The Doctoral Supervisor of the Year Award recognizes supervisors who demonstrate exceptional commitment to fostering successful research outcomes and providing outstanding mentorship to their PhD candidates. This award acknowledges the profound impact that dedicated supervisors have on the quality of doctoral research and the professional development of future academics and researchers.

Award Categories

While the primary focus is on the individual supervisor, categories could be considered if there’s a significant volume of nominations or distinct supervisory approaches across broad fields:

• Overall Doctoral Supervisor of the Year: A single award recognizing a supervisor who exemplifies excellence across all disciplines.
• Discipline-Specific Recognition (Optional, if warranted by volume):
  • Excellence in STEM Supervision: For supervisors in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
  • Excellence in Humanities & Social Sciences Supervision: For supervisors in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
  • This ensures that the diverse nature of doctoral supervision across different fields is acknowledged.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for this award, a supervisor must:

• Be actively supervising PhD candidates at the nominating institution.
• Have successfully graduated at least one PhD candidate within the last three academic years (e.g., from the academic year 2022-2023 onwards).
• Demonstrate a consistent record of high-quality supervision, as evidenced by candidate nominations.

Nomination and Selection Process

The award is primarily driven by the invaluable perspective of PhD candidates themselves:

• Nomination Basis: Nominations are exclusively accepted from current PhD candidates or those who have successfully defended their thesis within the last 12 months at the time of nomination. This ensures direct and recent experience with the supervisor’s impact.
• Nomination Content: Nominations should clearly articulate how the supervisor has demonstrated excellence in areas such as:
  • Mentorship and Guidance: Providing clear academic direction, constructive feedback, and fostering critical thinking.
  • Support for Research Progress: Actively assisting candidates in navigating research challenges, securing resources, and meeting project milestones.
  • Professional Development: Encouraging skill development (e.g., writing, presentation, networking), career planning, and preparing candidates for post-PhD careers.
  • Creating a Positive Research Environment: Fostering a supportive, inclusive, and intellectually stimulating atmosphere.
  • Personal and Wellbeing Support: Showing empathy and understanding, and providing support for candidate well-being where appropriate.
  • Promoting Independence: Guiding candidates towards becoming independent researchers.
• Review Committee: An impartial committee, potentially comprising senior academics, a representative from the doctoral school, and potentially a previous award winner, will review nominations.
• Selection: The committee will evaluate nominations based on the compelling evidence provided by candidates, looking for consistent themes of outstanding support and positive outcomes for the students. They may also consider the supervisor’s track record of successful PhD completions and the quality of their students’ research output.

Award Benefits

The Doctoral Supervisor of the Year Award offers several benefits:

• Public Recognition: The supervisor receives a formal certificate or plaque and is publicly acknowledged across the university’s platforms (website, newsletters, social media). This enhances their reputation and highlights their dedication.
• Enhanced Profile: The award contributes to the supervisor’s professional profile, which can be beneficial for grant applications, departmental standing, and attracting future PhD candidates.
• Informal Recognition: It provides a valuable morale boost and reinforces the importance of excellent supervision within the academic community.
• Promoting Best Practices: Highlighting exceptional supervisors can serve as a benchmark, encouraging other faculty members to adopt similar effective mentoring strategies.
• Indirect Client Benefit: While focused on supervisors, this award directly benefits PhD candidates (our clients) by promoting a culture of strong mentorship and indirectly helps future candidates identify supervisors with a proven track record of student success.