Supervision

As a rule, all PhD candidates at INN University should have at least two supervisors, one of whom is appointed as the main supervisor.

The main supervisor should be appointed at the time of admission to research education, and has the main responsibility for the PhD candidate. The main supervisor should normally be employed at INN University.

Co-supervisors share the academic responsibility for the candidate with the main supervisor.

All supervisors must hold a doctorate or equivalent competence within the relevant academic field and be active researchers. At least one of the appointed supervisors should have previous experience from and / or training as a supervisor of PhD candidates. The faculty, the PhD programme and the supervisors must ensure that the PhD candidate participates in an active research environment.

It is the responsibility of the faculties to appoint supervisors and enter into contracts with external supervisors. When appointing co-supervisors, a separate agreement must be entered into between the co-supervisor and the faculty of the PhD candidate, which determines the distribution of supervisory hours between the main supervisor and co-supervisor, and any remuneration of the external co-supervisor.

The supervisors and the candidate hold the duty to familiarize themselves with the Ethical guidelines for supervisors at INN University.

Start-up meeting

Points for the start-up meeting between the PhD candidate and supervisor(s):

• Distribution of supervision time over the PhD period
• Expectations related to the role and function of the supervisor
• Expectations related to the PhD candidate's role
• Should the PhD candidate write minutes from the supervision meetings?
• How often must the PhD candidate submit reports and drafts to the supervisor?
• Expectations related to how many times the supervisor should read through the text from the first draft to the final text.
• Evaluation along the way of the supervisory relationship

The content of the supervision

The supervision's content is governed by part 3 of the Regulations for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, and the Agreement on Admission to the PhD Programme at INN University, Part B. (See PhD form)

The PhD candidate and the supervisor are obligated to keep each other informed on all matters relevant to the course of the doctoral education and supervision. Both must actively monitor conditions that could lead to the risk that the supervision will not be carried out adequately.

The supervisors are required to follow up on academic circumstances that may lead to late completion of the research education, so that it can be completed within the prescribed period.

The supervisor should: 

• Advise on the formulation and framing of topics and research questions
• Discuss and evaluate hypotheses and methods
• Advise on academic literature and databases (library, archive, etc.)
• Discuss the layout and implementation of the thesis structural presentation (outline, linguistic form, documentation, etc.)
• Monitor the progress of the PhD candidate's work and evaluate it in relation to the planned progress
• Assist in introducing the PhD candidate into relevant scientific environments
• Discuss results and their interpretation
• Provide guidance in academic dissemination
• Provide guidance in research ethical questions related to the thesis

The PhD candidate should:

• Submit drafts of parts of the thesis to the supervisor in accordance with the project description. Parts of the dissertation can be presented in conjunction with seminars
• Complete the training / taught component in accordance with the progress plan
• Comply with research ethical principles that apply to the academic discipline

The supervision's content is governed by part 3 of the Regulations for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, and the Agreement on Admission to the PhD Programme at INN University, Part B. (See PhD form)

Replacement of supervisor

Changing a supervisor may become a relevant possibility during the doctoral education, when special circumstances dictate this. If the PhD candidate or the supervisor wish to be released from the supervision agreement, this must be addressed with the head of the relevant PhD Programme. The relevant PhD committee processes applications for change of supervisors.