Supervision

You said...

“The University should provide more extensive training and more supportive policies to facilitate the pastoral and pedagogic aspects of supervision.”
“[I have] zero idea of what I could expect of my supervisor in terms of frequency of meetings or email support or technical input they could provide.”

What the university is doing

The BDC supports PGR students to make effective use of their supervisors through a range of training, including sessions on ‘Getting the Best Out of your Supervision’, ‘Getting Started with your Research Degree’ and ‘Dealing with difficult conversations’. Between October 2019 and August 2020, these sessions were attended by over 100  students (both online and in person).  
The Bristol Doctoral College has collaborated and consulted with supervisors and students to develop a PGR Agreement of Principles, which provides a clear overview of expectations on both PGRs and their supervisors.
Working with the Bristol Institute For Learning and Teaching (BILT), the Bristol Doctoral College ran the inaugural Supervisor’s Symposium in November 2020, which provided a forum for discussing supervisory issues, support and training. This was attended by 217 supervisors and staff. A series of parallel events covering cross cultural supervision, supporting PGR wellbeing and sharing of practice on the pedagogy of supervision were facilitated. The event will become a regular development opportunity for research supervisors.
We are also working on adapting the structures and policy around supervisory teams, to ensure PGRs receive adequate support. A diverse working group has been established to improve the guidance available on the roles and responsibilities of supervision teams.

Find out more

Take our course on Developing an effective relationship with your Supervisors or search for upcoming workshops of the same name.

Feedback

"I have the confidence to fight my corner and deal with situations better."

"I think I'm more understanding of where my supervisor is coming from."

"I think I found a lot of answers in myself on how to deal with my supervisor. The facilitator was talking to us individually and gave me personal advises and materials helpful not only for the students at the beginning of their PhD but also the end."

Attendees, Getting the best out of your supervision