Are professors reluctant to supervise very hard working PhD students?

Question

Isn't this an indication that maybe they achieved their academic success through very hard work instead of innate intelligence?

DamonHD · Accepted Answer

It was suggested to me that a PhD is more a test of perseverance than genius...I don't see why a prof would be reluctant unless they are not sure of themselves and think that the system is somehow zero sum. Maybe the student shouldn't want such a prof as supervisor.

johndoe0815 · Answer

I think both are necessary to obtain your PhD. Publishing your research is frustrating, boring, repetitive work. Ideas that are far away from the mainstream are often difficult to publish, so intelligence alone won’t cut it, I’m afraid…
And if you’re interested in a fully funded PhD position in operating systems/virtualisation/compilers in one of the nicest places in Germany (Bamberg, a UNESCO world heritage site) Germany, please get in touch - hard working and/or intelligent students wanted :). Master degree in CS/CE or a related discipline is required. Teaching is mandatory (5 hours/week teaching load during the semester).
Naive English or native German speaker with excellent knowledge of English preferred.

xqcgrek2 · Answer

Some professors want warriors to carry their views and research forward, others just want a worker bee to do their tedious work (possibly exploited) Others just want someone who can complete a funded grant, who is cheap labor (cheaper than a postdoc).It really depends.

unlikelymordant · Answer

I have never heard anyone express a dislike for hard working students, unless they are perhaps poor students as well as hard working. Ideally the candidate is smart and hard working, but being very smart and lazy is probably better than being not very smart and hard working.

Are professors reluctant to supervise very hard working PhD students?

Isn't this an indication that maybe they achieved their academic success through very hard work instead of innate intelligence?

It was suggested to me that a PhD is more a test of perseverance than genius...
I don't see why a prof would be reluctant unless they are not sure of themselves and think that the system is somehow zero sum. Maybe the student shouldn't want such a prof as supervisor.

Some professors want warriors to carry their views and research forward, others just want a worker bee to do their tedious work (possibly exploited) Others just want someone who can complete a funded grant, who is cheap labor (cheaper than a postdoc).
It really depends.

I have never heard anyone express a dislike for hard working students, unless they are perhaps poor students as well as hard working. Ideally the candidate is smart and hard working, but being very smart and lazy is probably better than being not very smart and hard working.