{"id":2435,"date":"2017-12-07T20:17:51","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T20:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biology-dev.mit.edu\/?page_id=2435"},"modified":"2023-09-13T13:19:08","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T17:19:08","slug":"thesis-committee-meetings","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/biology.mit.edu\/graduate\/current-students\/graduate-manual\/thesis-committee-meetings\/","title":{"rendered":"Thesis Committee Meetings"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>General overview<\/h2>\n<p>Biology thesis advisory committee meetings are required each year in years 2-5, and twice per year in year 6 and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>Thesis committee meetings are intended to provide guidance and input into your research and to encourage timely completion of your PhD. These meetings are a structured time to solicit help and suggestions from your committee and to get feedback about your results and proposed future directions. It is useful to have a clear idea of the issues you want to discuss, to be sure that they are addressed at the meeting.<\/p>\n<p>Your committee must be composed of at least two Biology faculty members, plus your advisor. You may change the members of your committee at any time, for any reason.<\/p>\n<h2>Meetings guidelines<\/h2>\n<div id=\"accordion-1\" class=\"accordion no-js\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 role=\"button\" id=\"accordion-1-t1\" class=\"accordion-title js-accordion-controller\" aria-controls=\"accordion-1-c1\" aria-expanded=\"false\" tabindex=\"0\">\n\t\t\t\tNotes on committee membership\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t\t<div id=\"accordion-1-c1\" class=\"accordion-content\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You must have at least two MIT Biology faculty members on your thesis and defense committees.<\/li>\n<li>Each required member of a thesis advisory committee or thesis defense committee should hold a faculty appointment and should not be a direct collaborator of the graduate student.<\/li>\n<li>Students, with the consent of their advisor, may add additional members to their thesis advisory or thesis defense committees. These additional members must hold PhD degrees in an appropriate field and have an independent position (for example in industry or a research institute), but they need not be faculty members.<\/li>\n<li>For students with multiple co-advisors, these advisors count as only one person with respect to committee membership. Specifically, the thesis advisory committee must still contain at least two additional Biology faculty members, and the defense committee must contain at least two additional Biology faculty members plus a faculty member from another institution or a faculty member with a primary appointment in another MIT department.<\/li>\n<li>A quorum for a thesis advisory meeting is the advisor plus two additional members.<\/li>\n<li>Petitions for exceptions to these guidelines should be made to the graduate committee, via the Biology Education Office.\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 role=\"button\" id=\"accordion-1-t2\" class=\"accordion-title js-accordion-controller\" aria-controls=\"accordion-1-c2\" aria-expanded=\"false\" tabindex=\"0\">\n\t\t\t\tTiming of thesis committee meetings\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t\t<div id=\"accordion-1-c2\" class=\"accordion-content\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t\t\tAll students beyond the first year are required to have at least one thesis committee meeting during each academic year (September through May). Your thesis committee meeting for each academic year must be completed May 31st, and the signed thesis committee form returned to the Education Office by this date. You should contact members of your thesis committee no later than April 1st in order to schedule a meeting before the end of May. It is OK to have the meeting earlier than May, and it&#8217;s also OK to have more than one meeting a year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Completion of the yearly thesis committee meeting is a requirement of the graduate program and is necessary in order to continue in the program. The program will block your registration if you are behind in scheduling your committee meetings.<\/p>\n<p><b>Second-year students<\/b><\/p>\n<p>It is not necessary for second-year students to have a thesis project underway before having a thesis committee meeting. This meeting can serve as a time to discuss potential projects and exploratory experiments. You must have your first thesis committee meeting before taking your prelim exam. <b>Please note that the prelim exam does NOT count as a thesis committee meeting.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Fourth-year students<\/b><\/p>\n<p>You should be prepared to discuss your timeline for completing the PhD.<\/p>\n<p><b>Sixth-year students<\/b><\/p>\n<p>You should schedule two meetings per year until your defense\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 role=\"button\" id=\"accordion-1-t3\" class=\"accordion-title js-accordion-controller\" aria-controls=\"accordion-1-c3\" aria-expanded=\"false\" tabindex=\"0\">\n\t\t\t\tPreparation for thesis committee meetings\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t\t<div id=\"accordion-1-c3\" class=\"accordion-content\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t\t\tYou need to submit three documents to your committee a week in advance of your meeting:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A brief written research summary (~1 page)<\/li>\n<li>The appropriate thesis committee report forms<\/li>\n<li>Your updated CV (<a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/GM_Sample_CV.