Choose Your PhD Advisor Wisely: Everything Explained

I explain how to choose a PhD advisor correctly and avoid bad supervisors. I also cover mentorship and why it's important, the role of publications and background of the potential supervisor. Finally, I provide an extensive list of questions that students can ask their potential advisors when they want to evaluate the fit (for each question, I give some explanation as to what to expect and look for). This episode is especially relevant to STEM students aspiring to pursue a PhD. Follow Dr. Andrew Akbashev: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-akbashev/ X: https://x.com/Andrew_Akbashev Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrew.akbashev/ Website: andrewakbashev.com 00:00 Intro Part 1 - The big picture: 02:16 - General considerations 02:46 - What is a PhD and why advisors are so important 04:44 - Importance of mentorship 06:19 - Why good advisors are not easy to find Part 2 - How to choose an advisor: 07:59 - Research topic 13:45 - Supervision vs Working Alone 15:18 - Mentorship 18:45 - Publications 23:43 - Personality of a PhD advisor Part 3 - What to ask your advisor: 27:32 - Interviewing your potential PhD advisor 28:26 - How do you supervise research? 28:49 - How do you mentor students? 29:10 - What is the role of students in collaborations? 30:34 - How do your students develop independence? 31:57 - How many conferences your students attend? 33:39 - How do you prepare publications? 35:17 - Will you be at this place for the next 5 years? 35:45 - What is an ideal PhD student for you? 39:04 - How do you see your lab development? 39:29 - What is the teaching load? 39:51 - What resources will be available to me? 40:36 - Will the budget be available for the entire PhD? 41:50 - What is the expected workload? 42:57 - Tweak your questions to your needs. Part 4 - More tips on finding the right fit: 43:06 - Extra steps to check for red flags 43:20 - Talk to the current students & postdocs 46:57 - Talk to alumni 48:59 - Talk to students from neighboring groups 49:42 - End