Reflecting on the life experiences of doctoral students on the responsibilities of supervisors as research mentors

The purpose of the present qualitative phenomenological research was to explore the perceptions and experiences of the doctoral students on supervisors' responsibilities in the role of research mentors. In order to collect the research information, semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-one doctoral students who were selected by using purposive sampling with maximum variation. The content analysis was used to analyze the data. Analysis of interviews was performed using the thematic analysis method and 38 basic themes were extracted and classified into 7 organizational themes. Analysis of the perceptions and experiences of doctoral students indicated that the role of research mentor by the supervisor from the perspective of doctoral students requires the fulfillment of research mentoring responsibilities in  form of 7 components (organizational theme), research support, scientific-research mentoring, development interventions, Professional support, communication support, psychological support and personal support. The findings of the present study could be an introduction to further attention and understanding of the research mentoring responsibilities of doctoral students by supervisors and the improvement of the current situation.