PhD & Early Career Program
Supervision and the Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC)
In addition to the individual supervision by their primary advisor, (AC)³ doctoral researchers are cosupervised and mentored by a Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC), which meets at least once a year. The goal of the TAC is to assist the doctoral researcher in working on their dissertation project and in planning their future career in academia and other relevant fields such as industry, politics, education, or government. The doctoral researcher and supervisor jointly select the second (and third) committee members.
The TAC consists of the scientific advisor and, if applicable the academic supervisor, at least one mentor and the doctoral researcher:
- The Scientific Advisor (Betreuer*in des Promotionsvorhabens) is a person usually at the research institution where the doctoral project is being worked on. The scientific advisor is central to the TAC, and should be present at all TAC meetings. He or she will assist the doctoral researcher in forming the TAC.
- In case the scientific advisor does not hold the right to supervise doctoral candidates at the faculty, the Academic Supervisor (formale*r Betreuer*in) is required as a person who does hold this right in addition to the scientific advisor. This person usually signs the Application for Admission as Doctoral Student (Antrag auf Zulassung als Doktorand).
- A Mentor is a person holding a doctorate or PhD degree who joins the TAC alongside the advisor(s), without having an advisor role. Mentors should be active researchers. We encourage mentors from different career stages and institutions/locations within (AC)³. At least one of the mentors should represent a different research group/field than both the advisor and the academic supervisor. (AC)³ encourages interdisciplinary and integrative PhD projects, and it is important to include expertise from different approaches in the TAC. Mentors may come from outside (AC)³.
You should meet with your TAC on a regular basis (see the Schedule of TAC meetings during the PhD below), at least once every 12 months, to discuss your progress, training needs and any other important issues. All TAC members should be present at each TAC meeting (TAC meetings can be conducted using an online conferencing tool).
In general, TAC meetings are documented in the candidate’s personal »TAC status report. This report includes reporting sections for the candidate and the TAC members, and must be signed by all TAC members and the candidate after the meetings.
Some practical advice on the TAC meetings is described in more detail in the »guidelines ‘How to TAC? for doctoral researchers’ and ‘How to TAC? for supervisors’.