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Department of History

Supervision

In this section

  • Research Supervision
  • Timetable

  • Monitoring Student Engagement and Progression

Research Supervision

The relationship with your supervisor will be at the heart of your training in history here at Warwick. Every research student has a supervisor assigned before they commence their studies, and in many cases, joint supervisors may be appointed. It is the role of the supervisor(s) to guide you in the design of your research and to offer constructive advice and intellectual support as you move through each stage of your project right up to your final viva voce examination.

Guidelines for PGR SupervisionLink opens in a new window

Regular Supervisor Meetings

Your supervisor(s) will meet with you regularly to discuss your work, and agree on a programme of reading, research and writing with you. There is a university requirement that you meet with your supervisor in-person at least once a month, but they may be more frequent if necessary.

Students being jointly supervised may sometimes meet with both supervisors, but more often you will meet only with one time - in the latter case, it is important to ensure that your second supervisor knows about the conversations that have taken place with the first.

The planning of fieldwork, archival visits, and other aspects of your research design should be discussed in-depth with your supervisor.

Timetable

You will agree on an overall programme of study with your supervisor, and this is likely to include tasks for you to complete to agreed deadlines, including writing. We have high expectations of you as a writer (as well as a researcher), and consider that one of the factors in the successful submission rate of research theses in the Department, is that we encourage and expect students to start writing very early in their programme of study.

Progress Reviews

Monitoring Student Engagement and Progression

Engagement monitoring happens for all students at the University of Warwick.

To help us to measure engagement with your course, identify any problems which you may be experiencing and offer support to help you, the department has check points throughout the year. For PGR students, in-person supervision meeting records should provide the majority of your engagement points. In-person annual review or upgrade meetings, and research skills training are also acceptable engagement points. If you miss engagement points, this may indicate that you are having problems with the course and need additional support.

PGR students are required to meet engagement requirements up to the point of first submission, and then again during the correction period following the viva through to final submission.

It is extremely important that you meet the requirements of each point as failure to do so could result in a warning letter being sent to you from Student Records reminding you of your obligations as a student. Student's monitoring points schedules are available to see on Tabula via the "Attendance" tab.

International students should be particularly aware of the consequences of missing contact points: the Academic Office is obliged to report to the Home Office UK Visas and Immigration (formerly the UK Border Agency) if any student visa holders have been found not to be regularly engaging with and attending their degree course. This could lead to the curtailment of their visas.

Please speak to your Supervisor if you feel you might be at risk of not meeting these critical requirements at any point during your University career.

All supervision meetings should normally take place face-to-face, in-person where possible. If necessary (such as when a student is on a research visit overseas, has applied for a Change of Study Location, or public health requirements dictate), online meetings via MS Teams or by phone may be acceptable, with email contact normally being used to supplement rather than replace such meetings. The format of your meeting should be logged in your record of it. It is mandatory for you to record these meetings promptly Tabula with a short summary of what was discussed and action points for the future.

The University's Good Practice Guide on Monitoring Student Attendance and ProgressionLink opens in a new window at all levels of study is intended to help departments in supporting students’ learning through monitoring their attendance and academic progress. Missed monitoring points are currently submitted in real-time to Student Administrative Services.

An email will be sent to any students who have missed a monitoring point reminding them of the University's and, where relevant, the UKVI's requirements. Once a student has missed 2 or more monitoring points, the Department will contact the student and supervisor about their poor engagement and signpost to Wellbeing Support if there are any issues. At 2 consecutive missed monitoring points, with no other record of engagement shown, the missing student procedure may be initiated.

Cases may be referred to the Academic Registrar if a student has missed 4 monitoring points, to consider Permanent Withdrawal under Regulation 36.

Please note you are required to record your monthly supervision meetings via Tabula regardless if you are already recording your meetings on another platform such as M4C.

Please see a guide here on how to record monitoring points https://warwick.ac.uk/services/its/servicessupport/web/tabula/manual/monitoring-points/mp-students/. 

A full list of monitoring points for History students can be found hereLink opens in a new window. You will also find details of your monitoring points on Tabula.

Please see here Regulation 36 regarding attendance and the need to record your supervision via Tabula.

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