Hacking Academia
An ever-growing series of tutorials (with detailed notes) filled with practical, experience-driven tips and tricks for being effective, happy and successful in modern day academia and related careers.
Hacking Academia
Finding the Right PhD Supervisor For You
Finding 🔎 a great #PhD supervisor is just as much about finding the *right* PhD supervisor for *you*, given your interests, working style and support requirements.
The right supervisor fit for you could be completely different to the right supervisor fit for someone else.
In this video I go through some of the key concepts 💡 you should keep in mind when searching for a PhD supervisor, from the mundane but important, like their meeting frequency preferences, to the environmental, like the other PhD students and postdocs in their group.
🙏 Please reshare if of interest to you, your colleagues, friends and/or family!
Complete topic list and timestamps:
📌 (0:00) Finding the Right PhD Supervisor For You
📌 (0:11) An Investment That Will Pay Off Many Times Over
📌 (0:25) A Personal Choice Based On You as an Individual
📌 (0:45) Your Ideal Supervisor Can Be Different to Others
📌 (0:53) Don’t Overthink It
📌 (1:18) A Supervisor Who Mostly Matches Expectations
📌 (1:38) Technical Mastery In Your Research Area
📌 (2:07) Technical Mastery Has Multiple Components
📌 (2:40) Any Mastery Can Be Helpful
📌 (2:52) Many Supervisors Aren’t Technical Masters
📌 (3:07) Other Attributes Become Especially Important
📌 (3:17) Experienced and Inexperienced Supervisors
📌 (3:46) Hands On Versus Hands Off Supervisory Style
📌 (4:09) Can They Step In When Things Get Tough?
📌 (4:43) Know Your Preferred Supervisory Style
📌 (5:03) Some Alignment in Professional Beliefs Helps
📌 (5:39) Logistics: Meeting Frequency, Disruptions
📌 (6:15) Organizational Capability
📌 (7:04) Due Diligence On You is a Good Sign
📌 (7:52) Technical Mastery Can Be Achieved Quickly
📌 (8:12) Soft Skills Take Longer for Supervisors to Master
📌 (8:46) Can They Give You The Support You Need?
📌 (9:41) The Associate / Secondary Supervisor Can Be Vital
📌 (10:42) You May Learn More from Lab PhDs and Postdocs
📌 (11:23) The Broader Environment Counts Too
📌 (11:34) Talk to Past PhDs and Postdocs
📌 (11:51) Talk to PhDs Who’ve Dropped Out
📌 (12:09) Assess the Financial Health of the Lab
📌 (12:48) A Well-Funded Lab Provides Extra Opportunities
📌 (13:07) A Connected Supervisor Provides Opportunities
📌 (14:01) Supervisor Connectivity Vital When Isolated
📌 (14:25) Not Everything is Within Your Control
📌 (15:26) A Great Supervisor is a Great Start to Your Career