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42,422 |
Is it correct to express PhD in brackets "(PhD)" as suffix to express the ongoing degree?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42423,
"author": "Pieter Naaijkens",
"author_id": 22,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "No, you cannot use a title or degree that you haven't earned yet."
},
{
"answer_id": 42446,
"author": "Aaron Hall",
"author_id": 9518,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9518",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "Perhaps you may have seen someone express their student status in such a way, which may work informally depending on the context (perhaps a listing of students, which may have included undergrads and masters level students, and could thus differentiate). E.g.:\n\n```\nSGA Special Committee of Students named Student\n-----------------------------------------------\nStudent Smith (PhD)\nStudent Gatqie (MS)\nStudent Nahasapeemapetilon (MA)\n...\n\n```\n\nAnd note that these examples are only appropriate in contexts where you need to communicate your state of educational attainment. Perhaps a resume, name tag at networking event, or something of that nature. It's not really appropriate socially (note the disdain in the comments), or outside of such a context.\n\nEven in a context where you are clearly understood to be a student, it's best not just trail off with `(PhD)`. [Fully disclose your current state of education:](https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/small-cv-question.383982/) \n\nE.g:\n\n```\nStudent Smith (Ph.D. expected 2020)\n\n```\n\nIf you passed your comps, but did not dissertate, [some may frown on this](http://www.econjobrumors.com/topic/abd-is-not-a-credential-please-dont-write-phd-abd-on-your-resume), but sometimes used to indicate one has completed all work necessary for graduation except the dissertation (and even when all hope is abandoned of ever completing):\n\n```\nStudent Smith (ABD)\n\n```\n\nor if completion is shortly expected, \n\n```\nStudent Smith (Ph.D. candidate)\n\n```"
},
{
"answer_id": 42471,
"author": "VicariousAT",
"author_id": 32340,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32340",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "You may say you are a *PhD candidate* as a suffix after you finish your field exams (usually after the third year in the US.)"
},
{
"answer_id": 42476,
"author": "Matheus Danella",
"author_id": 29341,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/29341",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "In Brazil, it is common to see people writing \"doutorando\" (for PhD) and \"mestrando\" (for Masters) to indicate that they are in the middle of the course of their degrees. The translation for these terms would be something almost like \"PhDeing\" and \"Meing\" (none of those sound well). But this practice is not considered right, because the person has not finished anything.\n\nAlso, I agree that as a PhD student you don't really want to do that, as you have not already earned your degree. Keep up with your studies, and soon you will be able to add \"PhD\" with no other doubts!"
},
{
"answer_id": 42533,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "At my university in the USA, we award the M.Phil degree to doctoral students who have completed their coursework and exams. When they submit their prospectus, their title changes to \"doctoral candidate.\"\n\nSo they could write either:\n\n1. Hice Dee, BA, M.Phil\n2. Hice Dee, doctoral candidate\n\nSome also use the colloquial ABD (all but dissertation) but as their advisor, I discourage this for formal settings such as their CV or on their business cards:\n\n3. Hice Dee, BA, ABD"
},
{
"answer_id": 101149,
"author": "Siddarth",
"author_id": 85058,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/85058",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "A Phd Student is a research Scholar . I propose he can write .\n\nPhd(Sch).. Where SCh is a suffix , same is recommended in a smaller font."
}
] |
2015/03/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42422",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32297/"
] |
42,432 |
There was a master student who was supervised by a lecturer for his dissertation. They also decided to write and submitted a paper, whose first author was the master student, based on the dissertation. The paper is accepted but it also creates an issue about who should go and present it since there is enough funding for only one person to go to the conference.
The master student wants to go as he is the first author and did most of the work. On the other hand, the lecturer wants to go for networking purposes, e.g. meet other reseachers and find potential collaboration. Moreover, he also reasons that as the student is about to graduate and won't work in academia anymore, it does not have much benefit to fund him to go to the conference.
My question is that whether the lecturer's decision is reasonable.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42433,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "You're going to get a lot of opinions on this, but I think that if the second author wants to go primarily for networking purposes, he should pay his own way. The student wants to go, did the majority of the work, and is the primary author of the paper. The fact that the student will leave academia after graduating is irrelevant. The student should have his travel paid and present the work at the conference."
},
{
"answer_id": 42435,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "> \n> My question is that whether the lecturer's decision is reasonable.\n> \n> \n> \n\nPresumably the funding belongs to the supervisor since if it was not under the supervisor's control, it would not be his/her decision. I think it is perfectly reasonable for the supervisor to decide that it is in his/her best interest to attend the conference and not to fund the student to attend. A lot of factors would go into that decision including how much funding there is, how expensive the conference is, what the student will get out of it, what the supervisor will get out of it, etc.\n\nIn my field, the order of authors is based on contribution. Conference presentations have a presenting author who is often not the first author. It is pretty typical in my field for a PI to get invited to a conference, including funding, to present recent work. This often leads to the PI co-authoring a paper with a student, where the student is the first author. It would be mildly inappropriate for the PI to send the student in his/her place."
},
{
"answer_id": 42436,
"author": "The Almighty Bob",
"author_id": 16086,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16086",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "@BalxBarth already pointed out that you are going to get a lot of opinions on this, here is another one:\n\nFirst of all, I agree with Balx, if it was just about attending the conference (and ignoring the funding) and there is only one slot, then the first author should be the one presenting the work.\n\nHowever, it is not clear by whom the funding is. If the funding is given by the conference then the funding should, in my opinion, go to the first author.\nBut most of the time the travel expenses are not paid by the conference but the university (or a grant that was acquired by someone) to give the researchers of this university/department to opportunity to present their work.\nThe clearest case would be, if the funding comes from a grant given to the lecturer. Here it is pretty clear that he can choose who should be going to this conference. But also in the other cases (grants given to the department/university) the same idea still applies (but maybe to a lesser extend): The funding was acquired to support members of the department: The member of the department should be given priority over the student.\n\nIn general, I would advise you to think about it from a different perspective: If this would have been a solo authored paper (by you), would you still have gotten the funding? If the answer is a very clear 'yes', then I would advise you to talk to your advisor again (keeping in mind, that maybe a good relationship with the person who writes your letters of recommendation might be worth more than attending a conference). If not, just let it be and be glad that your work is going to be presented.\n\n*A minor remark: In some countries it might not be possible to give travel money to students who are not employed by the university. This is here clearly not the case, but should be mentioned nonetheless.*"
}
] |
2015/03/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42432",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/29348/"
] |
42,440 |
I'm currently writing a paper on a certain topic for which a review article was recently published. Of course, I want to contrast my new approach to existing techniques. For that purpose, I have identified the relevant prior work with the help of the above-mentioned review article.
However, in my current version, I simply reuse the whole block of citations from the review article with no change at all. I have consulted each reference individually and they do seem appropriate for citation.
* Is taking a pre-existing block of citations and using it in my own manuscript considered plagiarism?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42441,
"author": "Memming",
"author_id": 386,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/386",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "I do not see why that would be plagiarism at all. Taking references from other papers, reading them, and citing them in your own paper is a regular process. If you copy & paste the sentences that refer to those citations along with the references, then it would be considered plagiarism, but no, not in your case."
},
{
"answer_id": 42442,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "You must cite your source every time you use someone else's intellectual contributions.\n\nA review article contributes curation of sources (among other things) as its intellectual content. If you use that intellectual content, you must cite the review paper (in addition to the individual sources). Otherwise you are misleading the reader into believing that you've done all that work (reading very broadly in the literature, identifying the *most* relevant and useful sources) yourself."
},
{
"answer_id": 42453,
"author": "jCisco",
"author_id": 32323,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32323",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Perhaps your choice of the word \"steal\" to describe the inclusions of block citations reveals your feelings on the matter. \n\nIf you are copying text verbatim, and I assume it is by saying \"block of citations,\" then you should provide a citation to the source. That is my take. \n\nHowever, by altering your conundrum slightly, does it lead you to a difficult question or an unknown?\nAs in, had you found these papers 12 months ago and the question of copying the citation block wasn't applicable, would you have cited the paper in which you discovered these additional sources?"
},
{
"answer_id": 42455,
"author": "Superbest",
"author_id": 244,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/244",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I've noticed many papers deal with this problem by doing:\n\n> \n> time-travel has long been known to be possible [17, 18, 4].\n> \n> \n> \n\nWhere 17 is an older research paper, 18 is a recent paper with more comprehensive results, and 4 is the review which may or may not have pointed the authors to 17 and 18 in the first place.\n\nI suppose this way, you both cite the original source (which you have to do) and credit the review (so as to not be plagiarizing their collection of sources). Perhaps you could argue that this does not explicitly indicate that the first two are taken from the review, but it does deal with the matter using the fewest characters."
}
] |
2015/03/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42440",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8001/"
] |
42,454 |
I am an academic with hoping for an offer at an Oceania university. I want to know how common in this system is it to ask the university to give my spouse a job? It is common and often successful in the U.S. universities, but I don't know in the Oceania (which is largely the same as the British) system.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42457,
"author": "Jeromy Anglim",
"author_id": 62,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/62",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "*My experience on this is more anecdotal, but perhaps it will be helpful.*\n\nIn Australia, I've certainly known plenty of couples that work at the same university. I can also think of a few where I imagine a package arrangement was organised (although I don't know details). Equally, I can think of cases where academics have left a department because the department decided to no longer employ their spouse (i.e., they moved to a new university that would employ their spouse). The ease of making such arrangements depends on how desirable you and your spouse are as academics. It certainly helps if at least one member of the couple is a super star, and the other member is at least competitive.\n\nAnother general point is that [Australia has a lot of universities](http://www.australianuniversities.com.au/list/). In particular, if you are in Melbourne or Sydney (and to a lesser extent other major cities) then you would have six or so reasonable universities to work with. So I also know a lot of couples in the university sector who are able to solve the two-body problem by working at different universities in the one city."
},
{
"answer_id": 42901,
"author": "user1220",
"author_id": 1220,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1220",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "I don't think there will be any specific policy regarding this - it depends on how desirable you are. I have a colleague who was head-hunted from overseas who's wife was given an administrative position; however this is not quite the same scenario. \n\nIf you are applying for a Associate Professor/Professor position, I think you would have a decent chance. Anything else would be unlikely, or simply depend on how congenial your (future) boss is, and whether positions within the department are available."
}
] |
2015/03/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42454",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/30606/"
] |
42,460 |
I'd like to cite the following articles from "Scientific Data" (a journal from the Nature Publishing Group), but no authors are mentioned (as far as I can tell):
1. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2015.4>
2. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2014.10>
However, it's likely that it was written by one (or more) of Nature's editors. If, for example, I am using the [BibTeX](http://www.bibtex.org/) formatting system, how should I describe the author of the article? For example:
```
1. author={Nature}
2. author={Nature Publishing Group}
3. author={anonymous}
4. author={}
```
Or should I leave it blank (option 4)?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42461,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Given that they are editorials, I personally would actually choose a fifth option, and cite the author as \"Editorial,\" thereby giving maximum clarity about the nature of the article.\n\nNature apparently disagrees with me, however, as in the first of your linked articles, the first citation is to another such editorial, as:\n\n> \n> Code share. Nature 514, 536–536 (2014).\n> \n> \n>"
},
{
"answer_id": 42464,
"author": "Martin - マーチン",
"author_id": 13372,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13372",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "It probably depends on the citation style you have to use.\n\nThe [Modern Language Association style (MLA) states](https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/07/)\n\n> \n> **An Editorial & Letter to the Editor**\n> \n> \n> Cite as you would any article in a periodical, but include the designators \"Editorial\" or \"Letter\" to identify the type of work it is.\n> \n> \n> \"Of Mines and Men.\" Editorial. Wall Street Journal east. ed. 24 Oct. 2003: A14. Print.\n> \n> \n> \n\nBut the American Psychological Association style (APA) just substitutes the title for the author. See [APA blog](http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2010/01/the-generic-reference-who.html).\n\n> \n> **“No Author”: For Sure**\n> \n> \n> In some cases, there truly is no way to pin down who the author is. We treat this as “no author.” In reference citations, we handle this by moving the content’s title into the author position (with no quotation marks around it). This most commonly occurs for wiki entries, dictionary entries, and unattributed website content. In the in-text citation, the title (put inside double quotation marks) likewise takes the place of the author’s name.\n> \n> \n>"
},
{
"answer_id": 42467,
"author": "yo'",
"author_id": 1471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1471",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "The standard way for citing these is to use the organization's name as the author. You have to be careful and include it in one of the following ways:\n\n```\nauthor = {{Nature Publishing Group}}\norganization = {Nature Publishing Group}\n\n```\n\nThe reason for double braces in `author` field is that without them, you can get `N.P. Group` or `Group, N.P.` in your article, which are both wrong. Also note that not all BibTeX styles and not all reference types support `organization`."
}
] |
2015/03/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42460",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23382/"
] |
42,473 |
I was at the MIT-Vienna-Conference and they had a pretty nice App-System (Superevent), where Questions to the Speaker could be asked per the Superevent-app, upvoted from others and finally answered by the speaker, all without hand-raising, etc.
I now would like to try to implement that sort of "Guerilla" in my University for Lectures, since the Professors will never agree to use something like this in the near future. Therefore i also don´t have the money to buy a Conference App. Most of them are restricted to 25-75 people in the free plan, but we normally have 150-200 people sitting in a lecture.
So here´s my question: Does anybody know of free solutions of this?
My primal need is: Question to speaker-App for Android and iOS
My wish would be: An own "Help-area" for each lecture, possibility to provide resource-links, up and downvote(Evaluation) of lecture.
I could get my hand around some money by asking the student committee, but most of the conference apps work on a plan per conference, which would be way to expensive for all the lectures in my study.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42477,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "If you don't find a proper open source implementation, you could use Twitter with retweet counts as upvotes and hashtags for each course. I've seen it used by conferences as a question suggestion mechanism."
},
{
"answer_id": 45008,
"author": "Dermot Lally",
"author_id": 34180,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/34180",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "This free guide - the [Event App Bible](https://app.doxiq.com/d/P5Pxt/EventAppBible) - lists lots of conference/event apps. I believe there are a mixture of free and paid-for systems included. You should look at the \"Audience Response Systems\" to id apps that offer this type of functionality, and cross reference that against the pricing table. Hopefully you can find something that works for you. (The guide comes from the Event Manager Blog and was updated recently (2015))"
}
] |
2015/03/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42473",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32341/"
] |
42,475 |
I'm a pre-doctoral researcher (does it exist?) figuring out my true interests and learning the craft. When I start exploring a new (that is, unfamiliar) area, I try to find the most influential literature and scholars in that area through a haphazard and unsystematic process (such as starting with some highly-cited papers, consulting their list of references etc.). And because this is an unsystematic process, I'm never sure that I've not left unexplored some really important work.
I wonder if there's a more efficient process. How do you all go about this?
Also, (and this is a more specific question) what are some online forums where I can ask for more experienced researchers' opinion about what they consider to be the most important literature in a particular area?
Edit: To add some context, I work as a researcher in a US business school. My main area of work is entrepreneurship. Since this is an interdisciplinary subject, I have to consult literature in a wide variety of fields (some recent examples: psychology, complexity science, economics; of course, I access a very small part, the part that is the most relevant to my question). Entrepreneurship itself is in the process of defining its own scope and boundary.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42477,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "If you don't find a proper open source implementation, you could use Twitter with retweet counts as upvotes and hashtags for each course. I've seen it used by conferences as a question suggestion mechanism."
},
{
"answer_id": 45008,
"author": "Dermot Lally",
"author_id": 34180,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/34180",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "This free guide - the [Event App Bible](https://app.doxiq.com/d/P5Pxt/EventAppBible) - lists lots of conference/event apps. I believe there are a mixture of free and paid-for systems included. You should look at the \"Audience Response Systems\" to id apps that offer this type of functionality, and cross reference that against the pricing table. Hopefully you can find something that works for you. (The guide comes from the Event Manager Blog and was updated recently (2015))"
}
] |
2015/03/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42475",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15953/"
] |
42,481 |
I have a friend who was accepted into an [interdisciplinary program at the University of Arizona](http://abbs.arizona.edu/) a few years ago.
They are more than halfway to completing their Ph.D., however their advisor is indicating that they may not receive the full amount of funding this year.
Their offer letter and governing handbook all state that students will be funded at an annual rate of $25k for up to 5 years.
My friend has procured much of their own funding for many of the years through fellowships, so their salary was payed from outside money for over half of their time in the program.
The relevant handbook text is:
>
> The basic graduate stipend is $25,000 (pro-rated the first year due to
> August start date). Depending on the source of funding, you may
> receive this stipend in the form of bi-weekly paychecks or in larger
> lump sum amounts... In addition to your stipend, tuition is waived and
> single only health insurance is paid. Miscellaneous fees incurred each
> semester are the student’s responsibility to pay.
>
>
>
and
>
> All first-year students are funded from multiple university sources.
> By the middle of the second semester, students should have identified
> a dissertation advisor. From that point forward, financial
> responsibility for the student besides with the dissertation advisor.
> During dissertation research, students are typically paid as graduate
> research assistants (via payroll) for a period of up to five years,
> contingent on the availability of funds and continued satisfactory
> progress.
>
>
>
Now this was sold to them by the program recruitment as they would have complete coverage for 5 years at $25k salary, but the statement "contingent on the availability of funds," seems to be an escape clause here.
**When a Ph.D. student is promised a certain level funding in the US, but legally the University can shirk that duty, what is the typical response, recourse, and avenues that the student should take when that funding is lowered or removed?**
Note that my friend is still in negotiation about this with their advisor, and they may still obtain full funding, but I thought it would make a good question.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42482,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "That \"contingent on the availability of funds\" is indeed an escape clause for the university, such that they *technically* have no responsibility to ensure funding. \n\nHowever, it is entirely unreasonable for a Ph.D. student in a STEM field in the US to not be paid a living wage for their work. Your friend needs to make the department aware of this situation, as departments often have resources that can be used to help to cover small gaps. Now it's possible that neither the department nor the professor is able to obtain the necessary funds, in which case, I would recommend that your friend consider seeking paid employment in industry and finish their Ph.D. part-time.\n\nHaving a student do this would be quite embarrassing to most professors, so making it known that this is a possibility may help ensure that appropriate support can be obtained.\n\nThe situation, unfortunately, is much worse if your friend is not a U.S. citizen. In that case, if they have the ability to seek employment through the training option on an F-1 visa, then they may be able to pursue the same strategy. Some professors, however, will attempt to effectively enslave foreign students through visa-related threats, and this can result in very difficult problems."
},
{
"answer_id": 42494,
"author": "Andreas Blass",
"author_id": 14506,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14506",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "This might need a lawyer's attention. My guess is that the university can get away with cutting funding by claiming funds aren't available, but that claim might be undercut if, for example, they're admitting new students and offering them funding. They might also try using the \"continued satisfactory progress\" clause as an excuse and claim that your friend wasn't making satisfactory progress. But then there should be some real evidence of that, and the claim could be undercut if they continued to fund other students who weren't doing as well as your friend. All of this, however, is my opinion of how things should be --- the university should not be able to easily get out of a promise of funding --- but my opinion might not be the law's opinion; that's why I suggest a lawyer might be needed."
}
] |
2015/03/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42481",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4572/"
] |
42,486 |
In a face-to-face meeting with a professor, he told me he would send me some papers to read. It's been almost a week, so I assume he's forgotten. That is understandable, since he has a lot to do. I would like to send an email to remind him, but am having difficulty writing it. How can I phrase it nicely?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42491,
"author": "Wolfgang Bangerth",
"author_id": 31149,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31149",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "> \n> Dear Professor X,\n> \n> \n> during our meeting last week, you mentioned that you wanted to send me links to a couple of papers. Would you mind?\n> \n> \n> Best, Y\n> \n> \n> \n\nI often find students agonizing over the exact wording of totally normal emails. The text above took me 10 seconds to write, and that's the amount of time you can expect the typical professor to spend on the typical email. You're not going to be held to a much higher standard either. Be polite, formal, and above all brief. Address the person at the top, sign off at the bottom. That's all that's being asked for."
},
{
"answer_id": 42492,
"author": "Corvus",
"author_id": 27900,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27900",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "A simple polite email will be just fine. You can write something like the following:\n\n> \n> Dear Professor Smith,\n> \n> \n> I very much enjoyed our conversation last Tuesday. Thank you for meeting with me. In that conversation, you mentioned two papers that I am eager to read, one on post-colonial algebras and another on dialectical topology. Could you please send me the references for those articles? \n> \n> \n> With Gratitude,\n> \n> \n> Alice\n> \n> \n>"
},
{
"answer_id": 42498,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "In addition to the other answers, remember that most professors and other established researchers are extremely busy and overcommitted. Email often then serves as a durable marker of a task to be done, and can be seen when the person is in a position to carry out immediately (i.e., in front of their computer).\n\nI thus often actually *ask* students to email me to ask for something that I've promised them, without waiting to see whether I remember on my own. That is because getting that email helps me to make sure that I actually respond promptly. In fact, my collaborators and I often do it with each other too for the same reasons, and it's surprisingly helpful.\n\nIn short: relax, and don't worry about the phrasing too much, as long as you're not actively rude."
},
{
"answer_id": 42506,
"author": "Kakoli Majumder",
"author_id": 9920,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9920",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Professors are busy people and it's not unusual for them to forget such things. It is perfectly fine to send them a reminder. Make sure you set some context, in case he has forgotten the discussion you had with him. Also, clearly mention what he had promised to send you. Keep it short, simple, and polite. Some of the templates above work fine."
}
] |
2015/03/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42486",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32352/"
] |
42,487 |
I worked on my research for about 2 years and recently submitted a paper to a reputed conference. The referee reports came back and one of the referees pointed out papers that I should have encountered in my literature review but didn't. The knowledge of these papers completely changes the way I view my own work now. Is this normal? I feel stupid for having worked on a problem for 2 years and having missed 2-3 papers that would have been very important.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42489,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "It's unfortunate when a referee points out crucial papers you missed in your literature search, and hopefully it won't happen too often. (The more you talk with other researchers, the more chances you have to learn about these papers earlier in the process.) However, it's certainly not abnormal. Nobody can be an expert in everything, some references are really not easy to find, and sometimes you just miss something for unclear reasons. If you publish enough papers, it's pretty much guaranteed that a referee will occasionally point out something you wish you had known about earlier. This is one of the advantages of peer review."
},
{
"answer_id": 42505,
"author": "Kakoli Majumder",
"author_id": 9920,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9920",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "I have heard of a similar instance where the author had to completely change the focus of her study and rewrite a major part of her paper because the peer reviewers pointed out an existing paper with a very similar research question and results. While most authors would try to conduct an exhaustive literature search,it is not uncommon for them to miss out on one or two papers. Unfortunately, if the papers you have missed are ones that can change your view or approach completely, then your study might need some rework. This is not abnormal in any way, and might happen to anyone. It is indeed a good thing that the peer reviewers mentioned this, so you get a chance of revising your paper and making it more relevant."
}
] |
2015/03/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42487",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32354/"
] |
42,488 |
I'm currently an undergraduate and have a cGPA of about 3.6 in Mathematics. I worry that it's not good enough to land me a place at some of the best graduate schools such as UCB, Princeton and MIT. I still have a little over a year left till I get my degree, which means that I still have time to mess up or increase my GPA. So I guess my question is pretty straightforward, is my GPA enough? What more should I do to improve my chances? I've loved mathematics since a long while but now I fear that I'm worried only about maintaining good grades which has made me lose interest in everything I study. I want to get the same interest that I had back but the grades keep holding me back from it. I initially wanted to delve into research but given that I've lost interest in everything how can I expect it to be fun?What do I do to fix that? Any help would be appreciated.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42490,
"author": "Wolfgang Bangerth",
"author_id": 31149,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31149",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "You may consider that (i) everyone wants to get into these departments, but not everyone can (even among those who have a perfect GPA), (ii) the U of TX, U of CO, U of MI group of universities ain't bad either. \n\nIn the end, your GPA is only one aspect of the puzzle. An important part is also where you get your undergraduate degree. A GPA of 3.6 doesn't count nearly as much if you're at Pomona City College or Fresno State, than if you are at MIT or a highly selective liberal arts college. That is, unfortunately, not something you can do anything about at this point in time, but it's worth keeping in mind when you wonder what you aspire to.\n\nUltimately, while I applaud you for aspiring to go to MIT, UCB, etc, you will find that in the long run it's unhealthy to expect to get there. Very few people do, but most come to realize that being on the next step down is not a bad place to be either. Setting achievable and realistic goals is a worthwhile endeavor."
},
{
"answer_id": 42493,
"author": "Andreas Blass",
"author_id": 14506,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14506",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "The 3.6 looks a bit weak, but there's lots of other relevant information that's not in your question. For example, a poor grade in first-year calculus wouldn't matter so much if you have solid A's in more advanced courses; on the other hand, solid A's in calculus followed by lower grades in more advanced and theoretical classes would be a serious problem. Also, letters of recommendation are very important in graduate admissions. If you've done a research project and your supervisor writes an ecstatic letter about the quality of your work, that can compensate for lower grades in some classes."
}
] |
2015/03/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42488",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24070/"
] |
42,499 |
This question was prompted by answers and comments on [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42481/proper-procedure-when-promised-funding-not-given-to-ph-d-graduate-student) about PhD student funding.
I am under the impression that STEM Ph.D. graduate students, when accepted into an RU/VH university in the United States, will typically be funded for at least 5-6 years, depending on the average length of Ph.D. in the specific field, by either TAs, RAs, a mix, fellowships, etc.
I understand that my university, the University of Arizona, has shirked this duty in a *legally binding sense*, but **is this impression wrong?**
If it is, why would I (or any other graduate student) risk having to find a job in the middle of a Ph.D. in order to "pay the bills?"
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42500,
"author": "Corvus",
"author_id": 27900,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27900",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I cannot speak for all US universities or all disciplines. That said, the graduate programs in the natural sciences that I have been involved with do knowingly commit in legally binding fashion to provide five years of support with the caveat that this may come in the form of 20 hour per week TA appointments if no RA funds are available from the PI or the department. \n\nWhy would someone accept a lesser deal? If one has a better option, I see little reason to do so. If one does not, one might perhaps accept such an arrangement in order to receive a PhD education that, in many fields, vastly increases one's earning potential."
},
{
"answer_id": 42508,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "It's important to distinguish between the *legal* commitment and the *moral* commitment. To the best of my understanding, US research universities *morally* commit to funding their STEM students, i.e., any student joining the university should act on the expectation that they will be funded one way or another throughout their education.\n\nThere are any number of ways in which that can go wrong, however, and leave a department in a position where it is unable to fulfill that commitment. For example, public universities are typically subject to review and interference from the state legislature, such as [the massive budget cuts that have just been inflicted on the University of Arizona](http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2015/03/06/budget-packs-wallop-universities-hospitals/24540423/). They can also potentially face interference on a much more fine-grained level from its (state politically appointed) Board of Regents, who are not under a *legal* obligation to respect the tradition of academia independence.\n\nI would thus not be surprised if many universities carefully weaken their language to avoid a *legal* commitment, and therefore attempt to immunize themselves from student lawsuits should such a situation arise."
