PhD supervision entails have a wide and diverse set of responsibilities and the School aims to provide a range of support to supervisors in carrying out the role. This is not an exhaustive list and, in some situations, you may wish to discuss required support with your line manager, Doctoral Programme Director or the PhD Academy. Some of the support listed is specifically for supervisors, some relates to services and provision that you may wish to signpost your students towards.
- Your line manager has responsibility for your wellbeing. This will normally be your Head of Department. You can also seek support from your Doctoral Programme Director, HR or your Trade Union.
- The PhD Academy can discuss issues confidentially and try to provide advice.
- LSE provides a range of wellbeing services for staff, including counselling, a network of Mental Health First Aiders, Safe Contacts and Report and Support.
- The Eden Centre offers a range of developmental opportunities for enhancing supervisory practice. Please contact eden@lse.ac.uk for more information.
- The United Kingdom Council for Graduate Education has a Research Supervisors Network. LSE is a member of UKCGE and this is a useful resource. Experienced supervisors may wish to apply for professional recognition for their practice via the UKCGE scheme. The Eden Centre provides support for supervisors wishing to apply.
- Supervisors with Research Council students may have specific requirements in this area, for instance those laid out by the ESRC. The PhD Academy can advise on queries around this.
- Your Doctoral Programme Director or Doctoral Programme Manager/Administrator can advise on department-level requirements and regulations for the PhD Programme in your discipline. Programme directors and programme managers/administrators in your department should be your first point of call for support and advice.
- The PhD Academy is the best source of advice on policies and regulations relating to doctoral study at LSE, and for support in managing serious cases.
- The Financial Support Office is responsible for managing research student finance, and can advise on the requirements associated with studentship funding.
- The Student Advice and Engagement Team (SAET) are the only team qualified and entitled to advise on requirements for international and Tier 4 visa students.
- The Research Ethics team are available to provide support and guidance in understanding ethical requirements associated with research.
- Your Doctoral Programme Director or Doctoral Programme Manager/Administrator can advise on activity within your department.
- The PhD Academy runs a professional development programme for PhD students working with academic departments, expert providers and other professional services.
- LSE Careers provides support to PhD students and has a dedicated PhD Careers Consultant.
- Some training and events provided by LSE LIFE are available to research students. However, supervisors and students are encouraged to note that most LSE LIFE training is aimed at generic rather than research–level study skills.
- The Methodology Department runs short courses for PhD students at various stages throughout the PhD journey, from research design to data analysis and writing, across qualitative, quantitative and computational methods.
- The Data Science Institute has a PhD Network and offers training, projects and placements at the Alan Turing Institute.
- The Digital Skills Lab offers training on a wide range of skills.
- LSE library provides a wide variety of support for PhD researchers and supervisors. For resources and how to get help from their Academic Support Librarian, see this link: https://www.lse.ac.uk/library/using-the-library/library-resources-guide.
- The Open Research Services team can provide advice, training and guidance on increasing research transparency and visibility. For information and advice on open research practices (including open data, open access, and metrics), see the following link: https://www.lse.ac.uk/library/research-support.
- For advice on publishing their research, publishing contracts and licensing, supervisors can direct their students to contact Lucy Lambe at l.lambe@lse.ac.uk.