5. Supervision

5.1. Appointment of principal supervisor and any other co-supervisors

 

When a PhD student is enrolled, the Head of PhD School appoints a principal supervisor on the recommendation of the Head of Department. When approving a principal supervisor, the Head of Department must take into consideration how many PhD students the supervisor already has, and whether he or she has the academic and supervisory skills and the necessary resources time-wise to take on this supervision. On the recommendation of the relevant programme committee or Head of Department, or on his or her own initiative, the Head of PhD School can also appoint one or more co-supervisors.

 

For PhD students on the Industrial PhD programme, a principal supervisor must be appointed from the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences, as well as a co-supervisor associated with the company where the PhD student is employed, and who has company-relevant research experience in the discipline in question.

5.1.1. Principal supervisor

 

The principal supervisor must be a recognised researcher within the relevant discipline and have qualifications corresponding to professor, associate professor or senior research associate, be employed by the University of Southern Denmark and be attached to the PhD school. The principal supervisor must have supervision qualifications, for example, having completed the University of Southern Denmark’s PhD supervisors’ course. The principal supervisor is responsible for the whole of the PhD programme.

5.1.2. Co-supervisor(s)

Co-supervisors must have research qualifications within a corresponding or adjacent discipline. A co-supervisor may be at assistant professor level. When a co-supervisor is recommended, the Head of Department must take into consideration how many PhD students the supervisor already has and whether the supervisor has the necessary resources time-wise to take on the PhD student.

 

In special circumstances the Head of PhD School can approve the appointment of co-supervisors who are not permanent employees of the University of Southern Denmark. This takes place on application, and the application must state the special grounds for wanting to have an external co-supervisor. Documentation showing that the external co-supervisor is sufficiently qualified in the relevant discipline must be included. The Head of PhD School approves the affiliation of an external co-supervisor on the recommendation of the Head of Department.

5.2. Obligations of the supervisors

 

The function of the supervisor is the most important element in the PhD course. Supervision encompasses information and advice on all aspects of the PhD programme, with a focus on academic supervision in connection with research activities.

The principal supervisor is responsible for the overall PhD programme, cf. the Ministerial Order on the PhD Programme and on the PhD Degree Section 8. The principal supervisor is responsible for:

• Reading and commenting on the PhD project.
• Keeping in regular contact with the PhD student, and acting as a sounding board for the research project.
• Ensuring that the PhD plan is drawn up and submitted, and preparing a statement in connection with the PhD plan, cf. section 9.
• Providing the PhD student with information on relevant courses and conferences and drawing up recommendations for the PhD Committee concerning approval of courses, cf. section 6.
• Helping the PhD student establish contact with relevant national and international research environments.
• Advising the PhD student on how work commitments/the element of knowledge communication can be incorporated into the programme.
• Preparing regular evaluations and contributing to the PhD seminar, cf. section 10. This includes keeping the Head of PhD School informed and evaluating progress if the PhD plan is amended, cf. section 10.3.
• Preparing the principal supervisor’s concluding statement, which sums up the overall course of the PhD on submission of the thesis, cf. section 11.2.2.

• Taking part in assessment work and in the PhD defence, cf. sections 12.1.2 and 12.3.

 

Co-supervisors assist the principal supervisor. The duties of a co-supervisor are agreed at the time of appointment, and will normally cover academic debate on selected sections of the research project.

 

A good PhD course requires the establishment of a well-functioning working relationship between the PhD student and the principal supervisor at the start of the course, with the student and the supervisor checking off their mutual requirements and expectations. A description of mutual requirements and expectations for the supervision process – including expectations regarding the form and scope of the supervision – must be stated in the PhD plan.

 

No specific guidelines have been established for the scope of the supervision, as the need for supervision can vary throughout the course. However, the principal supervisor is expected to follow work performed by the PhD student closely throughout the programme. The principal supervisor should maintain a close dialogue with the PhD student on how the project is progressing and the need, if any, for adjustments to the project and other elements of the PhD (courses, teaching, time spent in other research environments, etc.). Regular assessments should make clear how the supervision is progressing and the scope it has had.

