Other Success in high energy theory - supervisors' thoughts

AI Thread Summary
Professors supervising PhD students in high energy theoretical physics emphasize the importance of collaboration skills and prolific publishing, noting that successful students often write eight to nine papers during their PhD. Experienced supervisors suggest they can gauge a student's potential for success within the first couple of years. A significant factor mentioned is the era in which a student begins their PhD, with those starting before the 1970s often having better career prospects due to more robust funding in the field. The discussion highlights the disparity in predictive power regarding a student's future success based on their starting period in academia. Overall, collaboration and early career timing are critical attributes for success in high energy theoretical physics.
spaghetti3451
Messages
1,311
Reaction score
31
This question is directed to all the professors who have supervised PhD students in high energy theoretical physics.

What attributes have you noticed (during your years as a supervisor) among PhD students who later went on to have great careers in high energy theoretical physics and made a name for themselves in the field? Let me start off the list: being able to form collaborations on your own, writing at least eight or nine papers as a PhD student, if not more, ... ... ... .

Given your years of experience as a supervisor, do you now know (to some extent), after having seen a PhD student for one or two years, if he/she will be successful in academia and make a name for him/herself?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
I'm not a supervisor, but probably the overwhelmingly highest impact attribute is starting your PhD before the 70's, which, if I heard correctly, is roughly when HEP funding across the board (especially in the US) started to go seriously south.

There is probably an order of magnitude difference in predictive power between that particular trait and any other.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Likes spaghetti3451 and Dishsoap
Hey, I am Andreas from Germany. I am currently 35 years old and I want to relearn math and physics. This is not one of these regular questions when it comes to this matter. So... I am very realistic about it. I know that there are severe contraints when it comes to selfstudy compared to a regular school and/or university (structure, peers, teachers, learning groups, tests, access to papers and so on) . I will never get a job in this field and I will never be taken serious by "real"...
Yesterday, 9/5/2025, when I was surfing, I found an article The Schwarzschild solution contains three problems, which can be easily solved - Journal of King Saud University - Science ABUNDANCE ESTIMATION IN AN ARID ENVIRONMENT https://jksus.org/the-schwarzschild-solution-contains-three-problems-which-can-be-easily-solved/ that has the derivation of a line element as a corrected version of the Schwarzschild solution to Einstein’s field equation. This article's date received is 2022-11-15...

Similar threads

Replies
0
Views
2K
Replies
10
Views
2K
Replies
1
Views
2K
Replies
8
Views
3K
Replies
2
Views
1K
Replies
2
Views
1K
Replies
5
Views
2K
Back
Top