Effective doctoral supervision is one of the most important responsibilities in higher education—yet it is rarely developed through structured professional learning.
The Mastering Doctoral Supervision Foundational Course develops the critical capabilities required to supervise doctoral candidates confidently, consistently and effectively.
This specialized Doctoral Supervision Training addresses the real-world challenges faced by research scholars, identifies common pitfalls in supervision, and equips you with proven strategies for targeted and impactful guidance.
Training Focus Areas:
- Overcoming Supervision Challenges: Explore common issues in doctoral supervision and learn proactive strategies to mitigate their impact on student progress.
- Effective Communication Strategies: Develop clear, concise, and compelling communication techniques to effectively guide students through complex research processes.
- Constructive Feedback Techniques: Learn to differentiate between formative feedback that fosters growth and feedback that may inadvertently hinder progress, ensuring your guidance empowers students.
Learning Outcomes:
- Gain fresh perspectives from analysis of your own doctoral supervision experiences, learn from peer insights, and leverage relevant web resources.
- Develop core competencies in doctoral research supervision, enhancing your ability to guide doctoral research novices with confidence and clarity.
- Transform your rich professional expertise into effective leadership in doctoral education, making a lasting impact on the future of scholarship.
The course is guiding you on a progressive learning journey and will unfold as follows:
Week 1: Foundational Knowledge. You will begin by exploring your existing knowledge.
Week 2: Peer Collaboration. You will compare your understanding with that of your peers.
Week 3: Synthesis. You will synthesize the information gathered.
Week 4: Focused Literature Search. You will use this synthesized knowledge as a foundation for a targeted literature search.
Week 5: Analysis of Supervision Practices. The results of your literature review will serve as a basis for analyzing supervision practices and the reasons for their perceived effectiveness.
Week 6: Peer Review and Comparison. You will compare the results of your analysis with those of your peers.
Week 7: Evidence-Based Conclusions. This collaborative analysis will allow you to draw on a larger set of information to understand the essentials of effective supervision, supported by facts, evidence, and literature.
Week 8: Benchmarking and Reflection. To conclude the course, you will have the opportunity to benchmark your learnings against those of your peers.
Through a blend of self-reflection, peer learning, and expert guidance, you will delve into the art and science of doctoral supervision, exploring common pitfalls and mastering evidence-based strategies for fostering student success. Gain practical skills in providing targeted feedback, guiding research projects, and cultivating a supportive learning environment.
Develop a nuanced understanding of effective mentorship, learn to recognize and address the factors that inhibit student progress, and hone your ability to provide clear, constructive guidance.
Event Category
Doctoral Faculty Development, Malta Hub, Mastering Doctoral Supervision
Event Location
Malta, Online
Intake Open Date
27 August 2026
Registration Deadline
21 October 2026
Event Start Date
22 October 2026
The course brings together experienced doctoral educators and practitioners with expertise in research, supervision and researcher development.
Through their perspectives and practical experience, participants will explore the challenges of doctoral supervision and develop approaches to guiding candidates, strengthening critical inquiry, and supporting progress throughout the doctoral journey.
Dr. Viji Vibhu Prakash
I am an HR and OD specialist who has worked across industry verticals. Over the past 17 years, my role as a senior consultant, trainer and faculty have exposed me to projects across geographical boundaries. I started my career as a recruiter and progressed into the HR domain as a trainer and assessment consultant. I have supported employees across industries (Automobile, Pharmaceutical, FMCG, Logistics, & Service) to build soft skills through the development and evaluation of ‘Train the Trainer’ and 360 Assessment programs. I am a certified MBTI Step I & II Assessor, with experience in team building exercises supported with coaching, training and mentoring certifications.
Working within the academia I have coached and guided hundreds of students on a range of projects within Canada and at the international level. With focus on diversity and employment, I have developed entrepreneurial courses for students to explore industry opportunities within a guided environment.
I am currently a registered member and tutor with the Indian Society for Training & Development (ISTD), affiliated to the International Federation of Training and Development Organizations (IFTDO), and Asian Regional Training and Development Organizations (ARTDO). I started my Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) in 2014 and my research is focussed on framework for implementation of real time performance management systems within the manufacturing environment. The research has explored the domains of process, structure and people within the performance management framework with the key focus being implementation.
Dr. Ibrahim Abdellah
Dr. Ibrahim Abdellah is a Business professor, entrepreneur, and organizational leader with experience spanning higher education, business development, and applied management. He has taught a variety of business and management courses, including organizational behaviour, entrepreneurship, and operations management, with a focus on helping students understand how business concepts translate into real-world decision-making.
With a background that combines academic instruction with practical experience in building and leading organizations, Ibrahim brings a unique perspective to business education. His experience in entrepreneurship and business development has provided valuable insight into areas such as strategic planning, marketing, operations, client relationships, and the challenges organizations face in achieving sustainable growth. This perspective allows him to bring relevant examples and real-world applications into the classroom, helping students better understand the complexities of managing and leading organizations.
Ibrahim is passionate about experiential learning and creating engaging educational environments where students are encouraged to think critically, ask questions, and develop the confidence to apply their knowledge beyond the classroom. His teaching philosophy emphasizes the importance of connecting theory with practice while developing the problem-solving, leadership, and adaptability skills needed in today’s changing business landscape.
Dr. Andreas Meiszner
Since 2012, I have tutored, mentored and coached beyond 500 professional doctoral students (mid to seniors, aged 35 to 70) both with the University of Liverpool Management School’s Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) program (UK), and since 2016 also with DoctorateHub. This allowed me to understand how to tackle problems at scale, be it the tame, the complex, or the wicked. 500+ students also implies 500+ workplace-based problems which I had the chance to look at. And while working with such an array of problems allows for quite some learning, it also has shown to me that very often it is quite exhaustive for such grown up and seasoned research novices. In response to this, we thus decided to set up the DoctorateHub, so to provide training, mentoring, and coaching services to all those that struggle to get their workplace-based issues identified, analysed, understood, written up in a thesis, and ultimately resolved.
Dr. Sona Loretsyan
Dr. Sona, CEO and Co-founder of A&SL Consulting, is a University of Liverpool DBA graduate with over 28 years of experience at the HSBC Group.
She has worked in three regions and seven countries, holding various roles in Retail and Wholesale banking, Insurance, Operations, Transformation, Risk Management, Financial Crime prevention, HR, and Information Technology. Dr. Sona worked with internal and external stakeholders, representing C-suite and senior leadership, and has become an active mentor for colleagues and friends.
Recently, she has focused on her consulting firm, helping professionals with international mobility. In addition to managing the firm, Sona advises several boards, applying her knowledge and connections. She is involved with the University of Liverpool’s LAMBDA Research Centre, which applies big data analytics and AI, and the International Advisory Group representing Hong Kong alumni. She also continues researching AI applications in managing Financial Crime Risk.
Dr. Sona is passionate about leading diverse teams in multinational environments and developing the next generation of leaders. She would love to bring her extensive experience to the DoctorateHub where she became an Affiliated Faculty member in the autumn of 2024.
