One Professor actively at two different schools? What?

[samman1994]

Hello everyone,

So as I was going through my list of schools and professors, I realized I had one professor, at two different schools. I thought, ok maybe he was at one school, then transferred to another school. Then I looked up the schools, and nope, they both say he is actively present there. I looked up his recent (2017) publications, and the author information states it is indeed from Brown University. I am a little confused. 

Here are his faculty pages at both schools:

http://uacc.arizona.edu/profile/wolfgang-peti

https://vivo.brown.edu/display/wpeti

Based off of his publications, and his own CV, it is clear that he is indeed at Brown University. If so, why does Arizona say he started membership in 2017 there? Furthermore, in the positions section, why are they explicitly missing he is at Brown University? It is definitely the same guy, but it appears he is at two different schools? Anybody know what's going on here?

[rising_star]

The best way to know would be to write the professor in question and ask. There are any number of reasons why this could be the case.

[samman1994]

4 minutes ago, rising_star said:

The best way to know would be to write the professor in question and ask. There are any number of reasons why this could be the case.

All his publications indicate Brown University, not a single one mentions Arizona. So his research is definitely Brown (which is what I'm focused on). I'm just curious why he would have a faculty page at Arizona University. I can understand if he has taught a class there over the summer or something (I guess it would be this summer if he did), but what I find interesting is how they have his whole history of positions and chairs, but leave out his current occupation at Brown. Like I said, based on the above evidence, I'm almost positive he's at Brown, I'm just curious what scenario would have you listed at two different schools?

[Neuro15]

He moved to UA from Brown in January '17 to set up his new lab. 

[rising_star]

For the publications, the simplest answer is that Brown U appears on them because that's where he did the research. More generally, it's possible that he took a new job and Brown hasn't updated their website yet since their semester has yet to begin, for example. He could be at University of Arizona permanently, or there on a semester or year long sabbatical. It's also possible that he negotiated a split appointment where he spends six months at each school (yes, that happens). Any of these is plausible and they are all things I've seen happen. Like I said, if you really want to know, ask the person in question.

ETA (cross-posted with @Neuro15): Or that. People do move from one school to another pretty frequently.

Edited September 1, 2017 by rising_star
update

[Neuro15]

4 minutes ago, rising_star said:

For the publications, the simplest answer is that Brown U appears on them because that's where he did the research. More generally, it's possible that he took a new job and Brown hasn't updated their website yet since their semester has yet to begin, for example. He could be at University of Arizona permanently, or there on a semester or year long sabbatical. It's also possible that he negotiated a split appointment where he spends six months at each school (yes, that happens). Any of these is plausible and they are all things I've seen happen. Like I said, if you really want to know, ask the person in question.

ETA (cross-posted with @Neuro15): Or that. People do move from one school to another pretty frequently.

 

It's that, a quick google search yielded a presser from UA announcing it. 

http://www.massspectrometryconsortium.arizona.edu/welcome-cbc-professors-rebecca-page-and-wolfgang-peti

 

Rising Star is dead on though, his most recent pubs say Brown because that's where the research was done and where the grant was awarded. 

Edited September 1, 2017 by Neuro15

[samman1994]

Aw I see, then I guess I really will have to email him. Both him and Rebecca was the primary reason for me even looking at Brown. Gotta see if their labs are up and running, and if they're accepting new students. Thank you both!

[rising_star]

8 minutes ago, samman1994 said:

Aw I see, then I guess I really will have to email him. Both him and Rebecca was the primary reason for me even looking at Brown. Gotta see if their labs are up and running, and if they're accepting new students. Thank you both!

If there's a press release announcing that they've joined UA and brought their labs, I'm not sure why you'd be emailing them about Brown...

[samman1994]

1 minute ago, rising_star said:

If there's a press release announcing that they've joined UA and brought their labs, I'm not sure why you'd be emailing them about Brown...

No I meant email them regarding their lab situation at Arizona. I wasn't gonna email them before because I assumed they had a lab already set up and were doing research at Brown. Now that I see they've moved this year, I will have to email and see if they're  even set up and accepting new students. I don't know how Arizona University works, but at my school it usually takes 1 to 2 years for new labs to even get set up. They accept new students, but usually only undergrads, and they usually only help set up the lab and new instrumentation, or peer review their papers. So they might not even be set up, in which case I wouldn't even apply to Arizona University. 

[rising_star]

10 hours ago, samman1994 said:

I don't know how Arizona University works, but at my school it usually takes 1 to 2 years for new labs to even get set up.

FYI- It's "University of Arizona" not "Arizona University". You'll want to make sure you get that right when you do email. 

I'm not in your field but I'd be surprised if prolific professors given endowed chair positions have to wait 1-2 years to get their lab set up.

[TakeruK]

You should definitely email both of them (or whoever it was that you wanted to work with) and see if they will take new graduate students at UofA starting Fall 2018. You're right that it does take some time to start up a lab, but as @rising_star points out, these aren't "new" professor positions, these are fancy endowed chairs and I'm sure established researchers took the time to negotiate something to help them continue their research. No one wants to put their work on hold for 1-2 years because they are moving! I would not be surprised if they started the process of setting up the new labs before they left Brown.

There are other considerations though. Pretty much every prof I know that moved schools after tenure was very busy in the first year or two after the move. They still have students at their old school, who may not have moved with them so they might travel back and forth a lot to work with their old students, attend thesis meetings, defenses, exams etc. At least at my PhD school, profs can go on (unpaid, unfunded) leave and keep their (on-paper) appointment with the school while they start a new faculty position elsewhere (2 years but then renewable) so that they can still do things like serve on committees for their old students. So the PIs might be very busy for a little while with setting up a new lab and closing up an old lab. This could also explain why some profs appear to have two appointments.

That said, you should still email them because faculty members generally need to work on longer timescales. And even if your ideal PI has very little time for you in the first year or two, you're going to be there for much longer and you'll need their attention more later anyways. You might be doing a lot of classes and preparing for quals in your first year and not really be affected by your PI being away at Brown. And since sabbaticals are on 5-7 year cycles, matching the length of a PhD degree, it's likely that most students will have 6-12 months without their advisor being present for one reason or another. So don't abandon a potentially good opportunity without talking to the profs first. If these profs knew they would be moving last fall (very likely), they may have chosen to not take new students in Fall 2016 or Fall 2017. One year without new students is one thing, but 2 or 3 years in a row without new students is not great, so I would guess that it is likely they will want students in Fall 2018 but of course, this is just a guess and you should definitely ask.

[samman1994]

Yeah, thats why I was saying I definitely have to email them now. Anyways, thank you guys both for your help! I have never come across this type of situation, so your advice is very helpful. Thank you again!