PhDSciNet Interview 18: Here They Come Again—The Supervisors Are Back

Historical interview: The following preserves the research experiences and personal views expressed in the original manuscript.

PhDSciNet Interview Series

Here They Come Again: The Supervisors Are Back

Some students stand out more easily in interviews with supervisors. Others become favorites in the laboratory. Still others build lives after graduation that make even their supervisors look at them with respect. What do they have in common? Today, let us hear what the supervisors think.

Introducing this installment's guests:

Xiaxiami Online (小虾米在线): Based in Beijing, with 12 years of experience supervising graduate students. Main research interests: signal processing, the Internet of Things, and related fields.

Nicolas Cage (尼古拉斯凯奇): Based in inland eastern China, with two years of supervisory experience. Main research interest: food processing.

Astro Boy: Based in the Yangtze River Delta, with two years of experience supervising graduate students. Main research interests: cancer-drug carriers, functional foods, and related fields.

01 What makes a good student in a supervisor's eyes?

Independent and hardworking in research

Xiaxiami Online: Thinking back over the past five years, one student graduated two or three years ago. They were working on a project with me. It was my first time tackling that kind of topic, and I was unfamiliar with many aspects of it. I took the student with me to the institute to work on it, and we spent about three months commissioning the equipment together. For almost another half year, the student continued commissioning it there on their own. Sometimes the schedule before project acceptance was very tight. What made me proud was that, on several occasions, they stayed there alone working through the night. That was unusual at the institute. The older gentleman who managed the keys asked why this young person had not left yet: they had spent the whole night adjusting the equipment.

I only learned about this the next day and asked where they had slept. They said they had brought a yoga mat. Even in summer, sleeping there was not easy. Essentially, they completed the later commissioning of the entire system, including the software platform and related components, without my involvement and beyond my expectations. I was very moved. Although you are supervising a student, they are learning while also giving you substantial help in return.

The second example is a student who graduated the previous year. We were doing a project for a corporate group involving a speech-recognition device, something I had not worked with before. This was one of the most capable students I had seen over the years. They developed the entire speech-recognition system and explored it in considerable depth. Much of the knowledge came from the student explaining it to me. Although I was supposedly supervising them, I learned many things from them. They used some very sophisticated theories and completed everything from the theory to the device and platform. At graduation, a company in Singapore offered them a job directly. Their starting annual salary was 500,000.

Students often have enormous potential. If you give them an opportunity and your trust, they can do many things that exceed your expectations. They can learn independently and are interested in exploring deeply. Often, it is more than pride: it is admiration for something beyond what I expected.

Responding promptly to a supervisor's suggestions

Nicolas Cage: There was a student who had just enrolled in 2020. Initially, I felt they still had a great deal to learn, including specialist knowledge, presenting research, and finding, collecting, and organizing information. But by the second half of 2020, I could clearly see them developing step by step. In our small-group meetings, their presentations visibly improved in both logic and technical quality. At the large-group meeting at the end of the year, the lead supervisor praised their presentation, and I felt especially proud.

Sometimes, when working with students, you raise a problem and find it unchanged the next time. You have to bring it up repeatedly, but you cannot simply criticize them, because that is normal: everyone develops gradually. This student, however, became what you hoped they would become, and even exceeded that. It was very rewarding.

They also worked hard in everyday life and adapted quickly to a completely new environment. That was another quality I particularly admired.

A positive and proactive attitude to work

Astro Boy: This student is now in the first year of a master's program and worked with me on their undergraduate dissertation. Because of the pandemic, everyone left for the holidays quite early. Most people had already gone, and students were not allowed to stay at the university for long. But this student told me they wanted to continue experimenting for a while. We have an off-campus practical-training site, and they took the initiative to go there and work on experiments.

Sometimes, even after 10 p.m., they were still contacting me to discuss experiments. That year, the university did not reopen until March 1, but the student called me on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year and said they wanted to optimize the experiments further. They came in on the seventh day. I also started work on the seventh day, but most students would certainly wait until the university told them to return. They were also fortunate: their first paper was accepted on February 23, in a first-quartile journal. I think this student may have greater room for future development than we do.

Does intelligence matter?

