Finishers’ Wisdom: Tip #8 – No Comments is a Good Sign!

Anaise Irvine

Recent doctoral thesis finishers Emma Kelly and Wendy Moore got together at the latest AUT Postgraduate Writers’ Retreat to collate their 10 top tips for working on a PhD thesis. ThesisLink is publishing their insights over two weeks in our latest blogging event: Finishers’ Wisdom! Enjoy.

Tip #8: If your supervisor doesn’t comment on a paragraph they probably think it’s really good (ask them!)

Supervisors provide feedback in different ways. Ask your supervisor about their style. I was amazed to find out that one of my supervisors thought anything that had no comment on it was really good.

Margin space

The Tip: Ask your supervisor about their feedback style. Tell them what feedback you want/need.

About Anaise Irvine

Dr Anaise Irvine is the Editor of Thesislink and leads the Researcher Education and Development team at Auckland University of Technology. Her PhD research analysed how contemporary films and novels represent genetic engineering as a social justice issue. These days she works with researchers at all levels to improve their research skills, and the most obscure of her own research skills is being able to turn novels into phylogenetic trees!
See all posts by Anaise Irvine 

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