Thesis Advisory Committee Meeting (TAC)

The Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC) is a group of faculty members and experts who provide advice and feedback to doctoral candidates annually at TAC meetings throughout the dissertation research process. The TAC plays a critical role in ensuring quality, monitoring progress, and providing external advice to the doctoral candidate and supervisor(s). In addition, the TAC provides formalized support and mentoring as well as space to resolve potential conflicts or challenges and to provide feedback for individual career development.

WHO

·      the PhD candidate

·      a DSE representative serving as chair (Stephanie Fox)

·      the supervisor(s)

·      the two mentors:
i) a DSE faculty member, not involved in the PhD studies
ii) an expert, often external, does not have to be a professor or member of the DSE faculty/ UniVie

Criteria for selecting mentors:
- Expertise
- Availability
- Not involved in the project
- Diversity of perspectives
- Good working relationship
- Networking
- Potential reference for job applications
- Conflict of interest: TAC member can't serve as reviewer for the dissertation

Role as PhD candidate

Before the meeting: 

·      Fill in the form you can download and send it to dse@univie.ac.at before the TAC meeting.

·      Organize your TAC meeting (send an e-mail to everyone with a doodle/termino link for finding an appointment)

·      If the meeting is online: Be sure everyone receives the zoom link ahead of time.

·      Think about what you want to get out of this particular meeting. The meetings are limited to 1 hour, which is often quite short. To make the most of it, choose what you want to focus on - is there a specific paper you're struggling with? Do you want advice on the direction of your plans? Are you near the end of your doctorate and want advice on how to select your defense reviewers and how to find a post doc position or secure funding? Thinking about your needs ahead of time will help you structure the meeting to your advantage.

·      Prepare a presentation. It should give an overview of your dissertation, your plans and current state of project(s), and any other activities you find important to mention (e.g. teaching, conferences - though you do not need to give details on the activities).

During the meeting: 

·      Give your presentation and be sure to stick to the 15 minutes - the longer you take, the less advice you can receive. 

·      Let the committee know about any specific questions you wish to focus on.

·      After the presentation and the committee members' feedback to it, there are separate conversations: one without supervisor(s) and afterwards one without the PhD candidate. In this separate meeting, you will be asked about your general satisfaction with the project's progress and your working relationship with the supervisor(s).

After the meeting: 

·      The DSE Coordinator will complete the form you sent in beforehand and will return it to you, so that you have notes of the questions, comments and feedback you got during the meeting. 

·      Follow up on any suggestions made during the meeting (such as courses to attend, etc.)

Role as supervisor

Before the meeting:

·      Once a year, you will be asked to attend your PhD candidate's TAC Meeting. It can be very helpful if you send the doctoral candidate some suggested dates that work for you; the doctoral candidate will then take over the organization and coordinate with the other TAC members.

During the meeting: 

·      The PhD candidate will give a presentation about their current progress and any specific issues they might want the committee's input on. 

·      After the presentation and the committee members' feedback to it, there are separate conversations: one without supervisor(s) and afterwards one without the PhD candidate. Here, you will be asked 

o   about your general satisfaction with the project's progress and your working relationship with the PhD candidate

o   to evaluate the PhD candidate's current progress on a scale along the dimensions of communication, critical thinking and insight, general knowledge on the topic, research methods, motivation, and independence

o   about any specific recommendations or support offers you may have for the PhD candidate (e.g., taking a specific methods course, a writing workshop, planning a stay abroad/lab visit, etc.)

o   about the PhD candidate's teaching and supervision load, if applicable

o   about space in the project for the PhD candidate's own ideas 

After the meeting: 

·      Follow up on suggestions made during the meeting.

 

 

Role as mentor

Before the meeting: 

·      You will be asked to attend one meeting per year (the TAC meeting). This will be organized by the PhD candidate, taking place either in person or via Zoom depending on preference. 

·      The role as a Thesis Advisory mentor does not entail any other roles or commitments. In particular, being part of a doctoral candidate's TAC precludes you from serving as a reviewer for their dissertation at their PhD defense. 

·      It can be helpful to offer occasional advice, e.g., to discuss specific issues with a study/paper, in between the annual meetings. This is voluntary and depends on what you are prepared to offer and what you agree upon with the PhD candidate.

·      Sometimes, collaborations can also develop from TACs. 

During the meeting:

The PhD candidate will give a presentation about their current progress and any specific issues they might want the committee's input on. You will be asked to 

·      provide your feedback (questions, recommendations, advice)

·      particularly at the later TAC meetings, as the PhD candidate approaches graduation, give advice about the academic job market (or alternatives), funding options, strategies for finding a suitable post doc postiion, etc. 

·      After the PhD candidate's presentation and your feedback to that, there will be two separate sessions - first without the supervisor(s), and then without the PhD candidate. You will be present during both sessions, in which the supervisor's and the PhD candidate's satisfaction with the current progress of the project and any specific issues they may want help with will be discussed independently. You will also be asked to advise here as needed. 

 

WHEN

·      The TAC meeting should be scheduled every year. 

·      First TAC meeting can be used in preparation for the Public Presentation (FÖP) or planned independently. 

·      TAC meetings can also be organized as part of a regular working group seminar or as an annual employee meeting (Jahresgespräch).

WHERE

·      You can organize your TAC meeting online (e.g., via Zoom) or in person. For in person meetings, please book a room. In general, we do not recommend hybrid meetings.

Organization and structure of the meeting

·      The PhD candidate will send an e-mail to all participants (i.e., supervisor(s), mentors and dse@univie.ac.at) to determine possible meeting dates (e.g., using doodle or termino). Everyone fills in their availabilities. It is helpful to ask the supervisor(s) for a few possible dates in advance. 

·      The meeting must be scheduled for ONE hour. 

·      The 15 minutes presentation should include (with contents varying slightly depending on how far along the PhD candidate is in their dissertation process):

o   Information on the theoretical background of the project

o   Research questions, hypotheses and planned studies

o   (First) results, difficulties encountered or anticipated

o   Next steps 

o   Dissemination strategy

o   Timetable (e.g., Gantt chart)

o   Overview of achievements of the last year (e.g. conferences, courses), max. 1 slide

·      After the 15 min presentation there will be a Q&A part, for scientific feedback from the committee.

·      The last 20 minutes of the meeting are dedicated to private sessions (one without the supervisor(s), the other without the PhD candidate). The supervisor(s) and PhD candidate will each be asked to shortly wait outside the room or in an online waiting room.

 

·      After the meeting, a summary of the meeting contents will be sent to the doctoral student by the DSE Coordinator