Graduate Research Assistantship

[8Phant0m8]

I am starting my MS in Aerospace engineering in Fall 2015. I was contacted by a professor from another engineering discipline but its under the same department as Aerospace. He needs help with his research and he can offer me half-tuition coverage. Problem is he's the only one who can provide me funding right now. But anything can change once I get to know other professors in my major. Who knows what happens next but mean time I don't have money and I need this assistantship.

 

Can he restrict what I take and not take for my classes?

 

Can I switch to another GRA in the future? 

 

Any other bad things that can restrict my future opportunity in pursuing a degree in aerospace engineering by accepting this assistantship? Thanks!

[TakeruK]

All of these are pretty specific to your program. Some programs have very little leeway on courses you take while others give you almost infinite flexibility.

 

Whether or not you can find another prof to fund you in the following year depends on why you didn't get funding from the discipline you wanted this year. If the reasons is that there are less spots than normal, then you might have a good chance of getting funding next year. But if it is because others were more competitive than you, then it's likely next year's crop of students will be just as competitive and I don't know if your chances of a GRA with the prof you want would be any better next year.

 

Also, it might be useful to know how often people switch GRA advisors in your department. In all the departments I've been in (not an engineering one though), it seems that new students often have priority over existing students. That is, if a professor has a spot open, it seems like they prefer to take a new student rather than someone already in their program working with another professor. I can think of three reasons:

a. Professors generally like to have students at different stages, so e.g. having one student at each year is better for them than having 2-3 students in one year and none in other years (this is what would happen if an existing student joined their group)

b. Professors might not actively recruit students in the program already to avoid "poaching" other professors' students. Also, sometimes even though you "leave" a group, you still have loose ends that might distract you from your work and so the professors might prefer someone new.

c. Existing students will already proven their capabilities to the department in the first year. This could help you of course, if you are an outstanding student. But if you are good or very good, there might be a new student with the potential to be outstanding, and if the professor already has lots of good/very good students, the "potentially outstanding" student might be worth the risk (ie. this student might turn out to just be "good" or "very good", but if they take an existing very good student, then there's no chance to get an "outstanding" at all).

[serenade]

Take it! My RA supervisors never had any say in what courses I took. Also, it's certainly not uncommon for people to switch, so unless your program indicates that this arrangement is set in stone, you shouldn't have any problem switching (aside from what TakeruK explained about competitiveness etc). Cheers!

[8Phant0m8]

Thanks for the great responses. I really appreciate it. I thought that switching GRAs is not a big deal but I contacted the program admin and apparently they don't encourage students to take on a project that they are prepared to abandon once you have better things to do. Students often switch because they no longer are interested in the research and that is a legitimate reason. 

 

I do have a lot to think about. His research is very interesting to me but I would be lying if I definitely want to pursue this for my Ph.D. May be because I'm a little bit alienated to his field. I only took one course in undergraduate related to it.

 

Also, I just heard back from my top priority professor and he's saying if I decided to come, he would like to talk to me. He just doesn't have any GRA opening until next year. Does that rule out what TakeruK pointed out: professors tend to give priority to incoming students? If that professor is serious about it, I think I have a very good chance next year.

[TakeruK]

Also, I just heard back from my top priority professor and he's saying if I decided to come, he would like to talk to me. He just doesn't have any GRA opening until next year. Does that rule out what TakeruK pointed out: professors tend to give priority to incoming students? If that professor is serious about it, I think I have a very good chance next year.

 

Great to hear! I think if the professor is saying "If you are interested, I will have funding next year for a GRA and I would like to hire you" then that's promising. It certainly means that if the opening exists next year, you should have priority over the new admits.

 

However, how much you are willing to rely on this opening depends on how the professor is wording their offer. If they say "if an opening exists", then you should be prepared for the chance that there won't be an opening. Also, if they don't say that they will definitely choose you, then there might still be a competition for that spot (i.e. what if someone else wants it too?)

 

At this point, I would proceed as if I do not have a GRA with your top choice professor set up. You can hope it all works out but you should be prepared for working with the other GRA for your degree and research if you attend this school.

[8Phant0m8]

I think I should proceed assuming that I do not have a GRA with priority professor. This is exact quote from his email "I do not currently have any open positions in my lab.  If you do end up coming to XXX, I’m happy to talk with you about your interests, but I will not have any new openings until next year."

[serenade]

I think I should proceed assuming that I do not have a GRA with priority professor. This is exact quote from his email "I do not currently have any open positions in my lab.  If you do end up coming to XXX, I’m happy to talk with you about your interests, but I will not have any new openings until next year."

Ah, I see. That's too bad. Sorry to hear that.  

 

His research is very interesting to me but I would be lying if I definitely want to pursue this for my Ph.D. 

 

Perhaps this is a difference in fields from what I'm accustomed to (the humanities). It sounds as though your RA project for this professor would also serve as your own personal project for your degree? If that's the case, then you might want to think twice as to whether this is something that you could envision yourself working on as your own main project for the next several years without burning out. If it's not something you're passionate about, it might be hard to sustain yourself (psychologically/emotionally) through a program with this topic (though financially, it might be the most sustainable). 

 

So, if I understand your situation correctly, your financial options have already made the decision for you - committing to working for the professor with guaranteed funding but with research interests you're only lukewarm about. However, I suppose the question now is whether that is better than no funding at all? (In my opinion, it would be worth it for financial reasons, so I'd take the professor up on his offer before another student does and you're left with no funding at all).

