Review of Wellcome Trust PhD Research Training: The supervisor perspective

Supporting the training of the research population through PhD awards is a key feature of the Trust's funding programme but how effective is this training?

This is the third study in a series of three that tries to answer this question.

The first study analysed the careers of a cohort of past Trust-funded students to determine whether the Trust's aim of producing high-quality graduates for biomedical research is being met. The second study canvassed the opinions of current Trust-funded students to determine how they feel about their PhD experience.

Executive summary

This study explored the opinions and experiences of the academic supervisors of Wellcome Trust-funded PhD students. It is the third in a series of studies examining Wellcome Trust PhD research training and follows on from 'Review of Wellcome Trust PhD Research Training: The student perspective' and 'Review of Wellcome Trust PhD Research Training: Career paths of a 1988-1990 Prize Student cohort', published in March 2000. Taken together, the reports constitute a comprehensive review of just over a decade of PhD student support by the Trust.

Nearly 300 UK academic supervisors of current Wellcome Trust-funded PhD students were invited to complete a questionnaire to provide their perspectives on their role and responsibilities in supervising PhD students. More than 60 per cent responded; their views provide a snapshot of UK academic opinion on contemporary PhD training in the biomedical sciences.

Download 'Review of Wellcome Trust PhD Research Training: The supervisor perspective' [PDF 630KB].