},
{
"answer_id": 42542,
"author": "Fomite",
"author_id": 118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "The university I went to for graduate school made no such commitment. They usually guaranteed you, in one form or fashion, your first year or two of funding. But beyond that? The department would definitely *try* to help you, and did it's level best to match people who needed RAs/TAs with people who had funding, and for *most people* it worked *most of the time* but it was by no means secure, and absolutely not legally binding."
}
] |
2015/03/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42499",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4572/"
] |
42,511 |
I am just about to send a paper for publication, and I would be grateful for some advice on how I should acknowledge my fellow PhD students.
The paper in question is my own, in the sense that I am the only author. However, it is clear that science does not happen in vacuum, and it was helpful to have an informal discussion with my collegues from time to time. For instance, I would explain to them the outline of the argument, and they would see if they see an obvious error, or suggest that I use a well-know theorem which might be applicable, or ask a question about a possible generalisation.
What would be an appropriate form of acknowledgement? Is it generally a good idea to add a line like
*"The author wishes to thank his fellow PhD students [insert a list of ~5 names here]"*
in the acknowledgements section? On one hand, I feel it's best to err on the side of being too polite, but on the other hand I'm not sure if it won't come across as name-dropping or trying to win favor.
If this is relevant, my field is (pure) mathematics.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42513,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "The acknowledgements section of a paper is a perfect place to thank people who significantly aided you with the paper, but not to the level where authorship is merited. \n\nUnlike the acknowledgements of your thesis, however, the tradition of such sections is generally to be somewhat more strict in the notion of direct and material contributions: you should not be [thanking your dog](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/38509/whether-and-how-to-thank-a-girlfriend-or-boyfriend-in-the-acknowledgements-of-th#comment85482_38509) here. So, for example, if your officemate actually read and critiqued the paper, acknowledgement is appropriate, but if they just helped to keep your spirits up, acknowledgement is not appropriate.\n\n*(I am answering from the general traditions of computer science, which are related but may not be quite the same as your area of mathematics)*"
},
{
"answer_id": 42517,
"author": "Shingleback",
"author_id": 32368,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32368",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "I have often seen acknowledgements with statements like \"The author thanks Jehj Slotj for helpful discussions concerning this work\". However, I rarely encounter cases where more than perhaps 3 individuals are thanked in this way. I would imagine this is because acknowledgements are intended to include people who directly contributed to an article, but not to the level of co-authorship, and it is difficult to see how many people could all have helped substantially with conceptual issues. \n\nPersonally, I draw the line for acknowledgements somewhere beyond water-cooler talks about the work, but anyone who read a draft and pointed out an important concept, relevant prior work, or significant error that I had missed would be included. Regarding earlier conceptual help, I would only include colleagues who made a tangible difference to the final article."
},
{
"answer_id": 42544,
"author": "Joe Corneli",
"author_id": 32387,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32387",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Here's a template you can adapt:\n\n> \n> Person *A* helped with numerical calculations, Person *B* gave me the idea for Lemma 5, Person *C* provided helpful pointers to literature, Person *D* kindly proofread the entire manuscript, Person *E* provided excellent administrative assistance. All I had to do was sit around and prove theorems.\n> \n> \n>"
}
] |
2015/03/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42511",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7328/"
] |
42,514 |
I am currently doing a medical science research masters with a difficult supervisor. Due to two incidents of equipment malfunctions (equipment that I am using), I was stopped from doing any experiments for more than three months in total. During the three months I did almost nothing. Over the entire 6 months that I have been here, I have only had one month during which I was able to generate any sufficient results (the other months I was learning the technique). My supervisor rejected my proposal to switch to a new technique or use a different equipment set-up. What worries me is that I won't be able to gather sufficient results to write my thesis by July (which is the deadline), and I haven't even started my masters project.
I am wondering whether anybody else has similarly experienced this situation before and whether this is normal during your PhD i.e. doing absolutely nothing for 3 months or more due to the excuse of "equipment faults"? Do you just switch to a different experiment or part of the project which utilize different techniques? Could somebody please help me understand why my supervisor is doing this - is this normal for labs which lack funding?
What should I do? Should I make a formal complaint to the university about my masters supervisor? If I do so, I am afraid that the animosity between me and my supervisor will be beyond repair and he will not support me at all in finishing in time for the deadline. If it keeps on like this, I won't get enough results to sufficiently write the project thesis.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42515,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "In experimental sciences, such incidents are unfortunately common. I do a lot of work in synthetic biology, for example, and it's not unusual to have a lab run into serious equipment or materials problems that significantly delay the work of the lab. For example, one lab I was working with had a critical machine start producing strange results and it took a couple of months, several corrupted experiments, more than one technician visit, and also a change of protocols in order to debug it.\n\nIf the lab you are in is actively working to fix the equipment issues, and it is just taking a long time, that would not be unusual. If they are *not* but are just neglecting it, then that is a very bad sign and you need to talk to the people who run your program to find out what to do.\n\nIn either case, you should make arrangements, either with your advisor or with the program heads, about how to adjust expectations given the equipment problems. Equipment issues should *not* be your problem or delay your graduation at a Masters level (Ph.D. is a different matter)."
},
{
"answer_id": 42530,
"author": "sgk",
"author_id": 32378,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32378",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "Get a new mentor. Although calendar days have gone by,you have not lost much time on your thesis project because you have not been allowed to get any experiments done. Find a new mentor in the department OR you can also go outside the department as long as that person has an adjunct or other appointment, or the dept. chair is willing to give them one.\n\nTalk to the chair or some depts. will have a senior faculty assigned to herd students.\n\nYou can research funding sometimes through the university resources AND you can go direct to the NIH website to find who has funding and how long it lasts. Pick someone who has money, has a good track record with students and has students that have gone on to post-docs in good labs. This is more important than the exact research area, it is most important to get a good mentor who can imbue you with the skills to make it in the long run. Your current mentor is clearly NOT that.\n\nGet a new mentor and get going! Good luck.\n\np.s. you could try to find another lab that will let you use their equipment, but just ask your self what is going to happen next in the current lab?"
}
] |
2015/03/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42514",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25055/"
] |
42,519 |
I am about to resubmit a manuscript to a journal, having now addressed the reviewers' feedback.
The instructions say to submit my final manuscript along with a "marked-up manuscript", which is "the final version showing all changes from the former version".
Since my manuscript is in LaTeX, what is the standard way of highlighting the changes I made? Had it been a Microsoft Word document, I would have used the "track changes" feature. More so than technical methods, I am wondering what format the reviewers typically expect. Are they asking for a marked-up, compiled PDF? Or a marked-up TeX source code? Or a side-by-side comparison of the source code?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42515,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "In experimental sciences, such incidents are unfortunately common. I do a lot of work in synthetic biology, for example, and it's not unusual to have a lab run into serious equipment or materials problems that significantly delay the work of the lab. For example, one lab I was working with had a critical machine start producing strange results and it took a couple of months, several corrupted experiments, more than one technician visit, and also a change of protocols in order to debug it.\n\nIf the lab you are in is actively working to fix the equipment issues, and it is just taking a long time, that would not be unusual. If they are *not* but are just neglecting it, then that is a very bad sign and you need to talk to the people who run your program to find out what to do.\n\nIn either case, you should make arrangements, either with your advisor or with the program heads, about how to adjust expectations given the equipment problems. Equipment issues should *not* be your problem or delay your graduation at a Masters level (Ph.D. is a different matter)."
},
{
"answer_id": 42530,
"author": "sgk",
"author_id": 32378,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32378",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "Get a new mentor. Although calendar days have gone by,you have not lost much time on your thesis project because you have not been allowed to get any experiments done. Find a new mentor in the department OR you can also go outside the department as long as that person has an adjunct or other appointment, or the dept. chair is willing to give them one.\n\nTalk to the chair or some depts. will have a senior faculty assigned to herd students.\n\nYou can research funding sometimes through the university resources AND you can go direct to the NIH website to find who has funding and how long it lasts. Pick someone who has money, has a good track record with students and has students that have gone on to post-docs in good labs. This is more important than the exact research area, it is most important to get a good mentor who can imbue you with the skills to make it in the long run. Your current mentor is clearly NOT that.\n\nGet a new mentor and get going! Good luck.\n\np.s. you could try to find another lab that will let you use their equipment, but just ask your self what is going to happen next in the current lab?"
}
] |
2015/03/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42519",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6334/"
] |
42,523 |
The below is in a paper I am reading, written by Gareis.
>
> One of the uppermost complaints of study-abroad students remains the lack of
> meaningful contact with host nationals (e.g., Gareis, 1995; Klineberg & Hull, 1979;
> Marginson, Nyland, Sawir, & Forbes-Mewett, 2010; Ward & Masgoret, 2004;
> Yashima, Zenuk-Nishide, & Shimizu, 2004).
>
>
>
Can I site this in my own paper as:
>
> Many international students complain about a lack of meaningful contact with host nationals (Gareis, 2010).
>
>
>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42562,
"author": "MrMeritology",
"author_id": 17564,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17564",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "One approach is to cite Gareis (2010) as the source of the other citations:\n\n> \n> According to Gareis (2010), many international students complain about a lack of meaningful contact with host nationals (cited by Gareis, 2010: Gareis, 1995; Klineberg & Hull, 1979; Marginson, Nyland, Sawir, & Forbes-Mewett, 2010; Ward & Masgoret, 2004; Yashima, Zenuk-Nishide, & Shimizu, 2004).\n> \n> \n> \n\nIf you use this approach, then you need to include ALL these in your References list (a.k.a. Bibliography). In this case it would be 6 references total.\n\nThis approach is most useful if these specific sources are important for your purposes, either because they establish credibility, present details, or make important connections to lines of research or results.\n\nAnother approach is to omit the specific citations by Gareis (2010), but also to note that you omitted them.\n\n> \n> According to Gareis (2010), many international students complain about a lack of meaningful contact with host nationals (five citations in Gareis, 2010 omitted).\n> \n> \n> \n\nThis approach is most useful when you only need the main citation as support of the statement and the specific citations are not useful or necessary for your paper or for the reader. In this approach, you'd only have one entry in your reference list for Gareis (2010)."
},
{
"answer_id": 42614,
"author": "Jeromy Anglim",
"author_id": 62,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/62",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "A good strategy is to make it clear that the cited article is a review article that summarises other studies. So for example, you could write:\n\n> \n> **Gareis (2010) reviewed the literature and found that** one of the uppermost complaints of study-abroad students remains the lack of meaningful contact with host nationals.\n> \n> \n> \n\nOr \n\n> \n> One of the uppermost complaints of study-abroad students remains the lack of meaningful contact with host nationals **(for a review see Gareis, 2010)**.\n> \n> \n> \n\nThis is part of good citation practice whereby you show the link between statement and citation. The aim is to give the reader an understanding of the evidence provided by the citation."
}
] |
2015/03/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42523",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32375/"
] |
42,527 |
While I was doing my PhD in my previous position I was diagnosed with a mental illness. I started medication however as a result I could not concentrate very well and it made me quit my previous position. I continued my medication and recently have reduced it. Now I think I am able to concentrate again.
Soon I will have an interview for a new PhD position. I was wondering if I should bring up the matter. On one hand, I think I should be honest to my future supervisor. On the other hand, I don't want to lose the chance by scaring them.
Would you please help me with your opinions?
If I shouldn't bring it up myself, what if they asked me about my previous position? Should I tell everything then?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42536,
"author": "Wolfgang Bangerth",
"author_id": 31149,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31149",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "My personal opinion is that I'd rather you tell me right away. It doesn't scare me to know that there is an issue, but it scares me if there are issues I don't know and that I don't know how to handle.\n\nIn the end, you and your adviser are going to spend a lot of time together, and you need to be able to work as a team. As an adviser, I'm going to find out one way or the other at one point, either because you're going to tell me once we have built up a relationship of trust, or because we come upon issues where you find yourself not being able to work at the level you are supposed to and where I will start to suspect something. Better to talk about it up front so that both sides know that there are constraints within which the adviser-advisee relationship will have to operate.\n\n(As a postscript: I don't expect to get a complete description of your illness. It is sufficient if you say something of the form \"I would also like to mention one issue that I believe is important for you to know: I have some medical issues that I think I have under control now with medication. However, they do impose some constraints on me; in particular, I cannot do X and I will need accommodations for Y.)"
},
{
"answer_id": 42537,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "There is no requirement to disclose and given the current climate around mental health, I would not suggest disclosing.\n\nI would say that you had health problems that resulted in your having to leave your former school, but that these issues are under control and you are confident you will succeed at your new program.\n\nI would be sure you tell your letter writers to also use the vague rubric of \"health problems\" as some may inadvertently disclose without thinking about how you want to be framed."
},
{
"answer_id": 42549,
"author": "Joe Corneli",
"author_id": 32387,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32387",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "If you have a list of specific *academic* concerns that are relevant to your mental health on an ongoing basis, e.g. about working hours, various pressures related to research and publication, the hours-per-week availability of this potential advisor, etc., you should definitely ask about those. You'll likely impress the interview panel sufficiently with your forthrightness just with that. No need to get into your previous degree program and personal life at all, unless they ask, and they probably won't. If the university ends up making you an offer, HR will probably be oblidged to ask you about your medical history in a form. \n\nIf you're curious whether the university has counselling support, or what other outside options for mental health support there are locally, there will certainly be someone who can answer that, but your future advisor might not have a clue what the options are.\n\nAnd if you have doubts about whether you can actually make it through the programme, then I wouldn't dump those in the lap of your advisor, but talk with a mental health professional. By the way, lots of academics have moderate mental health issues, according to this series in [the Guardian](http://www.theguardian.com/education/series/mental-health-a-university-crisis). Like for people in any field, a lot of this is \"manageable\" but for some it is devastating, it all depends on the specifics. In any case one does well to put health first, though that's not always easy."
},
{
"answer_id": 42559,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "My answer to this question borrows heavily from [my answer to this question about discussing a life-threatening illness](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/34569/5962):\n\n* **If you think it helps explain a work or productivity gap in your career, I would mention it and I would do so in writing rather than let your prospective employers speculate.** Because overcoming a major mental health challenge can help you align your priorities and strengthen you in other ways, doing so can definitely be done in a way that leads one to conclude that it is a strength, not a weakness. If they ask about it, answer clearly and in a way that describes this a strength.\n* **If your previous condition is not relevant in these ways, I don't think you have any obligation to bring it up.** Reminding prospective employers of mental health issues can open to the door to (illegal) discrimination based on your medical history and I don't think you are helping either yourself or your prospective employers by bringing it up."
},
{
"answer_id": 42582,
"author": "davidhigh",
"author_id": 15231,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15231",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "I’d strongly suggest that you not disclose your former problems, as it doesn’t help at all to reveal them. \n\nRemember, that, like any other recruiter, the professor hires the single person of which he expects the best performance in the job. “Mental problems” have the potential to draw doubts on your ability in doing so. \n\nMoreover, you are not obliged to reveal any informations you don’t want to reveal, even not when asked (particularly regarding your health). That is not only yours, but also the recruiters’ privilege (and they usually exploit it – you’d be surprised how many unmanageable bullshit topics are assigned, which lead to years of headaches and finally often to the cancellation of the PhD).\n\nIf it is obvious, say from your CV, that there must have been some problems, call them “private reasons”."
}
] |
2015/03/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42527",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31387/"
] |
42,539 |
I was made a verbal offer for a job at a college, which I accepted over the phone. I haven't got the written offer and I have not signed anything yet. I was informed the written offer will be sent to me in a few days.
That evening, I received an interview e-mail from the same college but a different campus (which I prefer).
What should I do? Wait till I get a formal offer letter from the first campus and then let them know I need more time?
What is the wisest and the ethical course of action?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42540,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "You're not under any contractual obligation (and don't have any legal recourse if the college were to withdraw the offer!) until you've gotten a written offer (which will normally have a deadline by which you must respond) and returned it with your signature. It's in your interest to continue pursuing other opportunities until the first institution has come through with a complete written offer and you've accepted it. \n\nI would contact the second campus, explain that you would prefer to work there if you got an offer, but that you've already got an offer in hand (and what the deadline on that offer is, if you've been given one.) You need to know how rapidly the second campus will be able to conduct their interview and make an offer. If they couldn't possibly make an offer to you before the deadline on the first offer, then I would decline to interview and just take the first position. If it is possible for them to move quickly, then I'd suggest that you go ahead and interview. \n\nThere is a risk here- if the first institution finds out that you're interviewing elsewhere, they might decide to withdraw their offer. The only way to avoid this risk entirely is to turn down the second interview."
},
{
"answer_id": 42563,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "This is a tricky situation. The college won't take your oral acceptance as seriously as a written acceptance, but they may still take it seriously enough to screw things up for them and/or other candidates. For example, their second favorite candidate may be sitting on another offer while waiting to hear from this college. Your oral acceptance may lead them to tell this candidate that it's not worth really pushing to extend the deadline for the other offer.\n\nFor this reason, you shouldn't accept an offer, even just orally, unless you are really certain and committed. It's also not in your own interests to accept before all possible negotiations are finished, since your bargaining power decreases dramatically upon acceptance.\n\nGiven that you already accepted over the phone, the big question is how seriously they took it. If you had an elaborate discussion premised on the fact that you are joining them next year, then you really need to deal with this if you intend to keep interviewing elsewhere. For example, you could write something like \"Thank you again for the offer, which I'm very excited by. I'm afraid that in my enthusiasm, I let the discussion of joining you next year get a little bit ahead of itself, and of course I'll have to discuss the details of the written offer with you before I officially reply.\" This is definitely awkward, but I don't think there's any non-awkward way of essentially retracting an oral acceptance. (Especially because you don't want to retract it so thoroughly that they lose interest and withdraw the offer.)\n\nIf your oral acceptance was more of a passing comment, without any involved discussion or evidence that they took it seriously, then it's a little less awkward. You could just write \"Thank you again for the offer, which I'm very excited by. I'm looking forward to receiving the details. What is the deadline for my decision?\" That would make it clear that you didn't consider the phone conversation a real decision. But this approach doesn't even acknowledge that your oral acceptance could be an issue, which is really awkward if they did take it seriously, so you should be careful.\n\nEither way, clarity and honesty are the key principles. You don't want them to be taken aback or feel used if you keep interviewing or accept another offer instead.\n\n> \n> Wait till I get a formal offer letter from the first campus and then let them know I need more time?\n> \n> \n> \n\nI'd recommend letting them know earlier than that, to minimize the chances that they will make any decisions based on your oral acceptance.\n\nThere's a risk that they could be offended and call the whole thing off, but I think this risk should be small if you handle it smoothly, and they could withdraw a written offer too (so getting it in writing won't protect you)."
}
] |
2015/03/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42539",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32381/"
] |
42,546 |
I've had a promising Skype interview with a great professor from a top-level university in US. Our research interests are closely related and he encouraged me to apply BUT he says that all decisions are finally made by admission committee there.
The question is "Is a professor in such a high-level university able to affect admission committee if he really wants a student?" or "Does admission committee decision-making process become easier if a professor really wants an applicant?"
The main point is the difference between my transcript (which is a real catastrophe!) and my research background which is pretty good so the professor's decision might be different from admission committee.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42547,
"author": "Corvus",
"author_id": 27900,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27900",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "The conventions for how graduate admissions decisions take place vary greatly from field to field. In some fields where graduate students do apply to a broad program rather than to work in a particular lab, individual faculty may have relatively small influence on the decisions of the admissions committee. The admissions committee in these cases may simply look for the students with the most promising records. In other fields, where graduate students apply to work in a particular lab, admissions committees are often aiming to recruit students whose research interests are well matched to those of faculty members in the department. In these cases, the faculty member in question often has a great deal of influence. \n\nOf course, there is also variation from university to university even within the same discipline, though this may not be as great as the between-discipline variation. \n\nAll of that said, individual faculty may be limited in their ability to get a student admitted for any number of reasons. Often a PhD program has number of slots but a large number of faculty looking to recruit students. In these cases, support of a faculty member may be necessary but not sufficient for admission."
},
{
"answer_id": 42552,
"author": "Wolfgang Bangerth",
"author_id": 31149,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31149",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "Being on the graduate committee of my department, if a professor sends us a note that they'd like to have a student admitted and state that they will take on their adviser role, we will only not admit that student if there are any red flags in the file. Most other considerations (including GPA) are not all that important any more at that point.\n\nThe reason for this is that what you get to see about a student from their application file is really just a very inexact science. You get transcripts that don't say very much about the standards in each of the classes a student took, letters of recommendation that sound the same for almost all students, and statements of purpose that most of the time are pretty generic as well. In my assessment of files, GRE scores and the statement of purpose often carry most of the weight, but I am fully aware of the fact that GRE scores poorly correlate with success in graduate programs. In other words, if I can get a personal opinion from one of my colleagues stating that they're excited to work with a student, then that is worth a whole lot and it will carry the day unless there are obvious reasons in the file of a student to reject the application."
},
{
"answer_id": 42555,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "As others have said, the specifics of the situation will vary from field to field and from one university to another.\n\nAt one of my graduate schools, applicants to the department selected an advisor and their applications where read exclusively the potential advisor who had complete control.\n\nIn my current department, decisions are made entirely by the graduate admission committee but these decisions will *always* involve asking faculty about their preferences. Of course, if I want a student and am likely to work with them, I can email my colleagues on the committee and attempt to influence the decision. This influence is real and can help at every stage of the process but there may be situations where it simply not enough to overcome departmental or funding limitations or other major red flags in a student's application. This influence can also vary by context within a department! For example, if I am able to fund a student entirely from a grant or other external funds, my influence is stronger.\n\nSo: **Yes, professors can affect an admission committee's decisions if he really wants a student?** and, **yes, the admission committee's decision-making process is easier if a professor really wants an applicant** This influence has limits and it does not mean you're in, but it is real.\n\nBecause the situation depends so much by context, you should trust the professor you're talking to give you a good sense of how much influence they have. It sounds like they believe it is largely out of his or her control. On the one hand, they may be trying to manage expectations for you, but it likely also reflects a real limitation in their ability to affect the outcome."
},
{
"answer_id": 42611,
"author": "D.W.",
"author_id": 705,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/705",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "Others are providing a reasonable answer to the question you asked (how does admissions work?), but I wonder if the question you meant to ask is \"How should I interpret that professor's comment? Does this mean I'm very likely to be admitted?\"\n\nI'll help you interpret the professor's comment. The answer is... it's very hard to read anything into that comment. It could mean anything from \"That professor is very excited about working with you and plans to advocate for your admitted (so you're likely to be admitted) but he wants you to know he can't make any guarantees\" to \"The professor feels that you are within the plausible range of someone who might be seriously considered for admission, so he is encouraging you to apply\" to \"The professor suspects admission might not be a slam-dunk or might be a long shot, but for politeness or other reasons doesn't want to come out and say that, so he is giving a veiled warning by noting that the admissions committee makes all decisions\" to \"The professor has no interest in working with you or advocating for your acceptance but there's no harm in encouraging you to apply\", or anything in between.\n\nThe bottom line is that if you are interested in studying at that school, I definitely recommend that you apply. The one sure way to guarantee that you won't be admitted, is to not apply. So, do apply.\n\nBut don't read too much into the professor's comments. You should not interpret this as a statement about your chances of admission. Actually, at this point you shouldn't really speculate about your chances of admission -- it's not very constructive. If it's not going to change anything you do, it's not worth worrying about. And there are many factors that go into this that you can't predict.\n\nThe procedures followed by the admissions committee don't really change my remarks above. Yes, in many fields, if the professor wants to advocate for your acceptance, the admissions committee will probably go along with that (barring any serious red flags). But even admissions works that way at that school, this doesn't mean that the professor is necessarily going to advocate for your acceptance. All he said is that he encourages you to apply -- a generic statement that many professors will routinely make to anyone who expresses interest, and certainly not a promise that he is going to advocate for your acceptance.\n\nBottom line: Again, there's not much point to speculating about how likely you are to be admitted. It's unlikely anyone can give you an answer to that without much more detailed information -- and it's not a useful or constructive thing to worry about. There are so many considerations that can affect whether you are admitted, which don't necessarily have anything to do with you. My advice is, apply to a reasonable set of places that you would love to study at and you have a reasonable chance to be admitted to, and then just wait and see what happens. Don't get yourself too caught up in speculating what might or might not happen."
}
] |
2015/03/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42546",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32385/"
] |
42,548 |
On behalf of my advisor, I recently wrote a grant to obtain some specialized and expensive hardware. Is it ok to mention this on my CV, even though the grant is in my advisor's name and if yes, what would be a good way to word it ?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42550,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "I wouldn't put this on a CV, but it is something that you should bring up during an interview as an example of your experience with the grant writing process. \n\nTo elaborate on this:\n\nAn individual is either a PI/Co-PI on a grant or they aren't. Some readers might read your CV and think that you're claiming undue credit. \n\nIn recent months I've interviewed many candidates for a faculty position. Some of them had helped to write grant proposals in this way (and we would discuss this in an interview), but they didn't put those grants on their CV. Other candidates had submitted proposals as a PI/Co-PI, and they appropriately included this information on their CV's along with whether or not the grant was pending or had actually been funded. Listing proposals that were not funded is not something that I've seen on CV's that I've reviewed."
},
{
"answer_id": 42551,
"author": "Wolfgang Bangerth",
"author_id": 31149,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31149",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "You can list on your CV whatever you think is useful information for the reader. In your case, whether something is useful depends on what your position in life is. If you're a full professor with a long history of funded research, what you describe is likely not useful to list on a CV. If you're a graduate student with an otherwise relatively short CV, then that's a different story. I would suggest wording such as \n\n> \n> Co-authored the proposal for grant XY-1234-5678 (PI: Professor Z).\n> \n> \n> \n\nNow, whether an entry such as this has any impact is a different issue, but it is certainly not going to hurt."
},
{
"answer_id": 42556,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "**I would list all relevant grant activity on your CV.** Grant activity is something that many departments consider when considered people for academic appointments and it's often missing or hard to see.\n\nIt is completely normal for graduate students to apply for grants with their advisors listed as PIs. Be honest about your role and about your advisors leadership role (I like [Wolfgan Bangerth's suggestion for wording](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/42551/5962)) but do go ahead and include it.\n\nBangerth is right that this kind of thing will be less useful for individuals further on in their career but I think it should still be included because it is relevant and it makes your CV a more complete record of your academic activity."
}
] |
2015/03/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42548",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27265/"
] |
42,553 |
My supervisor gave me some guidance in order to complete my Masters thesis and to publish the result in a journal. His idea to develop the work is not correct and in this case I know my thesis better than him.
How do I tell him his idea is not correct?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42554,
"author": "gnometorule",
"author_id": 4384,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4384",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Discuss your concerns with him obviously, in a courteous way, and in person. There are two possible outcomes: either you are right and they'll be grateful to learn early on; or there is potential that you don't see, but your adviser correctly identifies. My hunch is that if your adviser genuinely thinks that what you are working on merits publication once fully fleshed out, they are probably right."
},
{
"answer_id": 42557,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "The answer can only be **politely, respectfully, humbly, and open to the idea that it is you, in fact, that is wrong**. There might be something you don't understand and which your advisor can correct. Or maybe your advisor really is wrong. These kinds of academic conversations can be difficult but they are part of the most exciting parts about doing science and some of the best opportunities to learn."
