Advisory Board - PhD Supervision

The EAST-SPARK Advisory Board

The EAST-SPARK consortium is fortunate to have the support of three colleagues who are globally known and recognised in the community as experts in the field of PhD supervision, be it as scholars, authors or trainers. They will accompany the project and enrich it with their expertise,

Beatrice Liezel Frick

Vice-dean (Research and Postgraduate Studies), Faculty of Education, Stellenbosch University

Liezel Frick is Professor at the Department of Curriculum Studies, Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

Her research portfolio exemplifies her proficiency in leading and completing research projects both individually and collaboratively, spanning various disciplines and international contexts. With a significant focus on higher and adult education, her scholarly contributions include 45 peer-reviewed articles, 25 book chapters, and 8 co-edited books. Notably, her work in doctoral education has garnered international acclaim, evidenced by her involvement in prestigious events such as the International Doctoral Education Research Network (IDERN) meetings and presentations across global conferences.

She has significantly impacted the field of doctoral education and supervision, having co-edited three books on postgraduate education and played key roles in academic networks and committees. This includes serving on the advisory board for doctoral supervision at the Karolinska Institutet and participating as a member of the expert group on doctoral education at the Herrenhausen Conference on Forces and Forms of Doctoral Education.

Her expertise is further recognized through various awards, including the Best African Accomplished Educational Researcher Award and the Emerald Literati Network Highly Commended Award. Additionally, her academic standing is reinforced by a National Research Foundation C1 rating, highlighting her status as an established researcher. Her global academic network is evident from her extensive list of co-authored publications, underscoring her broad influence and collaborative reach in the field of doctoral education.

ORCID ID : https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4797-3323

Stan Taylor

Honorary Professor, School of Education, Durham University

Professor Stan Taylor was educated at the Universities of Oxford and Warwick. He researched and taught social sciences at Warwick before transitioning to academic staff development. He later became Director of Quality Enhancement at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and Director of the Centre for Academic and Researcher Development at Durham University, where he is now an Honorary Professor in the School of Education.

He formally retired in 2013, but has continued with his long-standing work in doctoral education. He has facilitated workshops with doctoral supervisors to enhance their practice in over 50 universities in the UK and many overseas in Europe and the Far East.

In 2016, he was co-opted to the Executive Committee of the UK Council for Graduate Education, creating a Research Supervisors’ Network and authoring a Framework for Good Supervisory Practice. By 2024, supervisors in over 60 universities had gained recognition through his programs.

In 2022, he was co-opted to -founded the International Centre for the Comparative Study of Doctoral Education. He remains an active researcher, contributing to various publications, including co-editing a special issue of Innovations in Education and Teaching International and several books on doctoral education. His current project (with Margaret Kiley) is a third edition of ‘A Handbook for Doctoral Supervisors’ updated to include recent developments in doctoral education which will be published by Routledge in 2024.

Stan is an Honorary Member of the Association of Professionals in Doctoral Education, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, an Honorary Life Member of the UK Council for Graduate Education, and a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Gitte Wichmann-Hansen

Senior Researcher, Aarhus University

Gitte Wichmann-Hansen is Senior Researcher at Department of Education Studies, Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University and owner of the private consultancy Academic Supervision since 2022. Prior to this, she held several academic positions, most recently as an Associate Professor at Centre for Educational Development, Aarhus University.

Gitte is an established researcher within the field of doctoral supervision with 100+ publications on academic supervision and more than 20 invited keynote presentations on supervision at conferences and international seminars. Her research focus is on the balancing act between hands-on supervision and student independence. Based on my research, she has developed a rich showcase of concrete advice on how to promote active, independent, and prepared students, who drive their own projects forward. Furthermore, she has developed large-scale surveys on Doctoral Students Experiences, which are implemented at several Danish Universities as regular evaluation tools.

In addition to researching supervision, she supervises PhD students within her field. She also holds supervision seminars for supervisors as well as students on productive supervision processes at PhD, Master and Bachelor level at Danish and European universities.

Gitte has over 20 years of experience with running supervisor development programs at European Universities at all levels from master’s thesis supervision to PhD supervision. She has extensive experience with developing high quality courses and workshops aimed at senior doctoral supervisors based on peer interaction and community building aligned with the local institutional settings. She also advises institutional leaders and academic developers across Europe on supervision quality assurance and improvement strategies.

ORCID ID : https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9797-2831