The 5th annual doctoral supervision seminar in WNGER II

WNGER II invites you to the 5^th Annual Doctoral Supervision Seminar at Solstrand Hotel, 3-4 October 2023. 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. We will publish a final version of the program in August. 

Background for the seminar

The background for the seminar is to highlight supervision experiences from the pandemic, research on PhD-supervision, continuing professional development (CPD) within PhD-supervision, guidelines for the mid-term evaluation, "new supervisor" induction training, and the “silent revolution” within doctoral education the last ten years where doctoral supervision seems to be an especially important area to focus on in the years to come. Since the pedagogy of doctoral supervision internationally has been described as poorly articulated and under-theorized (Halse & Malfroy 2009, p. 80) it seems to be a need to move from “grand narratives” to a more well-founded pedagogy of doctoral supervision. The seminar aims to focus on different aspects concerning this issue through keynotes, workshops, and informal discussions (during lunch and dinner). The main aspects will be:·        

• The pedagogy of doctoral supervision

·        Supervisor development: what is needed, and where is it going?

·        Doctoral supervision and transferable skills

·        New regulations of doctoral education and supervision

·        Psycho-social aspects of doctoral supervision

In the workshops and panel discussions, we will focus on what is the supervisor’s and doctoral candidate’s roles and responsibilities. And we will also ask what is the department, the faculty, and leadership at universities and university colleges' responsibilities concerning doctoral supervision. 

As a preparation for the discussions in the workshops we encourage the participants to reflect upon the following questions:

·        What is the supervisor’s and doctoral candidate’s role and responsibilities?

·        Is it necessary to raise the status and awareness of doctoral supervision?

·        How could one improve the pedagogy of doctoral supervision?

·        How could one qualify the new supervisors for supervising?

• Does your institution provide or support research supervisors with continuing professional development (CPD)?

·        Is doctoral supervision mainly attached to research or education? Or both? 

·        How could doctoral supervision be a part of a “career track” considering promotion applications and teaching excellence in higher education?

·        How could PhD-supervision contribute to increasing the completion rate in doctoral education?

·        What kind of psycho-social factors seems to be crucial in doctoral supervision?  

A possible outcome of the seminar could be to create a doctoral supervision forum in WNGER II. A second outcome could be to encourage each member institution of WNGER II to put doctoral supervision systematically and strategically on the agenda in the years to come. A third outcome could be to integrate doctoral supervision as a part of the course portfolio in the University Pedagogy at each member institution of WNGER II.