Questions related to an academic advisor, one who helps students to select courses or an academic major, and engaging in short term and long term educational planning, including assistance to prepare the work/thesis job necessary to obtain the degree.
19
votes
5answers
489 views
Does it amount to plagiarism by supervisors?
I have been working on an idea for last 2 years almost independently along with other research works. Recently, I am getting encouraging results with a lot of success to solve a complex problem using ...
18
votes
6answers
1k views
When should a student attempt unsupervised research?
I just finished my masters and am currently working as a research assistant before starting a PhD in applied mathematics. I was doing some preliminary work for a possible project and derived some ...
1
vote
0answers
197 views
Why so much pressure? [closed]
I am facing at this momment a difficult decision: should I follow my original plan and use all the subjects I spent time learning or should I grab the "safe option".
The safe option: I have already a ...
8
votes
3answers
294 views
Can I successfully adapt to an advisor who will not push me to work?
I am currently a first-year graduate student, now in the process of figuring out who I'd like to have as my thesis advisor. Of course, compatibility of research interests is quite important, but ...
-8
votes
1answer
97 views
Site listing possible topics for theses [closed]
I want a site listing research topics one can do his research in. It is first theses topics, but not only (any research topics).
AFAIK, such site does not exists. If such one exists, please tell me.
...
21
votes
5answers
838 views
How to tell my advisor I don't want to stay in academia
I don't want to stay in academia after finishing my PhD. My current research field is not exciting to me anymore, but also I am too old to change fields. Although my research and my interest were so ...
5
votes
1answer
182 views
Advisor-student meeting patterns in very high-end theoretical research
This is related to my previous question: “What is the optimal number of times one should meet one's PhD. advisor?”
I want to know of specific details of advisor-student meetings, frequencies, ...
1
vote
1answer
110 views
Can you sign more than 1 Master Promissory Note Concurrently?
I am in the process of choosing a Master's program. I have been approved for one program, but I'm still waiting to hear back from two other schools. The school that approved me said that they need ...
10
votes
2answers
213 views
PI coauthorship on previous papers
I independently wrote a number of math articles, and published some of them in refereed journals. I wrote the draft of the thesis, and contacted a Prof., and started a PhD program under his ...
21
votes
4answers
438 views
What should advisors do if one of their PhD students has to withdraw?
Unfortunately, there are circumstances when not everything goes right in a student's PhD career, or there can be personal circumstances that require doctoral candidates to withdraw from a PhD program ...
12
votes
2answers
281 views
What is the optimal number of times one should meet one's PhD. advisor?
I see sad students who meet may be once in a month and they complaint of not having enough progress. I have seen systems where the prof meets almost every few hours on weekdays and the prof is ...
8
votes
3answers
270 views
Article-based PhD and advisor's (new) role?
My engineering university offers a relatively new option to do an article-based dissertation, where the primary research is submitted (and hopefully published) in several scientific journals (at my ...
7
votes
2answers
135 views
PhD Research under guide/advisor of a different department
I am a physics undergrad, who is also interested in pure mathematics. I am not very sure what I want to pursue for my PhD. Though I have specific interests in each of the two, and also inter-linked ...
13
votes
7answers
1k views
Very demanding adviser
I have an adviser who wants to know every minor details of my work and spend countless amount of time arguing with me over insignificant things. Basically, she tries to control everything I do, from ...
35
votes
8answers
1k views
What questions should one ask to the former/current students of a professor before deciding whether to do PhD under him/her?
Before deciding to do one's PhD under a certain professor, what questions should one ask of his/her former and current students?
Many students (including me) are not sure what exactly to ask. May be ...
5
votes
3answers
312 views
Not enough guidance from advisor
I'm a third year PhD student. I'm not getting much guidance from my adviser. We only meet once a month, and he keeps giving the same general advice. As a consequence of that, we have had to cancel one ...