 

Best wishes for what sounds like a stressful situation.  

[TakeruK]

Perhaps this is a difference in fields from what I'm accustomed to (the humanities). It sounds as though your RA project for this professor would also serve as your own personal project for your degree? If that's the case, then you might want to think twice as to whether this is something that you could envision yourself working on as your own main project for the next several years without burning out. If it's not something you're passionate about, it might be hard to sustain yourself (psychologically/emotionally) through a program with this topic (though financially, it might be the most sustainable). 

 

In the sciences/engineering, your RA project is almost always your PhD/MSc dissertation project too. The plus side is that you are getting paid for your dissertation work and you don't have to work on other people's projects in order to get funding for your dissertation work. The down side, as the OP's dilemma shows, is that you have less freedom in choosing your dissertation project -- you are limited by what funding options are available to you.

 

However, this is the norm in the science/engineering fields. As a grad student, you generally do not get to define your own project--you have to work on what your funding providers want you to do (in many cases though, they are very flexible). As a postdoc, unless you have a very good fellowship, you will either be doing work that your postdoc supervisor has funding for, or what your funding agency wants you to do. And even as a professor, you will generally be expected to bring in grants, so you have to focus your research on what your granting agencies want to fund at the moment.

 

To those in similar situations in the sciences/engineering, my advice is to be more flexible in your research interests. Definitely avoid the projects that you know you will hate or that you know will not help you reach your career goals. But, I would say new grad students should be very open minded about what their interests are. You might have had a lot of experience in one particular field in undergrad, but as an undergrad, it's hard to get both depth and breadth of experience necessary to truly know what your biggest passions are. Grad school in the sciences/engineering is a great time to try different projects and find out what you like/don't like. I always say that it's easier to change your research interest (or learn to like something you didn't like at first) than it is to change a lot of other important factors (like your funding amount, how well you get along with your advisor, etc.)

[serenade]

 

However, this is the norm in the science/engineering fields. As a grad student, you generally do not get to define your own project--you have to work on what your funding providers want you to do 

 

To those in similar situations in the sciences/engineering, my advice is to be more flexible in your research interests. Definitely avoid the projects that you know you will hate or that you know will not help you reach your career goals. But, I would say new grad students should be very open minded about what their interests are. 

Ah, I see. In that case, I second this advice to go ahead and pursue it since it's a fully funded offer. Though I didn't have to work on my RA projects as my own main project, I will say that I ended up enjoying working on some RA projects far more than I originally thought I would. So it might end up being a good opportunity even if it doesn't spark your interest right now. 

[sleepyhead]

I am starting my MS in Aerospace engineering in Fall 2015. I was contacted by a professor from another engineering discipline but its under the same department as Aerospace. He needs help with his research and he can offer me half-tuition coverage. Problem is he's the only one who can provide me funding right now. But anything can change once I get to know other professors in my major. Who knows what happens next but mean time I don't have money and I need this assistantship.

 

Can he restrict what I take and not take for my classes?

 

Can I switch to another GRA in the future? 

 

Any other bad things that can restrict my future opportunity in pursuing a degree in aerospace engineering by accepting this assistantship? Thanks!

 

Are you planning on pursuing a PhD in the same department? My advice would be to take the tuition coverage as it's not the norm for MS students to be funded in aerospace engineering programs. Funding should definitely take priority over research fits since you don't want student loans to burden you down the road (especially if you're international/out of state).  

 

If you want to get a PhD, there's no reason why you shouldn't apply to other schools to work in areas that you're actually interested in after you finish your MS. If you want to stay in your department, you'll probably have to go through a formal application process anyhow. This means you'll be able to reach out to other professors that you're interested in for funding without necessarily burning bridges with your MS advisor. 

 

If your MS is thesis based, then I would more heavily weigh on your options. But if it's just coursework with optional research, then I wouldn't put too much stress on choosing your advisor. I did an MS in aerospace engineering 2 years ago and am returning to the same department for a PhD this fall, so I can definitely relate to your situation. Good luck!

[8Phant0m8]

Are you planning on pursuing a PhD in the same department? My advice would be to take the tuition coverage as it's not the norm for MS students to be funded in aerospace engineering programs. Funding should definitely take priority over research fits since you don't want student loans to burden you down the road (especially if you're international/out of state).  

 

If you want to get a PhD, there's no reason why you shouldn't apply to other schools to work in areas that you're actually interested in after you finish your MS. If you want to stay in your department, you'll probably have to go through a formal application process anyhow. This means you'll be able to reach out to other professors that you're interested in for funding without necessarily burning bridges with your MS advisor. 

 

If your MS is thesis based, then I would more heavily weigh on your options. But if it's just coursework with optional research, then I wouldn't put too much stress on choosing your advisor. I did an MS in aerospace engineering 2 years ago and am returning to the same department for a PhD this fall, so I can definitely relate to your situation. Good luck!

 

Yes. I am most likely staying in the Aerospace for my PhD even though the research is related more on material corrosion. On the upside I am thinking about steering this research towards jet engine applications (if the funding agency allows) where I have industry experience in. 

 

This MS program is thesis optional but the professor wants me to do thesis since he's funding me so he wants to focus on it. So I am definitely be doing thesis and most likely carry this towards dissertation. You're right that I still have a lot of choices since even if I found out later that I don't want to do it, I can always switch to different topic for my dissertation. Thank you for the advice.