I advise universities, doctoral schools and academic leaders on how to strengthen doctoral supervision. I do this as a researcher and colleague. These are questions I have worked with for many years, from the inside of academic life.
When institutions ask for my advice, the questions are rarely simple. How do we build supervision capacity over time? How do we know if what we do is working? What should we change, and what should we leave alone?
I help leaders think those questions through carefully. My starting point is always the local context: your supervisors, your doctoral students, your culture and your constraints. From there I draw on research, international experience and many years of working with doctoral education across Europe.
The aim is not a quick fix. It is clearer understanding, better decisions and development that can be sustained.
I offer advisory work in a few focused areas. The form varies. The common thread is research-informed dialogue with the people who carry responsibility for doctoral education.
I support faculties and doctoral schools in building supervision capacity over time. That may mean designing a development strategy, clarifying roles and expectations, or helping leadership set a coherent direction for supervisor support.
I help institutions look carefully at their supervision practices and programmes. An evaluation can make strengths and tensions visible, and give leaders a solid basis for deciding what to strengthen, adjust or leave alone.
Sometimes a decision needs better evidence. I design and carry out focused studies of supervision quality, doctoral experience, research culture or related questions, and I translate findings into language leaders can act on.
I advise academic leaders when they need a sparring partner on policy, quality frameworks or change in doctoral education. My role is to bring research insight and practical judgement into the room, not to sell a ready-made model.
I typically work with those who shape the conditions for supervision, rather than with individual supervisors alone.
Every university has its own history, pressures and strengths. I take time to understand yours before suggesting a direction.
Advice is most useful when it is informed by evidence. I draw on my own research and the wider field of doctoral education.
Recommendations have to work for real supervisors and real institutions. I aim for clarity that people can use, not abstract frameworks left on a shelf.
Tell me a little about your institution and the question you are sitting with. I will gladly explore whether and how I can help.