Finding a Supervisor
Professor Fragkiskos Filippaios
SeNSS Deputy Director
One of the most challenging but equally stressful tasks in applying for a PhD is securing a supervisor. An engaged, knowledgeable and proactive supervisor can make all the difference in PhD completion. Whilst most institutions have moved away from a model where there is a single PhD supervisor to a model that builds on PhD supervision teams with different skills and attributes, the main supervisor is still the individual that will bear most of the responsibility in navigating you (the PhD student) through the 3 year project leading to a substantial contribution to knowledge but also the development of key research and employability skills. It is, therefore, crucial to make the right choice and build rapport as early as possible. The task of finding a supervisor consists of two stages. First, identifying the most appropriate individual and second communicating with them and convincing them about the potential of your topic. It is in this second stage where most prospective PhD applicants fail to stand out and secure the commitment of a supervisor.
The initial search
Some students are lucky enough to have established a relationship with a potential PhD supervisor as part of their Masters dissertation. Writing a dissertation means that you get to work with a supervisor for a long period of time (usually around 3-5 months). If you have the opportunity to build such a working relationship and have aspirations for a PhD make sure that you make these aspirations known to your supervisor as soon as possible. It will help build rapport but also potentially shape your Masters dissertation in a way that leads to your PhD. For example a lot of prospective PhD students use their Masters dissertation as an in-depth literature review or an empirical trial.
For those applicants that have been away from the academia for a few years or have completed their Masters dissertation and no longer have access to university library resources a good starting point is Google scholar (https://scholar.google.com/). You can conduct a thorough keyword search around your potential topic and identify experts that could be potential supervisors. Most, well established, academics have a Google scholar profile with their publications, research interests and affiliation. For those prospective applicants that have aspirations to study towards a PhD in a specific institution, most universities have search engines that allow prospective students to search for a supervisor. Within SeNSS two examples are Sussex and Kent (see: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/research/directory and https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/research-phds/find-a-supervisor.html). Both institutions have a well-developed search engine that enables PhD applicants to search for supervisors on the basis of keywords.
The communication
Once you have identified a potential supervisor the most important step is to establish an open and honest communication channel with them. You will be working with them over the next 3 to 4 years and most academics have to balance conflicting demands on their time. It is, therefore, important to make your initial communication stand out from the rest of the e-mails. On the top of not-to-do list is a generic e-mail without properly addressing the recipient. Should your e-mail reads as a general email, of speculative nature, that is probably sent to another 10-15 prospective supervisors there is little incentive from them to respond.
Make sure you start your e-mail with the proper title and name of the potential supervisor. Make them feel that this e-mail was written specifically for them. This will motivate them to read it. Then once you have captured their interest mention something interesting about yourself. How do you stand out from all other applicants? Is it your work experience, your previous studies, your access to data? This will convince them that you stand out as a potential PhD applicant.
Follow on by discussing your research interests and if possible attach a draft version of your research proposal. This will demonstrate that you have done your homework and are ready to submit an application. It is always beneficial to mention how your proposal fits with their research expertise and if possible link it with some of their publications. This will further reinforce the feeling that the e-mail was written specifically for them and not as a generic speculative e-mail. Please do not make extravagant claims about your abilities or your preparation. Should you claim that you have read their publications make sure you have done so. Finally, proofread your e-mail. Typos and grammar mistakes put off people as they indicate lack of attention to detail and preparation.
It takes time to put this type of communication together but it maximises the success rate of securing a PhD supervisor that truly has interest in your proposed topic and is motivated to supervise you to a successful completion.
The next steps
Once you have secured a supervisor’s agreement you can start preparing your application, including your proposal, your personal statement and your references. Usually, the admission process requires an interview and we will be posting about interview preparation on this page soon.