Exploring Generative AI for Postgraduate Research Supervision

Exploring Generative AI for Postgraduate Research Supervision | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Exploring Generative AI for Postgraduate Research Supervision Angela Wright This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8168009/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Higher Education is at a crossroads. Large language models (LLMS) have changed universities irrevocably. In the context of graduate studies and post-graduate research outputs, the responsibility of research supervisors is ever more pertinent. Post-graduate students rely upon their supervisors to provide guidance along the supervisory journey. Supervisors are tasked with ensuring positive outcomes for graduates that are integral, values led and represent the university research philosophy. This culture is carried by graduates into their world of work, and their university guidance and experience will have consequences for society at large. Universities and post-graduate supervisors now stand at a critical juncture in the history of artificial intelligence (AI), looking for key signposts to ensure robust and ethical research outputs and impact. This current study explores critical challenges for post-graduate supervision and the ultimate research outputs in Higher Education. Universities must embed excellent research practices, placing societal concerns front and centre, to effect long-term change in all research disciplines. A post-positivism approach is applied for this empirical study where 103 research supervisors and 25 post-graduate research students contributed. Findings outline a critical need to standardise practice across all post-graduate study and supervisory practices as AI and GenAI move at a phenomenal pace in pursuit of profit for creators and developers. Universities must exercise their power to support ethically scalable processes that will secure the learning environment for all, providing unassailable guardrails for the future of AI, while protecting students, practitioners and society. Research Supervision Artificial Intelligence GenAI Supervisory Challenges Societal Impacts Higher Education Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8168009","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":563512633,"identity":"1422dc99-2d6c-4a3e-8d86-a1c6b0ca839b","order_by":0,"name":"Angela 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Education","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8168009/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8168009/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eHigher Education is at a crossroads. Large language models (LLMS) have changed universities irrevocably. \u0026nbsp;In the context of graduate studies and post-graduate research outputs, the responsibility of research supervisors is ever more pertinent. Post-graduate students rely upon their supervisors to provide guidance along the supervisory journey. Supervisors are tasked with ensuring positive outcomes for graduates that are integral, values led and represent the university research philosophy. This culture is carried by graduates into their world of work, and their university guidance and experience will have consequences for society at large. Universities and post-graduate supervisors now stand at a critical juncture in the history of artificial intelligence (AI), looking for key signposts to ensure robust and ethical research outputs and impact. This current study explores critical challenges for post-graduate supervision and the ultimate research outputs in Higher Education. Universities must embed excellent research practices, placing societal concerns front and centre, to effect long-term change in all research disciplines. A post-positivism approach is applied for this empirical study where 103 research supervisors and 25 post-graduate research students contributed.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFindings outline a critical need to standardise practice across all post-graduate study and supervisory practices as AI and GenAI move at a phenomenal pace in pursuit of profit for creators and developers. Universities must exercise their power to support ethically scalable processes that will secure the learning environment for all, providing unassailable guardrails for the future of AI, while protecting students, practitioners and society.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Exploring Generative AI for Postgraduate Research Supervision","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-12-22 14:46:04","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8168009/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"549a4f15-b059-48f9-afe8-2467f0649022","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 22nd, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-14T07:56:48+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-12-22 14:46:04","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8168009","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8168009","identity":"rs-8168009","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}