In three words or phrases: Friendly, organized, and focused in helping to achieve your thesis goals.

Provision of Training

In the first year of your PhD, you should focus on methodological/technical training as this will help you gain independence with the measurement tools required for your project.

I will work with you in the lab for the first training sessions, however, I commonly ask my experienced PhD students/postdocs to help you familiarize with equipment, data extraction and analysis

I also encourage PhD students to participate in projects which are outside their thesis topic so they can get additional research experience.

Finally, I also encourage students to attend courses that are relevant for their projects (i.e., programming, statistics).

Progression Monitoring and Management

I expect that once that you are familiar with the measurements/methods/analysis you will be responsible for moving forward with the project. Nevertheless, I will always be available if you require guidance, assistance or additional support.

You should keep continuous communication with me regarding the progress of the project. I will schedule meetings to keep track of your progress. If any issues arise, I expect that you communicate these in a timely manner so we can generate an action plan together to get things back on track.

I will be fully committed to the success of your PhD, so I will also expect your full commitment to the project.

Communication

Due to family commitments, I am known to email my team/PhD students outside of conventional working hours; however, I will not expect you to do the same.

My lab has a Skype group where you can contact me at any time if any issues arise or if you would like to schedule an extra meeting. Depending on the query, I usually respond quickly (with the exception of weekends).

Whilst I expect you to keep up with my/ team communications I will expect you to manage your work/life balance.

I am happy to discuss any personal issues that might be impacting your studies. I will try to guide and support you to the best of my ability. You can also seek support from the postgraduate research student support team [Jodie Eagles, Wellbeing support in the College of Life and Environmental sciences].

PhD Students can expect scheduled meetings with me:

These meetings will be a mixture face to face or via video chat or telephone, and I am usually contactable for an instant response (if required) every working day.

Working Patterns

The timing of work in my lab is completely flexible, and (other than attending pre-arranged meetings), I expect students to manage their own time.

Notice Period for Feedback

I need at least 2 weeks' notice to provide feedback on written work of up to 5000 words.