Research & Research Study

The first meeting is critical in developing an active research relationship. The meeting should establish some achievable short term goals, expectations on the way the supervisors/research team work together (such as frequency and constitution of meetings), how the team will record research decisions and maintain contact for feedback. No team will work in exactly the same manner, but it is a university expectation that meetings will be regular and action items recorded. The university’s Handbook of Postgraduate Studies has a series of ‘rules’ that are associated with the conduct and progress of research degrees and it is important that candidate and supervisor are aware of their content and importance. Candidates and Supervisors should use their first meetings together to plan long and short term research goals. These include planning financial expenditure for equipment, conferences etc. It also involves a discussion of the publication and co-publication strategies that will be part of the thesis.

Candidate

Candidates are responsible for the overall management of their project. As you are at an early stage in your research career, it is important to established defined goals and expectations for the research. In the first meeting you should establish regular meeting times with your supervisor and negotiate some short term goals. It is important to keep accurate records of this negotiation. You will establish what you will actually do in the first few weeks. It may be undertaking some specific readings and analysing the form and language used in the discipline, it may be an exploration of methods for data collection, it may be writing an account of your current knowledge base etc. It is essential that the first stages are mapped out with some achievable goals, and that at a later meeting, longer term research goals are also designed. Don’t forget to include in the planning regular meetings with your associate, adjunct or co-supervisors, and meetings with other research students in your area.

Principal supervisor

It is the principal supervisor’s responsibility to ensure that research progress is being made. The first meeting should be used to explore research expectations through the development of a research plan. For instance, the candidate may need to become familiar with a range of different theories related to the project. The supervisor would need to explain the scope of the exploration and what were the specific achievable goals, and the manner in which those outcomes will be either discussed or written up. Meeting times and locations for the first three months should be specified, the expectations for seminar attendance and presentation discussed, the ways in which meetings should be minuted (for instance, the candidate providing an email summary of the decisions made) considered etc. Candidates are often uncertain about the scope of a research project, and the ways in which research is undertaken within the discipline, and thus the early meetings should focus on the scope of the task ahead and the way in which the supervisor conducts research supervision.