Supervision in research
Supervisors play a vital role in supporting researchers.
- What is supervision?
- Why is supervision important?
- How can you improve your supervision skills?
The importance of supervision in research
Supervision enables the development of many essential skills, meaning that it is highly valued in professional development.
Read our guide below on how you can improve your skills to becoming an impactful supervisor.
What is supervision?
Guiding, supporting, and advising others are all a part of supervision in research. Enable and guide your researchers to:
- engage effectively with research problems
- identify realistic, achievable research goals
- plan suitable approaches and methods
- employ research techniques well
- overcome the inevitable challenges in research
- analyse resulting data and present it in an accessible but accurate form
- disseminate results to a wide range of audiences, including examiners and practitioners in the field.
Good to note: different institutions, faculties and disciplines require different patterns and styles of supervision, often with a group of supervisors supporting a particular researcher, each with a particular role to play in the process.
Why is supervision important?
- The supervisor’s role is to oversee the doctoral student, to ensure that they attain enough knowledge and expertise to complete their study within the timeframe, while developing skills to become an autonomous researcher and learner.
- A balance has to be struck between the supervisor’s influence and the researcher’s autonomy.
- Due to the changing nature of research, supervisors are required to keep on learning and evolving in their role.
- Every supervisee will bring their own unique challenges, so being adaptable as a supervisor is paramount.
How can you improve your supervision skills?
Keep up to date and intellectually active in research
review advances in your field regarding research methodology and information literacy. Embrace creative thinking and constructive criticism. Seek out new opportunities and trends and be open to novel ideas.
Model the personal qualities required of a good researcher
these include enthusiasm and confidence, seeking ways to add to knowledge and to improve your own research performance and that of others. These also extend to maintaining research integrity and responsibility, including being punctual and keeping attention to detail. Also remember to respect the work and alternative perspectives of others, including developing networks and sharing expertise.
Keep aware of research governance and organisation requirements
inform yourself of current legal, ethical, health and safety requirements that are relevant for research; aid the development of internal procedures for research projects and research students, including evaluation of risk and impact; keep up to date with knowledge regarding finance, funding and administrative systems, and responsibly manage these.
Engage with and influence others
build relationships with other researchers from all backgrounds, to share ideas and to support each other; engage with publication and dissemination for your work and for others to a range of relevant audiences; contribute to and support efforts to transfer knowledge and increase public awareness of research impact.
Final takeaways
- Guiding, supporting, and advising others are all a part of supervision in research.
- A balance has to be struck between the supervisor’s influence and the researcher’s autonomy.
- Model the personal qualities required of a good researcher – these include enthusiasm and confidence, seeking ways to add to knowledge and to improve your own research performance and that of others.