Date: Tue, 09 Jun 98 22:34:15 EDT Advice on choosing a Supervisor =============================== In my years of observing graduate student careers, I have come to the conclusion that the most important external factor influencing the ultimate success or failure of a student is his or her supervisor. ==> more important than the university/department ==> more important that your research topic Not only will your supervisor provide guidance through the graduate program, the rest of the faculty rely primarily on him/her in order to assess your progress and abilities. Almost all students run into at least one setback at some point in their stay here: failed qualifiers, problems with courses, unproductive periods because of personal problems, uncertainty in their research, difficulties with writing. The upshot of all of this is that the choice of a supervisor should be undertaken with EXTREME CARE. An unfortunate choice may result in wasted time and frustration, or worse, an involuntary departure from the graduate program. To help you in making a choice, I have prepared an incomplete list of considerations in choosing a supervisor. Most of these points seem pretty obvious. However, I have seen every one of them ignored at least once, usually with unfortunate consequences (and I have ignored one or two of them myself). The answers to these questions may be difficult to determine; at the very least, you should talk to the potential supervisor and his/her students and former students (if they exist), including students who have switched to another supervisor. Additionally, you should talk to random nth-year grad students who have been around awhile and know (at least some of) the score. Of course, the answers some of the questions should be interpreted in context -- if a professor has only been here a week, it is unlikely that he/she will have scores of students. Whether the answer to a particular question is good or bad may be a function of your personality and preferences. However, if you don't know the answers, I'm not sure that the odds are in favor of your making a happy choice. 1. Does the faculty member want students (or more students)? o Does he have funding available for you? o Does he have time for you? 2. Does he have research interests in common with you? This is the one point that everyone checks. 3. Are his students generally successful? o Do they complete their degrees, or have some of them left the program before doing so? o How long do they take to complete their degrees? o Have recent students, who may not have finished, produced good research (e.g. papers)? o Do students stick with him, or do a lot change supervisors? 4. How independent should/can you be? o Will the supervisor want you to work on a project of his choosing? o If you work on research of your own choosing, will he have the time and breadth of attention to follow what you are doing and guide you in it? o Conversely: if you don't have a topic (and want one) will the supervisor feed you ideas? The amount of independence you want is really a question of preference. However, it is a serious bummer to have a supervisor that doesn't know what you're up to -- not only can't he direct you, he can't testify that you are doing good work come evaluation time. 5. How much will he pressure you? Once again, mostly a question of personal preference, but an important one. 6. What expectations does he have about relative accomplishments in comprehensives/courses and research in your first year or so? Are they realistic? You can ask him about the first part of the question. For the second part, ask a few students who have been here more than two years. 7. How will he react if you have problems with comprehensives or research? This is difficult to determine, and really rests on the larger question of how you interact. 8. How much time will he have to spend on you? o How many advisees does he have already? (If he has more than 4, you should start to consider other people. If more than 8, beware!) o Does he spend a lot of time on other commitments such as out-of-town consulting, administrative duties, television, or what-have-you? 9. Is he going to be around for awhile? This is difficult to determine. I know of one person who had two supervisors leave suddenly and unexpectedly. However, you can at least ask around. Typically, current length of stay is a good metric for future prospects. 10. How long has he been here? As a crude generality, more established faculty know their way around the department, have the benefits of experience in directing students, and have more resources (money, equipment, contacts), while newer faculty sometimes have fewer commitments and newer research projects. 11. What is his publication record like? What percentage of his papers have coauthors? You should ask him about some papers he has written so you can look them over. Co-authored papers indicate that he has worked productively with other people in the past. 12. Does his style of research agree with yours? For example, do you both have the same ideas about what constitutes a research result? Is it a proof, an empirical study, an implementation? 13. Does he require students with a particularly strong background in some area? 14. In generally, will he read papers (or theses!) you have written within a reasonable interval? Will he generally keep commitments to perform chores associated with advising you (like showing up when you are being evaluated by the faculty)? Talk to his students about this. ====================================================================== Final words: - the most important piece of advice in choosing a supervisor: pick someone who you believe will treat you fairly. A supervisor may be a great researcher and yet screw you (unintentionally, of course!), or at least not be supportive. - can you get along? This is a long term relationship. - look to your fellow students as a support group, in choosing a supervisor, and in dealing with problems. - learn to stand up to your supervisor, if you believe that things are not as they should be - remember that you are not obligated to take the supervisor who you are initially assigned to. Take the first term and shop around. Go to seminars. Talk to people. Read papers. Don't jump into a relationship like this without taste-testing first.