},
{
"answer_id": 42558,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "The safest approach is always to make it a question about you rather than about them. \"I'm confused. You said... but I had previously read/been told/seen ... instead. The two seem to conflict; can you help me understand what I'm missing, or what that other reference was missing?\"\n\nThey may be able to show that there isn't actually a conflict. They may be be able to show that you misunderstood something, or that the other reference was outdated, incomplete, doesn't apply in this situation, is an alternative theory that they disagree with because.., ... Or they may say \"oops, you're right.\" \n\nBy not accusing them, you avoid embarrassing yourself if they were right, give them space to correct themselves gracefully if they were wrong, and maximize your own opportunities to learn."
},
{
"answer_id": 42560,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "At the end of the day, science is not about people. The universe is what it is, regardless of what we think of it, and science is simply our means of discovering these facts.\n\nIf your supervisor really *is* wrong, this must result in something which has evidence that can be observed. Moreover, *you* must have seen evidence that convinces you to have a different opinion from your supervisor. Leave the personalities out, and get at the evidence. If your supervisor is actually *wrong* there must be evidence that can be examined clearly and impersonally. If you are merely convinced to place your bets differently than your supervisor, then it is only a difference of opinion until the evidence can be gathered."
},
{
"answer_id": 42561,
"author": "Cameron Williams",
"author_id": 7796,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7796",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "I had some serious qualms about this when I started out research in undergrad. My advisor had some pretty mistaken notions about the topic we were pursuing at the time. He is a very approachable and understanding guy but I was still a bit hesitant to say anything. After all, he was the established expert and I was the lowly undergrad. How I approached it was along the lines of: \"I'm not sure if I'm doing this correctly but would you mind checking my work? Maybe you can explain what I'm doing wrong.\"\n\nYou don't want to challenge or outright claim your advisor is wrong. You wouldn't do this to a friend¹ and you really shouldn't do it to an advisor - it's a good way to ruin your professional relationship. If you're right, you've come off as very arrogant and create some animosity between you and your advisor; if you're wrong, you've let your arrogance get the better of you and killed your credibility.\n\nProfessors are human and they can be mistaken more often than you'd think. You're going to run into this a lot more than you might have thought. After a while, you can start to be more upfront and honest after you've established plenty of rapport, but early on it is a bad idea.\n\n¹ I've done this and nearly ended a friendship with a very good friend because my arrogance got the better of me."
},
{
"answer_id": 42568,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "I had a lot of such discussions with my supervisor. He knows the field much better than me, so I never thought he was mistaken on specific facts. Instead, most of our disagreements were on what the next steps would be.\n\n> \n> S: Maybe you can improve the second step using [algorithm].\n> \n> \n> D: No, that is not going to work because [...the data is too complex...].\n> \n> \n> \n\nThis usually started an engaging discussion on the details of the data, alternative algorithms, and ways to circumvent it altogether. For this to work, you have to listen carefully to what he says, have an open mind and learning attitude, be polite, and of course, keep the discussion on a purely scientific level. Your arguments should be supported by evidence, and it should be clear how strongly supported they are.\n\nAlso, I think you should indicate how convinced you are when you phrase it. This way you give a true idea of how confident you are, and how much thought should they put into your idea. Furthermore, if you confidently assert something that is factually wrong (and this doesn't happen too often), you get a better chance of getting a detailed and enlightening lecture on why it is wrong."
},
{
"answer_id": 42590,
"author": "Count Iblis",
"author_id": 17479,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17479",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "If you understand the core of the problem well enough, and discussions with the supervisor were not successful, then you should take your time to write down the argument you want to make in pretty much the same style as you would write down a scientific article. You then ask your supervisor to consider what you have written down, he'll then have to read this when he has the time for that.\n\nIt may be that he'll try to do that during a meeting, or he may take quick look and then decide that he has to study it in detail and come back with his thoughts later. Either way, he is then forced to read what you wrote and then ask you to clarify it point by point wherever he has objections to the way your argument proceeds. What matters is then that the conversation will be driven by your line of thoughts and not by his ideas. In a typical supervising session this may well be the other way around, preventing him from getting your point."
},
{
"answer_id": 42799,
"author": "Lakshman",
"author_id": 32582,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32582",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "Considering this is your thesis work and that the supervisor is counted as an asset(in most cases), do try and let him/her know about your ideas. Do question the ideas on why he/she has mentioned their ideas and why your idea could be more suited to this particular application.\n\nIf it were me, I would do this:\n\n\"Sir/madam, you had mentioned these points on how to go about the thesis and had given me some great ideas, thanks! However, could you please tell me if this approach of mine would hold good in this application? I did draw a parallel between both our methods of implementation and I felt approach X could be done in this way since (reason1,reason2 etc). Please give me your opinion on this since it will improve my understanding a lot more. \n\nPS: I am personally of the idea that one must not come off as too arrogant or revert back with off the cuff remarks considering this is something I consider very professional in nature. So there is no proving one another wrong, rather, work together to reach a better understanding. As someone said earlier, no matter if one is an expert or a student, we are all work in progress."
},
{
"answer_id": 117125,
"author": "duHaas",
"author_id": 11811,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11811",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "I would like to uplift answers above that advise the gentle **It's not you its me** approach. I've done both the **I'm right you're wrong** and the former approach. Both have worked. But when I'm wrong with the latter approach I end up being more embarrassed, humiliated, and anxious about continuing my work. It has left me feeling that my advisors trust my work less and are less open to me pointing out errors. \n\nIn the end science **IS** about about people: **egos, personalities, personal beliefs, and competition** whether implicit or explicit to the process. Understanding how to navigate these social biases and situations per person, and at a systemic level, is important for not only being able to work well with other people but more importantly achieving the poster's original goal: furthering their MS work and their science they are researching."
}
] |
2015/03/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42553",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19761/"
] |
42,569 |
I am PhD student and I had submitted my manuscript by email (the journal has not online submission system) to one ISI journal in November 2014. After one month I asked about the status of my paper but they said that they have not received any paper. Then again they want me to try for submission.
However, before submission I asked the editor to announce the approximate time of publishing the paper if it is accepted. He said that they can not publish earlier than December 2015. Because I am in a hurry to publish may paper, I said them I will submit my paper to another journal. After that the editor promised me that it will be published in Issue 2 of 2015 and told me that it is accepted now. I trusted him and I submitted my manuscript to the journal.
Now after two months I asked about the paper’s status but unfortunately the editor said that my manuscript will be published at the end of 2015. I am very angry about this decision and I asked the journal to reject my paper urgently to let me be free to try for another journal. But editor doesn’t answer my mail.
I want now to know what are my rights now. Can the journal not answer my request? And can the journal publish pay paper without my agreement? I don’t want my paper be published in this journal. Can I submit to another journal?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42570,
"author": "Sandrina",
"author_id": 32400,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32400",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "That journal really doesn't sound reliable. The main principle when submitting to journal is to confirm that the article is not under review by somebody else, so I am afraid that if you don't receive a final confirmation that they rejected the paper, it is better not to send it elsewhere."
},
{
"answer_id": 42571,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "Most, if not all regular journals allow you retract submissions at any time before publication, in which case you do not need to wait for the journal to reject your paper and a simple email that you retract your paper should suffice (even if they do not reply to it – make sure that you have proof that you sent that mail though). The details of this will be listed in the journal’s transfer-of-copyright agreement (or similar), to which you probably agreed at some point. If you did not agree to one, the journal cannot legally publish your article anyway.\n\nThat being said, there are some aspects of your story that indicate that the journal in question is not regular, but a [predatory or otherwise shady publisher](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/17379/7734), in particular:\n\n> \n> […], I said them I will submit my paper to another journal. After that the editor […] told me that it is accepted now.\n> \n> \n> \n\nNo reputable journal accepts papers just like that. I strongly advise you to make sure that you correctly understood this communication and also to check whether the journal is predatory. You may find relevant questions on this issue here under [disreputable-publishers](/questions/tagged/disreputable-publishers \"show questions tagged 'disreputable-publishers'\").\n\nFinally , some sidenotes regarding your situation:\n\n* Depending on your field, one year from submission to publication may be the norm.\n* Many journals publish papers online months or even years before they are published in print. In most cases, an online publication (or even an acceptance) should suffice for your needs.\n* As already mentioned, it’s very unusual ask a journal to reject a paper. Rejecting or accepting a paper reflects the journal’s opinion (usually assessed with the help of peer-reviewers) on your paper. Asking a journal to reject your paper is somewhat like asking somebody to dislike the colour green. Instead, you *retract* papers from journals."
},
{
"answer_id": 42609,
"author": "Wolfgang Bangerth",
"author_id": 31149,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31149",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "The journal mentioned in the comments below the original question is published by Bwrungor, which oftentimes guarantees some kind of quality. At the same time, the editor in chief and *all members of the editorial board* are from Ukraine -- a country small enough to make it questionable that they can have a sufficient number of internationally relevant researchers in a field like this.\n\nIn other words, it is a journal operated by a small group of people who are so close to each other geographically and organizationally that they cannot provide meaningful quality control and oversight over each other. This is, for example, visible in the fact that a large majority of the papers in the journal are by Ukrainian researchers. I'm not saying that these papers are bad, but it is certainly indicative that others from abroad do not want to publish in this journal. The behavior of the editor -- accepting your paper without any indication of review -- also does not install confidence.\n\nSo, you may be better off retracting your paper if you think you can get it published elsewhere. You should be able to do so by contacting Bwrungor staff if you can't get to the editors."
}
] |
2015/03/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42569",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32399/"
] |
42,573 |
Is there a problem to change (reduce) list of authors of a paper after it has been submitted to a journal? I am one of the (ten) co-authors of this paper. After the review and changes we made in the paper, one of the coauthors withdrew as a co-author of this paper.
Is this OK? What is the procedure in such cases?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42574,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "What to do depends first on the reasons for the author withdrawing:\n\n* If the person performed critical work, and the others cannot stand behind the full paper without them (e.g., the person actually gathered the data on which the paper is based), then the paper must be withdrawn and modified accordingly.\n* If, on the other hand, the rest of the authors can and do stand behind the remainder of the paper, then the paper can simply go forward with that author removed.\n\nDifferent journals have different procedures for removing an author, depending on their submission and manuscript management system. With some, the authors can edit the data themselves, with others, you need to do it through the editors. In either case, an explanation of the withdrawal should be sent to the editors, so that they know why the change and can decide whether it affects their judgement of the paper."
},
{
"answer_id": 42576,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "It’s definitely weird, and a clear indication that something is going on with a paper. Basically, I can see two cases were this could happen, and both are not exactly great signs for the quality of a submission:\n\n* The removed author was just a “courtesy author” without any real impact on the work. (S)he wanted to tag along at first, but now when people started to nag her/him to do real work, (s)he is rather out. In this case, it is ethically entirely okay to proceed without the additional author, but one wonders why the courtesy author was on the paper in the first place. While this does not say something about the quality of the paper *per se*, it leaves a certain sour taste in the mouth with regards to the ethics of the rest of the authors.\n* The removed author was a “real” author in the sense that (s)he actually contributed to the work, but now feels that the submission is either so bad that (s)he does not want to be associated with it, or that the results are in fact wrong or unethically generated (e.g., because the co-author assumes that all or part of the work of somebody else was fabricated or is otherwise inaccurate). I think I do not have to explain why this would be a very bad sign for the quality of a submission.\n\nWhat I would suggest in terms of procedure is **full disclosure**. Don’t just silently remove the author — in this case, the thoughts of the editor are very likely to wander to the two cases above, and this will make him look *very* carefully at your submission. Explain exactly what happened, and make sure to explain how it has nothing to do with the quality of the submission. If you can’t do that (e.g., because the co-author actually withdrew because (s)he thinks your results are wrong), it is simply better for everybody to withdraw."
},
{
"answer_id": 42577,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "Changes in number of authors is not uncommon. There are many reasons for it, not by far only because of problems. \n\nIf you submit a manuscript to a journal and you need to have the authorship list changed (not just re-arranged), the easiest way is to wait until the reviews have come back and you, hopefully, are in a situation to make revisions. You then change the authorship list and provide the editor with a clear explanation of why the list has been changed.\n\nIt is of course common sense to send an e-mail to the editor as soon as possible and provide the information on changes and reasons why. The editor can then act as she or he sees fit. It could involve providing the reviewers with the information or not take any action at all, but at least you have been up-front with the information.\n\nRemember that when you submit a manuscript there is commonly agreements in place that concerns all authors so providing the journal with changes in authors can be important to the journal."
},
{
"answer_id": 42631,
"author": "Kakoli Majumder",
"author_id": 9920,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9920",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "It should be okay to change the list of co-authors as long as you inform the Editor why you are doing so. In most cases, [a change in the author list would definitely be noticed by the editor](http://www.editage.com/insights/who-can-be-included-as-a-co-author-of-a-paper) and he/she would probably write to you asking the reason (disclosure: I am employed by [editage.com](http://www.editage.com/)). Thus it is best to disclose the reason for the change at the outset.\n\nYou might find [the ICMJE guidelines on authorship criteria](http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html) useful. The guidelines also state that if someone has contributed to the work, but has not fulfilled all of the four criteria mentioned, he/she should be acknowledged. In case your co-author has withdrawn because a section of the paper was later dropped, you could consider including his/her name in the acknowledgments section."
}
] |
2015/03/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42573",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32404/"
] |
42,581 |
Is it okay to contact potential advisor if you have no specific topic in mind about your dissertation? I wanted to pursue graphics for masters, its a bit difficult narrowing it down. Is it okay to ask them for a specific topic?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42706,
"author": "Debora Weber-Wulff",
"author_id": 32489,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32489",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I'm a professor in Germany and I throw any master's students out who come asking me for a topic. It needs to be a question they want answered or some computing question they want to explore. Bachelor's I do a bit of hand-holding on. \n\nYou should research the interests of the professor and see if he or she is likely to be interested in your question. And do check if the professor is male or female before writing your letter. All emails addressing me as *Herr Professor* get piped to /dev/null."
},
{
"answer_id": 42729,
"author": "aparente001",
"author_id": 32436,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "In my experience, you don't need to have a specific topic yet. I think a good way to approach it would be to talk about some paper or papers this person wrote that got you really excited about his/her group. You can also talk about some project that you did that you really liked. In this letter, you want to give the person a bit of a chance to get to know you. I think a good length would be no more than two-thirds of a page in MS Word. You could think of this as a cover letter when sending a CV to apply for a job.\n\nFinding the topic is probably going to involve a lot of work on your part, but you can use your advisor as a sounding board, and your advisor can suggest some things to read.\n\nTry to attend lots of seminars. They can be quite stimulating."
}
] |
2015/03/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42581",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32405/"
] |
42,588 |
Note: I saw this [link](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14063/while-contacting-professors-should-we-mention-if-we-have-contacted-some-other-fa), however I'm hoping to get wider range of opinions to help me make my decisions.
Problem statement: I sent an enquiry email to professor A of faculty X at university Y. Today, I saw another PhD offer posted on the web for another PhD position with professor B of same faculty X at same university Y.
Questions: Is it ethical to send enquiry email to professor B? Should I mention that I've sent an enquiry email to professor A earlier?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42591,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "Yes, it's ethical. Everyone applies to multiple positions. Everyone knows this. At least this is my impression from the US. You don't say which country, so it's unclear who might be funding your position if you're eventually accepted. It's also unclear if you apply to the university, department, or professor directly. This might have some slight influence on whether you tell A and B about your cross applications. If they are going to be meeting together in committee to decide about applications, it might be better if everyone knows that you've applied to work with two different professors but really only once to the university. If each professor has sole discretion as to whom they hire, and only they see the application, then it probably doesn't matter."
},
{
"answer_id": 42592,
"author": "idomeneus",
"author_id": 32412,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32412",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "Ethical and reasonable might be, but smart it is not. You will come across as someone who is \"fishing\" for an angle, rather than someone who is focused and understands the priorities of the department..."
},
{
"answer_id": 43453,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "At my university you can only apply to two programs at the same time using the same application if they have a joint program already in place.\n\nOtherwise, it is physically impossible. You can only file only one application to the university in any given year."
}
] |
2015/03/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42588",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28811/"
] |
42,594 |
Is it generally accepted in academia, that a PhD supervisor should have a PhD in the same research area as the student's PhD research area?
For example, let's assume that my research area is the ACM subject area "Information Systems" and the supervisor's research area is in Sociology > Psychology.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42596,
"author": "Maarten van Wesel",
"author_id": 32146,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32146",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "It would be impossible for all PhD supervisors to have a PhD in the same field as the PhD candidate is studding. If this would be the case there would never be PhDs awarded in new fields.\n\nHowever, your supervisor should have a track record within the field. (S)he should have studied it and should have published in the field. \n\nSociology is a very broad field, and there are surely sociologist who have extensive knowledge about information systems and who have published about it."
},
{
"answer_id": 42597,
"author": "Maarten Buis",
"author_id": 14471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14471",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "A supervisor needs to be able to coach you through your research and your entry into academia. This typically requires that she knows something of the field. She needs to know the important conferences to go, introduce you to the important people, have a realistic idea which journals are a realistic outlet for your papers, etc. etc. etc. This knowledge does not necessarily come from her PhD education, she may have specialised later into your field. The problem is not going to be your committee complaining, but you not getting the right couching and thus making wrong (career) decisions. \n\nSo I would say that it is necessary that your supervisor is embedded in your field, but not necessarily through her PhD, and this necessity is unlikely to be enforced by your committee."
},
{
"answer_id": 42598,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "It doesn't matter what the supervisor's Ph.D. was in, originally: fields are protean and careers take all sorts of strange paths. What really matters is whether the supervisor's knowledge is sufficient to supervise the research that the student will be conducting. That depends on the path of their career, the precise focus of the student's research, etc.\n\nMy advisor, for example, had a Ph.D. in mathematics (since computer science didn't really exist as a separate field yet), but has worked in artificial intelligence, electrical engineering, physics, VLSI, biological modeling, and astronomy, and would be quite appropriate to supervise students in projects in any of those fields, if their focus and his background had sufficient overlap. Likewise, my background in artificial intelligence was no barrier to supervising a biology Ph.D. (which I have done), given the path of my own research over time."
}
] |
2015/03/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42594",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26573/"
] |
42,606 |
I am an international grad student in the US. I would like to quit the PhD program(mathematics) in where I spent 2 years without "any degree" for some reasons. I am in the status prior to the research. If I want to apply for another PhD in other universities, will leaving the fact that I dropped a PhD program without a degree off make serious problems? Does it make some legal, ethical, moral trouble in the academia?
Lastly I just wonder whether, if I am admitted to another grad-school, the department will track or check my previous academic record by inquiry VISA status, SSN, or the other ways.
According to the FERPA(Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act) act, can I control my educational records myself? I asked about this to some schools, they said, even if it's true, the school can also have the right to require the student's educational record in the case of application to the school.
If I got a degree in a school, I also think I should put the fact in the application.
But should I write my all post undergraduate record in my PhD application even if I didn't get any degree and just quit?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42607,
"author": "fkraiem",
"author_id": 12864,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12864",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "Most (all?) universities in the US require that you mention all the schools you *attended* on your application, regardless of whether you obtained a degree from them. Omitting any school is a violation of the rules and, if discovered, could be grounds for rescinding a potential admission offer, even long after it has been granted.\n\nIn other countries, it varies."
},
{
"answer_id": 42617,
"author": "aparente001",
"author_id": 32436,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "It's not a big deal. If they ask you why you want to change schools (programs), just say the other program wasn't a good fit, and then enthuse about the program you want to enroll in. No matter how bad things were there, resist the temptation to say anything that might display bitterness. It's okay to sound critical, as long as you don't project an image of someone who doesn't like to collaborate.\n\nUnless your grades are embarrassing, you should submit a transcript from the institution where you studied for two years. Those two years of study make you a stronger candidate!"
}
] |
2015/03/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42606",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
42,615 |
I have done my bachelors and currently doing masters in pure mathematics. I have done four physics courses during bachelors degree which also includes special relativity. What is the possibility that I may prosper in theoretical physics and earn a PhD in any branch of mathematical physics?
Also, I am going to take the GRE this year but I am little bit confused about choosing subject in subject GRE since scoring in maths is much easier than scoring in physics (if later its possible to change departments then of course I'll choose maths). Any suggestion regarding that is also welcome.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42620,
"author": "tod",
"author_id": 14747,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14747",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "First of all, please remember that PhD is not about learning; learning about many different areas/fields/subjects. More specifically, it is not about increasing you knowledge in breadth, i.e., you know Mathematics, you can now learn about physics, then you can learn about computer science and so on.\n\nPhD is about training in research. \n\nAsk your self this question: \n\nHow can I contribute to this area (may be theoretical physics or any) in this particular topic by utilizing the knowledge I already have (say, acquired during bachelors and masters) in this specific field (say, in pure mathematics)?\n\nOnce you get the answer to this question (it should be in the form of a nice research proposal) you will definitely be able to do your PhD in that area, which you would select and do homework for.\n\n2nd part:\n\nIt really depends upon the institute and the department you are targeting to: **what actually is the requirement there?** And remember, some might not need GRE subject at all.\n\nSo, please make a list of the institutes/departments based upon your interests/priorities and mention their requirements. Then you would be in a better position to decide which one should you go for. Maybe, only because it is unavoidable or simply you can perform better in that.\n\nI would suggest you to have a profound focus upon the first part. Chances are that you might end up targeting a Mathematics department only, still being able to contribute in physics. Even, otherwise would give you a clear vision of what should you do and what you don't."
},
{
"answer_id": 42623,
"author": "Alireza",
"author_id": 28811,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28811",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "My understanding of your question is that you want to pursue your PhD in an interdisciplinary field (including both math and physics fields).\n\nIt is not uncommon to do such a thing... However, doing PhD level research is different than taking bachelor level courses in that field. Taking those bachelor courses familiarizes you with the basics and fundamentals but that's the beginning of the way to the state of the art knowledge you'll be working with during your PhD.\n\nHowever, if I'm wrong about my hypothesis and you're changing your field entirely then that's a different thing which requires careful consideration of your interests and circumstances."
}
] |
2015/03/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42615",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32430/"
] |
42,624 |
When I have to use Microsoft Word for writing a paper, I tend to export most my graphs and charts into the PNG image format since I find it the most convenient due to its smaller size (than [TIFF](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagged_Image_File_Format)) and higher quality (than [JPEG](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPEG)).
However, when I wanted to submit papers for conferences, none of them (three in total) listed PNG as an acceptable format for figures. Two of them requested all figures in either JPEG or TIFF formats, and the other asked for (direct quote):
>
> Use the following standard image formats: BMP, JPG, JPEG, TIF, WMF, or EPS.
>
>
>
Is there something inherently wrong with PNG figures for representing scientific data that I'm not aware of? Should I quit using it for everything?
I do understand the advantage of vector graphics. I use PDF to store the originals, which I then convert to PNG for use in Microsoft Word. As suggested in [Pedez's answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/42628/19853), I've sent an email to the support address for that journal to ask for more information.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42626,
"author": "Pieter Naaijkens",
"author_id": 22,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "I don't think there is anything wrong with PNG that makes it unsuitable, but it may be the case that the publisher's processing software does not support PNG files (or they never bothered to update their author's instructions). To avoid extra work it is usually best to stick to the publisher's instructions and submit using formats they recommend. I would recommend using whatever format you prefer internally to store high quality images, and only convert at the time of submission. Avoid converting as much as possible, since this will lead to quality degradation (for lossy formats, at least).\n\nThat being said, if possible you should try to use vector-based images (which EPS usually is) since they allow for higher quality scaling. For photos and the like the other formats are more suitable, so using vector images may not always be possible."
},
{
"answer_id": 42628,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "Running a journal with Wiley as a publisher, Wiley's instructions state JPEG, TIFF and EPS are acceptable formats. Since many authors supply figures in PDF and PNG I started to pass these on to the type-setter and found that no issues erupted. It is therefore clear that publishers may lag behind with their recommendations while type-setters are quicker to adapt to \"new\" formats. I imagine the lag is possibly a lack of interest to update what works, but can also be because they work with many type-setters and printers and wish to maintain a largest common set of files that they know all can accept rather than having to constantly adapt to individual services' capabilities. I am fully aware that this thinking is a bit arcane and that any type-setter/printer that cannot handle almost everything has very little potential for survival in today's competitive world.\n\nAnyway. I would suggest asking the journal if it is possible to use PNG in your case, or do as many authors have done in \"my\" journal, send them in anyway. It may, for example, be possible to send in a JPG and a PNG copy of the graphics asking them to use the PNG if possible. \n\nAs a side point: PNG is in my opinion the best pixel format because of its strong loss-less compression except for photographs, something it was never intended for anyway. Using PNG graphics will keep down the size of final PDFs of the article which is a good goal to have. So in my case, I encourage authors to provide PNG even though Wiley does not."
},
{
"answer_id": 42638,
"author": "user1850420",
"author_id": 32453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32453",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "In my experience PNG and Multilayered TIFF formats are constructed using layers which in rare cases in some software to cause some layers not be be displayed or appear even when the layer(s) have been switched to invisible. It is recommended to use flat formats (non-layered) such as JPEG or if sizing is necessary then use Vector or resize friendly format such as EPS. My experience has been down to providing PNG to a T-Shirt printing business, the layers I had made invisible but their software made all layers visible. End result looked awful. If you really must use PNG, make a backup then flatten PNG."
},
{
"answer_id": 42650,
"author": "mbarete",
"author_id": 30650,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/30650",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Is there a reason why you can't provide EPS files? Do you have original (for example .fig if you created the file in Matlab) files?\n\nIt can be irritating to constantly re-make your figures, but EPS are recommended by almost everyone because they store vector data, not pixels, when generated from applications/filetypes that support vector graphics. This means that, despite having very low file size, someone can zoom in semi-infinitely on your fonts and graphs. This makes for good quality of figures for publication -- much better than JPG or PNG, which can end up looking pixelated, especially around the labels.\n\nOf course, there are times when you need an image -- like a photo of a lab setup -- and as other answers have mentioned, it's hard to tell whether the publisher can't process PNG files or just didn't update the instructions.\n\nAs a final tip, I learned the hard way how helpful it can be to save original (ie .fig) files of all my figures. This lets me manipulate them very easily and export them from the native format into whichever other format I need. So if a collaborator asked me to send a Word doc with figures included, I could easily export to PNG and include, and then later export the exact same figure to EPS for the publisher. This will of course depend on the program you use, but I think it's a helpful idea to keep in mind."
}
] |
2015/03/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42624",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19853/"
] |
42,627 |
I will soon defend my PhD in social science in Sweden. I want to ask what questions the evaluation committee will ask me during the defense?
If they ask me some questions outside my thesis, what shall I do? Is it enough only know well my own research?
