How to write on an academical essay that a certain professor helped to do it?

Question

What's the common way to write on a academical work / essay / research / thesis / PhD that a certain professor helped me to write it? Would the word "directed" is normal in such context?

Directed by Prof. John Doe.

Or are there other or better possibilities?

Normally to any academical work there is a professor that functions as an instructor / guide that guides or instructs the students how to do the work. I'm not sure about the correct and exact terms. But many times it's used to be in the title (except for the reference to him or giving thanks to him inside in the introduction).

Answer 1

Check with your supervisor for how he wants acknowledgement. The way to do this varies from uni to uni (and between different departments, or even between different professors)

A PhD thesis will normally have an acknowledgements page, on which the student thanks their supervisor, funding source, family, friends (pets, coffee machine etc.)

So you could say "Supervised by Prof. John Doe". But it is normal in a longer piece of work (such as thesis) to phrase this as a "thank you":

I would like to thank my supervisor, Prof John Doe, for his support throughout the years, keeping me going when times were tough, asking insightful questions, and offering invaluable advice.

For shorter works this could fit into a footnote. It is especially common to see a footnote thanking the funding agency. For a research paper, if your supervisor helped you write it then he would normally be a co-author.

On an unpublished essay it doesn't really matter, nobody but the marker is going to see it.

But check with your supervisor and your school to see if they have a specific way to do this.