What should I ask a prospective PhD advisor?
March 29, 2023 5:26 PM Subscribe
I am planning to begin a PhD in the fall, but I am hesitating to accept my top choice program because of my sense of uncertainty about my prospective advisor. I don’t see any red flags in her demeanor, stated expectations, or what I can glean about her reputation in the department. However, I also don’t feel like I have a strong sense of her nature. I’m wondering how to assess our mutual fit.
I have met with this professor over Zoom a handful of times, but we won’t have the opportunity to meet in person. I know the advisor-advisee relationship is paramount for doctoral students, and I want to satisfy myself that we are a good match. If I feel we are not, there is another offer from a different university, which is less attractive in terms of location, that I might more seriously consider.
My impression of this professor is that she tends to the formal and reserved, which makes it more difficult to get a sense of what our working relationship would be like once we are better acquainted. She seems direct, motivated to succeed and to see me succeed, and interested in me. It would be easier to go forward if she had a warmer demeanor, but I don’t feel that lack of that attribute should be disqualifying either – we don’t need to be best friends. I’ve been told by current students (none of which know her personally) that she has a reputation as an accomplished researcher. I also heard positive things from a student who had her on their doctoral committee.
My prospective advisor is open to having another conversation. I’m just not sure what else I want to know at this point. We’ve discussed the projects I might work on, her style as a mentor in general terms, and some practicalities (office space, my stipend). I feel confident she is a good scientist, but less sure if she would be the right mentor for me. Do you have any advice about questions I should be asking of her or topics to broach? If you are or have been a doctoral student, what questions do you wish you had asked of a possible advisor before you embarked on the program?
Note: I’m not seeking advice about whether to do a PhD or even how to evaluate this offer, just about what questions I might ask or other approaches to learn more about my advisor. If it eases your mind, I can tell you that the program is fully funded, and I’m confident there will be good career opportunities for me outside academia when I finish.
I have met with this professor over Zoom a handful of times, but we won’t have the opportunity to meet in person. I know the advisor-advisee relationship is paramount for doctoral students, and I want to satisfy myself that we are a good match. If I feel we are not, there is another offer from a different university, which is less attractive in terms of location, that I might more seriously consider.
My impression of this professor is that she tends to the formal and reserved, which makes it more difficult to get a sense of what our working relationship would be like once we are better acquainted. She seems direct, motivated to succeed and to see me succeed, and interested in me. It would be easier to go forward if she had a warmer demeanor, but I don’t feel that lack of that attribute should be disqualifying either – we don’t need to be best friends. I’ve been told by current students (none of which know her personally) that she has a reputation as an accomplished researcher. I also heard positive things from a student who had her on their doctoral committee.
My prospective advisor is open to having another conversation. I’m just not sure what else I want to know at this point. We’ve discussed the projects I might work on, her style as a mentor in general terms, and some practicalities (office space, my stipend). I feel confident she is a good scientist, but less sure if she would be the right mentor for me. Do you have any advice about questions I should be asking of her or topics to broach? If you are or have been a doctoral student, what questions do you wish you had asked of a possible advisor before you embarked on the program?
Note: I’m not seeking advice about whether to do a PhD or even how to evaluate this offer, just about what questions I might ask or other approaches to learn more about my advisor. If it eases your mind, I can tell you that the program is fully funded, and I’m confident there will be good career opportunities for me outside academia when I finish.
Some reasonable things to ask I think are:
Number of expected publications from a phd? (anything over 4-5 would be a red flag for me, depending on topic area)
How regular your research meetings would be?
Are there group or lab meetings?
You can also look up their publication history and check that they have a history of publishing with their students and that those students are preferably first author on any papers connected with their thesis.
posted by piyushnz at 5:51 PM on March 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
Number of expected publications from a phd? (anything over 4-5 would be a red flag for me, depending on topic area)
How regular your research meetings would be?
Are there group or lab meetings?
