Composition of TAC

• The TAC should consist of  the supervisor, co-supervisor (if any) and at least two other non-supervisory members (capped at 5 persons in the TAC).
  
  The possible compositions of a TAC are listed in the table below.
  
  

  Main Supervisor	Co – supervisor 1	Co – supervisor 2	Non-supervisory member 1	Non-supervisory member 2	Total no. in the TAC
  1	-	-	1	1	3
  1	1	-	1	1	4
  1	1	1	1	1	5

  
  
• At least one member of the TAC should be from a different Faculty/School to that of the student/supervisor.
• Both the supervisor and student are jointly responsible for the timely formation of the TAC - which is 1 Feb for students in the August intake; 1 Jul for students in the January intake.
• No-one directly involved in supervising the student shall act as the Chair of the TAC. NGS would review and appoint the nominee. The Chair should be appointed before the first formal meeting with the student.

IMPORTANT:  The Chair of the TAC should be nominated by the supervisor and the Chairperson has to be an NGS supervisor.

Roles of TAC

• The TAC is responsible for helping to monitor the student’s progress.
• The student or Chair of the TAC may call for the TAC meetings which has to be held on a regular basis (at least once every six months or once per semester - approximately in July and December), and all supervisors and co-supervisors must be present at the meeting, more frequently if the student is known to be having problems.
• After each TAC meeting, it is required for TAC members to submit the enclosed TAC Report Form endorsed by TAC members (including supervisor and co-supervisor, if any). The form has to be submitted to the NGS Office after the meeting.
• The outcome of the meetings may be incorporated into the student's 6-monthly online progress reports in January and August of every year, by the main supervisor on behalf of the TAC members. The submission of the online report is mandatory. Should the supervisor not complete his/her report within the stipulated deadline, the stipends of their students may then be withheld by the University.
• At least two TAC members must be present at each meeting with the student.
• The TAC Chair should inform the NGS or SAGE (Senior Advisory in Graduate Education) of any cases of serious project difficulties, to allow that Committee to provide additional oversight.
• PhD Qualifying Examinations
  • If a student fails to apply for the PhD Qualifying Exam (PQE) by 18-24 months into his/her PhD programme, a TAC meeting should be convened immediately to discover the reasons for this.
  • In cases where the student has made little or no progress with the thesis project by the 18-20 month mark, and the student appears to be at risk of not obtaining a PhD, the TAC will refer the student’s case to NGS/SAGE.

Composition of TAC

• The TAC should consist of  the supervisor, co-supervisor (if any) and at least two other non-supervisory members (capped at 5 persons in the TAC).
  
  The possible compositions of a TAC are listed in the table below.
  
  

  Main Supervisor	Co – supervisor 1	Co – supervisor 2	Non-supervisory member 1	Non-supervisory member 2	Total no. in the TAC
  1	-	-	1	1	3
  1	1	-	1	1	4
  1	1	1	1	1	5

  
  
• Both the supervisor and student are jointly responsible for the timely formation of the TAC - which is 1 Feb for students in the August intake; 1 Jul for students in the January intake.
• No-one directly involved in supervising the student shall act as the Chair of the TAC. NGS would review and appoint the nominee. The Chair should be appointed before the first formal meeting with the student.
• Members of the TAC shall be proposed by the main supervisor, and must be approved by NGS and A*STAR. They need not be “official” co-supervisors from A*STAR.
  1. If the supervisor is from an RI, there must be at least one TAC member from NUS.
  2. If the supervisor is from NUS, there must be at least one TAC member from an RI.
  3. At least one member (ideally two) must not be directly involved in the supervision of the students.
  4. Joint Supervision of students between NUS staff and RIs is encouraged but is not mandatory.

IMPORTANT:  The Chair of the TAC should be nominated by the supervisor and the Chairperson has to be an NGS supervisor.

Roles of TAC

• The TAC is responsible for helping to monitor the student’s progress.
• The student or Chair of the TAC may call for the TAC meetings which has to be held on a regular basis (at least once every six months or once per semester - approximately in July and December), and all supervisors and co-supervisors must be present at the meeting, more frequently if the student is known to be having problems.
• After each TAC meeting, it is required for TAC members to submit the enclosed TAC Report Form endorsed by TAC members (including supervisor and co-supervisor, if any). The form has to be submitted to the NGS Office after the meeting.
• The outcome of the meetings may be incorporated into the student's 6-monthly online progress reports in January and August of every year, by the main supervisor on behalf of the TAC members. The submission of the online report is mandatory. Should the supervisor not complete his/her report within the stipulated deadline, the stipends of their students may then be withheld by the University.

• The Chair of the TAC is required to call TAC meetings with the student on a regular basis (at least once every six months, more frequently if the student is known to be having problems).
• At least two TAC members must be present at each meeting with the student.
• The TAC Chair should inform the NGS or SAGE (Senior Advisory in Graduate Education) of any cases of serious project difficulties, to allow that Committee to provide additional oversight.
• PhD Qualifying Examinations
  • If a student fails to apply for the PhD Qualifying Exam (PQE) by 18-24 months into his/her PhD programme, a TAC meeting should be convened immediately to discover the reasons for this.
  • In cases where the student has made little or no progress with the thesis project by the 18-20 month mark, and the student appears to be at risk of not obtaining a PhD, the TAC will refer the student’s case to the NGS/SAGE.