Developing an Institutional Framework for Supporting Supervisors of Research Students: Lessons Learned from a Unique Inter-institutional Project in Ireland

The authors of this article represent three of the largest Irish Universities, which have participated, with others, in a unique collaborative project to design, pilot and implement a national framework to support institutions in the development of their own research supervisor support and development programmes. Lessons learned from pilot initiatives, which explored approaches to supervision, target audiences, institutional management and enculturation of supervision support, were drawn together to form the final framework. Areas deemed important for inclusion in future programmes are highlighted in the article and the positioning of support initiatives in the Irish and European context are explored. Challenges associated with programme design and institutional embedding, and issues surrounding the monitoring and evaluation of supervisor support programmes, are also discussed. The paper concludes with recommendations for effective programme design and institutional enculturation, which arise from the experience of each of the stakeholders in this unique collaborative initiative.