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Mentoring & Advising

Mentoring and Advising are critical components of academic life. Mentorship can happen “up, down, and sideways”. Both advisors and mentors play critical roles in your path to success. Students are encouraged to talk with their advisors about all aspects of mentoring, including their academic success, path to dissertation, and post-graduation plans. Open discussion with your advisor about how you  can best be mentored is strongly encouraged. Reach out to the graduate team with any issues you face with respect to mentorship and talking with your advisor.

Successful mentoring on the part of Teaching Fellows to students, and to other researchers in your research groups is also critical to success. Students should feel comfortable working with their peers and instructors in a healthy and productive manner. Reach out to the graduate team with any questions or issues you face in these roles as well.

Graduate School Information on Mentoring and Advising

You’ll find a wealth of information on Faculty and Student responsibilities, benefits, guides and forms

Explore the resources at GSAS

Physics Specific Advising

Created by our department and tailored to the Physics Ph.D. student in a printable format

Review the PDF

Finding an Adviser

Process of and factors to consider when finding an adviser. The process of finding an adviser entails matching the students interests and goals with an adviser who can mentor the student. Advisers must have a primary or secondary appointment in Physics. Below are suggested guidelines for students to learn about research groups, and to interact with the group and the group’s adviser/PI. The ability of an adviser to mentor a student may depend on the match between the student and adviser, the current size of the group, and the ability to fund the student to join the group. 

  • Ways to learning about research groups and gain experience in them: 
  • Interactions before admission during the Department Open House 
  • Personal meetings established by the student 
  • Courses: Phys 5150, Phys 9900
  • Summer research as Early Start, and in the summers after 1st and 2nd year

Graduate Resources

Graduate Program Contacts