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7 Steps To Ace Your Next Thesis Committee Meeting

April 9, 2021 by Dora Farkas, PhD 6 Comments

Do You Wonder Whether You Will Ever Finish Your Thesis?

When you applied to graduate school did you assume that there would be a clear path to finishing your thesis?

I thought that if I completed all my coursework and followed all of my supervisor’s advice, I would be guaranteed to finish my doctoral thesis and  graduate on time.

However, in my third year I realized that there was no direct path to my Ph.D. degree.

Unlike in college, there were no clear milestones, no set set schedule, and no structured support system.

In my first two years I was busy with coursework and qualifying exams, but in my third year I started to experience self-doubt:

• How many hours a week should I work to finish my thesis?
• How do I know if I am going in the right direction and making progress?
• Is it even worth finishing my PhD?

I alternated between a few weeks of intense work followed by a few weeks or burnout, and my supervisor was not satisfied with my progress.

I considered dropping out, but I worked hard to get into this PhD program and to pass my exams.

I knew I would feel like a failure if I dropped out.

In my fifth year I had a chat over coffee with one my friends soon after she defended her thesis.

My friend told me that she wasn’t sure she would graduate on time until her final committee meeting.

“My committee had super-high expectations,” she said. “But I negotiated with them until their requirements became reasonable.”

This conversation was an eye-opener for me, because I realized that as the doctoral candidate I had to take leadership of my thesis and the committee meetings.

The thesis requirements were not set in stone.

It was up to me to negotiate reasonable milestones and timelines.

This shift in my mindset helped me to prepare thoroughly for my final committee meeting, and convince my professors that my work was sufficient for a doctoral dissertation.

Don’t leave the outcomes of your committee meetings up to chance or the mod that the professors are in that day.

If you want to finish your thesis on time, you have to take responsibility for your committee meetings.

After all this is your education, your thesis, and the outcome of the meeting will affect your career.

7 Steps to Ace Your Next Committee Meeting

Before your thesis committee meeting:.

Step #1: Make a decision to take charge of your committee meeting.

This may be a major shift in your mindset for you, if you are used to following everything that your supervisors have told you.

It is true that they have more experience than you, but this is your thesis, your education, and it will affect your career.

You are not at the mercy of your thesis committee.

You are in graduate school to learn how to become an independent researcher, and you have the right to speak up for yourself if you disagree with your supervisor or committee members.

Step #2: Draft an agenda and a desired outcome for your meeting

It is not enough to prepare a presentation about your progress, and “hope” that you committee will approve it.

Professors are busy, and it is a rare occasion when you can get all your committee members together.

The best way to make use of this time is to be very clear about your agenda for the meeting.

Before the meeting make a list of all the topics you want to cover, and be clear where you need guidance fro your committee.

What do you need to do to move your thesis forward?

What are the requirements for you to finish your thesis?

The more clarity you get from your committee about their expectations from you, the easier it will be to make progress.

Professors will also appreciate that you took the initiative to go through the details of your work to get their feedback.

Step #3: Share your most important results with your committee members before the meeting.

There should not be any surprises during your committee meeting.

If you show unexpected results or the committee members disagree with each other on major topics, your meeting can turn chaotic.

Ideally, all your committee members should be aware of what to expect, and the purpose of the meeting is to make sure everyone is on the same page, and to discuss details of your research and milestones.

The best way to ensure that your meeting goes smoothly is to meet individually with each committee member to discuss your results.

If you cannot meet with them in person, share your results over email and ask for their feedback.

If there are any disagreements, resolve them before the meeting by speaking with your supervisor or department chair to ensure that the meeting goes smoothly.

During the meeting:

Step#4: Begin by clarifying the agenda including how much time you want to spend on every part

Send out the agenda to your committee members beforehand, but also remind them of the topics you want to cover before you begin the presentation.

If you need to cover several topics or make multiple decisions, you can also indicate approximately how much time you want to spend on each topic.

This will also give you the opportunity to ask your committee if there are any additional topics they would like to cover.

Step #5:  Respectfully guide committee members back to the agenda if they go off on tangents

Some professors, especially if they are passionate about their research, may go off the topic.

They might talk about their own research or previous students.

If the topic they bring up is not relevant to your agenda, acknowledge their opinion respectfully (use a phrase such as “Thank you for sharing that, I will keep it mind”) and then gently guide them back to them to your agenda.

You may feel intimidated if you need to interrupt a conversation between two professors, but remember that this is your meeting.

If your committee members realize that they need to discuss something unrelated to your thesis, rest assured that they will find the time to talk about it after your committee meeting.

Your job is to make sure you stay on the agenda and get your questions answered.

Step #6: Wrap up the meeting with an action plan

End your meeting with a summary of what you have discussed, agreements that you have reached, and an action plan for next steps.

Your action plan needs to have “actionable” items, specifically what milestones you will work towards after the meeting, and approximate timelines.

If it’s not your final committee meeting, also set an approximate date for your next meeting.

Professors are so busy that it can take months to find a few hours when they are all available, so planning early is key.

After the meeting:

Step #7: Follow up after the meeting

Send a note to each of your committee members to thank them for their time, and summarize the action items or milestones you agreed to.

This will give your committee members another chance to give you feedback or suggestions.

Most importantly, follow-through on your end of the deal.

Take your timelines seriously, and if you cannot meet them talk to your supervisor about the challenges you face.

In order to build trust between you and your committee members, you need to demonstrate that they can count on you to keep your commitments.

