Doctoral advisor
Encyclopedia
A doctoral advisor is an advanced member of a university
faculty
whose role is to guide a graduate student who is a candidate for a doctorate
degree, helping them select coursework, as well as shaping, refining and directing the students' choice of sub-discipline
in which they will be examined and/or on which they will write a dissertation. Students generally choose advisors based on their areas of interest within their discipline, their desire to work closely with particular graduate faculty, and the willingness and availability of those faculty to work with them.
Customarily, the student’s advisor serves as the chair of his or her doctoral examination and/or dissertation committee(s). In some cases, though, the person who serves those roles may be different from the faculty member who has most closely advised the student. For instance, in the Dutch academic system, only full professors (hoogleraren) may chair doctoral examinations, so students who have been advised by lower-ranked faculty members will have a full professor as their official promoter and their actual advisor as co-promoter.
An academic genealogy
may be traced based on student's doctoral advisors, going up and down the lines of academic "descent" in a manner analogous to a traditional genealogy
.
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
faculty
Faculty (university)
A faculty is a division within a university comprising one subject area, or a number of related subject areas...
whose role is to guide a graduate student who is a candidate for a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
degree, helping them select coursework, as well as shaping, refining and directing the students' choice of sub-discipline
Academic discipline
An academic discipline, or field of study, is a branch of knowledge that is taught and researched at the college or university level. Disciplines are defined , and recognized by the academic journals in which research is published, and the learned societies and academic departments or faculties to...
in which they will be examined and/or on which they will write a dissertation. Students generally choose advisors based on their areas of interest within their discipline, their desire to work closely with particular graduate faculty, and the willingness and availability of those faculty to work with them.
Customarily, the student’s advisor serves as the chair of his or her doctoral examination and/or dissertation committee(s). In some cases, though, the person who serves those roles may be different from the faculty member who has most closely advised the student. For instance, in the Dutch academic system, only full professors (hoogleraren) may chair doctoral examinations, so students who have been advised by lower-ranked faculty members will have a full professor as their official promoter and their actual advisor as co-promoter.
An academic genealogy
Academic genealogy
An academic, or scientific, genealogy, organizes a family tree of scientists and scholars according to dissertation supervision relationships....
may be traced based on student's doctoral advisors, going up and down the lines of academic "descent" in a manner analogous to a traditional genealogy
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
.