Postgraduate Supervision

You might be beginning your journey as a supervisor or have many years of supervision experience of postgraduate students (Honours, Masters and PhD students). Whatever level of experience you may have in postgraduate supervision, there is always room to grow and enhance your skills as a supervisor. Let us begin...

According to the CBE Student Supervisor Agreement Form the:

“Supervisor” means the person appointed by the University to give professional and academic guidance to a student registered for a postgraduate research project under his/her name and to ensure the provision of adequate financial, spatial and infrastructural support for the research project before enrolment. “Co-Supervisor” means a person who is not necessarily on the staff of the University and who, in consultation with the supervisor, is appointed to give assistance and guidance to a student in those areas where the supervisor is not sufficiently familiar with the full scope of the field to be covered in the project, where the project is multidisciplinary or for purposes of mentorship.

To fully understand your role as a research supervisor or a co-supervisor, it is advisable that you read the CBE Student Supervisor Agreement Form, which outlines the student's responsibilities and legitimate expectations by the supervisor, co-supervisor and the student.

The CBE Higher Degrees Committee Standard Operating Procedures CBE HDC SOP Oct 2020 (this can be found on the UJ SharePoint) indicates the requirements that need to be met by academics that would allow them to supervise the research of Masters and PhD students. This document also provides guidelines on external assessors and assessments.

The supervision process must be followed strictly according to the university, college and departmental processes. If students' research is prolonged due to supervisors not providing timely feedback and not following the processes stipulated by the university and the college, financial ramifications for both students, supervisors, and departments could occur.

Prof Thea Tselepis (Department of Business Management) and Prof Adri Drostkie (Director of the School of Management) in the CBE have developed a Postgraduate Research Toolkit for the School of ManagementProposed toolkit for postgrad in SOM June 2023.pdf that has several linked documents and tools to support the research journey after the proposal is accepted. This toolkit is invaluable to ensure that you, as a supervisor, co-supervisor and your student follow all the necessary procedures and processes to complete their studies. Please use the proposed toolkit to ensure you meet your role expectations as a supervisor. Furthermore, the UJ Higher Degrees Policyhigher-degrees.pdfshould also be used. This policy governs all processes leading to the award of higher degrees at the University of Johannesburg, ensuring that our higher degrees meet local and international expectations of academic and procedural rigour and integrity.

According to this policy, “This document must be read in conjunction with, among others, the Higher Degrees Administration, the Student Supervisor Relationship Policy, the Plagiarism Policy, the Policy on Authorship, and the University's Academic Regulations, specifically those sections of the Regulations dealing with master's and doctoral degrees” (p. 2). (All of these policies can be found on the UJ Sharepoint).

The UJ Postgraduate School offers regular workshops as well as a diploma in Postgraduate Research Supervision: https://www.uj.ac.za/postgraduate-school/research-capacity-development/postgraduate-diploma-in-research-supervision/

The University of Johannesburg's Postgraduate School, in partnership with the Faculty of Education, invites you to apply for the Postgraduate Diploma in Research Supervision Qualification code E5PRSQ. The purpose of this programme is to contribute to the further professionalisation of academic staff. Professionalise them by developing the knowledge, skills, and dispositions required to successfully supervise postgraduate students from registration to graduation.

The programme consists of seven modules, of which six should be completed for the diploma. They modules are: Postgraduate Research Supervision (compulsory); Academic Literacies in Research Supervision; Research Ethics in Postgraduate Supervision; Assessment of Postgraduate Research; Supervision of Qualitative Research Design; Supervision of Quantitative Research Design and; Current and Emerging Issues in Postgraduate Supervision.

If you have any questions, you can email Tebogo Mokgokong, RCD Coordinator of the programme in the Postgraduate School, atsupervisioncourse@uj.ac.za

You are also encouraged to co-supervise with more experienced colleagues with good throughput and quality outcomes with their postgraduate students.

STATKON offer free quantitative and statistics consultations.

The library hosts helpful training sessions related toThe information side of research.The library also has resources tosupport research.

The postgraduate school offers regular training opportunities. Keep an eye ontheir website.The RCD can also be contacted atsupervisioncourse@uj.ac.zafor enquiries.

• Research supervision: working with the individual in front of you
• Alternative approaches to postgraduate supervision Download
• Co supervision in postgraduate training. Download
• Postgrad supervision An agreed conceptual view of good practice article Download