Finding a supervisor

Search our academic profiles for potential supervisors

Choosing your supervisor is one of the most important things you'll need to do when applying for a research degree. Having the right supervisor is crucial to your success, and choosing a supervisor that you have difficulty working with can jeopardise your project.

There's no one right supervisor for everyone; some people learn better working independently, while others might want more guidance.

By carefully considering your options and asking the right questions, you can find the supervisor that's right for you.

What will your supervisor do?

Your supervisor will be one of the most important people you'll work with while you're researching. A good relationship with your supervisor will ensure that you have a positive and successful research experience. You'll meet with them regularly, and they'll provide support and guidance through your project while you're:

• defining your study area
• refining your topic
• finding relevant literature
• answering ethical questions
• completing the research process
• identifying important goals
• meeting your milestones
• writing your thesis. 

Our supervisor accreditation scheme ensures that supervisors are prepared to give high-quality support to research students. The scheme provides ongoing development and training to our supervisors to prepare them to help students achieve the best outcomes.

Your relationship with your supervisor

You should make sure that your supervisor is someone who you can work with professionally, and have a good personal relationship with. You'll be working closely with them for an extended period of time, and a good relationship with your supervisor will help you have a positive research experience.

• encourage self-directed and independent research
• be supportive and helpful
• be interested in your project
• motivate you to do your best work
• help you work through any issues you have with your project.

Choosing a supervisor to contact

You'll need to find a supervisor who works in your area of interest. You can see how many students an academic has supervised in the past and how many they're currently supervising. You can also see what research areas they're interested in, and the research areas that they have experience supervising in.

Once you've found a researcher you think you'd like to work with, you'll need to either contact the research students sections of their faculty, or contact them directly to arrange a meeting.

Questions to ask

You should use this meeting to find out if you can work together. So you'll need to ask questions, for example:

• what their specialised teaching and research areas are
• what their most recent publications are
• who they're interested in supervising
• how many students they're currently supervising
• if they have time to supervise you, and how much time they can dedicate to you
• how they prefer to work with their students
• how many students they've successfully supervised in the past.

You should consider not only your expectations of your supervisor, but also what's expected of you as a student. Think about how much guidance you'll personally expect during the course of your study, and think about how you work most effectively. You'll need to find a supervisor who suits your personal studying style.

If you and your supervisor agree to work together, they'll be able to help you write your research proposal and complete the application process.