Introduction
This Guide provides an introduction for those new to PhD supervision at Ulster and serves as a convenient ongoing source of information for established Ulster supervisors.
PhD supervisors are the primary source of support for our PhD researchers, with key roles and responsibilities extending from before application to graduation and beyond. Extensive resources to support you in your role as supervisor are available on our Sharepoint Site, to which you will all have access as members of staff at Ulster.
Contents
- Overview of the PhD timelines/milestones
- Support for Supervisors
- Supervisor role in the recruitment and of PhD researchers
- Supervisor responsibilities in the PhD researcher’s journey
- Thesis examination and the viva
- What is good PhD supervision?
- Supporting your PhD Researcher in the Writing Process
- When things don’t go to plan
- Professional development of PhD researchers
- Supporting your own professional development
1. Overview of the PhD timelines/milestones
The normal duration of a PhD at Ulster is 3 years full-time or 6 years part-time. If the PhD is externally funded then a timeline of up to 4-years full-time can be accommodated to support other related activities (e.g. periods of study away or training with a collaborating partner or other site, industry experience, participation in workshops etc.) with the duration of the PhD set at the point of registration.
The milestones within the PhD journey are detailed below in the infographics and further details of each stage can be viewed by clicking through to the timeline.
Part Time PhD Timeline and Milestones
Full Time PhD Timeline and Milestones
2. Support for Supervisors
Supervisor Development Programme
Training, events and workshops are available through our Supervisor Development Programme. Please note that all new PhD supervisors and supervisors who have not previously supervised a PhD at Ulster must complete the ‘Induction for PhD Supervisors at Ulster’ course.
Good Supervisory Practice Framework
The UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE) has developed a guide setting out expectations for all supervisors and acknowledges the wide-ranging, complex and demanding set of roles involved ineffective research supervision. Supervisors may also wish to have their supervisory practice recognised by UKCGE as Recognised Supervisor (or Recognised Associate Supervisor).
PhD Supervisor Network
The Network is a community of practice at Ulster which aims to provide informal opportunities for PhD supervisors to meet on campus to reflect and share experiences on focused themes relevant to PhD supervision. Details of events are circulated regularly to supervisors.
Ethics and Research Governance
The University Research Integrity page includes links to relevant policies. To access the specific guidance and forms used to apply for Ethical Approval you will need to sign into the Portal. If your PhD researcher’s project involves NHS patients or staff, they will need approval from ORECNI and you should allow additional time accordingly.
Student Wellbeing at Ulster University
Student Wellbeing is very comprehensive and you are encouraged to familiarise yourself with the support available to our PhD researchers. The range of support is impressive and feedback from PhD researchers who have accessed support is extremely positive.
There are sections on health and wellbeing (including physical and mental health, academic support) and money advice (including dealing with debt and crisis funds available to all PhD researchers who can evidence hardship).
Disability Support
AccessAbility Advisors within the Student Wellbeing team provide a wide range of support to those PhD researchers who disclose and provide medical evidence of a disability or long-term medical condition.
PhD researchers can arrange an appointment with an accessibility advisor to provide individual information on the support available to them, ranging from assistive technologies to one-to-one support. Should issues arise during the PhD, supervisors can encourage the PhD researcher to engage with these services. Feedback from PhD researchers who have used these services is excellent.
3. Supervisor role in the recruitment of PhD Researchers
Advertising
Funded full-time PhD awards
Many of our funded, full-time PhD researchers are recruited by the annual funding competition for PhD scholarships; these are largely funded by Department for the Economy (DfE) as well as internally funding through Vice Chancellor’s Research Studentships (VCRS). A proportion of DfE scholarships are allocated as collaborative PhD awards funded jointly by DfE and a collaborative, non-academic body (named Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP) awards).
Also individual colleagues may advertise to recruit PhD researchers funded by research grant income or an external sponsor. Regardless of the source of funding, the first step to recruiting a funded PhD researcher is to develop a suitable project and submit this to the Research Director for consideration. This may be done via the Project Approval Template or your UoA administrator may send you an MS Form link. All advertised projects must have at least two Ulster University supervisors.
Once the project has been approved by the Research Director it will be advertised online along with essential and desirable assessment criteria, and you should promote the opportunity widely on social media and professional networks to reach the widest possible audience and optimise the number and calibre of applications. Priority may be given to projects which include a member of staff who is new to PhD supervision (i.e. has not yet supervised a PhD researcher to completion) on the team.
