Alignment tool for clarifying expectations within the PhD supervisor team

What are the roles of the supervisors in the individual PhD project? DTU encourage all supervisors to look through the alignment tool and use it as a basis of discussion when you first meet with the supervisor team to discuss the PhD project, and for later follow-up meetings.

In collaboration with Mirjam Godskesen who teach the supervisor courses at DTU, the PhD Administration & Development has developed an alignment tool for clarifying expectations within the PhD supervisor team to support communication and collaboration within the team.

Why? How do you see your own role in this specific PhD supervisor team and how do you expect the collaboration to unfold? By sharing your expectations at a very early stage of the PhD supervision process and making assumptions explicit, you can avoid misunderstandings that very often lead to disappointments and possibly conflicts. Clear agreements save much energy that is often spent on guessing and worrying.

DTU strongly encourage all PhD supervisors involved in the project to meet and discuss issues regarding your collaboration and interests in the PhD project. Using this set of questions will enable you to discuss and clarify how you will work with the student, your contributions to the supervisor team, and how you will handle challenges during the supervision process.

How? The supervisors arrange a meeting within the first month of the PhD project period where you discuss the first set of questions. Please allot 1.5-2 hours and note down important decisions. It is also strongly recommended that you all meet at least once a year to discuss progress, roles and responsibilities. The second set of questions is developed to guide these meetings.