1 Characteristics of Postgraduate Research Mentoring In Nigerian Universities: Curricular Enhancement Strategies. AGU, Ngozi Nwabugo (PhD)* & OLIBIE, Eyiuche Ifeoma (PhD)** Department of Educational Foundations, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka. *ngozi_uj@yahoo.com **utchackonsults@yahoo.co.uk Corresponding Author: AGU, Ngozi Nwabugo (PhD) *ngozi_uj@yahoo.com Abstract Globally, the postgraduate education landscape simultaneously undergoes rapid and tremendous changes with emphasis on research through equipping students with the necessary skills and knowledge to foster the growth of independent, creative and lifelong researchers. Among the resources to facilitate this aim, mentoring plays a vital role. This paper investigated the characteristics of research mentoring provided to post-graduate students in universities in South-Eastern Nigeria. Two research questions were used. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 180 post graduate students for the study. A 27 -item questionnaire was used to collect data which was analyzed using frequencies and percentages. Findings indicate that research mentoring across institutions was characterized by supervisor’s criticisms without providing insights, setting of unrealistic deadlines and expectations, and erosion of students’ self-esteem. Focus on improving technical research skills, communicating high expectations, self-monitoring processes, encouraging active knowledge construction process, widening networks for research improvements, and supervisor-supervisee brainstorming were almost lacking. The observed characteristics would not in any way serve as catalysts for research as they are most unlikely to promote quality post graduate research. Recommendations were made to propose curricular enhancement strategies to reinvigorate research mentoring for quality postgraduate research. Key Words: Postgraduate research, mentoring, high expectations, supervisor-supervisee brainstorming, knowledge construction