PhD in switzerland? Good idea? - (Jan/07/2009 )
Happy New Year everyone!
I was wondering if anyone new how prestigious a PhD in the university of Zurich is? I know thats not all that matters but since im currently looking for a PhD position I guess Id like to research a bit more. What is best.......a junior group leader? A big lab? Money? Reputation? Publications?
Ive never really stopped to think about ti before but since im leaving a well known institute where the lab was impossible almost I guess I wondered how I should proceed this time. Ive started writing down names of labs im interested in based on subject and I am currently looking at when and where they publish.
Ideally I would want a charismativ boss who makes you work really hard. A semi-competitive environment with a couple fo cool people to talk to. A cool project A and a semi-boring/safe project B. Also I would like the boss to some kind of training or ideas on how to make his lab as productive as possible.
Ok now I feel stupid hahaha
Comments and experience on this would be great!
I was wondering if anyone new how prestigious a PhD in the university of Zurich is? I know thats not all that matters but since im currently looking for a PhD position I guess Id like to research a bit more. What is best.......a junior group leader? A big lab? Money? Reputation? Publications?
Ive never really stopped to think about ti before but since im leaving a well known institute where the lab was impossible almost I guess I wondered how I should proceed this time. Ive started writing down names of labs im interested in based on subject and I am currently looking at when and where they publish.
Ideally I would want a charismativ boss who makes you work really hard. A semi-competitive environment with a couple fo cool people to talk to. A cool project A and a semi-boring/safe project B. Also I would like the boss to some kind of training or ideas on how to make his lab as productive as possible.
Ok now I feel stupid hahaha
Comments and experience on this would be great!
Why don't you come over to Basel instead
I'm working at the STI a great institute on Tropical Diseases 
Hi
I also want to find Ph.D position in Europe. I will graduate on June this year!!
hope we can share some experiences.
Stone
Are you looking for comments on specific labs in Zurich? I'm afraid I can't help you out there, although it's a fine school. I have no idea how 'prestigous' it is supposed to be, but personally I don't give a flying fart how 'prestigous' any place is. Find a PI you like in a city you can see yourself living in for several years. Make sure you'll have some sort of funding, and go for it!
Regarding your question:
It is absolutely impossible to generalize. Some young bosses are good, some are bad, big labs have positives and negatives, money helps but it's not everything, scientific reputation has very little to do with how good a boss they are, and whether or not you are impressed with their style of publication and publication record is very personal, and you'll have to decide this for yourself.
My boss and the boss next door are of a similar age, have similar publication records, similar lab sizes, almost identical funding and good reputations, and my boss is great and the one down the hall is a jerk. Go figure.
Just do yourself a favour and make sure the person you will work for is someone you feel comfortable communicating with, and don't be shy to ask other people for their opinions. When I interviewed for my current job, I specifically asked my potential future co-workers how they found him as a boss: if he was nosey or stand-offish, controlling or mean, or if he had a bad temper or if he forced people to work excessively, etc. I wish I'd asked that before starting in my previous lab!
All the best,
Ginger
it's a very good idea. go for it. there is a very high chance u can get absorbed by bio companies in switzerland cuz they have loads and loads of companies with high salaries. the life style standards are also higher than what u can imagine.