SUPERVISION AND EVALUATION OF RESEARCH PROJECTS OF GRADUATE STUDENTS – REALITIES AND REQUIREMENTS

By its very nature, research activity leading to a higher degree is fraught with uncertainty, which is faced both by the supervisor and the candidate. However, the candidate s neck is on the line, so the supervisor is expected to play his vital role to help the student reduce the uncertainty as the time progresses. Super- vision of postgraduate research can be viewed as management of uncertainty; management of transformations and realizing that time is the enemy. A recent questionnaire given to post graduates students revealed that students desire supervisors to be knowledgeable about research area. However, a supervisor’s job deals with a lot of consideration. A supervisor who evaluates his own project, dissertation or thesis of his own students will apply the same yardstick when he evaluates others. The yardstick will vary from country to country and also within a big country having a number of universities. This paper shares the views of the senior faculty members who have got long experience of supervising postgraduate students. In evaluating a thesis as external examiner bias will present itself. The bias can be positive or negative, and the latter needs to be controlled as it may hurt the student who is being assessed. Negative bias is based on the fame of the supervisor, the university where the research work is done, and the country where it is located. Students should be encouraged to write journal papers as publications are the proof of the quality of a work. Citations to one’s work are the crowning glory of a student s achievement in the discovery of something new in his research. Evaluation of thesis is a highly responsible task that needs to be executed in a highly professional manner. In this paper standards have been set out and benchmarks have been indicated.