Supervision

The graduate student and postdoctoral researcher experience revolves largely around the relationship between a student/postdoc and his/her supervisor. Good supervisory practice encourages students and postdocs to reach their potential and advances the progress of world-class research at McGill. In consultation with faculty, staff and students, GPS works to improve supervision policies and regulations and provide resources for supervisors.

In this section you can find information about best-practices in supervision, guidance on how to ensure the timely completion of graduate degrees and resolve conflicts, and strategies designed to guide graduate students from the early stages of writing through to the more advanced stages of editing and revising.

Workshops and panels

A list of upcoming and past supervisory events can be found here.

Supervision responsibilities and guidelines

Guidelines to facilitate positive and mutually beneficial student-supervisor relationships, as well as the roles and responsibilities of each, are clearly outlined in the Supervision Contract. Supervisors working with postdoctoral researchers should additionally make themselves aware of their postdoctoral supervision responsibilities.

Graduate Programs, Departments, and Faculties all have responsibilities in achieving academic objectives. These responsibilities are stated in the Guidelines and Regulations for Academic Units on Graduate Student Advising and Supervision.

As a supervisor, you may be asked to provide references for your students and postdoctoral fellows. Please refer to the section of writing reference letters to assist you in this process.

To help keep graduate supervision strong, GPS and Teaching and Learning Services offer free workshops and panels for supervisors and thesis students.