Do you want to talk to your supervisor about your graduation date, but not sure how to bring it up? View my Q&A video before to learn how to have the “talk” with your supervisor. Looking forward to your feedback in the comments section below 😉

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How to schedule a committee meeting

Don’t send out a Doodle poll with 120 options.

One of the key challenges in obtaining a PhD is scheduling a committee meeting. In fact, I think that anybody who has managed to successfully schedule three or four committee meetings probably deserves a PhD just for that feat. After all, getting five professors into the same room at the same time is a tall order. Since scheduling committee meetings is such an integral part of graduate education, there should probably be a class on how to do this successfully. However, I don’t think any such class exists. So maybe this blog post can serve as a substitute.

We faculty members understand that we have to do committee meetings, as a service to the department and to help the students. Nearly all faculty members I know are strongly committed to serving on thesis committees. At the same time, we don’t really want to be in these meetings. Committee meetings take up a lot of time. In fact, just fielding questions related to scheduling committee meetings takes up a lot of time. So please try to keep this in mind, and make things as easy on us as possible. We want to help you, but you need to help us in return.

Now, how do you actually go about scheduling a meeting? First, let’s talk about some things that would best be avoided:

• Don’t ask me to list all my availabilities between March 15 and June 1st. I’m not going to replicate my entire calendar into an email to you.
• Don’t give me a list of 120 possible date/time combinations and ask me to check off all the ones that don’t work. See the previous point.
• Don’t assume my availabilities remain unchanged for more than a couple of days. I once had a student ask me if my afternoon was open on a given Monday. I said yes. Six weeks later, and about a week before that Monday, he informed me that the committee meeting was going to be at 3pm. By that time I had already scheduled something else into that time slot.

Now, I’d like to propose a scheduling strategy that generally works:

First, discuss possible dates and times with your adviser. Any times your adviser can’t make are a no-go, obviously. Then, ask your committee members to outline broadly which days/times generally do or don’t work. You can do this in an email or in person. You can also try to figure this out for yourself, by checking their teaching schedule, office hours, lab-meeting schedule, and so on. But I think asking is better. 1 Also, you should ask the committee members whether they are going to be out of town any specific days/weeks during the time window in which you’d like to hold your meeting.

Once you’ve got a rough sense of everybody’s availability, find a few times that seem to work for everybody and propose a few variants of those times. For example, if it looks like everybody is mostly free on Tuesday afternoons, propose 2pm, 3pm, and 4pm on three successive Tuesdays. At this stage, I would recommend using a system such as Doodle to quickly poll availability. The nice thing about Doodle is that I can see my colleagues’ answers, so if it looks like nobody can make Mon. afternoon then I don’t even have to check my calendar for that slot, I can just click “no” as well.

Importantly, limit the number of options you propose. If you’re proposing more than about 10 options you’re doing it wrong. Remember from point 3 of the list of things best avoided that quick turn-around is key. You want your committee members to read your message, click on the Doodle link, and quickly answer the poll. You don’t want them to read your message, click on the Doodle link, then recoil in horror and move on to do something else. In a perfect scenario, if you’ve done your leg-work properly, you can propose three to five possible times and one will work.

I strongly believe that proposing a small number of time slots is important even if you don’t have complete information about who is or is not available when. Quick turn-around always beats out having more complete information when it comes to scheduling. So, if you’re not sure what times would be good, just pick a few time slots at random and see what happens. Worst case scenario, none will work, and you do another round of Doodle. From your perspective, this may seem like an awful outcome, but it’s actually fine. Failed scheduling attempts happen all the time and we’re used to them. I’d rather complete two or even three Doodle polls with 10 options each than one with 100.

Finally, even if you make things really easy on your committee members, some may not respond to your email requests. In this case, the best strategy is just to show up in their office unannounced and ask them whether they’re available for a meeting on Thurs May 7 at 3pm. And of course, I hope you didn’t put anybody onto your committee who is notoriously difficult to schedule. That would just be asking for trouble.

You may wonder what the difference is between asking people about their general availability and asking them specifically when they can or cannot meet. The difference is efficiency. If you send me an email such as this one:

Dear Claus, I’d like to schedule a committee meeting for late May or early June. Are there any days that you are out of town during that time? Also, are there days/times that generally do or do not work for you?

I can respond:

I’m around. MWF is usually bad, but I’m free most times TTH. Claus

Writing this kind of a response will take me all of 2 minutes, and I’ll likely do it the moment I get your message. As a result, this exchange has saved you from proposing numerous times I would have declined, and it has saved me the time and effort it would have taken me to enter my entire calendar into Doodle. ↩︎

Claus O. Wilke

Professor of integrative biology.

• How to pick a thesis committee
• Excess ambition—the eternal flaw of all PhD thesis proposals
• Share your preliminary work with other people, even if you think it’s crap
• How to develop a research question, Part II
• How to develop a research question

Thesis Committee

The Ph.D. Thesis Committee has the responsibility of advising a student on all aspects of the thesis experience, from the proposal process through the preparation and defense of the final document.

The Committee should be comprised of

• the Thesis Advisor(s),
• the Thesis Committee Chair who presides at all committee meetings (must be a BE faculty member), and
• at least one additional member (unrestricted).

The student and research supervisor should agree upon members of a Thesis Committee, and the student is responsible for inviting faculty to sit on their committee. Beyond administration of the Oral Exam, the Thesis Committee is meant to provide guidance on the various aspects of the student’s project; Thesis Committee members should therefore be selected with this goal in mind.

