Introduction
Supervisions are the means by which small-scale undergraduate teaching takes place in the University of Cambridge. Elsewhere such teaching is sometimes referred to as tutorials. In mathematics, the typical supervision consists of a pair of students discussing mathematical problems with a supervisor, who is normally a College or University lecturer, or a research worker/student from one of the University departments (not necessarily from the Faculty of Mathematics). The individual attention available in such supervisions is a characteristic of a Cambridge undergraduate education, and is not common in many British universities (or elsewhere in the world). Each mathematics student receives roughly two hours a week of supervisions. Colleges, through Directors of Studies, are responsible for the organisation of supervisions in Parts IA, IB and II of the Mathematical Tripos.
A Guide for Supervisors
The Faculty of Mathematics publishes a guide on undergraduate Supervision in Mathematics. A one-page summary is a useful reminder of core Faculty guidelines, but all new supervisors are expected to read the full guide carefully before they supervise.
The full guide is primarily intended to help new supervisors give good supervisions that are of maximum benefit to the students. It also describes the responsibilities of the supervisor to the College and deals with some practical details, such as how to go about finding supervision work (see also below), and when and how to get payment.
The Faculty also publishes a Guide for Lecturers (see also the Faculty page on Lecturer Guidelines).
Training for New Supervisors
There are training sessions every year for new supervisors, run jointly by Researcher Development and the Faculty of Mathematics. For further information please contact the Postgraduate Office, researcherdevelopment@maths.cam.ac.uk.
- Details of the latest courses;
- Mathematics Supervisor Resources - Moodle site restricted to members only. Those attending these training sessions will be automatically enrolled.
Supervisors' Bazaar
The Supervisors' Bazaar is intended both for Directors of Studies seeking supervisors and for prospective supervisors offering their services, in Parts IA, IB and II of the Mathematical Tripos. However, it is offered simply as a convenience for those who wish to use it and is not intended to supersede other means of matching supervisors to demand. In this regard, the Faculty also provides, on its Directors of Studies page,
- a list of Directors of Studies in Mathematics;
- for Part II, a list of the "circus" co-ordinators for each course.
Access to the Supervisors' Bazaar requires a maths computing account: maths credentials (crsid and maths password) are needed to log in. Prospective users who do not have a maths account should e-mail undergrad-office@maths.cam.ac.uk with the words Supervisors' Bazaar in the subject field.
If you use the Supervisors' Bazaar to list supervision offers or requests, then your name will appear on the system together with your crsid, and you should expect to receive e-mails to your crsid@cam.ac.uk address.
Using the Bazaar
To search or sort: click on one of the headings that appear in displayed results such as "Lecture course", "Supervisor", or "Requestor".
Prospective supervisors can
- review and amend their offers of supervisions
- add a new offer
- search all supervisions requested by Directors of Studies
Prospective supervisors are asked to mark an offer as withdrawn when they no longer wish to be contacted regarding it.
Directors of Studies can
Directors of Studies are asked to mark a request as satisfied when they no longer wish to be contacted by prospective supervisors.
The Supervisors' Bazaar replaces the moodle site Matchmaking site for Supervisors and DoS, which will no longer be maintained.
Information for Students
The Faculty also provides information and advice on supervisions for students.