5.3. The PhD student’s obligations as regards supervision

 

The PhD student is obliged to:

 

• Contact the principal supervisor in plenty of time before preparation of the PhD plan and the regular assessments.
• Submit course activities for approval by the PhD Committee on a regular basis.
• Keep the supervisor(s) informed of the progress of the project.
• Ensure that agreement is reached concerning supervisory meetings, agendas and deadlines, and to send texts for feedback, etc.

5.4. Replacement of supervisors

 

 

The Head of PhD School can, on his or her own initiative or at the request of the PhD student, approve the replacement of the principal supervisor or co-supervisors, or appoint supplementary co-supervisors.

The application to the Head of PhD School must state that the PhD student, the Head of Department, and the former and new supervisors have all accepted this replacement.

6. Course section (5+3 programme)

 

The PhD student shall, in accordance with the Ministerial Order on the PhD Programme and on the PhD Degree Section 7, subsection 2, complete PhD courses totalling the equivalent of approximately 30 ECTS points. One (1) ECTS point equates to 25-30 hours’ work. These courses must be approved by the principal supervisor and the PhD Committee. It is recommended that the course section be completed in the first 1½-2 years of the PhD.

 

For students on the 4+4 programme, separate rules apply, cf. section 13.

 

6.1. Composition of the course programme

 

The PhD courses must be of a higher academic level than the Master’s degree required for entry, unless special academic considerations demand that this principle be waived.

 

PhD courses may include:

• Actual PhD courses offered by the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences, by researcher training programmes which the faculty participates in or cooperates with, or by other Danish or overseas institutions, e.g. in connection with a period spent abroad.
• The Business course for Industrial PhD students offered by the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation (7.5 ECTS).
• Other courses especially relevant to the PhD project, e.g. courses in IT or statistical methods.
• Active participation in seminars, workshops or conferences. (Conference participation with presentation of a paper can count as a maximum of 2 ECTS).
• The University of Southern Denmark’s course in communication for PhD students, which is offered once a year (3 ECTS).
• Self-study/reading course under supervision. It is a requirement that some form of evaluation or examination be included in connection with a course of this nature.

 

The course programme is adapted to suit the project and research interests of the individual student. The principal supervisor must ensure that there is an adequate academic spread in the course composition, and that the planned courses are relevant and of a high academic level.

 

At least half of the course programme (15 ECTS points) must consist of actual PhD courses with academic content. Communication courses (the University of Southern Denmark’s course, courses in “academic writing” and similar) may constitute no more than 3 ECTS points. Courses in teaching methodology may not be included. A Master’s degree subject may be included if the principal supervisor deems it to be relevant for the project. The Head of PhD School can grant dispensations from the ECTS distribution.

 

PhD courses offered by the faculty are announced on the PhD school’s website. It is possible to search for information on courses offered at other national or international educational institutions and researcher training programmes via links on the website.

 

Overview of approved PhD school courses can be viewed on: (Insert link)

6.2. Approval of course programme and courses

 

 

The course programme forms part of the PhD plan (cf. section 9), which is approved by the PhD Committee. Often it is not possible to set out a fully detailed course programme, as researcher courses are often offered at relatively short notice, so it is up to the principal supervisor and the PhD student to find relevant courses on an ongoing basis in order for the PhD plan to be fulfilled.

 

Individual courses and other activities must be approved by the PhD Committee once they have been completed. A special form must be used when applying for approval. The form must specify who is offering the activity, and what ECTS point value is being proposed. The form is signed by the PhD student and the principal supervisor. A course description or similar and documentation proving that the activity has been performed/passed must be enclosed.