What quality I need to successfully defend my PhD?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42629,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "Generally speaking, PhD defenses come in two flavors, and it is not possible to say a priori which one yours will fall into:\n\n* A real thesis \"defense\" focuses on the thesis, and all questions will relate to the scope of the research work. In this case, knowing your own work and its context well enough should be sufficient, but it is of course possible that somebody asks you why you used method A rather than B. In this case, saying that you don't know B may not fly as an answer. However, you should not get a completely disconnected question just to test your general subject area knowledge.\n* A \"Rigorosum\" ([dict.leo](http://dict.leo.org/#/search=Rigorosum&searchLoc=0&resultOrder=basic&multiwordShowSingle=on) translated this for me to \"doctoral viva\", no idea if this is a well-known term) is a general final exam for a doctoral candidate. Typically, this will also include questions about the disseration, but anybody in the exam commission is free to ask about other topics in the field as well. Typically, the questions are getting \"easier\" (more high-level) the farther they are away from the topic of the dissertation. The claim here is that a fresh PhD should have both, depth and breadth in her/his knowledge.\n\nThere are a number of ways to figure out which class your defense will fall into:\n\n* **Attend other defenses**. Typically, PhD defenses are public, and it is highly recommended that any PhD candidate should visit a few before her/his own, to get to know the procedure and get a feel for what the defense talk is supposed to look like.\n* **Ask your advisor**. The advisor should obviously know what the requirements of the defense are, exactly.\n* **Look it up in the programme description**. Usually, the programme description will contain exam regulations for the defense, and this should describe the exam procedure and who is supposed to ask what kind of questions. This approach has two dangers: (1) you may misunderstand what the exam regulations are saying - as they are more legalese text, you may misunderstand the gist of it, and (2) the actual exam may happen differently than specified - there is no telling whether the exam regulation exactly captures the real spirit of the defense. Hence, you should really also talk to your advisor and/or attend other defenses as well."
},
{
"answer_id": 42637,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "Some types of questions that often come up:\n\n1. Questions about some detail of your work. The point of such questions is often not so much the correctness of this small part of your dissertation, but rather to get you to demonstrate your ability to explain what you've done. This also helps to balance out the presentation, which typically covered the whole thesis in much less detail. For example, in mathematics you might be asked to go over the proof of one of your theorems in detail. Since you've spent more time working on these details than any of the examiners, and assuming that the examiner hasn't spotted a substantial error, you should be in a good position to answer such a question. Don't panic and assume that you've made some huge mistake, but rather go through the material carefully and convince the examiner that you're correct.\n2. What are the broader implications of your work? This is actually a hard question for most students to answer because they've been so focused on the details of their thesis that they may not have taken time to see how it fits into the broader picture of progress in their discipline. This will also be an important question when you eventually interview for faculty positions.\n3. Can this method be applied to some other problem Y? You may be asked how the techniques used in your dissertation could be applied to a different problem. If the answer is that the technique doesn't extend in that direction, then you should be prepared to explain why not.\n4. Questions about what exactly is new in your work. You should have been extremely careful in writing your dissertation to properly cite earlier work and distinguish your new contributions from that earlier work. If this isn't clear to the examiners, you may be asked to clarify."
},
{
"answer_id": 42641,
"author": "dsfgsho",
"author_id": 17804,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17804",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "I attended about a dozen PhD defenses and recently defended my own PhD. Based on my (very limited) experiences, questions can be roughly categorized into two types:\n\n1. **Knowledge**: the first set of questions or statements are usually to test your knowledge on your topic, the related work and whatever you have written down in your thesis and/or papers. If you have done all the work, these are mostly fairly easy to answer and are your way to demonstrate the awesome work you have done. These questions are to clarify, justify and frame your work related to others, in order to get a solid understanding of your contribution.\nExamples:\n\n\t* Can you explain what you mean with #concept you introduce#?\n\t* Why did you categorize or describe #your concept# in this way?\n\t* I believe #your topic# relates to #other guys theory# in such a way, which introduces an interesting contradiction. Can you comment or elaborate on this?\n\t* What is the main limitation of your work, and how could you address it?\n2. **Reasoning**: committee members may also ask provocative or even harsh questions to see how strong you believe in your work but also whether you can transcend your topic and reason on a higher level. These questions or statements can be directly related to your topic but can also be more general. These types of questions are usually given to see how well the candidate performs when put under pressure and when they are questioned about things beyond their thesis. These can be interpreted as \"nasty\" questions, but remember that you can turn the questions around to your advantage. Examples:\n\n\t* Why do you believe this is science? What is science?\n\t* You spend #x# years researching this? Why did you choose the topic and why should we and the community care about it?\n\t* I don't see the contribution in your work, can you explain?\n\t* Why do you think you deserve a PhD?\n\t* Why did you choose this specific application domain?\n\nAgain, this is based on my personal limited experience, but it applied to my PhD defense as well."
},
{
"answer_id": 42644,
"author": "WoJ",
"author_id": 15446,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15446",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "You do not have much influence on the questions from the committee. If your PhD studies were more or less normal and you got that far, everyone wants you to succeed. They will not ask anything incredible (if they are relatively normal as well). \n\nAs for the public questions, my experiences are :\n\n* the friends you gave questions to. You have to choose the ones who have good reflexes to jump up and down when time for public questions come. You also have to train the \"what a surprising question look\"\n* the odd colleague who decided to ask a question about something related to your field, but far enough for you to have no idea. You sweat a lot, visualize him hanging on a tree and hope for the best. Best is to answer whatever you know on the subject and everyone acts happy. If he persists then you ask him what is his view on the subject so that he sits down ashamed mumbling \"I have no idea\"\n* finally the 173 years old professor who absolutely wants you to discuss his article from 1952. You thank for the question and talk about the article from 2012 someone wrote on a related subject.\n\nGood luck. \n\n(events described above actually happened to me in the course of my 2 hours defence)"
}
] |
2015/03/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42627",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32439/"
] |
42,630 |
I'd like to know what percentage of PhD candidates in Computer Science does not graduate with a PhD and thus drops out of their PhD program.
This number probably varies quite a bit for different countries (e.g., in Continental Europe one usually has to have a Master's degree before being eligible to start with a PhD, while in the US one can "drop out" with a Master's degree) and possibly also for different sub-fields; I'm mostly interested about German speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and PhD candidates with a focus in Algorithms and/or Theory, but any answer "x% in this subfield in that country/at that university" are also welcome.
Background story:
Currently thinking hard whether I should go for a PhD in Algorithms at a German speaking university and not a 100% sure if it is the right thing for me. A professor (not the one I'd do the PhD with) urged me to at least give it a try and said that there is always the possibility to drop out if it isn't working out.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42632,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "The [Times Higher Education](http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/phd-completion-rates-2013/2006040.article) looked at PhD completion rates in the UK. In the UK, PhD programs are nominally 3 years long, and the Times reported that, averaged across all fields, 70% of students obtain a PhD within 7 years. They predict that 80% of students who start a PhD in the UK will obtain one within 25 years. There are some data for [MIT students](http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/students/doctoral_completions.html) which shows completion rates asymptote at around 80% after about 8-10 years. There is a fair amount of variability across fields in how quickly the asymptote is reached (e.g., the average PhD in Business is short compared to Medicine), but in all fields about 80% of students obtain a PhD. I was not able to find any numbers for German universities or CS specifically.\n\nThese numbers, however, leave out the substantial number of students who stick out grad school because they do not want to \"fail\". While trying out grad school might sound good in theory, just make sure you are the type of person willing to drop out if it is not right for you."
},
{
"answer_id": 42634,
"author": "jaybers",
"author_id": 32448,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32448",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "The completion percent will vary between universities. \n\nFor USA, I can introduce you to the [NCES ( National Center for Education Statistics)](https://nces.ed.gov/). All univeristies are required to report information each year about the university students, faculty, salaries, demographics, degrees, retention, etc.\n\nThere are many data tools within NCES. You might find the IPEDS tool [(Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System)](https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/) most helpful for your question. It allows you to pick specific universities and examine data. \nI do not know if the countries you mention have similar data collection systems.\n\nMany students complete the course work but do not finish the degree. This is know as All But Dissertation (ABD). I don't know if you want to count these folks as they haven't officially dropped out. However they have not ( and several will not) complete their dissertation."
}
] |
2015/03/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42630",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13427/"
] |
42,645 |
I got my Ph.D. in math in the last year and am currently in the first year of a 3-year research-oriented postdoc at a large public American university. I am finding it harder and harder to focus on research, not necessarily because of teaching, but for various reasons which I don't think are relevant to the question, and I am beginning to think that I would like a career as a lecturer. I enjoy teaching quite a bit, and I think I'm fairly good at it. If, as I originally intended when I accepted the postdoc, I still planned to apply to research-oriented tenure-track positions, I know what I need to do to be prepared for that process (whether at a large research school or a smaller college which still requires research of its faculty, e.g. a tenure-track position with somewhat higher teaching emphasis). But it seems from looking at purely teaching postings on MathJobs that, for example, I will definitely need three letters of recommendation addressing my teaching. I honestly don't know how to go about finding people to write these letters (for the tenure-track career path I would expect to have to get one teaching-oriented letter). I have a teaching mentor who has observed me a couple terms who could presumably write one letter, but I don't know about the other two. Do chairs write teaching letters? I'm frankly a bit afraid to tell anyone at my institution that I'm not sure I want to do research anymore, since they hired me with a reduced teaching load to give me more time for research. I actually really like the place where I am, and think, at this point anyway, that I would like a lecturer position here, but as I'm currently doing a postdoc here, I have no idea how likely it would be to be hired as a lecturer (even with, let's say, an excellent teaching record).
Note that I'm talking about a lecturing position, where the only expectation would be teaching and possibly also service. I'm not talking about the tenure-track jobs with more teaching emphasis which still require some research output (although I guess it's possible, though by no means certain, that the research incidentally produced from my thesis could make me eligible to be hired for such a position). But I think that I really just want to focus on teaching (preferably at the university level).
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42649,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "You're not in a bad position at all, since you've got secure employment for the next few years. Use this time to get as much teaching experience as possible. I would start by talking with your post-doc supervisor and your department chair and explaining that you would like to get some more teaching experience during your post-doc and ask whether it would be possible to arrange this with your department. \n\nIt's typical in these cases for the department to pay some portion of your salary corresponding to your teaching in place of the grant that is supporting your post-doc. Your post-doc advisor will most likely be happy to have some of this money back to use for other purposes related to the grant. \n\nHaving just conducted a faculty search, I can tell you that most of our applicants who were in post-docs had managed to teach some (maybe one or two courses per year) during the post-doc. Although our position required background in both teaching and research, that kind of teaching experience would clearly be of some help in applying for jobs with a mostly teaching focus at four year institutions as well as jobs where the requirement is for a mixture of teaching and research."
},
{
"answer_id": 42651,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "Not as a complete answer, but as information the questioner and others might find useful:\n\nAt an R1 U.S. university, for example, it would be difficult for a postdoc to make a transition to a longer-term lecturer or even adjunct... if only because those positions are spoken-for, and quite competitive in a certain localized sense, which happens (in my observation here in Minneapolis) to not be entirely bad, insofar as there is tacit (which is bad) recognition (which is good) of seniority and experience and such things.\n\nA few faculty may be \"outraged\" that you \"betray\" the \"research Grail\" by deciding as you have, but you have to write that off. Most faculty will be very understanding that you've \"achieved clarity\", for whatever reason. They will also understand that you need to be able to document teaching and pedagogy and mentoring. NB, it's not just \"teaching\", but a larger thing, \"pedagogy\", and a somewhat-different thing, \"mentoring\". Senior-projects, participation in REUs, and similar, are relevant.\n\nAnd, somewhat nonsensically, an unfortunate fraction of the up-scale four-year colleges have created the concept that \"undergrads do research\", so you should be careful to not over-promote any potential disaffection with (actual?) research in your job apps. That is, the spin in those cases would have to be that you've had some epiphany about preaching to the masses about . You'll not want to play that stunt for serious undergrad teaching places, though, because they'll probably think you don't understand (the) reality. :)\n\nSo, yes, actively discuss with your faculty there, and actively arrange to have people (faculty) have some acquaintance with the broader range of your activities. NB, \"not just teaching\", but pedagogy, mentoring, ... maybe outreach... The sane people will be understanding, if maybe not very interested personally, and some should be interested *enough* to help you document your efforts (presuming you make them!) in the directions you want to claim you care about."
}
] |
2015/03/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42645",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32460/"
] |
42,648 |
What does "TV-L (E14, 100% position)" mean in terms of gross and net pay? What lifestyle does this buy you in Berlin?
This is in the context of a postdoc at a research institute.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42676,
"author": "Pieter Naaijkens",
"author_id": 22,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "You are right that TV-L is a civil servant payscale. Postdocs commonly are placed in the E-13 or E-14 scale, where the latter is higher (but usually comes with more responsibilities). The gross pay starts at just under 3579.34 EUR per month for Berlin. Very recently the pay scales have been renegotiated, so I believe it might have gone up a bit. This amount is the first step in the scale, depending on your experience you might start at a higher step.\n\nThe net amount depends on your specific circumstances, for example if you are married and if you are a member of a church. For single persons that are not registered with a church the net amount is around 2100 EUR a month. This includes health insurance. You should be able to live decently in Berlin for this money.\n\nThe details can be found [on the Öffentlicher Dienst website](http://oeffentlicher-dienst.info/c/t/rechner/tv-l/berlin?id=tv-l-berlin-2014&g=E_14&s=1&zv=VBL&z=100&zulage=&stj=2015&stkl=1&r=0&zkf=0&kk=15.5%25) (in German, but you would want the table at the bottom)."
},
{
"answer_id": 42684,
"author": "user3423952",
"author_id": 21273,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21273",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "(This is maybe more suited to be a comment than an answer, but I don't have enough reputation to leave comments.)\n\nAbout the phrase \"100% position\" in your question: This means that once you have followed the instructions in other answers and comments to identify the amount of money which corresponds to E14 on the TV-L payscale, then your gross pay is 100% of the amount labelled Brutto, and your net pay is 100% of the amount labelled Netto.\n\nThe reason this is explicitly stated is because other types of positions, such as 50% position or 65% position, also exist. I don't believe this is ever the case for postdocs, but it's the norm for PhD students. For example, a PhD student might have a \"TV-L (El3, 50% position)\", meaning that after one identifies the amount in the TV-L table corresponding to E13, the gross pay is only 50% of that amount.\n\nA tip for reading these German payscale tables: the levels E1 to E15 are related to what sort of job it is and how qualified you are. PhDs and postdocs are at the E13 and E14 levels. For each of these levels, there are sub-levels 1 to 5 or 6, relating to how long you have occupied a position at this level. Over the years, you progress automatically up these levels 1 to 5 or 6"
}
] |
2015/03/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42648",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32014/"
] |
42,652 |
I made a rude comment to my advisor's spouse when I was 19. I have recently discovered that she and a tenured professor in a program that I declared a second major in were/are good friends, and the two planned and plotted ways to harass me out of that major - in order to avenge the offended spouse. Is this unethical? All logic says yes, but I would like to know if it is common. Needless to say, I learned nothing in this major as the environment was hostile to say the least. But I finished.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42676,
"author": "Pieter Naaijkens",
"author_id": 22,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "You are right that TV-L is a civil servant payscale. Postdocs commonly are placed in the E-13 or E-14 scale, where the latter is higher (but usually comes with more responsibilities). The gross pay starts at just under 3579.34 EUR per month for Berlin. Very recently the pay scales have been renegotiated, so I believe it might have gone up a bit. This amount is the first step in the scale, depending on your experience you might start at a higher step.\n\nThe net amount depends on your specific circumstances, for example if you are married and if you are a member of a church. For single persons that are not registered with a church the net amount is around 2100 EUR a month. This includes health insurance. You should be able to live decently in Berlin for this money.\n\nThe details can be found [on the Öffentlicher Dienst website](http://oeffentlicher-dienst.info/c/t/rechner/tv-l/berlin?id=tv-l-berlin-2014&g=E_14&s=1&zv=VBL&z=100&zulage=&stj=2015&stkl=1&r=0&zkf=0&kk=15.5%25) (in German, but you would want the table at the bottom)."
},
{
"answer_id": 42684,
"author": "user3423952",
"author_id": 21273,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21273",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "(This is maybe more suited to be a comment than an answer, but I don't have enough reputation to leave comments.)\n\nAbout the phrase \"100% position\" in your question: This means that once you have followed the instructions in other answers and comments to identify the amount of money which corresponds to E14 on the TV-L payscale, then your gross pay is 100% of the amount labelled Brutto, and your net pay is 100% of the amount labelled Netto.\n\nThe reason this is explicitly stated is because other types of positions, such as 50% position or 65% position, also exist. I don't believe this is ever the case for postdocs, but it's the norm for PhD students. For example, a PhD student might have a \"TV-L (El3, 50% position)\", meaning that after one identifies the amount in the TV-L table corresponding to E13, the gross pay is only 50% of that amount.\n\nA tip for reading these German payscale tables: the levels E1 to E15 are related to what sort of job it is and how qualified you are. PhDs and postdocs are at the E13 and E14 levels. For each of these levels, there are sub-levels 1 to 5 or 6, relating to how long you have occupied a position at this level. Over the years, you progress automatically up these levels 1 to 5 or 6"
}
] |
2015/03/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42652",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32471/"
] |
42,657 |
I'm a chemistry major and I've developed a strong interest in some areas of physical chemistry (and physics) and I do really well in physics and math courses. However, organic chemistry has really hit my GPA pretty hard.
This is due mostly to the fact that I'm having a tough time with the subject material and recent illness. Aside from being sick, I've been doing well in my other classes (so the blame is really shifted more toward the I'm-not-"getting"-organic) aside from receiving a handful of W's which I know will also hurt.
Since Organic chemistry is definitely a course within my major, I'm worried that it will significantly damage my chances of getting into grad school. **I got a C- in the first semester of Organic and an F in the second semester.**
I retook Organic I and got a B. I'm retaking Organic II and I'm doing much better, but the initial try will still appear on my transcript.
If I want to pursue physical chemistry, how awful are my organic grades and my Ws going to look to admissions?
(Note: My GPA was pretty awesome before Organic and I'm doing well in my other classes.)
I would graduate with roughly a **3.6 GPA**. Other than Organic, I fare well in my courses. I have done undergraduate research and have presented several times and will likely have a paper before I graduate.
Edit: In the time since I've written this, I retook both Organic I and II and attained a B in both classes.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42677,
"author": "Alireza",
"author_id": 28811,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28811",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "Never ever lose your hope to achieve your realistic dreams... getting a low grade in single course or even a number of courses may happen to anyone. Just stay focused and do your best. \n\nI'm a master student in computer engineering and even failing a number of courses at the initial attempt could not deprive me of getting into my dream school..."
},
{
"answer_id": 42698,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "I am a tenured associate professor in the mathematics (note: not chemistry) at UGA and did graduate admissions for several years there. \n\nI am a little surprised that the two answers so far have avoided the obvious: getting a C- grade in two required courses in your major certainly has a negative effect on your chances of getting into graduate school. The only question is how much. I don't want to speculate on this because you deserve answers from my opposite number in a chemistry department, and I hope you'll get one. I'll just say: if we \"transposed\" this question into mathematics, getting C- grades in two core courses that are well known to be difficult enough to knock some students out of the major (say, real analysis): that would indeed be a serious flaw. We can admit students who got good grades in all the key courses, and we usually do.\n\nHowever, I don't think you have asked exactly the right question. The issue is not whether you should abandon your graduate school plans based upon your performance in one (or two) courses. You shouldn't. But trying to precisely quantify the damage is our job, not yours. Your job is to avoid if possible, and if not possible remedy, the problem.\n\nFor a very serious student (students who want to go to grad school should count as \"very serious\"!), getting a C- in a course and then moving on to take the continuation course with the expectation of more of the same is a tactical error. You say you plan to retake the courses anyway. Then why are you even taking the second course now?!? You need to plan more precisely for your own success. I would look into withdrawing from the second semester course if it's at all possible. \n\nYou also mention health problems. They can certainly affect your academic and professional performance, and this can happen in an uneven way. It is quite plausible that you're doing as well in the other courses that you have more talent / experience with / predilection for as you would have done if you were healthy and doing much worse in the course that needs more of your time and energy. Really consider taking time off, or adding a semester or a year, or doing whatever you can to lighten your load and give yourself the chance to do well. It is much easier to get official accommodations for serious problems while they're occurring than to try to explain two years later the dip in your transcript. \n\nIn general I think you could get better advice on which courses to take when and how to succeed in your major. A lot of the most successful students are successful not because of superior talent but because they've been properly mentored or set up for success by others, or because they instinctively know much better than others how to set themselves up for success (which, contrary to what I said above, is certainly a talent). \n\nGood luck."
},
{
"answer_id": 64048,
"author": "Geoff Hutchison",
"author_id": 21869,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21869",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "The short answer first. It hurts, (particularly a D or F) but does not necessarily rule out chances at a PhD program in chemistry.\n\nI'm a tenured associate professor in chemistry at University of Pittsburgh. While I have not served on the admissions committee in our department, I have been chair of graduate recruiting. (Our department separates these two.) Full disclosure that independent of Stack Exchange, Melokio expressed interest in our department.\n\nMost graduate programs have a minimum GPA required for admission. Our *university* requires a 3.0 GPA or higher from undergraduates. We absolutely cannot consider students with a lower GPA, regardless of qualifications. ***My advice to such students is to find a master's program or take further courses to provide an improved GPA.*** Students are admitted to our program with mediocre undergraduate performance, followed by high-quality master's work.\n\nI won't lie. Assuming your overall GPA and grades in the major are good, receiving a C and an F in your major would still raise some concerns. That said, a personal statement is an excellent opportunity to explain extenuating circumstances (e.g., illness, family obligations.. various life events). Recommendation letters can also help in this regard.\n\nMy final conclusion is that it would depend on the quality of the rest of the application. If, for example, you achieved well in other courses, say several A's, quality GRE scores, and/or had an undergraduate publication or two, it's easy to overlook a stumble."
},
{
"answer_id": 64049,
"author": "CKM",
"author_id": 39227,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/39227",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "(*Didn't realize this was such an old question*)\n\nI think a good way to tackle this is to look at the bigger picture. You got some low organic grades, okay? This doesn't necessarily disqualify you from graduate school, but you need to keep a few things in mind:\n\nMost graduate schools require a 3.0 GPA for admissions. If it's a good program the GPA is also competitive and so for consideration you should aim as high as possible, but it varies by insitution. Take mine for example, they want a 3.0 GPA minimum for the *last two years of chemistry coursework* to enter the chemistry grad program but the grad school itself **also** requires a 3.0 GPA overall. So watch your GPA.\n\n*Disclaimer: We have 8 concentrations from biochem to computational chem; speak with your department adviser or check out your current course catalog, and get an idea of what your prerequisites are going to need to be (again, things differ by institution).*\n\nThe problem here in: The bachelor core classes may require a C- or better in organic I & II to enroll. The other obvious problem is most chemistry programs need you to have made a C- or better in every course listed as being part of the major for that credit to count toward your graduation. It could very well be that you *need* to score higher anyways, not just to enroll elsewhere but to graduate period. You will also need to speak with your adviser about this."
}
] |
2015/03/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42657",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6473/"
] |
42,660 |
In a thesis or journal you write all sentences yourself, but on some occasions you prefer to take a piece of text from another source. If you do, should you use quotation marks only, or italicize it, or use both, to identify that you have not written it?
Example for quoting directly from a source:
>
> 1. This can, according to Someone et al. [1], be seen as "an excellent way of representing a piece of text quoted from another
> source", and therefore it's emphasized.
> 2. This can, according to Someone et al. [1], be seen as *"an excellent way of representing a piece of text quoted from another
> source"*, and therefore it's emphasized.
> 3. This can, according to Someone et al. [1], be seen as *an excellent way of representing a piece of text quoted from another
> source*, and therefore it's emphasized.
>
>
>
Example for a definition with a source:
>
> 1. Wikipedia defines italic as "a semi-cursive, slightly sloped style of handwriting and calligraphy that was developed during the
> Renaissance in Italy" [2].
> 2. Wikipedia defines italic as *"a semi-cursive, slightly sloped style of handwriting and calligraphy that was developed during the
> Renaissance in Italy"* [2].
> 3. Wikipedia defines italic as *a semi-cursive, slightly sloped style of handwriting and calligraphy that was developed during the
> Renaissance in Italy* [2].
>
>
>
Are there are any style guides or recommendations that refer to italicized text, for either quotes or definitions? And related to the two examples, what is the recommended way to distinguish between a quote and a definition?
Edit: note that if a style guide is provided, the guide should be followed. This question relates to situations where no style guide is required.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42665,
"author": "user6726",
"author_id": 28972,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28972",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "There can be specific exceptions for journals, which may have conventions preserved unchanged from the past, but the general principle is to be typographically simple while conveying the necessary information. Quotation marks are required to unambiguously indicate that a certain sequence of text is a literal quotation; the quote itself should then not modify the format of the text, thus should be roman when the original is roman, italic when it is italic, and so on. Thus, your first option would be the correct choice."
},
{
"answer_id": 42668,
"author": "Maarten van Wesel",
"author_id": 32146,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32146",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I agree with [User6726’s answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/42665), but want to add a few things.\n\nFor a journal publication (to make the answer more general) you could check the journal’s style guide or how italic type is used within articles published in the journal.\n\nAs your question is specifically about a thesis, find out which style your thesis should be in (APA, Chicago, etc.). You will be needing this information for formatting your references anyway. With this information, check online or in your library for a a style manual for the specific style. This manual will explain when italics are appropriate."
},
{
"answer_id": 55253,
"author": "Kakoli Majumder",
"author_id": 9920,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9920",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "While quoting verbatim from a source, you should always use quotation marks. Italics are generally used for the following purposes:\n\n* titles of books, periodicals, blogs\n* genera, species, and varietes\n* introduction of a new technical term\n* letters used as statistical symbols or algebraic variables\n* some test scores and scales\n* periodical volume numbers in reference lists\n\nIf you have used quotation marks to indicate that you have borrowed the text, I do not see any need to italicize it. Style guides also advise against the use of italics for mere emphasis. Hence, it is better to use quotation marks only to distinguish text that you are using verbatim from another work."
},
{
"answer_id": 55264,
"author": "vonbrand",
"author_id": 38135,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/38135",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "Italics are used for emphasis. Use sparingly, where required by custom (biologists write species in italics, I believe), to highlight a new term being introduced, and precious little else."
}
] |
2015/03/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42660",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31253/"
] |
42,669 |
General-purpose word-processing programs are OK for academic writing. But I feel the experience can be much improved with some specialized software that takes better care of the special needs of academic writers, such as version control, collaboration, reference generation, in-text citation etc.
Is there any such software (either web-based or desktop-based) created specifically for academic writers?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42670,
"author": "Maarten van Wesel",
"author_id": 32146,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32146",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "You have plug-ins and storage methods to take care of this.\n\nSoftware such as Endnote offers a plug-in to 'cite while you write' (as they call it). Microsoft Word has a referencing system itself, but I have no experience with it.\n\nUsing the revision options in Microsoft Word you can track all changes made to the document (giving you more advanced features then normal versioning). However you can also set up your computer to copy changed files to a backup location, storing multiple versions there.\n\nI do not necessarily disagree with your suggestion that general-purpose word processors are not really suited for academics, however the questions that you have can be addressed using general-purpose word processors."
},
{
"answer_id": 42671,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "First of all, academic writing is all about the mind putting words on paper, you are really looking for tools to help you with the technical side of putting together the material. Looking at your list of examples, I do not see much that is not already implemented in Word (probably being the most common writing tool in academia). A second that contains everything except a solid version control (revision tool) is (La)TeX (which is also free). But, if version control is required you can use GitHub, as I know many LaTeX authors do.\n\nOn a more personal side, the difficulty in writing science is not about getting the technical aspects right, it may be tedious and boring but is easily done. What matters is the text and how to be precise and concise and no software will help you there. Version control is sometimes a good tool but really, is it necessary to see everything one has written and deleted? Isn't the present text what really matters and what one has to consider for improvements? It is easy to get bogged down with the wrong details so getting tools to sort those out is never wrong but I do not necessarily see how a special purpose academic writing tool will help much more than with the technicalities than existing tools do."