You can also look up their publication history and check that they have a history of publishing with their students and that those students are preferably first author on any papers connected with their thesis.
posted by piyushnz at 5:51 PM on March 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
So my experience is a bit different in that my (non-science) program didn't require us to chose an advisor until after we crossed the MA checkpoint, so perhaps not relevant to you:
During the decision-phase, I was promised an advisor who was to be joining from another institution, but ultimately didn't. There wasn't anyone available who was a good fit so I ended up just being assigned someone who had capacity and was in the same general area of study. But our conflict turned out to be that he couldn't be a good mentor because he really didn't care about what I cared about, and was turned off by the fact that I wouldn't just "switch" to something he did. He wasn't open to expanding his thinking. I wish I had asked if he was.
Also, because you mentioned other universities: I gave far too much weight to my preferred school (and made them preferred too early in the process) and in hindsight, I didn't give adequate consideration to my other offers. Have you had any interactions with the other potential school/advisor?
posted by sm1tten at 5:56 PM on March 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
During the decision-phase, I was promised an advisor who was to be joining from another institution, but ultimately didn't. There wasn't anyone available who was a good fit so I ended up just being assigned someone who had capacity and was in the same general area of study. But our conflict turned out to be that he couldn't be a good mentor because he really didn't care about what I cared about, and was turned off by the fact that I wouldn't just "switch" to something he did. He wasn't open to expanding his thinking. I wish I had asked if he was.
Also, because you mentioned other universities: I gave far too much weight to my preferred school (and made them preferred too early in the process) and in hindsight, I didn't give adequate consideration to my other offers. Have you had any interactions with the other potential school/advisor?
posted by sm1tten at 5:56 PM on March 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
What grouse said. You want to talk to previous students (more than one, hopefully).
And depending on your topic area, it might be worth considering what other profs in nearby research areas might work out. For most subjects, it's much easier to switch advisors at one university rather than having to switch universities. (How easy depends on the subject, the university, and the country you'll be in). But it's good to have a few backup options in mind. The least happy grad students I've known are the ones that go somewhere to work for a specific advisor (and no one else), and that relationship doesn't work out for whatever reason. The students who could be flexible and work with a different advisor fare ok or even very well.
posted by nat at 5:59 PM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
And depending on your topic area, it might be worth considering what other profs in nearby research areas might work out. For most subjects, it's much easier to switch advisors at one university rather than having to switch universities. (How easy depends on the subject, the university, and the country you'll be in). But it's good to have a few backup options in mind. The least happy grad students I've known are the ones that go somewhere to work for a specific advisor (and no one else), and that relationship doesn't work out for whatever reason. The students who could be flexible and work with a different advisor fare ok or even very well.
posted by nat at 5:59 PM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
What is her graduation rate like? What is time to graduation like?
How does she schedule meetings? How much time does she try to schedule meetings in advance? (My advisor loved to email me "hey, can you come by my office for a minute?" since I worked in the same building, and it was never good.)
Do you get funding for travel to conferences? Is conference travel expected?
How does she feel if you collaborate with other faculty or students on side projects? (Do you get a possessive vibe from her?)
I'll consider if I can think of anything else... but honestly, there's nothing I could have asked in my initial chats that would have screened for "this department is little batshit" (I worked in their building! And I didn't know! Some departments on my campus hide their wild better than others), "there's a lot of drama, I'm going to change my 'leadership style' every 6 months and publicly degrade students in meetings" etc (and that's what I'm willing to say in this fairly anon space). Advisor had only had a couple students previously, no one had graduated yet, and they were all international students whose visas depended on Advisor (no, I'm not exaggerating), so talking to current/former students was not useful. I'm not trying to scare you - you're trying to be thoughtful about things! - just saying, just do the best due diligence you can and make the best decision you can, but you can't always know until you're in the soup.
(Actually, the international students thing is a good yardstick. Advisor framed it as, Advisor enjoyed working with them, having been an immigrant herself, but Advisor held visas over people's heads.)
posted by joycehealy at 7:29 PM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
How does she schedule meetings? How much time does she try to schedule meetings in advance? (My advisor loved to email me "hey, can you come by my office for a minute?" since I worked in the same building, and it was never good.)
