What is the Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC)?
The role of the Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC) is to monitor the progress of the graduate student toward the PhD degree. This is done by reviewing the student’s coursework, laboratory rotations, seminar presentation, dissertation proposal, and completing the proposed dissertation research. The composition of a DAC is dependent on the university and PhD program. Generally, the DAC is comprised of 4-5 faculty members of the PhD program, but NIH investigators replace some of the university faculty for partnership students. Some universities require one of the DAC members to be an External Reader from the greater scientific community to review the dissertation and be present at the defense. The role of an NIH mentor and other investigators in the DAC will vary from partnership to partnership, many requiring adjunct faculty status for full participation.
