Set in a Swedish university context, this article explores the complexities of postgraduate supervision among a group of students who are seldom included in research on the internationalisation of postgraduate supervision – development-aid-funded PhD students. The results highlight the importance of acknowledging students’ prior knowledge and mobility trajectories as crucial for developing emancipatory international supervision. Here the concept of ‘translocal supervision’ is suggested as a theoretical contribution to the field of ‘intercultural supervision’.