Forming the Committee

During the summer of the second year, the student must submit the BE PhD Thesis Committee form  to the BE Academic Office ) to request approval of the Thesis Committee membership.

Changing the Committee

The Thesis Committee constituted for the Oral Exam/Thesis Proposal may change over the course of the student’s research, as determined by the student and advisor with approval by the Graduate Program Chair. Students should submit a new PhD Thesis Committee form (above) to the BE Academic Office.

• College of Arts & Sciences
• Graduate Division
• College of Liberal and Professional Studies

• Thesis Committee Meetings - Third Year Students and Beyond
• Graduate Student Handbook
• Advising, Assessment, and Examinations

An Individual Development Plan (IDP) is required annually after successful completion of the candidacy exam.  It should be filled out before each thesis committee meeting.  The goals of the IDP are to help the student develop skills, plan their career, and to facilitate open communication between the student and thesis advisor.   The form is available here with detailed instructions.

Thesis Committee

After successful completion of the Candidacy Exam, the student must select the members for their thesis committee.  

The thesis committee should consist of at least four voting members, three of whom must be from the Biology Graduate Group. The student's thesis advisor shall not be a voting member of the thesis committee. The chair of the thesis committee must be a member of the Biology Graduate Group and cannot be the student's thesis advisor. The names of the thesis committee members must be submitted to the Graduate Chair for approval. Any subsequent changes to this committee must be approved by the Graduate Chair. In addition, the department coordinator must be notified of the committee members and any future changes for notation in the student's file.

After formation and approval of the thesis committee, the Graduate Office will provide a copy of the Candidacy Exam Report to the thesis committee members.      

Thesis Committee Meetings

Third-year students must meet with their thesis committee within six months after successful completion of the Candidacy Exam.   Additional meetings must be held at least once a year or at the discretion of the thesis committee.   The purpose of the meetings is to ensure academic progress. Input from the committee members can be helpful to the student, especially when students encounter technical or other problems in their research.   The committee is there to help the student overcome problems.

Students must advise the department coordinator of committee meetings, including date, time, and location. The department coordinator will provide the committee chair a copy of the student’s file along with a committee meeting review form for completion.

In order to alleviate occasional scheduling difficulties, one committee member can be absent from meetings.   This committee member can attend through online video conferencing or the student can meet with the member at a later date for their input and advice.   Please note that the student's progress report must be submitted to all committee members in advance, even if one member does not attend the meeting.

At least one week prior to the thesis committee meeting, the student will submit the following items to the department coordinator for inclusion in file:

• CV - should be formatted in accordance with guidelines as staed by NIH, NSF or other appropriate agency.
• Research summary and progress report, 2 pages in length, stating thesis aims, progress and plans. 
• Parts B and C of the Individual Development Plan as stated on the form instructions. 

At the start of each meeting, the student will leave the room so that the committee may consult with the advisor regarding progress and any concerns. The student will return and the advisor will leave the room so that the committee may consult in a similar manner with the student.

After the thesis committee meeting, the committee chair will write an evaluation that will be given to the department coordinator for the student’s file. This form can be downloaded at the Forms  web page.   The student will also receive a copy of this report for review and comments. At these meetings, the student must show satisfactory progress towards completion of their dissertation research as judged by the thesis committee. If not, the thesis committee can recommend dismissal from the program. Under these circumstances, a Master of Science degree will be awarded.

Please note that thesis committee meetings, as stated in this policy, are a requirement of the Biology Graduate Group as well as a University policy.   Students must schedule their meeting as determined by the committee members.

Should the student fail to schedule a thesis committee meeting within the designated time frame stated at the previous committee meeting, the following actions will be taken:

If the meeting is 3 months past due, the student will be put on official academic probation. The University Registrar’s Office will be notified and a hold placed on the student’s account. The department coordinator and graduate chair will schedule a meeting with the student to discuss the reasons for the delay.

When the meeting is 6 months past due, the stipend will be discontinued, and the student will be dismissed from the program.    

Masters of Science Degree

The Biology Graduate Program is a doctoral degree program. However, occasionally extenuating circumstances arise which require that a student leave the program before completing their doctoral thesis. Under these circumstances, a Masters of Science degree can be awarded if the student has satisfied the following requirements:

• All courses must be graded, including lab rotation(s) and/or independent study work. Courses marked as “Incomplete (I)” or “No Grade Reported (NGR or NR)” must be completed before applying for graduation with a Masters degree.
• Grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher.
• Completion of 14 course units, including lab rotation(s) and/or independent study work. (done after second year of study).
• Research paper (thesis proposal) and oral presentation submitted to exam committee.

Reference management. Clean and simple.

How to prepare an excellent thesis defense

What is a thesis defense?

How long is a thesis defense, what happens at a thesis defense, your presentation, questions from the committee, 6 tips to help you prepare for your thesis defense, 1. anticipate questions and prepare for them, 2. dress for success, 3. ask for help, as needed, 4. have a backup plan, 5. prepare for the possibility that you might not know an answer, 6. de-stress before, during, and after, frequently asked questions about preparing an excellent thesis defense, related articles.

If you're about to complete, or have ever completed a graduate degree, you have most likely come across the term "thesis defense." In many countries, to finish a graduate degree, you have to write a thesis .

A thesis is a large paper, or multi-chapter work, based on a topic relating to your field of study.

Once you hand in your thesis, you will be assigned a date to defend your work. Your thesis defense meeting usually consists of you and a committee of two or more professors working in your program. It may also include other people, like professionals from other colleges or those who are working in your field.

