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Supervisor´s communication guide
Instructions for the communication guide
During the doctoral studies it is essential that communication and expectations between
you and your PhD student are clear and attainable. The need of supervision changes
during the PhD period and towards the end the need has changed character as the PhD
student has turned into a more independent scientist. It is therefore important that you as
a supervisor and your PhD student take mutual responsibility in your communication and
collaboration. This communication guide will work as a basis for your communication
and collaboration. The purpose of the communication guide is to support your
communication.
The IFM board for graduate studies has decided that either this guide or something
similar should be used for each new PhD student. Employment of the communication
guide should be documented in the individual study plan.
The communication guide should be filled in by the PhD student and the main supervisor
or by the practical supervisor e.g. a co-supervisor. Two versions of the communication
guide exist, one for the PhD students and one for the supervisor. They consist of the same
questions but posed from the respective point of views. After filling in the guide the
answers are to be discussed in a meeting between the PhD student and the supervisor.
The communication guide should be then filled in yearly, where the first year is
mandatory. Some of the questions can be difficult to answer the first year of the PhD
studies but all questions are to be answered for setting the basis in the discussions
following the coming years of PhD studies. The communication guide should be regarded
as a dynamic document where the answers in the guide could change during the PhD
period. The yearly deadline for handing in the communication guide (copies of both the
PhD students and the supervisors versions) is the 31 of January. The communication
guide aim at finding a well working collaboration between you and your PhD student. If
you would like to work further with the communication guide, a supervision contract can
be established in which you summarize the most important elements in your
communication. The following questions are to be used as a foundation for your
discussions. Examples of responses are given in italics. The guide is written in English,
but you are free to give your answers in Swedish.
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Supervision
How frequently do you have supervisory meetings? Are you in need of regular
appointments? If so, when should they take place (what day and what time)?
(E.g. ”Monday at 10.00 a.m. or weekly at a flexible time”)”)
How do you prepare for the supervisory meeting?
(E.g. ” I make an updated project plan. I have been in contact with our external collaborators”)
What kind of preparations would you like your PhD student to make before the
meeting?
(E.g. ”evaluate laboratory results and prepare a short presentation of his/her results”)
How would you like to communicate with your PhD student between the
supervisory meetings?
(E.g. “I would like my PhD student to update me about their progress daily, weekly, or monthly.
Or I prefer to have little contact”)
When are you available for work or contact? In which contact form?
(E.g. ”weekdays between 8-5 p.m or available for contact by email in the evening”.)
When do you expect you PhD student to be available? In which contact form?
(E.g. “weekdays between 8-5 p.m. or available for contact by email in the evening”)
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How do you ensure that the PhD student has understood your project plan or
suggestions? (E.g. “I ask my PhD student if he/she understood my instructions and my ideas”)
Project
What kind of project decisions should be decided by you and by your PhD student,
respectively? What kind of decisions should be made jointly (minor or major
decisions)? (E.g.”most of the project decisions are made by both by me and my PhD student”)
What are yours and your PhD student’s responsibilities both internally/externally in
a joint project?
(E.g. ”my PhD student is responsible for the communication with our external collaborators and
will be partially involved in project decisions. I set the deadlines and can take actions if
difficulties arise in the project”)
Is your PhD student able to supervise master thesis students or external
collaborators (e.g. PhD students or Post docs)? What parts in the project will be
handled by you and by your PhD student respectively? (E.g.” project planning of the
master thesis project will be performed by both me and my the PhD student whereas the
laboratory work is supervised by my PhD student”)
What is your opinion on writing scientific papers?
(E.g. “ I think we need to review our results critically and find a journal with high impact factor
for publication”)
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Who can the PhD student turn to for scientific advice except you as a supervisor?
(E.g.”co-supervisor, collaborator or external expert”)
Feedback
a) Do you give positive and/or negative feedback concerning the work effort or the
ability to collaborate? If so, in which situations?
(E.g. ”I give both positive and negative feedback concerning results from the work effort)
b) In what way do you prefer to give and receive feedback?
(E.g. ”I give and prefer to receive feedback orally”)
c) Are you good at giving and taking feedback?
(E.g. “yes, in some cases”)
How would you like to give feedback on your PhD student´s written manuscript?
(E.g. ”I give both positive and negative feedback on the written parts of the manuscript”)
What time frames are reasonable concerning feedback on a manuscript?
