Training and support for supervisors and examiners

Information on the Fundamentals of PhD Supervision and Fundamentals of PhD Examination courses, optional courses from the Institute for Academic Development and mental health training for staff.

The University provides training and events to support supervisors in maintaining expertise needed to perform their supervisory role. New supervisors are required to complete the online course, ‘Fundamentals of PhD Supervision’ and this should be renewed every five years. Additionally, supervisors may be expected to attend a College or School specific session to discuss local level information and scenarios. Further information on the course is available online.

Fundamentals of PhD Supervision

There is also an online resource, ‘Fundamentals of PhD Examination’ available to support PhD examiners in developing their understanding of the examination process and their role. There is more information about this here:

Fundamentals of PhD Examination

The Institute for Academic Development (IAD) runs a number of optional sessions for supervisors, which cover topics such as supervising flexibly, supporting international students with writing, using your supervision for teaching accreditation. Contact the Institute for Academic Development for more information on briefings, events and supervisor support.

Email: iad.phdsupervisors@ed.ac.uk

The Disability and Learning Support Service runs regular online Mental Health Training sessions for staff and the Student Counselling Service hosts a range of support materials, training videos and e-learning for all staff.

The Doctoral College web pages provide further information on the range of support for supervisors.

Doctoral College