Xiaxiami Online: In practice, it does not make that much difference. Some students with strong knowledge are very quick and solve things in minutes. But after three years of accumulated experience, most students have published the papers they need and completed their work. Intelligence certainly has some influence, but I do not think we should judge students solely on that basis.

Nicolas Cage: I think effort is the most important factor. At present, I can only see whether what a student does during graduate study is good enough and whether they can excel. If they do their graduate work well now, I think they can also do well in whatever they pursue later.

For example, when a student receives a project, I may provide only a broad framework and goal. They then need to work hard to find information, plan specific experiments, and carry them out. I think many things can be resolved through effort. If you do not understand something, you can ask someone or look it up. People who enter graduate school generally have similar intellectual abilities. Research intuition, however, is something you cannot simply count on finding.

A normal willingness to collaborate and basic communication skills are generally enough to support your learning. A sense of responsibility is also important. During graduate study, if you are willing to communicate, people are usually willing to help. If I had to rank these qualities, I would put effort first, then responsibility, learning ability, communication skills and a collaborative attitude, and finally research intuition.

Astro Boy: What matters most is a good attitude. Effort, communication, responsibility, and the rest follow from that. If you work hard, research is fundamentally a process of accumulating experience.

I would add persistence. Research often brings problems that require repeating experiments, and even three or four repetitions may not produce a result. Many students may give up during that process. But once you have confirmed a research direction, I would not change it lightly, because changing means starting again. To summarize, attitude comes first, effort second, and persistence third.

Who contributes more to producing a good student: the supervisor or the student?

Xiaxiami Online: The student's own ability definitely accounts for at least 60 to 70 percent. I merely provide an environment and a platform in which they can exercise their abilities and pursue their interests. It is not mainly about me; it is mainly about the student.

Which students develop best over the long term after graduation?

Xiaxiami Online: In my experience, the main quality of a good student is knowing what they want to do from the moment they enroll. A clear, firm goal motivates them to pursue graduate study. I did not give them that goal; they formed it as undergraduates, or perhaps even in high school. They know which direction they want to pursue and what they want to do after graduating. Students who clearly understand their broad direction—working in the internet industry, embedded systems, or an aerospace institute, for example—develop very well from enrollment through graduation and employment. I only need to supply relevant resources and opportunities, and they work even harder to achieve that goal. These are students who command my respect.

After five years or longer following graduation, some have reached middle-management or even senior positions. But students like this are often a minority, and recruiting one is fortunate. The return on the effort you invest in them is very high, rather like spending five yuan on something worth a hundred yuan.

[Students with clear goals and strong self-motivation often have greater potential for development.]

02 What kinds of students do supervisors like to recruit?

Consideration 1: Men or women?

Xiaxiami Online: This generally depends on the needs of our current projects. If the projects over the next two years involve on-site commissioning, frequent travel, and trips to outlying areas, then, to be honest, we may expect to recruit slightly more men. That does not mean we do not recruit women; in practical terms, men may find those arrangements more convenient.

But for research projects, I tend to recruit more women, because they are more meticulous and attentive, and their rate and quantity of results are relatively higher than those of men.

Nicolas Cage: I do not have a particular preference for men or women. I mainly judge whether the person is suitable through the interview or conversation. Women can have certain advantages, but some can also be a little less industrious, so I do not have a gender preference.

Astro Boy: I feel it depends on your discipline. Our field leans toward chemistry, for example, so men might be somewhat more suited to it. Why? Some chemicals are toxic or corrosive, and women may be apprehensive. But in actual recruitment, the preference is not for men or women; it is for a particular student. If the student is psychologically suited to the work—for example, they simply enjoy chemical experiments—then there really is no difference between women and men.

Consideration 2: Family circumstances

Xiaxiami Online: Can children from disadvantaged families achieve exceptional success? I do think that is becoming increasingly difficult. Many of the parents of the generation of students we now supervise are themselves university graduates who have been abroad. They worked hard, and their children have inherited that educational culture. When students have a basic educational foundation, can work diligently, and do not need to worry about finances, they feel much more confident. Sufficient emotional support from their families gives them a sense of security. In research, that can help them break out of established ways of thinking and be more willing to push forward.

I had a student whose family was not particularly well off. They were not strongly enthusiastic about research, carried a lot on their mind, and were relatively laid-back. I often tell students that, although they may feel considerable pressure in the laboratory, their situation can improve after graduation and employment. This student went to a city in southern China after graduating and developed quite well. So it would be unfair to say that people from disadvantaged families have no prospects at all. Perhaps meeting their expectations for everyday life is their own standard of success.

