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Professor Stan Taylor

Honorary Professor


Affiliations
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Honorary Professor in the School of Education

Biography

Stan Taylor was educated at the Universities of Oxford and Warwick. For many years he researched and taught in the social sciences at Warwick before moving into academic staff development. Subsequently he became Director of Quality Enhancement at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and then Director of the Centre for Academic and Researcher Development at Durham University, where he is currently 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 to oversee the creation of the Research Supervisors’ Network, of which he was the founding chair. In 2018-2019, he authored the UKCGE Good Supervisory Practice Framework and subsequently led on the development of an associated Supervisor Recognition programme. By 2025,  supervisors in over 80 universities in the UK and overseas had gained recognition for their good supervisory practice.

In 2022, in association with colleagues from the School of Education in Durham and the University of Sophia in Bulgaria, he founded the International Centre for the Comparative Study of Doctoral Education (https://iccsde.com/).  

He remains an active researcher in the field. His most recent work (with Margaret Kiley) is a third edition of A Handbook for Doctoral Supervisors (Routledge, 2025).Recent edited books include (with Karri A. Holley and Margaret Kiley) Gobal Perspectives on Graduate and Doctoral Education (Routledge, 2025), (with Vijay Kumar and Sharon Sharmini (eds.)) Doctoral Examination: Exploring Practice Across the Globe (Routledge, 2023) and (with Margaret Kiley and Karri. A. Holley) The Making of Doctoral Supervisors (Routledge 2021). 

 

Esteem Indicators

  • 2021: Honorary Member of the Association of Professionals in Doctoral Education,:
  • 2020: Honorary Life Member, UK Council for Graduate Education:
  • 2020: Principal Fellow, Higher Education Academy:
  • 2019: Founding Chair, Research Supervisors' Network, UK Council for Graduate Education:
  • 2016: Co-opted to Executive: UK Council for Graduate Education:
  • 2015: Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts:
  • 2014: Consultant: Higher Education Academy:
  • 2012: Accreditor: Higher Education Academy:
  • 2009: Faculty member: European Doctoral Association in Management and Business Studies Supervisor School:
  • 2007: External Examiner: University of York:
  • 2004: Member of the coordinating group on Quality in Doctoral Education, European Universities Association Doctoral Programmes Project:
  • 2000: Auditor: Quality Assurance Agency:
  • 2000: External Examiner: University of Nottingham:

Publications

Authored book

Chapter in book

  • Introduction: Ongoing developments in doctoral education
    Taylor, S., Holley, K. A., & Kiley, M. (2025). Introduction: Ongoing developments in doctoral education. In S. Taylor, K. Holley, & M. Kiley (Eds.), Global Perspectives on Graduate and Doctoral Education International Case Studies (pp. 1-5). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003582335-1
  • The changing landscape of doctoral education: A framework for analysis and introduction to the Special Issue
    Taylor, S. (2025). The changing landscape of doctoral education: A framework for analysis and introduction to the Special Issue. In S. Taylor, K. Holley, & M. Kiley (Eds.), Global Perspectives on Graduate and Doctoral Education: International Case Studies (pp. 6-22). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003582335-2
  • The changing landscape of doctoral education in the UK
    Taylor, S., & Wisker, G. (2025). The changing landscape of doctoral education in the UK. In S. Taylor, K. Holley, & M. Kiley (Eds.), Global Perspectives on Graduate and Doctoral Education: International Case Studies (pp. 156-171). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003582335-15
  • The changing landscape of doctoral education: Conclusions and further research
    Holley, K. A., Taylor, S., & Kiley, M. (2025). The changing landscape of doctoral education: Conclusions and further research. In S. Taylor, K. Holley, & M. Kiley (Eds.), Global Perspectives on Graduate and Doctoral Education: International Case Studies (pp. 181-189). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003582335-17
  • Supervisor professionalisation, recognition and reward
    Taylor, S. (2025). Supervisor professionalisation, recognition and reward. In F. Hallett (Ed.), Debates in Doctoral Education: Challenges and Opportunities (pp. 75-92). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003483243-8
  • United Kingdom
    Taylor, S. (2024). United Kingdom. In V. Kumar & N. Wald (Eds.), Global Perspectives on Enhancing Doctoral Co-Supervision (pp. 137-148). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-0460-6
  • United Kingdom
    Taylor, S. (2023). United Kingdom. In V. Kumar, S. Taylor, & S. Sharmini (Eds.), Doctoral Examination: Exploring Practice Across the Globe (pp. 165-176).
  • The United Kingdom
    Taylor, S. (2021). The United Kingdom. In S. Taylor, M. Kiley, & K. Holley (Eds.), The Making of Doctoral Supervisions.. Routledge.
  • Towards a Framework for the Recognition of Good Supervisory Practice
    Taylor, S., & Clegg, K. (2021). Towards a Framework for the Recognition of Good Supervisory Practice. In A. Lee & R. Bongaardt (Eds.), The Future of Doctoral Research Challenges and Opportunities (pp. 224-238). Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003015383
  • Managing your doctorate
    Taylor, S. (2016). Managing your doctorate. In T. Greenfield & S. Greener (Eds.), Research Methods for Postgraduates. John Wiley and Sons.
  • Supervising research students
    Taylor, S., & Kiley, M. (2014). Supervising research students. In H. Fry, S. Ketteridge, & S. Marshall (Eds.), A Handbook for Learning and Teaching. Routledge.
  • The Post-Humboldtian Doctorate: Implications for Supervisory Practice
    Taylor, S. (2009). The Post-Humboldtian Doctorate: Implications for Supervisory Practice. In V. King, F. Deepwell, L. Clouder, & L. and C. Broughan (Eds.), Academic Futures: Inquiries into Higher Education and Pedagogy. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
  • Managing Postgraduate Research Degrees
    Taylor, S. (2002). Managing Postgraduate Research Degrees. In H. Fry, S. Ketteridge, & S. Marshall (Eds.), The Effective Academic: Handbook of Enhanced. Kogan Page.

Conference Paper

  • Benchmarking Supervisor Development
    Taylor, S. (2016). Benchmarking Supervisor Development. Presented at Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Developments in Doctoral Education and Training, University of Oxford. UK.
  • Towards a pedagogy of research supervision
    Taylor, S. (2007). Towards a pedagogy of research supervision. Presented at Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference: IPed 2007: Researching Academic Futures, Coventry.

Edited book

Journal Article

Monograph