A recent study (shared below) reminded me that ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐ฌ, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง.
Over the years, I have supervised 53 PhD students, and I can say with conviction that ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐น๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐๐๐น๐ฒ that works for all. Each student is different, and every PhD journey has its ups and downs.
With some students, I spent a disproportionate amount of time helping them gain confidence. With stronger ones, my role was to ๐ด๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐๐ป๐๐ถ๐น ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ-๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ป.
๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐. Unless a student gets genuinely interested in what he or she is doing, great work rarely happens.
A good ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ด๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฐ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ด๐๐ฒ๐. I never restricted my students from seeking advice from other faculty. In fact, I always encouraged it and built a network they could freely approach. I also followed an ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป-๐ฑ๐ผ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ - any student could walk into my office anytime for advice.
I never had a lab of my own in any institution I worked at. Instead, I built common labs, shared by all, to promote collaboration and collective ownership. I have always believed that the ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ.
I have always taken ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ ๐ฃ๐ต๐ ๐๐๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ท๐ผ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. Since most of them worked on industry-supported projects, this was never a problem.
Nearly 90% of my PhD students wrote their first peer-reviewed paper with me.
Unlike in the US, where professors often get students with prior research experience, ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐. Faculty in Indian institutions (at least in the institutions where I worked so far - IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi and BITS Pilani) often put in far more time and effort per student than many of our counterparts abroad.
The ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐, ๐ถ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐. That makes everything worthwhile.