Do you get funding for travel to conferences? Is conference travel expected?
How does she feel if you collaborate with other faculty or students on side projects? (Do you get a possessive vibe from her?)
I'll consider if I can think of anything else... but honestly, there's nothing I could have asked in my initial chats that would have screened for "this department is little batshit" (I worked in their building! And I didn't know! Some departments on my campus hide their wild better than others), "there's a lot of drama, I'm going to change my 'leadership style' every 6 months and publicly degrade students in meetings" etc (and that's what I'm willing to say in this fairly anon space). Advisor had only had a couple students previously, no one had graduated yet, and they were all international students whose visas depended on Advisor (no, I'm not exaggerating), so talking to current/former students was not useful. I'm not trying to scare you - you're trying to be thoughtful about things! - just saying, just do the best due diligence you can and make the best decision you can, but you can't always know until you're in the soup.
(Actually, the international students thing is a good yardstick. Advisor framed it as, Advisor enjoyed working with them, having been an immigrant herself, but Advisor held visas over people's heads.)
posted by joycehealy at 7:29 PM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
Depends on what field you are in. Some of the suggestions you are getting here would make sense for STEM/lab field but not for humanities or "soft" social sciences. Here are things I suggest you ask:
1. How do you structure benchmarks for progress with your students?
2. How often do you generally meet with your students?
3. What is your mentoring style on the very hands-on/letting the student work independently and supporting when they ask spectrum? (phrase it however it makes sense for you to phrase it but that's the gist of what you might want to find out).
4. What kind of support to you offer students when they go on the job market?
There are other things you probably want to know -- does she publish with students (if field-appropriate)? Take them to conferences to present? But those would be questions better asked of her former advisees, and if you can get in contact with any of them, that would be a good source of information.
posted by virve at 8:34 PM on March 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
1. How do you structure benchmarks for progress with your students?
2. How often do you generally meet with your students?
3. What is your mentoring style on the very hands-on/letting the student work independently and supporting when they ask spectrum? (phrase it however it makes sense for you to phrase it but that's the gist of what you might want to find out).
4. What kind of support to you offer students when they go on the job market?
There are other things you probably want to know -- does she publish with students (if field-appropriate)? Take them to conferences to present? But those would be questions better asked of her former advisees, and if you can get in contact with any of them, that would be a good source of information.
posted by virve at 8:34 PM on March 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
In your situation I would think about where you would be able to obtain mentoring from that was not your advisor were you to accept the place on her program. She could be an excellent technical and professional advisor and you don’t want to miss out on that opportunity if you would otherwise be able to make things work.
As you said, you do not need to be best friends, but if she has a more professional detached demeanour you will likely benefit from more some warm, emotional sustenance at some stage during the program. You might need ad-hoc practical advice, someone to offload to, or championing from somewhere. (My Undergraduate Professor used to call this aspect “generic hand-holding” and was initial scathing about it but later in his career concluded that it is in fact very necessary for most PhD students and post-docs.) Do you know a more junior professor or recent graduate in your field (perhaps from her lab) who might be willing to work with you in a mentoring capacity whilst you studied under her? I do this sort of thing for assorted junior researchers and find it one of the unexpectedly most rewarding aspects of my career. (I am PhD plus ten years now(!); I went into industry after my PhD.)
posted by Erinaceus europaeus at 9:34 PM on March 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
As you said, you do not need to be best friends, but if she has a more professional detached demeanour you will likely benefit from more some warm, emotional sustenance at some stage during the program. You might need ad-hoc practical advice, someone to offload to, or championing from somewhere. (My Undergraduate Professor used to call this aspect “generic hand-holding” and was initial scathing about it but later in his career concluded that it is in fact very necessary for most PhD students and post-docs.) Do you know a more junior professor or recent graduate in your field (perhaps from her lab) who might be willing to work with you in a mentoring capacity whilst you studied under her? I do this sort of thing for assorted junior researchers and find it one of the unexpectedly most rewarding aspects of my career. (I am PhD plus ten years now(!); I went into industry after my PhD.)