Self-funded PhD researchers
Units of Assessment also consider applications from individuals wishing to fund their own PhD or undertake a PhD which is funded by a sponsor. While many of the former will wish to undertake their PhD part-time, sponsored PhD researchers tend to be full-time.
In both these cases, the individual completes a generic online application independently but it is recommended to consult with a potential supervisor in developing their project proposal to ensure that the project fits with the unit’s research themes and supervisory expertise. You may receive requests to advise potential self-funded applicants in this way, and the Doctoral College staff can advise such applicants on the application process.
Recruitment
Recruitment of funded PhD candidates resembles usual HR processes. Published selection criteria will be applied by the Research Director in shortlisting applications. At least one member of the supervisory team should have completed Ulster’s Recruitment and Selection course and be available to sit on the interview panel for the project. Active involvement in the recruitment and selection processes is key to recruiting the best calibre of PhD researcher.
Following the acceptance of an offer, supervisors are encouraged to engage with the incoming PhD Researcher prior to registration and enrolment to welcome them to the University and to ensure retention during the period of offer and starting the programme.
4. Supervisor responsibilities in the PhD journey
The Doctoral College provides inductions for new PhD researchers in September and January each year, and may offer shorter mid-session inductions for those arriving outside these times. In September and January, Faculties also organise induction for new PhD researchers to co-ordinate with Doctoral College events. These provide an opportunity to introduce new PhD researchers to the supervisory team, the relevant administrator and research teams relevant to their own research project, and to show them their offices, desks and computers, as well as to welcome them to the wider School or research group context.
The University requires all supervisors to meet regularly with their PhD researchers, and to meet formally at least once a month (with a written record) throughout for full-time PhD researchers (for part-time PhD researchers this would be as a meeting at least once every two months). However, frequency of these meetings may vary depending on the stage of the research (more frequent meetings may be necessary in the early months for example) and by discipline (in some areas weekly meetings may be standard whereas in other areas meetings may occur less frequently, say monthly).
Records of meetings need to be kept on PhD Manager and the use of PhD Manager enables meetings to be arranged and records to be stored online. In the early meetings, PhD supervisors need to work with PhD researchers on the development of a Training Needs Analysis. In PhD Manager, for each PhD researcher there is an area for 'Training and Development' which includes their Training Needs Analysis, Training Plan and a Training Log which records all their researcher development activity. Supervisors have a responsibility for the development of the PhD researchers they supervise; PhD supervision is as much about developing the research as developing the researcher. Further details of supporting the PhD researcher and their professional development is provided below.
For supervisors of international researchers, it is especially important to record and approve monthly supervision meetings as failure to do so will impact on their visa monitoring record and may lead to Compliance having to consider whether sponsorship may be maintained.
Read tips on how to manage and record supervisory meetings to avoid Compliance issues.
Across the PhD timeline there are three points of formal assessment; namely the Initial Assessment, Confirmation Assessment and Final Assessment. The term ‘viva’ is reserved for the examination of the initial thesis submission. The format and timing of the interim assessments is managed at the subject/unit level and colleagues are asked to familiarise themselves with the assessment requirements of the unit in which their PhD researcher will be assessed (note: this will usually be the unit of assessment in which the Chair is based). An overview of these assessments is given below, however please consult the appropriate subject handbook (available at Subject Level Contacts) for further details.
Initial Assessment
The Initial Assessment of PhD researcher progress is completed approximately 3 months after registration for a full-time PhD and 6 months after registration for a part-time PhD, and is organised by the Research Director, Postgraduate Tutor or their administrator.
You will be reminded of this in advance by PhD Manager. You will assist the PhD researcher in preparing a report and presentation according to Faculty requirements, including consideration of ethical and other approvals that may be required This report will be uploaded via the Turnitin software and the similarity index will be considered at the assessment. You should attend the assessment, which will be conducted by a Chair and a minimum of one (usually more) assessor/s.
After the presentation, the PhD researcher will have an opportunity to respond to questions and confirmation of the decision on the outcome will be communicated to them via PhD Manager. The purpose of this early assessment is to provide advice on taking the project forward at PhD level and to consider the PhD researcher’s progress and development to date.
