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I am planning to apply this year to several Ph.D. programs at several Canadian universities. The universities I've picked require Ph.D. applicants to secure a potential supervisor before submitting their applications. So far, one professor has responded to my request for supervision, but his response is simply that I can write his name down in my application as my potential supervisor and let the admission committee decide on my application. He hasn't commented on my research abstract or asked for a copy of my full research proposal. I asked him if he wanted to read my complete proposal, but he hasn't replied yet. Overall, he appears nonchalant about supervising me.

Supposing he's the only person at his university to express interest in supervising me, is his vague interest in my research proposal sufficient for this university's Ph.D. admission committee to consider him as my potential supervisor and give my application due consideration?

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    What are the timescales involved? Someone not replying after a few days after you sent a first mail isn’t anything out of the ordinary, someone not replying after weeks of reminders is a red flag.
    – MisterMiyagi
    Commented 2 days ago
  • @MisterMiyagi - So far, five days have passed since I sent him my last email about whether he'd like to read my complete proposal. My hunch is that, to him, the admissions committee ultimately decides who gets accepted to the program, so he'll just wait until I get accepted, if I get accepted, before engaging with my proposed research project. I'm unsure, though, if the university's admissions committee will consider my application if my potential supervisor hasn't fully committed yet to supervising me.
    – JA25
    Commented 2 days ago
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    What would it mean for him to fully commit to supervising you? It looks like at the end of the day, he could refuse but not accept to supervise you unilaterally.
    – MisterMiyagi
    Commented 2 days ago
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    To decide whether he’s willing to supervise you, he will have to read your application, and if the university rejects you on the first round of reviews, he will have wasted his time. It’s possible he is delaying this task until you’ve passed the first round of reviews. Don’t give up at this point.
    – Peter Shor
    Commented 2 days ago

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[…] his response is simply that I can write his name down in my application as my potential supervisor and let the admission committee decide on my application.

They have told you what to do. If you consider them a good fit as a supervisor, now would be a good time to show you are willing to trust their advice.

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There are a lot of reasons for this. The main one being that he is very busy and has no real input anyway into the decision, so he will do other things. That doesn't reflect badly on you or the potential, but it might mean that you would get little direction from them.

The plus side is that if you do get accepted under these circumstances you aren't bound to have them as your advisor since it is only a "potential advisor" being named.

If you are so busy as to make application difficult then put your efforts elsewhere, but if you would value a degree from this institution it would be worth some effort.

This isn't like some places where the supervisor becomes, in effect, your employer.

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    University and field dependent, but in Canada (and according to multiple close friends and collaborators who are faculty in Canada), the PI has significant say. You typically find an advisor first, then apply. It sounds like in this situation that the OP is not being recruited, but the PI is willing to take them if they make it through the committee, which likely means they will not be prioritized but if there are enough open positions to be filled and they are competitive, they will get in. Alternatively, this is a nice way for the PI to not reject the OP but rather let the committee do it.
    – R1NaNo
    Commented 10 hours ago

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