Nicolas Cage: Purely from a recruitment perspective, I do not look at family circumstances; I consider the person as a whole. Undergraduate institutions do not make much difference either. Graduates of Project 985 universities and ordinary universities have all gained admission through the graduate entrance process. Of course, I have higher expectations of a graduate from a Project 985 university. If the university has a rigid rule restricting admission by educational background, that is another matter and beyond my control.

Astro Boy: I do think family circumstances have an influence. When students from disadvantaged families make choices about research directions or their lives, they may think more about future employment and development. That can shift them away from their original motivation for research and influence their mindset during the research process. If their mindset changes, results may come more slowly, or the work may simply be aimed at meeting a particular requirement.

Self-funded students who join a group and pay their own tuition

Astro Boy: In Canada, for example, some supervisors do not have sufficient funding. If a student particularly likes research and joins with their own funding, I think that can be positive. It meets the student's academic aspirations and also helps the teacher through a temporary funding shortage. But if the student merely wants to spend money to buy a degree, that should not be encouraged.

[Compared with background, supervisors place greater emphasis on individual ability.]

Consideration 3: Quick thinking and effort

Xiaxiami Online: When recruiting, you generally have to judge someone within a short time—perhaps deciding in twenty minutes whether to accept them. Sometimes you have a longer period, such as a semester supervising their undergraduate dissertation, in which to assess their overall qualities.

You can sense whether a student thinks quickly through communication, collaboration, and their methods and attitudes toward tasks and professional work. After all, they will need to learn from more senior students in the group, so team interaction, learning, and collaboration are certainly important. If their professional skills meet the requirements, and communication with the supervisor is at least smooth, the supervisor will feel more at ease and like the student more.

An interview is very short. What do you base your judgment on?

Xiaxiami Online: Through specific topics of conversation, you can sometimes get a general sense from a student's language that they are down-to-earth and coming to study with a serious attitude toward research. Their intellectual ability and firm grasp of their subject can be judged through particular questions and an in-depth professional exchange or discussion.

03 If I could be a student again, what would I do?

Be more focused

Xiaxiami Online: If I could be a student again, I would establish clear goals and a direction from the start. I would think about what I wanted to do afterward, with clearer goals and interests for both my career and my life, and spend more time in that field.

During my PhD, I was always influenced by my environment. I watched what people around me—parents and friends—were doing and largely moved along with the trends of the time. I feel I was pushed along that path. If I could do it again, I might live differently. But I have not considered whether that would actually suit me.

[Some people are fortunate enough to choose the right path the first time. We should try to stay clear-headed, recognize our true selves, and avoid simply following the crowd.]

Communicate more proactively with the supervisor

Nicolas Cage: From master's and doctoral study to a teaching position, the path I took generally matched my expectations. If I could start again, I would communicate more with my teachers. That could inspire more projects and help clarify my research direction. I did not have much contact with my doctoral supervisor; I was still afraid of them and took relatively little initiative. I only began producing results and developing ideas near graduation. If I had communicated more, the door to understanding research might have opened sooner. Now, I sometimes hope students will bring me questions, or simply come to talk about their direction and hear some of my experience. That can be a great help.

I also think I should have done a postdoc after graduating. In the current domestic environment, you need to be closely aligned with a field to establish yourself in it. I should have done a postdoc to find my own research direction.

Astro Boy: If I could do my PhD again, I would seek out my supervisor more proactively. I would establish a way of communicating, perhaps arranging to meet once a week at a regular time. Now that we are teachers ourselves, we see that teachers have many duties beyond research: applying for funding, teaching classes, attending exchanges, and so on. If you do not approach them, they may not have much time to pay particular attention to you. I believe that, with a plan and a way of communicating, my PhD might have gone more smoothly and produced relatively more results.

[Do not be shy. Communicate proactively with your supervisors and ask for help—they look forward to hearing from you too!]

Supervisors: Xiaxiami Online (小虾米在线), Nicolas Cage (尼古拉斯凯奇), Astro Boy

Editor: Honey Peach Oolong

Interviewers: Calorie and Fantuan

Audio recording: Calorie