{"id":3809,"date":"2023-09-25T16:46:24","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T14:46:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/?page_id=3809"},"modified":"2024-10-15T08:56:20","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T06:56:20","slug":"what-supervisors-want","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/","title":{"rendered":"What supervisors want"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The relationship between doctoral researchers and their supervisors influences the pathway and success of a doctoral project and is a crucial factor for the start of an academic career (inter alia Ives <span class=\"amp\">&amp;<\/span> Rowley 2007). It is thus all the more important that both parties deal with the perspective, expectations and needs of the other side. While supervisors can draw on their experience and the time during their own doctorate, current and future doctoral researchers are faced with information deficits:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>What does my supervisor expect? <\/li><li>How do I know if my supervisor is a good match for me and my topic? <\/li><li>And how can I actively shape and improve our relationship?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These and other questions are not only floating around in doctoral forums, but have been scientifically examined, discussed in podcasts and YouTube videos, or highlighted in interviews. In this contribution, we approached these and other questions relating to the relation between supervisors and their doctoral students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/12\/vier_portraits-804x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4681\" width=\"402\" height=\"512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/12\/vier_portraits-804x1024.jpg 804w, https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/12\/vier_portraits-236x300.jpg 236w, https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/12\/vier_portraits-768x978.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/12\/vier_portraits-1206x1536.jpg 1206w, https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/12\/vier_portraits.jpg 1351w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 402px) 100vw, 402px\" \/><figcaption>Interviewed professors<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>How much supervision is feasible in terms of time? As much as necessary! The basic interest I have is that the research is going well. [&#8230;]<\/p><cite>Prof. Dr. Ingo Heilmann (Plant Biochemistry)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"Overview_of_parts_of_the_InGrA_project_8220What_supervisors_want8221\"><h4>Overview of parts of the InGrA project &#8220;What supervisors want&#8221;<\/h4><\/span>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Results of the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/online-survey-on-doctoral-supervision\/\"><strong>online survey<\/strong><\/a> of doctoral students on supervision<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/#portraits\"><strong>Portraits<\/strong><\/a> of interview participants<\/li><li>Interviews with supervisors (in German)<ul><li>Prof. Dr. Daniel <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/was-betreuende-erwarten-interview-mit-prof-dr-daniel-wefers\/\"><strong>Wefers<\/strong><\/a> (Food Chemistry)<\/li><li>Prof. Dr. Jenny <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/was-betreuende-erwarten-interview-mit-prof-dr-jenny-haase\/\"><strong>Haase<\/strong><\/a> (Spanish and American Literature and Culture), <\/li><li>Prof. Dr. Ingo <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/was-betreuende-erwarten-interview-mit-prof-dr-ingo-heilmann\/\"><strong>Heilmann<\/strong><\/a> (Plant Biochemistry) <\/li><li>Prof. Dr. Konstanze <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/was-betreuende-erwarten-interview-mit-prof-dr-konstanze-senge\/\"><strong>Senge<\/strong><\/a> (Economic and Organisational Sociology).<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Interview: <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/what-supervisors-want-interview-main-take-aways\/\"><strong>main take-aways<\/strong><\/a> (in English)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To provide information and guidance for doctoral students we have approached supervisors in four departments at the MLU. In semi-structured interviews we asked them about their perspective and experiences in the supervision of doctoral students. This was preceded by an <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/online-survey-on-doctoral-supervision\/\">online survey<\/a> in which doctoral researchers had the opportunity to ask their questions and thus helped to shape the interview guidelines. In the following sections we invite you to read about the perspectives of supervisors from different fields and the view of the doctoral students expressed in the online survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>A very nice aspect of a doctorate is the enormous freedom you have. You should take advantage of that [&#8230;]<\/p><cite>Prof. Dr. Jenny Haase (Spanish and American Literature and Culture)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Below you find brief portraits of our four interview partners. The main take-aways&nbsp;are available <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/what-supervisors-want-interview-main-take-aways\/\">here<\/a>. If you are interested in the evaluation of the online survey with doctoral students, that preceded the interviews, you can click <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/online-survey-on-doctoral-supervision\/\">here<\/a>. Finally, you can read the full interviews in German with <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/was-betreuende-erwarten-interview-mit-prof-dr-daniel-wefers\/\">Prof. Wefers<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/was-betreuende-erwarten-interview-mit-prof-dr-jenny-haase\/\">Prof. Haase<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/was-betreuende-erwarten-interview-mit-prof-dr-konstanze-senge\/\">Prof. Senge<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/was-betreuende-erwarten-interview-mit-prof-dr-ingo-heilmann\/\">Prof. Heilmann<\/a>. Enjoy the reading. Hopefully, we can broaden your perspective on doctoral supervision and What supervisors want.