Asking the Right Questions to Evaluate a Lab and PI for Your PhD
 

Choosing the right lab and PI is one of the most critical decisions in your PhD journey. The goal is to determine which lab will best support your scientific learning, research productivity, and long-term growth. To make an informed choice, it is important to ask questions that yield meaningful insights rather than relying on vague impressions.

 

Relevant Questions to Ask Lab Members:
 

1. Work experience:

a) Was there help for you to learn, or were you expected to figure out everything on your own from the start?

b) Does your PI thoughtfully assign learning tasks and follow up on your progress?

c) Are you encouraged to communicate openly if you feel overworked or underutilized?

 

2. Work scope:

a) Do you feel there is scope for growth for you, your skills, and your project?

b) How is the support with lab resources/ equipment/infrastructure?

c) How effective is the scientific guidance you receive?

3. Learning experience:

a) Do you receive good guidance throughout your project, or did you have to self-navigate mostly?

b) Has your tenure been productive for your scientific and personal growth so far?

c) Are there regular lab-meetings? If yes, what kind of discussions are taken in lab-meeting? do you find the lab-meetings useful?

d) Do you get to attend scientific meetings/workshops etc.?

e) Have previous students finished their PhD in time?

f) How are the previous students doing currently?

4. About PI

a) Is your interaction scarce or sufficient?

b) Do these interactions help in your scientific & professional growth?

c) Does your PI show interest in your scientific development and long-term career trajectory?

d) Are there any challenges or negative experiences you can share?

e) What are the most positive aspects of working with your PI?

 

5. Lab environment

a) In general, is there good interaction between lab-members?

b) Are there informal interactions, say for coffee breaks, meals, activities, between lab members ?

c) How are the lab hours generally? Strict, flexible or results-focused?

d) How does the PI handle leave requests and sick days

Less relevant for your research and PhD

1. Is there too much work? Too much or little is a perception usually. What’s a lot for someone who doesn’t have a knack for the particular work, would be quite easy for another student who has a natural bent for the same work. A PhD is fundamentally a creative pursuit. Success does not necessarily require slogging all day, but the quality of your outcomes is closely tied to your genuine interest and the level of engagement you bring to your work.

2. Can I do my own project ? Again, the perception of what one calls ‘own project’ is variable. At the end of the day, it is your PhD, so you need to accomplish a piece of work that you can own. However, you are going to learn how to ask a good question during your training through the PhD. Therefore, it may not be a good idea to start a project on your own right away. Also, the exact project is often not fixed in the beginning. A PhD project develops gradually and iteratively. It is always better to get good directions and guidance in the beginning from a mentor who is willing to invest time for your project. Towards later years one becomes less dependent on directions and is able to navigate with minimal guidance.

3. Is the PI scary? This is a subjective question and may not give you any meaningful guidance. The answer to this will vary depending on what a student finds scary—ask yourself what you exactly want to know about the PI and formulate your question specific to that. Ask the lab’s students about their own first-hand experience with their PI, rather than loose opinions from others. While talking to the students ask for examples from ‘their own’ interactions—this often reveals better information for your judgement. Finally, Interacting first hand during rotation is the best way to find out information that are important to you. Getting other student’s opinion on something as subjective as ‘scary’ may not be of much help, and could even mislead you away from a chance of getting good mentorship. So, if the research is of interest to you, do a rotation in the lab and intently work towards getting more insight about the PI and lab environment first-hand during the rotation weeks.

Key Takeaway
 

Ask specific, experience-based questions that reveal how the lab operates, how the PI mentors, and how the environment aligns with your goals. Avoid overly subjective or vague questions that may lead to false impressions. When possible, validate your understanding through direct experience during a lab rotation.