Congratulations are in order for Dr Karen Fox, as she received the ANU HDR Supervisor of the Month award. This award recognises, celebrates and shares good supervisory practice, and is also open to professional staff who support HDR candidates. You can read more about this initiative here. 

Karen's supervisory approach:
"Supervising HDR candidates is one of the great pleasures and privileges of academic life. It’s inspiring and enlivening to share students’ experiences as they pursue their research and develop their skills and knowledge as independent researchers and thinkers. For me, HDR scholars are junior colleagues, and the PhD journey is about much more than producing the thesis (though that is, of course, important!). It’s also about developing the wide range of skills that are part of academic life (as well as transferable beyond it), and becoming confident, knowledgeable, generous, and thoughtful researchers and writers. It’s also important to me that I create a safe space in which HDR candidates are supported to explore and learn as they acquire both subject expertise and new skills or ways of thinking. Part of doing that is simply being reliable, so that students know you will be there when they need to talk something through, or need a confidence boost, or just want to share their excitement at a new discovery. Research and writing are not always easy activities, and there are often difficult or dry times along the way, or moments when one doubts one’s own abilities. HDR supervision is about sharing that journey – and the fun of getting to read and write and discuss questions that fascinate us."

Find out more about Karen's work by visiting Karen's profile on the Research Portal webpage.

Make your Supervisor of the Month nomination here.