(E.g. ”feedback on a written manuscript within 24 hours or one week”)
Expectations
a) What kind of expectations do you have on your PhD student?
b) Are the expectations reasonable?
c) What kind of expectations do you think your PhD student has on you?
(E.g. ” analyze data and try to understand the theories I have described to my PhD student, listen
and take in the suggestions I give when it concerns options and delimitations within our research
area”)
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What are the roles of you as supervisor and the co-supervisor/s?
(E.g.” I set the overall goal of the projects and the co-supervisor help with instrument X and
completion of manuscript in project Y”)
a) How independent do you think your PhD student should be in the project at the
moment? How do you supervise him/her in order to support such an independency?
(E.g. “my PhD student will probably need more steering within the first year as a PhD student
but in the second year, I hope my PhD student will work more independently and make more
decisions”)
b) What is your opinion on teamwork? In what working conditions, on a scale from
individual towards collaborative, do you think your PhD student should work in?
(E.g. ”I believe my PhD student should work individually both in planning and performing all
parts of the project” or ”My PhD student should work individually in some parts of the PhD
project but hopefully prefer to collaborate more when executing experiments and writing
manuscript”)
What are your primary motivations in your work?
(E.g. “I am motivated by solving problems in the laboratory” or “ I am motivated in
summarizing our work into a manuscript.”)
How do you help your PhD student when he/she has a setback?
(E.g. “I give my PhD student positive feedback”)
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In what way do you hope that your PhD student will develop during the PhD period?
(E.g. “within the project I hope we have reached the appointed goals and I hope my PhD student
continue within the academia”)
Teaching and courses
What are your expectations concerning your student´s balance between research,
teaching and courses? (E.g. ”during the upcoming month, from January to February, my PhD
student will spend time teaching and participating in two courses and will therefore not spend
time in the laboratory but will do data analysis”)
Other commitments for PhD students
Do you guide your PhD student in order to find relevant seminars or conferences?
(E.g.” Yes, I help my PhD student find relevant seminars and conferences to present our ongoing
research” or “ My PhD student finds seminars or conferences herself and discuss with me it they
are relevant”)
Open space for input that might be missing in the communication guide
(optional)
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Guidelines for supervision of a PhD student at IFM
Please read the guidelines for supervision of a PhD student in (appendix 1) and
discuss the guidelines with your PhD student.
The last questions are to be answered from the second year of the PhD
studies
Reflect upon your PhD student´s accomplishments developed during the last year
(E.g. ”the last year my PhD student has deepened my knowledge within instrument no. 1”)
Reflect upon how the supervision and collaboration with your PhD student
developed during the past year regarding, supervision, feedback, project planning,
expectations, teaching and courses. Is something in need of a change in your
collaboration?
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Appendix 1
Supervision of a doctoral student
General information
Supervision is the most important pedagogical instrument in doctoral studies.
Supervising a doctoral student is not only about passing on knowledge to the doctoral
student. It is also about promoting the progress of the doctoral student toward becoming
an independent researcher. This includes supporting the development of the ability to
analyze, think critically, be innovative, and collaborate with others.
The role of supervision has been emphasized with the increasing demand for more
efficient doctoral studies.
This document is inspired by a similar document from IDA (Institutionen för
datavetenskap, Department of Computer and Information Science). It is meant as a
recommendation or guide.
The goals of supervision
The goals of supervision is to promote the doctoral student's progress toward becoming
an independent and critically thinking researcher development of comprehensiveness
regarding methodology ability to collaborate in research projects capability to see his or
her research as a part of a greater whole, in a wider context.
The position of the supervisor
Every doctoral student is assigned a main supervisor. The main supervisor, who qualifies
as senior lecturer, is responsible for the doctoral student's work and research.
In addition to the main supervisor, the doctoral student may have one or more assistant
supervisors. An assistant supervisor qualifies as Ph.D.
Expectations for the supervisor
The following list serves as an example of what to expect from a supervisor.
The supervisor will

 help the student select and define the field of research so that the research can result in
a dissertation
 support the student in choosing courses that are part of the doctoral studies
 assist the student in finding literature and suggest a model/theory/method for the
student's research
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 immediately advise the student against continuing his or her doctoral studies if the
student lacks the necessary qualifications
 give advice regarding suitable scientific methods to help forward the research
 act as inspirer and catalyst when the dissertation is to be completed
 make sure the student does not become sidetracked
 aid the student in establishing contacts and creating a network in the field of research
 help the student develop the ability to present orally his or her research results at, for
example, research-group meetings or conferences
 help the student develop the ability to present in writing his or her research results in
scientific journals or conference papers
 encourage and stimulate the student, especially in times of adversity
 give the student responsibility for, for instance, equipment or research projects
Expectations for the doctoral student
The following list serves as an example of what to expect from a doctoral student.