 

When issuing an approval, the PhD Committee makes a recommendation as to how many ECTS points each activity will involve, based on the following principles:

• For courses offered by researcher training programmes in which the faculty takes part, the ECTS value fixed by the researcher training programme is used.
• One (1) ECTS point corresponds to approximately 25-30 hours of work.
• Conferences where the PhD student presents a paper normally correspond to 2 ECTS points.
• Courses at postgraduate level that are relevant for the project are assessed at half the ECTS points that apply for graduate students.

 

In individual disciplines there may be specific requirements for the composition of the course programme, including requirements that particular courses be included.

 

7. Periods spent at other research institutions

In accordance with the Ministerial Order on the PhD Programme and on the PhD Degree Section 7, subsection 2, the PhD student must take part in active research activities, including periods spent at other, primarily foreign, research institutions.

The PhD student must, as part of his or her PhD programme, enter into several active research environments, and must therefore spend a period at another research institution for part of the PhD.

 

To maintain the international element of the studies, there should normally be a prolonged period of study lasting 3-6 months at an overseas research institution that is of academic relevance to the PhD.

 

The principal supervisor must ensure that the PhD student is given the opportunity to establish contact with active research environments outside the University of Southern Denmark. The principal supervisor normally utilises his/her national and international networks in connection with the planning of the PhD student’s stay at other international or national research environments.

 

Periods spent in other research environments must be approved by the principal supervisor and the Head of Department, and must be specified in the PhD plan. If the stay is not definitively scheduled in connection with the PhD plan, the plan must specify how the stay abroad is expected to be planned. Information on the stay abroad must be submitted to the Head of PhD School once it is finally planned.

 

If a prolonged stay abroad is not possible or appropriate, this must be explained in the PhD plan, as must the plans for how the requirements of the Ministerial Order on the PhD Programme and on the PhD Degree concerning changes in research environment will be implemented.

 

Periods spent at other research institutions are finally reported on in the principal supervisor’s concluding statement, cf. section 11.2.2.

 

 

8.Knowledge communication

The PhD student must, during the course of the PhD, gain experience of teaching activities or other forms of knowledge communication, which, as far as possible, are related to the PhD project. Depending on the student’s employment conditions (cf. section 3), career plans and project, various forms of communication may be relevant.

 

Knowledge communication could, for example, include:

• Teaching
• Participation in educational training and tutoring
• Tutoring of students
• Preparation of books, contributions to books, articles, features or posters
• Industrial PhD student’s business report
• Lectures

 

Work tasks of an administrative nature cannot be included.

 

PhD students who are to teach – or are otherwise simply interested – can receive guidance in teaching from those responsible for the subject and other permanent lecturers. They also have the option of attending the Faculty of Social Science’s course on teaching for new teachers. Time spent on this can count as knowledge communication, and employed PhD students can count it as part of their work duties.

 

The overall scope of knowledge communication must be at least 300 working hours regardless of the PhD student’s employment conditions. Time spent teaching is calculated according to the principles for calculation of working hours for employed PhD students (cf. section 3.3.). Time spent on the Business Report is fixed at 120 hours. For the other activities, actual time consumption should be recorded.

 

For PhD students on the Industrial PhD programme, it may be agreed between the Head of PhD School, the Head of Department and the partner that experience in teaching and knowledge communication may be gained through activities performed at the partner’s premises.

 

Plans for implementing the provision of the Ministerial Order on the PhD Programme and on the PhD Degree concerning the gaining of experience in teaching or another form of knowledge communication must be specified in the PhD plan (cf. section 9), and must be approved by the PhD Committee. It is often not possible to set out a detailed plan, and it is then up to the principal supervisor and the PhD student to complete the plan on an ongoing basis.

 

In the first and second year assessments, the Head of PhD School will be informed of communication activities completed and the plans for the rest of the PhD period.

The overall knowledge communication effort is finally reported on in the principal supervisor’s concluding statement, cf. section 11.2.2.