posted by Erinaceus europaeus at 9:34 PM on March 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
Would you have the same concerns about insufficient warmth if the potential advisor were a man? Would they also outweigh the professionalism, motivation, determination to see you succeed, interest in you, established research record, endorsement by student they were on the committee on, etc. to the extent that you’d consider picking a different university that is less attractive to you?
posted by meijusa at 12:00 AM on March 30, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by meijusa at 12:00 AM on March 30, 2023 [6 favorites]
Questions for her current or (ideally) previous PhD advisees:
- Can you describe for me how she usually gives feedback on your work?
- How does she react/handle it when an advisee is struggling to make progress?
- Can you tell me about a time when you convinced her you were right?
- Which other professors is she most competitive with? Most allied with?
posted by Rhedyn at 2:32 AM on March 30, 2023 [2 favorites]
- Can you describe for me how she usually gives feedback on your work?
- How does she react/handle it when an advisee is struggling to make progress?
- Can you tell me about a time when you convinced her you were right?
- Which other professors is she most competitive with? Most allied with?
posted by Rhedyn at 2:32 AM on March 30, 2023 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: I realize I left out an important detail in my initial description of the situation: this professor hasn’t previously advised a PhD student (only master’s students), so quite a few of these answers, while very much appreciated, aren’t applicable. Sorry for leaving that out — I was trying to be concise and keep the identity of my prospective advisor a bit more veiled. I can ask about speaking to some of her master’s student advisees but there aren’t any former doctoral advisees to ask about.
posted by reren at 5:02 AM on March 30, 2023
posted by reren at 5:02 AM on March 30, 2023
offer from a different university, which is less attractive in terms of location
I get the temptation to think this way, but I would urge you to go to whichever program is more elite and with whichever advisor is the bigger 'name' if you are serious about wanting to have a career in academia.
I also agree that talking to students of this professor is your best bet - it's hard to really grasp what a professor will be like as an advisor from an introductory meeting. I'd also put a lot of weight on who your fellow students will be - yes, your advisor is important, but I found my peers to be just as important.
posted by coffeecat at 8:49 AM on March 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
I get the temptation to think this way, but I would urge you to go to whichever program is more elite and with whichever advisor is the bigger 'name' if you are serious about wanting to have a career in academia.
I also agree that talking to students of this professor is your best bet - it's hard to really grasp what a professor will be like as an advisor from an introductory meeting. I'd also put a lot of weight on who your fellow students will be - yes, your advisor is important, but I found my peers to be just as important.
posted by coffeecat at 8:49 AM on March 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
Do you want a career in industry or academia? What field are you in? Is there another potential advisor in the department if this one leaves or doesn't work out?
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 12:05 PM on March 30, 2023
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 12:05 PM on March 30, 2023
It is definitely still worth it to talk with master's students, particularly if any of them continued on to a PhD elsewhere. A master's advisory relationship is different than a PhD one for sure, but the supervisory style of a given advisor will be visible in either.
If your field has postdoctoral scholars, you might ask them as well; they can be particularly useful because they have the experience of more than one advisor so can tell you how this professor differs from their other experiences.
posted by nat at 12:08 PM on March 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
If your field has postdoctoral scholars, you might ask them as well; they can be particularly useful because they have the experience of more than one advisor so can tell you how this professor differs from their other experiences.
posted by nat at 12:08 PM on March 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
I hate behavioral interview questions as a job candidate, but I think they're great for a potential advisor or manager. Things like:
"Can you tell me about a time when a student or collaborator wasn't making as much progress as you expected, and how you handled it?"
"Can you tell me about a time when you got difficult feedback from someone you were teaching or mentoring?"