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h1 id=\"portraits\">Portraits of our interview participants <\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"has-text-align-left\"><strong>Prof. Dr. Daniel Wefers, Food Chemistry<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/was-betreuende-erwarten-interview-mit-prof-dr-daniel-wefers\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/09\/interview_DWefers_2_web-768x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4202\" width=\"192\" height=\"256\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/09\/interview_DWefers_2_web-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/09\/interview_DWefers_2_web-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/09\/interview_DWefers_2_web.jpeg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 192px) 100vw, 192px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Prof. Wefers in the interview.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Prof. Dr. Daniel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chemie.uni-halle.de\/bereiche_der_chemie\/lebensmittelchemie\/ak_wefers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wefers<\/a> holds a professorship in Food Chemistry at the MLU and has been supervising doctoral students for five years. A doctorate in food chemistry takes an average of 3.5 to 4 years. He supervises between 5 and 8 doctoral students at a time and discusses current developments and challenges in the doctoral process with each doctoral student several times per semester. Prof. Wefers spends a total of 6 to 8 working hours per week on supervision responsibilities. The doctoral topics are usually proposed by Prof. Wefers. His doctoral students are financed either through budget positions at the university or third-party funded projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>For me, the great experiences in supervision are always when months or years of experimental work culminate in a paper or finally in a dissertation. Someone stands there who has achieved a scientific feat and is proud, and then I am just as proud.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/was-betreuende-erwarten-interview-mit-prof-dr-daniel-wefers\/\">Interview with Prof. Wefers<\/a> (in German)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"has-text-align-right\"><strong>Prof. Dr. Jenny Haase, <strong>Spanish and Latin American Literatures and Cultures<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/was-betreuende-erwarten-interview-mit-prof-dr-jenny-haase\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/09\/interview_JHaase_1_web-768x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4198\" width=\"192\" height=\"256\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/09\/interview_JHaase_1_web-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/09\/interview_JHaase_1_web-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/09\/interview_JHaase_1_web.jpeg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 192px) 100vw, 192px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Prof. Haase in the interview.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">Prof. Dr. Jenny <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.romanistik.uni-halle.de\/studienbereiche\/professurhaase\/haase\/\" target=\"_blank\">Haase<\/a> held the Chair of Spanish and Latin American Literatures and Cultures at the MLU and has been supervising doctorates since 2021. She has accepted a professorship for Latin American Literature at University Potsdam in 2024. A doctorate in literature and cultural studies takes an average of 3-5 years. She currently supervises two doctoral students and discusses current developments and challenges in the doctoral project with both doctoral students several times per semester. The amount of work Prof. Haase invests in the supervision varies individually. Doctoral topics are initially proposed by the doctoral researchers themselves but further developed in a dialogue together. Prof. Haase&#8217;s doctoral students are financed through scholarships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-left\"><p>A very nice aspect of a doctorate is the enormous freedom you have. You should take advantage of that and not regiment it, but grant this freedom, which is important for scientific development, also as supervisor.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/was-betreuende-erwarten-interview-mit-prof-dr-jenny-haase\/\">Interview with Prof. Haase<\/a> (in German)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" \/>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"Prof._Dr._Ingo_Heilmann_Plant_Biochemistry\"><h4><strong>Prof. Dr. Ingo Heilmann, Plant Biochemistry<\/strong><\/h4><\/span>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/was-betreuende-erwarten-interview-mit-prof-dr-ingo-heilmann\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/09\/interview_IHeilmann2_web-e1695720821934-645x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4200\" width=\"161\" height=\"256\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/09\/interview_IHeilmann2_web-e1695720821934-645x1024.jpeg 645w, https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/09\/interview_IHeilmann2_web-e1695720821934-189x300.jpeg 189w, https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/09\/interview_IHeilmann2_web-e1695720821934-768x1220.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/09\/interview_IHeilmann2_web-e1695720821934.jpeg 806w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 161px) 100vw, 161px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Prof. Heilmann in the interview.