DEVELOPMENT OF RESEARCH SUPERVISION IN THE MODERN GRADUATE SCHOOL STRATEGY. CAN SUPERVISORS ADAPT TO THE DEMANDING CHALLENGES OF NON-ACADEMIC, PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT ARENAS FOR RESEARCH STUDENTS?

摘要

In the current variable climate that functions in graduate education, how do higher education institutes meet the demands of the employment sector for their graduates? Increasingly, the focus is placed on the development of rounded education for research graduates. This development has been embedded in Higher Education Institution's (HEI's) structural frameworks and requires delivery from a centrally co-ordinated platform. Models of graduate education platforms are prolific across Europe, allowing a careful 'buffet' selection process by new institutes from workable programmes with a wealth of experience. However, there is a serious lack of appreciation of revised roles, responsibilities and requirements of the research supervisor in this changed environment. The Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) is the largest third level institute in Ireland and has recently undertaken the formation of an umbrella, virtual Graduate School to accommodate it's strategic graduate education platform. This school encompasses numerous interdisciplinary research areas, including creative arts and media, nanotechnology, materials science, biomedical and elastomer engineering, radiation and environmental science and optometry. As providers of the first Research Supervisor Training Programme in Ireland, DIT is now launching a revised, contemporary and relevant Development Programme along with a collaborative supervisory development initiative with two other Irish HEI. It is intended that the commitment to research supervisory development will strengthen the institute's mission in delivering research graduates of calibre in their field, who possess an enviable skills base, which will open up broader employment opportunities. How can this objective be achieved and measured? Analysis of DIT's Supervisory Programmes run over the last seven years, has shown that supervisory capacity and development is key in the successful output of quality graduates. This paper will examine the model adapted by DIT in realising this objective and discuss the complicated issues associated with advising and developing inexperienced as well as experienced research supervisors.