Doctoral Supervisors
Doctoral supervisors are part of a large and diverse community of researchers.
You belong to an interdisciplinary environment and you can make contributions to further strengthening research culture and activity at local and institutional level, and beyond.
The Graduate School is the focus for the collation of good practice and continuing professional development for supervisory teams and early career researchers.
Supervisor Support and Development
Recognising the critical role of the supervisor in guiding and developing the next generation of researchers, the Graduate School provides an enhanced programme of activities to support supervisory teams, and offers fora for sharing and enhancing good practice.
Supervisor Forum programme
The Supervisor Forum takes place twice during each academic year. It provides a platform for doctoral supervisors to share knowledge and best practice with colleagues, while gaining support, information and guidance on a range of topics from Graduate School members. They are particularly recommended for those new to supervision and also for members of staff who would like to supervise in the future.
Supervisor Forum: Thursday 19 November 2020
Are we all still here? Remote supervision of doctoral students
The workshop will be led by Gina Wisker, associate professor and doctoral supervisor, International Centre for Higher Education Management, University of Bath and Emeritus Professor, University of Brighton.
The current pandemic has focused us all on how we might change the ways we supervise our doctoral students so that we can (hopefully) flawlessly and easily move to forms of remote or distance supervision which are effective and manageable. The ways in which we change our supervision and the ways in which our students change their response to, and engagement with, the research and writing at a distance during this current very difficult period, will probably affect many other ways we work together in the future.
This session will build on personal experience, and recent and more historical research, Gina’s own and that of others, to explore some of the challenges, the difficulties and the effective practices which supervisors and students are using to ensure supervision, research and researcher development can continue effectively and productively. Gina will explore experiences and practices along three dimensions of the supervision process in the context of moving to remote or distance supervision. These dimensions are the personal, learning and the institutional.
The workshop will also be looking at supervision as a priority role which takes (now even more) time, and considering the challenges and benefits of working with international students remotely. We will consider supervisor and student experiences, and effective ways in which the success of this vital developmental dialogue and interaction – which leads to knowledge creation, skill development and the attainment of a doctorate – can flourish.
The event takes place online via Zoom on Thursday 19 November 2020 at 2–4pm.
To book a place email: [email protected]
Supervisor Forum: February 2021
Date and further details to be announced.
Supervisor Forum: PhD by Practice, 25 March 2021
Further details to be announced.
Supervisor Symposium: Summer 2021
Date and further details to be announced.
Supervision Module 2020/21
A new module on doctoral supervision has now been validated. It will run for the first time in summer 2021 and will count as one completion for all staff who complete it. In the interim, in 2020/21, attendance at both Supervisor Forums, as well as the Annual Supervisor Symposium will count as one completion.
Key documents
A revised version for 2020/21 will be available soon.
Doctoral Programme Framework
The doctoral programme framework is a range of documents which set out the University’s regulations and accompanying handbooks for doctoral researchers and their supervisors:
DRDP
The full programme, related information and forms are located on our dedicated DRDP website.
Key documents relevant to all research staff are located on the Research Framework page.
Online resources
Graduate School resources for supervisors
New arrangements for Doctoral Researcher Training Assessments
A Day for Supervisors: Unconscious Bias in PhD Supervision
External resources
A range of information is available free to all UoW staff on the Vitae website.
The UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE)
Supervisor Toolkit and Framework