UniWinD Publication Vol. 4: Doctoral Supervision

Doctoral Supervision – Recommendations and good practice for universities and doctoral supervisors

This is the English translation of the German publication „Betreuung Promovierender – Empfehlungen und Good Practice für Universitäten und Betreuende“.

This publication presents the results of the „Concepts of Supervision“ working group, which worked actively between 2011 and 2012, investigating matters related to the supervision of doctoral candidates.
Doctoral supervision is a term that describes the mentoring of a doctoral candidate who otherwise conducts independent, original research. The scope and quality of supervision have an impact on the success of the doctorate. This means that both the PhD awarding institutions and the individual supervisors are responsible for ensuring their candidates receive the right support. Setting up guidelines for adequate support, acknowledging supervision achievements as well as providing qualification for and networking between supervisors are helpful measures that institutions can take.
The „Concepts of Supervision“ working group has put together a set of recommendations for ensuring adequate support and has collected good-practice examples. Their results were published in the German publication „Betreuung Promovierender. Empfehlungen
und Good Practice für Universitäten und Betreuende“.