Number of advisees an adviser has

[beanbagchairs]

I am in the process of selecting possible supervisors to ask for a lab rotation; I have to do 3 lab rotations in the beginning of my PhD program. One of the adviser (an assistant professor) currently has eleven PhD students, one master student, two postdocs, and one exchange scientist. This particular lab's research output is, uhm, impressive in terms of quality (i.e., high impact journals) and quantity. I am just surprised with the number of advisees (s)he has. It got to the point, which I wonder if (s)he has enough time --or even any-- to advise my lab rotation. Is it normal for having that many advisees? Maybe (s)he is that good, such students flocked to his/her lab?

Is (s)he a good choice for a lab rotation? Any ideas? Note that (s)he is NOT yet tenured!

P.S. Sorry for posting yet another topic. I just have too many questions! Yes, I am the type that needs to do excessive planning about every single detail of my future.

Edited March 22, 2011 by beanbagchairs

[firefly luciferase]

I am in the process of selecting possible supervisors to ask for a lab rotation; I have to do 3 lab rotations in the beginning of my PhD program. One of the adviser (an assistant professor) currently has eleven PhD students, one master student, two postdocs, and one exchange scientist. This particular lab's research output is, uhm, impressive in terms of quality (i.e., high impact journals) and quantity. I am just surprised with the number of advisees (s)he has. It got to the point, which I wonder if (s)he has enough time --or even any-- to advise my lab rotation. Is it normal for having that many advisees? Maybe (s)he is that good, such students flocked to his/her lab?

Is (s)he a good choice for a lab rotation? Any ideas? Note that (s)he is NOT yet tenured!

P.S. Sorry for posting yet another topic. I just have too many questions! Yes, I am the type that needs to do excessive planning about every single detail of my future.

If you're asking if s/he has enough time to even take you on as a rotation student, just ask him/her!

If you're asking if s/he will have enough time to mentor you as your advisor, that's the whole point of doing the rotation - to get a feel for his/her style/lab.

I don't think it's problematic that the professor is not yet tenured - shouldn't be a problem if the lab is consistently putting out good work. (And has the money!)

Also wanted to add - it's not like rotation advisors typically stand over you and watch you pipette or whatever - on a day-to-day basis you'll most likely be mentored by a postdoc or senior grad student.

Edited March 22, 2011 by firefly luciferase

[IRdreams]

Well the other issue with this is that advising abilities vary a lot. There is one guy in my department who seemingly advises all people of a particular subfield. He basically gets 4-5 new students every year. Even though he has a lot of students though, he turns back extensive comments usually with 48hrs. So partly this has to do with the work ethic and energy level of the adviser. Advisers who are organized workaholics seem to able to pull this off pretty well. However, the next question one has to ask themselves is can I work with that type of person for 5ish years?

[rising_star]

I was my advisor's 11th (or 12th?) student when I arrived. I actually feel like he has less time for me now, with fewer students, than he had then. Whether 11 is too many is really person-specific and impossible for any of us to say. Luckily, you'll be able to answer some of your own questions while doing the rotation. You should also talk to the current students in the lab to get their answers to the questions you've posed.