Dissertation Supervision
Whether you are a final year undergraduate or completing your MA in History, doing a dissertation is the culmination of your degree, giving you the opportunity to produce a substantive piece of historical research.
You will receive regular personal guidance from a supervisor throughout the dissertation process. Your supervisor will be assigned in Term One. In addition, the Final Year Dissertations Coordinator and the PGT Director will be available for general guidance and queries.
This page provides general guidance on how to work with a supervisor.
Dissertation Modules
Please see the specific module pages for details of what is required in your dissertation, and how the supervisor allocation process will work.
Contacting and communicating with your supervisor
It is highly recommended that you meet (either in person or via MS Teams) with your supervisor and discuss your dissertation plans as soon as possible after your supervisor is assigned.
Plan to meet with your supervisor as needed throughout the year, either by appointment or in their office hours. You should plan to meet with them at least five times during terms 1 and 2. It is up to you to be proactive and organise these meetings. You can also email your supervisor with any quick queries that you have. Your supervisor may also offer group meetings with other students working on similar topics.
Students spending part of their final year in Venice, or who have a supervisor based in Venice, can meet with their supervisor over email or MS Teams.
You should communicate with your supervisor about their availability, both in term time, and outside of term time, especially during Easter (for UG students) or Summer (for PGT students). It is particularly important that you ensure you have a clear understanding of your supervisor鈥檚 availability outside of term time, when you will be focused on finalising and editing your dissertation, as your supervisor may be conducting research activities or taking annual leave. You should not expect lengthy meetings with your supervisor outside of term time, but rather should be at the stage of your dissertation where any queries are technical or can be answered briefly.
What does a supervisor do?
You can expect your supervisor to:
- Offer you the opportunity to meet with them to discuss your work. This might be in individual or group settings.
- Answer queries via email (usually within 3 working days)
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Advise you on the Ethical Approval process, if necessary.
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Provide you with advice about suitable primary sources and possible archival visits.
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Provide advice about secondary sources and how to make the most of the library鈥檚 resources.
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Act as a sounding board and help you to develop your ideas.
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Help you to refine your proposal so that it is manageable in the time that you have available.
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Advise you on project management, note taking, and good academic practice.
- Answer specific inquiries about technical aspects of the writing and presentation up until you submit the dissertation. Please check with your supervisor directly about their availability over the Easter/Summer vacation period, as above.
- Be the first marker of your dissertation.
Undergraduate students
Your supervisor will also:
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Mark your presentation and give you written feedback on Tabula.
- Comment on a draft bibliography and/or a 1 page outline. Please discuss an appropriate submission deadline with your supervisor.
MA students
Your supervisor will also:
- Mark the dissertation proposal that you submit as part of your assessment for HI9K0 History Writing
- Read and comment on a draft of your dissertation, provided this material is submitted to the supervisor by 31 July, or another date agreed between you and your supervisor.
You should NOT expect your supervisor to:
- Come up with a topic or question for you.
- Provide a detailed bibliography or reading list to work from.
- Research your dissertation for you.
- Be available for lengthy supervision meetings outside of term time. Please check with your supervisor directly about their availability over the vacation period, as above.
- Proofread your dissertation.
- Tell you in advance what mark they think your dissertation will achieve.
- Respond to emails instantly, overnight, at the weekend, or at the very last minute.
- Supervise your project in exactly the same way as other students鈥� supervisors might. Supervisors have different working styles, and different students benefit from different approaches.
How to make the most of your supervisor:
- Meet with your supervisor regularly to discuss the progress of your project.
- To make the most of supervision meetings, prepare in advance with specific questions about areas of research that you feel you need to develop, rather than asking for general advice.
- Be proactive about getting in touch with your supervisor when you need support.
- If you don鈥檛 understand advice that you have been given, or if you are struggling, ask for clarification and support.
- Attend any guidance sessions and check Moodle and/or the module webpage for general information about the dissertation, so that you can make the most of supervision meetings to discuss your research ideas.
Further Support and Guidance
You can also seek help and advice from any other members of staff in the department in their office hours or by appointment, as well as from the Dissertation Coordinator or PGT Director. Speak to your supervisor about which members of staff might be particularly useful to talk to.