Welcome to the “What’s the PhDeal” podcast; the podcast where we attempt to demystify the scientific PhD process. The "we" are four STEM PhD scientists from disparate backgrounds and degree routes that want to help: 1) folks going through the rigors of pursuing a PhD, 2) folks thinking about getting a PhD or even 3) people just curious about what it’s all about! You can check out the website associated with us at RealPhDeal.com and we would love it if you email us at our group email: phdealmail@gmail.com.
Episodes
Sunday Apr 05, 2020
How to Choose an Advisor?
Sunday Apr 05, 2020
Sunday Apr 05, 2020
Your intrepid hosts are four PhD scientists that have gotten their PhDs in different scientific fields and schools; and all come from varied and disparate backgrounds to get different points of view in order to best bring you “the real PhDeal”. Your hosts are Dr. Luis (Lou) Estevez - PhD in Materials Science and Engineering (Cornell University), Elizabeth Kautz - PhD in Materials Engineering (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), Elias Nakouzi - PhD in Physical Chemistry (Florida State University), and Rajan Patel - PhD in Chemical Engineering (Missouri University of Science & Technology).
Join us each week (new podcasts drop Monday) as we try our best to handle various topics involved in pursuing a STEM PhD and try and give our best advice, stories, strategies and mutual commiseration of choosing this career path
Please subscribe to the podcast and check out our associated website:
Also feel free to send an email and let us know what you liked or didn’t—or if you have any questions or potential show topics at:
All the music in our episodes is done by Luis Estevez.
- Topic: “How to choose your school, your department, and your Advisor for your PhD?”
- Which of the three do you think is most important?
- What type of research should you do on these before you choose?
- Choosing an advisor: New Assistant Professor Vs. Well-established Tenured Professor
- Hands-off Vs. Hand-on types; post doc heavy vs students/undergrads heavy - Individual stories and advice about the panel’s path to their advisor and research group
- How to gauge an advisor and their research group for the non-science stuff (talk with current students, etc.)
- What happens if you and your advisor don’t get along?
- Choosing your school:
- Small school Vs. big school—will facilities play a role?
- Go to visitation weekend
- What’s the town like? This could be a chance to check out a town for a 5ish years
- What’s the cost of living? Can you actually buy a house for 5 years? Finding roommates?
- Choosing your Department:
- Can you survive in a department that wasn’t your major as an undergrad? Can you thrive?
- Unique systems of various schools
- There can be a lot fuzziness and overlap within certain departments—especially multi-disciplinary ones like materials science
- Alternate tips from the panel like having a “back-up advisor” once you choose your school/department
- An Advisor “Aunt/Uncle” can be a valuable resource if you can find one
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