},
{
"answer_id": 42683,
"author": "Adriaan",
"author_id": 32481,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32481",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I am personally a big fan of using Scrivener. It was originally designed for writing novels and organising all the research and drafts but also works well for writing research papers. Scrivener can also be set up to export to latex and to work with a backup folder containing .txt files (to enable version control trough ex Github). \n\nI use Mendeley to store my papers and handle references as it is quite a hassle to keep organised. \n\nHere is a link on how to set up scrivener with latex: \n<http://harrisonsweeney.com/posts/scrivener-multimarkdown-and-latex.html>\n\nEdit: I should also mention writing in plain Latex. \n\nLatex is a markup language designed for writing printable text (as opposed to web text), all the formatting is done by typing commands. This means that it can be written in any text editor and that there are generally no buttons to click for formatting (such as in word). Latex is used a lot in the exact science as it is a standard in rendering equations. The drawback is that it has a learning curve. \n\nI'd say that Scrivener is the way to go if you are looking for a tool that aids you in organising and structuring your writing process. However if you require extensive rendering of equations and/or prefer the more direct control of latex go for that. \nAlthough any text editor would work for latex finding the one which works best for you is an entire question in itself."
},
{
"answer_id": 42686,
"author": "Dɑvïd",
"author_id": 17238,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17238",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "OP: \n\n> \n> Is there any such software (either web-based or desktop-based) created specifically for academic writers?\n> \n> \n> \n\nYes: **[Nota Bene](http://www.notabene.com/)** is a software package that was purpose-built for \"academic writing\", and that in the context of the humanities. I used it heavily in the 90s, but needed to move on when development didn't keep pace with my Unicode requirements. It's fascinating software: essentially a suite of tools comprising a writing environment, textual/note database environment, and bibliographic database, all seamlessly integrated. It really is a powerful package.\n\nBut the further answer in all likelihood depends on what area the writing is for: \"academic writing\" is simply too broad. \"Humanties\", \"social sciences\", \"[hard] sciences\" would give a better spread of suggestions. The possibilities also depend on personal work habits: what makes for a congenial writing environment varies according to personal habits and taste.\n\n[TeX](https://tex.stackexchange.com/) provides one good example: rare for most in the humanities, but common for mathematics and linguistics.\n\nOn the other hand, some of my colleagues are now doing all their writing in Markdown, and that has its own appeal, as well as limitations and challenges."
},
{
"answer_id": 42714,
"author": "Daniel Wessel",
"author_id": 26614,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26614",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "I haven't found anything that was perfect yet, but I have found the combination of Circus Ponies Notebook (for content outlines) and Fxrivonir (for stress free writing) really workable. [This posting covers a lot of it](https://blogs.cul.columbia.edu/butler/2014/06/05/daniel-wessel-using-content-outlines-and-circus-ponies-notebooks-for-writing-articles-and-theses/)."
},
{
"answer_id": 42735,
"author": "aparente001",
"author_id": 32436,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "In terms of the mess you can get into with multiple versions, multiple authors, that @Tim mentioned -- I like Draftable for Word.\n\nI like to have a shared dropbox folder with collaborators so we all have access to all the previous versions.\n\nA feature of Word that I like is the outline view. It makes it easier to do restructuring on a large scale."
},
{
"answer_id": 93427,
"author": "G M",
"author_id": 10333,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10333",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "OVERLEAF\n========\n\nOverleaf it is a collaborative web service for writing and publishing academic writings based on LaTeX and is especially design for this purpose. I think nowadays is the most used software for publishing in academics. [The website](https://www.overleaf.com/about) describes its mission very clearly:\n\n> \n> Overleaf is a collaborative writing and publishing system that makes the whole process of producing academic papers much quicker for both\n> authors and publishers.\n> \n> \n> Overleaf is a free service that lets you create, edit and share your\n> scientific ideas easily online using LaTeX, a comprehensive and\n> powerful tool for scientific writing.\n> \n> \n> Writelatex Limited, the company behind Overleaf, was founded by John\n> Hammersley and John Lees-Miller, two mathematicians who worked\n> together on the pioneering Ultra PRT Project and who **were inspired by\n> their own experiences in academia to create a better solution for\n> collaborative scientific writing.**\n> \n> \n> Overleaf is supported by Digital Science. Digital Science is a\n> technology company serving the needs of scientific research. Their\n> mission is to provide software that makes research simpler, so there’s\n> more time for discovery.\n> \n> \n> \n\nFrom Tex to Overleaf: a not so short history\n============================================\n\nI think is important to have a look at the history of the technologies that are used by overleaf to see that they are designed by academics and used by academics. The history is basically an encapsulation of powerful complex technologies in a more user-friendly platform.\n\n[TeX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TeX) is the core technology it was designed by [Donald Knuth](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Knuth) who was a professor at Stanford University this is an excerpt from this [site](https://www.tug.org/whatis.html):\n\n> \n> As it turned out, TeX was\n> still a lot closer to a research project than to an industrial\n> strength product, but there were certain attractive features:\n> \n> \n> it was intended to be used directly by authors (and their secretaries)\n> who are the ones who really know what they are writing about; **it came\n> from an academic source**, and was intended to be available for no\n> monetary fee\n> \n> \n> \n\n[LaTeX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaTeX) was set of macro to make TeX more accessible it was actually created at SRI International (SRI) an American nonprofit research institute by [Leslie Lamport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Lamport) here an excerpt form an interview:\n\n> \n> When Don was creating TEX80(?), the second version of TEX, the popular\n> macro package at the time was one written by Max Deoz I've forgotten\n> its name. I was in the process of starting to write a book, and I\n> found Deoz's macros inadequate. So, I needed to write a set of macros\n> for the book. I gured that, with a little extra eort, I could make a\n> macro package that could be used by other people as well. That was the\n> origin of LATEX.\n> \n> \n> \n\nThen it comes Overleaf so all these technologies are now on a server with ready-to-use templates from the most popular publishing companies and conferences."
}
] |
2015/03/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42669",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15953/"
] |
42,674 |
I'm an undergraduate. I sent two emails to professors regarding potential research work. Both responded positively, which I didn't expect, and I started work with one of the profs last term. As for the other, I think his work is incredibly interesting but I simply don't have the time for two research projects at once. However, I would really like to work with him eventually.
How can I tell the other professor that I'm too busy this quarter but would like to work with him at some point in the future? It seems a bit awkward to mention the other professor so I'm not sure how to explain it.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42675,
"author": "Moriarty",
"author_id": 8562,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8562",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "Just say so directly! He will value your directness and honesty – 'beating around the bush' gets rather tiresome. There's enough of that from management...\n\n> \n> I'm sorry that I don't have time to work with you this term, as I have now started on a research project with Prof A that I am committed to finishing. However, I would still really like to work with you in the future. Since I aim to finish my current project in a few months, around the end of June, would you mind if I contact you again then?\n> \n> \n>"
},
{
"answer_id": 42728,
"author": "aparente001",
"author_id": 32436,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I wanted to write a comment but I'm not allowed. Here's a variant on the @Moriarty draft.\n\n> \n> I wanted to write to you with an update. I started a project on such-and-so with Prof A and it's going well. I really appreciated your encouraging email. I was surprised to get positive responses from two professors! If I had it to do over again, maybe it would have been better to write to one first, and then the other.\n> \n> \n> As I can only do one project at a time, I will have to decline your kind invitation. I'm still very interested in what you're doing with such-and-so. I hope I may write to you again at some point, when my schedule frees up, to see if you have space in your lab at that time.\n> \n> \n> Anyway, I did want to let you know what I've been up to, and why I haven't been in touch. Thanks again for your kind encouragement.\n> \n> \n>"
}
] |
2015/03/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42674",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28313/"
] |
42,679 |
I'm currently a M.S. student. My supervisor give me freedom to choose thesis topic. Since it is so hard for me, I decide to ask another professors whom I consider to be their PhD candidates in future. I have written an email to ask them.
Is it a good idea to do so? And is my email appropriate for this purpose?
>
> Dear Professor xxx,
>
>
> I am a M.S. student at University of xxx-the most prestigious university in xxx- with a major in information technology- multimedia systems. I will graduate on September 2016.
>
> I had the chance to read your publications and some of your articles. I really enjoyed them, and it gave me many ideas for my future research. Due to my strong interest in your research area and considering the experience I have gained from my relevant courses, I believe I can be a beneficial part of your research group, if I get a chance.
> Since I haven't chosen the topic of my M.S. Thesis, I prefer to ask you to give me some information about the topics you are currently working on, in order to get a higher chance to be your PhD student in future.
> I know you’re very busy so I appreciate any time you can give me.
>
>
> Thanks very much,
>
> Sincerely,
>
> xxx
>
>
>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42682,
"author": "MrMeritology",
"author_id": 17564,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17564",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "I do not think it is a good idea to ask this other professor to give you your thesis topic, either asking by email or in person. If you want to be this professor's PhD student in the future, the best thing you can do is do a good job on your thesis and complete your Masters degree. Doing your thesis on a topic of his choice does not increase your chances of being his PhD student, and may decrease your chances because you aren't demonstrating independent judgment.\n\nBoth Masters and PhD students should do the work to pick their own topic. (Narrowing down my dissertation topic has been a multi-year exercise -- working part-time.) As a Masters student, you don't have to break new ground or advance the state of the art. But, by picking a topic that is at the state of the art, you demonstrate that you understand, in general, where the state of the art *is*.\n\nInstead of asking some professor to hand you a topic, you should investigate why picking a topic is hard for you. Do you lack ideas? Do you understand what qualifies as a good idea? Do you have trouble selecting from alternative ideas? Once you've pinpointed the problem, you can ask your adviser or anyone else for help on this aspect of the problem."
},
{
"answer_id": 42685,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "I occasionally get emails along these lines, and I am almost never thrilled. The sole exception where I would consider this case is if I know (a) the student personally and think (s)he is good, and/or (b) I know the advisor personally, and (s)he recommended the student this model. In all other cases, my response would be negative.\n\nWhat you need to be aware of is that a master student who is actually somebody else's student, and who presumably even sits physically remote, is a risk on so many levels. You have no idea how good the person is. You have no idea whether (s)he actually works or is just procrastinating between status updates. You have basically no leverage, so if you assume the student is not working hard or is involved in unethical behavior (e.g., rigging the data), you can do pretty much nothing except pull out of the cooperation. You have no idea whether the person's actual advisor is fine with this, or will start sabotaging the agreement when (s)he figures out that her/his student is actually working with somebody else. It is even unclear what the implications for the student are - maybe her/his university does not even accept a thesis primarily supervised by somebody outside of the institution. And even if all goes well, you are still supervising a student in somebody else's name (i.e., doing the work of somebody else).\n\nAll these things considered - would *you* invest one of your good ideas, or, even worse, your limited time supervising such a student?"
},
{
"answer_id": 42695,
"author": "Anonymous",
"author_id": 11565,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11565",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "Insted of\n\n> \n> \"...and it gave me many ideas for my future research\"\n> \n> \n> \n\nhow about \n\n> \n> \"... and it gave me idea X for implementing Y in manner Z. I am considering working on this idea for my master's thesis here at University W with Prof. V. Since this idea comes from your paper, could I please first ask if any of your current students are working on it, and also solicit your opinion on whether this idea sounds promising to you?\"\n> \n> \n> \n\nYou should make it clear, not so much by saying it explicitly, as by wording your e-mail with this in mind, that *you do not expect any sort of commitment from the person to whom you write*. This will lead to pretty decent chances for an interesting and useful reply."
},
{
"answer_id": 42699,
"author": "Buzz",
"author_id": 32508,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32508",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "It depends on the academic system where you are from. For instance, if you are in a country where there is a strong hierachal system, going to another professor behind the back of your supervisor might sour your relatonship with him/her. \n\nMy advice is to consult your current supervisor about your what topic/bias you think might work for you and then let him/her refer you to another supervisor if it is beyond his/her scope. That way you will get advice and guidance from both sides without rufling any feathers. In academia, the politics sometimes plays a very important role in the success of your thesis and you should always take it into consideration."
}
] |
2015/03/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42679",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31960/"
] |
42,691 |
When writing a paper that discusses previous work by the same set of authors, what is the correct way to refer to it?
For example,
>
> "In 2012 Fred et al. introduced a third way of resolving the washing crisis [1234]."
>
>
>
Should this be written
>
> "In 2012 we introduced a third way of resolving the washing crisis [1234]."
>
>
>
or perhaps
>
> "In 2012 the current authors introduced a third way of resolving the washing crisis [1234]."
>
>
>
or even
>
> "In 2012 Fred et al. (the current authors) introduced a third way of resolving the washing crisis [1234]."
>
>
>
Note that in this style the reference is [1234], in case that wasn't clear.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42692,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "This usually depends on whether or not you paper will be reviewed double-blind or not. If it's going to be double-blind, then you need to refer to yourself in the third person (i.e. by name, \"Fred, et al.\") rather than using a pronoun. If it's only going to be single-blind review, then I think it's a matter of style whether you use a pronoun or refer to yourself by name, though the venue you are submitting to, or your field, may have preferences. In which case, you should ask around."
},
{
"answer_id": 42717,
"author": "Wolfgang Bangerth",
"author_id": 31149,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31149",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "As Nufl Karth says in his answer, it's a matter of style. I personally think that people shouldn't hide quite as much behind passive voice and \"Fred et al.\". It's refreshing to read people speak in their first voice, so I personally would not mind seeing more statements of the form \n\n> \n> Following a long list of unsuccessful attempts, we finally succeeded in devising a third way of resolving the washing crisis in 2012, see [1234].\n> \n> \n> \n\nYou may or may not feel comfortable with showing this much of yourself, but I imagine only the most stuck up reviewers are going to ding you for it."
},
{
"answer_id": 42719,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "Although this can be a matter of style, whenever possible, I like to say \"I\" or \"we\" when I have been involved in the prior work. I think that it is important for two reasons:\n\n1. It is more transparent and honest about possible biases in your citation and perspective on the field, so it doesn't feel like you're claiming independent evidence when you are citing yourself.\n2. It helps to make it clear how a particular piece of work fits into an overall research program.\n\nI also like an active voice style better and think it communicates more clearly, but that may be a matter of style rather than substance."
},
{
"answer_id": 42748,
"author": "dsfgsho",
"author_id": 17804,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17804",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Assuming that the author list for the current and cited paper are the same, I would follow this approach. \n\nWhile submitting for review:\n\n> \n> In 2012 Fred et al. introduced a third way of resolving the washing crisis [1234].\n> \n> \n> \n\nWhen paper is accepted:\n\n> \n> In 2012 we introduced a third way of resolving the washing crisis [1234].\n> \n> \n>"
}
] |
2015/03/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42691",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/37765/"
] |
42,704 |
I read that some candidates will arrange their interviews by not placing the preferred ones at the beginning. How that is possible? Do they wait for few weeks to know all their interviews and then decide?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42707,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "As I have heard of the practice, it is essentially putting the less-favored opportunity first so that the person will be more practiced and more ready to deal with questions and challenges when they go to their more favored opportunity. I'm not sure whether this is actually a good idea, but if one wants to do it, it is really only possible if the invitations happen to come closely enough together that the person knows about both invitations while scheduling is still being sorted out."
},
{
"answer_id": 42711,
"author": "Bitwise",
"author_id": 6862,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6862",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Generally the tactic is to try to schedule interviews in places you really want as late as possible and try to schedule interviews in less desirable places as early as possible. Depending on the schedules, sometimes this is feasible. For example, some times people pack 5 or even 10 interviews in just a few weeks. Of course you have to make sure you are not too exhausted when you get to the important interviews.\n\nI have heard many people recommending this strategy, and I somewhat recommend it myself, although it is not really a big deal. The idea is that regardless of how much you prepare, you still learn a lot from your first interview and can significantly improve in the next ones (especially in aspects that are more difficult to prepare for, like the chalk talk). It is also about reducing stress - in the first interview many people are very stressed but once they see that they went through it and it is not so bad, they are more relaxed for their next interviews."
},
{
"answer_id": 42712,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "This is a common strategy, but it can backfire on you in the following way. \n\nIf you interview for the position that least interests you and are given a job offer, you may have to respond to that offer before you have a chance to complete the other interviews (or before those institutions are ready to make an offer.) If this happens you may be faced with the choice of accepting an offer from your least favorite institution or refusing that offer and then running the risk that none of the other interviews will result in an offer."
}
] |
2015/03/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42704",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24823/"
] |
42,720 |
I am wondering if academics (Professors, Researchers etc.) who usually have to spend their lives on research get bored of the subject or get tired of research?
In this case, I want to know how they stay motivated - for example Nobel Laureates more often spend a large part of their life (15 - 20 years) on specific research. So how do they stay motivated?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42726,
"author": "aparente001",
"author_id": 32436,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "My spouse almost never gets tired of research. This is a person who loves collaborating with people, helping students, tinkering with equipment, tinkering with data analysis programs, analyzing data, writing papers, reviewing papers, editing papers, planning the next experiment. My son, on the other hand, is cut from different cloth. As my spouse would say, this is a guy who is more of a tool user than a tool maker.\n\nI heard an interview with a surgeon on the radio once. She said, \"Don't become a surgeon unless you feel that you can't do anything else.\" Meaning, unless there's nothing else that would satisfy you. That's the way my spouse is. I don't think anything else would be anywhere near as interesting or satisfying for this person.\n\nMy spouse did change sub-fields about halfway through, feeling that the first sub-field was well understood and rather saturated, and wanting more of a challenge. It was a good change."
},
{
"answer_id": 42730,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "What helps, I think, is that \"research\" is not a single thing but a complex of many different activities. If I am feeling burned out on paper-writing, perhaps I find my joy in coding or mathematics or sketching new project ideas. Likewise when I am happy about papers but feeling burned out on something else. At a larger scale, even a \"unified\" line of research has many distinct facets that may feel quite different when one is actually closely engaged with it. Thus, I see no difficulty in the idea of remaining interested and engaged for a long period of time. I have been so for nearly 20 years (counting undergraduate research work as well) and I see no reason to expect my interest to fail any time soon. Funding, of course, is an entirely different story."
},
{
"answer_id": 42800,
"author": "Andi",
"author_id": 32583,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32583",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "There cannot be a single answer because people are different.\n\nI'm on a first name basis with a nobel laureate in his seventies who abandoned all academic work immediately after retirement; he says that he could no longer bear the politics, jealousy, intrigue in academia.\n\nMy PhD advisor, on the other hand, just turned 92 and still goes to university two or three days per week. He has macular degeneration, but uses a 27\" display to keep up with the literature in his field. He's aware that some of the younger profs at the department think that he's just an old fool, but he doesn't care."
},
{
"answer_id": 42804,
"author": "chris",
"author_id": 4275,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4275",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "Not only could researchers become bored with their research, but in some sense, it seems the current system of evaluation amplifies this process. Indeed, there is a strong emphasis on specialization, which in some sense is guarantied to make you THE expert of a sufficiently narrow field. It is initially cozy to be such an expert, but then the risk involved in moving away from this soft spot is a deterrent to what truly keeps researchers on their toes, namely curiosity and risk taking.\nIf not, they get bored and it seems some of them find it their duty [to manage other people's research](http://www.larevanchedurameur.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/bob.jpg). \n\n> \n> In this case, I want to know how they stay motivated ?\n> \n> \n> \n\nLet curiosity drive your research, not impact. Move around fields, places, be opened to new ideas. Talk to young people. Try and be creative. Go to conferences/schools outside your field of expertise. Be ridiculously ambitious about your scientific goals (that should keep you busy for a while...)"
},
{
"answer_id": 51637,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Sure, I think boredom occurs, but boredom itself is not strictly negative. I think being mindful of it, helps a researcher identify when s/he feels that s/he has already contributed her/his most impactful work on a topic, and that it would be better to move to a new topic (or even subject). Perhaps never finding yourself bored within a narrow scope is worse?\n\nFrom Richard Hamming's \"You and Your Research\" speech (<http://www.paulgraham.com/hamming.html>):\n\n> \n> You have to change. You get tired after a while; you use up your originality in one field. You need to get something nearby. [...] What happens to the old fellows is that they get a technique going; they keep on using it. They were marching in that direction which was right then, but the world changes. There's the new direction; but the old fellows are still marching in their former direction[...] You need to get into a new field to get new viewpoints, and before you use up all the old ones.\n> \n> \n>"
}
] |
2015/04/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42720",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
42,724 |
This question might be appropriate for music SE but I am looking for more academic views.
I know of Associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees. Inside of these are different fields. I have also seen JD (law) and DM (music). I have recently seen "Graduate Performance Diploma". While I usually do not think of these in an academic sense, Johns Hopkins, which I consider a good school, offers this [diploma](http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/conservatory/academicaffairs/gpd/).
What is the purpose of this degree? Is it only to give more practice time for a musician in an academic setting, or would earning this diploma have some weight on acceptance to a doctoral or professorship?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42733,
"author": "aparente001",
"author_id": 32436,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "I did my undergraduate in a large, prestigious music school, which also had (probably still has) a Diploma option. Before I answer your question, let me tell you something about my degree requirements.\n\nI had to take lots and lots of credits in my performance instrument, and ensembles, large and small. Then there was lots of music theory, music history, music literature. A tiny proportion was in other departments -- I took one English, one math, one history, one science, and one social science course, if I remember right. That's not much for a 4-year degree! But now, for the Diploma, take out everything except the performance instrument and the ensembles. Well, apparently at Johns Hopkins, you also do some music theory-type courses as well.\n\nThe students that I saw doing the Diploma were typically from another country, were planning to go back after the Diploma, and were there just to further their study of their instrument with a particular teacher, usually a famous name. It was kind of like a post-doc. They were soaking up the great person's approach to technique, expanding their repertoire, getting more experience, polishing their performing.\n\nMusic schools offer the Diploma because they know there are students who only want to work on their performance instrument. So they cut out all the extraneous stuff and give the person a Diploma.\n\nThis would be good preparation for a performance career (orchestra, chamber music, solo concertizing), and for teaching the instrument in a private studio. However, it would NOT prepare one for teaching in a public school, community college, college, or university. However, it would help one prepare for teaching in a conservatory (if the person were a strong enough player -- s/he would have to be extremely strong for this).\n\nIf you are from another country and are planning to go back, chances are you are going to do, or you did, some academic work in your home country, and that will fit better with the academic system you plan to seek a job in.\n\nA lot of the Diploma students were astounding musicians, though, who did seem to have a shot at a well-paid performance career. That I can't be sure of, though, because I don't know what the employment options for classical musicians are in Europe (which is where many of the Diploma students were from)."
},
{
"answer_id": 67312,
"author": "Darrin Thomas",
"author_id": 52721,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/52721",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "To give an analogy, the diploma is like the \"one and done\" phenomenon happening in college basketball. Really good players send a year or two developing their talents before turning pro. Some people need 4 or more years of university to develop their abilities while others just don't need as much time to develop"
}
] |
2015/04/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42724",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12718/"
] |
42,727 |
My research team has developed a model, analyzed data, and generated results. We are currently in the process of publishing the results -- the article is in review -- and we are preparing to make our model available (we're talking with the publisher about whether to include it as a supplementary material with the journal).
Regardless, we will retain rights to distribute the model on our own websites. We believe in the principle of free software and want to make this model generally and freely available but request that those who use it cite the paper in which we introduce the model.
Our question is which license -- I know of GNU and Creative Commons, among others -- is best suited to this goal? Is there a answer to this question?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42731,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "Since I'm not a lawyer I won't try to advise you... but I'll observe that at least one large corporation seems pretty happy with Apache's version of a by-attribution license. And it's hard to beat the creative commons licenses for brevity and clarity, though I can't vouch for strength"
},
{
"answer_id": 42742,
"author": "Pont",
"author_id": 32532,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32532",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "The site <http://choosealicense.com/> will probably be helpful to you. The front page of the site offers a simple choice in fairly plain language:\n\n> \n> * **I want it simple and permissive.** The MIT License is a permissive license that is short and to the point. It lets people do anything they want with your code as long as they provide attribution back to you and don’t hold you liable. jQuery and Rails use the MIT License.\n> * **I’m concerned about patents.** The Apache License is a permissive license similar to the MIT License, but also provides an express grant of patent rights from contributors to users. Apache, SVN, and NuGet use the Apache License.\n> * **I care about sharing improvements.** The GPL (V2 or V3) is a copyleft license that requires anyone who distributes your code or a derivative work to make the source available under the same terms. V3 is similar to V2, but further restricts use in hardware that forbids software alterations. Linux, Git, and WordPress use the GPL.\n> \n> \n> \n\nThe site also has [a more in-depth page](http://choosealicense.com/licenses/) giving more choices, and more detail about the differences between licenses.\n\nI would strongly advise that you *don't* use a Creative Commons license for your code. Creative Commons themselves [caution against this](https://wiki.creativecommons.org/FAQ#Can_I_apply_a_Creative_Commons_license_to_software.3F):\n\n> \n> We recommend against using Creative Commons licenses for software. Instead, we strongly encourage you to use one of the very good software licenses which are already available. We recommend considering [licenses made available](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-recommendations.html) by the [Free Software Foundation](http://www.fsf.org/) or [listed as “open source”](http://opensource.org/licenses) by the [Open Source Initiative](http://www.opensource.org/).\n> \n> \n> \n\nMore detail in their [FAQ](https://wiki.creativecommons.org/FAQ#Can_I_apply_a_Creative_Commons_license_to_software.3F).\n\nPersonally I use the GPL (version 3) for most of the code I release. For very small programs -- roughly speaking, anything shorter than the license text of the GPL itself -- I tend to use the MIT license. This is partly because I'm less concerned about the fate of such small code snippets, and partly because it feels a little silly to have more license than code in a release.\n\nAs a side note -- although you haven't mentioned this possibility -- please resist any temptation to invent a new license, unless you have a *really* compelling reason. [License proliferation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/License_proliferation) is a big problem, and your code will be less useful if people have to pay a lawyer to determine whether your license is legally compatible with some other software they're trying to use in conjunction with yours. In general, I would suggest picking one of the \"big three\" mentioned above unless you have specific reasons against this.\n\nEdit: I just saw your comment about the appropriateness of using a GNU license for Matlab code. There is no problem here: there is no concept of \"contamination\" between the license of your code and the license of the language it's written in. In fact, it would be hard to implement such a restriction, because *languages* as such don't have licenses: only their *implementations* do. Many programming languages have both closed-source and open-source implementations -- this includes Matlab, although [Octave](https://www.gnu.org/software/octave/), the GPL implementation of the language, is not 100% compatible with the original version. However, for Matlab specifically, you might want to consider the BSD license, because [it's the only one permitted on MATLAB central](http://mathworks.com/matlabcentral/FX_transition_faq.html). (If you never intend to share your code on MATLAB central, this is less of a problem.)"
}
] |
2015/04/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42727",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/30650/"
] |
42,732 |
I am a non-academic who has collaborated (privately, no employer support) with some academic researchers and been invited to present our work at a conference. The conference admission price and travel costs are steep.
