It takes two flints to start a fire: A focus group study into PhD supervision for responsible research

Area of Science:

• Research Integrity
• Academic Supervision

Background:

• Promoting responsible research is crucial, yet specific supervisor actions and fostering a responsible supervisory climate remain unclear.
• Understanding effective supervision practices is essential for academic and research development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify supervisor practices that promote responsible conduct of research.
• To explore strategies for cultivating a responsible supervisory relationship.

Main Methods:

• Conducted 17 focus groups with 85 PhD candidates and supervisors in The Netherlands and Denmark.
• Data collected between January 2023 and February 2024.

Main Results:

• Supervisors promoted responsible research through rigorous relevance evaluation, transparency, and clear authorship guidelines.
• Effective practices included critical discussion of research alignment, clear data management, normalized ethics conversations, and leading by example in writing.
• Fostering relationships involved challenging ideas, supporting decision-making, tailoring trajectories, practicing self-awareness, and cultivating a culture of care.

Conclusions:

• Findings offer insights into responsible research supervision practices.
• Connecting results to leadership theories provides a framework for improving supervisory training and climate.