Mauritz Panggabean ([email protected]) Department of Telematics, NTNU

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Seminar for PhD Supervisors | IME Faculty | Orkanger, Norway | March 8-9, 2012

Mauritz Panggabean ([email protected])Department of Telematics, NTNU

Seminar for PhD Supervisors, IME FacultyMarch 8-9, 2012 | Orkanger, Norway

Towards quality PhD supervision:A look from a PhD studentlessons

learned so far

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Brief introduction• b. 1980, Indonesian citizen, married• Education:

– B.S., EE, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Indonesia (2003)– M.Sc./ir. (ingenieur), EE, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (TU/e),

The Netherlands (2008)• Full scholarship from the Dutch government• One-year full-time intern at Philips Research Eindhoven

– Ph.D., telematics, NTNU, December 2012 (expected)• Full scholarship from NTNU and the Research Council of Norway• PhD topic: Image sequence compression and transient traffic synthesis

for delay sensitive collaborations• Advisors: Professors Leif Arne Rønningen and Harald Øverby• (Co-)author of 14 refereed conference papers (to date)• Journal articles: two submitted and more in preparation to submit in 2012

• 2004-2006: a lecturer with a private higher education institution in Indonesia, supervising and coaching 20+ students

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.- Søren Kierkegaard

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Outline

• Objective• PhD and PhD study: what is and is not• Some facts about PhD at IME• The main contributing factors to PhD programs at NTNU• Modeling ‘the PhD story’• Some potential problems from the factors• A case study

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Objective

• To share ideas and suggestions to PhD supervisors at IME faculty toward higher quality in PhD supervision

• Data from IME faculty (objective)• Accumulated experiences and observations from the

journeys of mine and other PhD students toward PhD (subjective)

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PhD and PhD study: what is and is not

• PhD: fully professional researcher– At the most basic level you must have something to

say that your peers want to listen to– Must have a command of what is happening in your

subject so that you can evaluate the worth of what others are doing

– Must have the astuteness to discover where you can make a useful contribution

– Must be aware of the ethics of your profession and work within them

– Must have mastery of appropriate techniques that are currently being used, and also be aware of their limitations

– Must be able to communicate your results effectively in the professional arena

– All these must be carried out in an international context; your professional peer group is worldwide

Begin from the end in mind. - Stephen Covey

What is a PhD program?A comprehensive training to be a PhD, supervised by experienced researchers

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Some facts about PhD at IME

• % PhD at IME to total number at NTNU?

• Max years* by regulation to complete PhD at NTNU?

• % PhD candidates at IME who– Never finish their PhD?– Get PhD within max years after start date?– Get PhD long* after contract end date?

• Goal: successful PhD completion (submitting thesis by contract)

ca 20%

ca 20%

ca 20%ca 60%

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Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. - Albert Einstein

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The main contributing factors to PhD programs at NTNU

Culture Logistics

Supervisors

Courses

PublicationsStudent

Environment

PhD research

Thesis

Selection & recruitment

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Modeling ‘the PhD story’Environment

Supervisor

PhD research

PhD student

Publications

Logistics

Culture

Courses

Duty work*

Research, expertise and interests

PhD defenseQuality

PhD SupervisionConstraints:- Time and funding: 3 or 4-year PhD contract- Fact: 24 hours a day

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Potential problems (1)Culture

Environment

Supervisor

PhD research

PhD student

Publications

Logistics

Culture

Courses

Duty work*


PhD defense

(Particularly for foreign students who are abroad for the first time)• Different values, e.g. honesty, assertiveness• The right to say ‘no’ (esp. for those from Asia)• More direct exchange of ideas• Flat hierarchy (e.g. calling professors by name)• Handling assumptions• Difficulties in using English during conversations• The student and the supervisors do not address

these issues together during PhD supervision

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Potential problems (2)Courses

Environment

Supervisor

PhD research

PhD student

Publications

Logistics

Culture

Courses

Duty work*


PhD defense

• Too much time and effort spent to finish courses, less for research (esp. for students with 3-year contract)

• Continuous failures in exams• Courses very difficult to pass• Low motivation in completing the courses due to, e.g.

no relation to research or lack of interest• Courses favored for research are not available• Inflexibility in planning the courses• The student and the supervisors do not address


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Environment

Supervisor

PhD research

PhD student

Publications

Logistics

Culture

Courses

Duty work*


PhD defense

Source: http://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/content.php?pid=223551&sid=1897456

• Lack of focus and direction in research vision and planning

• Lack of skills essential for research

• Lack of knowledge of the topics related to the research

• Lack of passion and character for good research

Potential problems (3)PhD research

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Environment

Supervisor

PhD research

PhD student

Publications

Logistics

Culture

Courses

Duty work*


PhD defense

• Lack of academic English skills for preparing papers for international publications

• Lack of motivation to produce quality publication• Requirement for publication too high, not clear or not

agreed for PhD defense• Too much time and effort to cope with paper rejection• Low confidence to publish results from research• Lack of research results worthy of publication after

considerable time and effort• The student and the supervisors do not address


Potential problems (4)Publications

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Environment

Supervisor

PhD research

PhD student

Publications

Logistics

Culture

Courses

Duty work*


PhD defense

Potential problems (6)Environment

• Loneliness: no/few people known to be working on the topic/field at the department/faculty/university

• Little research network available outside the university• Each fellow PhD student under the same supervisor

addresses topics with no/little overlap (fragmented research strategy and planning)

• Very good job market overshadows PhD work• External issues, such as from family life• The student and the supervisors do not address


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Environment

Supervisor

PhD research

PhD student

Publications

Logistics

Culture

Courses

Duty work*


PhD defense

Potential problems (5)Logistics

• Essential equipments for research are not available• Too much time and bureaucracy to provide or fix

equipments essential for research• Reduction or termination of project funding• The student and the supervisors do not address


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Environment

Supervisor

PhD research

PhD student

Publications

Logistics

Culture

Courses

Duty work*


PhD defense

Potential problems (6)Research, expertise

and interests

• The supervisor is not an expert on the research topic• Perceived little appreciation or interest from the

supervisor in the PhD research and the progress• The supervisor is not actively involved in research that

covers the topic• The student and the supervisors do not address


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Environment

Supervisor

PhD research

PhD student

Publications

Logistics

Culture

Courses

Duty work*


PhD defenseQuality

PhD SupervisionConstraints:- Time and funding: 3 or 4-year PhD contract- Fact: 24 hours a day

Potential problems (7)PhD supervision

• Wrong assumptions or partial understanding on PhD supervision

• The supervisor takes PhD supervision too lightly• The supervisor is very busy and has no/little time for

quality supervision• The supervisors during supervision are interested only

in research results, esp. publications• No regular time allocated for progress meeting• The student is afraid to ask for quality supervision

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Case study: what should you do if these happen to your student?• The PhD student is smart, but shy and lack of initiatives• One experiment to get data may take six months• Replacing broken equipment might take three months• Too much time spent to pass a difficult course• You are no expert on the PhD topic• The student could be the only person working on such a topic

at the department, and perhaps at NTNU• Two of THREE years left with no papers published yet• You are really very busy with various roles• Many nice jobs with attractive packages outside PhD

What is the chance of the student finishing PhD on time?What is the chance of the student quitting PhD?

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Mauritz Panggabean ([email protected]) Department of Telematics, NTNU

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