During your thesis defense, you will be asked questions about your work. The main purpose of your thesis defense is for the committee to make sure that you actually understand your field and focus area.

The questions are usually open-ended and require the student to think critically about their work. By the time of your thesis defense, your paper has already been evaluated. The questions asked are not designed so that you actually have to aggressively "defend" your work; often, your thesis defense is more of a formality required so that you can get your degree.

• Check with your department about requirements and timing.
• Re-read your thesis.
• Anticipate questions and prepare for them.
• Create a back-up plan to deal with technology hiccups.
• Plan de-stressing activities both before, and after, your defense.

How long your oral thesis defense is depends largely on the institution and requirements of your degree. It is best to consult your department or institution about this. In general, a thesis defense may take only 20 minutes, but it may also take two hours or more. The length also depends on how much time is allocated to the presentation and questioning part.

Tip: Check with your department or institution as soon as possible to determine the approved length for a thesis defense.

First of all, be aware that a thesis defense varies from country to country. This is just a general overview, but a thesis defense can take many different formats. Some are closed, others are public defenses. Some take place with two committee members, some with more examiners.

The same goes for the length of your thesis defense, as mentioned above. The most important first step for you is to clarify with your department what the structure of your thesis defense will look like. In general, your thesis defense will include:

• your presentation of around 20-30 minutes
• questions from the committee
• questions from the audience (if the defense is public and the department allows it)

You might have to give a presentation, often with Powerpoint, Google slides, or Keynote slides. Make sure to prepare an appropriate amount of slides. A general rule is to use about 10 slides for a 20-minute presentation.

But that also depends on your specific topic and the way you present. The good news is that there will be plenty of time ahead of your thesis defense to prepare your slides and practice your presentation alone and in front of friends or family.

Tip: Practice delivering your thesis presentation in front of family, friends, or colleagues.

You can prepare your slides by using information from your thesis' first chapter (the overview of your thesis) as a framework or outline. Substantive information in your thesis should correspond with your slides.

Make sure your slides are of good quality— both in terms of the integrity of the information and the appearance. If you need more help with how to prepare your presentation slides, both the ASQ Higher Education Brief and James Hayton have good guidelines on the topic.

The committee will ask questions about your work after you finish your presentation. The questions will most likely be about the core content of your thesis, such as what you learned from the study you conducted. They may also ask you to summarize certain findings and to discuss how your work will contribute to the existing body of knowledge.

Tip: Read your entire thesis in preparation of the questions, so you have a refreshed perspective on your work.

While you are preparing, you can create a list of possible questions and try to answer them. You can foresee many of the questions you will get by simply spending some time rereading your thesis.

Here are a few tips on how to prepare for your thesis defense:

You can absolutely prepare for most of the questions you will be asked. Read through your thesis and while you're reading it, create a list of possible questions. In addition, since you will know who will be on the committee, look at the academic expertise of the committee members. In what areas would they most likely be focused?

If possible, sit at other thesis defenses with these committee members to get a feel for how they ask and what they ask. As a graduate student, you should generally be adept at anticipating test questions, so use this advantage to gather as much information as possible before your thesis defense meeting.

Your thesis defense is a formal event, often the entire department or university is invited to participate. It signals a critical rite of passage for graduate students and faculty who have supported them throughout a long and challenging process.

While most universities don't have specific rules on how to dress for that event, do regard it with dignity and respect. This one might be a no-brainer, but know that you should dress as if you were on a job interview or delivering a paper at a conference.

It might help you deal with your stress before your thesis defense to entrust someone with the smaller but important responsibilities of your defense well ahead of schedule. This trusted person could be responsible for:

• preparing the room of the day of defense
• setting up equipment for the presentation
• preparing and distributing handouts

Technology is unpredictable. Life is too. There are no guarantees that your Powerpoint presentation will work at all or look the way it is supposed to on the big screen. We've all been there. Make sure to have a plan B for these situations. Handouts can help when technology fails, and an additional clean shirt can save the day if you have a spill.

One of the scariest aspects of the defense is the possibility of being asked a question you can't answer. While you can prepare for some questions, you can never know exactly what the committee will ask.

There will always be gaps in your knowledge. But your thesis defense is not about being perfect and knowing everything, it's about how you deal with challenging situations. You are not expected to know everything.

James Hayton writes on his blog that examiners will sometimes even ask questions they don't know the answer to, out of curiosity, or because they want to see how you think. While it is ok sometimes to just say "I don't know", he advises to try something like "I don't know, but I would think [...] because of x and y, but you would need to do [...] in order to find out.” This shows that you have the ability to think as an academic.

You will be nervous. But your examiners will expect you to be nervous. Being well prepared can help minimize your stress, but do know that your examiners have seen this many times before and are willing to help, by repeating questions, for example. Dora Farkas at finishyourthesis.com notes that it’s a myth that thesis committees are out to get you.

Two common symptoms of being nervous are talking really fast and nervous laughs. Try to slow yourself down and take a deep breath. Remember what feels like hours to you are just a few seconds in real life.

• Try meditational breathing right before your defense.
• Get plenty of exercise and sleep in the weeks prior to your defense.
• Have your clothes or other items you need ready to go the night before.
• During your defense, allow yourself to process each question before answering.
• Go to dinner with friends and family, or to a fun activity like mini-golf, after your defense.

Allow yourself to process each question, respond to it, and stop talking once you have responded. While a smile can often help dissolve a difficult situation, remember that nervous laughs can be irritating for your audience.

We all make mistakes and your thesis defense will not be perfect. However, careful preparation, mindfulness, and confidence can help you feel less stressful both before, and during, your defense.

