I have just started a PhD (last week)and have 4 (!!!) supervisors. We are all meeting up to dicuss how this might work next week, and in the meantime it was suggested that i get as many opinions as poss regarding what system might work best. for example, does 4 sound like too many? Should i have one/two 'key' supervisors who are at every meeting? Does anyone have any suggestions regarding number of supervisors and what does/does not work?

Hey Zelda. I'm having 3 supervisors due to the nature of the project I'm doing. I'm hoping it's going to be okay. Are you going to need to see all 4 on a regular basis? Like you say, i'm guessing I'll only have 2 of them as key supervisors and the other see less frequently. But yeah, anyone out there who's done it, let us know !

yeh i am gonna have 3 plus a load of other people involved...ur probably gonna have one main and the others involved in different parts of your project...good luck

I have three and have found it is a nightmare getting them all together even for half an hour every three months. I think you need to have one or at most two main supervisors, and use the input of the others as/when you need (e.g one of mine has good contacts, one is a well known name). With hindsight, I think it would have helped to define more clearly at the outset the roles of the different supervisors.

I have 3 supervisors, 1 main one, one secondary one and an external one which seems to work fine for me as they are all experts in different fields. I don't think I'm ever going to get them all together in the same room. I'm just going to go between them as I need to.

I have one supervisor and thats it, and wish i had more!

I have several people involved in my project - I have to meet with them separately, but it works!! I organise meetings with them that are more like sessioons for asking advice on how to do stuff, as well as update them on progress etc.