Supervising Students and Doctoral Researchers
Few tasks in academia have as much influence on other people's success – and are learned so rarely in a systematic way. Supervision mostly happens on the side, squeezed between your own research, teaching, and grant proposals. Yet its quality plays a major part in whether theses and dissertations succeed or stall.
The workshop is for anyone who supervises: doctoral researchers and postdocs who guide students and theses, as well as experienced postdocs and professors who supervise doctoral researchers. Participants work on their own supervision situations, get to know proven structures and conversation techniques, and develop their personal supervision profile. Examples and case work are tailored to each institution and group of participants.
The workshop goes deeper into a topic that appears as a compact segment in the Leadership workshop. For anyone who wants to look at the other side of the supervision relationship: the Setting Course: Starting Your PhD workshop supports doctoral researchers through a strong start to their PhD.
Content
The workshop content is conveyed through short input sessions, individual and group work, and case work on participants' own supervision situations. The focus is on transfer into everyday supervision practice – from the first decision to take someone on to whatever conversation is coming up next.
- Role and self-understanding as a supervisor – between subject-matter advice, leadership, and coaching
- Decisions to take someone on: criteria and warning signs before starting a supervision relationship
- Clarifying expectations and supervision agreements: responsibilities, roles, boundaries
- Supervision conversations: preparing, structuring, and following up with clear commitments
- Difficult situations: stalled work, dips in motivation, conflicts, power imbalances, personal crises
- Supervision across the project: growing with it from onboarding to submission and defense
- Your own supervision profile: strengths, areas for development, concrete next steps
Nach dem Workshop können die Teilnehmenden …
- Clarify your own supervisory role and switch deliberately between subject-matter advice, leadership, and coaching
- Put supervision on solid footing: criteria for taking someone on, clarifying expectations, a supervision agreement
- Prepare, structure, and follow up on supervision conversations with clear commitments
- Recognize and address difficult situations early – from stalled work to conflicts
- Adapt your own supervision to the relevant project phase, from onboarding to submission
Key Facts
Duration & Format
Audience
Group Size
Languages
Interested?
- Tailored: Every format is customized to your context – from methodology to scheduling
- Practical: Grounded in academia, field-tested, and immediately applicable in everyday research
- Efficient: Clear structures and methods deliver fast results
- Sustainable: Materials and transfer tasks secure the learning effect long-term
- Motivating: Interactive formats boost engagement and team spirit