Confirmation Assessment
The Confirmation Assessment of PhD researcher progress is completed 10 and 20 months after registration for full-time and part-time PhDs respectively. You will be reminded of this in advance by PhD Manager and will assist the PhD researcher in preparing a report and presentation according to Faculty requirements, again including consideration of ethical and other approvals that may be required.
This report will be uploaded via the Turnitin software and the similarity index will be considered at the assessment. You should attend the assessment, which will be conducted by a Chair and a minimum of one (usually more) assessor/s. After the presentation, the PhD researcher will have an opportunity to respond to questions and confirmation of the decision on the outcome will be communicated to them via PhD Manager.
The purpose of this assessment is to confirm that the project is feasible at PhD level and that the PhD researcher is demonstrating adequate progress and development.
Final Assessment
The Final Assessment of PhD researcher progress is completed 30 and 60 months after registration for full and part-time PhDs respectively. You will be reminded of this in advance by PhD Manager and will assist the PhD researcher in preparing a report (which may be in journal article format) and presentation according to Faculty requirements; the format of the final assessment varies by subject/unit with details available in the subject handbook.
Where appropriate, you should attend the assessment, which will be conducted by a Chair and a minimum of one (usually more) assessor/s. After the presentation, the PhD researcher will have an opportunity to respond to questions and confirmation of the decision on the outcome will be communicated to them via PhD Manager.
The purpose of this assessment is to advise on final steps to complete the project to PhD level and to confirm that the PhD researcher is demonstrating adequate progress and development (any problems identified at this assessment will require action to support timely completion).
Each year you will be required to submit an annual report which are received and considered by the Research Director at the Annual Progress Board. You will be alerted by PhD Manager when this needs to be completed. The purpose of this report is to ensure that any problems with progress or engagement are identified at an early stage so that appropriate action can be taken. However, if you have concerns about progress you are encouraged to raise and these at an early stage so that they can be addressed in a timely manner; you do not need to wait to do this in the annual report. Your PhD researcher will also be asked to submit an annual report. Annual reports are not shared (i.e. the supervisors do not see the PhD researcher’s report and vice versa), however these reports are used by the Postgraduate Tutor and/or Research Director to help gauge the PhD researchers’ experience within the unit and to ensure that any substantive issues raised within the cohort are addressed.
You should aim to support your PhD researcher to submit their thesis for examination within the three year registration period for full-time PhDs or six years for part-time PhDs. The timeline should therefore be carefully considered from the outset and revisited frequently, with formal consideration in assessments and annual reports. Should the project need to be amended or additional support provided for the PhD researcher to achieve timely submission, this needs to be discussed and actioned. If delays are unavoidable and extensions of time required, you will need to provide close supervision until submission is achieved. The Doctoral College provides guidance on presentation of thesis to facilitate correct formatting etc.
5. Thesis examination and the viva
Supervisors play a key role in selecting internal and external examiners as well as a Chair for the PhD examination (viva voce) and you will be alerted to nominate the Board of Examiners three months before expected submission, in PhD Manager. To assist the Doctoral College in making arrangements, you should check the Examiners' Handbook for criteria for appointing the panel, ensuring that those you nominate are eligible for appointment, and Faculty administrative staff should contact the proposed external to ask for a CV confirming relevant experience of examination at PhD level as well as a passport copy.
A common query which may not always be addressed in the submitted CV is the extent of PhD level examining of the proposed External Examiner; if possible, please check this with the proposed examiner and note this within the nomination if this is not evident in the submitted CV.
The University regulations describe the requirements of a thesis and the Examiners' handbook also has more detailed assessment criteria, but there is still a lot of room for subjectivity in assessing when a thesis is ready to submit.
For those new to PhD supervision, the Final Assessment may be an opportunity to discuss this with colleagues, and/or acting as an assessor/internal examiner yourself will allow you to develop understanding of the required standards. In general, the aim should be for the submitted dissertation to meet the assessment criteria, and to be of a high standard. Details on presentation of the thesis are available, and you should support your PhD researcher in submitting their thesis to the Doctoral College in a timely manner.
Once submitted, the Chair of the supervisory team is responsible for liaising with the approved examiners to establish a suitable date and time for the viva. The Doctoral College will assist by contacting all parties and administrative support within your unit will assist by booking the room and dealing with any travel queries of the External Examiner. The viva voce (oral examination) will normally take place at least four weeks and not more than 3 months after receipt of the thesis.
