7th Annual Doctoral Supervision Seminar 2025
This seminar will focus on different aspects of doctoral supervision through keynotes, workshops, and informal discussions. Below you will find a preliminary version of the content of the seminar.
Main content
October 6th - 7th, Grand Hotel Terminus, Bergen
We welcome you to NORED's 7th Annual Doctoral Supervision Seminar 2025.
Purpose
The main purpose of the seminar is to expand supervisors’ repertoire of strategies to make supervision a professional, effective, and enjoyable process. The purpose is also to create a safe space for supervisors to reflect on their role and to exchange experiences with other supervisors.
Learning outcome
After the seminar, participants will have increased competence to:
- align expectations with PhD candidates early and regularly regarding goals, ambitions, and forms of collaboration in the project
- orchestrate a team of supervisors to ensure efficient collaboration
- balance conflicting needs in the supervision process, e.g., between support and structure, between product and process, and between being private and professional
- provide constructive text feedback
- encourage PhD candidates’ independence and ownership of their projects
- apply questioning and listening techniques to ensure progression and efficiency in supervision meetings
- assist PhD candidates in project planning and support their progress
- manage potential crises in the candidates’ research journey
Content
The seminar addresses three key supervisory skills:
- Process skills: e.g., to establish and maintain constructive work relationships with PhD candidates, to align expectations early and regularly, to balance conflicting needs, and to plan and monitor progress.
- Text-related skills: e.g., to support PhD candidates’ writing processes, to assess their academic texts, and to provide formative feedback that is targeted, prioritized, criteria-based, specific, and instructive.
- Communication skills: e.g., to ask questions that promote PhD candidates' independent thinking, to listen actively and attentively, and to meta-communicate the content and process of supervision.
Teaching form and your preparation
The seminar is designed as two consecutive course days. The teaching form is highly interactive based on a combination of group work, exercises, plenary discussions, and lectures. To tailor the program to participants’ needs and local practices, participants are asked to prepare beforehand by writing about perceived challenges in supervision. Instructions on how to prepare are sent by mail.
Time and place
- Seminar day: Monday 6th of October 2024, kl. 9.00 – 16.30
- Seminar day: Tuesday 7th of October 2024, kl. 9.00 – 15.00.
The two seminar days take place at Grand Hotel Terminus, Bergen.
Seminar coordination and teaching
The seminar is administered by NORED.
Seminar facilitator: Gitte Wichmann-Hansen, PhD is a Senior researcher at Department of Education Studies, Aarhus University and Professor II at University of Agder. She also owns the consultancy “Academic Supervision” that offers high quality professional training for research supervisors.
She is an established publishing researcher within the field of supervision, and she has 20+ years of experience with running workshops for supervisors at all career stages across European Universities.
General information
- Course certificate: You will receive a course certificate after completion of the seminar.
- Language: The seminar is offered in English.
- Practical questions regarding the seminar, please e-mail Marius Ole Johansen, Marius.Johansen@uib.no
- Questions regarding the professional content of the seminar, please e-mail Gitte Wichmann-Hansen, gwh@edu.au.dk
