Importance of having an active adviser

[rims]

It's been said that it's important to try to work with an adviser who is a very active researcher. But what if you have the chance to work with someone who is a big name in your field of interest, but that person hasn't been doing much research lately and/or is close to getting retired (but would continue to advise students)? Would you still prefer the first kind of adviser? (Probably this question applies better to theoretical fields of research, but anyone feel free to comment.)

[grae313]

Hm, I think it would pretty much suck in experiment but in theory, if the name is famous enough it might just be worth it.

[WhoaNonstop]

I think the scariest scenario is having an adviser die in the middle of writing your dissertation.

-Riley

[bfollinprm]

It's been said that it's important to try to work with an adviser who is a very active researcher. But what if you have the chance to work with someone who is a big name in your field of interest, but that person hasn't been doing much research lately and/or is close to getting retired (but would continue to advise students)? Would you still prefer the first kind of adviser? (Probably this question applies better to theoretical fields of research, but anyone feel free to comment.)

I'm pretty sure the answer to this would depend on how actively the professor is willing to advise you. In theory research, it's more about your ideas than his/hers, but if he isn't around to bounce ideas off of, there's no point in working with the retiring advisor. I imagine this will depend mostly on how excited this professor is by the prospect of you being his student.

[kubikat]

I think the scariest scenario is having an adviser die in the middle of writing your dissertation.

My prof told me of a guy who took 9 years to complete his PhD, because 2 advisers died on him (and for some reason it was very hard to find the third one)...

[admissionprof]

I think the scariest scenario is having an adviser die in the middle of writing your dissertation.

My prof told me of a guy who took 9 years to complete his PhD, because 2 advisers died on him (and for some reason it was very hard to find the third one)...

Remember Theodore Streleski.

[noojens]

Remember Theodore Streleski.

Woah. That is fucked up.

How was he only sentenced to seven years, for second degree murder? Doing that time must've been a walk in the park after spending nineteen years as a Stanford PhD student.

Crazy.