The PhD researcher may choose to attend their viva alone, but they normally nominate one supervisor to attend, who may not take part in the proceedings but will often take notes to assist in recording any required amendments.
You should support the PhD researcher in completing any required amendments for approval by the internal examiner or for resubmission as required. At final thesis submission, you will also need to confirm in PhD Manager that any samples or data have been deposited, and that Intellectual Property can be reassigned to the PhD researcher so that they can graduate (these will appear as tasks on your PhD Manager account).
They may be applying for jobs at this stage and writing references will be a key part of your role as well as providing advice on where and how to look for jobs. Publications from the PhD may also be a focus at this time. The University has a Researchers Pool providing short-term (up to 6 months) post-doctoral employment opportunities, which some may find useful; information on how to join the Researchers Pool is shared with all PhD researchers when they complete initial thesis submission.
Job searching and publications may continue for some time, and it is common that even once a former PhD researcher has obtained suitable employment, their former PhD supervisor will continue to act as an academic mentor.
6. What is good supervision?
At Ulster, PhD supervision aims to develop the research and also to develop the researcher. Central to the success of any PhD project will be the PhD researcher/supervisor relationship. Supervisor Guidance and Resources have been developed in order that good practice may be achieved in the development of this relationship - resources are available via the Sharepoint Site for Supervisors).
The guidance closely aligns with the performance indicators of the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES), which is completed annually by our PhD researchers.
7. Supporting your PhD Researcher in the Writing Process
A PhD dissertation is probably the largest and most demanding writing task that a PhD researcher will ever undertake. One of your roles as a PhD supervisor is to assist in development of academic writing skills, as writing at PhD standard is a big step up for most.
Encouraging early writing allows you to assess early on where improvement is required. However, PhD researchers may be reluctant to write and so it’s important to get your PhD researcher writing early and often. The initial assessment may be the first formal written requirement, but you can set writing assignments earlier. Guidance and resources in relation to this are available in the Sharepoint Site.
The Doctoral College organises regular Shut Up and Write sessions in the Doc on each campus together with online and in-person writing retreats (details in the ‘Events/Workshops’ tab within PhD Manager) and many PhD researchers find these very useful so please encourage participation as a means of ensuring that writing is regularly practised and reinforced.
The Researcher Development Programme (RDP) delivers several writing workshops for PhD researchers each year, facilitated by specialist trainers who also deliver workshops for PhD supervisors, focusing on how best to support development of PhD researchers’ writing skills.
Delivering effective feedback
Ulster Guidance for Supervisors requires them to provide the PhD researcher with timely, constructive feedback on their work within agreed timescales. It is suggested that a suitable timeframe for feedback is likely to be about three weeks, and researchers should not expect to wait more than six weeks for constructive feedback. Any deviation from these indicative timescales should be negotiated between the researcher and the supervisor in advance of submission of the work and the stage at which the researcher is at within in the PhD process should be considered.
The ability to deliver effective feedback is a key skill for PhD supervisors, and feedback should aim to be progressive, constructive, positive (where possible), timely and specific. When feedback is delivered well, it reinforces and encourages. When feedback points out areas for improvement, it can provide clarity and focus. However, if delivered poorly feedback can reduce confidence and motivation. Equally, different types of feedback may be appropriate at different times and stages of the research project.
Where a PhD researcher’s performance is not up to standard, feedback should ideally be done in person and should be objective, constructive and specific. Additional time may be required to discover whether there may be underlying issues affecting progress and to discuss the deficiencies of the work in detail and to provide specific examples of how the deficiencies can be addressed. Comprehensive advice on providing effective feedback to your PhD researchers can be found in the Supervisor Sharepoint Site.
8. When things don’t go to plan
Few adults can reasonably expect to get through three years without encountering any problems, whether health or family related, financial, job related or other and for anyone engaged in research, this is even less likely. Research rarely follows the original plan: results don’t turn out as planned; equipment doesn’t work; activities take longer than predicted. In most cases, these are minor to moderate setbacks that can be overcome with a reasonable amount of revising and planning.
Learning how to solve research problems, and the issues that inevitably arise during projects, is part of what makes the PhD experience valuable for PhD researchers. This ability to overcome adversity is also valued by employers. One of the most important functions of regular PhD meetings is that you find out about problems your PhD researcher is encountering in a timely manner.
