The PhD student–supervisor relationship is quite possibly one of the most difficult relationships in academia. Regardless of the nature of the doctoral program, the role of a PhD supervisor usually switches between being your boss as well as mentor in the same workplace. Similarly, depending upon the situation, you may be required to act as a student/mentee as well as an employee at different points in your doctoral journey. These roles can be tricky to navigate as a young PhD student, especially if you haven’t been exposed to the hierarchical challenges of academia so far.
Focusing on learning and acquiring skills while maintaining a cordial professional relationship with your supervisor need not always be mutually exclusive. In fact, the type of PhD supervision you receive during your doctoral journey may directly or indirectly shape a lot of important decisions that you undertake in the future. Therefore, maintaining a good PhD student–supervisor relationship is paramount during your PhD. This article provides some useful tips to ease the process.
3 Tips to help students build a strong PhD supervisor relationship
1. Become familiar with their working style
There is no set way to determine what makes a good PhD supervisor as every supervisor has their own distinct style of working. Some may be comfortable letting students explore and experiment by themselves, preferring only to guide them whenever students need support. Some supervisors, on the other hand, like to be kept informed about the details of the project that their students are working on. Adapting to the working style of your supervisor may make it easier to manage their expectations as well as your expectations of PhD supervision on a daily basis. This will also form the basis of the PhD student-supervisor relationship.
If needed, talk to your colleagues to gain more insight into the work culture of your lab. One great tip to build your relationship with your supervisor if you are a student pursuing your PhD away from your home country is to familiarize yourself with the culture and language of the new country, since cultural nuances often seep into workplace communication and influence working styles, including PhD student-supervisor relationships.
2. Keep the communication lines open
A lot of misunderstandings in the PhD supervisor relationship, especially during the initial stages of the doctoral journey can be avoided by ensuring clear communication with your supervisor. Young PhD students are naturally quite apprehensive about putting across their views for fear of being assessed negatively, but this may in fact pose problems in the long run when it comes to forging a strong supervisor-PhD student relationship. If there are some aspects of the work culture of your lab or the working style of your supervisor that you are not comfortable with, it may be a good idea to discuss this openly. You can also seek advice from your colleagues about the best possible ways to approach your supervisor, and adapt your conversations accordingly.
If the role of your supervisor keeps them busy and unavailable for an extended period, it is advisable to bring this up with them and seek regular appointments for clarifying any pertinent issues related to your PhD project, thus, avoiding any long-term repercussions. Open communication is key to having a healthy PhD student–supervisor relationship as well as to ensuring the success of your PhD project.
3. Discuss your goals and aspirations
One of the key aspects of healthy communication in the PhD student-supervisor relationship is the ability to have a detailed discussion about your goals and aspirations. Even if the goals are as short term as wanting to gain expertise in a new technique or setting up an external collaboration for an ongoing project, it is important to engage in timely discussions about these goals. The PhD supervisor relationship is only going to get better if you discuss your aspirations openly.
Whenever your supervisor is willing to actively switch from the role of a supervisor and mentor you regarding non-PhD related matters, see it as a great opportunity to learn from their rich experience and use their learnings to make conscious choices in your own career path. It will also help your supervisor gain an insight into your thought process and help them make an informed assessment about your abilities. Such discussions help in strengthening the PhD student-supervisor relationship and foster a bond that has the potential to grow beyond your doctoral journey.
PhD is a bumpy ride with unpredictable twists and turns, but maintaining a healthy supervisor-PhD student relationship surely helps in transforming the ride into a memorable one.
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