How Supervisors can support Neurodiversity-Affirmative PhD Students, November 2025

In association with the UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE), we welcomed Professor Debbie Riby (Centre for Neurodiversity & Development, Durham University) on 28 November 2025 to share insights from her research on neurodivergent PhD researchers and lead a discussion about supervision practices for neuroinclusion.

Dr Karen Clegg (Co-Director of the Next Generation Research SuperVision Project, University of York) opened the session with a welcome. ​“We’re delighted to have so many of you here,” she said, ​“We know there is an enormous interest in this topic which is why we are recording Professor Riby’s presentation. Her intelligence and her research can help us to navigate a challenging landscape – we turn to her as our expert and compassionate guide.”

She then handed over to Professor Riby who said: ​“It’s great to be here today. I held a similar session in 2023 with UKCGE and there were about 100 people in the room; it’s great to see over 200 people today, which shows the increased interest in this topic.”

She then made some introductory remarks about the ways in which supervisors can support neurodiversity-affirmative PhD Supervision. She explained that we all have different brains shaped by biological, psychological and social factors. Aspects such as memory and problem-solving and are all part of our individuality. ​“It’s important to reflect upon our own strengths and weaknesses as well as understanding those of other staff and students that we’re working with,” she said.

Professor Riby then went on to explain that PGR supervision can often mean working in a small team or on a one-to-one basis. She spoke about the importance of thinking about what that means for the supervisory relationship. ​“Being ​‘neurodiversity affirming’ is understanding the differences between all of us, irrespective of diagnostic labels,” she observed.

She then turned to a broad look at neurodiversity and its contexts. As she explained, the term encompasses a wide range of different neurotypes. ​“We see a huge overlap between neurodivergence and mental health challenges, especially anxiety and depression,” she remarked. She also explained that neurodivergence is not limited to individuals of a specific gender, colour, age or ethnicity.

Following this brief introduction to the subject, Professor Riby then introduced an ice-breaker session for delegates, who were given the opportunity to discuss the following questions: ​“How do you get to know your students and their needs / profiles of strengths and weakness? And where does neurodiversity fit into this?”

Once this session was complete, she resumed her presentation with a focus on supervisory practices. 

“It’s well recognised the Higher Education institutions are accepting more diverse populations, and we know from anecdotal reports that we’re also seeing an increase in neurodivergence amongst the postgraduate community” Professor Riby said. She explained that we had become used to taking a deficit-based approach to these students but suggested, instead, that we think how to scaffold areas of challenge and encourage students to play to their strengths.

While it’s important that supervisors are encouraged to embed these practices, Professor Riby also emphasised that it was not all on their shoulders. ​“We are here to provide neuro-affirming supervision, but every Higher Education institution does have its own structures for providing extra support for students which we should be using.”

She then turned to the start of the PhD journey and how this experience brings with it a natural sense of uncertainty and anxiety which can be magnified in the case of neurodivergent researchers. ​“We do need to recognise that onboarding PhD students and setting up ways of working as a supervisor are especially important,” she said. She talked specifically about anxiety, saying that while most of us feel anxious from time to time, clinical levels of anxiety will impact on all aspects of the PhD journey. One way of tackling this might be to plan ahead with supervisory meetings, so that students know exactly what to expect and uncertainty is reduced. 

Professor Riby then went through a checklist of considerations for supervisors in terms of conducting the meetings themselves. She said that neurodivergent PhD students might want to get involved with a lot of aspects of university life, which – although in some ways a positive thing – might lead to burnout because of difficulties managing time. She also covered the flexible approaches to the meetings that supervisors might choose to adopt (for example: walking meetings might help students to be more present and confident during discussions). 

She then moved onto the issue of feedback. ​“There’s the idea that neurodivergent individuals may be more prone to rejection sensitivity dysphoria: more experiences of real rejection, stigma and bullying,” she explained. ​“It’s useful to think about how we give feedback throughout the PhD journey and that a discussion about it [between student and supervisor] takes place.”

Rounding off her presentation, Professor Riby said that neurodivergence may be relevant to both supervisors as well as students, but that the key was to remember that every person is different. She also said that supervising a PhD is particularly challenging because (unlike undergraduate courses) each person’s area of study will also be different; however, it was important to ensure that ​“everything we do is neuroinclusive.”

A lively group discussion followed which was held under the Chatham House Rule.

This post content was provided by the UK Council for Graduate Education who kindly hosted the session in partnership with RSVP.