Is there any provision for my collaborator's university to pay for *my* travel costs as well? (I know they're paying for theirs.) I'll add that our work has brought some follow up grants to the university, so they financially benefit from it - but that funding doesn't include my involvement.
I'll also add that I don't want to sabotage any relationships here, and if it would be considered inappropriate or heavy handed or be resented, I'd rather just cough up the dough myself. But, if there's a means to do it nicely, it would make things easier.
---
**UPDATES**
1. It's a real conference, prestigious in the field; we submitted to present and were accepted (it seems from the responses that that is not called *invited*; point noted)
2. I don't want to burn any capital, as you say. I'm happy asking and them saying no, but if it will cause them grief, I'd rather not even ask. So perhaps my question could be rephrased as: **Is there any chance that asking gently will get the funding? And, if so, will it cause any grief?**
That is, I'll ask if and only if there's a chance they'll do it, and it won't cause any pain.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42737,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "> \n> Is there any provision for my collaborator's university to pay for my travel costs as well?\n> \n> \n> \n\nWhile not strictly impossible, this sounds rather unlikely to happen, at least through formal channels. Travel budget is restricted, and there are often even administrative restrictions that prevent faculty to give it to people who are neither employees nor students of the university.\n\nThat being said, if your collaborator is sufficiently commited to making you go, as well as sufficiently crafty to bend the rules in the right way, (s)he may cook up an arrangement with the administration of some sort. Note that this will likely be (at best) semi-officially, and will burn some real or political capital of the faculty, so (s)he won't just do it to be nice. There has to be some real benefit to them that you are at this conference."
},
{
"answer_id": 42739,
"author": "Sylvain Peyronnet",
"author_id": 43,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/43",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "> \n> Is there any provision for my collaborator's university to pay for my travel costs as well?\n> \n> \n> \n\nProbably it depends on many things such as place, country, etc. \nHowever, it it feasible: I am currently general chair of a conference and a few people from wealthy universities are paying for their coauthors from others (or with no) institutions."
}
] |
2015/04/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42732",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8075/"
] |
42,734 |
In response to a solicitation in an area of my expertise, I approached a known expert in a different field; I had thought of a way to apply that field to solve the problem. He liked my idea and set up a meeting with him and his postdocs; over time, we went through several rounds of written communication, proposal outlines, research plans, and revisions amongst us.
Midway through, I learned more about the solicitation and concluded that it wasn't a good match; we discussed this, decided not to apply, but that the plan was good and that we should look for other sources of funding. As we did this, we continued to do some revisions together.
A while later, he sent me an email that he found a good source of funding, that he has a good relationship with the source and doesn't really need a partner for it, and that he is going to apply without me. I was quite upset, but, seeing that he was telling me and not asking me, and that I had no way to stop him, said "okay, makes sense, please send me a copy of the proposal and keep me informed."
In truth, his proposal was advanced far beyond what I had last worked on. But, the core idea was mine; and I have the records to attest to that, not to mention that his postdocs could verify that as well.
Assuming he gets the grant, I have no desire to get a share of the funds. At this point, he can do the rest of the work without me. He really is an expert and manages a very large, very prominent research program with lots of high profile funding. And rightfully so - he produces results.
What I would like is coauthorship. After all, the entire approach is my idea. I thought of using his area of expertise to solve a very high profile problem of growing importance in my field, and described to him in detail why all the indigenous methods to my field are failing, and why an approach drawing on his expertise could succeed.
What is the right way to handle this? I won't be satisfied with an acknowledgement at the end; I'd like to be one of the authors. I'm happy helping with the research further though I'm not sure he feels he needs me.
And, moreover, is this type of behavior acceptable? Do I have any leverage here? Do I need it?
---
**CLARIFICATIONS:**
1. To clarify, while I certainly didn't do the research yet, it was more than just giving him an idea. I sent an outline, discussed the plan, and spent hours revising and iterating on their research plan. I'll be equally clear that the final proposal was very high quality, and went far beyond what I had worked on.
2. From the responses, it seems this falls into a grey area. So let me revise my question: Given that he's probably going forward with this, **what's the best way to approach him and ask to be a coauthor?** I'd be happy being involved with the research itself, but I'm not sure he wants that. He'd probably be best off career-wise keeping it to him and his students (and, mind you, this is a researcher who puts a lot of effort on career advancement - he's an equally talented businessperson, albeit in academic research, as scholar).
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42738,
"author": "Kimball",
"author_id": 19607,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19607",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "Here is what the situation sounds like to me. You had an idea for a research project with a general approach in mind. Professor A is an expert in these methods, and you proposed the project to Professor A. You planned to work on the project together. Then he sent in a solo grant proposal on this project.\n\n**Revised below**\n\nQuestion: is your name mentioned in the proposal as a collaborator? At least in my field, one can apply for solo grants where the projects are collaborative, but planned collaborators will be listed in the proposal.\nIf you are not mentioned in the proposal, this is not a good sign. \n\n**What to do:** Send Professor A a **brief** email and tell him you think the proposal looks good and simply say you would still like to work on this with him (if indeed you want to put in more work--without more mork, you will probably not be a coauthor) and ask if he is open to that. Since this was (based on?) your idea, and you had originally planned to work together, there is a good chance Professor A will be sympathetic to this. However, it is possible that Professor A felt he has a project way beyond your original idea and, since he can do it on his own, he will. In particular, if your expertise will not even assist you in contributing to this project, Professor A is more likely to want to do this on his own.\n\nEither of these outcomes may be reasonable, depending on the circumstances. An idea alone (or even a research plan) is usually not enough reason to be a coauthor, and once you suggest an idea to someone, they can work on it without you if they like, if you had no agreement otherwise with them. In your case, you were planning to work on your original idea together, so Professor A doing this on his own falls into more of a gray area, depending largely how similar the current proposal is to your original one. If they are essentially the same project, then dropping you from the project without discussion is unacceptable. If they seem like different projects, then he is not obligated to invite you to be a coauthor (though this would be the kind thing to do, at least if he feels you can contribute, and many faculty would do this if this supplants your old project). The issue is that the two of you may have different, naturally biased, views on how similar these things are. \n\n**Note:** Some disciplines, and some colleagues, are more competitive than others. This makes some people paranoid, or at least judicious, about sharing ideas with their colleagues. There are pros and cons to both keeping your ideas guarded and discussing them freely with others. I don't agree with the other answer that you necessarily shared your idea too soon, just that you got unlucky in this case. One should be somewhat careful, but it doesn't sound like Professor A was angling to steal your ideas from the beginning, but he does sound like the competitive type.\n\n**Final remarks:** If you couldn't have done without Professor A's, even if you don't end up as a coauthor, you've still helped advance science and you haven't really lost a publication, just lost that clean taste in your mouth. While it is natural to feel some ownership of ideas you've thought about for awhile and you want some sort of publication credit for them, a lot of the time these ideas don't work out to the point that merit a publication for you, though someone else may come along later, or frequently *before* you, and get something out of it."
},
{
"answer_id": 42743,
"author": "user3209815",
"author_id": 14133,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14133",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "As Remvall mentions, this falls into a gray area. However, presuming they left you out of the collaborators list, I wouldn't presume the professor would do such a thing \"unintentionally\". You should definitely ask again for involvement, but should also be prepared that your mails will go unanswered. The professor presumably doesn't want anything to do with you and however unethical that may sound (and certainly is), it is far more common than we in academia care to admit.\n\nThat being said, I really don't think you can force the professor into anything at this point. You shared your idea, that alone doesn't merit collaboration or co-authorship, it is your ability to produce results that counts. If you can build the idea up to get some results (even preliminary ones), I would suggest writing up a paper draft or even a research proposal and uploading them to arxive to obtain a timestamp. In doing so, you have a (remote) chance in making the professors life a little difficult, if you do it sufficiently before they get to mention it to their funding source.\n\nAgain, if you are not capable of writing up such a document, then your idea is really just an idea and anyone can work on it, with or without you. In that case you certainly shared it too soon, even more so, if the professor is not from your institution. This is a lesson, albeit a painful one. When you come up with something, you brood on it, read on it, research it, then you write it up. You repeat that process until you have a document that clearly establishes the \"what you are going to achieve\", the \"which problem(s) you are addressing with it\", the \"who has done previous work on it\" and a general idea of the \"how are going to do it\". You can at some point share your insights and thoughts with your most trusted immediate colleagues, but not so someone you don't know personally. After you got a document like this (usually around 2-3 pages), mind you, at this stage it is far from being called a paper, you upload it to obtain a timestamp. Then, you can contact collaborators which can help you with the \"how\", as in your case, so you can discuss your idea. You needn't mention the uploaded document, but not hide it either. You get some leverage in doing so, but it is never 100% fool proof and people bent on stealing your idea will find ways to do it, so you should also be careful who you want to collaborate with and what written terms of the collaboration apply."
},
{
"answer_id": 42752,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "I am somewhat surprised about the answers so far. The behavior of the professor as described seems at least a little unethical at best, and downright exploitative at worst. If a more junior researcher comes to you with a good idea and some first steps towards a concrete research plan, and you answer with (basically) **gee, good work, now please excuse me while I do this research with my own students**, I have a hard time seeing how this would be in any way considered fair. Asking the OP to be happy because he \"helped progress science\" after all is ... ok, I have literally no good word for this expectation. As we all know, reputation is the currency of science, and it sounds like the OP was badly short-changed.\n\nWhether the professor \"needs\" the OP or not is, to me, not really the important question here. The OP had the original idea, so it is unlikely to assume that he would be entirely useless in the remainder of the project. Hence, cutting him out of the research basically right from the start seems really awful. The least you can do is take him on and give him a chance to contribute to the research - if it then turns out that he or she actually lacks all the relevant knowledge to contribute from the project from then on (unlikely), you can still decide together to part ways later on.\n\n> \n> And, moreover, is this type of behavior acceptable? Do I have any leverage here? Do I need it?\n> \n> \n> \n\nI wouldn't consider it ethical at all. Whether you have any leverage is another question - likely no, as (as correctly noted above), just having the idea by itself does not warrant co-authorship (but you should have been given the *chance* to do more), but it is kind of too late for this now.\n\n> \n> I'd be happy being involved with the research itself, but I'm not sure he wants that. He'd probably be best off career-wise keeping it to him and his students (and, mind you, this is a researcher who puts a lot of effort on career advancement - he's an equally talented businessperson, albeit in academic research, as scholar).\n> \n> \n> \n\nAs I said, it is a bit late to ask for co-authorship of a thing that's already been written without you. If you don't actually want to be involved in the rest of the project, I am not sure what you can realistically ask for. In this case, I am not sure if you can get much more than an acknowledgement that you brought the idea to the mind of the professor. \n\n*(that being said, I wouldn't touch a collaboration with this guy anymore for the rest of my life)*"
}
] |
2015/04/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42734",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8075/"
] |
42,741 |
I applied for an permanent lecturer position in the UK and received an answer of the type "we regret to inform you...". My question is, should I call the university and ask more details about the selection procedure such as how many candidates were shortlisted, what was my overall ranking among the candidates, etc., or is there a typical number of candidates (e.g. 2-3? 9-10?) that are called for an interview?
I am asking because I guess this would give an idea about my relative qualifications and whether it is worth applying in a "similar" opportunity, or to stop applying for this level and aim lower for the time being, at least until I improve my cv.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42744,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "You can call and ask, but you are unlikely to get anything useful. You will most likely hear that your CV was very good, but that there were stronger applicants. If the head of the search is really good, they might actually look at your CV again and pick a weaker aspect of it (no matter how strong a applicant is, there is always a weaker aspect of the CV).\n\nIf you want to know about your relative qualifications, ask whoever is writing your references. If they do not know about the UK system, find a colleague that does and ask them."
},
{
"answer_id": 42750,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "No, don't call.\n\n* At my school, when we're on a hiring committee we have to go through a training course run by HR. HR tells us that we're not allowed to have this kind of conversation with candidates, and that in this situation we should refer the person to HR. I assume that this is to avoid liability.\n* They have probably received quite a large number of applications. They will not remember yours."
}
] |
2015/04/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42741",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21766/"
] |
42,753 |
Is there any publication venue that makes rejected papers available for download?
I am most interested in the field of computer science, and English-speaking venues.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42754,
"author": "Maarten van Wesel",
"author_id": 32146,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32146",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "At [Vixra.org](http://vixra.org/) you will find papers often rejected from Arxiv.org, and possibly also from the 'printed' press."
},
{
"answer_id": 42755,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "I do not know of any, and I can't imagine any that would. Typically, the journal would not have the copyright assignment until after they accepted, though I hear that some venues ask for this upfront. Additionally, this isn't really how academic publication is supposed to work. A rejection isn't the end of the road for a work of scientific authorship. Many works are published elsewhere after being rejected. This would kill that process.\n\n(Preprints notwithstanding, for works in fields where preprints don't count as publication.)"
},
{
"answer_id": 42814,
"author": "uli",
"author_id": 24138,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24138",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "There is the Journal of unsolved Questions [JunQ](http://junq.info/ \"JunQ\"). They collect ‘null’-result research and open problems. This may include previously rejected work."
},
{
"answer_id": 42818,
"author": "Kimball",
"author_id": 19607,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19607",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "If you mean a place where people can post rejected papers, any place you can post preprints, such as the arXiv or a personal webpage, will fill this role. \n\nIf you mean a journal that will publish rejected papers, normally people try to publish them in another journal, though after some difficulty, they may give up and leave them in the preprint form. There was an attempt to make a journal specifically for such papers in math, [Rejecta Mathematica](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rejecta_Mathematica) (this was a serious effort, with peer review), but foundered after a few years from lack of interest.\n\nIf you mean a journal that publishes submissions which are rejected (say publishes online papers which are rejected from a printed journal), one would need to get permission from the authors, who are not likely to be willing to give it. Also, if a journal publishes all papers they \"accept\" and all papers they \"reject\", they are just publishing all papers submitted and may as well not be a peer-review journal."
},
{
"answer_id": 42819,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "As Nufl Karth said, I don't believe anyone identifies or distributes rejected papers. However, you might be able to get private access if you are interested in doing statistical analysis. Of course no journal or conference would let you publish anything identifiable about specific rejected papers, they wouldn't let you access their data at all without some legal paperwork and promises of confidentiality, and they might not even let you do the analysis yourself (instead, they could answer statistical queries for you, so you never got your hands on all the data). However, if you propose an interesting project regarding what distinguishes accepted from rejected papers, then they might be willing to work with you to collect some statistics. It's by no means guaranteed, but it can't hurt to ask if you have a project you are excited about."
},
{
"answer_id": 42870,
"author": "Gimelist",
"author_id": 22213,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22213",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Actually there is one.\n\n[Copernicus Publications](http://publications.copernicus.org/) is an open access publisher that has some journals with an \"open review model\". Each paper in these paper has its full review process open for viewing to everyone. Each journal is actually two journals. The \"regular\" one and the \"discussions\" one, where it's possible to view the original submission, any revisions, reviewers comments and author replies. People who are not the assigned reviewers can also post comments on papers under review.\n\nYou can view this for both accepted and rejected papers, which is nice because then you can compare and see what makes one paper strong and another one weak.\n\nNot much computer science in there, but it has some areas which may be tangentially related in the \"Math|Data|Informatics\" section: <http://publications.copernicus.org/open-access_journals/math_data_informatics.html>"
}
] |
2015/04/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42753",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452/"
] |
42,756 |
If a conference accepted a paper with 3 authors, and the 2 co-authors were mainly reviewers. When submitting an extended version to a journal, should the co-authors be included or they can be removed? Can the paper include new authors?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42757,
"author": "Maarten van Wesel",
"author_id": 32146,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32146",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "I would find it kind of fishy if the authors change between conference paper and journal paper. It would be no problem if they differ substantially, but if this is not the case then one might try to contact the missing authors."
},
{
"answer_id": 42758,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "If the work is *extending* the original, then all of the original authors should be retained. New authors can certainly be added, however, if they have contributed to the extension."
}
] |
2015/04/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42756",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24823/"
] |
42,761 |
Is it a bad sign in a department if most of those who do their thesis in that department also did their undergraduate studies there and most of those who get their PhD there either
1. are employed in said university
or more often than that
2. find themselves outside of academia roughly within 5 years after defense?
EDIT: The department is a European mathematics department. It is mostly focused on teaching. There are (maybe?) roughly 10-20 PhD students. The department has been around from 1959 I think. The country in question has a handful of universities.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42762,
"author": "Rubix Rechvin",
"author_id": 31846,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31846",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "In any country with established PhD programs, this is a bad thing. If it was in a country trying to establish a research program, then it is harder to say. There may be extenuating circumstances, but I'd definitely be wary of joining a program like this, without significant research ahead of time."
},
{
"answer_id": 42809,
"author": "Emilie",
"author_id": 25030,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25030",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "I agree that this is generally a bad sign, especially your number 2, but I would add a \"but\" to this answer.\n\nWhen the language used for teaching at the University is not English, situation number 1 can arise. Some department have a hard time recruiting and keeping researchers that are willing to learn a second language and teach in it.\n\nAnother way to evaluate the quality of the department would be to look at the collaboration they have with other institutions and the scientific literature they produce (among other things)."
}
] |
2015/04/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42761",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32554/"
] |
42,763 |
I am in High-School but want to pursue research in Computer Science, but as you know High-School usually does not offer any such options or tasks.
So I want to explore avenues where I can get these options and tasks as I am **very very** interested and really want to do it.
I would also like to say that I have good-strong knowledge of C++, C and assorted APIs from that (3 years programming for 5+ hours daily). So I wouldn't call my self too new to programming and think I can handle programming and so on.
Now, these are my questions:
1. How can I get involved in research?
2. How can I contact academics to ask them for research position or even an intern position in research for that matter without coming across as a "waste of time"?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42768,
"author": "Rubix Rechvin",
"author_id": 31846,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31846",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "This is a tough question, you sound like you're very interested but I'd seriously question your familiarity with the body of computer science to be able to meaningfully contribute to a research project. A better option might be to engage in reading publications and identifying areas of knowledge gaps, and work on rectifying those in preparation for a career in research. \n\nAt the same time, I really don't want to discourage your enthusiasm. If there is an institute that engages in research in your area, you might want to check out their website and see what types of research the professors are engaged in. Start off by reading about those fields and , once you're comfortable, reach out to the professor with questions and let them know you're interested in research. Start there and see where it goes!"
},
{
"answer_id": 42772,
"author": "Sid5427",
"author_id": 14005,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14005",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "A researcher is supposed to have a deep understanding of his/her field and a solid grasp of the basics. Unfortunately to even begin to understand stuff at that level, we need a decent high school level general science background. Not to mention that Computer Science is quite interdisciplinary - it includes topics from physics, mathematics, statistics and lots of other knowledge areas. \n\nCoding is a skill, it enables you to do your work quicker - it helps you do research but is very rarely the research itself. Even \" the dirty work of coding\" needs some basic background knowledge. If you know how to make rubber, doesn't mean you can make a tire without knowing what a tire is ! Making a tire requires knowledge of things like heat tolerances, load capacity, strength etc. \n\nBUT this is not to discourage you, Absolutely not! Rather to know where you stand and what to expect and how to approach people for opportunities.\n\nI have a few suggestions - \n\n1. Look for freelancing programming opportunities - there quite a few websites \\_ I personally know of freelancer.com and fiver.com. Here you can work on programming assignments set by people and get paid for it. This sets you up for the next level - why ? If you do a good enough job that people pay you for, then many more will take you seriously ...\n2. Now for pure research oriented opportunities - The best idea is to talk to people who are conducting undergraduate research - why ? students who are say in first or second year of their undergraduate programs would have more or less the same level of knowledge you have. Plus if you actually worked doing freelancing stuff or some-other paid or otherwise serious opportunity, this will give you an extremely positive point to negotiate an opportunity."
},
{
"answer_id": 42773,
"author": "Ketan Maheshwari",
"author_id": 6103,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6103",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "As you are in very early stages of your probable research career, one thing I want to say is do shopping. Try to consciously ask yourself and others as to exactly what research you want to do and more importantly why. Do not be afraid to drop ideas or say no to potential supervisors or even current supervisors in the middle of your research work if it does not appeal and/or interest you. This is much easier and crucial at this stage of your career to find the right area if you want to flourish and more importantly enjoy your research in the long term."
},
{
"answer_id": 42780,
"author": "Wolfgang Bangerth",
"author_id": 31149,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31149",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I am in a math department and many math departments have \"math circles\" or other activities that reach out to high schoolers to show them what mathematics at a research level is, provide them with teaser problems that show some deeper structure that you may find interesting and that can guide you towards current research. You have to expect that it takes a few years to get to where research really is, but at least it provides you with an avenue to talk to professors on a regular basis and get exposed to research.\n\nLet me just assume that computer science departments have similar avenues. Find the closest university to where you live and check its computer science department's web site for outreach activities, or email their undergraduate coordinator for more information. They may have something like our math circles."
},
{
"answer_id": 42807,
"author": "MrMeritology",
"author_id": 17564,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17564",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "Good on you!\n\nI have a relatively simple suggestion: **do a replication study**. First, find a *collaborator* -- a fellow high school student or college student of similar skill and experience. You'll learn more in a team than doing it alone. Second, *read a dozen or so research papers* (probably conference papers) in the field or sub-field that interests you the most. *Pick one*, preferably the *simplest* one you can find. Your goal is to replicate the methods as described in the paper and compare your results to theirs. (Don't pick one where you have access to their code.) Once you have a paper picked out (or a few), recruit an adviser/mentor -- either a college professor or an experienced researcher. You'll want to meet with your adviser/mentor weekly to talk about progress and problems you encounter along the way. Mostly, this weekly meeting holds you and your partner accountable for progress.\n\nIn my field (Computational Social Science) there are many simulation models that are simple enough to be replicated from their specification. This varies widely in subfields of Computer Science, so your mileage may vary.\n\nThe point to all this is to get you an experience in the realm of research without requiring that you first go through all the preliminaries. By focusing on replicating *one* paper, you only need to understand the material and methods in this one paper. You aren't trying to break any new ground. Instead, you are following in the footsteps of other researchers. If they have done their job well, then you should be able to replicate their results. Replication is a valuable scientific endeavor in itself."
},
{
"answer_id": 45666,
"author": "Rolando Cruz",
"author_id": 34707,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/34707",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "Contact and network with people! These two things are key.\n\nFrom there, prove to them that you are experienced. I did this by showing them my Github & Bitbucket, my iOS apps, my web apps, my websites, compilers/search engines, and my hackathon experiences. \n\nThis is what got me my research opportunity at Stanford in Computer Science.\n\nYours truly, \n\nHigh School Junior working on Computer Science Research with PhDs at Stanford University this summer\n\nGood luck!"
},
{
"answer_id": 45701,
"author": "Nick Cain",
"author_id": 34266,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/34266",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "I'm not a CS person (policy and politics PhD) but one thing that has not been discussed: Develop a domain interest by reviewing research on a particular topic. \n\nAre you interested in a particular facet of CS? Is there an application of CS to a field you are interested in? Or is there a research questions that you want to apply CS methods to?\n\nOnce you read into the literature a bit (<https://scholar.google.com> is a good place to start) then you can find CS programs and professors that match with your interested -- and once you've done this, you can contact professors in the subfield of interest to volunteer your skills and ask domain-specific questions."
}
] |
2015/04/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42763",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
42,770 |
In [a comment](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/32855/should-i-start-my-cv-by-telling-about-myself#comment73689_32884), ff524 said this (and got confirmed by scaahu, Nate Eldredge below (not to mention the number of votes)):
>
> Actually, academic CVs are typically not as sales-pitch-y as non-academic CVs. They are usually a very formulaic listing of all the academic things the candidate has done, with no editorializing or embellishment [...]. The "sell" is reserved for other parts of the application.
>
>
>
Why? I know that there are some differences in academia than other environments, but I can't think of a reason why a CV shouldn't be a sale pitch. Sure, we have other metrics to evaluate that, like h-index, but what is so wrong that putting other things (like [about me](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24337/what-to-write-in-an-impressive-about-me-section/24371#24371), objectives, [other courses](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2336/can-i-include-the-completion-of-udacity-and-coursera-classes-i-have-attended-in), [English certification](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30252/should-i-list-gre-scores-on-my-cv), class standing, etc)? I am asking this question in general, but I also ask it from the new young student standing point in specifically. I know that if you are a novice, [LOR are very important](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/19100/14341). You can say that a CV should be concise and into the point, but a half-page long CV may show that beside that point, you have nothing.
I just wonder what is the harm of making the CV like a sales pitch?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42774,
"author": "Roger Fan",
"author_id": 20375,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20375",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "In academia, the traditional CV format is exactly what people care about, i.e. it already is the sell. Other academics care about stuff like your papers, presentations, and teaching experiences. In general, very little weight is given to the other topics that you mentioned, so including them is a waste of space. The few places that they do have weight (primarily graduate admissions), the relevant parts are better suited to other areas of the application (e.g. official transcripts, TOEFL and GRE score reports) where they are more likely to be seen when needed.\n\nNote that graduate admissions are slightly different from the rest of academia. CVs that are submitted here are often more of a hybrid between traditional resumes and academic CVs, in large part because prospective graduate students don't have the academic experiences and achievements to fill up the latter (somewhat field-dependent). But many of the same cultural norms apply. By and large, academics are not interested or swayed by unverifiable \"fluff,\" so you should limit what you include to specific, concrete, verifiable achievements."
},
{
"answer_id": 42781,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "Largely, it is cultural. So far as I understand it, the idea is that \"your record should speak for itself.\" Of course, you *are* selling yourself to a degree, by how you choose to put which pieces forward, whether to choose a \"selected\" versus a \"completist\" format, etc. The range of acceptable variation, however, is much narrower than for a job resume, and the format is built around showing *credibility* (in the form of accomplishments) rather than enthusiasm and fit with business goals (which is the goal of a resume)."
}
] |
2015/04/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42770",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14341/"
] |
42,771 |
I'm in the process of setting up an account on Academia.edu and as you may know there is an area that allows you to add publications. My question is how does this work with a copyright agreement (Springer International Publishing) that I have signed?
For anyone that may have also signed this agreement: going by Section 3 it looks like I can upload a non-Springer formatted copy as long as I cite the Springer link as the final version?
I have heard people mention author copies before, but I'm not sure if this is a real thing or just a myth that's been circulated down the line (where you can host your papers as long as you make a slight change from the published copy).
The form if anyone is interested (direct download): [Springer Copyright Form](http://www.springer.com/?SGWID=4-102-45-154182-0)
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42774,
"author": "Roger Fan",
"author_id": 20375,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20375",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "In academia, the traditional CV format is exactly what people care about, i.e. it already is the sell. Other academics care about stuff like your papers, presentations, and teaching experiences. In general, very little weight is given to the other topics that you mentioned, so including them is a waste of space. The few places that they do have weight (primarily graduate admissions), the relevant parts are better suited to other areas of the application (e.g. official transcripts, TOEFL and GRE score reports) where they are more likely to be seen when needed.\n\nNote that graduate admissions are slightly different from the rest of academia. CVs that are submitted here are often more of a hybrid between traditional resumes and academic CVs, in large part because prospective graduate students don't have the academic experiences and achievements to fill up the latter (somewhat field-dependent). But many of the same cultural norms apply. By and large, academics are not interested or swayed by unverifiable \"fluff,\" so you should limit what you include to specific, concrete, verifiable achievements."
