Changing Advisor

[jrl]

Hi,

Here is the story. I am in my first semester of a PhD program in engineering. Our department ask us to join research groups midway into the semester. When I got

to grad school I had a fair idea of the type of research I wanted to be involved, but I still talked to several professors. I believe that I got pre-maturely excited about a particular

research project, since the professor was really good at talking and is very persuasive (which I did not know at the time, but have learned from other students in the lab). I decided

to join this research group, but now I am very much doubting my decision for sometime, and I know that this is not the type of research I want to do and neither will it take me to

what I want to do in the future.

I would like to know if anybody has gone through this, and how they resolved their issue. There is one particular professor I am interested in joining from the same department,

and my current plan is to first talk to him "confidentially" (I think I could trust him), and let him know how I feel and he probably has seem this happen in the past and can offer good

advise. On the finances side, I am on my own three year fellowship, which I believe would make it easier for me to change advisors. I am looking forward to hear what you have to say.

Thank you.

[eklavya]

I have not been in such situation, and therefore cannot speak from my experience (or, lack of it). However, I feel that if it is still early (if you haven't started working on his research project yet) for you to make changes, by all means do what your heart says. You don't want to spend the valuable years of grad schools in something which you don't think you will enjoy. If you don't enjoy things you do, you will not excel in them. Take O-chem for example.... most people get poor grades in it (including me ) because (pretty much) no one enjoys that class. So, first off, you can try talking with the grad program coordinator, and see what he/she has to say. Perhaps after that, you can talk with both advisors, one at a time, and come up with what you want to do.

On the other hand, don't rush. It could very well be that your current advisor is the person whom you want to work with. I mean, the 'spark' might not be present now, but might come through later, perhaps within few months of this or the next semester. Who knows! Therefore, give it some time, and don't make any decisions going 100mph.

Here are few threads created in the past which might offer more insight:

[timuralp]

I have not had to do this myself, but a few of my friends have done that. It varies by department, but the protocol, as far as I can tell, in my department is to speak with the professor you're interested in working with and express your interest in working with him/her. This lets you make sure you can actually switch. Then talk to your current professor and explain that you've realized you would rather work on something else and are switching to work with the other faculty member. This is not an uncommon thing, as far as I know, and it's important for everyone that it's easy for graduate students to find projects and advisors that are a good match. You should ask people around your department who have been through a similar experience and see if they have any advice. Best of luck!

[modernity]

The other option is if you have a professor in the department that is a figurehead for the grad program (assuming its not the person you're working with now), and you can talk with them and ask what the protocol is, or how you could best solve the dilemma.