The Doctoral Supervision Seminar in NORED
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.
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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.