I recently met a student who completed their bachelor's and master's degrees while maintaining a position on the dean's list. During the pandemic, this student applied for Ph.D. programs at the University of Toronto, McGill University, and Western University. The student received admission offers with entrance scholarships from all these universities. However, the irony lies in the fact that the student couldn't continue their studies because they couldn't find a supervisor. Supervisors, who are professors employed at the universities, are funded by the government for their research.
In my opinion, all admitted students should be matched with suitable supervisors by the universities for their PhD programs. These students are highly capable; that's why they were admitted in the first place. I believe the current placement procedure, which requires admitted students to find their own supervisors, is not right. It violates their fundamental rights and grants unnecessary power to the professors, which some may misuse.
