Supervisor Collegium

As part of the BUP's commitment to education and training, the BUP has begun increasing support to those in teaching and research positions who are either currently supervising or those who are considering the supervision of students at all levels. For some years now, the BUP has hosted a Supervisor Collegium where those interested in supervision can register themselves to be contacted regarding supervision. Following the 2022 Rectors' Conference, the BUP has placed emphasis on developing the Supervisor Collegium and growing the Collegium into a more dynamic resource.

The main aim of the BUP Supervisor Collegium is to exchange, grow, and develop a Collegium of supervisors who can collaborate and learn together and exchange experiences in an interdisciplinary and intercultural environment. The BUP believes that this collaboration can be especially fruitful as the Baltic Sea Region is full of diverse and exciting academic cultures. The BUP therefore hosted an initial workshop that introduced the project and allowed for individual contributions. "The goals and needs for the PhD Supervisor Collegium" took place on 1 March 2023 over Zoom.

The Supervisor Collegium is a group of colleagues who take on the roles of extra supervisors for students during their PhD or master thesis. This is a win-win situation. Both for students who can get a second set of support, but also for supervisors who get to add this to their skillset.

Supervisor training series

During spring 2024 the BUP hosted a free online training series that aimed to enhance and develop supervisionary pedagogies amongst colleagues, as well as promote an interactive and dynamic atmosphere amongst participants with a focus on matchmaking, workshopping, and networking.

All colleagues who held a PhD and are active at a BUP participating university were welcome to join the training series. This series placed a particular focus on young researchers, especially those who had recently completed their doctorate, assistant lecturers, as well as seniors, professors, and docents, however, all those who had a desire to refresh their skills could participate.

The training, with five online seminars, was designed to offer a broad but focused introduction to supervision, supervisionary techniques, and supervision pedagogies. The seminars together formed a training package and when completed by the participant resulted in the award of a diploma. The training ended with an in person training workshop (optional) at Uppsala University where the participants were given the chance to discuss and exchange experiences and knowledge related to the five workshops that were held: Scientific communication, Co-supervision, Communication and coaching, Evaluation practices, Future collaboration and activities.

BUP colleagues supporting students

Being a part of the BUP Supervisor Collegium opens up new possibilities for colleagues, but also fills other needs. For example, it gives the possibility to have an overview of who can be an opponent on a thesis, or be a part of the examination committee for a PhD defence. The BUP also plan for seminars and different kinds of learning exchange opportunities within the BUP Supervisor Collegium.

The BUP has two training programs, the PhD Training Program and the Master Thesis Training. The main aim for both of the programs, is to give each student is the possibility to have some extra supervision from an external supervisor when working with their thesis. The interdisciplinary PhD Training Program have been given on an annual basis since 2013. The first Master Thesis Training took place during the spring semester of 2022. The BUP is continuously looking for more supervisors to support both PhD- and master students.

Students looking for supervisors

If you are a student, who is currently at master or PhD level, or a prospective student that is looking for a supervisor, do contact us via info@balticuniv.uu.se, and we will see if we are able to assist you in getting in touch with a potential supervisor.

The role of supervisor

In practice, being a part of the Supervisor Collegium would mean displaying your name and contact information along with a short presentation about your research interests. It will be collected in a document that will be available to the BUP that can then use the contact information before our events take place.

Since the start in 1991, the BUP has been working in this way, actively pooling the knowledge of colleagues from the BUP countries and different participating universities and disciplines. Together, we contribute with knowledge to develop projects like these, as well as other projects and research. The BUP hope it is of interest to you, to be a part of an international university co-operation and to be able to share and spread your knowledge in such a context.

More information and contact

If you are interested in joining the Supervisor Collegium or have any questions please send an email to info@balticuniv.uu.se.

We offer everyone that wishes to join the Supervisor Collegium to also be a part of the BUP theme research networks.