Doctoral supervision in water engineering: a case study in Western Sydney University

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is the highest degree in academia. In PhD study, a student is trained so that he/she can become an independent researcher at the completion of the PhD degree. Many students enrolled in a PhD program has little understanding of conducting research and writing research papers. The supervisor of the PhD student has a significant role in transforming a doctoral student from a naïve researcher to a confident scholar. The research culture of the research group or university also plays a part in this process. The author of this paper presents his experience in the supervision of PhD students over the last 24 years in the field of water, environment and sustainability engineering. In this paper, he presents several key steps in the supervision of a PhD student. Some of his PhD students conducted research in water engineering at a distinguished level, which was demonstrated via publication in the top journals, receiving numerous citations and authoring chapters in national guideline called Australian Rainfall and Runoff (ARR). He also owns WSU’s Vice Chancellor’s Excellence Award in Higher Degree Research Supervision on two occasions. It is expected that this paper will be useful to new supervisors and PhD students to enhance their research skills.