I’m in your corner, and your thesis must remain your work. Clear authorship boundaries keep the supervision process fair.
Why this matters
Thesis projects rarely have a single correct answer or predefined path. Managing uncertainty is part of the learning outcome. You must propose options, test ideas, and ask targeted questions.
Supervision and authorship
Supervisors help you frame the problem, find relevant literature, test your reasoning, and improve drafts through feedback.
Students make the key decisions, write the thesis, and remain responsible for the project when decisions are uncomfortable.
Supervisors mentor you without becoming co-authors. Make each decision and take each action that falls within your ability and responsibility.
Independence is assessed
Independence is an evaluation criterion. When your project is finished, the committee will assess your professional attitude. Figure 1 illustrates how reliance on supervisors can appear, depending on how you use feedback.
Thesis Independence Scale
Thesis Independence Scale
How much responsibility does the student carry?
Low Independence
Supervisor prepares the submission.
Supervisor sends repeated reminders.
Supervisor identifies and schedules most tasks.
Supervisor makes major decisions and rewrites substantial text.
Student and supervisor share most decisions.
Student completes tasks after detailed directions.
Student proposes options and follows up reliably.
Student works independently between milestones.
Student applies feedback without prompting.
Student owns the decisions and final submission.
High Independence
Figure 1: The figure distinguishes increasing ownership from increasing reliance on supervisors for key decisions.