Roles and responsibilities of stakeholders

NUS Supervisors

The NUS Supervisor plays an advisory role, and is to:

• Advise students on possible research areas.
• Guide students in narrowing, refining and deciding on the research topic, and designing the research.
• Recommend relevant resources to pursue research.
• Critique students' drafts (whether online or on hard copy) without rewriting or editing.
• Monitor the students' progress and suggest remedial actions, where necessary.
• Provide guidance on research ethics, where necessary.
• Advise on the presentation of the Extended Essay.
• Have face-to-face meetings with individual students.
• Provide timely and appropriate guidance on the research skills the students would require to complete the research paper.
• Only approve candidate's proposed topics that they are familiar with. They should not approve a candidate's proposed topic for which data is limited as the Supervisor would not be able to provide sufficient guidance to the candidate.
• Explain to students how the Extended Essay will be assessed.

Supervisors need to ensure that the Extended Essay is an accurate reflection of a student's individual effort. Assistance beyond what is stipulated will be considered as "over-assisting" them. They should be mindful that they should not provide feedback to student drafts that include editing or rewriting as the HSSR is meant to assess candidates' independent research work.

Supervisors should also limit consultations to face-to-face meetings, which are to be arranged at the mutual convenience of the Supervisor and the student. These meetings should be with individual students, and not with a group of students. The number of consultation sessions should be kept to a maximum of 6. There should be no email discussions of students' research essays. Consultation with Supervisors will end in May. Students and Supervisors are advised to schedule at least 1 meeting close to the end of the mentorship period.

Teacher Co-ordinators

Each school with students offering NUS-MOE HSSR will be required to appoint a Teacher Co-ordinator whose role is mainly administrative.

Teacher Co-ordinators will:

• Ensure that successful student applicants complete the online registration and acceptance procedures.
• Collect and submit the essays.
• Monitor the students' progress, including their meetings with NUS Supervisors.
• Serve as the point of contact if the Supervisor needs to follow up on students' attendance, attitude, performance and other issues.

Teacher Co-ordinators will not be involved in the actual research and writing process.