Effective supervision is imperative for the success of a doctoral programme. A productive and positive supervision relationship is the bedrock of a successful doctoral journey. Supervisors and students are encouraged to enter into conversation at the outset. The respective responsibilities of supervisors and students are outlined in the co-signed Memorandum of Understanding.

Every doctoral candidate must have one internal, FMHS-affiliated supervisor who has completed a supervision course, and ensures that they are familiar with up-to-date SU and FMHS policies and deadlines. An external main supervisor may be nominated as long as an internal co-supervisor who participates actively in the doctoral journey and is in a position to assure that the candidate works to SU and FMHS policies and deadlines, is also included in the supervision team.

The ideal number of supervisors depends on the supervision model. As a rule of thumb, two supervisors per student are ideal for lone-standing studies, whereas the allocation of up to a maximum of four supervisors per student can work well where several senior researchers are collaborating on a larger project, or where a cohort approach is taken. A proliferation of supervisors is generally not beneficial to a PhD. Over and above the suggested numbers, additional domain experts may be asked for once-off inputs on specific aspects of the study; bearing in mind that the pool of possible reviewers and internal examiners shrinks whenever a colleague becomes involved in a PhD study.

Prerequisites for supervision
 

Hold a PhD	Know criteria	GCP certified
A doctoral supervisor should usually hold a PhD degree. With suitable motivation, an experienced specialist within a relevant domain who does not hold a PhD, may be nominated as a supervisor. Current students may not supervise a PhD.	Internal supervisors must familiarise themselves with the FMHS Doctoral Guidelines; the SU Yearbook rules on doctoral degrees; and the national guidelines on doctoral graduate attributes.	Along with clinical PhD students, every supervisor of clinical research towards a PhD is expected to have active / up-to-date Good Clinical Practice (GCP) certification.

Eligible team	Trained supervisors	Prior collaboration
Detailed information on eligibility for supervision is included in this document.  An internal FMHS supervisor must be included in the team. Associates may fulfil this role. Current PhD students, Postdocs, and Emeritus Professors may not supervise research degree students enrolled in the FMHS.	The FMHS requires all doctoral supervisors to attend formal supervision training. Options:  • CREST Online Training for Supervisors of Doctoral Candidates at African Universities • Centre for Higher and Adult Education (CHAE) Postgraduate Supervision course • More coming soon	The success of a PhD is strongly influenced by the working relationship amongst supervisors. In the case of joint degrees, previous collaboration is a prerequisite for appointing co-supervisors. A supervisor who has a connection with a supervisor at an SU joint degree partner, can consider recruiting for a joint degree (more information below).