S. Cenk Sahinalp

2.0 2.0 / 5 1 reviews

Email:
University: Indiana University Bloomington
Department: Department of Computer Science
Website: https://ccr.cancer.gov/staff-directory/s-cenk-sahinalp

Reviews

Total 1 Reviews

Anonymous

Poor

Posted: , Edited:

EDU EMAIL

## Personal Integrity
REALLY BAD! He is despicable. For more info, you can refer to https://www.antonfeng.me/think-twice-before-becoming-cenk-sahinalps-student. But I'll give a brief intro here.

### Deceptive
Between 2013 ~ 2019, he was simultaneously holding positions in SFU in Canada and Indiana University in US. During this period, he almost never returned to SFU, only spending time in Indiana University. However, **when recruiting students to SFU, he'd tell them that he would spend half the time in the US**. After the students enroll, they'd find out the truth, what they get is merely a weekly 1-1 video meeting with Cenk, which isn't enough to guide them, so they have to get some local professors as co-supervisors. But this isn't what they expected in the first place.
Strictly speaking, **this deception could constitute fraud**: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-380.html.

### Selfish and irresponsible
SFU had a MADD-Gen program funded by Canada's NSERC, which got terminated in 2016, severely impacting many students who relied on it for funding, including me. **Cenk was said to be directly responsible for its termination**. When he was the rotating chair of the program, **he almost completely ignored his administrative responsibility, sending almost no students for internship or exchanges**, which were promises made by the MADD-Gen committee (which Cenk was a member of) when establishing this program. After the program resumed to normal operation in the hands of another rotating chair, it was too little too late: NSERC severely doubted the MADD-Gen committee's engagement, leadership, competence, work ethics and morality, and they weren't convinced that similar things will never happen again. So they terminated the funding.

To make it worse, SFU professors like Cenk and [Martin Ester](https://www.antonfeng.me/martin-esters-breach-of-law-and-lessons-i-learned) continued recruiting students under MADD-Gen program until its very end, without telling us about its imminent termination, resulting in our serious economic hardship for years. Those people are liars.

Obviously, Cenk cared about his own interest so much that he didn't care at all about other people, especially students, no matter how serious the consequences will be. 

## Advisor Style & Mentorship
His students said he is difficult to get along with. It could mean that he is kind of harsh and strict.

## Expectations for PhD Students
If he is difficult to get along with, probably the expectations are quite high.

## Funding & Support
Seems to be okay considering that he moved to NIH after several years at Indiana University, before which he spent a decade at SFU in Canada. It should indicate his ability in getting funding and support.

## Research
His research prowess is undeniable. He is said to have a solid grasp of his research areas and knows which directions have the highest ROI in terms of research work. The quality of his research is pretty much guaranteed.

## Lab Culture
I don't think lab culture will be great, given that the professor is difficult to get along with.

## Note
He is now working at NIH (National Institute of Health), but I cannot add him to the pi-review database successfully using NIH, so I have to use his former employer, Indiana University Bloomington, and his Indiana University email.

No, I don't recommend this PI.

Review #417

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