<p>Which is better for a microbiology/virology PhD if my final goal is industry: renowned graduate school or PI whom is top of their field at a mid-level university? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>What position in industry? If you are hoping to get into business strategy and development or management or intellectual property or any other non technical area, then I would argue that you should think strongly about the reputation of the institution when deciding upon graduate schools. However, if you’re hoping for a scientist position in industry then you should weigh the importance of a well known PI more heavily. HR only acts as a filter for technical positions, they don’t make the decisions about who gets hired. Ultimately, the project manager or director or VP (all of which will likely have a phd and postdoc experience in academia and thus are pretty familiar with the leaders in their fields) will decide who to hire. There isn’t this enormous separation between industry and academic research that some ill informed graduate students seem to perceive- industrial researchers attend conferences, publish papers, engage in journal clubs and write grants (admittedly STTR/SBIR, but NIH nonetheless).</p>
<p>@Belevitt: I am trying to determine whether to stay at my current university (mid-level) to do a PhD with a professor whom is a leader in their field (HIV) or apply for a more renowned university.</p>
<p>I would like to be a research scientist at a government agency or pharm company.</p>
<p>Go with the PI. If you want to be involved in bench research, PIs are more important. HIV is a pretty huge field for research, though, so be sure that this PI really is a good name or doing something very innovative and not just a big fish in a little pond.</p>