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">see sample<\/a> for suggested format)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You should prepare an oral presentation of ~30-40 minutes for the meeting that emphasizes points about which you would like feedback; you do not need to present everything you have done since the last meeting. During the meeting, you will discuss with your committee your project or potential projects and how you intend to proceed over the coming year. In later years, you will discuss your plans to finish and your future goals.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the meeting you and your committee will complete the thesis committee meeting form by filling out the comments section and having the form signed. The completed, signed form should be submitted to the Education Office.<\/p>\n<p>You are responsible for scheduling your meetings with your committee members, sending reminders, and arranging for a room (contact reserve68@mit.edu for a room in Building 68). You should book a room for 2 hours, even though your meeting may not last that long. Your lab\u2019s administrative assistant may be able to provide scheduling help, if you ask.\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n<h2>Report forms<\/h2>\n<p>Below are the files for the thesis committee report forms. <b>There are different forms for your second-year, third-year, and fourth-year-and-above meetings<\/b>. These forms are provided in a modifiable Word document format.<\/p>\n<p>There are also samples of completed forms as they would be submitted with your write-up (a few days before your thesis committee meeting).<\/p>\n<p>As stated in the instructions, the policy regarding these forms is that in addition to submitting your <b>current year form <\/b>with your write-up and CV to your committee members in advance of your committee meeting, you must <b>also<\/b> submit your <b>completed form from the previous year<\/b>. If you do not have a copy of your form from last year, you can ask Betsey Walsh in the Biology Education Office (68-120) to locate a copy for you. In the future, please keep a copy of your completed forms for the following year.<\/p>\n<p>After you have your thesis committee meeting and the form has been filled out, please obtain the necessary signatures and then give a hard copy of the completed form to the Education Office in addition to keeping a copy for yourself.<\/p>\n<h3><b>Word\/PDF Forms and PDF Samples<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><b>Second Year<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Second Year Committee Report: <a href=\"https:\/\/biology.mit.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/TC_SecondYR_Report_2023.docx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Doc<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/biology.mit.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/TC_SecondYR_Report_2023.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PDF<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sample-1-GM_TC_SecondYR_Report_rev-Sept-2018.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Second Year, sample 1<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sample-2-GM_TC_SecondYR_Report_revOct2018.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Second Year, sample 2<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Third Year<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Third Year Committee Report\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/biology.mit.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/TC_ThirdYR_Report_2023.docx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Doc<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/biology.mit.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/TC_ThirdYR_Report_2023.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PDF<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sample-1-GM_TC_ThirdYR_Report_revOct2018.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Third Year, sample 1<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sample-2-GM_TC_ThirdYR_Report_revOct2018.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Third Year, sample 2<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Fourth Year<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fourth Year and above Committee Report: <a href=\"https:\/\/biology.mit.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/TC_FourthYR_Report_2023.docx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Doc<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/biology.mit.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/TC_FourthYR_Report_2023.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PDF<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sample-1-GM_TC_FourthYR_Report_revOct2018.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fourth Year, sample 1<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sample-2-GM_TC_FourthYR_Report_revOct2018.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fourth Year, sample 2<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>General overview Biology thesis advisory committee meetings are required each year in years 2-5, and twice per year in year 6 and beyond. Thesis committee meetings are intended to provide guidance and input into your research and to encourage timely completion of your PhD. These meetings are a structured time to solicit help and suggestions [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":4530,"parent":2337,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-internal-only.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2435","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Thesis Committee Meetings - MIT Department of Biology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/biology.mit.edu\/graduate\/current-students\/graduate-manual\/thesis-committee-meetings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thesis Committee Meetings\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"General overview Biology thesis advisory committee meetings are required each year in years 2-5, and twice per year in year 6 and beyond. 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