ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

Prospective Industrial Supervisor

Taking on the role of Industrial Supervisor

Every Research Engineer (RE) needs an Industrial Supervisor, a mentor who is employed by the the Industry Sponsor. For such a person to act as an Industrial Supervisor, she or he:

  • should satisfy two of the requirements listed in Qualifications for an Industrial Supervisor (see below).
  • should be able to commit to undertake the Responsibilities and Duties of an Industrial Supervisor (see below).

Such a person can be nominated using the following information:

  1. A short curriculum vitae (CV), demonstrating that the nominated Industrial Supervisor does meet the Qualifications for an Industrial Supervisor (see below).
  2. A supporting statement from an authorised person from the prospective Industry Sponsor (for example, a Line Manager or Company Director):
    1. that they understand the commitments listed in Responsibilities and Duties of an Industrial Supervisor (below), and are willing to act as Industry Sponsor for a Research Engineer enrolled on the EngD programme in Computer Science at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø.
    2. that they are willing for the nominated person to act as an Industrial Supervisor for the EngD programme in Computer Science at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø.
    3. specifying the location(s) of the site(s) at which it is expected that the  Individual Research Component (IRC) will take place.
  3. Optionally, if you already have a prospective Research Engineer (such as an existing employee), to identify and confirm the intention of to act as Industry Sponsor for that Research Engineer. If you do not have an Research Engineer in place, to indicate your area of specific technical interest to be advertised as a vacancy.

For step 3, you may apply to sponsor a prospective Research Engineer who is an existing employee. If that is the case, the prospective Research Engineer must still apply to the University and gain admission through the normal process. However, you may not have an existing employee that you wish to take on as an Research Engineer, in which case the University will forward to you information about suitable applicants that you may wish to consider. Further arrangements, such as interviews, will be organised on a case-by-case basis.

Please note that submission of the application to act as an Industrial Supervisor does not constitute a contract with the University: the information presented here is to ensure that Prospective Industry Sponsors and Industrial Supervisors are aware of the requirements of the EngD programme in terms of commitments for supervision. Contracts and Intellectual Property Agreements for individual Research Engineers will be created on a case-by-case basis, as part of he admission process for the Research Engineer.

Qualifications for an Industrial Supervisor

To act in the role of the Industrial Supervisor, a person would typically be employed by, or contracted to, the Industry Sponsor for the RE. The Industrial Supervisor should have two out of the following three attributes:

  1. experience of mentoring new staff
  2. an established research track record, for example, evidenced by publications and/or patents, or other tangible research outcomes
  3. an EngD or PhD in Computer Science, Informatics, Mathematics, Engineering or a strongly-related subject

Any two of the above is sufficient to apply for acting as an Industrial Supervisor.

Responsibilities and Duties of an Industrial Supervisor

The Industrial Supervisor will advise on modules that may be suitable for the Research Engineer to undertake during the  of the EngD. This will be based on the Research Engineer's background and the research to be undertaken by the Research Engineer during the Individual Research Component (IRC) of the EngD.

During the Individual Research Component, the Research Engineer will normally spend most of their time with the industry sponsor.

  • During this time, an Industrial Supervisor will act as a local point of contact and mentor for the Research Engineer.
  • The Industrial Supervisor and Academic Supervisor will together work to the benefit of the Research Engineer, in supervision and direction of activities.

So, the responsibilities and duties listed below would be undertaken with the Academic Supervisor, but when the RE is not at University, it would be the Industrial Supervisor’s responsibility to make sure that the RE has appropriate guidance and direction.

The Industrial Supervisor:

  1. will act as a mentor and contact person for the Research Engineer during the 
  2. must be able to supervise research projects for Research Engineers including:
    1. ideally, be located at the same site (or have easy access to the same site) as the Research Engineer
    2. have time available for regular meetings, ideally once per week for an hour at least, but at least for an hour every two weeks.
    3. have time to engage in teleconferences or meetings with the Academic Supervisor (which may involve travel to ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, or some other mutually agreed location).
  3. should be able to identify and help define novel research with the Research Engineer and the Academic Supervisor
  4. should supervise the design, execution and analysis of research activities in collaboration with the Research Engineer and Academic Supervisor.
  5. should advise the Research Engineer and the Academic Supervisor on feasibility of research project ideas for execution at the site of the Industry Sponsor, including (with suitable consultation with other colleagues if required) on issues of ethical soundness, data protection and intellectual property ownership of any background information.
  6. should undertake technical discussion (for example by tele-conference, email or direct meetings) related to the research projects with the Research Engineer and the Academic Supervisor.
  7. should undertake administrative activities for the reporting and monitoring of the Research Engineer:
    1. completion of regular reports on progress.
    2. ensure that the Research Engineer prepares appropriate documentation for the .
    3. at the end of the  period, to review the portfolio of work to be submitted by the Research Engineer for examination.

University policy on supervision

The University has a comprehensive policy on the supervision of research students

Ready to apply

When you have read the above, please apply for an EngD vacancy by sending email to engd-admin-cs@st-andrews.ac.uk. In the email, please attach:

  1. a short curriculum vitae (CV) – a single page – for the prospective Industrial Supervisor
  2. a supporting letter from the intended Industry Sponsor (for example, a company Line Manager for the Industrial Supervisor, or Company Director)
  3. If you are not proposing a named Research Engineer that you will sponsor, but are seeking to recruit a Research Engineer through the EngD programme, then you will also need to provide a description of the technical area in which you are interested in recruiting. The document you provide will be put onto the EngD web-site for Prospective Students. Ideally, the document will contain a logo (or attach it is as a separate file) so that we can also put that on our page ofCurrent EngD Vacancies .

Some minimal examples are given below.

Example 1

Named Research Engineer applicant, Industrial Supervisor is a graduate with industrial experience in research and mentoring.

Example 2

Named Research Engineer applicant, Industrial Supervisor is a PhD graduate, with no experience in mentoring.

Example 3

No named Research Engineer applicant, a vacancy is being advertised – the Industry Sponsor want to recruit a new Research Engineer. The prospective Industrial Supervisor is a senior and well-experienced engineer.

Please note that the text from the advert for the vacancy, along with a company or organisation logo, will be posted on our Current EngD Vacancies page for Research Engineers.