— OUR APPROACH
Strong foundations. Shared practice.
Created using evidence
Every intervention is grounded in existing scholarship and empirical data, including supervisor focus groups and the UK Research Supervision Survey (UKRSS) - ensuring they provide data-informed and pedagogically grounded development opportunities for supervisors.
Piloted and refined
Deliberately piloted in different contexts and within institutions with very different research cultures, the interventions have been collaboratively refined to be flexible and relevant. Each can be further adapted to suit different institutions, disciplines, and cultures.
Fostering community
Our data shows that supervisors would like more opportunities to reflect on their practice or share experiences with peers. Designed to change this, our interventions prioritise peer-to-peer learning and collaborative problem-solving to build communities of practice beyond the session.
— KEY THEMES
Supporting the doctoral lifecycle
Our interventions are grouped by themes that loosely follow the doctoral lifecycle, from getting supervisors started to reflecting on supervisory practice. Facilitator manuals, slides, case studies, and handouts support professional development that can be adapted to different institutions, disciplines and research cultures. Intervention profiles summarise why each intervention was developed and how it has evolved in response to piloting feedback.
01
Getting supervisors started
02
Being a research supervisor
03
Writing and feedback
04
Working with candidates
05
Working in team supervision
06
Reflecting on supervisory practice
— PLANNING YOUR SESSION
Choosing an intervention
To help you navigate our resources, you can filter each intervention by theme, supervisor experience level, and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) type.
Every intervention aligns with the UK Council for Graduate Education’s Good Supervisory Practice Framework (GSPF), mapping to its domains of good practice. That means you can use a single intervention on its own or combine several to build a coherent development programme grounded in a recognised national framework.
Supervisor experience levels
Types of continuing professional development
Free downloads, no login or registration.
— RESOURCE BANK
Browse all resources
Adaptable packages for workshops, structured programmes, and facilitated peer conversations, ready to be implemented by anyone who provides doctoral supervisor professional development.
Filter resources
New interventions will be released regularly until March 2027
— FUTURE RESOURCES
Interventions coming soon
Delivering engaging workshops on doctoral policies and processes
Enabling conversations: Coaching and mentoring approaches to supervision
Let’s talk about preparing candidates for doctoral examination
Designing an impactful induction for doctoral supervisors
Supporting PGR Development Beyond The Project
Supporting Reflective Practice and Recognition of Research Supervision
Supporting international doctoral candidates: Facilitating peer conversations
Establishing boundaries and building rapport with PGRs
Supervisor Peer Mentoring Circles programme
Have any questions about these interventions?
Contact us at rsvp-admin@york.ac.uk to share your thoughts.