I recently defended my dissertation and I would like to give my adviser a gift for all of his support over the past 5 years. Unfortunately, I am at a loss to think of an appropriate gift. In the past I have given him bottles of wine from different parts of the world that I have traveled to. So, I'd prefer to do give him something other than that. A few people that I talked to suggested that I give him a bound copy of my thesis. Any ideas you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

A pen or a watch that's typical (at least here in Frace) for a gift to a boss.

are you male or female ?

QuoteOriginally posted by: ppauperare you male or female ?what's our point ppauper?

a bound copy of thesis is a must, it's not a gift.you can present an expensive souvenir from your travels, something local and hard to find in your place. some countries have customary gifts, like sabres. you have to take into account a local tradition where you advisor is from, some people don't accept watches or anything with cutting edge as a gift etc. in my opinion the best gift is to keep in touch with your advisor and maybe even help him new business connections, which would lead to potential future contracts.

The gift which they are most interested to get is for you to do high quality research, get many publications in the top journals, and some of those publications, your advisor will be the co-author. They need the publications in the top journals to maintain their reputation, and the hungry new PhD is the best source of these top-journal publications.

QuoteOriginally posted by: psyduckI recently defended my dissertation and I would like to give my adviser a gift for all of his support over the past 5 years. Unfortunately, I am at a loss to think of an appropriate gift. In the past I have given him bottles of wine from different parts of the world that I have traveled to. So, I'd prefer to do give him something other than that. A few people that I talked to suggested that I give him a bound copy of my thesis. Any ideas you can offer would be greatly appreciated.for your advisor i don't know.but, what you can give to me is half the money you'll make from that beautiful knowledge you learned during your phd course

to be honest, it never crossed my mind to give my advisor a gift. I do respect/like them, but in a way advising me is their job and a gift seems a bit inappropriate, almost like a bribe. Is that just me? Do people actual give gifts to their advisors?

QuoteOriginally posted by: CrashedMintIs that just me? Do people actual give gifts to their advisors?it's just you

QuoteOriginally posted by: quantmeha bound copy of thesis is a must, it's not a gift.you can present an expensive souvenir from your travels, something local and hard to find in your place. some countries have customary gifts, like sabres. you have to take into account a local tradition where you advisor is from, some people don't accept watches or anything with cutting edge as a gift etc. in my opinion the best gift is to keep in touch with your advisor and maybe even help him new business connections, which would lead to potential future contracts.The bound thesis seems like a great idea. I had seen other bound copies of theses from from adviser's past students. But, for some reason, I had just thought that having an electronic copy would suffice. I'll definitely get my adviser a bound copy.

QuoteOriginally posted by: CrashedMintto be honest, it never crossed my mind to give my advisor a gift. I do respect/like them, but in a way advising me is their job and a gift seems a bit inappropriate, almost like a bribe. Is that just me? Do people actual give gifts to their advisors?In my lab it's the contrary. Your advisor and your colleagues give you a present for your work (a colleague got an Iphone, another a bike).

After you presented wine it might make sense to by a good cognac as far as the previous gifts obviously were not rejected.

QuoteOriginally posted by: listAfter you presented wine it might make sense to by a good cognac as far as the previous gifts obviously were not rejected.i always buy cognac and truffels to my advisor's wife when visiting them, and they always treat me with awesome Russian dishes and vodka

QuoteOriginally posted by: edouardQuoteOriginally posted by: ppauperare you male or female ?what's our point ppauper?guess