Seeing if there is any consensus out there...

1) Good connection with market and industry...2) select topics which can benefit students' opportunity to catch a good job or access good research centres...3) lecture notes and spreadsheet/code available to download4) and most important..being kind, smiley

enthusiasm for the topic

QuoteOriginally posted by: Stefanone1) 4) and most important..being kind, smileyOh come on. Is that really most important?I agree with MJ that it's the prof's enthousiasm and motivation to push the student to learn and to develop a strong interst in the subject.

Perhaps Stefanone meant 4) reachable. That is what I would have put, anyway. You can't have the grumpy, tempermental head in the clouds type dude, like that one that teaches Abstract Algebra in the maths department, using notes he perfected in 1953, can you?

1. If its a professor you are doing a thesis with, I think most important attribute the professor can have is strong interest in making sure that you stay on track with your thesis and that you graduate in a timely fashion. 2. If it's for a class, I think you need someone who is willing to take you from a level slightly below what you may already know to one where you are truly learning something new. I think so many professors tend to be intellectually lazy when it comes to providing explanations. I can't stand professors who teach by powerpoint and don't explain a thing...

If my 5 years at uni with numerous professors is anything to go by, I'd say that the ability to speak clear English is quite desirable.....its an easy thing to do yet most of them can't!Professors are terrible communicators in my exp, and they explain even the simplest concepts in the muddiest of ways....won't mention any names but one professor on my MSc course at the moment has a lost look on his face and never completes a sentence without hesitating and wondering about what he will say next! Bloody annoying!