======= Date Modified 13 Jan 2011 23:04:05 =======
I'm beginning to get to know each of my three supervisors now, and each leave me wondering what everyone else is going through with their supervisors?

Basically, I have one supervisor who is like a grandparent, one who just seems agitated any time you need to ask him anything, and another who seems like a friendly guy but isn't altogether that interested. I've got more details on them in my blog, www.indoctorate.co.uk, I just wanted to see how everyone else finds their supervisors.

Also, i am trying to find out how the system works. I.e, what does the supervisor get in return from taking on students? Is it purely a case of of them delegating work, or are there other benefits as well?

I wouldn't worry. At the start of my PhD, my supervisor spent very little time going over anything. I kept hearing about other people going out for beers and such with their supervisors, and i did get quite envious. But the more you get into it, the more they start to pay attention. Although, if after a year you're still finding it hard I would take a hard think as to what you want to do.

P.s that sounds awesome about your australian supervisor!!

Best is to select an established research group. Get a feedback from the old graduates of that group. It may not be a good idea to pick a new supervisor with you only research student.

Yeah that sounds like good advice. I chose my PhD because my initial supervisor was excellent, so helpful. But he is now going into retirement. He's in maybe one or two days a week now. So I've been handed to this new supervisor and apparently I am his first student. So I've no idea how he is going to turn out. I reckon he is probably getting a feel for it as well. I'm just hoping like emma says that it will get better as the days go on.

I've worked with a number of supervisors over the years, and now have my very first student. As long as you show enthusiasm and and a willingness to learn, your supervisor will respond to that. Although from speaking with some post docs, they often don't like having students, but feel they need to in order to further their career. That scenario is a hard one to work with.

My supervisor is more like your australian supervisor in your blog. So laid back, it's great! To be honest he was one of the reasons I went with the PhD I chose. I found going out for a beer with my supervisor broke the ice considerably. Have a few drinks, have a laugh. From then on in things will ease up ;-)

My first supervisor is really cool. We get along really well and she's good at explaining things. My academic supervisor on the other hand... don't go there! I'm not sure what they get out of it? Does anyone know? Possibly a good reputation? IF they get good results the I guess it should make it easier for the supervisors to get funding for different projects.

I had a supervisor who got agitated a lot. It made it hard because you always hesitated before asking him anything incase it is a stupid question. In the end, it gets to the stage where you don't ask anything. Not good :-(

Yeah, it gets to the stage where if he sees me at his door his face just drops now. I think he maybe forgets he has 40 years extra experience!

Oh that doesn't sound great. It sounds like just now he associates seeing you with questions, questions and more questions. Maybe if you just go to his office to have a chat about other things which you think might be of interest to him, he may start to respond better when you need help?

Emma definitely has a good point. At the beginning, my student would only ever come to my office with a question. When you are in the middle of a testing problem yourself, it can be quite stressful then trying to change your thoughts to another problem. However, now it is a lot better as my student will now wait till a few problems have developed and then arrange a meeting. In the mean time, my student often comes by my office to talk about conferences, and various other things not regarding the PhD. It's become a much better relationship all round really.

======= Date Modified 14 Jan 2011 15:15:22 =======
There is a really good thread regarding what to expect for all the different types of supervisors, http://bitesizebio.com/2010/07/19/picking-an-advisor-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/
it describes all the different types of advisor, from young to fully seasoned. It's quite a good read actually

Hey guys

I saw your comments and was wondering...does anyone of you discuss day to day things happening in your life with your suprvisor? I mean to keep it a bit informal/semi-formal and not just talk monotonously about your project whenever you see him/her? And is this semi formal relationship a boon or bane? My second question is whether a semi formal relationship is more easy if the supervisor is the same gender as the student?

AJ

Hey, I always go and have a natter with my supervisor. She usually comes round with an invitation to the coffee room :-) It's really good. Although I think we find it really easy because we are both in a science lab and annoyingly in my department there are very few girls. So in answer to your second question, I think it definitely helps having the same gender supervisor.

This is precisely what I did on my MSc and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I saw a range of supervisors before choosing mine, mainly because he seemed by far the most enthusiastic, focused and driven, and utterly determined to prove himself and establish his lab. I ended up getting a Distinction for the project module, making a few little breakthroughs and having lots of fun- to answer your question Ariajolie, we had a very informal relationship and it worked out really well. Jillybean- I'm female and never had any problems working with a male supervisor, as such it's not something I've given much thought. I think gender is largely irrelevant.

I'm applying for PhDs now and after my MSc experience I'd be inclined to go for a younger supervisor- the link Emma_nem posted covers many of the reasons why a new lab has its advantages, though I'd disagree that new supervisors tend to be disorganised, or poor managers. Mine was very efficient while some of the more senior PIs had begun living up to the absent-minded professor stereotype, as confirmed by their long-suffering PAs and technicians.



This is a very good question and something to ask yourself when choosing a supervisor. I saw a range of supervisors from new PIs to professors and I found myself asking this. Two of the professors gave me every impression that their attitude was "I've made it now, I don't need to take on students when I can afford to hire technicians, why should I have to teach at my age, and why should I have to put up with students getting under my feet and wasting my time?", while mine welcomed having an extra pair of hands and treated me as someone who could make a real contribution. In short he just seemed to have more respect for students, possibly because he could still remember what it was like to be a postgrad when the older PIs had forgotten.

In general I found the older and more established PIs to be more jaded and less respectful but there's no hard-and-fast rule here: I have also encountered jaded and lazy young PIs and sprightly enthusiastic older professors. The only way you can really judge a supervisor is to meet them and have a good long chat, so I'd recommend meeting as many as possible, and if you get to do lab rotations, even better, so make the most of it.

The only two rules I'd suggest are: 1. Do something you love, and 2. Choose someone you can work with. The first one seems obvious but I know a few people who chose projects for the wrong reasons and had a miserable time with them. The second is something people overlook surprisingly often and I nearly did myself. In my first meeting with my supervisor he came across as being really nice and having a nerdish enthusiasm, I thought "yes, I could work with this person" and fortunately I was right. I also considered another young PI who was a charismatic lecturer and really friendly and laid-back, until I discovered that his laid-back attitude extended to his lab, where he was hopelessly lazy and disorganised. A third potential supervisor was a professor with an international reputation, loads of funding and a big shiny new lab built for some exciting cutting-edge techniques. He'd been a good lecturer too but in our meeting he was unbelievably rude to me and I left his office thinking "That may be a fascinating project but we could never work together in a million years." Ask yourself "could I work with this person" because you could be in each others' pockets for the next few years.

======= Date Modified 15 Jan 2011 10:44:06 =======
======= Date Modified 14 Jan 2011 20:32:53 =======
Another point to add on having an older, more established supervisor. Although I've raved about mine, there is one downside (depending on your outlook) that he is not very keen on publishing until he has one big article covering everything. For him that is fine, but for someone looking to make their name I'm not sure how big an impact this will have.

Not that i'm saying I like the idea of publishing just for the sake of it, but I still think publishing when you have one set of results is better than waiting until until you have the full story. If not for the sake of myself, then incase somebody comes along before you and gets the credit before you.

There is quite a mix of genders at my lab, and from the looks of it, that doesn't seem to come into play too much.