At every turning in your life you have certain expectations. Some you will have articulated and some not. It's impossible to have reasonable expectations about all aspects of doing your PhD before you embark on it. It's likely you'll have to discover and deal with some things as you go through your research. But you probably will have some preconceived ideas about other areas. What you have to do is discover how accurate these are. So, for example, it is a good idea to: clarify and negotiate with your supervisor as early as possible what are his or her expectations of you as a student as well as your expectations of him or her; discover as early as possible what support you can expect from your department and the university system in general; clarify formal requirements laid down by your university: for example, transition from provisional to confirmed status; clarify the issue of intellectual rights and property (eg copyright, patents, authorship).

	What can I expect from my supervisor and what does my supervisor expect from me?
	Intellectual support.
	Emotional support.
	Clarifying your real reasons for doing this degree.
	Learning about your rights and obligations as a student.
	Seeking, receiving and handling feedback.
	Strategies for getting the best feedback possible.
	Overcoming reluctance to seek feedback.
	Do I have to act on every bit of feedback I get?
	Wrestling with the idea of making an original contribution.
	How do I know if I have done enough, or if my work is good enough for PhD?
	Is it really necessary to publish while doing a PhD?
	What style of writing is expected?
	Use of the personal pronoun.
	Active vs passive voice.
	The use of tenses.
	Consortium Universities Assistance.