Supporting Research Supervision Practice: a review of UK provision

Professor Stan Taylor Honorary Professor, School of Education, University of Durham

Stan was Director of the Centre for Academic and Researcher Development at Durham University in the UK where he is currently an Honorary Professor in the School of Education.

He has a long standing interest in doctoral supervision, in particular engaging with supervisors to enhance their practice. He has facilitated workshops with supervisors in over 50 institutions in the UK and many overseas.

In 2016, he was co-opted to the Executive Committee of the UKCGE to oversee the creation of the Research Supervisors’ Network of which he was the founding chair. In 2018–2019, he authored the Good Supervisory Practice Framework on behalf of the UKCGE and led on the development of the Supervisor Recognition programme which was introduced in 2020.

He has contributed to scholarship in the field of doctoral education, including co-authoring A Handbook for Doctoral Supervisors (Routledge 2025, Third Ed.) and co-editing and contributing to Global Perspectives on Graduate and Doctoral Education London (Routledge 2025), Doctoral Examination: Exploring Practice Across the Globe (Routledge 2022), and The Making of Doctoral Supervisors (Routledge 2021).

As well as being an Honorary Life Member of the UK Council for Graduate Education, he is an Honorary Member of the Association of Professionals in Doctoral Education, a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

This report, authored by Professor Stan Taylor, uses available data from 149 research degree awarding institutions in the UK. It builds on the 2018 Eligibility to Supervise: a study of UK Institutions report and provides a snapshot of the current professional development provision for, and reward and recognition of, supervisory practice. The report concludes by recommending that institutions review the duration and content of their development programmes, to better reflect the complex nature of modern research supervision.

The findings of this report underpin RSVP’s drive to develop what Taylor describes as Initial Professional Development (IPD) for less experienced supervisors and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for those with more experience. This provision aims to address the growing challenges that research supervisors face in providing consistent, high-quality supervision in the context of a rich and diverse PGR pipeline.

This new report reveals that professional development provision has increased and focuses predominantly on regulations and procedures. By contrast the 2024 UK Research Supervision Survey highlights that more experienced supervisors value the opportunities to  learn from each other, share practice and reflect.

Taken together, these reports are key, evidence-based touchpoints for policy makers and supervisor developers. They also highlight the importance of recognition for supervision - be that through workload planning, promotions criteria, awards, or external schemes - and its centrality to positive culture change at an institutional level.