

Advice for preparing to apply and actually applying to science Ph.D. programs - px
http://www.stanford.edu/~pgbovine/grad-school-app-tips.htm

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_delirium
I think this is good advice for some programs and professors, but not
necessarily all. Some professors really are looking mainly for hardworking,
competent research assistants, and all professors do want students who will
produce research. But there's a large gradient from professors who emphasize
the "student is an _assistant_ " part, to professors who emphasize the "I am
an _advisor_ " part, and I think that's where the job analogy isn't always
good.

Some professors have a huge, grant-funded project with deliverables already
looming 3 years out, and they really are looking for something like employees.
But some professors are looking primarily to mentor students who are capable
of mostly-independent research, and in that case, things of the well-
roundedness variety play some role, and your proposal of what exactly it is
you want to do plays a big role as well (do you sound like you have an idea
for a project, and will be able to pursue it, or are you waiting to be
assigned one?). One heuristic is that professors who run large "labs" tend to
want more employees, while professors who have 2-3 students want more
independent researchers (often such professors are senior, and have their time
taken up by all sorts of things that leads to them not having time to manage
employee-type students).

Disclaimer: This might apply more to CS than to the natural sciences, due to
the relatively lower cost of independent research in CS (your advisor usually
doesn't have to buy you much in the way of equipment or experimental
materials). Postdoc positions are also less mandatory in CS, so a bigger
emphasis is placed on getting students who will be able to be independent,
prof-position-worthy researchers within 4-6 years, since placing students in
professorships brings prestige to the advisor. There's still definitely
incentives tilting towards profs wanting employees, but there are also
incentives for wanting to have proteges, since often that's how you really put
your stamp on a field.

~~~
sz
What kind of background are you speaking from? I see you do applied AI
research, in what capacity?

~~~
_delirium
6th-year CS PhD student finishing up, so mostly my experiences as a PhD
student / my fellow students.

