Supervising PhD Research

As a daily supervisor or (co)promoter you are a content expert, but also a (co)researcher, coach and assessor. Supervisors learn to handle these roles more efficiently and effectively in this course. Topical questions are raised as: “How do you help the PhD student to become an independent researcher?,” “How do you signal problem behavior in time and how do you deal with it?”, “How do you take different personal work and learning styles into account?” and “How do you communicate about mutual expectations?”

The approach of the course is focused on mutual exchange of experiences and sharing of good practices. In this course you will build upon your current supervising practice by evaluating what already works and how you can elaborate on that. The challenging situations that you encounter in daily practice will be analyzed together to search for suitable (intervention) strategies. You will practice with effective communication with your PhD candidate and formulate a supervision plan with goals that are clear for you as well as the candidate, taking into account the limited time available for supervision. You will exchange tips and tricks with your colleagues and reflect on your own supervising practice. In addition, (semi-)scientific literature in the field of supervision of PhD candidates will be used to explore the implication of the theory on your day-to-day practice.

This course is primarily intended for daily supervisors and (co)promoters of PhD students at Utrecht University, but is also intended for supervisors of other universities and research institutions.

8 - 14 participants

• During course participation, participants must supervise at least one PhD candidate.
• Your presence is required at all 4 course meetings.

The course will be taught in English.

The course price is €1.375. This includes the book: Supervising PhD Students. A practical guide and toolkit.

Lecturers of Utrecht University can use O&T units (if available) or can otherwise participate at reduced rates. In either case in consultation with their own faculty.

The course consists of four meetings of approximately 3 hours, spread over two months. Apart from meetings, the participants work on assignments linked to their own practice. The program covers a range of basic subjects. The level of detail will partly depend on the needs of participants; the precise program is based on the inventory of the strengths and weaknesses the participants introduce. The definitive program will be compiled before the start of the first session.

The following components are the building blocks for the program.

• Exchanging “tricks of the trade” by peer supervisors and reflecting on the implications for your own supervision practice.
• Developing a supervision plan including: the planning of the PhD program and how to guide your students towards specific learning objectives
• Assessing the progress of your PhD candidate: discussing content and procedure, but also recognizing risks and warning signals.
• Creating clarity about the mutual expectations of PhD students and supervisors
• Performing a strength / weakness analysis of your own PhD candidate(s), linked to: developing scenarios for challenging situations that regularly occur.
• Analyzing concrete challenging situations form your own supervision practice, and discussing suitable intervention strategies with your peers (peer consultation).
• Applying insights from practice-oriented core literature in the field of PhD supervision.
• Practicing with new supervising strategies (for example effective conversational skills) that can be used directly to improve your own supervision practice.
• Formulating, implementing and evaluating concrete action points (SMART) for the improvement of your own supervision practice.

The course will refer to international scientific publications in the field of PhD supervision, and use the book (costs included):

Kearns, H. & Finn, J. (2017). Supervising PhD Students. A practical guide and toolkit. Adelaide: ThinkWell.

The trainings starting in early January are fully booked. New dates will be scheduled soon. Would you like to stay informed? Please fill out the interest form using the button below.

• 21 January 2025 (13:30 - 16:30)
• 11 February 2025 (13:30 - 16:30)
• 25 February 2025 (13:30 - 16:30)
• 25 March 2025 (13:30 - 16:30)

Trainer: Marjolein Cremer

• 14 January (13:30 - 16:30)
• 4 February (13:30 - 16:30)
• 18 February (13:30 - 16:30)
• 11 March (13:30 - 16:30)

Trainer: Marjolein Cremer

Utrecht Science Park

We also provide this course incompany, and customized if desired. Are you curious about the possibilities? Please contact us. We are happy to think along with you.

Do you have an (educational) question, or are you curious about in-company and customisation options? We would be happy to explore the possibilities with you.

Please contact us via:
onderwijsadviesentraining@uu.nl
030 253 2261

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