In three words or phrases: Supportive, outcome-orientated, collaborative.

Provision of Teaching

Your technical training will be provided by senior team members (including myself, my Post-doctoral Research Associate and Senior Research Technician), in the first instance. Consequently, you will be expected to develop a more independent approach to your own training that will involve literature research, as well as discussions with colleagues and collaborators.

Progression Monitoring and Management

I monitor the progress of my PhD students through regular progress meetings. I like to be kept up to date with research, which can take place either through supervision meetings or presentations at group meetings. I like to have an agreed timeframe of experiments and outcomes with students. If progress is slower than expected, we will discuss a plan of action to take into account the reasons for it and come up with a revised strategy, as well as ways for you to be fully supported to achieve your goals.

Communication

Communication between me and you will take place primarily via emails, though my door is always open and my team members often knock at my office to ask for advice. I expect all my team members to have a good work/life balance and I never send emails out of standard working hours (e.g. evenings and weekends). We have a team’s WhatsApp group chat, which we regularly use to communicate lab matters.

PhD Students can expect scheduled meetings with me:

These meetings will be face to face, and I am usually contactable for an instant response on every working day.

Working Pattern

Work in my lab requires being present on site (be it in a laboratory or at a field site) during the core hours of 9 am – 5 pm (or a subset if working part time).

Notice Period for Feedback

I need at least 1 week’s notice to provide feedback on written work of up to 5000 words.