Co-mentoring?

[BassAZ]

In short, the PIs in my program have been asked to think outside the box because there are a number of students vying for labs that don't have the funding to accommodate all of them joining. Because of this, I have two PIs that are interested in co-mentoring me; I've talked to a few people about the benefits versus pit-falls but I haven't encountered anyone that currently is doing this here at school. Anyone had good/bad experiences with this?

I can understand that it would be a little awkward now having TWO people giving me routes to take and I can also see problems with the PIs locking horns about where to take the research - I am not worried about that because these two have worked well over the years and my personality is such that I can take a project and incorporate different ideas to twist them integrating all of the general ideas given to me. I'm just trying to see if there's anything I'm missing that could be a great/horrendous aspect of this arrangement. Thanks!

[UnlikelyGrad]

My sister did an interdisciplinary PhD with THREE PIs, and her primary complaint was exactly what you have said--namely, that each PI has a different vision of where you want to go. The problem is less whether you can integrate different visions or not, and more the fact that these people won't sign off on your dissertation until they're satisfied. So you have to make everyone happy, which isn't necessarily an easy thing.

(I should add that my best friend here is co-advised, and is in the middle of this trying-to-please-everyone struggle, and it ain't pretty. She's one of the most diplomatic people I know.)

But it definitely can be done. My sister did it, and ended up with a great post-doc due to all of the connections she'd made, and eventually got two absolutely fantastic TT job offers despite the fact that she was near 40...

[eco_env]

I was co-mentored for my research in undergrad. The pros: 1. I could take advantage of the different skills/availability of each. 2. I got several opinions on my work, so if I got the same comment from both it would indicate that the comment probably had some merit. The cons: multiple conflicting opinions can be frustrating, esp. for a naive undergrad. Overall, I don't think it's worth worrying about- if that's what you need to do, do it and you'll manage.