Figueiredo, A. D. (2009). Everything you always wanted to know about the student/advisor relationship (but were afraid to ask). [PDF slides] (Research Methods, Part III – The Praxis of Science).

1. Recent Courses
RC
Everything you always
wanted to know about
The
Student/Advisor
Relationship
(but were afraid to ask)
RESEARCH METHODS
PART III – THE PRAXIS OF SCIENCE

2. 1. THE IMPLICATIONS OF A PARTENERSHIP
2. THE MOTIVATIONS OF THE STUDENT
3. THE MOTIVATIONS OF THE ADVISOR
4. PARTENERSHIP IN SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION
5. CONCLUSIONS

3. 1. THE IMPLICATIONS OF A PARTENERSHIP
2. THE MOTIVATIONS OF THE STUDENT
3. THE MOTIVATIONS OF THE ADVISOR
4. PARTENERSHIP IN SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION
5. CONCLUSIONS

4. 1. THE IMPLICATIONS OF A PARTNERSHIP
A sustainable partnership requires that every
part be concerned, not only with its own benefits,
but also with the benefits of the other part.
In a partnership (be it a commercial society, a married couple, or the
relationship between PhD student and advisor), if the benefits
revert only to one of the parts, the partnership deteriorates.
The sustainability of a partnership requires, thus, a genuine
effort from each part to understand the motivations of
the other and contribute consistently to their fulfillment.
This is rule number 1 of any sustainable relationship.

5. 1. THE IMPLICATIONS OF A PARTENERSHIP
2. THE MOTIVATIONS OF THE STUDENT
3. THE MOTIVATIONS OF THE ADVISOR
4. PARTENERSHIP IN SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION
5. CONCLUSIONS

6. 2. MOTIVATIONS OF THE STUDENT
The six most common motivations of a PhD student:
• To obtain a good PhD thesis.
• To acquire the competence to defend successfully the thesis.
• To acquire exceptional scientific knowledge
and skills in the field of the thesis.
• To acquire top competencies for publishing, presenting
and publicly defending his/her scientific production.
• To acquire the research competencies to let him/her
pursue autonomously a high level scientific career.
• To move one step up in his/her professional or academic career.

7. 1. THE IMPLICATIONS OF A PARTENERSHIP
2. THE MOTIVATIONS OF THE STUDENT
3. THE MOTIVATIONS OF THE ADVISOR
4. PARTENERSHIP IN SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION
5. CONCLUSIONS

8. 3. MOTIVATIONS OF THE ADVISOR
The three most common motivations of an advisor:
• To strengthen the competence and scientific projection of his/her group.
(The financial survival of a research group and its correlated ability to attract good
collaborators depend on its acknowledged competence and scientific projection).
• To strengthen his/her personal curriculum.
(The progress of a researcher in his/her academic career
depends directly from his/her personal scientific curriculum).
• To enjoy a stimulating intellectual partnership.
(One of the major motivations of a scientist is the fun of facing interesting
intellectual challenges together with intellectually stimulating partners).

9. 3. MOTIVATIONS OF THE ADVISOR
As the task of PhD advisor is usually carried out for free,
any PhD student who does not contribute to fulfill
the above motivations is a waste of time and effort.
Examples of unattractive PhD students: The students who do not exercise
their self-sufficiency, act as employees with no imagination, keep waiting
to be told what to do next, do it without commitment and quality, and
sometimes even forget the suggestions and recommendations received.
Examples of attractive PhD students: Those who act with initiative,
autonomy, enthusiasm, and sense of accomplishment and contribute to
intellectually stimulating and scientifically rich challenges and debates.

10. 3. MOTIVATIONS OF THE ADVISOR
When the advisor’s motivation toward the partnership with
a PhD student starts to diminish, the advice to that student
unconsciously steps down many positions in his/her priorities.
The advisor will gradually start showing lack of time to support
that student, which is a sign that the partnership is in danger.

11. 1. THE IMPLICATIONS OF A PARTENERSHIP
2. THE MOTIVATIONS OF THE STUDENT
3. THE MOTIVATIONS OF THE ADVISOR
4. PARTENERSHIP IN SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION
5. CONCLUSIONS

12. 4. PARTNERSHIP IN SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION
Partnership in scientific production is the
main corollary of what has just been said.
A student/advisor relationship that does not lead to scientific
production shared by student and advisor is doomed to failure.
In most research groups, a student who publishes a paper on his/her
own, or publishes with other groups without the advisor’s approval,
seriously infringes the principles of student/advisor partnership.
In the academic tradition, this may cause the immediate
rejection of a student. In any case, the motivation of the advisor
to keep advising that student is likely to decrease very much.

13. 4. PARTNERSHIP IN SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION
TRADITIONS FOR AUTHOR LISTS:
LIBERALIST TRADITION:
The name of the student is placed in the first place and the
name of the advisor takes the last place (the names
of other contributors may be placed in between)
(the advisor stimulates the student to venture
into the ‘wild world’, but covers his/her back)
In publications where the advisor develops personal
ideas that give strategic framing to future work,
the name of the advisor may comes in first place.
CENTRALIST TRADITION:
The name of the advisor goes first (even when the advisor
did not give any visible contribution to the publication).
(the advisor is the ‘boss’, and everyone should follow)

14. 4. PARTNERSHIP IN SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION
CREDIT TRADITION:
When other authors contribute, besides student
and advisor, all the names may be placed in
the decreasing order of their contribution.
ALPHABETICAL TRADITION:
When other authors contribute, besides student and
advisor, the names may be placed in alphabetical order.
COMBINATIONS:
Combinations of the above traditions may happen.
In some institutions, the combinations turn out to be so ridiculous
or unfair that author’s lists have become a topic of frequent jokes
(e.g., http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=562)

15. 1. THE IMPLICATIONS OF A PARTENERSHIP
2. THE MOTIVATIONS OF THE STUDENT
3. THE MOTIVATIONS OF THE ADVISOR
4. PARTENERSHIP IN SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION
5. CONCLUSIONS

16. 5. CONCLUSIONS
The principle of reciprocity, which supports any sustainable
partnership (society, marriage, thesis), requires the permanent
effort of each part to grant value to the other part
In the case of the partnership between PhD student and advisor, this
requires from the student a permanent reflection on questions such as:
• I am being an attractive or an unattractive student?
• What results did I get in strengthening the competence and
scientific projection of the group to which I belong, contributing
to the scientific curriculum of my advisor, and offering
him/her and my group a stimulating intellectual partnership?
• What efforts in that direction shall I make in the near future?

17. The author is Emeritus Professor of Information Systems at the University of
Coimbra, Portugal. These slides summarize one of the 40+ modules of his course on
Research Methods for PhD students. An expanded version of this module has been
converted into a chapter of the author’s upcoming book on Research Methods.
Comments and suggestions for the treatment of the topic
in the book are welcome and will be duly acknowledged.
Author’s URL:
http://adfig.com
Please cite as:
Figueiredo, A. D. (2009). Everything you always wanted to know about the
student/advisor relationship (but were afraid to ask). [PDF slides]
(Research Methods, Part III – The Praxis of Science). Retrieved from
http://www.slideshare.net/adfigueiredo/
© A. Dias de Figueiredo, Coimbra, November 2009