Supervisor Meetings 101 for Newbies (Easy steps!)

[@hoangphucpham2182]

Amazing video Andy! 6 months into my PhD and I can say your vids (even those 3 years ago) have been so helpful.

[@brucermarino]

Thank you. I'm assigning this to all my students including the undergraduates. Well done, again, my friend!

[@DrAndyStapleton]

Glad it was helpful!

[@csmentor5482]

As an academic myself, I am not sure I agree with everything is said here. Being organized, having a clear idea of what to say, it's important. But there is no way you can always be in control of the meeting. Brain storm and move off what was previously discussed and agreed, is the way in which new ideas are generated. Students need to learn the flexibility of moving from what they believe is "right" to explore new, obscure, and unclear ways to reach a goal. That is the real essence of research.

[@boredscientist5756]

He never said otherwise, it is quite obvious that during a meeting, ideas will be thrown at you and that it will stray you away from the initial presentation...it is a discussion more than a presentation. I experience it EVERY week (as it should be)... In my lab (top 10 btw), it goes as follow: -every week someone present his current research and results. -during the presentation, he gets loads of questions and suggestions on how to improve that and that. -Finally, everyone brainstorm to help the individual to improve his research leading to new ideas, new research, new projects even! Pretty common in Physics, biology and chemistry.... It's all about brainstorming all together, a 20 minutes presentation easily turns out to be 2 hours. Andy never said the opposite!

[@csmentor5482]

@@boredscientist5756 I agree with what you say and it's great how you run your lab. However, even just the first 30sec of the video seem to suggest this idea of "control" that I am not sure it's beneficial. There is difference between being organized providing updates and a student being in complete control.

[@JensGulin]

These videos are from his experience and are not a set solution even when presented as such. If he said it was post doc it makes sense that he was experienced enough to come up with own ideas, but much of his meeting was still "input" time. I can see how in some groups the brainstorming (or problem offloading) could slow down the plans you already made and maintaining control is crucial. But also when you need input, having control means you get input when you're prepared for it. Basically: gather a few focused problems to feed the sharks unless you want them to chew on the boat. Too much control of the meeting may however be a way to fake progress and turn down supervision, which is not good. If you're early PhD or in a group brainstorming meeting, listening more is probably key. A nugget for me was the "remind them what you do" which didn't seem necessary from my perspective.

[@lesphd]

Oh wow I love this level of preparation! It was interesting, thank you Andy!

[@DrAndyStapleton]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@rbg9854]

Thank you so much for this video! It will transform the rest of my PhD life I believe!

[@RicRaftis]

You mentioned that the slides were an example of a meeting you had as a post-doc. How many sorts of supervisor meetings are there? Are they different when doing the research subjects compared to when writing your thesis? What's different about the post-doc meetings? Perhaps a video on types of meetings might put some useful context around this.

[@marcolopriore3239]

Sounds perfect! I’ll copy and paste the structure for my next meetings! Love it great job as always mate!

[@yqisq6966]

pro tips. I'm passing this to my students.

[@ThuNguyen-es7gk]

great tips that I can learn from your expertise and experience. thanks so much!! very well-prepared and effective

[@crazycurious6961]

Hey Andy, do a video on supervisor's choosing reviewers for a PhD dissertation. Actual topic not yet covered on your channel, but very relevant. Of course, if you know anything on the issue.

[@bestnick123456789]

This is great! Thanks a lot! Quick question, where did you make the slides? Powerpoint? I like how neat they are; the progress bar you added was such a nice touch!

[@Hsjfbxgakehucishu]

What do you mean by people trying to 1up each other? How can you tell that is what they are doing? Do you think they are consciously doing it?

[@spongeBug]

Thanks!

[@Spongebob-qy1hx]

hey andy, this isn't related to the video, but have you heard of the movement DeSci? Do you think that this movement will finally solve many of the issues plaguing academia today?

[@DrAndyStapleton]

I haven't but just looked at it and it is very exciting! I'll delve deeper - thanks for putting this on my radar!

[@Spongebob-qy1hx]

​@@DrAndyStapleton yea of course, could you make a video about your opinion about it? I want to go into academia, but I don't want to deal with all of academia's issues.

[@takiyaazrin7562]

Take care Dr Stapleton

[@SamyaDaleh]

How often do you have such supervisor meetings in order to have data to present every time? I work part-time beside my PhD and see my supervisor once a month. I prepare an agenda every time, but often it's only two or three points: I have written or edited some sections, nothing new to show, I will attend this workshop today afternoon, and I got this or that question.

[@Alekosssvr]

"We have a need in proposal writing in topic 2" me: "But I wish to publish work I finished in topic 1" (groundbreaking solution to a problem people were trying to solve for 20 years" "You work for me you will work on proposal writing" So I agree (had no choice other than to quit) And he forms a group of 5 new grad students writing papers based on my work (of course, without my name on it). So here is my challenge: Anyone out there have a worse story?

[@brucebarrera2730]

Thank you for your data, Dr. Stapleton, sir. ISRAEL ✨

[@amlaaaa479]

Your channel is really only of any use for PhD students in the SCIENCES. I think you should mention that in the video titles to avoid wasting non-science PhD students' time

[@jumpingcrazybanana]

I'm an undergraduate student in the HUMANITIES. A lot of this information can be applied to some counterpart of presenting to my supervisor and reviewers. It's helpful and not a waste of time at all.

[@uMONTYu]

The time you wasted writing this comment is your own doing. It would have taken less time to think to yourself "oh, nope this isn't relevant to me, I should stop watching"