How old is too old when you choose your PI?

[mo11]

I was recently accepted to several chemistry programs and wondering which program to choose.

 

I am interested in one professor of Caltech who is very famous and has great reputation from anyone.

His lab seems not too big, and probably I don't have to worry about getting lost.

However, I am concerned about the age of PI, as he is already over 60. 

 

As I am an international student, I have no idea how old is too old when you choose your research advisor for your PhD in the US.

(In my country, all the professors have to retire when they become 65 years old.)

 

I'm thinking of both working in academia and industry after my PhD, so I would like to listen to your opinion from both perspectives.

[Quantum Buckyball]

There is no age limitation in the US so you'll be alright. There are several professors in my program are 70+ and they're still fully active with a research group of ~5 students 

[.letmeinplz//]

That is some crazy ageism. Surprised Japan does that. If a professor agrees to advise you, he is probably factoring in how long it is going to take advising you.

[ghostar]

As long as the professor is not close to retirement, fit is way way more important than age.

[epinephrine]

Wow, I wish I'd asked this question a while back. In India, like Japan, we have a retirement age- 63-68 depending on private v/s public, funding, etc., and either way I've seen that labs with younger profs are more active, profs are more involved and invested.

[mo11]

Thank you everyone! 
It's good to hear that there's no age limitation in the US. Also, over 60 years old seems not too old compared to the professors in Quantum Buckyball's program. I'm surprised that they are still active, although they are over 70.

I will contact with the professor during visiting weekends and see if his research is my best fit! 

[NoOneLikesAs]

Like everyone has said, there is not age limit to how old the PI is. It's up to what you're looking for.

 

Although there may be exceptions, most older professors tend to be out of lab and expect you to do more of the work yourself. However, the benefit from an older professor is his prestige and possibly his huge amount of funding. It really depends what you want: an older professor with more connections and funding or a younger professor that is more hands on and needing you to be one of his first connections to the outside world.

 

I personally can think of a professor in my field of interest that is 90+ years old and still running a big lab. He actually has most of the funding in my field of research, and a lot of other professors collaborate with him to get some of his funding.

[TakeruK]

I think the true concern is whether the professor's involvement in the lab will mesh well with the way you work / the way you like to be managed. Age does play a role, but we have some much older professors who are very active in research and our community (e.g. kicks butt at table tennis with grad students). Instead, I would recommend that you interview with all your potential PIs and ask them questions about how they see their role as PI in the lab and how they like to manage and how they like their students to work. This way, you can find a professor/PI that you can work well with and you'll get actual useful information, instead of trying to infer it based on age.

[Cookie]

I'd like to chime in that although many older professors are still prolific researchers, there are also many doing non research related work, especially administration. That can eat up a lot of time. One of my favorite theorists headed this route 2 years ago (and I almost joined his lab). Just my thought.

[tbqh]

it's safe to say that most people start taking things a little more slowly once they hit around 60 y/o.

 

nonetheless, it's much better to look at other indicators, such as their "Citations per year" trend on Google scholar.