Supervision and Mentoring

Throughout the program, doctoral students will receive personal advice from a dedicated committee of three BAGSS professors. This thesis committee, consisting of a principal supervisor and two associate supervisors, will offer support not only in academic concerns, but also matters of post-doctoral career planning. BAGSS also allows the inclusion of external supervisors from the School's international partners, providing this is feasible and and appropriate.

The composition of the supervisory team will be agreed with students during their first semester and reflects the nature of the research project. Whereever possible, the team should have an interdisciplinary outlook and comprise scholars representing different intellectual traditions. 

The candidate and the committee jointly develop an individual research training plan tailored to the student's specific needs. The plan constitutes the core of a PhD learning agreement doctoral students and supervisors will sign. It also includes milestones for students to be met at different stages of their dissertation project. These milestones serve as benchmarks for evaluating thesis progress in discussions with the supervisory committee. Supervisors are committed to comment regularly and comprehensively on their students' written work (e.g., draft chapters). 

The learning agreement and the extensive advice given by a thesis committee provide a clear framework for carrying out doctoral research at BAGSS. However, where it appears appropriate, both the composition of the supervisory committee and the research training plan may later be changed by mutual agreement.