Erasmus Graduate School of Law (EGSL) and Human Resources Erasmus School of Law (HR-ESL) have created a training programme for doctoral supervisors. The training is intended to further professionalise the role of doctoral supervisors. The training courses are organised by the Education Advice and Training department of the Faculty of Social Sciences (Utrecht University).
The desire for a training programme for both novice and experienced doctoral (co-)supervisors has existed for a long time, and it is mentioned as a focal point in the national sector plan. The first training was organised during the autumn of 2020 and was positively evaluated by the participants. They commented that they gained more clarity about didactics, various roles and problem analysis. The aim is to let all doctoral supervisors participate in this programme in the coming years.
Before each training, the doctoral supervisors discuss their needs with the trainers. Based on this input, the trainers determine the focus of the training. Possible subjects include targeted guidance, progress evaluations, setting development goals, risk recognition and dealing with intercultural differences and difficult situations. This person-oriented programme aims to further improve and professionalise the existing doctoral environment of Erasmus School of Law. This will lead to a time reduction of the PhD-track, which benefits both the PhD-students and the faculty.
Erasmus School of Law has made a great start with implementing the best practices from the VSNU (Association of Universities) publication: ‘Healthy working conditions in the Dutch PhD system’ and the corresponding university PhD-policy. The professors of Erasmus School of law have been approached to participate in the training programme and it is expected that professors from other faculties will in time also be approached to participate in the programme.