UKRI Commissioned Report on Research Supervision

In April 2022, UKRI commissioned the UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE) to conduct a series of 6 focus groups involving a variety of different stakeholders involved in doctoral supervision, across all UKRI research disciplines.

The workshops engaged with over 120 people, including:

• research supervisors
• doctoral researchers
• directors of Doctoral Training Partnerships and Centres for Doctoral Training

A principal aim of the workshops was to establish how UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) could better support research supervision, and in particular whether it would be helpful for UKRI to publish a ​‘statement of expectations for research supervison’.

The commission followed the Economic and Social Research Council’s review of the PhD in the social sciences and contribute to UKRI’s wider work on the New Deal for Postgraduate Research. It also involved participants from across UKRI’s research portfolio.

We are grateful for the contribution of the following people in facilitating this research, and in preparing the report:

• Professor Doug Cleaver, Director of the Doctoral College, Sheffield Hallam University
• Dr Karen Clegg, Head of the Research Excellence Training Team, University of York
• Dr Dawn Duke, Head of Programmes, Africa Research Excellence Fund
• Rachel Van Krimpen, Doctoral Training Partnership Manager (BBSRC and NERC), University of Nottingham
• Professor Julie Sheldon, Dean of the Doctoral Academy, Liverpool John Moores University