Thesis Advisory Committees (TACs)
Thesis Advisory Committees are made up of the doctoral candidate, the supervisor(s) and at least two other post-docs or group leaders working in related fields. We highly encourage inclusion of other SFB 1064 members, if possible, for constructive interdisciplinary project-related supervision. Doctoral candidates should choose TAC members according to recommendation and discussion with his/her supervisor.
TACs should meet once a year, at least 3 times during the course of a doctoral project. The first TAC meeting should take place approximately 6 months after begin of the doctoral project. Subsequent TAC meetings should meet annually.
TACs are an instrument for supervisory checks and balances. The goals of TAC meetings are:
- to provide an opportunity for doctoral students to summarize their work and present progress reports,
- help give projects orientation - steering them in the right direction and avoiding dead-ends,
- assessing achievements and/or problems,
- mediation in case of disagreement between doctoral candidate and supervisor,
- setting realistic project (and publication) goals.
Doctoral candidates are responsible for scheduling TAC meetings!
A protocol of each meeting should be signed by each TAC member, and a copy forwarded to the IRTG coordinator.