Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC)

October 10, 2024

The main purposes of the TAC meetings are…

to provide the doctoral student an opportunity to discuss their progress or lack thereof;
to monitor the pace and progress of the doctoral student;
to advise the doctoral student on the development of their thesis project;
to gain new insights from other supporting members, besides the direct supervisor, with respect to a need to readjust (parts of) the project;
to get the thesis project back on track towards completion with the remaining time.

Moreover, by the 3rd TAC meeting the TAC is encouraged to start shifting focus towards the question of how a successful project completion could be achieved within the anticipated time frame until thesis submission. Additionally, the TAC should advise the doctoral student with regards to career planning and professional development. Members of the TAC may eventually mediate discussions between doctoral students and supervisor.

TAC members

Besides the doctoral student’s 1st and 2nd supervisors, the TAC should include at least one other scientist more senior than the doctoral student. We recommend to include an external TAC member and/or a postdoc instead of (another) professor. Including a postdoc in the TAC might level out the hierarchical atmosphere in the meetings to the benefit of the doctoral student, while at the same time providing a teaching opportunity to the postdoc. A formal mentor-mentee relationship could be established between the postdoc and doctoral student if agreed upon by both parties, for example by filling out the form provided by the University of Konstanz. Postdocs that do become mentors to an IMPRS doctoral student are able to receive a confirmation statement from the IMPRS coordination office of their supportive activities upon request.

Make sure to discuss who best to include on the TAC with your supervisor. The TAC members should be able to provide the doctoral student (and/or project) with insights from different scientific perspectives. Hence, when choosing your TAC members, keep in mind that 2 TAC members must come from outside of the doctoral student’s research group in order to foster interdisciplinarity.

Ideally, TAC members should be willing to remain on the TAC for the duration of the doctoral student's project. However, it is possible to change or add TAC members, for example if the project requires further external input or a member has left the TAC. In either case, please inform the IMPRS coordination office.

Organising your TAC meetings

BEFORE: Preparing the TAC meeting
Find a date and place with your TAC members – all TAC members should participate in each TAC meeting. Make sure that all members reserve enough time for the meeting (approximately 1.5 – 2h). In your TAC meeting invitation, prepare the points that shall be discussed in the TAC meeting (see IMPRS curriculum and checklist), prepare the TAC meeting form, and remind the members of the TAC meeting procedure. Importantly, inform those TAC members that you would like to stay during the last, confidential part of the TAC meeting. By default, only your external(s) will be invited to stay, while your first and second supervisor will leave the TAC meeting.

DURING: TAC meeting procedure

TAC meetings consist of four parts: progress report, evaluation, supervision feedback (and TAC form), and confidential session (see TAC meeting procedure). In each of these parts, different TAC members are present and different topics are discussed (primarily). Remember to appoint one TAC member as the minute keeper. The minute keeper can be the doctoral student or one of the other TAC members. Minutes might be taken in written form or as an audio record for later transcription. In the latter case, ask for consent beforehand!

AFTER: Submitting the TAC meeting forms.

The doctoral student should send a copy of the signed TAC meeting forms to the IMPRS coordination office within a few days after the TAC meeting. In case the TAC members decided for a post-TAC meeting report, the doctoral students should write a 1-page report about the discussion, suggestions made, and steps required to complete the project. This report must be completed within a few days following the TAC meeting, and sent to all TAC members for review. Once approved by the TAC members, the post-TAC meeting report should be signed (at least by supervisor and fellow) and a copy should be sent to the IMPRS coordination office.

Important note: Please keep the TAC meeting forms and/or post-TAC meeting reports for your own documentation! They serve as a reference for the doctoral student and the TAC members in the following TAC meeting(s), in order to better keep track of the project progress. So please ensure you have a copy for yourself!

TAC meeting Procedure

Progress report, with all TAC members present (ca. 40min). This part includes:
1. a presentation by doctoral student, discussing plans the thesis project, achievements, problems, strategies, and progress regarding the IMPRS curriculum (ca. 20 min), and
2. a progress discussion (ca. 20 min)
Evaluation, without the doctoral student (ca. 10-15 min).
The doctoral student is asked to briefly leave the room and the TAC should discuss the doctoral student’s progress.
Supervision feedback (and TAC meeting form), with all TAC members present (ca. 20 min).
After the TAC has internally discussed all relevant issues, the doctoral student should be informed about the outcome of the discussion. To wrap up, the TAC members should briefly summarize the conclusions of the TAC meeting and either jointly fill the TAC meeting form, or, if preferred, a post-TAC meeting report can also be put together (see below). If the former, all TAC members can sign the TAC meeting form directly and agree on a date for the next TAC meeting.
Confidential session.
At the end of the TAC meeting, the direct supervisor(s) should leave the room and the remaining TAC members should allow the doctoral student to give confidential feedback regarding supervision and related issues. The contents of this meeting will again be documented in a second TAC meeting form and signed by the TAC members that were present during this part of the meeting.