Supervise and Lead - Retreat for PhD Supervisors
This is the first edition of the Research Careers Campus retreat for supervisors, taking place from Tue-Thu in the Styrian countryside!
Registration:
Training und Weiterbildung - Research Careers Campus Graz
Target group:
Researchers with a PhD who already have experience supervising or are about to step into a role supervising doctoral researchers
Aim & Content:
This retreat aims to offer participants the opportunity to develop standards for good doctoral supervision in a comprehensive collegial exchange. They are supported in this by learning about international best practices in supervision and by learning about and interactively practicing important leadership tools. Over two-and-a-half days, the group focuses on open discussion, moderated reflection, and sharing practical approaches to supervision. The retreat is structured around consecutive, highly interactive work phases in the morning and afternoon, with sufficient time for discussion and networking.
Supervising doctoral candidates is a complex task. Doctoral candidates should be qualified to produce their own scientific work. At the same time, they should collaborate on projects with predefined topics. They also should acquire and practice skills and knowledge that prepare them for an academic career, but also for a non-academic career. The relationship between doctoral candidates and their supervisors can be a source of tension. Supervisors are often at the same time disciplinary superiors; they evaluate the doctoral thesis and finance the doctoral position, either from their own budget or from third-party funds. For this task, the reflection on the respective situation and role in which supervisors find themselves and the use of management tools such as ‘giving feedback’, ‘formulating target agreements’ and ‘time and conflict management’ are integral parts of successful supervision.
The content will be tailored to the needs of the participants. Therefore, they are invited to submit cases (anonymized), topical wishes, or needs.
Among the topics to be explored are:
First Focus Area: My Role and Responsibilities as a Supervising Person
- A change of perspective: Supervision expectations - my own and those of the supervised
- Qualification of PhD candidates - international standards
- Self-reflection: Own strengths and weaknesses in supervision
- Finding the right PhD candidates (selection, onboarding)
- Shaping the supervision process (getting to know useful tools)
Second Focus Area: Useful Leadership Tools in the Supervision Process of PhD Candidates and Beyond
- Giving feedback
- Time management in the supervision process
- Formulating goal agreements
- Conflicts and conflict management
- Dealing with difficult supervision situations - practical examples
- Deriving one's own principles of action
About the trainer:
Matthias Scholz studied Catholic theology and history and earned his doctorate from the University of Münster. He lectured in human resources at the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences. For several years, he has also served as an expert reviewer for the accreditation and reaccreditation of Catholic theology programs for the Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Canonical Studies in Germany (AKAST). His clients at Scholz CTC include universities, universities of applied sciences, and institutes of the Max Planck Society and the Leibniz Association. Scholz CTC GmbH has been in operation for over 15 years and has collaborated with all major German universities, several universities of applied sciences, and numerous national and international non-university research institutions and universities.