Finding a PhD Supervisor

You will need to begin by identifying universities that offer the specialism that you want to research.

What is a PhD Supervisor?

A PhD supervisor is an academic who to uses their expertise to support you with your project. They should have interest in your project and provide regular feedback on your work. Each person's supervision experience depends on their university, department, and personal preferences.

An advertised funded PhD will usually have a supervisor allocated.

If you want to propose your own area of research, you will need to write a research proposal and find a supervisor.

Your supervisor will:

• play an important role in your PhD. They should support you from starting your research to submission of your thesis
• have responsibilities towards you and your project. They will meet to discuss your work
• read drafts of your work
• respond to emails and other forms of contact, though this might not be immediate
• be an expert in your academic field. They will have recognised research experience, and relevant publications. They may have supervised other students working on related subjects

Your supervisor won’t be an expert in your exact topic. If they were, you couldn’t research it as an original PhD.

Some universities formalise these commitments in a research degree handbook. Other universities leave the specific details to the student and supervisor to arrange.

How to find a supervisor

Some universities have a database that you can search for supervisors. This can be helpful if you want to propose your own research topic.

Otherwise, your university may match you with a supervisor during your application assessment. Sometimes they will use a summary of your academic interests to match you to a supervisor.

It is possible to request supervision by a particular member of academic staff. Be aware that the university will consider this but may not accept your request.

Carry out research to find a potential supervisor who matches your research area:

• start by shortlisting of two to three potential supervisors
• explore their research history
• find out more by looking in the reference sections of academic text books
• search for articles in research databases and academic blogs

You can check academics online profiles to find out about their doctoral supervision capacity:

• If they are open to doctoral applications, you can contact them to see if they will supervise you.
• when you contact your potential supervisor, explain your research interests.
• show how you feel your research proposal matches their expertise
  

It may also be possible to study your PhD by distance learning. This would mean you’d learn online, and your supervisor meetings would be virtual.