Research Student Induction 2014

1. Research Student Induction 2014 Expectations: Being a research student and making the most of supervision • Dr Ros Jennings • Head of Postgraduate Research

2. Central and local support: You can expect support for your research degree studies at 3 levels: 1) Supervisory level 2) Faculty level (Faculty Leads for Postgraduate Research: Mark de ste Croix[AS], Philippa Ward[BEPS},Paul Shaw[MAT]

3. and Faculty Administration: Helen Wright [AS], Charlie Cooney/Sabina Fiebig [BEPS], Carla Stanton [MAT]. 3) Research Administration Office [RAO] You should regularly review research degree information from the current students page on the University web pages.

4. Keep your student email account alive and use as your default account for all communication with the University and your supervisors. You are responsible for keeping it active and if you miss an important communication because you have failed to keep the account active it is your fault and will not be considered an excuse.

5. Knowing where you are starting from is often difficult: • What are the differences between studying for a taught degree and studying for a research degree?

6. Remember: • Each researcher is different and will require different support and your own personality and preferences will impact on your supervisory process.

7. What are you expecting…? • What would you like your supervisors to do? • What do you not want your supervisors to do?

8. Use the research degrees Students and Supervisor Handbook and Guide of Good Practice as a useful reference and read this in conjunction with the Handbook of Regulations and Procedures (both available on the current student pages).

9. Setting ground rules and regularly reviewing your progress and your supervision is vital • Student-Supervisor (team, contact, how to access information, orientation/settling in etc.) • What roles does each member of your team have? • Methods of recording supervision (why this is important?) SKILLS FORGE.

10. Joint Annual Progress Reports (JAPRs) using SKILLS FORGE. • External supervisors (responsibilities). • Cross-cultural supervision.

11. Have a plan and be clear…The following is regarded as good practice: • Discuss and agree key issues at the start of your research degree. • Arrange formal supervisory meetings. • Prepare an agenda in advance for these meetings. • Discuss professional development as a researcher and set targets for this as well as setting targets for your research project. • Deal with problems as they arise. • Summarize meetings.

12. Focus on progress: don’t get bogged down on one part of the project, or on detail; keep drafting, don’t think you have to know everything to make progress. • Keep a research diary so that you can both keep a record and reflect on your progress, decision-making and whether you are meeting agreed targets.

13. Produce finished papers, not notes, for your supervisor (correct English, with no spelling errors, typos, etc.). This is good practice and aids clarity/focus/discussion.

14. Let your supervisor know your plans and make sure you both know the timetable you are working to... Reality check your deadlines; do they need revising? (Build in a review process every 3 months. Are you on track?).

15. Plan for each stage including supervisors’ final read; redrafting; proof-reading; conforming to University house style; binding etc., (all these take longer than you think!).

16. Remember! • We cannot help if you do not tell us that you have a problem.

17. If you do have difficulties then consult the following people in the order set out below: • Your supervisors • Your Faculty Lead for Research Degrees (Mark de ste Croix, Philippa Ward, Paul Shaw) • Head of Postgraduate Research (Ros Jennings) • Research Student Advocate (Professor Frank Chambers: fchambers@glos.ac.uk / 01242 714677)