Finally, consider planning something fun that you can look forward to after your defense.

It is completely normal to be nervous. Being well prepared can help minimize your stress, but do know that your examiners have seen this many times before and are willing to help, by repeating questions for example if needed. Slow yourself down, and take a deep breath.

Your thesis defense is not about being perfect and knowing everything, it's about how you deal with challenging situations. James Hayton writes on his blog that it is ok sometimes to just say "I don't know", but he advises to try something like "I don't know, but I would think [...] because of x and y, you would need to do [...] in order to find out".

Your Powerpoint presentation can get stuck or not look the way it is supposed to do on the big screen. It can happen and your supervisors know it. In general, handouts can always save the day when technology fails.

• Dress for success.
• Ask for help setting up.
• Have a backup plan (in case technology fails you).
• Deal with your nerves.

Molecular and Cell Biology

Thesis Committee Meetings

TCM To-Do List

• Fill out this Google Form to let the GAO know the date of your thesis committee meeting.
• Submit your online academic progress report prior to your meeting.
• Have the present committee members sign your completed TCM form and leave it in 299 Weill Hall (you can slip it under the door if no one is in).
• Have your committee digitally sign your completed form and email it to the GAO.
• Forward the GAO an email thread that shows your committee members agree with the outcome of your meeting; still must send the GAO the TCM form but no signatures are required.

Important Information

• It is fine if not all your committee members are available for the meeting. So long as your  mentor/advisor  and  at least two other committee members  are present, you have a quorum.
• If you are a 3rd or 5th year , your must also schedule a time to discuss your individual development plan (IDP) with your advisor and sign the appropriate space on the TCM form.

Table of Contents

General Information

Suggested Topics for Discussion

Purpose of Thesis Committee Meetings

Meeting Schedule and Attendance

Prior to the meeting

Conducting the Meeting

Record of the Meeting

Following the Meeting

Sixth Year Extensions

COVID-19 Considerations

Students are required to hold annual thesis committee meetings to discuss the dissertation project, to review results, and to chart research directions and timelines for the following year up to the completion of the dissertation.

The average time to complete the Ph.D. degree is 5.5 academic years. If a student is unable to complete their degree by the end of 5.5 years the thesis committee can grant a one-semester extension. Funding and continuation in the Graduate Program beyond the May filing deadline in the spring of the sixth-year will be considered on a case by case basis by the GAC upon petition by the Thesis Committee and the student. (MCB Handbook, p. 12) 

For students who matriculated in 2019 or before, there is a two-year extension to normative time due to interruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. These students should add two years to the timings listed below (i.e. 7.5 years instead of 5.5).

After students advance to candidacy, they meet annually with their Thesis Committee. Please adhere to the following guidelines and timeline. 

Suggested Topics for Discussion: 

In general, students may want to discuss any or all of the following with their committees 

• Progress they have made
• Setbacks they have encountered
• Places where they need advice or have questions 
• Dissertation outlines
• Figures for publication
• Graduation timelines
• Career goals and advice for achieving their desired post-graduation position

The purpose of committee meetings is for students to receive regular guidance from the committee on selecting and implementing research strategies, publishing research papers, and moving towards their career goals. Thesis committees will also play a central role in implementing and ensuring the success of the MCB publication policy, which states:

The goal of Ph.D. is to prepare students to become independent researchers and to master the scientific process. An important step in this training is the publication of scientific findings, which marks a milestone in completing a project and teaches valuable skills in communicating these results to other scientists and the public. The process of preparing manuscripts also serves as an important step in ensuring that scientific conclusions are placed into a broader context and are based on rigorous and reproducible experiments. Moreover, the process of submitting manuscripts introduces students to the system of peer review and teaches them how to respond to reviewer requests and questions.

Students are expected to publish at least one 1st-author (or co-1st-author) peer-reviewed research paper prior to graduation. Submission of a manuscript to an online archive (such as bioRxiv) or submission to a peer-reviewed journal prior to graduation, will satisfy this requirement. In the case of extenuating circumstances (serious illness, change of mentor, non-renewal of a visa) that may preclude publication prior to graduation, a written waiver from the thesis advisor and signed by the thesis committee will be necessary for the student to graduate.

To encourage productive interactions between the student, their mentor, and the Thesis Committee, the GAC recommends the following guidelines for conducting the annual meeting.

Meeting scheduling and attendance :

It is the responsibility of the student to work with the GAO to organize their Committee meetings within the time windows indicated in the table below. The mentor and two of the three other members will constitute a quorum. If a committee member cannot be present, a one-on-one meeting is acceptable, provided that the faculty member fills out a report that is countersigned by the student.

Prior to the meeting :

Prior to the meeting, the student will write an Annual Progress Report in consultation with the Thesis Committee Chair and email report to the committee. The student will also submit the Annual Progress Report Information to the webform: https://mcb.berkeley.edu/internal/grad/progress-reports/student.php

The report sent to the committee should have the following elements:

• What progress did you make towards your degree in the past year? Compare this with your previous goals (if applicable). If you were unable to attain them, what were your obstacles?
• Please describe your current plans for the dissertation, providing a timetable for completion.
• In which year and term do you plan to file for your degree?

