What is Advisor: Definition and 49 Discussions

An adviser or advisor is normally a person with more and deeper knowledge in a specific area and usually also includes persons with cross-functional and multidisciplinary expertise. An adviser's role is that of a mentor or guide and differs categorically from that of a task-specific consultant. An adviser is typically part of the leadership, whereas consultants fulfill functional roles.The spellings adviser and advisor have both been in use since the 16th century. Adviser has always been the more usual spelling, though advisor has gained frequency in recent years and is a common alternative, especially in North America.

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  1. D

    Studying High-Functioning Autistic Adult - how to find graduate tutors?

    English is not my first language (grammar in general is not an interest). For what it's worth, I am also fluent in Bulgarian and Hebrew. Diagnosed HFA, 37, employed in software engineering (learned that myself). Long time ago, I've chosen my purpose in life to study Electromagnetism...
  2. A

    Questions about my potential PhD advisor

    I am considering a PhD program in Physics, and my prospective advisor is a more mature faculty member (full professor, late career). I am really interested in the field of study, and the advisor's students speak really highly of their experiences. Are there any advantages or disadvantages to...
  3. gleem

    Other Choosing a Ph.D. Research Advisor

    The recent edition of Physics Today has an article that should be of interest to prospective Ph.D. students. I think that new graduate students will benefit from this article as well as new faculty on how to find a good match between student and advisor...
  4. R

    PhD Students: What Else Can You Learn From Your PhD?

    I mean apart from the obvious that they'll select some research topic and learn about that.
  5. A

    Admissions Following Up with Potential PhD advisor after Applying?

    Hi everyone, I recently finished applying to a university for grad school. Previously, I had contacted a professor with whom I wanted to work with, and it seemed they were also interested in taking me as a PhD student. Ideally, would one follow up (by email) with the professor once they've...
  6. U

    Other Requesting a letter of recommendation from a Research Advisor

    I'm applying to physics graduate programs this fall. I volunteered with an experimentalist in my hometown (at a small undergraduate-only physics program) over this past summer (I'm going to keep it intentionally vague for privacy reasons, but let me know if you really think the response depends...
  7. L

    Programs Need advice on what to do about my master's degree

    I have a major in mathematical physics and mathematics and I've started on graduate school january of the last year to get a master's degree in theoretical physics. My real interest is fundamental physics, specialy related to general relativity and quantum field theory. I've talked to a...
  8. P

    Job Skills How to become a scientific advisor?

    Hi! I just earned a PhD in Physics and I am interested in the career of scientific advisor. Can anyone give me some advices (sorry for the game of words :-)!) about a possible way to follow to become it? Thank you very much
  9. F

    Schools Importance of advisor vs. ranking for grad school?

    So some brief backstory about why I’m asking this question: I’m applying to grad schools next fall, and everything on my CV looks great (2 REUs, I know four professors I can get a great research letter from, I’m doing honors at a top 10 university for physics, etc.) except my gpa, which is...
  10. RJLiberator

    Admissions How does one find a great Graduate advisor to work with?

    Hi all, I'll be applying for Graduate school (PhD) at the end of this year. I have been told that it is a good time to start scoping out the best people in the field that I am interested in, no matter where they are from. Is there an 'easy' way to go about doing this? How does one do this? If...
  11. P

    Struggling with Graduate Advisor - What Should I Do?

    Hi everyone, I am a second year postgraduate student working in astrophysics. I chose my university pretty hastily, and now I feel like I am at a dead end. My colleagues do not speak to me in English and I need to fight to be able to hold a normal conversation at lunch table. I am currently...
  12. Greg Bernhardt

    Insights Interview with Science Advisor DrChinese - Comments

    TheAdmin submitted a new PF Insights post Interview with Science Advisor DrChinese Continue reading the Original PF Insights Post.
  13. zid

    How did you choose your PhD adviser?

    I'm happily headed to an astrophysics PhD program in the fall, but without a good idea of who I want to work with. What considerations usually go into choosing? How did you personally go about it? Any good stories? My PhD program involves short research projects with different faculty...
  14. kkefalas

    Schools Transferring Schools because advisor told me there's no hope

    Hi Physics forums patrons, I'm a bit of an academic pickle and I don't really know where to turn so I was hoping someone could offer an alternate point of view. For a little background, I'm currently a physics student, having transferred from finance about a year ago (go science). Now, I'm very...
  15. Vannay

    Ideal advisor wary of my lack of knowledge in biochem....

