I have been communicating regularly with my prospective PhD supervisor by e-mail and once in person. I naturally address him by his title then his last name - Dr ... and he addresses me by my first name all the time. When is it appropriate to address your supervisor by his first name, if at all? I guess it depends on the establishment, circumstances and nature of the relationship but an insight into what is appropriate would be very helpful. Thank you.

How does he sign-off on his messages?

Generally PhD students have a relaxed relationship with academics and everyone is on a first name basis. I sometimes find this informality rather strange for very distinguished professors, but on the one occasion I continued addressing someone as 'Professor' I was informed 'surely we're on first name terms now'.

You state you have communicated several times... Perhaps speak to him/her on the phone then address them by their forename after that.
I assure you, there will be times further on in the relationship when you will want to call your supervisor everything under the sun!

How do other people refer to your supervisor? I've always called mine by their first names, as does everybody else they work with. In a formal piece of writing I would use Doctor / Professor but not in an e-mail. It might seems strange if you suddenly start using his first name and it's not so apparent if you're mostly communicating by e-mail. Maybe next time you meet you should address him by his title and see if he invites you to use his first name.

Ha! My supervisor and I always put kisses on the end of our emails and texts (yes, she has my mobile number!).

I would never do that with my second supervisor though (I did it once by mistake and nearly died as I hit send). Even with her though its very, ver informal. Often we don't bother with the "to" and "from" parts - just the message. But then we email each other at least a couple of times a day.

I remember talking to a lecturer friend of mine who said that they like to address unkonwn academics by their full title, and if they reply with your first name, then they reply in kind. Actually this conversation came about because she said she amazed by how causal UGs can be when emailing for the first time!

Bobby's relationship sound a bit too close for comfort.

I would not want to work for someone I would have to address by his title. I always addressed doctorates who were my lecturers or supervisors by their first name.

I always refer to people by their title if I perceive them to be superior to me... I guess that was just the way I was brought up. Everyone else here refers to everyone else by name, though.

Aloha - tell me about it. I think its the main cause of my stress. I can't go to the loo without them knowing. The other week I got a text at about 10pm on a friday, and didn't answer it. Then, I got a few follow up emails at the weekend. I had been away in deepest, darkest Wales with no internet access, meaning I couldn't have answered. On my return on monday, I got a very shirty email saying something along the lines of "Don't you check your emails? I've been having a monologue at you ALL WEEKEND". There are so many things wrong with this statement I don't know where to start. B*itch.