graduate admissions - PhD to be advised by Mr. Enfant Terrible?

I have been admitted to a generally well-regarded Computer Science PhD program.

My potential advisor's research interests match very well with mine. However, he appears to be an extremely controversial figure within the community - someone whose research always evokes strong reactions.

Some people consider him to be an innovative out-of-the-box thinker whose research is always fresh and interesting. Others, perhaps the majority, consider much of his work to be ridiculous, outrageous, and gimmicky. In either case (for both the right and wrong reasons), he appears to enjoy plenty of publicity. He is also a full professor and the chair of his department (which is a well-regarded department).

I really want to accept the offer, but these issues are making me uneasy. Should I be worried at all? What do you think? For obvious reasons, I don't want to name my potential advisor here. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Answer

The best single predictor of your future is how your advisor's students have done in the past. Of course, this is not entirely reliable, because you could turn out to be your advisor's most or least successful student, the job market changes over time, etc. However, there's a good chance that you'll fall somewhere in the range of past students.

If the past students have been well accepted by the community and ended up with jobs you would like, then that's a good sign. If not, then you should certainly be worried.

If you do work with this advisor, I'd recommend keeping this issue in mind and trying not to become too narrow. Talk frequently with other faculty, do an internship at an industrial lab, try to collaborate with someone other than your advisor, etc. This is a good approach anyway, even if your advisor isn't controversial, but it's especially important if you are trying to establish greater mainstream credibility than your advisor. (You may have trouble pulling off the "out of the box thinker" approach to getting a job: even if you are as creative as your advisor, being his student can still make your creativity look derivative of his, so it's important to have another angle.)