The objectives and design of a 3-year study of research training and supervision in biology and physics are discussed. Scientific problems arising from work on the thesis will be a focus for the postgraduate students and their supervisors. Attention will be focused on supervisors' and students' conceptions of science, subject range, research, knowledge, supervision, conditions of research, and research training. The analysis involves: observing research groups in their daily work; analyzing students' diaries; and interviewing students and supervisors about their conceptions of science, research, and knowledge. The theoretical framework will be the phenomenographical approach, which is the pedagogical research approach developed at the Department of Education, University of Gothenburg. The background for the study is considered, along with perspectives based on pedagogics and the theory of science. Also included is a review of the literature in education, psychology, the theory of science, the history of science, philosophy, and sociology. (SW)