Choosing the Right Advisor
Selecting a thesis advisor is one of the most critical decisions you'll make in your graduate career. The advisor you choose will shape your research, mentorship experience, and future career trajectory. To help you make an informed decision, we’ve compiled data on graduate student outcomes based on past PhD students in the Department of Physics at WashU.
Below, you’ll find insights on:
- Current Students – The current number of post-qualifier graduate students each professor advises.
- Time to PhD Completion – The average number of years students take to complete their PhD under each advisor.
- Students leaving the research group for another group – The number of students who switched to a new advisor after the qualifying exam.
- Master’s Degree Outcomes – The fraction of students who leave the program with a terminal master’s degree rather than completing a PhD.
- Career Outcomes – The percentage of the students who finished with a PhD from each advisor’s group who did a post-doc or accepted senior researcher or faculty positions after their PhD versus those who went into industry.
This data shows the outcomes of all graduate students who finalized their studies at WashU between the years 2014 and April 2025.
| Thesis Advisor | Joined WashU | Current Students | Terminal Degree, PhD | Average years to PhD | Students left | Terminal Degree, Masters | % Academic | % Industry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaffique Adam | 2024 | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Mark Alford | 2003 | 1 | 4 | 5.75 | 0 | 0 | 75% | 25% |
| Sachiko Amari | 1990 | 0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Jim Buckley | 1997 | 2 | 3 | 5.67 | 0 | 1 | 100% | 0% |
| Alex Chen | 2022 | 3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Ramanath Cowsik | 2002 | 0 | 3 | 5.33 | 0 | 1 | 33.33% | 66.67% |
| Tansu Daylan | 2023 | 3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Bhupal Dev | 2016 | 1 | 4 | 5.75 | 0 | 0 | 75% | 25% |
| Wim Dickhoff | 1986 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 33.33% | 33.33% |
| Manel Errando | 2015 | 4 | 1 | redacted* | 0 | 0 | 0% | 100% |
| Francesc Ferrer | 2008 | 1 | 4.5 | 5.22 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 88.89% |
| Jeffery Gillis | 2019 | 0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Erik Henriksen | 2013 | 2 | 6.5 | 6.46 | 0 | 0 | 84.62% | 15.38% |
| Jonathan Katz | 1981 | 0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Henric Krawczynski | 2002 | 4 | 8 | 5.38 | 0 | 0 | 75% | 25% |
| Alex Meshik | 1996 | 0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Shankar Mukherji | 2017 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 50% | 50% |
| Kater Murch | 2014 | 4 | 9 | 5.44 | 0 | 0 | 88.89% | 11.11% |
| Michael Nowak | 2018 | 0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Zohar Nussinov | 2005 | 2 | 5.5 | 5.82 | 0 | 0 | 60% | 40% |
| Ryan Ogliore | 2015 | 0 | 2 | 6.5 | 1 | 0 | 50% | 50% |
| Saori Pastore | 2018 | 1 | 0.5 | redacted | 0 | 0 | 100% | 0% |
| Maria Piarulli | 2018 | 1 | 0.5 | redacted | 0 | 0 | 100% | 0% |
| Olga Pravdivtseva | 1997 | 0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Karthik Ramanathan | 2024 | 0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Sheng Ran | 2020 | 2 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Brian Rauch | 2011 | 2 | 1 | redacted | 0 | 0 | 100% | 0% |
| Alex Seidel | 2008 | 1 | 4 | 5.25 | 0 | 0 | 75% | 25% |
| Lee Sobotka | 0 | 3 | 5.33 | 0 | 0 | 33.33% | 33.33% | |
| Mikhail Tikhonov | 2018 | 2 | 1 | redacted | 0 | 0 | 100% | 0% |
| Xi Wang | 2023 | 0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Ralf Wessel | 2000 | 1 | 8.5 | 5.41 | 0 | 0.5 | 70.59% | 35.29% |
| Li Yang | 2009 | 2 | 8.5 | 5.29 | 0 | 0 | 41.18% | 35.29% |
| Yajie Yuan | 2022 | 3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Chuanwei Zhang | 2024 | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Chong Zu | 2021 | 3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
If you are viewing this webpage on a phone or tablet, please view the table through this linked pdf.
* Redacted: information suppressed to protect private information.
Professors without WashU graduate students completing their studies from 2014–2024:
- Shaffique Adam, Sachiko Amari, Tansu Daylan, Jeffery Gillis, Jonathan Katz, Alex Meshik, Michael Nowak, Olga Pravdivtseva, Karthik Ramanathan, Sheng Ran, Xi Wang, Yajie Yuan, Chuanwei Zhang, and Chong Zu.
Research faculty who were admitted to being independent graduate student chairs since 2023:
- Sachiko Amari, Jeffery Gillis, Brian Rauch, and Olga Pravdivtseva