Hello! My name is Lindsay Randall, and I recently joined the Institute for Academic Development as an Academic Developer: Researcher Development. My role is split into two: half of my time is spent thinking about developing and enriching our support and training for PhD supervisors across the university and the other half is spent working on support and training around research ethics & integrity. I am a social scientist by training – I completed my own PhD here at the University of Edinburgh in Social Anthropology – but you can read more about my squiggly and diverse career background here.
I am excited to be working on a new proposal for support around both topics, and I wanted to give everyone a bit of an unofficial sneak peek of what will hopefully be coming soon from the IAD with regards to PhD Supervisor Support and Research Ethics and Integrity!
University-wide Supervisor Community of Practice
At some point during the next academic year, I am hoping to launch a university-wide Supervisor Community of Practice (CoP). This space, hosted on Microsoft Teams, intends to provide supervisors from all disciplines a place to share best practices, collaborate on challenges, receive news and updates about supervisor-specific support and developments, and have access to an updated and curated library of both academic literature on PhD supervision and a toolkit of resources that may be useful in supervisory practice. This online space will be supported by occasional in-person events where supervisors will have the opportunity to engage with each other face-to-face.
New PhD Supervisor Workshops
In addition to the supervisor CoP, I plan to launch new workshops including (but not limited to!): Supervising Field-Based Students; Preparing Your Students for the Viva (or Upgrade); Giving Good Feedback; Supervising Emotionally Demanding or Difficult Research; and, Coaching Skills for PhD Supervisors. Please keep an eye out for future announcements with regards to these.
Framework for Supporting Supervisors on UKGCE Accreditation
Professor Stan Taylor and the UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE) published the “Good Supervisory Practice Framework” in 2019 as an attempt to both acknowledge the complex, demanding, and evolving nature of PhD supervision as well as provide a foundational base for good supervision. As part of this framework, PhD supervisors can gain official accreditation for their supervisory practice. There are two levels: Recognised Supervisor and Recognised Associate Supervisor.
I will be working with colleagues in the IAD to develop plans to formally support University of Edinburgh supervisors throughout this accreditation process with the UKCGE.
If interested, you can listen to a podcast with Dr. Fiona Philippi, Head of Researcher Development, speaking with Professor Patrick Hadoke about his experience completing the UKCGE programme.
New Research Ethics and Integrity Training Module on Artificial Intelligence (AI)
With the support of the Research Ethics and Integrity Review Group as well as senior academics with expertise in artificial intelligence, I am developing a supplementary module to the Institute for Academic Development’s existing training, developed by Dr. Emily Woollen, on research ethics and integrity.
“Introduction to AI and Research Ethics and Integrity” will not be a specialist introduction to Artificial Intelligence, but instead intends to enhance our existing modules on research ethics and integrity by specifically addressing questions of artificial intelligence. The module will mirror the existing modules by addressing 1) Questions of AI and Research Integrity; 2) Questions of AI and Research Ethics; and 3) Questions of AI and Publication.
This will be the fourth module, following from 1) Introduction to Research Integrity; 2) Introduction to Research Ethics; and, 3) Good conduct in authorship and publication practice.
As I mentioned before, keep your eyes peeled on the IAD Newsletter, this blog and other spaces for further announcements about these supports. Also, if you’re a supervisor and have ideas about new support you would like to see or feedback about existing offerings, please feel free to get in touch with me at lrandall@ed.ac.uk!
I look forward to working with you all.
