Thesis Advisory Committees

In the GGNB, the thesis advisory committees (TACs) are comprised of at least three members: the main supervisor plus two independent additional members. They advise the doctoral student and monitor their progress throughout the doctoral process. TACs serve two main purposes:
1) to provide critical feedback to the research progress and data interpretation, and
2) to mediate potentially upcoming difficult situations between the doctoral student and supervisor.

For these reasons, a careful choice of TAC members should acknowledge (1) a sufficiently broad scientific background to be able to comment on the research progress from different and proficient perspectives and (2) the independence of each other to ensure impartiality.

Usually, the first two members of the TAC will serve as referees of the doctoral thesis. The supervisor and the second members of theTAC need to be members of resp. have examiner status in the student's doctoral program, while the third member can be member of any program in GAUSS, or even be an external member. Single examiner status is possible for no more than one member of the TAC, upon application. Additionally, at least one of the reviewers of the thesis must be a full professor at the University of Göttingen (i.e., not “apl. Professor” or honorary; see the doctoral degree regulations RerNat-O § 11). We therefore strongly suggest to pick the TAC members accordingly from the outset. If in doubt, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will advise you accordingly.

In GGNB and GAUSS, each supervisor is represented in quite a few TACs. To provide an overview of these memberships, this information is available to GGNB/GAUSS supervisors and doctoral students via password-protected lists linked below. The lists are for internal use only.

TAC Membership lists

All supervisors can use these lists to view their TAC memberships and other information. If you have any questions or require login assistance, please contact the GAUSS Office.

For Supervisors 🔒

PhD students can use the lists, which include the number of TAC memberships per supervisor, to obtain an overview of the individual workload and resulting capacity of individual TAC members. This information can be helpful in selecting one's own TAC and examination committee in consultation with the main supervisor. The login data can be requested via email from the GGNB Office.

For PhD Students 🔒