Conducting the meeting:

The GAC recommends the following guidelines for conducting thesis committee meetings: 

• Once all committee members are present, the student will briefly leave the room so that the dissertation chair can provide other members of the committee with a verbal evaluation of the student's progress to date, identifying both the student's strengths and any areas in which the student can improve. This information will help the committee members  more effectively provide advice to the student.
• The student will then provide a focused summary of research progress. They should also discuss technical difficulties that have been encountered. The committee will evaluate the student’s progress, provide advice, set goals/expectations for publication, and set goals for the coming year as well as for the timely completion of the dissertation within the normal 5.5 year period.
• Toward the end of the meeting, the dissertation chair will leave the room and any remaining issues will be discussed with the student in the absence of the mentor. This phase of the Thesis Committee meeting is intended to facilitate interactions with the other committee members by allowing the student to establish a closer relationship with the other committee members. It is intended to provide the student with an opportunity to identify any issues that might have been difficult to discuss in front of the mentor, which can include lab culture, mentorship needs, and other sensitive topics.

Record of the Meeting: 

At the conclusion of the meeting, all faculty will sign the MCB Annual Academic Progress Form attesting to their attendance at the meeting, confirming that plans for a first-author publication were discussed, providing the semester of anticipated completion, and indicating the level of progress achieved (very good, satisfactory, or inadequate). Third and fifth-year students are also required to discuss their IDP with their PI and use the form to provide confirmation that the discussion took place.  This form will be returned to the GAO within one day of the meeting date. For students who matriculated in 2021 or later, records of the thesis committee meetings will be added to their Academic Progress Report in Cal Central. Students must have at least three meetings in order to graduate, including one meeting at least six months prior to filing (for students filing sooner than in 5.5 years exceptions can be made). 

Following the meeting - the Annual Progress Evaluation :

The Committee Chair/Dissertation Advisor will write a report to be circulated to the entire committee for comments and approval. This report should be submitted to the webform within one week of the meeting date . Filing such reports is required for demonstrating compliance with departmental policy. Webform:   https://mcb.berkeley.edu/internal/grad/progress-reports/faculty.php

If a problem arises that cannot be resolved by the committee, they may recommend that the student should not continue in the program. The recommendation is then forwarded to the GAC and the Graduate Division for a final decision.

Sixth Year Extensions 

If a student is unable to complete their degree by the end of 5.5 years the financial support provided by the mentor may be extended five months to the University’s dissertation filing date in May of their sixth year.  The decision to grant extensions is the responsibility of the student's Thesis Committee and requires appropriate and documented special circumstances.  Examples would include illnesses, change of mentor, a fourth rotation, and scientific problems unforeseen at the annual fourth or fifth-year Thesis Committee meetings.  In order for such extensions to be granted, reports of all previous Thesis Committee meetings must have been filed with the GAO, and the Thesis Committee and the student must unanimously agree with the extension.  If there is disagreement on the extension within the Thesis Committee or if the student disagrees with the Thesis Committee decision, the case will be referred to the GAC.  Funding and continuation in the Graduate Program beyond the May filing deadline in Spring of the 6th year will be considered on a case by case basis by the GAC upon petition by the Thesis Committee and the student .  If such a petition is not filed by the end of January in the Spring semester of the 6th year, a recommendation will be made to the Graduate Division to terminate graduate standing. Anyone seeking an extension to file in the summer after their sixth year must submit a statement signed by both the student and the PI that they are aware SHIP insurance coverage ends on July 31 st .

Any food at meetings of students with faculty mentors, including qualifying exams and thesis committee meetings, shall be provided by faculty,  not  students.

Information above can also be downloaded as a document from here .

The Graduate Division and Graduate Council have approved a two-year increase in normative time for doctoral students (a two year increase for MCB students is until 7.5 years / December of the eighth year). Accordingly, the MCB Graduate Affairs Unit will continue to grant extensions for the affected students beyond 7.5 years whenever necessary, as they approach graduation. The one year increase as well as any further extensions should only be used for students in cases where there is still work directly related to dissertation research; the student’s thesis committee should be in agreement that an extension would be beneficial to the student and not only to the PI. 

Any student seeking the two year extension in normative time (to fall of the eighth year) must communicate this to the GAO for record-keeping and funding purposes only; these extensions do not need to be formally requested or approved by the GAC however the GAO will reach out to the PI of the student to confirm any extension beyond 6 years. Any extensions beyond 7.5 years will go through the normal extension process (memo addressed to the GAC signed by both the PI and student). 

The two year increase of normative time applies to students who began graduate school in 2019 or earlier; this may be extended to later years depending on how the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions progress. The extension only applies to the graduation timeline and not to other Departmental milestones, such as the Qualifying Exam. 

The GAC is asking both faculty and students to incorporate a discussion of how the pandemic has impacted the trajectory of the student’s graduate career and timeline. GAC recommends a general discussion at the end of the thesis committee meeting among all committee members and the student. The conversation can continue afterwards in the absence of the thesis advisor.  This discussion should not stop at the level of academic progress, but should also be an opportunity to check in with the student about their wellbeing. Some questions to consider are below. This is by no means an exhaustive list, so please take time to discuss any additional COVID-related concerns you may have.

• Overall, how has the pandemic affected your personal well-being, current research, and future plans?
• How has the shift-based schedule impacted what you can accomplish in a given day, week, or month?
• Are you able to accomplish any of your work remotely?
• If you are working remotely, do you feel that you have adequate resources to do so?
• If you are not working remotely, what is your comfort level with returning to working in the lab? Do you have any safety concerns?

The GAC also understands that the pandemic has not and will not impact everyone in the same way. Because of this, we are asking the committee members to work with students to help them  develop clear, realistic and measurable plans towards achieving academic goals without compromising wellbeing . In particular, the committee is encouraged to provide input in terms of prioritizing experiments, recalibrating objectives given the current limitations, setting realistic timelines with specific objectives, while considering individual needs for each student.

