The mandate of the Thesis Monitoring Committee (TMC) is to monitor the theses being pursued at the lab. The committee can be contacted at any moment by PhD students and/or their supervisor(s).
The goals
• As additional contacts besides the lab's director and the supervisor(s), the committee members can offer complementary support to the PhD students during their three-year thesis work.
• Advise the PhD students on the progress of their thesis, on the oral presentation of their work and on their postdoctoral preparation
• Detect potential issues which could hinder the smooth progress of the thesis as early as possible and propose solutions and a possible mediation if difficulties arise
The TMC does not replace the supervisor(s); the supervisors remain the first contacts of the PhD students and are in charge of the thesis. The TMC is not a regulatory body neither for the PhD students nor for their supervisor(s) and does not evaluate the results obtained during the thesis. Finally, the TMC is not a decision-making body with respect to the thesis progress: the TMC mandate is limited to emitting recommendations which can be used by the lab's director and the Doctoral School to take action should any difficulty arise.
The thesis monitoring steps
The goal of the monitoring is to check the smooth progress of the thesis at various key steps described hereafter. The monitoring is performed via questionnaires and interviews with the PhD students and the supervisors, of which the contents remain confidential. The monitoring is done with a constant concern for confidentiality and neutrality.
1. After 6 months:
◦ PhD students and supervisors independently answer on-line questionnaires
◦ PhD students have a one-to-one interview with a member of the TMC
→Goal: Assess the situation after the first 6 months in order to detect possible problems. The TMC issues recommendations on the progress of the thesis which are addressed to the supervisor(s), the PhD student and the lab's director.
2. After 18 months:
◦ PhD students and supervisors independently answer on-line questionnaires
→ Goal: check that the thesis is proceeding well
◦ Each PhD student gives a 30' seminar in front of the lab: the TMC members (and other lab employees who have a PhD, on a voluntary basis) answer a questionnaire in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the presentation. Based on the answers collected, the TMC gives feedback to the PhD student.
→ Goal: acquire practical experience in preparing and presenting a seminar
3. After 24 months:
◦ PhD students hand in a plan of the thesis manuscript and a planning for the last year;
→ Goal: prepare for the last year and organise the writing of thesis ◦ PhD students hand in a CV;
→ Goal: prepare for job-seeking (permanent position, post-doc, private sector...)
Members of the TMC:
President:David Maurin
Members: Corinne Bérat, Rachel Delorme, Jacob Lamblin, Stéphanie Roccia
RH : Christine Servoz-Gavin
