New PhD Supervisor Handbook: all supervision information in one place
Maryam Alqassab, an assistant professor at ICLON (Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching), helps train new PhD supervisors and knows how demanding the role can be. When asked to contribute to an online handbook for PhD supervisors, she didn’t hesitate: ‘Everything supervisors do or are involved in is covered.’
Hi Maryam, what was the main reason for creating this handbook?
‘In the Supervising PhD Candidates training course, we focus on the didactical aspects and the practice of PhD supervision, rather than on regulations. But supervisors who come from different places around the world or have done their PhD at a different university in the Netherlands often have questions such as: “What are the regulations?” and “What is expected of me as a supervisor?”
‘We can’t cover those in the training, so a central place for all information specific to supervision within Leiden University was missing. There was already a module for PhD candidates, which got us thinking: “Why don't we have one for supervisors?” The trainee at the HR department, Fréderique Verbeek, put the handbook together.’
What topics are covered in the handbook?
‘It talks about the practicalities of supervision, from the initial phase to the end. Everything supervisors do or are involved in is covered: from their tasks and communication to the go/no-go moment and supervision meetings.
‘The handbook can serve two purposes. For starting supervisors who have just joined Leiden University, it is a good onboarding module. And for more experienced supervisors, it is nice to have an online module with all the regulations, official information and useful links and documents, so you can access them at any time. For example, some elements are specific to faculties, and the handbook highlights when these apply.’
‘We often ignore supervisors’ well-being. I'm happy to see it made explicit in the handbook.’
You yourself are a first-time PhD supervisor at Leiden University. Is there a topic in the handbook that you find particularly useful?
‘One thing I really like is the checklist of what is required of PhD supervisors at each phase of the programme. There is one specifically for support at the end, which will help make sure I’m not missing anything.
‘And I like how the handbook provides resources to support the supervisor’s well-being. That’s one of the things that I find deserve more attention when thinking about improving supervision. We focus a lot on how to provide the optimal support as supervisors so that PhD candidates can have good experiences, but we often ignore supervisors’ well-being. I’m happy to see it made explicit in the handbook.’
Have you encountered any challenges as a supervisor, and if so, how did you deal with them?
‘To me, the most important thing is to clarify, align and revisit expectations in evaluation moments during the process – not just with the PhD candidate but also with your co-supervisors. This is especially important with an international or interdisciplinary team. We advise supervisors to start from the beginning and explore these expectations in the very first meeting with a PhD candidate.’
‘The key is to establish a safe relationship.’
What makes a good PhD supervisor?
‘I would argue that there is no single recipe for good supervision. A large part of it is taking care of what's often referred to as “the human aspect”. Because it's true that we are in a research relationship with PhD candidates, but they're also human beings. It's important for supervisors to take care of the candidate’s well-being and support them. The key here is to establish a safe relationship. A lot of what happens during the PhD is centred around communicating your needs and expectations and speaking your mind. It’s difficult to do that without a safe relationship.’
Take a look at the handbook yourself
Curious about the handbook? You can find it here
Text: Jitske Verhagen