<p>How does the PI actually act as a mentor? I can imagine that the PI would give advice, etc., but isn't it all about figuring it out for yourself for the most part? Besides funding, why is it necessary to work under a good PI?</p>
<p>and what is this critical post-doc period people speak of?</p>
<p>They can, for a large part, determine your workload. For example, in my lab most people seem to work around 40-50 hour weeks unless it's getting to be crunch time. Some of my friends are in labs where a 50 hour week is expected to be the minimum.</p>
<p>Some advisors will be very hands on and willing to talk with you through things. Others will be away all the time and leave all of your interactions to be with other grad students or post-docs. Some advisors are very harsh and seldom give praise for your work. Others are very willing to support you when you're feeling depressed and understand that you're human.</p>
<p>Also having your advisor be well known is a kind of like branding. For example, are you more willing to trust that a new soda from Pepsi will be good over a new flavor of soda from the 99 cent store?</p>
<p>
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Isn't it all about figuring it out for yourself for the most part?
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Not generally, no. You have quite a bit of freedom and independence, but the reality is that graduate students aren't ready to be figuring everything out for themselves, and they need guidance from senior scientists.</p>
<p>
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and what is this critical post-doc period people speak of?
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A postdoc is a postdoctoral fellowship -- a research position taken after getting a PhD. Postdocs are relatively more independent than graduate students and less independent than PIs.</p>
<p>I think your relationship with your PI will have a lot to do with the size of your lab. If you are in a smaller lab with say a half a dozen or less students, your PI will have more time to actually provide mentoring and a more "personal" relationship. In larger labs, I would assume that a PI would have a difficult time being available. My lab is really small and my PI is new so she's really into mentoring her students, which is why I can't really comment on larger labs.</p>
<p>The negative side is that there is a fine line between mentoring and micro-managing students. So some PI's can get a little too involved. It's important that you and your PI establish some general rules early on so you know what you will and will not get out of your time in their lab or as their graduate student.</p>
<p>why is a post-doc period "critical" though? is it the time where one really needs to show talent in the research in order to move into a better position afterwards?</p>
<p>and how many post-docs are usually done now? I heard it used to be one, but now 2-3 is the norm?</p>
<p>So some peoples experience in graduate school comes down to the PI serving as only a funding source. This is unfortunate. There is a reason why one is called a "graduate student" and not "assistant professor." If you happen to fall into that boat and make it through though, you will probably have a ton of confidence--since you will have essentially been a junior faculty member through your PhD. </p>
<p>However, I think the optimal advisor actually "advises" and has a vested interest in the success of your work. Realistically, no one actually has a vested interest in your success, but at least the PI should want your work to succeed. Anyway, hopefully your PI will be someone you can go to for advise on both your research and career as well. </p>
<p>Whether that actually works out in reality is another story...</p>
<p>I've written a ton about this on my own blog as I've had many experiences over the last eight years and it seems to be a recurring theme in academia.</p>