Thesis Committee Meeting Tracker

The Thesis Committee Tracker can be accessed at https://tcform.jhmi.edu/

User Guide (pdf version) .

How-to Videos

• Student View of Thesis Committee Tracker
• Faculty View of Thesis Committee Tracker
• Admin - How to Create a Deadline
• Admin - Reviewing Faculty List
• Admin - How to create and edit a Committee
• Admin - How to create a meeting form

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Arts & Sciences

Plant and Microbial Biosciences Program

• Thesis Proposal Meeting FAQ’s

Q: What is the purpose of the thesis proposal meeting?

A:  The thesis proposal meeting is to help you plan and execute your thesis work. You will present the questions you want to address and the methods you wish to use to your committee and solicit feedback on your ideas. This is intended to crystallize your thinking about your project and force you to think deeply about the research you are doing, how it fits into the current field, and how you will interpret your anticipated results.

Q: Do I need to have a lot of preliminary data before I propose?

A:  No. The thesis proposal meeting is NOT to show how much bench work the student has accomplished to date. Preliminary data can be helpful but is not essential. It is more important for the student to be able to present a logical, well thought-out rational for why he or she is pursuing the proposed questions, and why they have chosen the approaches they are proposing. This should include critical analysis of published data in the area of research.

Q: Why is the thesis proposal meeting so early compared to many other DBBS programs?

A:  The goal of moving the thesis proposal meeting earlier in the program is get students onto a productive line of research as quickly as possible. The first thesis committee meeting is the perfect time to make sure that you understand the background, have thought carefully about your proposed experiments and to make adjustments in your plan as necessary after all of your reading and after comments from your committee.

• Program Directors & Steering Committee
• General Timeline
• Course Requirements
• Laboratory Research Rotation Requirements
• Teaching Requirements
• Other Program Requirements and Activities
• Qualifying Examinations
• DBBS Student Forms
• Fellowship and Grant Opportunities

6 Email Templates to Ask Someone to be on Your Thesis Committee

By: Author Hiuyan Lam

Posted on Last updated: October 20, 2023

Categories Professional Etiquette

Writing a thesis is one of the most challenging parts of being an undergraduate or graduate student. You need to know how to ask someone to be on your thesis committee, especially if you are looking for a mentor to guide you through the writing process.

If you are currently starting the dissertation process, these unique email templates will help show you how to ask someone to be on your thesis committee.

How to ask someone to be on your thesis committee: When asking senior students

  These email templates will help you figure out how to ask a senior student to be on your thesis committee.   Senior students are perfect for helping you through the writing process. You can ask a student with whom you get along and share similar ideas.  

When asking professors to be on your thesis committee

  Your professor would be an invaluable addition to your thesis committee, especially since they could provide you with unique insight and constructive criticism.   Here is how to ask someone to be on your thesis committee if the person is your professor.  

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How to ask someone to be on your thesis committee: When asking professionals in your field

  Professionals can offer diverse and useful expertise if they choose to join your thesis committee. Here is how to ask someone to be on your thesis committee if you’re asking professionals in your field.  

  These are unique email templates that you can use when trying to figure out how to ask someone to be on your thesis committee.   Whether it is your professor, a senior student in your faculty, or a professional in your field, these templates will help you get that positive response that you are seeking.   If you are currently working on your thesis and wondering how to ask someone to be on your thesis committee, these templates will surely help you get some ideas.  

IZN International Graduate Program Thesis Advisory Committee Meetings

One of the most powerful instruments to ensure that your doctoral project develops at the highest scientific and technical standards and becomes an important contribution to your field of research are the regular meetings of your  Thesis Advisory Committee . TAC meetings offer a unique opportunity for doctoral students to discuss their experimental strategies, the data they have already obtained and their future plans with experts in the field. TAC members with an outside view onto your project provide detailed feedback and expert advice much as a reviewer might. In this way, the focus and scope of each TAC meeting changes while your project develops. 

TAC Member Selection

The success of TAC meetings strongly depends on a thoughtful selection of  TAC members and well-prepared TAC meetings. When choosing your TAC members please consider that outside expert views can often provide eye-opening critique and can offer particularly helpful technical and strategic advice. Sometimes, this may even result in the incorporation of new aspects and directions in your project at the expense of other project parts. It is therefore very important to carefully assess which combination of experts might help your research project most and could provide the best input. This could also mean that at a certain stage of your project you may want to include additional experts into your TAC if required.

TACs have at least three members: One TAC-member is  your supervising IZN-PI and one TAC member must be a  member of the Faculty with which you have registered your doctoral project. His/her/their roles are, apart from providing scientific expertise, to ensure IZN- and faculty-specific scientific standards. Often the IZN-PI and faculty member are the same researcher. All other TAC members are free for you to choose and should be selected primarily based on their scientific expertise and potential helpfulness for you and your project.   

CHRONOLOGY OF TAC-MEETINGS

1 st TAC : The first TAC meeting should be held in the early stages of your project  within the first 6-8 months after starting the project . At this timepoint you should have generated first data, perhaps pilot experiments or proof of principle approaches, such that it is possible to estimate whether the project is on the right track. This meeting will therefore focus on the project proposal and your preliminary data that support the underlying hypotheses and the potential implications that might arise from the planned work. This TAC is perhaps the  most influential and creative TAC-meeting for the rest of the project as it may involve discussions of additional high-risk pilot approaches or explore novel or cutting-edge strategies that may potentially be implemented into the work program.

