PhD Advisory Committee (PAC) Home Page


Purpose of the PAC meetings:

The MPIA has established a "PhD Student advisory" committee (PAC), to help monitor the progress of the PhD research and help the student and advisor plan his/her project so as to assure that a succesful PhD will result.

The PAC is there to help the student getting a succesful PhD!

The PAC will have at least two regular meetings with each student at the MPIA, both at critical points in the course of the PhD thesis. This is at the end of the first year and at the beginning of the third year. Both meetings do not serve as an examination of the student, but as an assessment of the working conditions for the student and whether the MPIA is doing its part to help the student to finish the thesis project successfully within three years.

The PAC wants to make sure:

  • that the student gets the best possible support from his/her supervisor,
  • that the thesis project is sufficiently well defined and manageable in the course of three years,
  • that the project is reasonably well on schedule, and if not, to discuss how to fix that,
  • that the project management and planning are ok,
  • that the student can access all necessary data, numerical and experimental equipment, etc.,
  • that the student trains him/herself in the art of scientific presentation at internal occasions as well as at international conferences,
  • that the student obtains international visibility via papers, conference participations and collaborations,
  • and that the student, toward the end of the second year, is starting to think of - and prepare for - his/her carreer after the PhD.

The PAC also serves as an independent outside view on the thesis project, which can sometimes give valuable insight in occurring problems as well as additional input to the thesis project.

In case of conflicts and/or communication-difficulties between the student and his/her supervisor, the PAC is there to mediate! In such a situation the PAC will help solve the situation and try to assure that the student has the best chances of obtaining his/her PhD. The PAC urges PhD students with problems of this kind to contact a PAC member (free choice whom to contact) as soon as possible, even outside the usual PAC seasons and even if the student already had a PAC meeting recently! These contacts will be kept strictly confidential.

Note that PAC meetings should not be confused with the IMPRS Thesis committee meetings. Both serve a different purpose and should take place independently.

Two PAC meetings during the PhD time are obligatory for all PhD students, independent of whether they are part of IMPRS, member of an Emmy Noether or Junior Research group or have external or internal funding. Typically one meeting must be scheduled after the first year and one after the second year.


How to participate in the regular PAC meetings (after 1 and 2 years):

Regular PAC meetings are organized in PAC blocks: periods of a few weeks length, twice a year, which will be announced by email. The scheduling is organized via a doodle. This season's doodle is:

http://www.doodle.com/3nepentwxp9qkcxa

It is the student's responsibility to arrange the scheduling of the PAC meetings! So if you know that you are due (end of first or second year), please follow the instructions in the announcement email of the PAC block to sign up. Please try to find a date when also your immediate supervisor(s) can join. If your supervisor(s) can't come on any of these dates, please contact the PAC. As a last resort (if no common date or other solutions can be found) we will have a PAC meeting without supervisor(s).


How to contact the PAC outside of regular PAC meetings:

In addition to regular PAC meetings, the PAC members can also be approached at all times by the students, e.g. if they need an advice, see their thesis project threatened by insurmountable obstacles or even are in dispute with their direct thesis advisor (see above). The PAC will then be happy to help finding an acceptable solution.

The PAC can equally well be approached by supervisors who see problems and like to have a second opinion. Both these contacts, from students and from supervisors, will be kept strictly confidential so that both can talk freely.

PAC committee members are:
Name:Field:Email:Room:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Herbst Instrumentationherbst@mpia.de227
Wolfgang Brandner Instrumentationbrandner@mpia.de220
Joe HennawiObservationsjoe@mpia.de130
Eva SchinnererObservationsschinner@mpia.de223
Hubert Klahr Theoryklahr@mpia.de122
Kees Dullemond Theorydullemon@mpia.de121


The typical structure of a regular PAC meeting:

A PAC meeting typically lasts 1.5 hours. Here is how it works:
  • BEFORE the meeting the student (!) should prepare a short (2 pages) report which should be sent to the PAC, typically not later than a week before the meeting. It should shortly summarize the topic of the PhD, the progress that has been made, any problems that have come up, complete publication list (not only of this PhD project, but really all publications by the student so far please!), plus planned papers, conferences that have been attended or will be attended and any internal as well as external collaborations. A timeline for the remaining time of the "PhD-student phase" has also shown to be very helpful. At the second PAC meeting we also request an outline of the PhD thesis. To help you with the report we prepared a short template: PAC-example_eng.pdf, PAC-example_eng.doc.dot.
  • It starts with a short 20 minutes presentation by the student about the work that has been done so far and its motivation and goals. This presentation will be the basis for an open discussion about the students work, which can last up to 1 hour. So please prepare slides (view graphs, PDFs, powerpoint, keynote, whatever the preference) for 20 minutes non-stop, but be prepared that the talk can/will be regularly interrupted for questions and discussions.
  • NOTE: The advisor is kindly asked to let mainly the student speak in this period.
  • A discussion of the status and prospects with the student and advisor follows.
  • Then the PAC will talk in private with the student alone (supervisors will leave the room).
  • If requested by the advisor(s), the PAC may also have a private conversation with the advisors.
  • Finally a report will be written by the PAC members at the end of the PAC meeting which is sent to the student, the advisor and the directors. The content of the report is confidential and should not be made available to third parties, unless all participants of the PAC meeting agree to do so. Confidential information brought to the PAC by the student is automatically excluded from the PAC-report.

More details about the PAC Meetings:

The WBK regulates the PAC activities. Two (!) PAC meetings must be scheduled during a PhD. The purposes of these two meetings are slightly different:
  • The first meeting has to be scheduled at the end of the first year. Its purpose is to evaluate how the PhD student adjusted to the working and social atmosphere at MPIA and in his/her group and whether the original goals of the PhD thesis can still be achieved.
  • At the begin of the third year another PAC meeting is due which evaluates the progress and timely completion of the PhD. During this meeting the future plans of the student, her/his international visibility (e.g. through publications and talks/posters at workshops or collaborations with other research groups) and her/his chances for a career in astronomy should also be discussed. If the student so wishes, the issue of a possible extension of the contract and a possible recommendation by the PAC thereof can be discussed in this meeting. But this is only upon request, and is deliberately not part of the standard routine, so as to ensure that the PAC meeting will not become a "judgement" but instead remains just a "help" for the student.

In order to organize these meetings more efficiently the PAC has defined the following rules:

  • Although the PAC will send out reminders to students who are due, in the end the students and their advisors have the final responsibility to ensure that the regular PAC meetings are scheduled. How to schedule, see section "How to participate in the regular PAC meetings (after 1 and 2 years)" above.
  • Unless absolutely impossible, the direct day-to-day advisor should be present. Other advisors are also welcome if that is useful. But again: if no date can be found where the advisor(s) can be present, then as a last resort we will have a PAC meeting with the student alone. Bottom line: a regular PAC meeting must take place under any circumstances.

Miscellaneous:

II. PostDoc fellowship at the MPIA after finishing the PhD(klick here) Please remember, it is the MPIA's sincere interest to have happy and successful students, that will be able to start their individual and independent career in science or elsewhere.
Maintained by Cornelis Dullemond
Last modified: March 29, 2010