Supervision#
Each student undertaking an Independent Research Project (IRP) has two supervisors officially recorded: a main supervisor and a second supervisor.
The main supervisor is the academic lead and has primary responsibility for guiding the student’s research. Students are expected to meet regularly with their main supervisor, and we recommend that they meet at least once every two weeks to ensure steady progress and adequate support.
The second supervisor provides a more general support, particularly when the main supervisor is unavailable.
For external projects, the second supervisor is a staff member at the Department of Earth Science and Engineering. They are not expected to be an expert in the project’s specific research field. Their primary role is to ensure the project aligns with departmental expectations. They also act as a point of contact for IRP-specific procedures, policies, and administrative matters. Internal second supervisors overseeing external projects must meet with the student at least once per month and keep a written record of all meetings as required by the univeristy’s work placement policy.
We recognise that the division of responsibilities may vary between projects. In some cases, supervision duties may be shared more equally. However, unless otherwise agreed, the main supervisor should remain the student’s principal academic advisor.
If an external supervisor (supervisor not affiliated with Imperial College London) wants to opt-out from marking, we ask them to contact the IRP Team as soon as possible so that an alternative examiner can be assigned.
We allow supervisors and students to decide how they want to work together, with supervision meetings taking place either as individual one-on-one sessions or as group meetings with multiple students and supervisors meeting together. However, we ask supervisors to be careful not to insist on meeting students in a group setting if their project is external and covered by a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), as these students will not be able to openly discuss their work in front of other students or staff members who are not covered by the same NDA.
Minimum Supervision Team Requirements#
At least one supervisor must be a staff member or have a visiting status in the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London. Their contract or visiting status must extend at least until the end of the IRP.
Can a PhD student act as a supervisor? Yes, but only if the main supervisor is a staff member or a visitor at the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London. During the project, the main supervisor may delegate day-to-day supervision to a PhD student; however, overall responsibility for supervision remains with the staff member officially appointed as the main supervisor. PhD students, appointed as second supervisors, can participate in marking IRP submissions.
External supervisors are not required to hold a PhD, but they must be fully employed with an active professional or academic affiliation for the entire duration of the project.
All supervisors must avoid any conflict of interest, including personal or financial relationships with the student, and should disclose any potential conflicts as early as possible.
Tip
Although only two supervisors (main and second) can be officially recorded by the IRP Team, students may work with additional internal or external supervisors, as long as the main supervisor agrees. These additional contributors do not need to be reported to the IRP Team, but students are strongly encouraged to acknowledge their support in their written report — either on the title page or in the Acknowledgements section.