PGR Supervisor Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

All PGR supervisors need to engage with ongoing professional development as a mandatory requirement of their roles, forming part of a licence to supervise.

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Requirement

The University recognises the crucial role that supervisors play in the experience of PGR students and provides them with opportunities to develop their practice at regular intervals. Based on a set of Senate agreed principles, supervisors must undertake CPD based on their individual level of experience:

  • New supervisors need to complete the introductory online Supervising Doctoral Studies programme, and a further 10 hours of 'SuperVisionaries' workshops.
  • Experienced supervisors who are new to Sheffield will be required to engage in the two-hour online workshop, 'PGR Supervision at Sheffield'.
  • Experienced colleagues who are not new to Sheffield will participate in two-hour discussion-based workshops, delivered at departmental level, every two years. 

Further information can be found on the supervisor CPD webpage.

Consequences of non-completion

Experienced supervisors & incoming supervisors: If a supervisor fails to complete their mandatory supervisor CPD activity by the required deadline, the issue will be referred to their line manager (usually their Head of Department) for discussion. Supervisors who fail to engage with the CPD after this reminder will be unable to supervise any new PGR students until it is complete.

New supervisors: This activity should be completed within one year of the start of supervision and before the end of their probationary period. This is a requirement for passing probation for all staff on research-only contracts and teaching & research contracts on probation from 2021 onwards.