A student would do well to listen carefully to the responses, as a senior faculty member is unlikely to torch another faculty member Selleckchem PLX 4720 (after all, they have to work with

them for the rest of their careers) but might make gentle comments meant to steer you away from one candidate in favor of others. Doing all this research to select a good advisor may seem over the top, but as selecting a good advisor is one of the most important factors in determining whether you will be successful in your career, I think it goes without saying that you should carefully research what lab you will train in at least as thoroughly as you research what cell phone or car to buy (or in my case what espresso machine). Selecting an advisor based on scientific abilities alone is not sufficient. Having narrowed your list of potential advisors to those that are HA-1077 cost good scientists, next you must determine which are also good mentors. One of the most important tasks of an advisor is to help his or her student to formulate a good and tractable question and then to gently guide a student

to formulate good experiments to address this question while encouraging the student to be increasingly independent over time. A good mentor does not put his student on a scientifically trivial question. If a student does not address an important question and take it a step forward during their thesis or fellowship years, they will not have the confidence that they can do this in their own lab, and likely they never will. Good Fossariinae mentors spend enormous amounts of time with each of their students discussing science, how to design good experiments and interpret and analyze data, how to write research papers and grants, how to review papers for journals, practicing talks, and providing career

guidance. They also allow and encourage their trainees to take time away from their research to do other activities that will enhance their training such as TAing graduate courses, attending conferences, and taking special summer courses. Sometimes trainees will need some time away from lab for parental leave. A good mentor will be supportive of this for male as well as female trainees; a few months away are irrelevant in the lifetime of a typical multiyear project. So how can a student tell whether a prospective advisor is a good mentor? First, talk with some of his or her current and previous trainees. Ask them whether this faculty member is a good mentor in terms of spending sufficient time with each student. Ask these trainees whether they enjoyed being in that lab, and especially whether there is a team spirit in the lab, with everyone helping each other rather than being pitted against each other.