Doctoral Supervision
In January 2024 we launched a new programme of Doctoral Supervision training. This new programme was developed with the University’s Doctoral Supervision Steering Group, alongside engagement with current scholarship and best practice in the sector. The programme consists of:
- Initial supervisor training
- PGR pastoral tutoring training
- CPD for supervisors
This programme, which expands our previous provision, ensures that our doctoral supervisors are prepared with the knowledge and skills they need to deliver high quality doctoral supervision, and have the opportunity to develop their practice with regular CPD opportunities.
If you have any questions about our Doctoral Supervision training programme, please contact the Educator Development team on eduexe@exeter.ac.uk.
This suite of 3 sessions is designed to introduce new doctoral supervisors to the practices and processes of doctoral supervision. It extends our previous training in two three two-hour sessions that cover:
- Supporting PGR development and monitoring progress
- Responding to student needs and having challenging conversations
- Giving feedback
Please note this course is mandatory for all new doctoral supervisors, with only the first being mandatory for doctoral supervisors new to Exeter.
The PGR pastoral tutor has pastoral responsibility for the student, and provides an additional layer of support to the supervision team. To support new PGR pastoral tutors, our training programme offers a two-hour workshop Introduction to PGR pastoral tutoring.
Below are the available dates and times for PGR pastoral tutor training:
An introduction to pastoral tutor for PGRs
- Thursday 24 October 2024, 12 pm to 1.30 pm
- Tuesday 4 March 2025, 11 am to 12.30 pm
- Wednesday 25 June 2025, 11 am to 12.30 pm
These are identical sessions, so you only need to attend one based on your availability. The sessions are intended for all PGR pastoral tutors. If you have any questions regarding bookings, please contact Dr. Tian Yan at t.yan@exeter.ac.uk. For a complete overview of PGR supervision training, please visit the EduExe Toolkit page on Mandatory Training for PGR Supervisors.
PGR pastoral tutors can also benefit from some of the training provision for academic personal tutors, including:
PGR pastoral tutors may also benefit from the following asynchronous courses:
- Taking care of yourself as a tutor
- Tutoring at a distance
- Mental Health Wellbeing and the HWSS procedure
All of this is supported by a Supervision hub on the Education Toolkit, with online resources, training materials and relevant links.
For those involved in examining doctoral degrees, we offer a suite of online resources on Navigating the examinations process on our Supervision hub on the Education Toolkit,.
All staff who supervise doctoral students are required to engage in CPD at least once every two years. To this end, we offer a rolling suite of three CPD courses a year, determined by the University’s Doctoral Supervision Steering Group and in response to local needs and sector issues. For 2023/2024, these are:
- Working with Diversity and Differences in Doctoral Supervision
- Introduction to Education Welfare in Doctoral Supervision
- An introduction to decolonisation in doctoral supervision (5 June 2024, 12.00 to 13.30)
- Pastoral Tutor Training (12 June 2024, 12.00 to 13.30)
- Supporting part-time PGRs (17 June 2024, 11.00 to 12.00)
- Dealing with Unsatisfactory progress, engagement and attendance (19 June 2024, 10.30 to 11.30)
- Supporting PGRs’ upgrade as supervisors and examiners (24 June 2024, 11.00-12.00)
You can find materials on all our past CPD sessions on the Supervision hub on the Education Toolkit.