PhD supervisor is an expert in your domain. I am sure you will get a lot of insights and help in shaping your project. But apart from this, there is a lot that you can expect from PhD Supervisor. At the same time, what you should not expect from your Supervisor is also very important. Wrong expectations spoil the things. It may ruin your entire PhD experience. You will be forced to spend your 3-4 years of life in miseries.

What PhD guide is and what to expect?

Domain Expert

You Supervisor is an expert in the domain and s/he is a well-read person. Therefore, making sure you get a massive amount of learning from your Supervisor is essential. Expert is the one who know past, present and possible future of the domain. They understand the paradigm shift. Understand all those aspects of your area from supervisors. Engage in the discussions which will give you those insights. You will be coming out as an expert in the same field. It will be useful to have that knowledge.

Mentors

A supervisor is your mentor, and it is their responsibility to guide you. It is a researcher's responsibility to use this resource wisely, though. Supervisors will make sure that you are moving in the right direction in your research. If you have doubts, then you should ask them those specific queries. Always have healthy discussions with supervisors about the research project.

Tutor

Supervisors are also tutor or may call them personal tutors. Most of the supervisors expect you to do self-study. If in case you need more explanation for any particular topic, then it will be useful to request them for the same. They won't mind giving you a few minutes to explain certain concepts. It will be useful to prepare enough before asking for such help. They are anyways identifying your learning needs. If you are stuck somewhere, then go and ask for help, instead of investing too much of your time.

Sounding board

PhD research is a creative endeavor. For most of you who are not coming with the research background, then it will be even more demanding. You always need somebody to listen to your crazy ideas and smash them down. Feel free to use your Supervisor for the same. They may look to it and help to take it next level. Your responsibility is to guide the discussion in such a way that it is not going in the undesired direction.

Internal Evaluator

You will be assessed during the external progression meetings and internal adviser meetings as well. You can present your work to Supervisors in such cases to check about the clarity in ideas and presentation. A supervisor can always work as an internal evaluator before any important meeting. None of the Supervisor wants you to perform poorly in front of the crowd. They are equally concerned about their reputation in the department and research fraternity in general.

Professional connector

It would be best if you had good contact to establish yourself in the field of research. Your professors are known-personalities in the domain, even if they are not and they have useful contacts with the individuals with right profile. You can exploit those to connect. With their permission, you should get connected to other individuals and explain your research. Seek their advice. It will give entry to the club of researchers in that particular domain. Just make sure that you have enough knowledge to face those individuals.

Career Adviser

Your professor can be a career adviser as he works in the same domain. These individuals are very academic and work in the University departments most of the time. They can give better insights into these aspects of the career. But there is no harm in discussing other opportunities as well. I encourage students to talk about part-time jobs during the PhD as well.

What Is PhD guide Not and what Not to expect?

Proof Reader

This is the biggest mistake most of the PhD students appears to be doing. I have done it many times myself. We send out our writings before investing enough time on the same. If it has a lot of apparent corrections, then it irritates the supervisors. Ultimately, they are not free to look into such small things. It researcher's responsibility to run it through some online tools or getting checked through friends before forwarding to supervisors. The best thing will be to prepare documents at least a couple of days before the deadlines and then reread it after a gap of day. There are higher chances that you will come across corrections. It always works for me. You need to figure out your strategies based on how your mind works.

Psychiatrist

PhD is an emotionally draining activity as well. Especially if you are coming straight from your masters. It is not good to use your Supervisor for consoling you during the emotional disturbances. Sometimes, supervisors don't mind doing it. But it may have a long term effect on your project. Lets like letting know your superior that you are weak and cannot control emotional outbursts. That leads to a few judgments by the professors later. I would like to appear steady and professional in front of the Supervisor, rather weak emotional personality. Well, there is nothing wrong to be emotional but not good to express it in your professional relationships.

Friend

I think, Supervisors you can be friendly and you can also be friendly with your supervisors. But they are surely not your friends. They are into serious business of making your PhD reach a standard. It is good to consider them a friend and involve in a friend-like relationship. It may affect their and your work as well. It is my opinion, and you may differ. I may close this point by saying, whatever you are doing, don't do it at the cost of your PhD. Always remember, PhD is your life's most significant investment, and you don't want to come empty-hand with it.