In three words or phrases: Supportive, organised, empowering.
Provision of Training
I use a fairly hands on-approach for new PhD students, to help with technical training and experimental planning. We have set weekly meetings, but I am available via online message or in person if students have questions between meetings. Over time I expect increased independence, with students working increasingly independently in terms of suggesting hypotheses, experiments and methods.
Progression Monitoring and Management
I have one-on-one meetings with my team every week where we have informal discussions about experiments, progress, and guidance. The duration of these meetings depends on what needs to be discussed that particular week, sometimes they’re short other times they take a little longer. Once a month these one-on-one’s are more formal meetings which include assessment of progress, management of project, and development of experimental/thesis plans. We have weekly group lab meetings where 1 person presents the work they have been doing in a semi-formal setting (using powerpoint, giving a brief background for new students/lab members, discussing results, trouble shooting, and suggestions for future experiments). These provide good practice for students to become more comfortable with oral presentations, and help keep everyone in the lab up-to-date with what is going on with each project.
Communication
My team uses Slack, a messaging app, for most communications. This allows individual or group messages, including sharing interesting papers, housekeeping matters, and experimental queries. I generally respond to Slack messages very quickly, and I am happy to discuss questions as they arise. I do not expect students to see/reply to messages out-of-hours, on weekends, or annual leave, as I think a healthy work-life balance is very important.
PhD Students can expect scheduled meetings with me:
In a group meeting
At least once per week
In year 1 of PhD study
At least once per week
In year 2 of PhD study
At least once per week
In year 3 of PhD study
At least once per week
These meetings will be mainly face to face, and I am usually contactable for an instant response on 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 1 week’s notice to provide feedback on written work of up to 5000 words.