11
votes
1answer
319 views
Unable to defend and graduate because of advisers fickle mentality
I am an international student at a US university and I have a fantastic, caring and supportive adviser who I find fosters a happy work environment for all his students to grow in.
Here's the drawback ...
10
votes
4answers
559 views
Letters of recommendation: what information to give to a recommender
The head of our department is writing a letter of recommendation for me for MD-PhD (MSTP) programs. I have two graduate level classes with him. He is very busy and writes letters regularly for ...
11
votes
2answers
376 views
Advisor getting married, should grad students chip in for gift?
Our advisor is getting married over winter break. None of us are super close to him and the wedding is going to be a very private event that none of us are invited to.
Should all of us (his graduate ...
5
votes
4answers
1k views
How to find the h-index of a professor?
I am an Computer Science undergraduate student and I am looking for my potential mentor for my PhD study. I guess besides research interest, personality etc., h-index is an important factor one should ...
13
votes
4answers
283 views
Handling credit with advisor
Some background information: I am a junior PhD student in electrical engineering and I need ideas about how to handle my mentor. Whenever I go to her with an idea she rejects it saying it is wrong or ...
12
votes
4answers
1k views
Prospective PhD contacts potential supervisor but receives no answer after 2-3 emails, what to do?
Say a prospective PhD has a high reply rate (90-95%) to first contact emails with potential superviors. He/She has a well thought out e-mail, but a particular professor (here: USA) that is in the top ...
20
votes
3answers
186 views
How can I prepare myself to advise students for jobs outside of academia?
The consensus on academic jobs seems to be that we are sending far too many students to graduate school to train for jobs that will not be there when they graduate. Despite this, most of my ...
4
votes
2answers
198 views
Any risks down the line choosing maths vs. stats PhD programme?
It seems funding for a PhD (at least in the UK) is a lot easier to get for a PhD in statistics rather then maths. Provided one can find a supervisor who has the background and research interestes that ...
5
votes
2answers
223 views
Changing Interests After Getting Accepted for PhD
I have brought some trouble onto myself I know, but what can be done by someone in my situation.
I applied and got accepted for a PhD program in Computer Science. I automatically assumed that I ...
13
votes
5answers
292 views
Why would one choose a particular advisor, other than having shared interests?
I'm applying to a graduate program, and one of the application's requirements is to select at least one advisor, along with a reason for the selection. Specifically, this is the requirement:
In ...
17
votes
3answers
435 views
How to encourage students to work more carefully and independently?
One of the challenges of advising students is working with students whose "quality control" expectations do not agree with that of the advisor. When such mismatches occur, how do we encourage them to ...
8
votes
2answers
268 views
Is seeking co-advising encouraged during Ph.D?
I'm an undergraduate student about to apply for a Ph.D program this year. I am interested in knowing whether seeking co-advising from a related, but different department (in my case I'm applying for ...
27
votes
3answers
711 views
What are some options for a graduate student abandoned by Ph. D advisor?
I'm currently doing a PhD in applied mathematics, I'm about to start my final year. The problem that I've been working on for the last 2 years was originally proposed by my advisor and one of his ...
1
vote
0answers
78 views
Pros and cons to having two advisors [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What are the advantages and disadvantages of having multiple advisers?
What are the advantages to having a single advisor vs having two co-advisors?
17
votes
6answers
661 views
Should my advisor know if I am auditing unrelated courses?
Question : Should my advisor know if I am auditing unrelated courses?
Motivation : I am a PhD student in Computer Science and at times, I wish to audit courses which are not at all related to my ...
14
votes
1answer
224 views
Choosing and training (admitted) PhD students for research
What do you expect from a PhD student before being an advisor for him? I mean do you expect from him to fully understand your papers and to be able to contribute your research from the first day or ...
12
votes
4answers
374 views
How can I encourage my advisor to adopt better work practices?
I'm a second year PhD student. In general I love my advisor, but recently we've run into some small bumps in the road while working on a paper together. He's controlling the "master" copy and I send ...
