How to choose the right PI

[vwhan]

EvoDevo,

What about a sticky that offers advice to incoming graduate students trying to make an extremely important decision that affects them for the next 3-7 years?

I was fortunate to choose a fantastic advisor. These are the questions I asked in making my decision.

1. How well funded is the PI, can he/she provide funding for the next couple of years?
2. Does the PI have a good publication record, in terms of numbers and quality journals?
3. How long did it take former students to finish from this lab?
4. Is the PI open to the idea of me taking more classes than required, or allowing teaching opportunities (i.e mr becoming more well rounded)?
5. Would you get along with your PI and lab members?
6. Is your PI willing to spend time with you in preparing presentations/seminars?
7. Does your PI have your best interests in mind or see you more as a lab tech?

Some of these questions can be answered by rotating or word-of-mouth from more senior graduate students.

Hany

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[pseudoknot]

Those are great questions to ask. One caution though: yes, it's good to ask other people about PIs, but don't believe everything you hear. The advisor-student relationship is very personal, and not everyone has the same taste. I've had several experiences both at Caltech and my undergrad institution where my personal experience with a PI was different and even quite opposite from the prevailing rumors. This would also extend to such issues as graduation time: if you're like most people I know, you won't want to ask a PI directly how long it's taken students to get out, or how long it should/could take. You should ask these questions anyway, even if you're not comfortable doing so. Sometimes you'll get a different perspective (they might have information the rumor mill didn't) and it's good to see how they handle such conversations anyway.

 

[Dodohead]

EvoDevo,

What about a sticky that offers advice to incoming graduate students trying to make an extremely important decision that affects them for the next 3-7 years?

8. Is the PI a micro-manager, or hands off? How accessible will he/she be to me as I am working on me research? More importantly, how much/what kind of adviser do I need to be as productive as possible?

In my first rotation, my rotating PI had his office connected to our lab, and we had to walk THROUGH HIS OFFICE to get to the lab. This was ok, until you realized he was always there, and kept careful track of who was or wasn't coming in, and when they were coming in. This same adviser was also known to call students at home on Saturday and Sunday and ask where they were (ie, why they weren't in lab).

My current PI (= my thesis adviser) is really quite hands-off. He'll walk through the lab about twice a day - once first in the morning, and once in late afternoon, to see if anyone has any questions. For me, that was a better working environment - accessible, but hands-off. We only have formal lab meetings about 1-2x a year, which is also nice. And in our first lab meeting, he stressed that, "I don't care when you work, as long as you get your work done, but I really don't see any reason why any of you should be here on the weekends" (Ok, that was probably for safety reasons - he doesn't want us running experiments when no one is around, and I often come in on Sat to analyze data, but it is nice to know that I won't be called Saturday morning to find out where I am!!)

At any rate, this is something that is totally dependent on the individual involved. Some people work much better with a PI who is constantly around, and need a lot of supervision and motivation. Other people feel smothered in that circumstance. I recommend talking with other student before you choose your rotations to determine how happy they are in their labs, and whether or not it would be a good fit.