The PhD supervisor must help the PhD student get off to a good start and be on the sidelines throughout the whole process. One of those who helps the students on their way is Erik Parner from the Department of Public Health. He has been a PhD supervisor since 2001, initially as a co-supervisor and then, since 2007, also as a principal supervisor.

“The PhD students that I come into contact with tell me that it means everything to have a good supervisor who you can lean on and who is contactable,” says Erik Parner. So far he has sent ten PhDs out into the world. The eleventh is on the way.

On the initiative of the Talent Development Committee, the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Aarhus University carried out a study of the quality in the PhD process. The study shows that the PhD students who are satisfied with their supervision are less uncertain about the quality of their research work. They also feel less exhausted are more satisfied with how their project is progressing.

Help to reach their goal

The research also shows that research-related topics such as e.g. formulation of research questions, analysis and knowledge dissemination constitute the main content of the PhD supervision.

“To begin with I always have a so-called reconciliation of expectations with the student. What do you expect to get out of the supervision and what do I expect of you as a student?” says Erik Parner.

So that the two of them can nip any misunderstandings in the bud.

I need to help the PhD student get off to a good start, but it must also be clear that the ownership of the thesis lies with the PhD student,” says Erik Parner.

He points out that a PhD study programme can be a very tough period to get through. And at times very lonely.

“It can be a major upheaval to suddenly start carrying out research. The students have the responsibility themselves and they cannot always see how they are going to reach their goal,” says Erik Parner. Earlier in the year he was honoured as the PhD supervisor of the year and received the Jens Chr. Djurhuus Prize at Health’s annual PhD Day.

Talent developer

A prize he received, according to Vice-Dean for Talent Development Lise Wogensen Bach, among other things for his ability to support the students’ talents.

“Erik is good at defining a project and challenging the students. He supervises so that they carry out an independent piece of work. At the same time, you can come into contact with him, either by email or at his office, and that is essential for the students,” she says.

The supervisor himself is grateful for the prize which he describes as one of the best experiences of his career.

“At the moment, I am very dedicated to supervision and my own research activity is scaled back for a time. Basically, supervision is all about getting the PhD students to unfold their own talent,” he ends.
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Supervisors at Health

Each PhD student has one principal supervisor and, in most cases, two co-supervisors. Some individual students only have one co-supervisor while several others have three to four co-supervisors. A number of students are often associated with each principal supervisor. There are around 810 researchers at Health who act as supervisors. Of these, 312 are principal supervisors.

If you are affiliated with Health at a minimum of associate professor level then you can act as a principal supervisor. Co-supervisors are used to provide a greater breadth of academic sparring for the PhD students. This means there is a wide range of qualifications, but that everyone is an expert in their field. There are co-supervisors from industry, foreign and national universities/research institutions and other special interest organisations. The largest portion of the co-supervisor corps are researchers from Health and Aarhus University Hospital.
Source: Graduate School, Health
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Good advice from the PhD supervisor 

• Reconciliation of expectations at the first meeting
• Supervision meeting every two weeks
• Adapt the supervision to the individual student. PhD students must be supervised in just as many ways as everyone else
• Be contactable
• Be encouraging

Further information

Professor Erik Parner
Aarhus University, Department of Public Health
Direct tel: +45 8716 7995
parner@biostat.au.dk