3.4 Checklist: You Think You Found Your Supervisor?

Priority #1:

Is the professor objectively qualified to supervise my chosen area of research/topic?

What does it mean “is the professor objectively qualified to supervise my topic”? What should I be able to expect from my supervisor? Can she/he deliver on these expectations? How can I determine what a professor is objectively qualified for and what maybe not so much? How can recent publications and/or research projects of a professor help me in this determination?

Priority #2:

Is the professor genuinely willing to supervise me and my chosen area of research/topic?

What does it mean whether “the professor [is] willing”? How can I distinguish supervisors who want to work with me and those who have to because of institutional mandates or because they can’t say “no” (to me)?

Priority #3:

Is there the right “chemistry” for fruitful supervisor/researcher cooperation?

Without the right “chemistry”, excellence rarely happens. What does it mean “right chemistry”? How do I know when it is there and when it is not? What can I do, as the researcher, to facilitate the development of “chemistry”? Which mistakes do I need to avoid that can easily prevent the right chemistry from developing?

Priority #4:

Does the professor reply in a timely manner to my message and confirms the supervision?

This is usually a good test whether the supervisor is really willing and whether my project will take an appropriate place on her priority list. Don't be too hard, however. Sometimes an e-mail does get buried in the inbox and overlooked or delayed. If it happens every time, however, then the professor is either really poorly organized or just not that into me and my project.