asking P.I. taboo questions when choosing a lab
So I made a post last night about previous graduate students’ records being a factor to consider when choosing a lab for your PhD research / graduate school. A similar argument can be made for medical students who will be taking a year or two off to do research. Anyway, in choosing a lab there are many factors that are important to you, to me and to every graduate student, which may be taboo to talk about (e.g. publications and how long it takes to finish). Certainly you should feel comfortable to talk to other graduate students about it, but is it okay to ask the P.I. about such things? I would argue yes. In fact, I did when looking for a lab to do my PhD in.
First of all, everyone (and I mean everyone) knows how important it is get publications and to finish in a timely manner. Moreover, each of those taboo topics is also something that everyone cares about. Therefore, that you are asking these questions of the P.I. reflects the fact that you have thoroughly thought about the process of graduate school and also demonstrates that you care enough about your career to ask. At the same time, when you ask, make sure to express your understanding that e.g. graduating in 4 years or having a ton of publications is not the most important thing in the world–but that you are just curious of how previous students did. Implicitly, these questions also gauge the mentoring ability of the P.I. In other words, if it takes most students 10 years to finish their PhD with 1 paper, you gotta wonder about the quality of mentorship as well as the P.I.’s drive to publish.
The time to ask these types of questions is before you join the lab. So at the end of each lab rotation or as you are going through your decision making process, sit down with each P.I. and ask these questions.
Other good questions to ask of the P.I. before joining the lab are about: funding (grants and if they will be running out soon–you can half jokingly express interest in whether your salary is secure), and whether the PI plans on leaving the institution anytime soon (or is looking for a job elsewhere). P.I.s that leave can destroy a graduate student’s training. I’ve seen too many of my buddies have to start over after 2 years in a different lab or move to another lab where they are treated as second-class citizens or otherwise have to move across the country to be with their advisor.
If you think of other topics that are important to you, ask about those too. As long as you maintain a respectful attitude and express an understanding that these things are not necessarily the most important factors that go into choosing a lab, you should be alright.
Finally, there will be some who give you flack for asking these tough questions no matter how you phrase them. I won’t lie to you–it may happen. BUT–anyone who thinks publications, timely graduation, funding and/or assurance that he/she will stick around are not important issues, then that person either 1) doesn’t know what they are talking about, 2) is completely naive or 3) has a bad track record and is trying to minimize the significance of that. In any case, it’s not a good sign.
Remember you are talking about your career and where you will be working everyday for the next several years–it really behooves you to ask the tough questions. You are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you.
Good luck!
