Dissertation Advisory Committee

Students must declare a DAC and submit the DAC Proposal form within three months after passing their qualifying exam, no later than Feb of G3 year.

The DAC should be formed in consultation with the Dissertation Advisor and the SHBT Academic Advisor. The composition of the DAC needs to be approved by either the Program Director and Director of Student Affairs. This is done by the approval of the form submitted with the dissertation advisory committee proposal form. The Dissertation Advisory Proposal Form should be submitted to the SHBT Program Administrator.

The committee should have at least three members, not including the advisor. Two members of the DAC should be formally affiliated with the SHBT Program and one member not be affiliated with the Program.

• Faculty 1. The DAC Chair must be a SHBT faculty and must be well acquainted with the academic policies of DMS. The DAC share will also be responsible for reporting on each DAC meeting by submitting a DAC report to the Program Administrator.
• Faculty 2. SHBT faculty member
• Faculty 3. Non-Harvard Faculty member with relevant expertise. Members who do not hold faculty positions (Assistant or higher) cannot participate in the DAC. Deviations from this recommended pattern may be allowed if approved by the SHBT Program Directors. When in doubt about the DAC composition, the student should consult the Program Director or Director of Student Affairs prior to submitting the DAC Proposal Form.

The Chair of the DAC committee is expected to serve as Chair of the dissertation examination committee.

DAC Chair

Each DAC is headed administratively by a Chair, chosen by the student in consultation with the Dissertation Advisor. The DAC Chair is responsible for overseeing the committee meetings and submitting a report after each DAC meeting. The DAC chair is responsible for making sure that the views of the DAC are effectively communicated to the student and that any major concerns of the DAC are effectively communicated to the advisor and to the SHBT Director of Student Affairs via the Program Director.

The DAC chair is responsible for the preparation and submission of the DAC report, which should be approved by all committee members immediately upon conclusion of the meeting.

Immediate submission of the DAC report is important, not only so potential problems can be remedied quickly, but so student registration status is not jeopardized.

The initial DAC meeting must be held within 7 months of the QE, by June at the latest. 

Students are responsible for scheduling their DAC meetings. Helpful web-based scheduling services include Doodle  and When is good. Scheduling also includes reserving a room.

Before the first DAC meeting, the student submits a written dissertation proposal which is formally presented at the meeting. The proposal should clearly define the research problem, describe the proposed research plan, and articulate the significance of the work. The length is comparable to that required for NIH F31 applications. An NIH F31 approved for funding or equivalent funded fellowship application may serve as the dissertation proposal.

Students should consult their Dissertation Advisor on the proposal before submitting it to the DAC.
Following the presentation, the student must correct any deficiencies in the proposal identified by the DAC until the DAC approves the proposal.
 

Submission of Proposal Package for the initial DAC Meeting (To be submitted no later than one week prior to your first DAC meeting)

The proposal package (no longer than 7 pages of 11-point font with single line spacing and 0.5” margins) includes the following:

• Abstract (<300 words)
• Specific Aims (1 page) 
• Concise description of the proposed work, which can be read independently of the full proposal. 
• Research Strategy (6 pages max).
• Background and Significance: Concise review of relevant scientific literature and brief description explaining why the work is important.
• Scientific Premise & Preliminary Results: Data relevant to the proposal generated by the student and/or other members of the laboratory.
• Approach: Methods proposed to study each Specific Aim, including methods of analysis. Includes hypotheses and statistical procedures to test hypotheses. Also includes potential problems and pitfalls.

.The proposal should be submitted, no later than one week before the initial meeting, to the SHBT Program Administrator, the Dissertation Advisor, and all DAC members.

Organization of the DAC meeting

DAC meetings take about 2h. The student and faculty alternately leave the room. To provide an opportunity for both the student and the adviser to communicate with the DAC members on a confidential basis, the meeting will start with first the student leaving the room and then the advisor leaving the room. In the absence of the student, the advisor will have a chance to present their assessment of the student’s progress and whether the student is on course to graduate in a timely fashion. In the absence of the advisor, the student may likewise communicate their own assessment of their progress and whether the advisor and the laboratory environment provide the support that they need. This is also an opportunity to share with the committee any other problems of a confidential nature that the student needs help with.

Student presentation: The main part of the meeting will consist of a 20–40 minute presentation by the student of results and plans. Committee members will typically interrupt the presentation with questions and the presentation is followed by a discussion of progress and future plans. The Dissertation Advisor should interject minimally so that the student has the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of their field and scientific maturity surrounding ongoing and future work.

Assessment of student’s progress: The student’s progress will be assessed by the DAC in several areas:

• Progress on a line (or multiple lines) of experimentation having potential to lead to one or more first-author publications;
• Development of an ability to think independently, including development of hypotheses, practical approaches for testing hypotheses, critical interpretation of data, understanding relevance of results in light of current thinking in the field, and judging how to effectively pursue the line of investigation;
• The DAC Research Progress Report is an opportunity for the committee members to assess the development of the student's ability in science writing and give constructive feedback;
• The DAC Research Progress Report and meeting is an opportunity for the committee members to assess the student's knowledge and analysis of the scientific literature relevant to his/her field of investigation. Note that it is helpful to the student that scientific maturity and independence are discussed as these are often areas in which students excel yet are not always adequately reflected by the status of manuscripts.

Subsequent meetings (through G4): Subsequent DAC meetings must be held every 9 months, and in some cases more frequently (e.g. every 6 months), depending on DAC recommendations. A DAC report needs to be submitted a week before each DAC meetings.

G5 and after: It is recommended that DAC meetings be held every 6 months or more frequently pending DAC recommendations.

In preparation for the final DAC meeting, the student must submit to the committee the general outline and content of the dissertation. With the student, the committee will discuss the general outline and content of the dissertation. Students must have the final dissertation advisory committee report on file in the Division of Medical Sciences office stating that the student may begin writing the dissertation with approval of the general outline and content of dissertation prior to processing dissertation defense paperwork. (For this form, see your program administrator or visit the Division of Medical Sciences website at https://dms.hms.harvard.edu/

After receiving approval and permission from the committee to write the dissertation, students should contact the DMS Dissertation Coordinator, dmsphddefense@hms.harvard.edu, to schedule a dissertation packet meeting and review dissertation requirements and regulations. Additionally, the expectation is students will defend their dissertation no later than 4-6 months from the date of permission to write.