Advice on recruiting PhDs

[u/Master_Attention9354]

Hi everyone,

I recently accepted a TT assistant professorship in STEM at an R1 university. I'm really excited about the work that I want to do, but hiring is not something I've ever experienced before - I've never been on that side of the table. So what are your best strategies for recruiting good PhD students in STEM? If you're happy/willing to help out a new starter that is! :)

Update: Ah oh, I'm so sorry, I wasn't clear. I wanted to ask for advice on picking students from a pool of candidates.

Thank you!

[u/iTeachCSCI]

I wanted to ask for advice on picking students from a pool of candidates

I struggled with this when I was a new TT Assistant Professor. I look for two things when I recruit Ph.D. students:

• Research experience. When I work with undergraduates and masters students, a large number determine during the semester that they don't don't like research. That's a good thing for them to discover, and we talk other career things, and I wish them the best. But when it's a Ph.D. student, it's a significant problem, because I've likely invested a lot of resources into having them come into the lab. I'm probably on the hook for them until they leave, and it's a lot of work to document that they "aren't making progress" towards their degree. I've seen enough graduate students do this -- now, when I was NTT, when I was in graduate school -- that I am very picky on this ground.

• Who vouches for their work ethic. I need one of the letter writers to be someone I know, either personally or at least by reputation. It needs to be a strong letter. I need to know from the letter that you know the student and can vouch for their work ethic. This does not need to be the same as the research letter. If I don't know X, and X says this student did great as a researcher for a year, but Y, who I know, says the student was a great undergraduate TA, that suffices.

Am I throwing out some people who might be really good Ph.D. students along with the bad? Yes. But a bad choice costs me significantly, and there are more than enough good choices in the pile.

[u/Master_Attention9354 → u/iTeachCSCI]

Thank you so much! This is exactly the kind of tips I want to know!

[u/harvard378]

The reputation of your school is going to do a lot of the initial heavy lifting for you. Ultimately your best recruitment tool will be happy students - prospective grad students are more likely to listen to them than you, and they can read between the lines if you're a dictator or indifferent as an advisor.

[u/Master_Attention9354 → u/harvard378]

well, as a new starter, I have no students!

[u/harvard378 → u/Master_Attention9354]

I think you have to be honest with the students (and yourself) about what type of advisor you're going to be and what you expect from the students. Are you the type who expects weekly progress reports and/or will be making daily stops in the lab? The exact opposite because you think you'll be swamped with teaching and other things?

[u/Mooseplot_01]

I've struggled with this for many years. So I'll share my experience, but I don't think I have wisdom to share.

I tend to have a large group of B grade applicants. All are likely to be OK, but I really want an A student. I think this is because I'm not at a top-10 R1.

I have had students that got good grades in the BS or MS and turned out to be duds. I thought GREs were the answer (and TOEFL, since all of my applicants are ESL) but sometimes that doesn't work out. I have actually found inverse correlation with publications (my interpretation is that some students want to do research and make an impact; some want to rack up numbers to look better on paper. I prefer to work with the former). So I don't really pay attention to their research experience. However, my sample size is so small that it's all a guess.

I normally have a Zoom call with them as sort of a vibe check. I don't actually feel this has been very useful either. Some talk a really good game, seem excited and curious, pleasant and witty then show up and don't get anything done.

[u/Grumpy-PolarBear]

If there are listservs in your field you can write an ad and place it there. Even if the students themselves aren't on the listserv, other profs will see them and can help connect people.

[u/IkeRoberts]

First, I want to echo the sentiment that you need to be extremely selective. Grad students take an enormous amount of your energy and money. Great students are an incredible payoff, meh students are a net negative for assistant professors, and duds are really harmful.

The biggest advantgage you have is that you are the new, flashy, exciting addition to the graduate faculty. Capitalize on that image when describing your lab and research program. Get advertising out to every colleague who might have a good prospect among their students. Email is fine. Use your professional society mailing systems if it allows.

Once you have applicants to choose among, look for resilience. Will they persevere when experiments don't work and neither of you really has a good idea of what to try next? Experience with independent research is valuable mostly because they had the opppurtunity to struggle and to deal with the uncertainty inherent in discovery. If they were one of the rare ones that was energized by that challenge, your odds of success are higher (not 100% by a long shot).

[u/Master_Attention9354 → u/IkeRoberts]

Thank you so much! This is really useful!