"Can you tell me about a time when you underestimated the amount of time it would take to (write a paper / run an experiment / etc.)?"
"What do you do when your student wants to pursue a project, and it's... just not very interesting?"
YMMV about whether the potential advisor finds this off-putting.
posted by cogitron at 1:45 PM on March 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
"Can you tell me about a time when a student or collaborator wasn't making as much progress as you expected, and how you handled it?"
"Can you tell me about a time when you got difficult feedback from someone you were teaching or mentoring?"
"Can you tell me about a time when you underestimated the amount of time it would take to (write a paper / run an experiment / etc.)?"
"What do you do when your student wants to pursue a project, and it's... just not very interesting?"
YMMV about whether the potential advisor finds this off-putting.
posted by cogitron at 1:45 PM on March 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
If she has never supervised a PhD student before I would be more wary than my previous post might suggest. I know someone who was their supervisor’s first student and the student did not have a great time (although the PhD itself was pretty successful). Specifically the supervisor stole the credit for the research from the student and I can imagine this could happen with an inexperienced supervisor who is determined to succeed in their own career.
Your prospective supervisor will be learning how to supervise at the same time as you are learning to be a researcher. It’s quite different supervising doctoral candidates to masters candidates. If she is unwilling to tackle this new-to-her situation with a learning mindset that would be the point at which you could face a sticky interpersonal situation. I would try to triangulate a bit more - what support will she have, will she be willing to access it, will you have a second supervisor or supervisory team who might dilute the effect of her inexperience?
If you get a much better gut feel from your other option I would weight the two up quite seriously - but bear in mind my perspective. I picked the interpersonal side of things and the project over working with a bigger “name” in my field and I’ve never regretted this choice. (But I know people who went for the big name whom they rarely saw in practise, and they did great too!)
Good luck, but do think carefully. A poor superviser-supervisee relationship looks miserable to me whereas I did have a lot of fun and am still in touch with my sup a decade later.
posted by Erinaceus europaeus at 11:33 PM on March 30, 2023
Your prospective supervisor will be learning how to supervise at the same time as you are learning to be a researcher. It’s quite different supervising doctoral candidates to masters candidates. If she is unwilling to tackle this new-to-her situation with a learning mindset that would be the point at which you could face a sticky interpersonal situation. I would try to triangulate a bit more - what support will she have, will she be willing to access it, will you have a second supervisor or supervisory team who might dilute the effect of her inexperience?
If you get a much better gut feel from your other option I would weight the two up quite seriously - but bear in mind my perspective. I picked the interpersonal side of things and the project over working with a bigger “name” in my field and I’ve never regretted this choice. (But I know people who went for the big name whom they rarely saw in practise, and they did great too!)
Good luck, but do think carefully. A poor superviser-supervisee relationship looks miserable to me whereas I did have a lot of fun and am still in touch with my sup a decade later.
posted by Erinaceus europaeus at 11:33 PM on March 30, 2023
"Can you tell me about a time when a student or collaborator wasn't making as much progress as you expected, and how you handled it?"
FYI I would be pretty put off by this question, not because I'm a bad advisor (I hope) but instead because it's asking me to compromise the privacy of a student (or collaborator).
Instead, this is exactly the sort of question I hope you would ask-- of my students. They can then choose themselves what to reveal.
And these are questions you can ask of former master's students too.
posted by nat at 12:40 PM on March 31, 2023
FYI I would be pretty put off by this question, not because I'm a bad advisor (I hope) but instead because it's asking me to compromise the privacy of a student (or collaborator).
Instead, this is exactly the sort of question I hope you would ask-- of my students. They can then choose themselves what to reveal.
And these are questions you can ask of former master's students too.
posted by nat at 12:40 PM on March 31, 2023
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Do you have this same uncertainty about the other program? If no, then try to pay attention to your gut impression and figure out why that is. If you haven't really thought about it, though, there might not be any reason to think things are better there.
posted by grouse at 5:45 PM on March 29, 2023 [10 favorites]