The relationship between doctoral researchers and their supervisors influences the pathway and success of a doctoral project and is a crucial factor for the start of an academic career (inter alia Ives & Rowley 2007). It is thus all the more important that both parties deal with the perspective, expectations and needs of the other side. While supervisors can draw on their experience and the time during their own doctorate, current and future doctoral researchers are faced with information deficits: 

• What does my supervisor expect?
• How do I know if my supervisor is a good match for me and my topic?
• And how can I actively shape and improve our relationship?

These and other questions are not only floating around in doctoral forums, but have been scientifically examined, discussed in podcasts and YouTube videos, or highlighted in interviews. In this contribution, we approached these and other questions relating to the relation between supervisors and their doctoral students.

How much supervision is feasible in terms of time? As much as necessary! The basic interest I have is that the research is going well. […]

Prof. Dr. Ingo Heilmann (Plant Biochemistry)

Overview of parts of the InGrA project “What supervisors want”

• Results of the online survey of doctoral students on supervision
• Portraits of interview participants
• Interviews with supervisors (in German)
  • Prof. Dr. Daniel Wefers (Food Chemistry)
  • Prof. Dr. Jenny Haase (Spanish and American Literature and Culture),
  • Prof. Dr. Ingo Heilmann (Plant Biochemistry)
  • Prof. Dr. Konstanze Senge (Economic and Organisational Sociology).
• Interview: main take-aways (in English)

To provide information and guidance for doctoral students we have approached supervisors in four departments at the MLU. In semi-structured interviews we asked them about their perspective and experiences in the supervision of doctoral students. This was preceded by an online survey in which doctoral researchers had the opportunity to ask their questions and thus helped to shape the interview guidelines. In the following sections we invite you to read about the perspectives of supervisors from different fields and the view of the doctoral students expressed in the online survey.

A very nice aspect of a doctorate is the enormous freedom you have. You should take advantage of that […]

Prof. Dr. Jenny Haase (Spanish and American Literature and Culture)

Below you find brief portraits of our four interview partners. The main take-aways are available here. If you are interested in the evaluation of the online survey with doctoral students, that preceded the interviews, you can click here. Finally, you can read the full interviews in German with Prof. Wefers, Prof. Haase, Prof. Senge and Prof. Heilmann. Enjoy the reading. Hopefully, we can broaden your perspective on doctoral supervision and What supervisors want.

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Portraits of our interview participants

Prof. Dr. Daniel Wefers, Food Chemistry

Prof. Dr. Daniel Wefers holds a professorship in Food Chemistry at the MLU and has been supervising doctoral students for five years. A doctorate in food chemistry takes an average of 3.5 to 4 years. He supervises between 5 and 8 doctoral students at a time and discusses current developments and challenges in the doctoral process with each doctoral student several times per semester. Prof. Wefers spends a total of 6 to 8 working hours per week on supervision responsibilities. The doctoral topics are usually proposed by Prof. Wefers. His doctoral students are financed either through budget positions at the university or third-party funded projects.

For me, the great experiences in supervision are always when months or years of experimental work culminate in a paper or finally in a dissertation. Someone stands there who has achieved a scientific feat and is proud, and then I am just as proud.

Interview with Prof. Wefers (in German)

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Prof. Dr. Jenny Haase, Spanish and Latin American Literatures and Cultures

Prof. Dr. Jenny Haase held the Chair of Spanish and Latin American Literatures and Cultures at the MLU and has been supervising doctorates since 2021. She has accepted a professorship for Latin American Literature at University Potsdam in 2024. A doctorate in literature and cultural studies takes an average of 3-5 years. She currently supervises two doctoral students and discusses current developments and challenges in the doctoral project with both doctoral students several times per semester. The amount of work Prof. Haase invests in the supervision varies individually. Doctoral topics are initially proposed by the doctoral researchers themselves but further developed in a dialogue together. Prof. Haase’s doctoral students are financed through scholarships.

A very nice aspect of a doctorate is the enormous freedom you have. You should take advantage of that and not regiment it, but grant this freedom, which is important for scientific development, also as supervisor.

Interview with Prof. Haase (in German)

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Prof. Dr. Ingo Heilmann, Plant Biochemistry

Prof. Dr. Ingo Heilmann holds the Chair of Plant Biochemistry at the MLU and has been supervising doctoral students for about 19 years. A doctorate in plant biochemistry takes an average of 4 years. He supervises six doctoral students in parallel and discusses current developments and challenges in the doctoral process with each of his doctoral students on a weekly basis. Prof. Heilmann spends a total of about six working hours per week on supervision responsibilities. Prof. Heilmann either proposes the doctoral topics or develops them together with his doctoral students. His doctoral students are financed by budget positions at the university, third-party funded projects or scholarships.

How much supervision is feasible in terms of time? As much as necessary! The basic interest I have is that the research is going well. The research is based on the productive work of the doctoral students. That means my own initial interest is to help them as much as I can.

Interview with Prof. Heilmann (in German)

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Prof. Dr. Konstanze Senge, Economic and Organisational Sociology

Prof. Dr. Konstanze Senge holds a professorship for Economic and Organisational Sociology at the MLU and has been supervising doctoral students for 8 years. A doctorate in economic and organizational sociology takes an average of 4-6 years. Prof. Senge usually supervises 5 doctoral students in parallel and discusses current developments and challenges in the doctoral process with each of her doctoral students several times per semester. She spends in total 2 to 4 hours per week on supervision responsibilities. Prof. Senge develops the research questions for the doctoral projects together with her doctoral students. Her doctoral students are financed by full budget positions at the university, third-party funded projects and scholarships.

I think the essence of a doctorate is to have the freedom of thought to try things out. You have to allow that in a certain way as a supervisor.

Interview with Prof. Senge (in German)

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Literature

Ives, G. & Rowley, G. (2007). Supervisor selection or allocation and continuity of supervision: Ph.D. students’ progress and outcomes. Studies in higher education, 30(5), 535-555. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070500249161

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Contributions

The content of this information project was created by Paul Reimers (PR) and Dr. Thomas Michael (TM) and is property of InGrA, all rights reserved. Pictures were taken by PR and Maike Glöckner. The presentation on this website was developed and implemented by PR in exchange with TM. PR and TM prepared questions for the online survey and the interviews. PR analyzed the survey. PR and TM discussed the results and wrote the evaluation of the survey. TM conducted the interviews in 2023. PR transcribed the interviews. PR and TM wrote the portraits and the main take-away, as well as shortened and discussed the interviews

Special thanks for their participation and the insightful conversation to all four interviewees. Furthermore, we want to thank the participants of the online survey for their contribution.