Just another email? The role of supervisors in Pre-Application Doctoral Communications (PADC)

This post is by Dr Ahmad Akkad Postdoctoral Researcher in the Education Department at the University of Oxford, and Dr Emily F. Henderson Reader in Gender and International Higher Education and Director of Doctoral Education and Academia Research Centre (DEAR) at the University of Warwick. Image credit: Yara Aboasfour If you are a doctoral supervisor, …

Transformative supervision workshops as a tool for decolonisation

Laetitia Rispel is a Professor of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she holds a Research Chair as part of the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI). This post is based on her 2023 paper: Relationships, power and accountability: Reflections on transformative postgraduate supervision workshops at a South …

Is it possible to be a bullying supervisor without realising it?

This is a guest post by Dr Elizabeth Adams of Scafell Coaching. Elizabeth is a Researcher Development consultant with strengths in coaching, innovation and entrepreneurial leadership. Image via @BelievePHQ on Twitter In a recent Australian study (530 researchers) around half the respondents indicated that they had experienced bullying. Bullying and harassment were also highlighted as …

Five reasons we need trauma-informed postgraduate supervision

This is a guest post by Dr Katrina McChesney (@krmcchesney), a Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Waikato, New Zealand and incoming co-editor (with Dr James Burford) of Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education. Katrina’s current research interests include trauma-informed doctoral education and doctoral research by distance. Cover image by Julia Taubitz on Unsplash The World …

What did my supervisors do well?

This is a guest post by Dr Sazan M. Mandalawi, who has recently completed her doctorate at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. She has published two recent papers, one on doing distance doctorates, and the other on the supervision of distance doctorates. I began my Doctoral journey at the University of Southern Queensland in …

Doctoral students at a distance? 20 ideas to support institutions and supervisors

This is a guest post by Dr James Burford (@jiaburford), an Assistant Professor of Global Education and International Development at Warwick University in the UK, Dr Katrina McChesney (@krmcchesney), a Senior Lecturer in initial teacher education at the University of Waikato in New Zealand, Professor Liezel Frick (@FrickLiezel) based in the Department of Curriculum Studies …

Being open to critique, transparent in your motives, and when needed, step out of the way

This is a guest post by Manuela Schmidt, currently working at Jönköping University and Linneaus University and Erika Hansson, of Kristianstad University. Manuela and Erika met during their respective doctoral programs. Manuela in health science and Erika in psychology. After reaching ‘the other side’, both with PhD’s after their names, they decided to ignore the …

‘Fail early and fail fast’: the value of research groups for breaking and rebuilding ideas

Dr Kirstin Wilmot is a senior lecturer and coordinator of the Higher Education Studies Doctoral Programme in the Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning (CHERTL) at Rhodes University, South Africa. This post is based on her 2021 research paper ‘Fail early and fail fast’: the value of group supervision for doctoral candidates. Many …

Launching the Are You OK? supervisor toolkit

By Dr Kay Guccione I've been part of a fantastic research collaboration between the University of Glasgow, The University of Sheffield and Heriot Watt University. Our research has now completed and from our findings we have designed a toolkit for doctoral supervisors, that aims to enable good conversations around mental wellbeing and research degrees. Find …

The unplanned but supported part-time DPsych experience – how to foster belonging and becoming in part time doctoral students

Dr Lindsey Burns is the Director of the Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology at GCU. Dr Richard Golsworthy is the Director of the Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology at GCU, and Dr Paul McCarthy is the Director of the Professional Doctorate in Sport and Exercise Psychology at GCU. All three are HCPC registered Practitioner Psychologists and Chartered …