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Undecided of which supervisor to choose

E

Dear all,
I've been reading a lot of postgrad forum but it makes me feel more overwhelmed and worried.

I got a potential supervisor from Oxford with a topic that is very new to me so I don't know if I'll like it. The supervisor said that the case is common among his students. His students said that the supervisor organise a lot of meetings to increase understanding about this field. The reason I choose this topic is because the place where I'm going to work (abroad) need a person with new expertise. I've never met him so I don't know about his personality.

I'm considering to approach 2 other supervisors from my previous uni in London (very good uni just below Oxford) because I'm also undecided between the two. One of them is very busy & famous prof. His field is very interesting for me and I really want to work with him. But the field is very common so it's not very impressive and the fact that he is super busy might be a problem for me (his student said that she is still able to meet the supervisor). The other person is in the same department and quite similar field, but he is younger (very young and new academic) and I believe he has much more time. I've met them before but I'm not very sure if my personality matches theirs. Since I had my master in London, I really love this place and Oxford might feel a bit dull.

Funding might not be a problem anywhere since I'm going to use scholarship from a third party but I have to finish it within 4 years.

Anyone has any thought about it? Thank you in advance.

H

Quote From EastWest:
Dear all,
I've been reading a lot of postgrad forum but it makes me feel more overwhelmed and worried.

I got a potential supervisor from Oxford with a topic that is very new to me so I don't know if I'll like it. The supervisor said that the case is common among his students. His students said that the supervisor organise a lot of meetings to increase understanding about this field. The reason I choose this topic is because the place where I'm going to work (abroad) need a person with new expertise. I've never met him so I don't know about his personality.

I'm considering to approach 2 other supervisors from my previous uni in London (very good uni just below Oxford) because I'm also undecided between the two. One of them is very busy & famous prof. His field is very interesting for me and I really want to work with him. But the field is very common so it's not very impressive and the fact that he is super busy might be a problem for me (his student said that she is still able to meet the supervisor). The other person is in the same department and quite similar field, but he is younger (very young and new academic) and I believe he has much more time. I've met them before but I'm not very sure if my personality matches theirs. Since I had my master in London, I really love this place and Oxford might feel a bit dull.

Funding might not be a problem anywhere since I'm going to use scholarship from a third party but I have to finish it within 4 years.

Anyone has any thought about it? Thank you in advance.


Gosh this is a difficult question.

I would say go with the one that has expertise in the area of your PhD AND has time to supervise you and give you support.

But honestly I'd be tempted by Oxford, just because its Oxford :-|

Having said that, already having expertise and knowledge in the PhD topic is a huge huge benefit.

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