    I'm in a physics graduate program shopping around for research advisors and I met with my number one pick today. He works with biological systems using calorimetry and other lab methods a biologist would know. He saw my enthusiasm and liked it but was wary about my lack of biochem knowledge. He...
  16. ZapperZ

    Insights Choosing a Research Area and an Advisor - Comments

    ZapperZ submitted a new PF Insights post Choosing a Research Area and an Advisor Continue reading the Original PF Insights Post.
  17. S

    Choosing Graduate Advisor: Finding one's Interests

    I am a first-year PhD student who worked with a professor over the summer. I get along very well with her, and I would be happy to work with her if I was certain that my interests aligned with hers. She is a very popular advisor and has a lot of students wanting to work with her, so she gave me...
  18. lonewolf219

    Letter of rec from research advisor or professor

    I know having a letter of recommendation from a research advisor is great. However, the research advisor I am currently working with barely knows me. He will be my advisor for about 5 more weeks, but I do not see him suddenly becoming interested in my project (I'm working with the postdoc), or...
  19. M

    Confused with my prospective advisor

    Dear all, Please I need your help and suggestions I contacted a professor for a PhD program in electrical engineering. First, he asked me to send him some documents (CV, transcripts,...etc). Then, he told me to apply for the university. Unfortunately, my application has been rejected...
  20. O

    Should I Thank My Advisor in My Thesis? Guidelines for Making the Decision

    Do I need to do it? Should I put his name somewhere? Thanks
  21. D

    Schools Question about grad school; advisor; letter

    Advisor I am applying to graduate school and there is a professor I want to work with. According to the university, he is an active faculty. I checked his profile and all I could find was his name, the university's address and his research which tersely states: "geometry". So I looked him...
  22. M

    Physics PhD with Engineering Advisor

    My question is whether it is a bad idea to be a physics graduate student with an EE advisor. I ask this because I'm interested in nanophysics at Carnegie Mellon University. On the physics website on the nanophysics page they have listed 6 EE professors and 5 physics professors. It seems likely...
  23. W

    Did I mess up by not choosing a famous advisor?

    This has been bugging me for a while. Last month I narrowed my choices down two two very good graduate programs. I found that one program I didn't feel very comfortable, so I chose the other one, where I felt like I would be happier and fit in more and a project that seemed more interesting...
  24. N

    Question about emailing future advisor.

    So I will be starting my Phd program in three weeks as a graduate intern. I was thinking of emailing my advisor with basic questions such as what I should be reading up on, relevant papers, what he would like me to get started on once I get there. However, I am worried that it will be...
  25. P

    Strange request from research advisor

    So I was 3rd author of a paper published by our group. I then applied for a fellowship which requested me to describe my research activities. I cited the paper I had my name on. My advisor reviewed the application and told me to put my name first on the fellowship application. She even wrote...
  26. K

    What are my options after being dismissed by my advisor in particle physics?

    A little bit of background I have passed all my qualifiers and my even passed my preliminary exam (research plan). My research area was particle searches at the CMS detector. The issues that led to me being dismissed was due to my computing ability. I am able to program however had very little...
  27. D

    What are some tips for writing a thank-you letter to a research advisor?

    Hi guys, Last term I joined the research group of one of the professors in my university, and I did a one-semester research project with him. He offered me to continue on with the project and with his group for my final year thesis, but I think I do not want to. This is because I have decided...
  28. W

    Programs Different Views on Thesis Work with PHD Advisor

    Hi, Everyone: I recently passed my oral exams for my Math PHD, and I am going on into the actual thesis prep. My problem is that I (wrongly) believed that the topic I worked on for the 2nd exam -- call it T--,was supposed to be an "entry" into the general area I was interested in, and...
  29. L

    What is a thoughtful gift for a research advisor?

    I've been in a research lab all summer doing a sort of internship program. Anyway, my research adviser has really spent a lot of time with me helping me get things done in the lab as well as taking the time to make sure I understood the science behind what we are doing. I want to get a...
  30. D

    Schools Graduate school: details on role of the advisor

    I wanted to ask the many experienced members of PF what they feel the role is. My interest is in math, but I am sure many physics students want to know. As in, are they primarily there to alert us to things we should be thinking about in relation to our research problems? Help us with actual...
  31. E

    First meeting with research advisor

    I just found myself a professor who's interested to be my research advisor recently, and so he wants to meet me at his office today... Now all of a sudden I feel a little flustered because he didn't mention what's on the agenda! I presume we'll discuss some administrative stuff (our schedules...
  32. X

    How bad is it not to get a recommendation from an REU advisor?

