Steering Committee (SC)

Steering Committee (SC)

The Steering Committee (SC) is the central decision-making body of BIGSAS, and oversees its strategic direction. It is composed of four BIGSAS Senior Fellows (members) as well as the Head and Deputy Head of BIGSAS, the Coordinator of EC and EO, the BIGSAS Coordinator, the Director of the Gender and Diversity Office (GDO) and the Junior Fellow Representatives. Together, this committee is responsible for advising and decision making regarding the research agenda of the graduate school, the academic program and general policies as well as the organisation of BIGSAS as an institution. Moreover, it is their job to oversee the institutional finances, think about the allocation and distribution of the institutional budget, and coordinate all activities.

The Steering Committee usually meet once every quarter. The next meetings of the SC are:

• 16 October 2024
• 22 January 2025

Application documents for any application to the SC must be received at the institution no later than 12 pm on Wednesday in the week before the meeting. All applications to the SC are to be submitted in English.

The main tasks of the Steering Committee include:

Admission of members and associated members: Based on an official application, the committee is deciding on the association of members and associated members into BIGSAS.

Evaluation and approval of research projects: With the help of expert review, the SC assesses the scientific quality and relevance of the PhD projects submitted from applicants and decides on the admission of new doctoral students and their research projects into the programme.

Organization and monitoring of the graduate school: The committee is also responsible for the design and implementation of the training programs at BIGSAS. It ensures that the programs meet academic standards and that the necessary resources are available.

Advice and Support: As another task, the steering committee provides ongoing support and guidance to doctoral students and ensures that they receive the best possible training and supervision.

Financial Budgeting: The SC decides on the approval of all funding application, which exceed EUR 2,000.00 in total (Exceptions: field trips, summer schools and conferences)

Decision of Principle: To ensure a smooth and moreover timely administrative processing of re-occurring processes within the graduate school, the SC created some Decision of Principle which helps both the SC and the Executive Committee (EC) to decide on a variety of issues. You may download the current list of decisions of principle in English and in German

As the Steering Committee can also delegate the performance of administrative tasks which do not require fundamental decisions to the Executive Committee, some formerly SC decisions are now outsourced to the EC.

Current members of the SC: