The ITD Alliance Early Career Researchers Working Group has completed the first version of the ITD PhD Supervision Guide!
Carrying out interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary (ITD) research is essential for addressing complex, real‐world problems, yet doctoral researchers pursuing these approaches face unique supervisory challenges. The questions in this guide are meant to make such dialogue easier and more constructive. The questions in this guide are intended to support joint reflection between the doctoral researcher and the supervisory team. Discussion questions aim to foster mutual understanding of roles, expectations, and processes in an ITD PhD. Reflection questions help supervisors and supervisees develop self-awareness of their perspectives on ITD research.
These challenges often stem from differences in epistemological assumptions conflicting methodological preferences, and fragmented institutional structures. Supervisors from different disciplinary backgrounds may hold divergent views on research quality and doctoral guidance, leading to inconsistent expectations and unclear communication (Vanstone et al., 2013). We organize these challenges around the five topics of epistemology, institutional support and expectations, complexity management, career orientation and professional identity, dissemination pathways.
Recognizing these challenges, we aim to integrate our experiences and scholarly discussions on ITD supervision throughout the PhD journey. This guide is a structured, experience-based resource that aims to support doctoral researchers and their supervisors in navigating these complex research landscapes.
Download the guide as a PDF (Version October 2025).
Feel free to send feedback and comments to BinBin Pearce (b.j.pearce-1@tudelft.nl). We hope this guide will help both PhD students and their supervisors to have hard (but necessary) conversations and to avoid some common pitfalls in a challenging journey.
Further, if you would like to join the working group email list for future announcements (e.g., activities at conferences, virtual coffee hours), please contact BinBin Pearce (b.j.pearce-1@tudelft.nl).