Things that seem like a major problem for a PhD researcher can often be easily solved, perhaps even with one quick phone call from a supervisor. Other problems may take some more time and effort, and a basic knowledge of the sources of support and advice available to supervisors and PhD researchers is integral to effective supervision.
Academic challenges towards the end
PhD researchers are usually well-qualified at entry but may nevertheless encounter academic problems, most of which can be diagnosed and addressed early on with support, feedback and advice from PhD supervisors as well as training.
When PhD researchers enter their final year, planning becomes very important. Limited time left means less time to catch up if things go wrong, and a completion plan or timeline to completion can be useful. To create a completion plan, identify the end date (probably when funding finishes, or the deadline for thesis submission) and then work backwards from there, scheduling work remaining to be done.
This plan needs to be developed collaboratively with your PhD researcher, as supervisors will need to schedule adequate time for reading drafts and reviewing amendments, to avoid delays at the completion stage.
It is also important to recognise that if research work, data collection and/or publication of results continue right up to the end of the funding this has serious consequences for PhD researchers who have to finish their theses without funding (and has a negative impact on completion rates).
The main focus for the PhD researcher during the final year of study should be submitting the dissertation on time, or as soon as possible thereafter.
Personal challenges
One in five people can expect to experience a mental health issue over a twelve-month period. Recent studies have argued that this rate is likely to be higher for academics, and even higher still for PhD researchers. As a PhD supervisor, you should therefore be prepared to sign-post to relevant support services. Ulster has support in place for PhD researchers, including counselling, academic mentoring and they can also be referred to other available services where appropriate.
In cases of ill-health up to up to 13 weeks paid leave of absence (in any 12-month period) is permissible for funded PhD researchers. If a longer period of leave is needed for medical reasons, payment of maintenance grant is usually stopped, and medical evidence will be required.
Ongoing health problems because of a medical condition or disability may impede rather than halt progress, and the PhD researcher should be advised of relevant support.
Financial difficulties are most commonly encountered by those PhD researchers on extensions of time, who may have saved a bit towards an unfunded period but are rarely financially prepared to manage to completion without taking a job. This may in turn slow progress and is to be avoided if possible.
However, for those whose maintenance was the only source of income or those with families, the stress of financial problems can be extreme. Again, support services are available and can provide financial advice, and in cases of extreme hardship, PhD researchers (both local and International) can apply for financial assistance .
In terms of dealing with inadequate progress, a comprehensive guide has been developed to support supervisors through such situations.
9. Professional development of PhD researchers
As a research focused institution, at Ulster we expect all PhD researchers to acquire the necessary skills and training to become world-class researchers. This is why all PhD researchers are encouraged to take part in the Researcher Development Programme (RDP), which has a wide range of provision to meet the needs of PhD researchers in different areas and who come to the PhD with a variety of different skill sets.
The RDP aims to provide all PhD researchers with opportunities to gain the experience and skills they require to be a competent and professional researcher, and of course to complete their PhD project. As PhD graduates they will be equipped with transferable skills that will be valued by both academic and non-academic employers in an increasingly interdisciplinary and international context.
The RDP at Ulster is informed and guided by the Vitae Researcher Development Framework, which is endorsed by Research Councils UK, the Quality Assurance Agency and other external stakeholders. As a PhD supervisor you will support your PhD researcher to complete a Training Needs Analysis, which will guide their training activity, which may include external courses or seminars and Faculty or School based training in addition to RDP sessions.
Viewing and booking from the RDP provision is via PhD Manager using the ‘Events/Workshops’ tab), which also collates a record of attendance for the PhD researcher’s portfolio, should they need to access this information. As a supervisor, familiarise yourself with training offered by the RDP.
10. Supporting your own professional development
There is a wealth of published information on PhD supervision (UKCGE resources include an impressive Research Supervisor’s Bibliography) for further reading and advice.
The Doctoral College also provides regular training sessions for PhD supervisors as part of the Supervisory Development Programme (SDP) and you will be notified of these in our regular monthly updates. PhD Supervisors at Ulster have access to training sessions with the Doctoral College, both for those new to supervision and those who are more established.
The PhD Supervisor Network is a community of practice at Ulster which aims to provide informal opportunities for PhD Supervisors to meet on campus to reflect and share experiences on focused themes relevant to PhD Supervision.
Resources to support supervisors are held on our dedicated SharePoint site, where workshops and PhD Supervisor Network events can be booked.
