Self-Reflection Guide: Picking a PhD Advisor

Picking a PhD advisor is an extremely important and personal decision. Advisors can truly “make” or “break” your PhD experience. Take your time to carefully select the right PhD advisor for you. Your advisor should satisfy most, if not all, of your preferences for mentorship style as well as the lifestyle that you want to lead.

If you are uncertain about what factors you should consider when selecting a PhD advisor, here are 20 questions to guide your own self-reflection. As you reflect upon your (and others’) experiences with the potential advisor and their research group (e.g., individual and group meetings, rotations), I encourage you to follow these steps:

1. Answer each question as the PhD student who would be mentored by the advisor.
2. Rate each question’s importance to you as a researcher in training:
   • 4 = “This is a deal breaker.”
   • 3 = “This is a minor inconvenience, but I can make it work.”
   • 2 = “This would be nice, but I could live without it.”
   • 1 = “This is completely irrelevant to me.”
3. Answer each question about the candidate advisor as honestly and thoroughly as possible.
   • Do not hesitate to follow up with the advisor or any lab member/alumnus if you need more information!
   • Keep in mind that advisors may tailor their mentorship styles according to the specific trainee’s preferences, so try to hear from as many perspectives as possible (e.g., junior and senior PhD students, postdocs, recent alumni, PhD rotation students who did not join the lab, PhD program chairs).
4. How well do your preferences align with the advisor’s, especially for the questions that have an importance score of 2, 3, or 4? Consider bringing in a trusted friend to hear a (hopefully) less biased perspective.

There is not necessarily a “right” answer for any of these questions. Each individual has their own preferences. If you are unsure about how to weigh certain factors, reach out to the PhD students who have already picked a lab, other PhD students from your program, postdocs whom you trust, etc! As you meet and/or rotate with more professors, your preferences may change. Try to keep an open mind while staying true to yourself!

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Communication

1. At what cadence and for how long does the advisor meet with their PhD students?
2. How do the PhD students communicate with the advisor outside of their regular meetings (e.g., directly via email/Slack/Teams/etc, indirectly via their administrative assistant)?
3. What is the structure of a typical meeting between the PhD student and the advisor (e.g., allows the student to steer the meeting, controls the agenda, distracts the discussion by going off on tangents)?
4. How does the advisor prepare for discussions about the project (e.g., needs constant reminders about previous and ongoing analyses, proactively ponders about the student’s project outside of meetings)?

Research Skills

5. How are research projects defined (e.g., assigned by the advisor, independently developed by the PhD student without the advisor’s contribution, collaboratively developed by the advisor and PhD student)?
6. How involved is the advisor in the projects (e.g., micromanagement, hands-on involvement while encouraging independence and exploration, big-picture development, absent)?
7. How does the advisor provide feedback on projects (e.g., constructive, destructive)?
8. To what extent does the advisor provide feedback on PhD students’ manuscripts, research proposals and progress reports for thesis committee meetings, oral and poster presentations, fellowship applications, etc?

Advocacy

9. How does the advisor determine authorship and resolve conflicts (e.g., prioritizes authors’ seniority, objectively considers the impact of authors’ contributions, prioritizes maintaining a relationship with collaborators)? This question is extensible to any kind of disagreement between lab members, with collaborators, etc.
10. How does the advisor present trainees’ projects (e.g., mentions the authors who led the analysis)?
11. To what extent does the advisor recommend trainees for opportunities (e.g., relays information to trainees, personally writes letters of recommendations, asks trainees to write letters of recommendation on their behalf, proactively introduces trainees to their professional network)?
12. To what extent do the lab members and alumni vouch for the advisor’s ability to mentor trainees?

Career Development

13. What is the average length of PhDs in the lab, and to what extent does the advisor affect the student’s timeline (e.g., hinders progress, sets inconsistent or unreasonable expectations, provides support and removes blockers)?
14. To what extent (and how regularly) does the advisor discuss potential career trajectories with the PhD student?
15. Among the PhD students who did an internship (or wanted to do an internship but was unable to): What role did the advisor play in the process (e.g., supportive, reluctant, obstructive)?
16. Where are the lab’s alumni (e.g., continuing to do research, pursuing a different career trajectory)?

Lab Culture

17. To what extent does the advisor cultivate a collaborative environment among the lab members?
18. At what cadence and for how long do all members of the lab, including the advisor, meet (e.g., research update meetings, journal club discussions, social activities)?
19. What is the atmosphere among the lab members during lab-wide meetings? (e.g., What is the mindset of a lab member when giving or receiving feedback? Do lab members seem open or reluctant to share their ideas? Are there any uncomfortable power dynamics?)
20. What is the role of the advisor during lab-wide meetings? (e.g., Is the advisor engaged when a lab member is speaking? When a lab member is sharing research updates, does the advisor offer insights and feedback, dominate the discussion by interrupting the presenter, create tension, etc?)

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There are many considerations about picking a PhD advisor that are not covered by these 20 questions (e.g., funding and resources, research alignment, conflict resolution, inclusive practices). Please do not hesitate to reach out about questions you would add to this self-reflection guide or topics that you would like me to discuss in future posts!