I often write for PhD students. Here is a post for PhD supervisors. PhD supervisors — Here are 10 ways you can help your PhD students. 𝟏. 𝐁𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥: Your PhD students follow you in many ways – how you approach a research problem, how you present, how you collaborate, and so on. Subconsciously, the students inherit many research traits from you. Be a great model to produce great researchers. 𝟐. 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞: Lead your team by example. If you expect the student to be on time for a meeting, you should be on time too. Similarly, if you expect the student to be well-prepared for the meeting or presentation, so should you be. This will give an impression to the student that you have a keen interest in his/her PhD. 𝟑. 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞: Instead of asking the student to do a task, show him/her the value of the assigned task. For example, doing task A will help you get this skill and lead to a publication too. This way the student is more likely to do the task. 𝟒. 𝐁𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜: Generic guidance can leave a student in confusion instead of putting him/her on a concrete path. In fact, a student can get generic guidance from anywhere. Be concrete and specific, especially in the first year. Also, give the student the confidence to comfortability asks for any clarifications. 𝟓. 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐨: If a student is not progressing, the supervisor should look inward too. Assess in what other ways you can help the student to progress. 𝟔. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐄𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧: Do not expect the same kind of excellence and productivity from every student. Every student is different – different IQ levels, different personal circumstances, and so on. Do not compare them with yourself either. 𝟕. 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬: A meeting with your student should end with concrete action points. If a student leaves the meeting in an increased state of confusion, the meeting has served no purpose. One effective way is that the student shares the meeting minutes and action points with the supervisor. 𝟖. 𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬: Encourage your student to take part in activities that develop the student’s soft skills such as communication, presentation, networking, and so on. Of course, this should not be at the cost of primary research. Keep track of the trade-offs if any. 𝟗. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤: PhD students are often short of time, especially at the end of the PhD. Whilst you are very busy, try to give timely feedback, especially on papers. This will help them to complete their PhD on time. 𝟏𝟎. 𝐁𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝: Being kind is a very rare trait – try to be one. We don’t know exactly what the other person is going through. Put yourself in the shoes of the student. Try to understand the student’s concerns and support him/her in whatever way possible. Anything to be added?
Great points and insights that you've shared with. Indeed , one more thing I think to add is that let your supervisor build trust on your work. Most of the times they're busy and a lot of tusks are to review and go through page -for page. Rather, if they built trust on you .. the let it be done
Excellent points! #10 is especially important - kindness goes a long way in fostering a supportive environment. Perhaps adding a point about encouraging students to seek help from peers/university resources could be helpful too?
Just like every other post of yours, this one is also exceptionally insightful. I appreciate the academic wisdom, keen observations, and experiential learnings you consistently provide.
Appreciating is a great deal of motivation for a scholar, which might help them to understand that they are in right path
Really these are good points for every supervisor...Thanks for sharing such good thoughts
Thanks Faheem Ullah for sharing these points. I was lucky enough to have a PhD Supervisor (Rasmus L. Olsen) who was equipped with all these qualities 😍
I love this post as like the last one.
Great post! I’d like to add that PI’s can be very hard on students who, unfortunately due to the nature of their project, are producing a lot of negative data. Negative data is still data! Don’t make your student feel extra pressure because their data is negative or hard to interpret. This doesn’t mean they aren’t working just as hard as their labmate who just happens to have clear, insteresting data (the foremention student is probably working harder BECAUSE their data is negative!). Have compassion, grace, understanding, and recognize that they are disappointed by their negative data too. Don’t make it feel like it’s their fault.
11. Ask for feedback Your PhD student will have formed an opinion on the supervision process, what has worked and what can be improved, so why not to ask them about it? PhD students can provide constructive critique from which their supervisors could learn a lot. Being humble and open to feedback is part of what I consider being a good role model.
🩺I aid in turning Research Goals into Real Results 🇮🇳 🇬🇧 Founder II Mentor II Homoeopath II AI Researcher Need Research Solutions❓️ Go to my ABOUT section.🔻
8moGreat points Faheem Ullah I would add... Be compassionate with them.. make the students feel reachable and connected..