    So I haven't really been having a very good REU experience. My advisor has not made himself very accessible and I probably only spend like 20 minutes a week talking to him. Most the time I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to be doing so I haven't really been working very hard on my project...
  33. J

    Find Math Advisor to Start Undergrad Research for Fun

    I want to start undergrad research for fun I emailed my school and they told me they don't offer any such opportunities for undergrads and suggested I wait until grad school. But I'm really bored this summer and lots of schools have UR so why shouldn't I? The problem is I don't know...
  34. I

    Surviving a Difficult Advisor: Support & Advice

    Advisor from Hell? I just graduated with a PhD in Physics. (Passed my defense and deposited. Yay!) My relationship with my advisor was very rough. I'm a suck it up, non confrontational kinda of person, so I made it through, but this experience has traumatized me in multiple ways. I try...
  35. B

    Unsure What to Do: Navigating Advisor Help in Physics Assignments

    Hi all, I have what I think is a strange situation. I am pretty swamped with assignments, and my advisor seems to know this. He insists that I bring questions about physics assignments to him. To date, he's helped me earn full marks on more than a few assignments in a troublesome-class with...
  36. B

    Programs What to do about lazy PhD advisor.

    Hi Guys, This question doesn't pertain directly to me-- since I'm not a PhD student until next fall. However, I do have a friend that is really struggling with a terrible PhD advisor, and I would really appreciate you guys opinion (especially those of you in academia). I'll try to keep the...
  37. C

    Schools My PhD advisor sucks. Want to switch schools. Help

    I applied to graduate schools (for PhD programs) hoping to enter a place where I could be scientifically creative and collaborate with like-minded individuals. I chose my current school because they offered me the best package, it had a good location, I was promised an RA position and I...
  38. I

    Need advice : My advisor hates me but I need his LoR

    Hi all I am new here. I need advice about my grad school application. I need 3 LoRs and I am not sure whether I should include my current (master thesis) advisor in it. The reason is he really hates me. For some reasons he wants me to stay at his lab and do my PhD there instead of going...
  39. D

    Programs Optimizing PhD Advisor Changes: Strategies for Success

    Hi, I want to change my current phd subject/advisor. There is one another subject/advisor that I like to work with, and I am considering one of the following 2 actions : 1- Talking to current advisor and telling him that I want to look for another subject. Then talking to the other one...
  40. A

    Physics / Mathematics Advisor?

    hello all, I'm pretty much new to this forum, and hope that through this, i'll be able to make new friends, and find "advisors" who would be able to help me along my learning process for mathematics and physics. for mathematics, these are some of the topics that I'm learning now 1)...
  41. D

    MATLAB Constructing Economic Hybrid Truck in Advisor 3.2"

    hey, I hope i post this in the right section of the forum. I'm working on my thesis and i need to construct an economic hyrbid truck. The program I'm using for that is advisor 3.2, it is a program that simulates the truck. My problem is that i need to add ultra-capacitors and batterys...
  42. B

    Advisor and lock-in trouble

    Ok, so I am just an undergraduate intern this summer. We have light source shining through an optical chopper, reflecting of a lit display, and going to a detector. So, we have a signal on top of a DC signal coming from the fact that the display is also emitting light. We want to measure...
  43. F

    News Bush's Spiritual Advisor Backs Obama

    I thought this was interesting because of the long Jeremiah Wright thread: Bush's spiritual adviser backing Obama Published: Jan. 20, 2008 at 4:25 PM HOUSTON, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush's spiritual adviser, the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, has decided to support the...
  44. Shackleford

    Courses Physics department faculty advisor said Modern Physics will be hardest course

    She said it's probably the hardest course I'll take in the physics program. Right now, I'm taking University Physics I with II right after. What's the best way I can prepare for the Modern Physics courses? PHYS 3315: Modern Physics I Cr. 3. (3-0). Prerequisites: PHYS 1301 and 1302, or PHYS...
  45. P

    UG research Advisor wants me to come up with my own topic

    So I started this REU and my UG research advisor wants me to come up with my own research project. That way I can be the number one author of any paper I publish. However, my creativity seems to be lacknig and I am having trouble coming up with feasible project topics, especially since I am...
  46. P

    My advisor apparently thinks I am slow

    So, something somewhat disheartening happened to me. I was hired as a part time REU student (research experience for ugrads) in the middle of january and have been in the lab for about 10 hours a week, and I hope to work there full-time over the summer. I feel like I do good work even though I...
  47. L

    So I had a discussion with my research advisor about resistance vs. impedance

    He insists they are synonymous. I said I didn't agree. I told him that impedance is specifically the ratio of voltage to current in the s-domain or frequency domain. Impedance carries much more information that resistance alone. Is it technically correct to think of impedance as being the...
  48. M

    Choosing the Right Research Advisor: Age Considerations for Graduate School

    So, now that graduate school is just around the corner, I'm left with the daunting task of picking a school and research group that I'd like to work with. This question may sound silly, but all other things being equal, but what age would people recommend a research advisor be? The more I think...
  49. P

    Maximizing Your Sophomore Meeting with an Electrical Engineering Advisor

    So, I'm a sophomore in Electrical engineering, and I love it even though it's wicked hard. Anyways, I have a meeting with my advisor in a couple days, which all sophomores have to do before registering for spring semester. I was wondering if anyone has any good questions I should ask him? I went...
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