},
{
"answer_id": 42781,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "Largely, it is cultural. So far as I understand it, the idea is that \"your record should speak for itself.\" Of course, you *are* selling yourself to a degree, by how you choose to put which pieces forward, whether to choose a \"selected\" versus a \"completist\" format, etc. The range of acceptable variation, however, is much narrower than for a job resume, and the format is built around showing *credibility* (in the form of accomplishments) rather than enthusiasm and fit with business goals (which is the goal of a resume)."
}
] |
2015/04/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42771",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17638/"
] |
42,782 |
For example in computer science, systems conferences have low acceptance rates hovering around ~20% as listed here: <https://www.cs.ucsb.edu/~almeroth/conf/stats/>
But in robotics many of the conferences, even the major ones, seem to have acceptance rates of ~40% (ICRA, IROS) as seen here: <http://www.adaptivebox.net/CILib/CICON_stat.html#ICRA>
Why is this, and are any steps taken to equalise the playing field between subfields? Does this simply mean that those doing systems research are just going to have a harder time publishing than those in robotics?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42783,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "You can't judge a conference by its acceptance rate because you don't know what is in the rejection pile. For example, I know of a computer science conference that regulates its acceptance ratio by determining it in advance and then just setting the number of parallel tracks to fit."
},
{
"answer_id": 42791,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I am a little confused by your question, as the answers are rather straight-forward:\n\n> \n> Why are the acceptance rates for publications in subfields higher than others?\n> \n> \n> \n\nWell, because some subfields have more active researchers, hence the popular conferences get more papers, hence they also have to reject more. Of course you *could* argue that these conferences should just get proportionally larger, but this is in practice unattractive. Cloud computing, for instance, is kind of a hot field right now. Acceptance rates for all reasonable conferences hover around or way below 20%. Of course we could accept twice as many papers in each conference to have 40%, but then all these conferences would be huge and take two weeks to run, and there would be even more mediocre related work to keep track of. I don't think anybody wants this.\n\nThis leads to the other, related, reason: not all papers are made equal. Hot topics tend to attract *a lot* more complete thrash than other fields. I am in the PC of conferences in software engineering and cloud / services computing. Both fields are reasonably established, but SE is more of a long-standing, existing field while cloud is a hype topic. SE conferences have substantially higher acceptance rates, but I feel the \"floor\" in terms of quality of accepted solutions is higher than in cloud conferences (that is, the worst paper at an SE conference is miles better than the worst paper at a cloud conference with much lower acceptance rate).\n\n> \n> Does this simply mean that those doing systems research are just going to have a harder time publishing than those in robotics?\n> \n> \n> \n\nNot necessarily. See above - one thing I have learned is that the acceptance rate really is a crude measure to judge the difficulty of getting a paper accepted.\n\n> \n> are any steps taken to equalise the playing field between subfields?\n> \n> \n> \n\nNot that I know of, and I see this not as a pressing issue that needs addressing."
}
] |
2015/04/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42782",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/29303/"
] |
42,792 |
This question was inspired by the [recent question on posting to Academia.edu](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42771/uploading-papers-on-sites-such-as-academia-edu-copyright-issues-author-copy).
The general copyright policy for Bwrungor, as listed on [SHERPA/RoMEO](http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/), is that one can post a pre-review version to the arXiv but one must wait a year after publication before posting an post-review copy to any open repository (and one can never post the final publisher's copy):
This seems to precluding posting a post-review update to the arXiv until a year after the journal article is published. Moley appears to have a similar policy.
To me this policy seems crazy, because it means that if you actually obey it, you cannot post a revised version to the arXiv for over a year -- and thus you are obliged to leave uncorrected any mistakes that are uncovered during the review process for a protracted period of time. That's bad scholarship at best. I don't see how anyone could comply with this policy in good faith.
It also raises a major issue for peer review. Why one should review for free for a journal that won't let the author share the results of your review with the community in as timely a fashion as possible?
*Moreover, I don't see how this policy could possibly be enforceable*, due to the timing of the copyright transfer agreement. The author does not transfer the copyright until after submitting the final revised version to the publisher. I am no lawyer, but it seems to me that the publisher has no copyright claim over the post-revision version of the manuscript until the author has actually returned the signed copyright transfer agreement. As best as I can tell, this leaves a generous time window during which the author can freely submit a post-review version of the manuscript to the arXiv without committing any kind of copyright violation whatsoever. The only option open to the publisher would be to refuse to publish the paper in retaliation -- which they are extremely unlikely to do.
**So my question is simply this**: Am I missing something here? Is there any way that such a policy could be legally enforceable if one posts the post-review version prior to signing the copyright transfer agreement?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42794,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Note that it is untrue to say that: \"*you are obliged to leave uncorrected any mistakes that are uncovered during the review process for a protracted period of time*\". The corrected version appears in the journal. Just update the arxiv paper with a link to the journal paper, stating that that is the corrected version. And you can update the preprint server with corrections anyway: you just can't breach your publisher's copyright agreement. If necessary, find a second way to phrase the correction, or if that's too onerous, add a note saying that corrections are forthcoming in {this journal}. But all this seems by-the-by, as no one's obliging you to use this publisher: I'm sure [any number of open-access publishers will be happy to take your cash in exchange for very few restrictions](http://scholarlyoa.com/publishers/). \n\nYou ask whether this agreement is legally enforceable. **It doesn't matter**. When someone breaches the agreement they have made with a publisher, they've shown that they are untrustworthy. The route you've identified, of someone deliberately breaching an embargo that they know they are going to sign up to, would be an act of bad faith that would demonstrate that they are untrustworthy. \n\nAcademia is built on trust relationships. So if anyone was considering reneging on an agreement, they should first give careful consideration to all their other current agreements and all their future possible agreements, with media, academia, voluntary sector, industry, and government.\n\nWould a publisher pull a paper if the embargo had been breached? Well, they're completely within their moral and legal rights to do so. And consider the business case: if the one thing that they were going to get out of the deal was exclusive distribution of the paper for a year, and someone took that one thing away, there's nothing left for them in the deal.\n\nNote that there are lots of publishing models out there. If you don't like one, and your funder doesn't oblige you to use it, then don't use it. There's a market there: it's pointless to to try to coerce everyone to follow one publishing model, regardless of how fashionable or ideologically pure that publishing model is."
},
{
"answer_id": 42812,
"author": "slingbx",
"author_id": 32597,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32597",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "Yes you are missing something: it you sign (or intend to sign) the copyright transfer form, you engage not to do certain activities, incl. putting the paper online. \n\n**If you have already done this, then you cannot sign the form - plain and simple,** as you can never comply with what you are signing; you have already broken the rules. \n\nThere is nothing you can do about this, and to many people it is not a problem. Noone forces you to publish with Bwrungor or the others, but if you choose to do so, you effectively give them the right to make money by selling the pdf or journal for 1 year, and of course they ask you not to give it for free. If you dont like that, you can pay then the open-access fee 500-1000$ and you remove all these restrictions. Or you just put the paper on Archiv and forget about Bwrungor. Or you make it into a pamphlet and sell it youself if you don't agree that Bwrungor should make money on your back."
},
{
"answer_id": 42824,
"author": "user6726",
"author_id": 28972,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28972",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "The copyright agreement does not require that you leave your mistakes uncorrected, it simply requires you to make corrections in a particular way. The simplest method, if you discover mistakes in the published version, is to distribute some note of correction that specifically addresses your original error, which can be done without violating the copyright agreement. The copyright agreement *may* allow you to post post-review versions of the paper, since the agreement may contain a clause that \"Prior versions of the Contribution published on non-commercial pre-print servers like ArXiv/CoRR and HAL can remain on these servers *and/or can be updated with Author’s accepted version*\". There is always a clause where the author warranties that the work has not been previously published (which includes online distribution via ArXiv), and this is why they need to expressly say that you are also permitted to post the submitted version.\n\nThere are two notions of \"enforceability\" relevant to your agreement with the publisher. The stronger one involves litigation, where the publisher sues you for damages (when you breach a contract). You should hire a Swiss lawyer to get advice on whether Bwrungor is likely to prevail in court. The other notion is \"having negative consequences\". A simple negative consequence would be that Bwrungor refuses to publish any more of your work, if you flagrantly violate the terms of the agreement. Whether or not your breach involves copyright violation depends on whether or not you give them a license to publish, versus transfer copyright. (In interpreting the Lecture Notes in CS agreement, you would want to consult the Swiss attorney for a precise interpretation of granting and assigning the exclusive, sole right to copy).\n\nYour comment about the review process is tangential, and suggests that you are unaware of review protocol, You ask \"Why one should review for free for a journal that won't let the author share the results of your review with the community in as timely a fashion as possible\". Reviews are not only anonymous, but also privileged communication between the reviewer and the editor (often -- though not always -- shared verbatim with the author). So you should not distribute reviewer comments, unless that is expressly permitted by the journal."
},
{
"answer_id": 47343,
"author": "David M W Powers",
"author_id": 6390,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6390",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Bwrungor (copyright transfer form) actually says (my emphasis):\n\n\"Authors may self-archive the **author’s accepted manuscript** of their articles on their own websites. Authors may also deposit **this version** of the article in any repository, provided it is only made publicly available 12 months after official publication or later. He/ she may not use the **publisher's version** (the final article), which is posted on BwrungorLink and other Bwrungor websites, for the purpose of self-archiving or deposit. Furthermore, the author may only post his/her version provided acknowledgement is given to the original source of publication and a link is inserted to the published article on Bwrungor's website. The link must be provided by inserting the DOI number of the article in the following sentence: “The final publication is available at Bwrungor via <http://dx.doi.org/[insert> DOI]”.\"\n\nThe only restrictions are on the accepted version and the published version. Pre-prints and revisions prior to acceptance are not precluded. However, links to the Bwrungor website/doi should be provided on publication. See:\n<http://www.springer.com/gp/open-access/authors-rights/self-archiving-policy/2124>"
},
{
"answer_id": 86717,
"author": "einpoklum",
"author_id": 7319,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7319",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I'll give a more general answer to your question:\n\n\"Copyright\", or rather, the criminalization of making copies, has been a very problematic social institution since its inception. Quoting Wikipedia:\n\n> \n> The origin of copyright law in most European countries lies in efforts by the church and governments to regulate and control the output of printers Before the invention of the printing press, a writing, once created, could only be physically multiplied by the highly laborious and error-prone process of manual copying by scribes... Printing allowed for multiple exact copies of a work, leading to a more rapid and widespread circulation of ideas and information (see print culture). Pope Alexander VI issued a bull in 1501 against the unlicensed printing of books and in 1559 the Index Expurgatorius, or List of Prohibited Books, was issued for the first time.\n> \n> \n> \n\nlater on Copyright was tied to the commodification of written text in the nascent European Capitalism (I'll refrain from more quoting; see [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_copyright_law) and [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_Anne) about the Statute of Anne). The point (in my opinion) is that **copyright is about reinforcement of oppressive and/or exploitative social power held by the privileged few**. So it's not just this policy that seems crazy, it's that Copyright is fundamentally \"crazy\" - especially when it concerns cultural and scientific works.\n\nWe should really strive to break the yoke of publishers like Springer and Elsevier - and whatever nation-state/international support they have - so that they cannot restrict our socially-useful work to more easily line their pockets. They should not have exclusive rights of any kind on our work, and would merely be providing the service of publishing, distribution and online storage/access. No more than that.\n\nThis answer is not the right place to list and compare possible courses of action to achieve this, but you have indeed hinted at one: We should begin to break their one-sided agreements en masse, so that it would be useless to possibly go after individual breaches, or single-out \"copyright dissidents\" by refusing to publish their work etc. Or at the single conference/journal-issue level - if all authors refuse to sign the copyright transfers and the organizers/editors threaten to leave Elsevier/Springer if they don't accept an oral, implied, good-faith common-sense agreement with authors - they can forget about that journal or conference."
},
{
"answer_id": 128415,
"author": "Sascha",
"author_id": 53466,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53466",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "Without looking at the legal situation: \n\nIf you work together with the journal/reviewers on making the paper better, the journal contributed by using their reputation to find a reviewer and the reviewers contributed by using their time. The result (and thus the copyright) is not your result any more but the result of a common work, so you need to keep to the intended terms of this common work. (If you don't like the terms of working together, then don't work together)."
}
] |
2015/04/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42792",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27900/"
] |
42,795 |
Recently, I attended a conference as a [corresponding author](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/corresponding_author) of a paper with five authors. After the paper was published in the conference proceedings, I realized that the technical editor changed the authors order by grouping them according to their affiliations. Is this acceptable?
I feel a bit responsible to my coauthors (being the corresponding author) even though this publication style also affected other papers in the proceedings. But what should I do?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42798,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "Is this a field where author order is assumed to matter (e.g., applied CS)? If yes, this is completely unacceptable. If no, it is still very strange, but maybe not a big deal in the end. I can only imagine that your paper was handled by a very inexperienced technical editor who is simply not aware that the order of authors is not just a stylistic question, but actually has CV implications (in some cases, at least). \n\nOne way or another, you should get in touch with the organizers of the conference (e.g., the publication chair if they have one, the general chair if not) and let them know. Maybe it is still possible to fix this, but at least the responsible people should be aware of this issue."
},
{
"answer_id": 42917,
"author": "yo'",
"author_id": 1471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1471",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "*(Copy Editor speaking.)*\n\n**This is completely unacceptable** and even for more than one reason:\n\n1. **They obviously did not ask you to proof-read the final version.** If they did, you would have spotted this change I suppose. Not making final proofs is acceptable only in small local workshops and seminars where minor mistakes don't matter since the publications are not quite real publications, and also where things are usually easy to correct.\n2. **They deliberately changed the order of the authors.** In fields where each position is something different, this is completely unacceptable. In fields where this is not the case and the authors are listed alphabetically, it's still pretty bad, because it raises a question why you chose this order (people won't assume it was the technical editor who changed the order).\n\nWhat should you do?\n\n* **Inform your co-authors.** Let them know what has happened, that it wasn't your action and that you're looking into it more. The sooner you do this the better, to avoid confusion whether you're cheating them.\n* **Raise it up.** Ask both the publisher and the Program Committee chair for explanation of this action. Ask them to change it instantly -- they will probably tell you that it's impossible and they'll likely be right, but it doesn't matter. It's their mistake, not yours.\n* If you want, you can also speak about **copyrights**. The order of authors is, in my opinion, an integral part of the paper, and it means that they published something for which you did not transfer the copyrights.\n\nI don't think you can change anything for your paper (it's probably too late), but you can certainly change something for other people publishing with the same publisher in the future. In my opinion, this is worth it."
}
] |
2015/04/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42795",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32404/"
] |
42,811 |
I was just about to send my first PhD application to University XXX. I am currently finishing my master's thesis at University XXX. Would it be incorrect to use my university address to apply for PhD positions?.
Could it be taken as unrightful use of the "university name"?.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42813,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "I don't see any possible problem with using your current university email address in your application.\n\nThe university issued you this address with the expectation that you would use it to communicate with people inside and outside the university. I can't imagine any way this would be considered \"not rightful\"."
},
{
"answer_id": 42815,
"author": "O. R. Mapper",
"author_id": 14017,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14017",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "Do your terms of use for the university address specify any restrictions on using the address for such purposes?\n\nIf they do not restrict you in that way, just make sure the address remains in existence for long enough once you have finished your master's thesis - some universities automatically and irrevocably delete their students' accounts including inbox content sooner than expected (e.g. on the day of giving the final presentation ...).\n\n*Note that some professors explicitly refuse to receive any e-mails not sent from university addresses (because they expect common, or at least free e-mail providers to sell out address to spammers sooner or later). Universities are probably, to some limited extent, aware of this habit and thus should usually allow their students to contact such professors with their university addresses, including for PhD applications.* \\*\\*\n\nIn all, I do not see any reason why this should be problematic with respect to the \"university name\". If you are afraid that a bad\\* application of yours might shed a bad light on your university, using the university address should not be any more problematic than writing the name of your university onto the front page of a bad\\* master thesis, which can then be found world-wide on Google Scholar.\n\n\\*hypothetical, not claiming this badness applies to you\n\n\\*\\*Based on a discussion with [Bill Barth](https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600/bill-barth), I figured that this only works to some extent as in my place, most student issues are handled by other people in the department beside the professor, so there is hardly ever much of a reason for students who do not have a university address (and even for those who do) to contact a professor by e-mail."
}
] |
2015/04/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42811",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32446/"
] |
42,826 |
I read that universities invite candidates and ask them to book a flight. If universities don't specify the amount available, can candidates select any airfare? Should the candidates ask or just book any? 100$ or 1000$, would that matter? And do booking the cheapest flight be a positive sign?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42827,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "When you're invited for an interview, the university should offer some guidance on how to book travel and what they will reimburse. If for some reason they don't, it's reasonable to ask how you should handle it. By default you should book a reasonably priced economy-class ticket (i.e., given several options don't take one that stands out as much more expensive). It's wise to save a few screenshots of price comparisons in case anyone suggests you should have gotten a much better deal. If all the available flights seem remarkably expensive, for example if you are invited to interview with relatively little notice, then you can always check to make sure they are OK with the expense (but they will presumably say yes if the expense could not reasonably be avoided)."
},
{
"answer_id": 133028,
"author": "guest",
"author_id": 110607,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/110607",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "The norm for any job interview is to book an economy ticket and the most reasonable rate (NOT what airline gets you best \"points\"). It is reasonable to prefer a direct flight and one that works with your personal schedule in terms of departure/arrival times, but even here I would probably do the more inconvenient flight if the difference is over $200. (With some judgment...for instance if you have other interviews or other hard schedule demands, just do the flight that works best time-wise.) \n\nSometimes last minute travel, especially during peak demand periods (and summer is one), can be quite expensive. So if the ticket is above $1000, I would let them know what is coming. They will very likely say just book it before it goes up more, but it is just nice so it is not a surprise. Otherwise just book it. \n\nAlso, you don't need to clear and pre-budget all the details of your rental car/cab or the meal in the airport TGIF. You're a grownup now, applying for a grownup job. You don't need to clear this all ahead of time--it will look unsophisticated if you do. They will probably give you a form to submit expenses (after the meeting)--if not, just send a letter to your point of contact or whatever factotum at the department handles that stuff (if you know name), with a bulleted list of travel expenses:\n\\*Cab or POV mileage (@IRS rates) to airport, plus any tolls\n\\*Airport parking\n\\*Rental car or cabs at destination\n\\*Hotel\n\\*Meals \n\nSave your receipts--many places expect them to accompany expense reimbursement. (For some, just the list is fine.)"
}
] |
2015/04/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42826",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24823/"
] |
42,835 |
Someone I know is apparently claiming to have obtained PhD when I know for a fact that he did not. He is working in a biomedical company and having himself presented as Dr. Is there a way to have this checked out?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42836,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "There are several commercial degree and credential verification services. All of them are commercial and so I don't want to advertise them here, but you can easily find them through Google: \n\n* <http://lmgtfy.com/?q=degree+verification+services>\n\n(You can also do the google search for credential verification if you're looking for some way to tell if this person really has a medical board certification, for example).\n\nIf you know which university they have graduated from, you might be able to call their registrar and ask to verify. Note that many universities have stopped providing this service and will refer you instead to the company that is the top-hit in the \"degree verification services\" search above. \n\nPart of this is because verifying students has become a burden in a time of diminishing staff budgets. Trying to figure out if \"John Doe\" may or may not have graduated some time in the early 1990s with a BA or maybe an MA in one of the schools at a large university... can easily take up half an hour or more of staff time.\n\nSecond, universities are also worried about violating student educational privacy (FERPA) if they accidentally reveal too much information about a student's status at a school. Even if not, they may not want to accept legal liability for false positives or negatives.\n\nThus, it's much easier and less legally fraught for them to outsource verification to a private, third party company."
},
{
"answer_id": 42880,
"author": "Raydot",
"author_id": 13535,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13535",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "Sure, just contact the registrar's office of the University from which he claims to have graduated."
}
] |
2015/04/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42835",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32610/"
] |
42,841 |
This happened to me in my 2nd year of grad school, in a STEM field. As many do, our professor gave the class the last year's final, to give us an idea of what areas to study and what to expect, etc, which he obviously isn't required to do and is very nice of him.
Now, the reason he gives us last year's one is because, at the end of the year, he returns your test, so he knows that most of the ones floating around are the ones from last year.
However, as many older professors (in my experience, but maybe younger ones too) do, he also reuses exams from previous years (not even concepts or the same problems with different parameters, just literal copies), since the material and curriculum of this course is very well established/so old that nothing needs to change. I don't blame him for this; if you teach the same course on and off over 20 years, coming up with good exam questions over and over again would be annoying.
Now, what my question regards is, I realized a student in my class had past tests from not just the last time the class was taught, but literally the past 5 years. I don't know how to say this part as diplomatically as possible, but this student came from a country that about nearly half our program comes from. The other half (aside a few outliers) is from the U.S. I don't mention this to demonize or stereotype anyone; I believe it's relevant because the students from this country (in my program) are almost uniformly very tight knit, and seem to often share resources between each other and across years more than is normal amongst everyone else. The relevance is that one group has resources that others don't.
So my question is, is this ethical (for the student to do, I mean) ?
Just to put some relevant ideas/arguments/details down:
* Assume (and I believe it was the case) that in the scenario I've written, the rest of the students (the ones who *don't* have the past tests) don't know about the students that have the past tests, so they can't do something simple like ask them.
* I think many will argue that if the professor didn't want this happening, he wouldn't reuse tests, or at least as exactly as he does. However, I don't think this changes the ethics of the situation: the point is, in this situation, you *can* get away with it, but is it right?
* I imagine the professor would not approve of this (actually, recently, another professor said in regards to his final "I know there are past ones floating around, please don't look at them", so at least he disapproved), but an argument could also be made for the possibility of him approving: It's not as though having the previous tests just makes it a given that you'll ace it, it's still a lot of work to figure out all the problems such that you can reliably do them later (he doesn't give back the *answers* to the tests, only the tests themselves). I could imagine a professor being okay with students getting a better grade on the final if it meant they learned more and worked to get it.
* This professor never actually said not to, so the student wasn't explicitly disobeying anyone.
* This question really has two subquestions, but they're very similar: a) Would it be ethical if *everyone* had these pasts tests (that the professor did not know about/give)? And b), Is it ethical if only a subset of the class has these tests. Obviously if you say no to (a) you say no to (b), but you might feel as though the concept of using past tests isn't wrong, but some students having an unfair advantage is.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42842,
"author": "Layla",
"author_id": 6144,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6144",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "There is nothing unethical about a group of students that have grabbed their hands in the past years' examinations. Maybe you can argue that is not fair and that they are selfish, but those justifications are far away from ethical issues.\n\nIf you or other of your fellow USA friends want that information, why you just don't ask for those examinations directly to them? Maybe they will be happily to hand you a copy of those exams. In the case they don't want to share them with you, what is the problem? You cannot force them to do something that they do no want.\n\nI see in your question that there is a hidden message, not a good one against expats studying with you, and that is something that should not be tolerated in any way. If I am wrong, then the only advice that I can give to you is to study and prepare well for the exams, because at the end the reward of a good education is going to be only for you."
},
{
"answer_id": 42843,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "Perhaps this is a bit of a genuine ethical issue: should one use \"game advantages\" one might find, that one knows other \"players\" will not have? Of course, these questions completely ignore issues of the subject itself, learning, scholarship, etc. But, yes, there are advantages to \"good test scores\". That game is primarily (contrived) an adversarial one between \"teacher\" and \"student\", and any information obtained \"legally\" by the students is... \"legal\". It's a game! \n\nIn that model, other students may suffer \"on the curve\". Not nice, true, but, ... \n\nI think the real answer is that, especially internet-wise, any policy that presumes secrecy of information is misguided. Sounds innocent, but, as this test case shows, there *are* \"victims\". \n\nMy sincere conclusion, and basis for my own actions for 15+ years, is that everything should be made public. If someone can assimilate good solutions to all the exams for the last 20 years, ... then why shouldn't they pass the current exam? :)\n\n(So, the kids who cram from the last few exams are merely being rational, assuming they didn't have to break-and-enter.)\n\nThe unasked question about whether the behavior of the \"teacher\" is inadvertently unfair is the interesting one. That is, lacking intent, can one be unfair? Yes, it turns out, by negligence..."
},
{
"answer_id": 42846,
"author": "KAI",
"author_id": 6923,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6923",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "The students who got the past tests have not really cheated, but they do have an advantage over students who do not have the tests. This is especially true if the professor is heavily recycling questions. The professor may not be aware of this advantage.\n\nTherefore, you should probably just speak to your professor about it. I would be careful to not be accusatory toward your fellow students. Your goal is not to get them in trouble, but rather to express to your professor that you feel you are at a disadvantage. That is, you are perfectly willing to work and study hard, but others may have their work rewarded more than yours.\n\nI would also recommend that you avoid mention of national origin since I don't think that that is really very relevant to the topic and may be distracting.\n\nA very similar problem that I have seen in the past is that some groups may \"curate\" past tests. For example, I have seen groups like frats and sororities which intentionally keep files of old tests for the purpose of giving future members an advantage on tests. This is something that lecturers were very interested in knowing about even though it wasn't technically against any rules."
