Choosing the Right Path How important is the choice of a successful PhD advisor towards your scientific career and overall academic future?

Abstract

The premise of this work, which originated from personal experiences alone, is that there exist a strong correlation between how well-known and successful a PhD advisor is and the future scientific/professional success of the resulting PhD student under the direction of such an advisor.
We will attempt to substantiate our suspicions by collecting relevant data which are readily available on the internet. We will then calculate such possible correlations between advisor success and PhD student future success.
This study is by all means not complete or exhaustive for many reasons which will be listed below.