Themes

Responsible supervision

What is this about?

Research ethics and integrity do not just comprise of what researchers do research-wise. An additional duty of many researchers beyond the PhD level is the supervision of junior researchers and PhD candidates. Besides responsible conduct of research, it is thought that one should also supervise others responsibly. This page sums up the existing resources, practices and ideas about responsible supervision.

Why is this important?

Academic research has a long tradition of master-apprentice relationships, where the apprentice (here: junior researcher) learns the fine skills of the trade (here: research) through the extensive supervision of a master (here: senior researcher). The more one grows in an academic career, the more likely a researcher is to supervise junior researchers (often PhD candidates).

Responsible supervision involves two main things. On the one hand, the supervisor should model responsible research, so that junior researchers are naturally socialized into responsible research practices. This could involve a variety of things: from assuring that the junior researcher is involved in good data management from the start of the project, to an open and timely conversation about (co-) authorship.

On the other hand, responsible supervision involves creating a safe learning climate for junior researchers to learn. The idea here is that if the learning climate is not safe, junior researchers may lack the space and confidence to share their concerns about the interpretation of the data, the planning of a particular research project, or the limitations of their capacity. Hence, if no safe professional relationship exists, certain doubts, concerns or limitations may remain under the radar, ultimately slowing down academic research.

For whom is this important?

phd students

The Embassy Editorial team, Iris Lechner, Andrijana Perković Paloš, Tamarinde Haven contributed to this theme. Latest contribution was Oct 22, 2021

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