Supervision

You can expect your main supervisor to

1. Participate actively in discussing and designing your research project and in selecting relevant courses and activities for your training component.
2. Provide quality advice/supervision of your research work, consider which hypotheses and methods may be suitable, and provide you with feedback on written texts as they develop (outline, contents, writing style, documentation etc.).
3. Ensure that it is possible to complete the thesis work within the normal timeframe of three years for doctoral training.
4. Provide you, within a reasonable timeframe, with constructive criticism and reactions to submitted draft work in order to facilitate timely completion of your thesis. Such follow-up should take place at least three times per semester.
5. Introduce you to specialist literature and basic data sources (libraries, archives etc.).
6. Introduce you to the department, its facilities and procedures, and to other PhD candidates and relevant staff, and encourage attendance at events and seminars related to doctoral training in general and to your research field in particular. To allow for the planning of relevant study-abroad periods, the supervisor shall introduce you at an early stage of your studies to other relevant academic environments outside the department, also international environments.
7. Advise you of the name of the person in charge of doctoral training (PhD coordinator) in the department/faculty and ensure that you can contact him/her to discuss relevant matters, including your study progression and any difficulties that may arise in your relationship with your supervisors.
8. Decide, in consultation with the head of the department, at the start of your PhD project, whether assignment of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is necessary and, if so, ensure that an agreement on IPR is entered into at the outset of the project.
9. Ensure that a risk assessment of any laboratory and/or field-based activities has been carried out in accordance with departmental procedures and that you receive the necessary safety training.
10. Ensure that ethics approval has been obtained in accordance with the regulations, and provide guidance on questions of research ethics related to the thesis work. Arrange for you to familiarize yourself with your responsibility to avoid any form of misconduct.
11. Ensure that you maintain systematic records of your research data so that they can be consulted and understood by anyone with a legitimate right to enquire, such as the evaluation committee.
12. Discuss incidents with you that appear to be related to research misconduct or plagiarism and report to the department any suspected or actual instance of research misconduct, including plagiarism.
13. Organize and take part in your midway evaluation.
14. Agree with you after your midway evaluation on a realistic timetable for completion of the research and writing of your thesis.
15. Submit annually to the department/faculty (by 1 November as specified), a standard report concerning the progress of your doctoral training.
16. In consultation with co-supervisors and the department/faculty, make satisfactory arrangements for supervision if the main supervisor is absent for a period of more than four weeks. He/she must keep you up-to-date on all matters that could have significant bearing on the supervision.
17. Encourage you to present your work in progress from time to time and to attend relevant conferences, meetings and workshops, and to consult relevant sources of information and advice inside and outside your department.
18. Encourage you to develop and improve your general and transferable skills.
19. Help you to ensure that duty work does not exceed 25 % of your total workload.

Your responsibilities as a PhD candidate are:

1. To carry out your research effectively, at a high standard and within the prescribed period of study.

2. To attend PhD events at the university, faculty and department and to attend the courses agreed with your main supervisor.

3. To agree and strictly abide by a timetable for regular contact* with the main supervisor, at least once a month, and for the submission of your written work.

4. To submit your written work by agreed deadlines to allow sufficient time for comment and discussion. Drafts or parts of the thesis should be submitted at regular intervals, in accordance with the PhD regulations section 6.

5. To present your work or findings at seminars/conferences from time to time if your main supervisor encourages you to do so.

6. To comply with the ethical standards for research that apply to the academic field in question.

7. To submit an annual standard report by 1 November to the department/faculty about the progress of your doctoral training, in consultation with your main supervisor.

8. To participate in a midway evaluation of the progress of your doctoral training.

9. To responsibly keep track of all documentation of the courses, seminars and activities you complete as part of the training component.

10. To inform your main supervisor about all matters that may have a bearing on supervision. You should feel free to bring any problems, including problems of a social or medical nature, to the attention of your main supervisor or head of department/administrative PhD coordinator.

11. To consult in confidence the head of department/administrative PhD coordinator if you feel that a change of supervisor is desirable for any reason.

12. To consult the co-supervisor when advised to do so by your main supervisor.

13. To inform the external party (for those financed or supported otherwise by an external party) about any matters that could have a significant bearing on the cooperation and the progress of the project.

14. To follow the procedures for study leave or interruption of doctoral training. If you have sickness absence or other types of approved study leave, you must inform your assigned PhD administrative coordinator.

15. To discuss all matters regarding expenses relating to the financing of your research project with your supervisor at UiB, or, if relevant, with representatives of the institution that is financially responsible for your position.

16. To keep track of all working hours spent as part of your 25% obligatory workload for PhD candidates with university fellowships of four years. Expect your supervisor to help you keep within the workload limits for duty work.

*Regular contact may be e-mail, meetings or telephone. It is not necessary to document in writing all contact between superviser and student.