2 nd TAC : The second and all following TAC meetings are typically arranged about one year after the previous TAC meeting unless urgent circumstances would suggest earlier meetings. The second TAC meeting typically evaluates the progress in the different project lines including, if applicable, the status of high-risk approaches. Based on the achieved data, discussions will center on potential outcomes and will try to direct the focus of the project towards the most inspiring and promising project lines. This meeting therefore  sets first switches and directs focus .

3 rd TAC : The third TAC meeting is perhaps  the most invasive TAC-meeting : it wraps up all insights of the project so far and discusses the possibilities for  publication of project parts and potentially missing data. The meeting may therefore yield very discrete add-ons to the project, it may also result in the stopping of other aspects. Importantly, if required, the meeting may also suggest and support extending the doctoral work for another year (including  a further TAC ), but it may also suggest that it is time to finalize the experimental work and to prepare publications and the dissertation. Should your project go beyond three years please arrange for further yearly TAC meetings and document them similarly as the ones before. 

4 th TAC : see 3 rd TAC

TAC Meeting Format

You are in charge of organizing and arranging your TAC meetings, so please don’t wait until your supervisor asks for them! Again, TAC meetings provide you with a unique chance to discuss your project and its potential successes and problems with outside experts and to obtain their detailed feedback and assistance. Please, therefore,  schedule your TAC meetings according to our suggestions. As soon as you have arranged a date for your TAC meeting, please inform the IZN-IGP office about it, including the names of your TAC members. You will then receive a personalized  IZN-TAC-protocol that is to be completed by the IZN supervisor during your TAC meeting in which your progress is evaluated and the suggestions of the TAC committee are documented.  

Well in advance to your TAC meeting, you should prepare a concise  TAC report (about 5 pages) with the project's starting date, its background, aims, results and their discussion as well as your continuing work schedule and future plans. Please send this report to your TAC members at least one week prior to the TAC meeting so that they have a chance to look into your data. Please also prepare a  TAC presentation for a max. 20 minute talk that should summarize your projects, their results, and your future work plan in a meaningful manner.

Each TAC meeting follows a similar formal style starting with your  concise 20 minute presentation followed by an  in-depth question-answer-discussion session (typically 1 h ). Towards the end, the direct supervisor may leave the room to allow the doctoral student to discuss concerns, conflicts or critical questions with the outside TAC members. Conversely, the student may leave the room to allow the supervisor to discuss potential issues with the outside TAC members. This procedure will result in a documented evaluation of the project's progress and its expected future development as well as discrete suggestions for future project directions or improvements including recommendations regarding publications or project extensions. The completed  IZN-TAC-Protocol will then be signed by all participants and should be sent electronically together with the TAC report to the program administrator at  [email protected] .

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Sample emails to your thesis supervisor

A good thesis requires good communication between you and your thesis supervisor. This includes emails! Yet, even a simple email can lead to stress and overthinking. If you struggle to communicate with your thesis supervisor via email, have a look at six sample emails for inspiration.

General tips for emailing your thesis supervisor

Every relationship between student and thesis supervisor is unique. And everyone has a unique (email) writing style.

Sample email to thesis supervisor inquiring about potential supervision

The first email to a potential thesis supervisor tends to be very formal. If you have never met the potential thesis supervisor in person before, make sure to check out tips on how to cold-email professors. In the following sample email, however, we assume that the student and the potential thesis supervisor met before.

Sample email to thesis supervisor setting up a meeting

Sample email to thesis supervisor sharing post-meeting action points

To get the most out of thesis supervision meetings , it is highly recommended that the student takes notes during the meeting. Based on these notes, the student then summarises the key takeaways from the meeting, or action points, so to speak. These action points will guide the student’s work until the next meeting, and provide a written record of agreements.

Sample email to thesis supervisor asking for feedback

Sample email to thesis supervisor asking for support

Sample email to thesis supervisor when not meeting a deadline.

And lastly, there are the unfortunate occasions where you made agreements with your thesis supervisor, which you cannot meet. Pulling an all-nighter is generally a bad idea, as sleep is crucial for efficient thesis writing . It might be smarter, to be honest, and open about it and to inform your thesis advisor in advance. In the following sample email, the student informs the supervisor that he cannot meet the agreed deadline.

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Courses & units, text-based honours thesis b hum415, introduction.

The honours thesis is a 12,000-15,000 word research project exploring a topic of your choice that has been approved by the Honours coordinator. The supervision of the project involves regular meetings with your primary supervisor, aimed at monitoring the progress of research and thesis preparation. The thesis is completed according to the academic conventions of the relevant discipline, or combined disciplines.

Availability

Specific information on 2025 unit availbility will be available in August.

* The Final WW Date is the final date from which you can withdraw from the unit without academic penalty, however you will still incur a financial liability (refer to How do I withdraw from a unit? for more information).

Unit census dates currently displaying for 2025 are indicative and subject to change. Finalised census dates for 2025 will be available from the 1st October 2024. Note census date cutoff is 11.59pm AEST (AEDT during October to March).

About Census Dates

Learning Outcomes

• Plan and execute a Humanities text-based scholarly project.
• Conduct independent research according to Humanities text-based disciplinary conventions.
• Apply advanced disciplinary knowledge and skills to produce an original thesis.
• Communicate project outcomes according to disciplinary conventions.

Fee Information

2025 fee information will be available in August.

The University reserves the right to amend or remove courses and unit availabilities, as appropriate.