How can I help mitigate the impacts of Covid-19 on my PGRs?
Coronavirus: Information for Staff and Students
PGRs consistently name their supervisors as their key source of support in the institution as evidenced in the 2021 PGR Survey. Students also said in large numbers (73% positive) that they expected to submit according to their agreed deadline. Text comments in the survey repeat over and over again gratitude to supervisors for their support and encouragement during challenging times. Supervisors are genuinely doing a superlative job here.
Enabling students to redevelop, reorganise, or locate resources for their research, as well as enabling them to find their way across and through the institution, are both important ways to support students. They also present challenges to supervisors. The best way to support yourself and your PGRs is to maintain an open dialogue in order to understand their progress and ongoing needs, as well as being aware of and signposting appropriate sources of support, including the Student Services Enquiry Team, International Student Support and the PGR Service Team.
Research Theses
The institutional statement about documenting the impact of the pandemic in a thesis highlights that even if the project is not what was originally intended, it ultimately must meet the quality standards for doctoral work when judged on its own merits. How that works for each individual in different disciplines requires local support and advice. This link to the institutional statement includes a link to the Quality Assurance Agency which has published more information about this.
Documenting the Impact of Covid-19 in Research Theses
Deadline Extensions
Students might also benefit from knowing that they can request extensions to their submission deadlines even in the absence of funding.
Useful Links and Resources
PGR Supervisor Community of Practice
Launched in September 2021, this Teams group is open to all involved in research supervision.
R&IS Supervisor Training
Our supervisor training Moodle offers support and resources relating to PGR supervision.
Supervising Remotely Interactive Resource
This interactive resource provides advice relating to remote PGR supervision.
Resources from UKCGE
UKCGE have a collection of useful resources relating to supervision on their website.