Graduate Studies Working Group

In Irish Higher Education Institutions, there is increasing demand from academic staff for more support in preparing for the task of supervising postgraduate students and sustaining effective practice within changing contexts. In parallel, there is national demand for more structured procedures for supervision and for the development of staff supervisory skills.

The National Academy for Integration of Research and Teaching and Learning (NAIRTL) has funded a major project, collaborative between UCC, TCD, NUI Galway, CIT and WIT, to run pilot initiatives in this area over the next year and to develop strategies for optimised support to supervisors.

• develop strategies for the support of staff involved in student supervision including induction sessions for new staff, and workshops for experienced staff
• develop training materials, guidelines and handbooks, and an on-line forum for discussion of issues 

As a first step, the Project Steering Group carried out a survey within the partner institutes to solicit the views of the academic and research community on this area and perceived key priorities in order to tailor developments accordingly. The results of this survey are now available at the below link.

Supervisor survey report (pdf)

Drawing on best practice from international institutions in the US, Europe and Australia we are currently in the process of designing a training framework for supervisors of research postgraduate students, which we would aim to pilot in the NAIRTL partner institutions during the academic year 09/10. 

Simon Rofe lecture March 2010