Ph.D. Regulations – Advising

Each student must find a faculty member at the School of Graduate Studies willing to serve as his or her advisor.

Advisors must be faculty members with an appointment of Senior Lecturer or higher in the regular tenure track (basic sciences or clinical). In exceptional cases, the department committee may approve an advisor who does not meet these conditions. In such cases, the proposed advisor must submit an application with a CV, a current list of publications and a letter specifying his or her qualifications for advising graduate studies. In case of approval, the Ph.D. Committee must convey its decision to the University Committee of Graduate Students.

Relatives may not serve as advisors.

Faculty members of other institutions of higher learning may not serve as single advisors. Faculty from institutions other than Tel Aviv University may serve as co-advisors only if their academic appointment (tenure-track Senior Lecturer or higher) and research record (publications, grants, graduate advising) would have qualified them as single advisors. In addition, at least 75% of the proposed research must be carried out at Tel Aviv University or at a department affiliated with the Sackler Faculty of Medicine. If any one of these conditions is not met, the proposed faculty member may only serve as a “consultant” to the student.

Retired faculty will continue to advise their graduate students. With special permission and if adequate resources are available, they may take new graduate students.

Students may have a single advisor or several co-advisors. Approval of more than one advisor depends on the written agreement of all proposed co-advisors.

Additional co-advisors may be added at any stage of the program, subject to approval by the departmental committee.

By signing a research proposal submitted to the Ph.D. Committee, faculty members will be considered as having agreed to serve as dissertation advisor, subject to the approval of the Ph.D. Committee.

Advisors on sabbatical or on paid leave for longer than three consecutive months must present to the Ph.D. Committee the written agreement of another advisor willing to substitute for them. Requests for sabbatical or paid leave will be approved only once it has been established that all of the advisor’s obligations to his or her students were met.

Advisors must meet their students at least once a month to discuss the latter’s doctoral research. In cases where an advisor fails to meet this requirement, the student may appeal to the Ph.D. Committee.

Should an advisor declare unwillingness to continue advising a student, the student’s enrollment would be technically terminated, unless another advisor has submitted his or her written agreement to advise the student on the same topic or on a closely related research topic. In such cases, the student’s candidacy (first stage) may not exceed the period of time specified in the regulations, unless the Ph.D. Committee identifies reasons justifying an extension.

Students may request to change advisors by appealing to the Ph.D. Committee. Prior to making its decision, the Ph.D. Committee must obtain reasoned responses from both the current and the proposed advisor.

The Ph.D. Committee may terminate a student’s enrollment upon a third request to change or discharge advisors.