Program Overview

Doctoral Supervision: Methods & Tools

Course Information

The course "Doctoral Supervision: Methods & Tools" is an online workshop designed for postdocs at the University of Basel. The course is scheduled to take place on Friday, June 19, 2026, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Registration Details

• Registration opens on January 21, 2026, at 9:00 AM.
• Registration deadline is May 22, 2026, at 12:00 PM.
• The course is free of charge and limited to postdocs of the University of Basel, with a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 16 participants.

Trainer

The course is led by Dr. Gitte Wichmann-Hansen, a Professor at the University of Agder, Norway, and a Senior researcher at Aarhus University, Denmark. She has extensive experience in running workshops for supervisors at all career stages across European universities and has published over 100 works on supervision.

Aims

The main purpose of the workshop is to enhance supervisors' skills in making supervision a professional, effective, and enjoyable process. It aims to create a safe space for supervisors to reflect on their role and exchange experiences with other supervisors at the University of Basel. By the end of the workshop, participants are expected to have enhanced skills in:

• Aligning expectations with PhD candidates
• Balancing private and professional elements in the supervisory relationship
• Supporting PhD candidates' ownership of their projects while ensuring progress and quality
• Providing constructive feedback

Content

The workshop focuses on three key supervisory skills:

1. Process skills: Establishing and maintaining constructive work relationships with students, aligning expectations, balancing conflicting needs, and planning and monitoring progress.
2. Communication skills: Asking questions that promote independent thinking and listening actively and attentively.
3. Text-related skills: Providing formative feedback that is prioritized, criteria-based, specific, and instructive.

Methods

The teaching form is highly interactive, combining group work, exercises, plenary discussions, and short research-based lectures.

Target Group

The course is designed for all postdocs.

Workload

The total workload for the course is 7 hours. The course is regarded as passed if participants are actively engaged throughout the whole workshop day.

Feature

Once registration is open, applications will be collected for 24 hours, and course places will be allocated by lot. All registrations received after the initial 24-hour period will be put on a waiting list and assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. Full course attendance is mandatory, and participants who fail to attend without prior notification or withdraw after the registration deadline may be subject to a fee.