Ph.D. students' expectations from their supervisors: A sequential exploratory mixed methods study in Pasteur Institute of Iran

Introduction: Satisfaction from the supervisor is considered one of the important factors in the choice and successful advancement of students' theses. In addition to the supervisor's academic skills, the ability to communicate with the student and guide him/her in the direction of the thesis project is also important. This article aimed to evaluate the criteria for supervisor selection by doctoral students of the Pasteur Institute of Iran.Methods: This study was an instrument-development variant of sequential exploratory mixed method design, and also was a cross-sectional descriptive study that was accomplished in two qualitative and quantitative parts. The collection instrument of the qualitative part was a purpose-based interview until the time of information saturation, and the instrument of the quantitative part was the multicast questionnaire in terms of the Likert standard, which was completed by the community members. After analysis, the findings of the two steps were combined to answer the research questions. Results: Among ۱۸۱ students of the Pasteur Institute of Iran that participated in the research, ۱۰۴ people had ۲۲-۵۲ years old. Friendly attitude, honesty, ability to provide financial support, friendly environment, observation of the research ethics principles and avoidance of academic theft, and finally the support of the supervisor in the defense session have got the most priority among this study participants, especially among female students. Accordingly, the supervisor’s academic rank, his/her experience, and ability in patent and invention registration, along with the opinion of the past student and others have the least importance.Conclusion: According to this research, the possibility of creating a good job position after graduation, the possibility of continuing their studies at higher levels, or creating suitable conditions for immigrating to advanced countries in addition to gaining the best situation at the final the thesis are the reasons for the high sensitivity of students in choosing a supervisor for their thesis.