CCL: I am applying to Phys Phd program at USA, need your advice.

 Sent to CCL by: David Mannock [dmannock^ualberta.ca]
 Tsung-Wen, Looking for someone in exactly the same area as your own studies is
 not always a good thing to do. This is playing safe. If you must work in this
 area search on the web of science using appropriate search terms. My advice is
 to look 10 years into the future of your intended area and ask yourself, where
 will this area be? Will it still be fundable and sexy? What marketable skills
 will I have at the end of my PhD studies? I should also mention to you that you
 should take care in deciding on a lab to work in. Will there be someone to guide
 and direct the project in the early stages? Are you capable of working on a
 project independently without guidance from day 1? If so, this is a big
 responsibility. With the cut throat state of funding at the moment in many
 western countries, you need to know that you will be funded at the full
 studentship level for your full PhD term. Competition will be intense and you
 should beware of the sharks in the water. You should be looking for a positive,
 supportive learning environment, both within a lab and a department. Whenever
 money becomes tight, there is a lot of back stabbing that goes on at both
 levels. You do not want to be in a pressure cooker with nothing to show for 5
 years work. Make sure that the PI has some relevant skills. Is he/she a good
 paper/grant writer? Are the names of lab workers present as co-authors in
 grants? Are students permitted to be the corresponding authors on some papers?
 Where are the former students and postdoctoral fellows that have been through
 the lab? How many have faculty positions? Will you be able to talk to them or
 students in the department about their experiences locally. If the answers to
 these questions is negative, I would urge caution. Be wary of people with too
 many awards. Some people like to pad their CVs with other peoples
 accomplishments! Remember, the prospective employer wants to interview you, but
 you also need to interview them. You must not be shy in asking these questions.
 When you are finishing your thesis, you should be able to write a paper or a
 grant independently. This ultimately is what the western academic systems want
 to see at the end of a PhD studentship and this is what you must aim for
 yourself. That is my 10 cents worth. David Mannock
 On 12/7/2010 7:43 PM, Tsung-Wen Yen peter308~~gmail.com wrote:
 
 Sent to CCL by: "Tsung-Wen  Yen" [peter308%a%gmail.com]
 Dear CCLers:
 My research is about Metallic clusters, I studied its geometry, thermal
 properties,dynamics and time-correlation properties. Recently, I am studying its
 magnetism using DFT and I have discovered how cluster's symmetry induce its
 magnetism. I planned to apply for PHD in the phyics department in USA. However,
 I searched over the universities and find several groups which has the same
 research topic as mine. For example, Prof Landman in GIT and Prof.Bloomfield in
 U of Virgina, and many others. I just want to consult you that are there other
 research groups in USA that are well-knowed for their research in metallic
 clusters?( theory and simulation). Appreciated if you could give me some
 suggestions. I spend a lot of time searching on google and scholar google. I
 just want to confirm if I missed any researchers in this field. Please give me
 feedbacks if you think I am asking a dumb question. Many thanks!
                                                         With Best Regards
                                                         Tsung-Wen Yen>