Hi everyone,

I have been awarded my PhD and wanted some advice on how to thank my supervisors.

Generally, I would have given them a handwritten thank you card and a small gift to accompany it. However, my department is still working from home and I do not think I will be able to see my supervisors in person until September at the earliest. I also do not have an option to drop-off anything at their office for them to collect later.

Any ideas on how I can show my appreciation? I have thanked them via email (small paragraphs) at various stages (so submission, post-viva, approval of corrections etc.) so at this point I am also a bit apprehensive of sounding like a broken record! Especially if it’s yet another message.

I considered sending an e-card but have noticed in the past that they can sometimes seem like spam emails at first glance so don’t really want to use that option.

Any thoughts or ideas on what I can do are much appreciated.

Thank you :-)

Really anything will be surprising and appreciated.

I've supervised 6 completions and the most I've ever got gift-wise was a post viva hug or *maybe* a pint... but I still had to get the next round in... ;)

Of course though as a supervisor you're not in it for a good bottle of wine (you can steal those from the Dean's office). You're partly in it for the warm fuzzy feeling of having helped someone. You're professionally in it in the hopes the student will go on to have a stellar academic career and be inviting you, when it's appropriate, to co-author publications or apply for grants. The best thank-you message might well be along the lines of 'I'm working on that final journal output, can you have a quick glance as co-author...' :)

My exact predicament a couple of weeks ago. In the end I decided to send her a high quality leather bound copy of my thesis. She was very pleased.

Bob86, that sounds like a good gift!
In the end I decided to give both my supervisors a nice box of chocolates and an engraved pen as a small appreciative gesture. Currently waiting for the items to be delivered to me.

May I ask how you got the copy of your thesis across to your supervisor? My department is closed so I’m not sure how to actually get the items to my supervisors!

User5 - that's nice, I'm sure your supervisors will appreciate that :)

I asked my supervisor for her home address and posted it to her via Royal Mail special delivery.

Bob85 thanks! I was thinking about asking them for their home address but wasn’t sure if that would be too personal. I will do so now though :-D