The quality of the supervision offered by a PhD programme plays a key role in its global quality and attractiveness. Supervisors must guide the students through the entire process leading to a successful doctoral thesis production.

Supervisors, in collaboration with the program board, shall:

  1. advise on initial background reading and literature survey on the research topic;
  2. support the student in the choice of the first year academic curriculum, taking into account not only the thesis research topic but also the student's profile and best interest in terms of formation and professional development;
  3. support the preparation of the student's research plan in the first year;
  4. provide student guidance throughout the research work and the writing of the thesis;
  5. introduce the student to national and international research groups;
  6. promote the participation of the student in joint IDPASC training initiatives;
  7. encourage training periods at partner institutions or international laboratories;
  8. support the student in writing the papers of his/her research;
  9. support the student in presenting his/her work at international conferences/workshops.

The Supervisor must be an active researcher in the fields relevant for the PhD thesis, thus holding the scientific and institutional links, and have state-of-the-art knowledge of the topic.

Supervisors must have:

  1. at least 3 years of research after PhD;
  2. a strong publication record in the field of research of the thesis;
  3. previous supervision of at least one MSc or PhD thesis.

Note the number of grants to be awarded will be six. Two of these grants will preferentially be given to, if possible one for each category:

  • applications with a supervisor from the Coimbra University;
  • applications with a supervisor and a co-supervisor from two different universities of the programme and a working plan for at least one year in each university

Supervisors without any previous MSc or PhD supervision experience are accepted in co-supervision. This is aimed at encouraging young, excellent researchers to supervise IDPASC students. Co-supervision is highly encouraged, particularly in frontier subjects or in those in which different skills or approaches can be of relevance. As a reference, the goal will be to have at least 1/3 of the theses produced in co-supervision between institutions. This will enhance the mobility of students, who should spend a part of their time in the co-supervision institution, and will provide students with a broader perspective of the problems to be solved, a more competitive set of skills and a wider network of professional contacts. It will also contribute to strengthen collaborations and increase synergies between partners. Support for student accommodation will be provided by the programme according to the available funding.

In addition to a careful choice of supervisors, monitoring tools will be used to make sure high quality student supervision is provided. In particular, supervisors will have to submit a detailed yearly report on the progress of the students to the programme board. A final report sustaining the thesis submission by the student will also be required.

Download the IDPASC Portugal - Supervisors Criteria .