Thesis Committee Meetings

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Requirements for our PhD students:

Every PhD student has a Thesis Committee with at least two committee members. This committee consists of the primary research advisor and up to two other committee members. It would be desirable if the other members are later reviewers of the doctoral thesis. It is not necessary that all committee members are from the FMP.

The meetings have different requirements according to the progress of the doctoral thesis:

1^st meeting:

• latest 12 month after starting
• overview of project (only talk).
• Aim: First assessment of progress. Critical statement on the task and the experimental setup/work plan with suggestions for adaptation/improvement.

2^nd meeting:

• latest 24 month after starting
• written progress report (about 4-5 pages max.)
• 15 min talk
• Aim: Assessment of progress in terms of potential for early publication.

3^rd meeting:

• latest 36 month after starting
• 4-5 page research proposal based on current data
• 15 min talk
• Aim: Assessment of the progress made with regard to the completion and submission of the doctoral thesis. At this meeting, a schedule for outstanding experiments should be agreed upon between Phd, the working group leader and the remaining committee members. If necessary, the extension of the employment contract (in case the contract expires after 3 years or similar) should be discussed at this meeting.

If applicable: 4^th meeting: latest 48 month after starting.

• Aim: Assessment of the progress made with regard to the submission and publication of the doctoral thesis. Further career perspectives for the Phd within and outside of academic research will be discussed here.

The slides of the talk (and if applicable report/proposal) should be sent to the entire Thesis Committee no later than 1 week before the meeting.

Each PhD student is required to organize the annual meeting with the committee members themselves. The coordinator of the graduate school will remind the PhD student about this meeting 3 months prior to the latest possible date of the meeting. The Thesis Committee and the doctoral student discuss the current project.

If the doctoral student fails to comply with his or her duty to organize a meeting despite being requested to do so, a reminder will be sent to him or her at the same time as the group leader. If there is still no appointment, an obligatory consultation with the head of the FMP Graduate School and the supervisor of the doctoral student is scheduled.

A summary of the meeting is prepared and signed by all members of the committee and the PhD student (see documentation form). A copy of this form is given to the coordinator of the graduate school Mrs. Katrin Wittig.