Early Supervision
After a student is being accepted to the program, the School appoints a temporary supervisors to them for the duration of the probationary period. Temporary supervisors advise on course choices and provide early mentoring.
Permanent Supervisors
Taking into account the research topic and the candidate’s preferences, and based on faculty availability, the Doctoral Program Committee appoints a permanent supervisor to the Probationary Doctoral Candidates before the end of the Winter semester.
Supervisors are responsible for communicating with their supervisees on an ongoing basis. For Probationary Doctoral Candidates this will typically include recommending coursework, and assisting in the prospectus design and preparation for the Comprehensive Examination. For Doctoral Candidates, supervisor responsibilities also take on assistance in preparing the student for dissertation research, and matters concerning the formulation and writing of the PhD dissertation. Supervisors regularly request written work and/or research results with a view to providing the necessary feedback within an agreed period of time. Supervisors' responsibilities also include informing the student about the satisfactory or unsatisfactory progress of their work.
Beginning with the second year, supervisors convene twice a year the Supervisory Panel for each doctoral student, and prepare the draft of the panel reports that evaluate the students' progress.
In advanced stages of the PhD candidacy, supervisors also assist students in the preparation of works for scholarly conferences and publications.
Supervisory Panels
Following a successful Comprehensive Examination, a Supervisory Panel is set up for each doctoral student. The Supervisory Panel consists of the student’s primary supervisor and two other faculty members.
Starting in the student’s second year, members of the Supervisory Panel meet with the student approximately every six months. The panel evaluates a submitted chapter or paper and should comment on the overall progress of the dissertation, detailing whether the student’s progress is deemed satisfactory or unsatisfactory.