After you have written: compare groups without scoring them

This is a method, not a university rule

Start from contact you have already made. This page does not build a supervisor directory, give anyone a score, or turn a department page into a recruiting advert. A published university entry remains an official directory that has been checked, not a list of people.

Who it is for

Students who have already written to a supervisor or a group, had a conversation, or are watching whether they can stay in a group. If you have not written yet, use the question list and the guide that starts from one paper.

Last checked

2026-10-25. The rows are a private record. A person's words are not a university regulation.

The point

Having written does not mean you should join, and it does not mean you have a place. Put two or three groups you have already contacted on one private sheet. Each cell is something you saw, something they said, or unknown. Unknown is not a negative mark, and it does not go on a public board.

Whether research life fits is three checks you can make in two weeks: whether your current timetable can hold the small piece of work you agreed; whether you know who to ask next week about method; and whether you can leave an unanswered cell unknown. There is no alumnus quotation here. Someone else's destination does not answer these three checks.

What to do

1. One card per group. Do not merge two groups into one campus experience.
2. Supervision: who looked at your work in the past two weeks, and in what setting. If nobody did, write "no direct supervision in these two weeks". Do not write "the supervisor is irresponsible".
3. What students actually do: only the task you saw, such as reading one paper, running code that already existed, cleaning a table, or doing administration. If you did not see it, write unknown. Do not invent a lab culture.
4. Time against classes: write the classes and deadlines already fixed this term. If nobody stated expected hours, that cell stays unknown. A clash is a calendar fact, not a quality score.
5. At the end of two weeks choose one conclusion: keep observing, narrow to one question and ask again, pause this group, or not enough information to choose. If you cannot choose, do not convert the blank into a negative so the sheet looks finished.
6. No reply stays "message sent, no reply". That is not a refusal and not an offer. Update only the card that has a new fact.

One example

You emailed two groups. Group A replied and asked you to read one paper before a conversation that has not happened. Group B did not reply. Group A's supervision cell says "one meeting arranged, not held". Group B says "message sent, no reply". If A's conversation happens, update only A with what was said and which cell is still unknown. B stays as it is. Silence is not "unsuitable". A polite reply is not admission.

Easy mistakes

• Scoring a supervisor by how fast they reply.
• Reading a polite reply, or "you are welcome to learn more", as an open place.
• Turning a timetable clash into a verdict on the group.
• Treating a live department page as proof that the group is recruiting.
• Treating a missing destination record as a penalty. No record means no record.

Template

Use the group checklist, one save per group, in My research. Copying a draft does not mean you sent it, and it does not mean you joined.

Next

For questions you still have not asked, use the list of what to check before you join. Official directories confirm an institution and a page. They do not rank people.