The doctoral student will
 listen to and take in the supervisor's suggestions regarding, for instance, choice and
definition of field of research or how to plan the research
 play an active part in selecting a suitable dissertation topic
 independently search for relevant information
 process and analyze theories and/or methods suggested by the supervisor
 be able to orally present his or her research results at, for instance, seminars, researchgroup meetings, and conferences, and assimilate constructive criticism that is given at
such presentations
 be able to present in writing his or her research results in scientific reports, and
assimilate constructive criticism from supervisors or other experts
 be able to grasp the work of research colleagues and provide constructive criticism
 be willing to concentrate and focus on the doctoral studies, especially during the final
phase of the dissertation work
 assist in assignments that are not directly concerned with the doctoral studies, for
instance, teaching, administration, and research funding, on the assumption that these
assignments are according to contract
Guidelines for supervision
After a student has been admitted to doctoral studies, the student and the supervisor
should discuss the structure of the supervision. The structure of the supervision should be
mutually agreed upon and can, for instance, include the items listed below. Some of these
items are also included in the doctoral student's individual curriculum.
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 a schedule for the dissertation work and possibly an outline of the dissertation
 a statement of how often and when the doctoral student and the supervisor will
schedule follow-up meetings and the availability of the supervisor
 a list of courses that the student will attend
 a statement of how the student will continuously inform the supervisor on how the
research progresses
 a discussion of the research-project plan. The duration of the project plan should be,
for instance, six months, but the plan may naturally be revised.
 bases of the doctoral studies: important problems, the relevance of the research project,
approach, partners, consequences, delimitations, assumptions, choice of model, current
research, deadlines, and so forth
 a discussion of how research results will be reported/presented
 a statement of how the individual curriculum will be followed up
 a course of action if problems should arise. Such problems may be, for instance, that
expected results do not occur, that the dissertation work is not progressing according to
plan, or that there is a student-supervisor conflict.
 a discussion of the function and role of the mentor
Follow-up meetings
Follow-up meetings should be scheduled on a regular basis and should be scheduled well
in advance. It is a good idea to follow a checklist during follow-up meetings. It is also
useful to take notes in order to facilitate feedback and follow-up. The supervisor and the
doctoral student should compile a checklist for follow-up meetings at an early stage of
the doctoral studies.
The following list serves as an example of what a follow-up meeting might include:
 Feedback from the previous follow-up meeting: Has work been done according to
plan? Analysis of recent results. Has the research led to the expected results? If not, why?
What are the consequences?
 Short-term planning: Does a parameter need to be adjusted? What is the next step?
How will already attained results be reported or presented?
 Discussion: An important function of follow-up meetings is to provide an opportunity
for the student and the supervisor to air their ideas.
 Information exchange: Another important function of follow-up meetings is to
exchange information (besides research results), for instance, a newly published article,
new results reported at a conference, or information from personal contacts.
 Long-term planning: Is the schedule realistic? What research projects will be included
in the dissertation? Planning of licentiate degree or public defense.
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Individual curriculum
For every doctoral student, an individual curriculum will be drawn up by the doctoral
student and his or her supervisor. After they have signed the individual curriculum, it is
sent to the prefect. The prefect must receive the individual curriculum within one month
after the student has started his or her doctoral studies.
The individual curriculum includes a schedule of the student's doctoral studies, an
account of the student's commitments during his or her doctoral studies, and other
information that ensures the student to efficiently pursue his or her doctoral studies.
A standardized individual-curriculum form is available at
http://www.lith.liu.se/research/index.html
At least once a year, the doctoral student, the supervisor, the assistant supervisor or
supervisors (if any), and mentor should meet to follow up and revise the individual
curriculum. The student's coursework and doctoral-studies schedule is discussed. The
reason for any delay is analyzed. If necessary, the schedule is revised.
The following list serves as a guideline or a checklist for an individual-curriculum
follow-up meeting:







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that the student is following his or her coursework schedule
courses/credits that the student has passed the past year
pedagogical training
that the student is following his or her research-work schedule
publications the past year
supervision
conferences, collaborations, and so forth the past year
teaching, administration, or other departmental duties
Responsible for this page: Per Olof Holtz
Last updated:02/04/11