Supervisor information

Supervisor development

With the increasing complexity of the PGR experience the doctoral academy will continue to support our supervisors and priories equipping them with the professional development to continue delivering PGR excellence.

Faculty of Humanities Doctoral Academy is introducing a PGR supervisor support and continuing professional development (CPD) programme that sets out the CPD and support available to colleagues. The programme indicates the minimum levels of CPD to serve as a primary PGR supervisor in the Faculty as set out in the Supervisor Training, Support and Development Framework (at least one CPD opportunity within each academic year) and the UKRI New Deal for Postgraduate Research.

To support supervisor CPD the Doctoral Academy has a series of events led by colleagues from the researcher development team, the Faculty Doctoral Academy and of course supervisors themselves. The aim is to develop activities that share experience, good practice as well as looking toward more challenging issues in PGR supervision (mental health, wellbeing, completion, etc).

We will also encourage and support supervisors to apply for external recognition through the UK Centre for Graduate Education (UKCGE) Research Supervision Recognition Programme.

Supervisor toolkit

In consultation with academic and PS colleagues across the University, Manchester Doctoral College Strategy Group has developed a Manchester-focussed online Postgraduate Researcher Supervisor Toolkit, based on the UKCGE good supervisory practice framework, to support supervisors in their role. The resource brings together information and guidance about all aspects of research supervision from recruitment through to completion, with the aim of quickly signposting you to useful services, enabling you to navigate policies and regulations, and facilitating your interactions with postgraduate researchers. The resource is a source of information for supervisors from all academic areas and all levels of experience and will be reviewed and updated biannually; please use the form within the resource to send us your feedback and help ensure the resource continues to be useful and relevant.

To access the toolkit open Postgraduate Researcher Supervisor Toolkit and follow the steps below:

When logged in to Blackboard, click the Enrol button with the green + symbol
Click Submit in the bottom right corner of the window
Click OK in the bottom right corner of the window
When you click on the link within Blackboard to launch the toolkit, ensure that pop-ups are enabled

If you have issues accessing Blackboard, please contact IT Support. If you can access Blackboard but have trouble with the toolkit, please contact staffLD@manchester.ac.uk

Resources and Support

Training for new and experienced supervisors takes place regularly and provides opportunities for discussion of more complex issues.

Supervisor guidelines

Useful websites

More information and further resources can be found on the following websites:

Vitae

Supervising a doctorate

The 'Supervising a doctorate' section of Vitae's site provides advice and guidance for supervisors. Vitae’s resources also include information from the Premia project on supervising disabled PhD students.

Researcher Development Framework (RDF)

The RDF describes the knowledge, behaviours and attitudes of professional researchers and provides a framework for the development of researchers at all stages of their careers. The RDF will replace the Joint Skills Statement which outlined the research and generic skills that research students ought to develop as part of their PhD experience.

The Researcher Development Framework

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)

UK Quality Code for Higher Education - Chapter B11: Research degrees

All of the following books and articles are available via the University Library (unless otherwise stated). The books are available to borrow from the library itself, and the link below will take you to the library catalogue entry. The journal articles can be accessed electronically through the link provided (but you may need your username and password if you are working off campus).

Books

Delamont, S., Atkinson, P. and Parry, O. (2001) Supervising the PhD: A Guide to Success. Buckingham: SRHE and Open University Press.
Bartlet, Alison and Gina Mercer (2001). Postgraduate Research Supervision: Transforming (R)elations. New York: Peter Lang. (not in JRUL)
Tinkler, Penny and Carolyn Jackson (2004).The Doctoral Examination Process: A Handbook for Students, Examiners and Supervisors. Maidenhead: Open University Press

Journal articles

Examining the thesis

Mullins, G., & Kiley, M. (2002). 'It's a PhD, not a Nobel Prize': How experienced examiners assess research theses. Studies in Higher Education, 27(4), 369-386.
Tinkler, P. & Jackson, C. (2000) Examining the Doctorate: institutional policy and the PhD examination process in Britain. Studies in Higher Education, 25(2), 167-180.
Joyner, R. W. (2003). The selection of external examiners for research degrees. Quality Assurance in Education, 11(2), 123-127.

