Care should be taken to distinguish research papers from reviews, which although important are not signs by themselves of research accomplishment. Although quality

of the research papers is paramount, number Ulixertinib supplier is also important, keeping in mind that large labs should obviously be publishing more papers per year than a small lab, so some normalization for that factor is important. If your prospective advisor has not published a good research paper in over 5 years, this is a serious warning sign (what is the chance you will just happen to be the one student in that lab to publish?). Another measure of the overall productivity and impact of a scientist’s work as a whole is known as the H-index, which is a single number that rates a scientist’s most cited papers and the number of citations that they have received (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-index). Any scientist’s H-index can be found at the Web of Science (http://thomsonreuters.com/web-of-science). Keep in mind that older scientists will have higher H-indexes than younger scientists. Second, a student can learn much about a potential advisor’s research productivity and accomplishments

by simply reading the advisor’s curriculum vitae. You should not be shy to ask for a prospective advisor’s CV. This does not reflect poorly on you but rather shows unusual maturity and that you are Onalespib chemical structure being careful about how you select your thesis advisor. In some cases, the candidate advisor may be a Nobel Laureate, National Academy member, HHMI investigator, or have won some other distinguished scientific award or prize, such as an NIH Pioneer Award, which is generally an excellent sign that they are a good scientist. PD184352 (CI-1040) Most good scientists, however, lack these awards and this should not be considered a negative factor. Indeed, working with a young faculty member who is skilled in the latest techniques, still has a small lab, and therefore much time to mentor you, can often be an excellent choice. Another objective measure of the

quality of science a lab is doing is whether they have established National Institutes of Health (NIH) (or other) grant support. If this information is not listed on his or her CV, it can easily be checked by going to the NIH grant database (http://www.report.nih.gov). Unless your prospective advisor is in his first several years of starting his or her own lab, lack of NIH support in the form of one or more R01 grants would be a sign that he or she has not been sufficiently productive to merit further support. That said, without doubt obtaining grant funding is highly competitive these days, and this means that many good scientists may sometimes fail to obtain or renew a highly deserving grant application. Nonetheless, it is important for your training that you select an advisor who has sufficient funds to support your graduate research.