_returningjour

Thanks for replying PokePsych and Sigaba, To answer some questions, 1. My advisor told me in the last meeting that he has 3 types of funding, which I will be receiving as an independent or in combination. a) RA b) TA c) joint co-advisor scheme with larger and more famous lab prof in the new university I haven't actually gotten details about the new univ. admission as the final hiring process is being delayed due to COVID and other administrative things.. I think verbal offer is made and accepted but the paperwork is taking time. So this transition is not 100% official as of yet (maybe 90%..). 2. Honestly, I feel like I don't belong here in Asia, particularly because I am a US citizen living in foreign country with a VISA, educated in the states and worked mostly in the states. So going back to US is also quite exciting aside from all the tedious admission process to go through.. Plus, I still have my address and tax record in the state that the new university (it is a state univ.) is located at, so I believe I can reinstate my residency status to cut down my tuition for the worst case of self-funding. Back to your question of my financial status, it is up in the air if I choose to stay. Funding process here is very bureaucratic and not flexible at all... I might end up self funding the rest of 2 years if no professor is willing to fund my research. 3. US universities in general have edge on the job market. 4. There is another professor that I have good relationship with. And it is mostly likely that his lab that I will join when I remain here. I'm close with all the members in his lab also, we collaborate a lot and hold seminars together for new research ideas and etc. So yes, this can be an option for me, but the funding is uncertain. 5. I would definitely prefer working in US, but if I go academia, Asia is OK too.. in terms of safety, pressure and less challenging to live. I don't have a VISA issue as I'm a US citizen. And yes, I am currently in a relationship here, but my partner is willing to relocate with me. Well, he has given some ambiguous comments and we joked about returning to the states, but I always thought it wasn't a serious consideration... This is my fault.. I wasn't paying much attention for the possibility. I agree there are still a lot of things I need to figure out at this point to make the right decision. I need more information which will be more visible once things get official. It would be just a bit discouraging if I have to restart everything from coursework, prelims and etc... That would be simply denying my effort for the past 18 months at this university.

I never thought I would be in the center of such drama... So my professor decided to move to a new university.. And I'm considering my options whether to: 1. Go with my advisor 2. Switch to new advisor and stick with the current phd program 3. Don't switch advisor, stay on with remote phd mentorship (time zone difference is a killer: Asia Pacific- US California) Short background: I met my advisor as a colleague 10 years ago in U.S. while I was doing master's. (advisor was a PhD student back then.) Then I graduated and got a job. Worked for 5 years. During this time, my advisor had graduated, joined and left a industry job to start his post-doc in a new university. His work place and the postdoc univ. were both nearby my neighborhood, so we would to occasionally meet up for a coffee and beers to catch up. Then he became a professor in Asia and asked me whether I would be interested in starting a phd under him, I thought about it for a while and decided to try it. I followed him to Asia because I trusted his expertise in the field, work ethics and professionalism that I saw during our years of interesting discussions. Now I'm 2 years into the phd program and he got an offer from a US university (~top 20 rank in USnews, ~100 rank in QS world rank for my area). The current Asian university is ranked top 10 in QS world universities for my field. I originally decided to start this program because of my advisor. But I'm worried whether a US university would recognize my academic standing as a 3rd year phd student. Will they ask me to retake quals and start from 1st or 2nd year phd? Anyone with similar experience? Any word of advice? What option would you guys choose with the situation I'm in?