13
votes
3answers
399 views
From whom do I get references when my original advisor leaves academia?
This is similar to a previously asked question, but deals specifically with addressing the problem on the CV. My adviser had a bit of a personal meltdown and left the department while I was finishing ...
12
votes
4answers
1k views
How to deal with constant pressure given by advisor
I am a third-year PhD student in mathematics from a very reputed institute in my country. I have one problem to share and discuss that is related with my guide. He is a senior professor in our ...
5
votes
1answer
137 views
Procedure for having multiple advisors for a PhD thesis
Assume that one has begun a PhD program at a university which allows a student to choose an advisor after his/her first year in the program and the student has narrowed down to a couple of potential ...
6
votes
2answers
218 views
Appropriate time for contacting professors after PhD enrolment
Assume that one has begun a PhD program at a university which allows a student to choose an advisor after his/her first year in the program and the student has narrowed down to a couple of potential ...
10
votes
1answer
412 views
Etiquette for an initial meeting with a prospective advisor: What is expected of the student?
Assuming that one has begun a PhD program at a university which allows a student to choose an advisor after his/her first year in the program and the student has narrowed down on a couple of potential ...
10
votes
2answers
221 views
Etiquette for discussing authorships, expectations, etc. with potential advisors
Assuming that one has begun a PhD program at a university which allows a student to choose an advisor after his/her first year in the program and the student has narrowed down on a couple of potential ...
12
votes
3answers
297 views
Etiquette for establishing contact with multiple professors for PhD guidance
Assuming that one has begun a PhD program at a university which allows a student to choose an advisor after his/her first year in the program and the student has narrowed down to a couple of potential ...
10
votes
2answers
858 views
Incompatibility with the PhD advisor
My PhD advisor liked me during the exams. Then, when I came with the thesis I wrote, he got very angry, maybe because I did not do what he suggested, maybe because what I did is not quite in his ...
16
votes
1answer
533 views
PhD to be advised by Mr. Enfant Terrible?
I have been admitted to a generally well-regarded Computer Science PhD program.
My potential advisor's research interests match very well with mine. However, he appears to be an extremely ...
16
votes
3answers
451 views
Guidelines to follow if my adviser suggests that I work on dead-end projects
I generally chase after whatever my adviser/supervisor tells me to do, although I know that it's sometimes a project that they don't want to spend their time on. I know that I can learn a lot even ...
9
votes
3answers
3k views
Ph.D. adviser or Ph.D. advisor?
I think I have seen it spelled both ways.
Is one spelling more common or formal than the other ? (e.g. in the U.S.)
8
votes
2answers
225 views
Prospect of pro-bono/voluntary work with current advisor after graduating with PHD
As an international student in the united states, I am legally allowed to work for 12 months, extendable to 29months for STEM fields, after graduating with my PhD (or masters degree for that matter) ...
28
votes
3answers
1k views
How to cope when PhD advisor quits midway
How does a PhD student come to grips with the situation when his/her advisor quits midway?
What should be the student's considerations when the professor offers him a choice to move along with him? ...
7
votes
2answers
163 views
Etiquette to take external help
Assume that the student (during his PhD) is faced with a problem which he and his advisor are both completely new to; The advisor is trying to help the student but owing to his lack of ...
24
votes
1answer
406 views
Posthumous Publication
One of my advisors suddenly passed away while I was in graduate school. We had some discussions and ideas about future publications, but he passed away before any of the work was completed. When the ...
32
votes
4answers
2k views
How to handle not having my PhD advisor as a reference?
I received my PhD in 2009 and my adviser will not provide a good recommendation for me. This is mostly because we have fundamentally different approaches to science, and in retrospect I see that I ...
7
votes
4answers
207 views
How to fruitfully utilize faculty-student orientation sessions at institutes you don't want to attend?
More than once, I have had (graduate school admissions) orientation sessions where the faculty of the institute introduce their fields, their research and what they expect from potential students ...
