Hello and welcome back to my vlog where
I talk a little bit about theatre, a
little bit about being a PhD student and
a little bit about those two things
smushed together. If you're new here, do
please consider subscribing down in
whichever corner that is in. Today, I
wanted to take the opportunity to talk a
little bit about supervisor meetings.
When, or if, you're looking to apply to do
a PhD, there's a lot of talk about how
it's this independent research project.
And it's completely true to say that there's
no teaching involved in doing a PhD. Or,
there is teaching from a point of doing
some teaching but there's not any being
taught. The research itself is
completely selfless, you have to manage
your own time with all the challenges
and opportunities that presents. But a
big part of this process is also one's
supervisor or supervisory team. Usually,
you will have a main supervisor
as well as a second supervisor who's
there to provide a second pair
of eyes on bits of thesis as well as a
slightly different point of view of
advice. And, at my university, in the
University of Exeter, we also have a mentor
who's there for more
pastoral support in addition to the
academic support which the supervisors
supply. And the way I've started to think
about the supervisory team that
surrounds me and which has been supporting me
very ably through this first
seven or eight months of my PhD, is like
the stabiliser wheels you put on a
child's bicycle. So, they start off
completely in contact with the ground
guiding the bike and meaning that they
can't even lean from left to right and
then, gradually, you can raise them up
whereby there is still that bit of
support there but the child is pretty
much cycling on their own. But what I've
gradually realised is that it's very much my
responsibility as the student to make
the most of the supervisor meetings. It's
spoken about a lot that a PhD process is
about you becoming the expert in a
particular field of study and often,
your supervisor, particularly in the
humanities (I think it's completely
different in the sciences) but your
supervisor will be someone who works in similar area of research but
they won't do exactly the thing that
your research is.
At the beginning, they might be able to
point you towards some really key texts
but, gradually, as you begin to furrow
your own plow, there will be a whole body
of research that they might not be
familiar with. Initially, I think I
thought of my supervisor as a kind of
Gandalf
figure almost that would guide
me completely through the process but,
more and more, I think I've realised that
it's as much about me leading the
process and my supervisor
guiding me through that and me taking
advice from my supervisor rather than
following. And so I thought I'd try and
put together a few different tips for
making the most out of supervisors and
supervisory meetings whether you're
doing a PhD yourself or an MA or MSC
or an undergrad dissertation and you've
got someone that's supervising
that. Anyone who's supervising a thesis
or dissertation is going to be an
incredible resource of knowledge and
also experience in carrying out research
and so I thought I'd try and put
together a few things that I think are
good tips for making the most of their
time. Something that it took me a few
months to really get to grips with is
that it's really worth knowing the work
that you are taking in. Quite often, the
supervisory meeting will involve taking
in a little bit of writing that one's
done about a particular area of your
field or, as you get closer to
the submission of whatever the project
is you're working on, a particular
part of it. It's often about a week or
maybe a week and a half between me
sending a piece of work to my supervisor
and us managing to both find some free
time to meet for the actual meeting and
I think, initially, I'd send over a piece
of work and then I'd be really keen to
get on with something else. So, I'd find a
different bit of reading or start doing
a complete different piece of writing and
wouldn't necessarily think to completely
look over the work that I'd done that
week and a half later just before I go
into the supervisory meeting. And what
sometimes that's meant is that my
supervisor has read that bit of work
more recently than I have. And so, when
bits are being discussed, I'm having to
flip through and try and remember what
I'd written. Even if it's only a week
it's possible to forget stuff and
so my first tip would be really to know
what work it is you're taking in
and, if you have written it a little while
ago, take the time just to read
through it,
maybe relook over some of the sources so
that, when you're asked any questions
about it, you can answer them. My second
tip is to not worry too much about
trying to impress them every single
moment. Your supervisor is completely on
board with your research project, they've
got many reasons that they want
you to succeed. It makes them look great
if you do but, also, nine times out of ten
they're a nice human being who is very
engaged in research themselves and wants
to be able to pass that joy and
that excitement about it on to someone
else. Early on in my PhD, I think I was
really worried about admitting where
the gaps in my knowledge were or the
holes that I knew were there
in a bit of work that I'd sent over. And,
I think actually, it's taken me a little
while to realize that those supervisory
meetings are actually a really safe place where I
can reveal those anxieties and those
concerns about my own work. And, actually,
my supervisor is going to support me in fixing
those, rather than pointing out that
I'm an idiot or something. That's not
going to happen. So, tip number two, I
suppose, is don't be worried about trying
to impress absolutely all the time.
Sometimes try and impress by doing good
work, I suppose but don't worry about
always having to be polished and know
everything because it is a research
journey, it's all about learning as you
go. And, actually, my third and final tip
perhaps contradicts that idea of not trying
to always impress with your work. I got
to a point where I was always feeling as
though I had to have like 10,000 words
or a whole chapter to send in for every
single supervisory meeting and that
would mean that sometimes to be six
weeks in between me having a
supervisor meeting then having next one.
And, actually, what I've increased realised
is that, often times, it's really
helpful for me to send over a partly
finished bit of work to my
supervisor. Because, actuall,y she can help
point me in the right direction for how
the rest of it goes. I think,
initially, my worry was that I was
wasting her time if I was sending over
half a chapter that wasn't quite
finished yet, in an actual fact, it was
silly of me to use some of my time to
write half a chapter of something that
wasn't necessarily
working. So, my final point is to never
worry about sending over something
that's only half done and that you've
reached a bit of a block with because,
actually, it's those blocks that the
supervisor is there to help guide you
around or over or through. I hope that's
been useful to anyone that's doing a PhD
or some kind of higher education
qualification in some manner and
hopefully in getting the best out of
these supervisory meetings. They are a
great resource for ensuring your work is
heading in the right direction. If you've
got any tips for me then please do drop
them below in the comments, give this
video a thumbs up or subscribe if you
haven't already. Thanks very much and I
will see you on Monday!
