questions to ask faculty at revisit?

[heresjohn]

I have an upcoming revisit and I'll be talking to faculty that I am interested in rotating with...I was wondering if you guys have suggestions about what to talk to the faculty about during the face-to-face meetings to figure out if the lab is a good fit? Thanks a bunch!

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[seraph524]

Asking for a tour of the lab, current ongoing projects, future projects, etc come to mind. Maybe asking if you could talk to current members of the laboratory to get their opinion on the PI.

Just taking a wild stab in the dark...would this upcoming revisit be WashU?

 

[meowkat444]

maybe this isn't popular, but i do plan to ask the PIs to compare their dpt to other schools i'm considering. just take answers with grain of salt

 

[Mazelia]

At my revisit to Case, I asked a lot about the PI's current/past collaborations (to get an idea of who does related work at the same institution so that I can talk to those people later!).

Also, even if you're decided on the school, I think it's interesting to find out how the researcher came to be at that institution, how long they've been there, what they like about it, etc.

Depending on how detailed the conversation gets regarding specific projects, I have asked about funding sources-- NIH, private sources, NSF? (I have been talking to engineers, so NSF is a viable answer to this question.) On one hand, it sounds a little rude (kind of like asking someone how much money they make!) but on the other hand, it's good to know what the funding situation is in a particular lab (especially if the PI is younger/has not yet secured tenure).