There’s no I in Mutual

Today I’ve received an email from a prospective PhD candidate, who says that he (or she) would like to do his (or her) PhD under my supervision on a topic of mutual interest. Except his (or her) interests are in Physics or Applied Mathematics.

I know I’m being a bit mean here and that there’s no reason why physicists or mathematicians can’t work on Bayesian statistics. But this person actually goes on to state that their expertise is in Rheology and Dynamics of Complex Fluids e.g. particle suspension, droplet and polymer suspension and various other multiphase flows. That I find it a bit more complex to qualify as a set of mutual interests (to mine!)…