Advice for advisor transferring

[searbear]

I'm currently in my second year PhD at Stanford. My advisor took a position at UCLA (and with that, an endowed professorship as well). I am a bit torn as to whether I should leave and follow him to UCLA, which would require me transferring out of my program and my PhD would come from UCLA. The benefit I see from this would be an increase in money to spend on research, and a chance to build a lab from ground zero and really be a driving factor in the direction of the lab. Plus, he's a great advisor. My other option is to remain at Stanford, pick a new advisor and move in a new direction. Benefits to staying at Stanford, well, I love the people I met here and am building a network of people (with the alumni as well) that can potentially help me post-grad. 

Wanted to field some thoughts from the community on what I should do. Willing to answer some questions as well if it helps with advice giving.

 

[rising_star]

Here are some questions as you think about things. You don't have to answer these are but these are some of the things I'd be considering if I were in your shoes. Who would your new advisor be at Stanford? What is the placement record of your current advisor and the potential new advisor? How do the funding packages at each place compare? Are you still taking coursework? If not, how will you meet people in your "cohort" at UCLA? If you are, will the coursework you've already taken transfer? 

[juilletmercredi]

It would seem to be that you are about two months into your second year at Stanford, so your relationship with your advisor isn't a long-established one. Is this advisor the only person in your department who did what you want to study? Could you join the research group of someone else who is doing similar or related work? Why do you think you would have access to more money to spend on research if you followed your advisor to UCLA?

I don't think you necessarily want to help build a lab from ground zero and be a driving factor in the direction of the lab. That sounds enticing, but as a doctoral student, the less administrative work you have to do building a lab from the ground up the better. I joined a research group that was fairly new when I started my doctoral program, and I firmly believe I I would've published more and gotten more work done had my lab been more established - even just 2-3 years more - than when I began. When a lab is new there's no project coordinators to help grants administration, no community relations folks to help with participant recruiting, fewer research assistants to get some of the more basic tasks done, etc. You are doing a lot more stuff on your own, which impedes the amount of time you can spend writing. In 4-5 years when you are finishing up, having more publications on your record will mean a lot more than helping to have established a new lab.

Personally, if it were me I would stay at Stanford.