Part II Supervision
The Part II course is taught over the Michaelmas and Lent terms and students are given a total of 4 supervisions per term, often with the last one held over until the beginning of the following term.
Lasting one hour in total, a supervision will involve two or three undergraduates and a supervisor. Students can expect to receive personal attention aimed at helping them understand and explore the subject in hand. Groups are organised with the particular needs of the students in mind; and whilst one group of students may need assistance with understanding basic material, another may have no apparent difficulties and so need to explore aspects of the subject in greater detail depth.
Students will be instructed to contact their supervisors as soon as possible to arrange times and places for their supervisions, which should occur on roughly a fortnightly basis. Whilst the exact structure of the session will depend on the group, each supervision should cover one example sheet set by the course lecturer. Students are generally encouraged to initiate discussion on or ask for further explanation of topics covered in the lecture course. Supervisors will be enrolled on to the relevent course Moodle sites, giving them access to all the materials and lecture recordings on offer to the students along with the lecturer's contact details.
The default arrangement is that supervisions will take place face-to-face in IoA meeting rooms, by the whiteboards in the communal areas or in offices (with the agreement of all office occupants).
In Easter Term, students are also entitled to a revision supervision in each of their Part II subjects, i.e. 8 supervisions.The format of the revision supervisions will be a choice for the supervisors and students to make together. Whilst students are encouraged to attempt as many Tripos papers as they wish, they are made aware that they should only bring to the supervisor's attention those questions with which they have had difficulty and that supervisors must be given adequate time in which review the material and prepare before the supervision.
Registering Your Interest
If you are interested in offering your services as a supervisor for one of our Part II courses running in Michaelmas or Lent, please complete the relevant form below, indicating which course(s) you are interested in and the maximum number of groups you would be willing to supervise.
Part III Supervision
All Part III/MASt lecture courses are taken from Mathematics or Physics, and as such the IoA is not involved in scheduling these.
A compulsory element of the course is a substantial research project, extending over two terms. This is undertaken with the guidance of a Primary Supervisor from with extensive experience in the field and overseen by a UTO. In addition to UTOs and Senior Fellows at the IoA (Royal Society, URFs, Kavli Fellows etc), Postdocs and academic staff/fellows in DAMTP and the Cavendish are very welcome to submit a project.
A total of 12 hours supervision can be claimed for a Part III research project throughout the academic year. This is a nominal number of hours that determines the remuneration but the actual number of total contact hours over the year may vary depending on the student. Supervisors are discouraged from over-supervising, students should be encouraged to work independently. Note that at least one hour needs to be reserved for feedback on the draft report leading up to the final submission. Whilst the exact distribution of these hours is to be agreed upon by the supervisor and and student, students will be told to expect a minimum of one supervision per term, and supervisors will need to submit a report via CamCORS each term. Primary Supervisors will also be asked to complete a short Research Project Assessment Form in the Easter Term.
Registering Your Interest
A call will be sent to those whose experience qualifies them to supervise a Part III research project during the summer vacation.