The College of Administrative Sciences has organised its fourth research seminar series on 7 March 2016. A presentation was delivered by Professor Ghassan Aouad, President of Applied Science University and Bahrain Immediate Past President of the Chartered Institute of Building, and chaired by Dr Ramzi Nekhili, the Vice Dean of the College of Administrative Sciences, over a topic titled “Master Thesis Supervision”.

The seminar has benefited from the extensive experience of Professor Aouad in research and thesis supervision. It was a good opportunity to reflect on the existing practices and their improvements. Professor Aouad displayed many invaluable hints on how to produce a successful thesis. He also defined the research process and its milestones and went through a thorough explanation of the methodological issues and ethics related to research. The audience, including faculty members from various colleges, shared their ‘best practices’ and debated on the challenges faced by supervisors. Professor Aouad recommended that the vast majority of supervisors must strive to supervise effectively and to establish a good working relationship with the graduate students. He further discussed on what strategies a supervisor might use to encourage graduate students to plan, to monitor their progress, to write and to finally defend their theses.