University vs PhD supervisor reputation [duplicate]

Question

Which one is more important when choosing a PhD: the reputation of the institution in which I do it or that of my supervisor?

I have two offers right now:

• Offer A's subject is fascinating to me, with a supervisor I know that's very respected in his field in a decent institution.
• Offer B's subject is quite interesting, but a bit less so than offer A's. The supervisor seems like a very competent assistant professor that switched to academia after a long time in industry, and the PhD would be in a Top 10 university in Europe. In addition, the salary is much better and it would be in a different country from my master's, which would add some more "international experience" to my CV.

I'm doubtful on whether the university would make a difference on my future academic carreer... Any insights that might help me choose?

Answer 1

Both of your options sound good. Something I would keep in mind for the choice is that a good university can help, but is no guarantee for an academic career. Similar with mobility- this is nice to have, but will be a lot less important than having a strong publication record (and can be achieved via visiting studentships). Related to the first question, in my field, in Europe, the reputation of the supervisor would probably carry more weight than the institution alone- but this is assuming that your well-respected, established supervisor can help you produce strong publications, support you in networking and bring you into fruitful collaborations. If you don't do well during your PhD, or decide that you don't care to continue in academia, these points are moot.

To summarise: if you think that you would more likely thrive in one position over the other- because the topic is more interesting, because you would work better with the supervisor, because the quality of life (location, salary etc) is better, ... - I would choose that one. This will come down to individual factors that you need to consider for your situation. I would optimise for doing well during your PhD, not trying to cover every possible side constraint.