Vic Reiner- advising philosphy and expectations

• General things
  1. It's important for you to eventually define your career goals and share them with me.
     Those goals should include both short term (post-grad school) and long term plans and aspirations. Some people have these goals upon entering grad school. Others don't, and that's OK. But I need you to have some idea of your goals by the time you start working with me. Of course, these goals can change, and people can grow to question their career goals. This is also OK, but it is something that you need to share with me.
  2. I am not invested in which goals you choose.
     I am happy if you want to work in industry, a government lab, K-12 teaching, academia, or any other field. You should choose what is right for you, not what you think I want for you.
  3. I expect you to dedicate significant time to research even when you are teaching.
     During a semester when you are teaching, you should still spend at least half of your work week on research-oriented goals. I understand a work week to be roughly 40 hours. Depending upon your stage in the graduate program, time on research might include not only thinking about problems, but also reading background, or taking relevant classes.
  4. Ultimately, I want you to succeed, and constructive feedback is necessary for success.
     

• Habits of high-performing students
  No one is perfect, but everyone can strive toward perfection. A high-performing grad student ...
  1. ... generates their own ideas for new projects, by reading papers, listening to talks, going to conferences, workshops and talking to people.
  2. ... works with my other advisees. This could be via shared learning, seminar organization, among other things.
  3. ... teaches me new things.
  4. ... strive to write clearly, concisely, elegantly, and engagingly. Ultimately, one has to learn good math writing by reading plenty of other people's writing that you like, and polishing one's one own writing. Francis Su has some good writing tips here.
  5. ... knows the next step to try in their research problem, at most stages.
  6. ... consults me as a sounding-board for their ideas, or to suggest relevant literature when they are stuck.
  7. ... has a reasonable amount of solo work that I can point to in writing a recommendation. If no solo work, then at least work where I know clearly what their contribution was to the project. For this reason, I tend not to write papers with my current students, and generally only do so when I would feel dishonest hiding my level of contribution.
  8. ... cancels their meeting with me (with adequate warning) when they don't have a real reason to meet, and keeps our meeting short if they have just a quick update. If they have no real update and no need to consult me, then both of our time can be better spent.

• Expectations for weekly meetings with me
  For most students, the default schedule of weekly 50-minute meetings with me works best. That doesn't mean less frequent meetings couldn't work, with less frequent meetings sometimes being appropriate. I believe that meeting more than once a week will hamper your independence.
  

  Below are some of my expectations about our meetings. To help achieve them, let me point out a practice of my colleague Prof. Christine Berkesch, whose mentoring style I admire. She has this LaTeX file, generating this PDF. She asks her students to follow its instructions, and before their weekly meeting each week, asks that the student always type up a new section in Overleaf containing the info listed there, so that she can read it before the meeting. I strongly encourage you to adopt this same practice before all of our meetings, especially if you are worried about meeting the expectations below.

  1. It's your 50 minutes.
     Don't be shy about interrupting when some other person is in my office and your meeting time starts.
  2. Try to keep it to 50 minutes
     So that subsequent students can have their allotted time.
  3. Be clear and concise.
     
  4. Socializing and professional development versus research.
     Limit social chat and consultation on technical issues of professional development to no more than 10 minutes. Our meeting times are for us to discuss your research.
  5. Showing me your proofs, but checking them yourself.
     Ultimately, as a mathematician, you are responsible for checking your own proofs. We all make mistakes. But you need to learn when you are having trouble writing down a proof because you haven't truly understood something well, and/or your proof is actually wrong. This an essential part of developing independence. I will want to understand your proofs at varying levels of detail, but don't rely on me to have the final word on checking your proof.
  6. Showing anyone proofs.
     Nothing takes more mental energy than reading a proof, or listening to someone explain it. This is why it is absolutely crucial for you to simplify and polish your proofs before you try to explain them to others, or ask them to read it. Do not squander your audience's mental energy.
  7. Editing your writing.
     As a beginning student, I may be willing to offer you more edits on your writing. But be prepared that I am very picky about writing, and will complain about your writing when I find it unclear. As you progress, I should be reading what you write less and less-- after you graduate, I won't be there to read it at all. This means that you should really try to polish your writing as perfectly as you can before you show it to me.

• Learning when to say "No"
  A proliferation of opportunities that sound beneficial can actually be detrimental to your research progress when overdone. Travel to meetings/schools/workshops, invitations to speak on your work, research collaborations, and commitments to student groups are all vital to your education and professional development. However, if not prioritized correctly they can also undermine your success. Talk with me so we can optimize your opportunities.