Postgraduate Research Supervision Award Scheme

Important Note (October 2010)

Following the restructuring of the Faculties, responsibility for these awards has now been devolved to the eight new Faculties. They will announce their local process in due course.

The information below applied to the process in 2009/10

Purpose

The aim of the Awards is to raise the profile of supervision of PGR students, and to encourage wider dissemination of good practice across the university, ultimately raising standards across the whole institution. It should be stressed that the aim is to reward the process of good supervision rather than the outcome of good research, which has its own rewards.

Eligibility Criteria

The following staff may be nominated for an Award:

  • Academic and research staff who have normally participated in the supervision of at least three doctoral students to successful completion and who have not previously won a PGR Supervision award.
  • This includes supervisors of Professional Doctorates as well as PhD degrees.

Evaluation Criteria

The University of Southampton’s minimum requirements of a PGR supervisor are laid out in the Code of Practice (www.calendar.soton.ac.uk/sectionV/part7.html).  These should be met in full and moreover, in keeping with the spirit of the Vice Chancellor’s Teaching Awards, nominees should demonstrate exceptional skill or achievement over and above these minimum requirements, namely one or more of:

  • a special interest in, and visible enthusiasm for, supervising and supporting research students, above and beyond the minimum requirements of the Code of Practice; evidenced by the student’s citation;
  • the ability to recruit and select high calibre candidates and establish effective working relationships with them and other members of the supervisory team;
  • the ability to offer appropriate academic guidance, advice and inspiration, including encouraging students and supporting them (for example, to attend conferences), giving constructive criticism where appropriate, and providing useful and timely feedback on submitted work; evidenced by the student’s citation;
  • an active concern to support the personal, professional, and career development of their doctoral students, providing disinterested careers advice, and encouraging them to evaluate their own skills and participate in skills development training; evidenced, for example, by the regular use of Training Needs Analyses and by the success of their students in gaining employment within and outside academia;
  • an ability to support students through the processes of completion of their thesis and final examination, and beyond;
  • an ability to critically evaluate their practice as supervisors and, where appropriate, disseminate it, e.g. by organising staff development sessions for colleagues;
  • a practical interest in the training and development of junior academic staff, evidenced e.g. by successful mentoring or co-supervision with a junior colleague.

Process

  1. All current PGR students will be invited to nominate their supervisor for an award.  Nominations are to be accompanied by a short justification (150-200 words).  The call for nominations will be sent out by the Faculty Graduate Schools (FGSs), and nominations must be submitted to the FGSs by the given date.
  2. The FGSs will evaluate the nominations against the above criteria, in consultation with Graduate School Heads/PG Coordinators of the academic schools, to draw up an agreed shortlist within each Faculty.
  3. The award recipient will be selected within each Faculty by the Dean and Associate Dean (Grad School) or nominee(s).
  4. Awards are formally made at Graduation in the appropriate School PGR ceremony.