At the onset of the PhD, a Thesis Advisory committee (TAC) must be appointed.

The Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC)

The Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC) is a group of experts responsible for advising, supporting, and providing critical feedback on the thesis project and the interpretation of results.

Composition

The Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC) consists of a minimum of 3 members and a maximum of 5, including the PhD supervisor, one internal expert (from the PhD hosting institution but not involved in thesis supervision or the research project), and one external expert (from an external institution and not involved in thesis supervision or the research project). All committee members must hold a PhD and have expertise in the research topic of the thesis project.
Once the committee has been formed, please complete the TAC registration form and submit it to the DSLS coordinator at ds.biology@unine.ch for approval.
The composition of the TAC does not have to be the same as that of the thesis final defense jury.

TAC meetings

The TAC meets once a year, initially within the first four to six months of the PhD (ideally before the first fieldwork or data collection) to evaluate project feasibility and methodology. Subsequent meetings occur 18, 30, and 42 months after the start of the PhD.
We encourage these meetings to be held online. The PhD candidate and the supervisor are responsible for organizing them.

TAC meetings procedure

• Before the meeting, the candidate will send a brief progress report to the committee (containing a state-of-the art section and a timeline.
• During the meeting, the candidate will present an overview of the thesis project (or progress) and outline the next steps. The TAC members will provide direct feedback and suggestions for improvement and future work
• At the end of the meeting, the candidate should leave the (virtual) room so that the TAC members can discuss and evaluate both the candidate and the project. They will also complete the online report form. The candidate should be offered the opportunity to discuss matters with the committee members in the absence of the supervisor.
• After the meeting, the candidate is required to complete the online PhD report form summarizing the feedback and comments received from the committee.
• Both forms must be approved and signed by all TAC members and sent back to ds.biology@unine.ch. These meetings and forms are intended to regularly evaluate PhD progress, the quality of supervision, and ensure effective follow-up on the candidate’s.