ABSTRACT
Guiding and facilitating the development of students through their doctoral education and research experiences is a complex process which requires multiple skills and abilities. Whatever we call the person(s) involved in this challenging task, their understanding of the process can instil the required skills and their approaches can be improved with practice. Some may argue that ideally a research supervisor is synonymous with being a mentor. However, this is not always the case. There can be occasions where a research supervisor can be deemed to be a very good supervisor but for a variety of reasons the relationship does not develop into a lasting mentoring relationship.
