A checklist for students aspiring to be researchers
Every individual aspires for a life of personal dignity, economic security and social acceptance. And, these depend on their professional skills and personal aptitude. In any human endeavour, success occurs when one’s hobby is synonymous with one’s profession, buttressed by their attitude. A career in science is perhaps more demanding, more exacting, and possibly more satisfying because each day unfolds newer intellectual challenges.
Drawing on extensive literature and our own lived experience, we provide a checklist for students aspiring to a career in science to support their pursuit.
Aptitude and fortitude: Science demands patience, self-confidence, perseverance and a mental fortitude to live with failures, learn from them, and eventually arrive at one’s Eureka moment. Therefore, the first step towards science as a career option is to self-evaluate one’s hobbies, aptitudes, and mental fortitude, and to realize that a career in academia may be less remunerative but intellectually satisfying.
Choice of discipline: Carefully decide on the discipline and the themes that would interest you and the choice of type of work that would enthuse you, i.e. conceptual, translational, methodological. Discuss with seniors and teachers to arrive at a logically argued decision on the choice of the research theme/discipline. Remember, you need to be genuinely enthusiastic about your subject choices. Discuss extensively, but then make your own choice. Career choices based on the democracy of opinions will not work. Your conviction and passion to work in the area/theme you chose is important.
Choice of institution: The institution’s academic and extracurricular ecosystems is cardinal to the wholesome and fulfilling growth of a student as a scientist and responsible persona. However, as competition for selection is ever-increasing, admission to a desired place may not be forthcoming, and therefore, a list of alternative institutions should be prepared. In this choice , do bear in mind that the ranking of any institution is not as important as the placement record and feedback from alumni. These will help understand the overall academic environment. Ranking indices of institution can be misleading
Choice of mentor is critical: Ensure that the mentor’s expertise aligns reasonably with your research objectives. Choose a builder over a brand, i.e., choose the faculty who will have time to work with you and mentor you. Working with an established senior faculty is indeed attractive, but ensure that they have the time to mentor you. They may have to allocate time for other administrative duties, at the expense of time with you. It may therefore be worthwhile to explore choosing a younger, emerging/ mid-career scientist. As they are still aspiring to grow, you will grow with them and benefit from extended and participatory interactions. Amongst the younger mentors, chose the one who is better networked, with collaborations across institutions/groups nationally and internationally. Ensure that the mentor has programs that are not derivatives of their own thesis work. This is essential for your growth.
Publication practices and ethics: Check if the proposed mentor frequently appears as the first/corresponding author on publications, and whether he formally acknowledges the contribution of each author. Ensure that alumni and current colleagues confirm that the mentor is not obsessed with his own hubris and genuinely prioritizes student growth through discussion on the nitty-gritty of all aspects of the work. That is, does he co-design the laboratory/theoretical workflow, co-writes and mentors manuscript preparation and data interpretation, and discusses choice of journals for publication. Ensure, through pointed discussions with alumni and current students, that the mentor adheres to ethical publication practices and avoids guest authorship or salami publications to double citations. This will be bad training. The mentor should also be willing to provide space for students to collaborate and publish independently of him/her.
Group culture and ethos: A good thesis requires a congenial, supportive and relaxed environment. An ideal mentor would be humane, grounded, and one who proactively helps students navigate difficulties arising due to gender/race/colour issues, and departmental politics. Effective mentors do not micro-manage students but train them in professional skills through critical thinking, training on administrative and scientific aspects of project management, as well as provide emotional support and personal encouragement when needed. He or she would strive to be fair sponsors of worthy students, his and others, by ethically leveraging his or her networks. Laboratory websites highlighting student work/ awards/ placements are indicators of good environments. Mentors’ workstyle approaches would differ; discuss these and your anticipations with the proposed mentor, ab-initio to avoid difficulties later.
Alumni path and diversification of career trajectory: Double-check the Team or Alumni page to see the placement record of students mentored by the proposed supervisor. Continued contraction of the academic job market demands that supervisors prepare their students with skills exploring alternative and meaningful placement domains.
Read the laboratory description/philosophy/vision to see if it emphasizes team, training, and student development, or that they only highlight supervisors’ publications, awards and their impact. The narrative centered on collective growth leads to a mentor who focuses on building transferable skills and prepares the supervisee for a meaningful career after the doctorate.
Undue emphasis on publication metrics by mentors is counter-productive. More time should be spent on learning the basics, discussing out-of-the-box ideas and exploring them. A good mentor will provide their students with academic freedom, space and patience to enable them to explore uncharted territories. True success and intellectual satisfaction accrue only when you follow new paths and create a new trail.
Freedom to network: Find out if the supervisor will be open to the student cultivating a broader network of mentors. Good supervisors recognize the limits of their own expertise and actively encourage their students to seek complementary guidance from other faculty, alumni, and peers.
From checklist to conversation
The above checklist would hopefully help inform a student about the diligence needed to initiate a career in science. The foremost need is an honest self-evaluation of the student’s personal aptitude, motivation, mental fortitude and ambition to be a career scientist. Evaluate that you are passionately serious about science and that you have the desired mental firmament. Then make appropriate choices of institution /department followed by a careful choice of mentor through due research on aspects mentioned above. Be clear about your research interests and goals and treat initial meetings with potential supervisors as two-way interviews. Do this with due preparation, discuss the issues of work, its scope and the work culture frankly with you proposed mentor. This will help avoid any heartburns later.
Finally, remember that the legacy of any institution or professor is measured not so much by their citations/impact factors or by ranking metrics, but by the collective success and impact of their students. The stakes for any student are high, as they involve their entire future and therefore the choices need due care and alertness. We reiterate that diligence in the introspection on one’s motivation for research, choice of discipline, research theme, institution, and mentor are needed. Willingness for sincere work, dedication, tenacity and a genuine hunger to explore the world are key to success. Also, as a research scholar, learn to FLIRT (Follow Literature in Related Themes) and try to develop new paradigms and widen your academic horizons. The rest will follow.
We now welcome you to a new world of science which comprises formalized curiosity and promises Joys of Discovery and the intellectual ecstasy to wander in uncharted domains of knowledge. Carl Sagan said, Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known and who knows, you are the means for such discoveries. And as Einstein said, the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. It is all yours for the asking.
(Ankit Garg is Associate Professor, Department of Health and Environmental Sciences (HES), School of Science, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) and Ashok Kumar Singhvi is Distinguished Changjiang Talent at the Institute of Marine Science, Shantou University in China)
Published – May 15, 2026 08:00 am IST
