Support and development for supervisors

Colleagues from across the School have collaborated with the Eden Centre and PhD Academy to develop School-specific resources. If you are interested in working with us to develop this resource bank, contact eden@lse.ac.uk. 

Discussing expectations 

On the Same Page? Expectations of responsibility in PhD supervision at LSE (pdf) is a report by Dr Jens Koed Madsen and Isabella Gray (Psychological and Behavioural Sciences) explores whether PhD students and supervisors at LSE hold the same expectations about the division of responsibility in supervision, and where those expectations diverge. 

As a result of the report they developed this expectations conversation tool (pdf) for PhD students and supervisors, designed to support effective supervision through students and supervisors holding a shared, explicit understanding of who is responsible for what. 

Students' views 

We asked LSE PhD students to share their perspectives on effective supervision (recorded in summer 2025). You can watch them here via our YouTube playlist. 

• 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. 
• The PhD Academy offer one-to-one coaching to help PhD students with a range of issues, from the general stresses that arise while completing a PhD to more specific challenges that a student may be confronting.
  
• 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. 

• Your Doctoral Programme Director or Doctoral Programme Manager/Administrator can support you in finding an informal resolution at local level. 
• The PhD Academy will discuss cases confidentially and can try to steer you towards support if required and can advise on formal processes. 
• The Deputy Head of Student Services (Advice and Policy) is also available to support students, and will work with the PhD Academy on difficult cases and other postgraduate research issues.