Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
When visiting a campus, it is important to realize that we are interviewing each
professor just as they are interviewing us. We want to be able to sell our abilities to
each professor we meet, but we should be careful in conveying a consistent mes-
sage. Professors talk to each other and swap stories about students and their
approaches. It is also a good idea to talk to some current students in that program to
learn more about the faculty. Professors have reputations, some good and some bad.
I've known professors who are almost impossible to please, others who are easy to
work with but are not particularly good at placing their graduates, and then there are
those who push their students hard but the end result is more than worth the extra
effort. Never base a decision on one person's opinion.
Sometimes the websites are not keeping up with the latest information, and
research interests may have changed. When finding a major professor, we will be
working on a current or new project in that lab, usually one that has been funded on
a grant. If lucky, we may be given a choice between two or more projects. Likely we
will be assigned a project. Before finalizing a bargain with a professor, we should
make sure that it is a topic that really interests us. That topic will be a focal point in
our life for the next few years. If it does not excite us now when it is fresh and placed
in its best light, it will be difficult to maintain interest when immersed in it.
The Major Professor
Major professors are the basis of the graduate mentorship model. It is much like becom-
ing a skilled apprentice to a master developed in medieval times. Major professors oper-
ate under their own specific thought styles which will become a basis of our own personal
thought style. Major professors provide a ready-made network for help in graduate
research, when searching for a job after graduation, and in starting a career. Within this
network, for good or ill, we will always be known as Professor X's former student. In
some labs, with only a few graduate students and no postdocs, we may have daily access
to our major professor. In other labs, we may need to consult with one or more layers of
bureaucracy before being able to communicate with our major professor. Regardless, the
thought style of the major professor undergirds everything that happens in the lab.
RULE # 1
The major professor is always right.
Those who don't believe that major professors are always right need to read the
preceding paragraph over and over again until they get it! Thus, whenever this topic
contradicts a major professor, the topic is wrong and the major professor is right!
When starting research, we will need to establish a relationship with our major
professor. Take a cue from the other students in the lab and carefully observe the pro-
tocol in the lab. Some professors have an open-door policy making them available to
students at all times they are in the office. Others even make their cell-phone number