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Prof. Dr. Ingo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biochemtech.uni-halle.de\/pflanze\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Heilmann<\/a> holds the Chair of Plant Biochemistry at the MLU and has been supervising doctoral students for about 19 years. A doctorate in plant biochemistry takes an average of 4 years. He supervises six doctoral students in parallel and discusses current developments and challenges in the doctoral process with each of his doctoral students on a weekly basis. Prof. Heilmann spends a total of about six working hours per week on supervision responsibilities. Prof. Heilmann either proposes the doctoral topics or develops them together with his doctoral students. His doctoral students are financed by budget positions at the university, third-party funded projects or scholarships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>How much supervision is feasible in terms of time? As much as necessary! The basic interest I have is that the research is going well. The research is based on the productive work of the doctoral students. That means my own initial interest is to help them as much as I can.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/was-betreuende-erwarten-interview-mit-prof-dr-ingo-heilmann\/\">Interview with Prof. Heilmann<\/a> (in German)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"has-text-align-right\"><strong>Prof. Dr. Konstanze Senge, Economic and Organisational Sociology<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"alignright size-medium is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/was-betreuende-erwarten-interview-mit-prof-dr-konstanze-senge\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/12\/foto_KSenge_part_web-293x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4499\" width=\"220\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/12\/foto_KSenge_part_web-293x300.jpeg 293w, https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/12\/foto_KSenge_part_web-999x1024.jpeg 999w, https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/12\/foto_KSenge_part_web-768x787.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/files\/2023\/12\/foto_KSenge_part_web.jpeg 1249w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 220px) 100vw, 220px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Prof. Senge at Steintor-Campus (Photo: Maike Gl\u00f6ckner)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">Prof. Dr. Konstanze <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/soziologie.uni-halle.de\/professuren\/wirtschaft_organisation\/\" target=\"_blank\">Senge<\/a> holds a professorship for Economic and Organisational Sociology at the MLU and has been supervising doctoral students for 8 years. A doctorate in economic and organizational sociology takes an average of 4-6 years. Prof. Senge usually supervises 5 doctoral students in parallel and discusses current developments and challenges in the doctoral process with each of her doctoral students several times per semester. She spends in total 2 to 4 hours per week on supervision responsibilities. Prof. Senge develops the research questions for the doctoral projects together with her doctoral students. Her doctoral students are financed by full budget positions at the university, third-party funded projects and scholarships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>I think the essence of a doctorate is to have the freedom of thought to try things out. You have to allow that in a certain way as a supervisor.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/what-supervisors-want\/was-betreuende-erwarten-interview-mit-prof-dr-konstanze-senge\/\">Interview with Prof. Senge<\/a> (in German)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" \/>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"Literature\"><h4>Literature<\/h4><\/span>\n\n\n\n<p>Ives, G. <span class=\"amp\">&amp;<\/span> Rowley, G. (2007). Supervisor selection or allocation and continuity of supervision: Ph.D. students\u2019 progress and outcomes. <em>Studies in higher education<\/em>, <em>30<\/em>(5), 535-555. <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/03075070500249161\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/03075070500249161<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\" \/>\n\n\n\n<span id=\"Contributions\"><h3>Contributions<\/h3><\/span>\n\n\n\n<p>The content of this information project was created by Paul Reimers (PR) and Dr. Thomas Michael (TM) and is property of InGrA, all rights reserved. Pictures were taken by PR and Maike Gl\u00f6ckner. The presentation on this website was developed and implemented by PR in exchange with TM. PR and TM prepared questions for the online survey and the interviews. PR analyzed the survey. PR and TM discussed the results and wrote the evaluation of the survey. TM conducted the interviews in 2023. PR transcribed the interviews. PR and TM wrote the portraits and the main take-away, as well as shortened and discussed the interviews<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Special thanks for their participation and the insightful conversation to all four interviewees. Furthermore, we want to thank the participants of the online survey for their contribution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The relationship between doctoral researchers and their supervisors influences the pathway and success of a doctoral project and is a crucial factor for the start of an academic career (inter alia Ives <span class=\"amp\">&amp;<\/span> Rowley 2007). It is thus all the more important that both parties deal with the perspective, expectations and needs of the other [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4475,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3809"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4475"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3809"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5409,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3809\/revisions\/5409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.urz.uni-halle.de\/ingra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}