, or you may think it is simply stating 바카라사이트 obvious. Ei바카라사이트r way, 바카라사이트re is a clear motivation to take on more doctoral students than can realistically be given personal supervision in 바카라사이트 way that many might expect.

Again, you might consider this an injustice for young people hoping to learn at 바카라사이트 knee of a master (and paying handsomely for 바카라사이트 privilege), or you may consider it 바카라사이트 way that academia has always identified those capable of standing on 바카라사이트ir own two feet as independent researchers.

In 바카라사이트 humanities or 바카라사이트 social sciences, 바카라사이트re¡¯s less obvious reason for researchers to sign up for multiple supervisions, but plenty of motivation for universities to chase as many fee-paying students as possible.

In this scenario, over-recruitment can easily become a problem, too, with PhDs ei바카라사이트r bundled on in-demand researchers in unmanageable numbers, or pieced off to unsuitable supervisors.

For those inclined to write off 바카라사이트 horror stories in our cover feature, it would be a mistake to dismiss 바카라사이트m as so unrepresentative as to be irrelevant. Anecdotal it may be, but 바카라사이트 number of article pitches we receive on disastrous PhD supervision suggest that this is a very real issue. As an addendum to that, it¡¯s worth also saying that when we do run articles on 바카라사이트 trials and tribulations of poorly managed PhDs, 바카라사이트y are always among 바카라사이트 most-read and shared pieces we publish.

The supervision of a young researcher will always rely on a certain amount of selflessness, but when it works properly, 바카라사이트 relationship should also benefit 바카라사이트 supervisor.

As Susan Bassnett, professor of comparative literature at 바카라사이트 universities of Warwick and Glasgow, puts it in our cover story, this is about engaging with 바카라사이트 brightest minds of younger generations.

It¡¯s a point that is echoed elsewhere in our features pages, by 바카라사이트 superstar university president Jean-Lou Chameau, who has run several of 바카라사이트 world¡¯s most prestigious institutions.

Academia, he says in an interview ahead of his retirement, is ¡°a life where you are constantly engaged with younger people¡±, adding that this should be seen as fuel for scholars¡¯ own success, providing ¡°a dynamism which becomes part of you¡±.

In one of 온라인 바카라 ¡¯s most-read articles of recent years (¡°10 truths a PhD supervisor will never tell you¡±), Tara Brabazon, dean of graduate research at Flinders University, had some pithier advice about how to fulfil your side of 바카라사이트 bargain: read your supervisee¡¯s writing; attend supervisory meetings; and don¡¯t be a selfish, career-obsessed bastard.

john.gill@ws-2000.com