TTT Workshop, June 5-6, 2025
A two-day pedagogical TTT (Train-the-Trainers) workshop was held at the University of Iceland in summer 2025 for a cohort of current and future trainers of PhD supervisors.
The objective of the workshop was to support the establishment of a new generation of competent trainers in the vital art of doctoral supervision at a time when the need to educate PhD thought leaders and problem solvers has arguably never been greater.
The workshop equipped participants with practical tools and strategies for developing and delivering doctoral supervisor training programs at their own universities. Over two intensive days, participants gained insights into key themes such as roles and relations in supervision, aligning expectations, managing processes, communication skills, and providing writing and feedback support. They engaged in interactive exercises, case discussions, and reflection sessions that strengthened their ability to design effective workshops tailored to institutional needs.
Following the onsite sessions, an online group coaching meeting allowed participants to share experiences and receive feedback on implementing workshop elements, reinforcing learning and fostering a collaborative peer network.
Participants
To maximize the sharing of best practices, heighten impact and engage in both local and international capacity building, the workshop brought together 13 participants involved in doctoral education from 5 universities in Iceland, Norway and Sweden, with training provided by two leading facilitators from Denmark.
Workshop facilitators
The workshop was facilitated by two internationally leading educational developers within the field of doctoral supervision.
Mirjam Godskesen, PhD is an independent consultant and researcher with affiliation to Aalborg University in Denmark as a Part-time lecturer. She founded her company UNWIND in 2006 that has been running with great success and now employs more than seven part-time doctoral coaches and a full-time consultant. She holds 20+ doctoral supervisor courses yearly in Denmark, throughout Scandinavia, the rest of Europe and at the latest also in African and Asian countries.
Gitte Wichmann-Hansen is Professor II at the University of Agder, Norway. She also owns the consultancy “Academic Supervision” that offers professional training of research supervisors. She is an established researcher within the field of supervision with 100+ publications on supervision. Her research focuses on the balancing act between hands-on supervision and student independence. Gitte has 15+ years of experience with running supervisor development programs at European Universities at all levels from Bachelor supervision to PhD supervision.
Learning outcomes
- Didactical principles for designing high-quality doctoral supervisor workshops and strategies for implementing workshops in different organizational settings.
- Essential themes to address in supervisor workshops.
- Key supervisory models, theories, and tools about roles and relations in supervision, alignment of expectations communication and dialogues, boundary setting and conflict management, and writing and feedback.
- Relevant exercises, group work, and discussions that are aligned with the workshop content and supervisors’ needs.
- How to meet the target group’s demands, including how to prevent and manage resistance.
- Significant scholarly literature in the field of doctoral education and supervision.