The Next Generation Research SuperVision Project (RSVP) is a £4.6m national project on doctoral supervision and is believed to be the largest collaborative, cross-disciplinary, translational research project into doctoral education ever funded.

The project is led by the University of York with the University of Nottingham taking a leading role through the Researcher Academy.

We’ll be examining research supervision culture and practice to understand what works in different contexts, identify effective supervision and determine how supervision practice is both supported, recognised and rewarded.

This is a really exciting opportunity to transform supervision in the UK and beyond by developing training and support programmes to help supervisors work more effectively with each other and their PGRs.

If you are involved in the supervision of doctoral candidates in any capacity, we want to hear from you. This is your chance to share the highs and lows of the supervisory experience, and what leads to good supervision.

Your participation will help to form a national picture of the experiences, values and views of research supervisors and help to shape the UK Council for Graduate Education’s future support for research supervision.

You can contribute via a national survey  and sign up to join one of five online Focus Groups taking place in July.

Each focus group will explore a distinct area, and to ensure open and honest feedback, facilitators will not be from the University of Nottingham.

The schedule is as follows:

• Thursday 11 July, 10-11.30am: Supervisors with experience of supervision outside the UK
• Friday 12 July, 11am-12.30pm: Supervisors with experience of co-supervising with a partner university
• Monday 15 July, 2-3.30pm: Supervisors with experience of industry co-supervision
• Tuesday 16 July, 1-2.30pm: Supervisors with experience of supervising in a cohort-based doctoral programme (e.g., DTP, CDT)
• Friday 19 July, 10-11.30am: Technicians involved in PhD supervision.

To thank you for your time, colleagues taking the survey will be entered for a prize draw for £250.

Complete the survey here.