Choosing a Research Group: Pluses and Pitfalls

Abstract

Before you even get started on your PhD research, you will have already made a decision that will have a major impact on the success of your project, and perhaps even on your future career: you have chosen to work in a particular research group, under the guidance of a particular thesis advisor or supervisor. While making this choice, you most likely spent a great deal of time thinking about your research project. You addressed questions such as: do Iwant to continue the type of research I did for you my senior thesis/Masters degree, or do I want to explore a new field? Do I prefer doing experiments in the lab or do I feel more comfortable with a theoretical approach? No doubt that you’ve had to think long and hard about all these personal preferences.However, there is one more success factor for a productive and pleasant research period: the group you’reworking in. Think of your team as being on an island together in the most basic social unit of scientific research – science’s nuclear family – the research group. For the next few years you’ll be ‘stranded’ with this particular group of people – like it or not. Every research group has its own unique chemistry – its own group dynamics. There are, nonetheless, some patterns to be aware of. It can be helpful to consider which type of group you’re likely to be most comfortable in. Sure, you need to choose a group that does the science you want to do, but other factors like the size and nature of the group are also important. Reflect on the others who live on your little research island and what each of them is likely to contribute to the group effort – and your own research. In Gosling P, Noordam B. 2007. Choosing a Research Group : Pluses and Pitfalls. In: Mastering Your PhD: Survival and Success in the Doctoral Years and Beyond. New York, NY: Springer. p. 1–10.