The viva

Murray, R. (2003). Students' questions and their implications for the viva. Quality Assurance in Education, 11(2), 109.
Carter, Susan. (2008) Examining the doctoral thesis: a discussion, Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 45(4), 365-374
Jackson, C., & Tinkler, P. (2001). Back to basics: A consideration of the purposes of the PhD viva. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 26(4), 355-366.
Wallace, Sue (2003). Figuratively Speaking: Six accounts of the PhD viva. Quality Assurance in Education, 11(2), 100-108.

Selecting external examiners

Kiley, Margaret (2009) "You don't want a smart Alec": selecting examiners to assess doctoral dissertations. Studies in Higher Education, 34(8), 889-903.
Kiley, M. and Mullins, G. (2004) Examining the examiners: How inexperienced examiners approach the assessment of research theses. International Journal of Educational Research, 41(2), 121-135.
Joyner, Richard W. (2003). The selection of external examiners for research degrees. Quality Assurance in Education, 11(2), 123-7

Approaches to supervision

Johnson, L., Lee, A.,& Green, B. (2000). The PhD and the autonomous self: gender, rationality and postgraduate pedagogy. Studies in Higher Education, 25(2), 135-147.
Mainhard, T., van der Rijst, R. & van Tartwijk, J. (2009). A model for the supervisor-doctoral student relationship. Higher Education, 58(3), 359-373.
Brew, Angela (2001). 'Conceptions of Research: a phenomenographic study'. Studies in Higher Education, 26(3), 271-285.
Acker, Sandra, Tim Hill and Edith Black (1994). 'Thesis supervision in the social sciences: managed or negotiated'. Higher Education, 28, 483-498.
Deuchar, Ross (2008). 'Facilitator, director or critical friend? Contradiction and congruence in doctoral supervision styles'. Teaching in Higher 'Education, 13(4), 489-500
Lee, Ann (2008). 'How are doctoral students supervised? Concepts of doctoral research supervision'. Studies in Higher Education, 33(3), 267-281.
Hopwood, Nick (2010). Doctoral experience and learning from a sociocultural perspective. Studies in Higher Education, 35(7), 829-843.

Co-supervision

Spooner-Lane, R., Henderson, D., Price, R., & Hill, G. (2007). Practice to theory: Co-supervision stories. The International Journal of Research Supervision, 1(1), 39-51.

Avoiding problems

Levecque, K., Anseel, F., Beuckelaer, A., Van der Heyden, J., Gisle, L. (2017). Work organization and mental health problems in PhD students. Research Policy, 46(4), 868-879.
Wright, T. and Cochrane, R. (2000) Factors influencing successful submission of PhD theses. Studies in Higher Education, 25(2), 181-195.
Deem, R. & Brehony, K. (2000) Doctoral Students' Access to Research Cultures - are some more unequal than others? Studies in Higher Education, 25(2), 149-165.
Wright, T. and Lodwick, R. (1989) The process of the PhD: a study of the first year of doctoral study. Research Papers in Education, 4(1), 22-56.
Leonard, D., Metcalfe, J., Becker, R. and Evans, J. (2006) The Impact of Working Context and Support on the Postgraduate Research Student Learning Experience, Higher Education Academy commissioned literature review.

What is the purpose of a PhD?

Enders, J. (2005). Border crossings: Research training, knowledge dissemination and the transformation of academic work. Higher Education, 49(1-2), 119-133.
Halse, Christine and Janne Malfroy (2009). Retheorising doctoral supervision as professional work. Studies in Higher Education, 35(1), 79-92.
Barnacle, Robyn and Gloria Dall’Alba (2010). Research Degrees as professional education?. Studies in Higher Education (iFirst).
Kamler, Barbara (2008). Rethinking doctoral publication practices: writing from and beyond the thesis. Studies in Higher Education, 33(3), 283 – 294.

Reports

League of European Research Universities (LERU). Doctoral degrees beyond 2010: Training talented researchers for society
European University Association. Salzburg II Recommendations: European Universities' Achievements Since 2005 In Implementing The Salzburg Principles