I am a phd student in the US, and we have a slightly different model than UK. we dont come in the program with a mentor. So I am on the way to start my dissertation. They are two ppl in my department who can chair my dissertation. But i have some issues here.

Option A: is Assoc prof. She is somewhat well-known in her area, and publishes a lot. Her H-index is already 18 or smthng. When i came in the program, I was assigned to her as an RA. We are assigned as an RA for annual basis. and every year these assignments are revised if the need be. so after a year, i was assigned to somebody new in the department. He was an Asst prof who was recently hired. This reassignment made me think that she didnt want to continue working with me. Instead she selected another person M (my colleague) as her RA. i think she thinks M is much more brilliant. anyway, though i was disappointed, I didnt let it affect my morale.

in usa we are supposed to explore working with e one, and it is not necessary to restrict yrself to one faculty, so i tried to continue working with her as well as with the new faculty. During this time, she didnt show much interest in my projects. well maybe, she didnt see potential in them.

Option b: is a new hire. is an Asst prof. fresh out of PHD. he is from a good program. I hv been working with him for a yr. I like his style. he is v respectful , is organized, has a good network, and does not give u tough time.

I talked to few phd students and they r saying that i shld work with option B cause the chairs name matter when getting a job. also option b has no experience of charing a dissertation, some ppl are saying i shld treat him as a 6th yr phd student. he may delay my phd cz of lack of experience. howver, one of a v senior faculty in my department is encouraging me to work with option b.

what do you people suggest

option a: she has name, but she has shown no interest in me so far. i also feel that A is very particular abt who to support. Maybe i am biased, but i think she knows she is successful, therefore she thinks students shld prove to win her support and show potential. she will not give u time or support if she dznt see you as promising investment.
I asked her few months back if she will chair my dissertation, she said yes. But she dznt in general give me the same support as she gives to other student she likes. Maybe my she is not fond of my working style . For example, when i went to her for advice on committee members she said yea whoever i selected are fine. But later i found out, that she had told M to not have one of the faculty members that i also had on the committee. some students told me that she dznt generally recommend that faculty member to her studnets cz he gives lot of trouble in signing off dissertations. I was secretly disappointed that why didnt she guide me abt it. so there are several examples, where she does not guide me as an advisor shld. In my opinion, the reason is that she dznt see me as a promising

Seems people are slow in replying to your post! I'll start then. I think you should go with option B - altho I'd be wary about having a supervisor who hasn't supervised a PhD before, I think that's preferable to working with someone who's shown no interest in you or your work. Come to think of it, both these options are pretty grim - is there no-else with a bit more experience who could supervise you? You need someone who knows how to get students through a PhD, who has contacts and a good reputation etc etc, and who is also interested in your work - neither of these people seems to fit the bill. I'd approach some experts in your field and try and find someone else.

...and btw, you'll have to use consonants in your thesis, you know! ;-)

Sue you mean 'vowels' don't you as in dznt, bcs, abt and so on? :-)

It is quite difficult to offer advice as its obviously not quite the same in the UK, but I've often found that initial preceptions of this kind of situation are often the ones to go with. Therefore I would go with option B, but I would also check that they know what they are doing, For example, ask them what they know about any of the people you have chosen, and see if they can they find out what 'the word on the street' is about their approach or their particular likes and dislikes when it comes to looking at work presented to them. If they are doing their job, - and let's face it, someone who has enthusiasm for what you are doing is worth more than someone who is indifferent whatever their reputation is - then go with them. By the way, it might not be that the other people are better than you, it could be that this new person is considered the best for your studies, look upon it as a positive, not a negative! :-)

Sue and Joyce
Thank you
well, my department is very small, there are only three people in my field. one is retiring and is not interested in taking Phd student aboard, and two othres are A and B. i am stuck between devil and deep sea, i guess:p (i tried using vowels this time 8-)

I'd go with B then. Doing a PhD takes a long time, and you don't want a supervisor who isn't interested - makes for years of frustration. But could A be a co-supervisor? Then you'd get the best of both of them - a committed supervisor and a co-sup who has the experience, reputation etc. And since they've already said yes, it sounds like they could be amenable to being a co-sup. Don't know if it works like that in the U.S though...