},
{
"answer_id": 42847,
"author": "BrianH",
"author_id": 6787,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6787",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "**TLDR; If you need to hide it from your professor, it's probably misconduct.**\n\nDoes your University have any sort of Honor Code, published standards of Academic Integrity, Student Agreement, or other such thing that students must agree to be bound by? If so, this is a great place to look, and [I'll share an item from my present University](http://www.uwsp.edu/stuaffairs/Documents/RightsRespons/Academic%20Integrity%20Brochure.pdf) which notes that the following are violations of the code of Academic Integrity:\n\n> \n> * seeks to claim credit for the work or efforts of another without authorization or citation;\n> * uses unauthorized materials or fabricated data in any academic exercise;\n> \n> \n> \n\nSimilarly, it also notes about collaboration between students:\n\n> \n> **Collaboration**\n> You should be aware that different instructors have\n> different expectations about working with others. If you wish to\n> consult with or work with another student on an assignment and you are\n> not sure of the course rules, ask the instructor. **It is each student’s\n> responsibility to seek information about the boundaries of\n> appropriately working with others on assignments, papers, experiments\n> or examinations.** ***If no rules concerning working with others have been\n> discussed in a course, the student must assume that working with\n> others writing a paper, completing homework, or taking an exam is not\n> permitted.***\n> [emphasis mine]\n> \n> \n> \n\nIn my University this would, therefore, explicitly be considered academic misconduct and punished as cheating.\n\nHowever, I offer a much simpler version than all this written stuff.\n\nMy Personal Academic Ethical Gold Standard\n------------------------------------------\n\nWould you feel comfortable going to the professor and telling them what you were doing (such as studying an old test from a previous semester) and asking questions about it?\n\nWhy, or why not? If you would have any urge at all to refrain from talking to the professor or think that you should hide your behavior...***DING DING DING DING*** you're probably doing something wrong!\n\nSpecific Advice\n---------------\n\nIf I were you my first preference, having witnessed what seems to be wide-spread academic misconduct, is to talk with the professor (if I am on friendly terms at least) and ask them if they are aware that there is a good possibility that a sizable portion of the class has access to 5+ years of past tests from this class? If they were OK with it, I'd go ahead and ask that if you could would you be allowed to use them and pass them on to everyone else in the class too, or heck, for that matter can you just get a copy from him? It hardly seems fair that some people have access to special materials that others don't, after all.\n\nIf the professor objects then he can do something about it. If I were him I'd personally keep the test and add a twist to many of the questions to shift them into requiring different answers, so those who studied the unethical material would have their own change blindness and \"study\" behavior lead them astray, but that's just me wanting people to learn lessons for themselves.\n\nNow if you fear such a discussion with your professor, well I think it's unfortunate there isn't a better relationship between the students and instructors, but I can't fault you for being personally cautious or not wanting to get ostracized by other students. I would however point you to the existence of anonymous/free email accounts - a simple no-names-named email alerting the professor to the widespread availability of past tests to some but not all students should be sufficient to put the ball back in his court.\n\nNow if the professor doesn't want to do anything and just lets a large portion take advantage of the course while others are comparatively penalized by not having special access to test materials...well, that would just be a very sad reflection of the program and the instructor, and I'm sorry the education you are being provided has such an unsavory element included in it. I'd make sure the appropriate people know - professor, chair of department, etc - and then hold one's head high, actually work to learn the material, do a good job, and move on with life.\n\nA Final Note On Nationality/Grouping\n------------------------------------\n\nI would be remiss if I didn't mention this, but while I understand your observation of what you see as a pattern, I would ask this: if the situation were that a band of multicultural native citizens banded together and were engaging in this behavior but also did not share these resources to the entire class, would you be any less bothered by it?\n\nAs such, we can simply separate the issue entirely, because it doesn't matter what nationality, color, religion, or any other grouping they happen to belong to other than \"people who seem to be behaving unethically in this instance\". Otherwise we simply create and add to stereotypes that would encourage discrimination against the group, which would itself make it so that the group might need to be more willing to break the rules to get ahead because they are double-disadvantaged! All stereotype threats are inherently negative.\n\nOne need not ignore reality - just put in extra effort to prune out unnecessary grouping. Some students ban together to do something potentially wrong, and those students may share nationality or family ties - but it is not the nationality or family ties that are the problem, but the ethics and behavior involved in the situation. Stick to these facts and do not paint everyone with the same brush and you will improve your argument, possibly help improve the world at least a little, and be in a more justified and ethical situation yourself!"
},
{
"answer_id": 42868,
"author": "Sherry Zhou",
"author_id": 32637,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32637",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I feel like you are asking the wrong questions. It seems that your main concern is that the other group might have an unfair advantage and be gaming the system. \n\nHowever, you do mention that this is graduate school. My understanding from talking to graduate students is that grades are really only a part of the overall graduate school experience. The other parts (actually learning the material, getting to know the professor, networking, getting internships if this is a masters program or doing research if this is a PhD program) are essential to the graduate experience and arguable even more important. \n\nMorally, these students are acting fairly dodgy, but they are not necessarily ensuring their success in graduate school. Maybe the reason why there is not more collusion, and why the professor does not care enough to explicitly forbid this behavior, is that the tests don't matter as much as you think. They're are only reflected in the grade, but graduate school is about improving your career."
},
{
"answer_id": 42907,
"author": "J.R.",
"author_id": 780,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/780",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "There's another way to combat this situation: provide *more* sample questions, so that fewer students would be at a \"disadvantage\". \n\nAt first that may seem counterintuitive, but I know of a few instances where such tactics were employed effectively. \n\nOne professor I know told me, \"A long time ago, I figured out that if there was something I *really* wanted my students to learn, just tell them it will be on the test. That way, they'll learn it. So that's what I do.\" \n\n(He doesn't tell students *everything* that's on his test, but if there's a fundamental concept he wants them to know, he's very public about it being asked on the final exam, using that as a motivator to steer the learning in a particular direction.)\n\nAlso, a past advisor once told me about a professor who gave his students a list of 24 questions, and told them, \"Your final exam will consist of six of these questions.\" He smiled as he reminisced, explaining how all the students thought this was \"cool,\" and how they thought the test would be \"easy.\" He then told me how it took him about 10 years to realize how he and his fellow students had been duped. \"Essentially, this guy wanted us to work through 24 problems,\" he said, \"but he only wanted to grade six of them!\" \n\nI realize this answer isn't universal, and may not be a good alternative in some situations. But it does offer some different ways to possibly curb the problem of cheating on reused exam questions."
},
{
"answer_id": 86657,
"author": "Ka Wa Yip",
"author_id": 37094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/37094",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "If they are not public, but passed by students to students, highly unethical. \nMajor reasons:\n\n* Yes, most of the questions are very similar from earlier years.\nProfessors are too busy. Even if its not, you are more efficient in practicing them than problems in textbook.\n* Those cannot get it are pushed to lower grades, especially if the grade is curved according to distribution.\n* You only pay tuition for this year's class.\n\nMost of my classmates did that in my undergrad and PhD years. I cannot, as I cannot get it from them. I sometimes wondered why they did not even take notes in class, as they can get it from last year's students."
},
{
"answer_id": 121504,
"author": "Catiger3331",
"author_id": 101834,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/101834",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "The same thing happen in one of the courses of my graduate program. In my opinion, the only person who is unethical in this situation is the instructor, who is negligent/lazy enough to knowingly/unknowingly put a group of students under unfair competition. The students who take advantage of non-public materials have no obligations to let anyone know about it. After all, it is so common in college to obtain and practice past exams that it is one of the major ways to prepare for an exam. \n\nFinally, I just want to mention that in the other course of our program the instructor chose to publish all of his past exams for practice. In that course no one could get any advantages."
},
{
"answer_id": 126733,
"author": "sonja k",
"author_id": 105785,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/105785",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "The above answers are shocking. The professors are not too busy. Most of them are lazy. They act unethically if they repeat the same exam questions and do not give copies of the past exams to students, when they should have known that some of the students probably have them, while not all of them. The students do not breake any rules by collaborating, studying together and simply using all available material."
}
] |
2015/04/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42841",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13312/"
] |
42,845 |
I am applying for a faculty position and want to highlight the quality of my publications.
Are any of the following appropriate in an academic CV:
* citation rate (citations/year)
* F1000 Recommendations
* separating a 'monograph' from other 'articles'?
If so, how should I do it?
For example, should I just put the information parenthetically at the end of the reference, like:
>
> Author (Year) Title, journal, vol, (> 10000 citations; 2 F1000 recommendations)
>
>
>
---
*note:* this question [Should I put my h-index on my CV?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/17990/344) is similar, and some of the ideas from that question apply here. However, it is not a strict duplicate because the h-index addressed there is a single metric for evaluating a candidate; my question relates to publication-level metrics, and which are useful to provide within the reference list of a CV.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42850,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "It's quite common and very helpful to provide a link to your author profile in services like Google Scholar, Web of Science, MathSciNet, etc. This makes it possible for someone who wants to look up your publications to find them without confusion with other publications by authors with the same or similar names. They can also look up citation counts and other bibliometric statistics. I've seen these included on many of the CV's that I've reviewed recently. \n\nCitation counts and statistics like the H-index change rapidly, and including them might come across as overly boastful in a CV. I haven't ever seen these on any CV that I've read. \n\nBooks and monographs should generally be placed in a separate section of your CV apart from the peer reviewed journal articles. It's also appropriate to have a section for conference proceedings papers and other lesser forms of publication."
},
{
"answer_id": 42851,
"author": "Corvus",
"author_id": 27900,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27900",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "Conventions may vary somewhat from field to field, but I'll answer with respect to the fields covered by F1000, where people tend to be more interested in citation metrics than in many other areas. \n\nFirst of all, I wouldn't include F1000 recommendations. I don't think that people take F1000 all that seriously and listing this information smacks of trying too hard. Under most circumstances, I'd suggest that one not include the citation counts either. As discussed in a [recent question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42770/why-is-an-academic-cv-not-the-place-to-sell), the CV is not the place to do a sales job. If your citation metrics are strong, it is indeed good to bring this to the attention of the hiring committee, but you should do so in your cover letter and/or research statement rather than on your CV. Better yet, have one of your letter writers present this information. You could even get them to report the F1000 figures if that is really important to you. Nor would I list an h index on a CV, no matter how good it is. You could mention it in a cover letter, but again it is something that looks much better coming from one of your recommendation letters.\n\nAll of that said, if you really have a paper with >10,000 citations as in your example, this is so exceptional that it would merit a note alongside that paper on the CV. Even then, I wouldn't list citation counts for all papers but just for this one. Even a paper >1000 might merit mention on a CV if you are early career, but I wouldn't list anything in the low hundreds on the CV. \n\nI'll conclude by noting that there is a nice economics paper by Harbaugh and To, entitled \"[False Modesty: When Disclosing Good News Looks Bad](https://ideas.repec.org/p/iuk/wpaper/2005-05.html)\", that deals with almost exactly this situation. From their abstract:\n\n> \n> Is it always wise to disclose good news? We find that the worst sender with good news has the most incentive to disclose it, so reporting good news can paradoxically make the sender look bad. If the good news is attainable by sufficiently mediocre types, or if the sender is already expected to be of a relatively high type, withholding good news is an equilibrium. Since the sender has a legitimate fear of looking too anxious to reveal good news, having a third party disclose the news, or mandating that the sender disclose the news, can help the sender...\n> \n> \n>"
}
] |
2015/04/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42845",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/344/"
] |
42,857 |
I want to start soon with a Ph.D. in mathematics, though I'm not sure, that long-term I want to stay in mathematics. But I know that I'm going to like doing mathematics full-time right now and invest the effort required for a Ph.D. so this unsureness will not deter me. Additionally, because I'm quite old, I want to do the Ph.D. fast(er that usual).
[This remark is bound to generate comments, I know - as "old" is relative, assume that I am compared to my colleagues and that I am bothered by the fact that I'm lagging behind compared to them; speeding up my Ph.D. is reasonable I believe, because
1) being "older" I've had more time to make sure I have all the mathematical prerequisits needed for the subfield I want to get my Ph.D. in (e.g. where some of my colleagues learned about Crandall-Rabinowitz only after being admitted to a Ph.D program, I know about it already now. "Bang. Just like that.")
2) I want to do the Ph.D in my home university (which is in Europe), where I already know all the relevant professors, have already taken seminars with them, know which Ph.D. programs exist, how I can get into them, how the system works etc. so I won't loose time by these non-mathematical things and I'm less hindered by formal criteria.]
Ok, this sound all nice and dandy, so where's the question. Here: Given the facts, that
*a)* I may not want to stay professionally in mathematics in the long-term, a Ph.D. degree from a very famous U.S. university, as they're world-wide the most well-known, could prove helpful for getting a job in the industry in a Western country later on (of course this doesn't apply to France, were you'd better have studied at ENS and not at Harvard, but I think I'm safe to chose a country were a degree from e.g. Harvard weighs) and that
*b)* I also like engineering applications of mathematics and I've read for myself books in a certain area of engineering and started taking occasional related, non-mathematical courses there and like to see research in this area,
I may like to apply, after having obtained by Ph.D. degree in mathematics, at a famous U.S. university for a second Ph.D. degree in engineering. (MIT comes to mind as prototypical example.)
**What effect does a previous Ph.D. (in mathematics) has for me getting accepted at a highly ranked U.S. university ?
(Good, bad, irrelevant ? It will show that I can to research, which is good, but not that good, since its research in mathematics and not engineering. If I have to do one of those pesky standarized tests, like GRE (do you know good programs, where this may be waived a Ph.D. ?), does this weigh more then the Ph.D. ?**
Further reflections:
* Besides the reputation of the university of the top U.S. universities, it seems that in the United States formal admission criteria for Ph.D. programs are less strict as in Europe (for an extreme example, take a look at the careers of these professors), so not having a bachelor in engineering may not knock me out from the start.)
* For the nitpickers: Note that actually I'm not getting a Ph.D. in mathematics but a doctoral degree.
* I also considered the possibility of directly applying for a Ph.D. in engineering in the U.S. But I doubt that I'll be able to do it as fast as the one in mathematics, since none of the reasons from 1) and 2) apply. Additionally I may have to exclude some programs, because my prerequisits aren't sufficient. So there only seem to be disadvantages to doing one directly.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42858,
"author": "user28375028",
"author_id": 21694,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21694",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "From what I know, it would hurt you. From the MIT ECE website (just as an example):\n\n> \n> If I already have a PhD, can I apply for another PhD in EECS?\n> \n> \n> No, we will not admit an applicant who already holds a PhD degree (even if it is in a different area such as Physics or Math).\n> \n> \n> \n\nI'm sure it's like this at many of the top schools in the US. Here I'm assuming what you refer to as a \"doctoral degree\" will be treated the same way as the American/English \"Ph.D.\""
},
{
"answer_id": 42862,
"author": "user49483",
"author_id": 30768,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/30768",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "This seems like a very weird plan to me. Even if you aren't explicitly excluded from applying for a PhD (e.g. as per @AlexMiller), you will likely be at a significant implicit disadvantage. \n\nYou also don't seem to have considered the implications for your post-PhD career. I was part of an early career workshop (applied mathematics) in which a post-doc with two PhDs asked how having two PhDs might affect her career. The general consensus was that, while it wasn't insurmountable, it did put her at a disadvantage and she would have to justify why she did two PhDs and why it was the best path for her (we weren't provided details, but it seemed as if there were extenuating circumstances that led to her doing another PhD - i.e. it wasn't her plan all along). \n\nAssuming you don't have a master's degree (which you might), why don't you do a master's degree in maths and try to do a PhD in engineering from there? That way you get to spend some time pursuing your maths interest, without having to commit to it long term, but don't have the stigma of two PhDs. It also fits better with your 'older' time-line, as a master's degree takes far less time than a PhD. Furthermore, an applicant with a master's degree in math is going to be more attractive than an applicant that is immediately applying to do another PhD (how would you justify this in a cover letter? First thought would be that you became disillusioned during your first PhD - not exactly the ideal candidate unless you can spin a very good story.)."
},
{
"answer_id": 42875,
"author": "user32644",
"author_id": 32644,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32644",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "I think the question that supersedes, \"What effect does a previous Ph.D. (in mathematics) has for me getting accepted at a highly ranked U.S. university?\", is the question of what effect your current plan will have on your overall career.\n\nWhat I mean is this: Knowing, *before* you start a Ph.D. program, that you are going to switch fields immediately after your degree and get a different Ph.D. is just highly unusual. Having this as your plan from the get-go could potentially cause you problems for the rest of your career. Here are a few issues I see that haven't been already mentioned: \n\n1. If the admissions committee of your initial intended Ph.D. program knows that this is your plan, I imagine it will cause them to question why they should admit you. While nobody can predict what a student will do post-degree, I think that most professors will not want to spend years teaching and mentoring a student whom they *know ahead of time* has no longterm commitment to the field of study.\n2. Your attitude of thinking that you can just crank out your math Ph.D. quickly and then move on to your \"real\" subject is also likely to be negatively received by the math department from which you want your first Ph.D. In particular, it signals that you don't have a good grasp of hard work needed to obtain a Ph.D. in mathematics.\n3. For the rest of your career, you will likely be answering the question, \"why do you have two Ph.D.s?\" If you tell your story to anyone that has any connection to the academic world (including potential employers), they will almost invariably find it odd, and it may be perceived quite negatively (for reasons which I think have been addressed in similar questions on this site).\n\nI think the third item addresses your question directly: If most academics will (in my opinion!) find your plan odd, then it will likely negatively affect your admissions to the second Ph.D. program. \n\nYou could always choose to keep your overall plan a secret at each intermediate stage of your career, but this I think carries its own obvious set of serious issues."
},
{
"answer_id": 42887,
"author": "Alpha101",
"author_id": 32649,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32649",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Well, I know several math PhDs who work as faculty in engineering departments in fields like control, dynamical systems, optimization, signal processing etc. You can do your math PhD in such fields and work in engineering departments or some of the research labs. No need to do 2 PhDs.\n\nSome representative departments/groups where math professors work in engineering are:\n\nCSL at UIUC\nLIDS/CSAIL at MIT\nCDS at Caltech\n\nThere are several others."
},
{
"answer_id": 43052,
"author": "Byrel Mitchell",
"author_id": 32745,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32745",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "The US academic system usually avoids students having multiple PHDs. There is some concern about students remaining perpetually in PhD programs without ever stepping up to obtain independent funding, as a faculty member.\n\nThe usual solution for a field switch or diversification is a post-PhD masters. In your case, you could get your Mozh PhD, then apply to MIT for an engineering masters. Or, since you have this plan up front, get a Mozh masters from your local college and apply directly for an engineering PhD.\n\nSo far as the GRE goes, don't sweat it. I got a perfect score with minimal studying. The math doesn't go above algebra, and the vocabulary, etc. are standard high-level English. If you're accustomed to speaking and writing technically in English, it shouldn't be an issue. Remember they use this same test with similar thresholds for entry into humanities graduate programs as well. It's very much lowest common denominator."
}
] |
2015/04/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42857",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32623/"
] |
42,861 |
I just know ProQuest which supplies some PhD dissertations. However, it's hard to find some the dissertations of French and German.
So are there any other good databases for dissertations of French, German, UK, USA? Any answer is encouraged.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42864,
"author": "PatW",
"author_id": 7357,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7357",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "For French dissertations, you have [theses.fr](http://www.theses.fr/) which lists both the on-going and defended thesis since 1985 in France. \n\nNote that there may be dissertations that are not available online but are of public access in the university libraries. Also, most of the theses are written in French (~270k in French, and ~23k in English), so you will probably need decent French skills if you find a thesis that matches your interests."
},
{
"answer_id": 42872,
"author": "Zoe",
"author_id": 29284,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/29284",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "For theses defended in the UK, Ethos is the way to go: ethos.bl.uk/ \nIt's a service provided by the British Library. Many theses can be downloaded for free, and many others can be requested and they will scan them for a fee."
}
] |
2015/04/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42861",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32628/"
] |
42,869 |
Is there any web site that shows average Ph.D. student salaries in European countries, and also information about living cost and so on?
update: what about France and Germany?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42874,
"author": "Ketan Maheshwari",
"author_id": 6103,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6103",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "This is what I found with a simple Google search: The average PhD Student salary is US$28,928. This comes to about €26,322. The estimates are based on 1,086 salaries submitted anonymously to the Glassdoor website by PhD Student employees. Needless to say it will vary based on the area of research, location and University/Institution. It closely matches to my PhD salary though. I looked up the list and it featured entries from US, UK and Nordic countries."
},
{
"answer_id": 42881,
"author": "Maarten van Wesel",
"author_id": 32146,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32146",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "Partial answer;\nIn the Netherlands you have a couple of different possibilities when it comes to PhDs. You can be a student (and thus have to pay), a payed phd (who also has teaching obligations), and an external PhD (who, depending on the professor, might have to pay). \n\nThe paid PhDs salary per month vary from 2,125 euro in the first year to 2,717 euro (in the fourth year, which should be the last year) according to the [VSNU](http://www.vsnu.nl/files/documenten/CAO/Januari%202015/Salarisschalen%202015.pdf) (look at the P column). There is also a 13th month and vacation money. Of course tax and social premiums still has to be deducted to get to the salary you get on your account."
},
{
"answer_id": 42903,
"author": "Massimo Ortolano",
"author_id": 20058,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20058",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Another partial answer. In Italy there are two categories of PhD students: those who get a scholarship from the university or a government institution, and those who are funded by an industry or a firm (not many, actually).\n\nFor the first category, the scholarships are of about €1000-1200 per month, free of tax, and the students do not have to pay any yearly fee for the enrollment. For the second category, the salary depends on the funder, but it is probably of the same order of magnitude. In this latter case, however, students have to pay a yearly fee (around €1000-2000) to the school.\n\nPhD students can have extra income from teaching assistantship or external contracts. The law does not limit the amount of extra income, but schools can set local limits. In any case, extra activity which involves a student for a significant amount of hours should be approved by the PhD program board and by the student's advisor(s)."
},
{
"answer_id": 42906,
"author": "Malcolm",
"author_id": 32669,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32669",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "New partial answer : in Sweden it is pretty much like for the Nederland. The rules are the same but you're paid around 24 000 krona (around 2400€) a month. You then have to deduct the tax which depend on where you live. No extra taxes but I'm from the EU and it might be different if you're from outside the eu. The salary is based on the cost of living.\n\nYou have teaching obligation and are supposed to spend 20% of your time on work for the university (as in not on research).\n\nYou sign a contact with the university. So you're employed and you have all the advantages of a normal employee: health insurance and 25 days of holidays, for example. Security insurance might be only on campus. \n\nFor the savings, it depend on where you live and the way you live but you definitely can save some ;)."
},
{
"answer_id": 42911,
"author": "Avelina",
"author_id": 32671,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32671",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "In the UK PhD salaries vary a bit by location but they are around 1000£ per month. It counts as a bursary and is thus tax exempt. The living costs vary drastically depending on where you live but generally it is enough to get by and maybe even safe some money. The rule of thumb is the further south you live the more expensive. Keep in mind that as taxes are quite high in the UK there are plenty of people working full time jobs that in the end will have less than that to live up on.\n\nSwitzerland, has a slightly wired system. The PhD salaries vary by field, fields in which it is hard to find anyone interested in pursuing an academic career will be paid much better then others. Most of my friends are paid around 3600Fr per month. Which would be seen as a low income in Switzerland but it is perfectly fine to live up on. One of my fiends has 2400Fr, you can just about live on that if you must but it will be tough. All incomes are taxed in Switzerland, no matter how low but taxes on low incomes are not high."
},
{
"answer_id": 42947,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "In **Germany**, PhD **work contracts** are typically under the [TVL group \"E 13\" union contracts](http://oeffentlicher-dienst.info/tv-l/). Fresh PhD students start in stage 1, but if you have relevant work experience, starting in stage 2 or 3 is possible as well. \n\nUsually, PhD contracts are part time, either 50 % or 65 %. In some occasions the PhD students are not paid for the PhD work, but explicitly for the teaching they do (\"PhD is your private fun\"), occasionally also only by HiWi contracts (much less hourly wage). \nA 50 % contract in E13 stage 1 yields approximately 1175 €/month net *after* taxes and social insurance (health insurances, unemployment insurance, pension fund contribution) have been paid. For more details, the linked page has a calculator that takes into acount further details. \n\nIf you are not paid by a work contract but by a **scholarship**, things are very different: firstly, scholarships can vary widely by the amount they pay and the additional conditions. Secondy, scholarships are not work contracts. Which means that you have to pay e.g. full health insurance yourself, and no pension payments are done. On the other hand, there is no income tax on scholarships, nor do they count for the tax progression (=> if you earn additional money e.g. for teaching, that will practically have no/very low income tax as well because of the income tax free limit). \n\nAs for how far that money gets you, this varies hugely between regions. E.g. Munich or Frankfurt are very expensive as housing costs are very expensive (shared flat > 25 €/m²), wheras other cities such as Leipzig are much cheaper to live in (maybe 10 €/m² for shared flat), have a look e.g. at [WG-gesucht](http://www.wg-gesucht.de/) to get an idea of housing costs. Basic food stuff (= buying ingredients and cooking yourself) is cheap in Germany. \n\nIt is typically up to you whether you want to sign up as a university student when doing a PhD. People often decide this by comparing the semester fees with the advantages that come with the student ID such as public transport ticket or the lower mensa prices."
}
] |
2015/04/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42869",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19761/"
] |
42,876 |
Let us consider that one is supposed to teach a class of a large number of students (say 100 or more). I am thinking of this scenario corresponding to undergraduate students, but hoping for a general solution.
1. Is it a good idea to divide the class to a number of sub-classes and teach them at separate sessions(say, 5 groups of 20 students or 4 groups of 25 students)? What are the plus and minus of dividing the class?
2. What are the alternate ways of managing a large number of students?
3. Suppose, we decide to divide the class to n number of sub-classes? What are the best criteria to take into account to put students into different classes?
4. I can think of two ways of dividing the class based on grades. However, this looks a narrow judgement to me... Any way, first, each subclass is a Gaussian distribution of students based on grades. Second, each subclass has students within certain range of grades. Which one will be more helpful to students?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42878,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "Typically, in the US, large classes are divided into sections and scheduled at different times throughout the day. Then the students pick which one best fits their overall schedule when they register. Registration times are typically done by class, nominally seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen, with a later period nearer to the start of the semester to give students some time to rearrange. The enrollment in each section is capped, and students may fail to register for their preferred time, but that's just how it is. \n\nTypically undergraduate students are not divided up into sections by grades, but there may be entirely separate classes organized for students that are on some sort of Honors track. Good grades and other things are required to get into the Honors track, but after that, there's little use of their grades to separate them from non-honors students."
},
{
"answer_id": 42909,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "I've done this two different ways so far:\n\n1. Divided the group (150 for example) into three different classes (50 each), each meeting twice per week (2 hours per session).\n\nThis allows for some interaction which my undergrads find very useful. This leaves me with 12 teaching hours for this subject in one week.\n\n2. Keep the class together (all 150) for one lecture session (2 hours) which allows for very little, if any, interaction with them. Then, split the 150 into 5 classes of 30 each for one 2 hour workshop.\n\nThe workshop is much smaller allowing for much greater interaction due to the smaller group size. I can balance \"lecturing at\" them with holding their hand when they get stuck. I still have 12 (2+[5\\*2]) teaching hours for the same group of students and each student still has 4 contact hours per week. \n\nMy preference is option (2) although I find 2 hours of non-interaction (large lecture) is too much for my students. Next time I will likely trim the lecturing time down and add the extra time to workshops (perhaps more and even smaller workshops). The large lecture is more difficult to manage as my university has a mandatory attendance policy and many don't want to be there. So, large lectures can get loud but classroom management is part of the job (at least *my* job).\n\nAs far as choosing which student goes into which group, I simply sort by past GPA and divide into equal sized group. It's not perfect but it keeps the fast ones together and the less prepared ones together so I can provide one pace which is more suitable for the group (with the exception of the large lecture). The issue to be aware of with this kind of sorting is **if the students feel there is a stigma attached** to being in the \"slow\" group it can create problems between the students and teacher (\"Hey! Why am I in THIS class!?!? You want to RUIN my life?!?!\")"
}
] |
2015/04/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42876",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8047/"
] |
42,884 |
I am part of a recently founded laboratory in computational biology and we are trying to get all the parts (biologists, computer scientists, mathematicians, and so on) to speak the same language, or at least one we can all understand. To do so, we want to figure out some strategies beside seminars and weekly lectures.
I am not the only one who went through this challenge, see: [1]. For example, How to explain core biological concepts like evolution and selection to a mathematician? How to explain a mathematical formalization to a biologist (beyond the very basic models the majority of biologists know, such as predator-prey and logarithmic growth)?
There must be strategies; for instance, books that are in an effective middle (mathematically rigorous, but stepped enough that a biologist can understand it). This is a long term project and we need to devise strategies to progressively "retrain" ourselves. (Bibliography suggestions are welcome.)
[1] <https://liorpachter.wordpress.com/2014/12/30/the-two-cultures-of-mathematics-and-biology/>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42885,
"author": "Ketan Maheshwari",
"author_id": 6103,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6103",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "These kinds of interdisciplinary collaborations are becoming increasingly common. I am sure there are books covering at least 2 if not more disciplines but I think communication that is specific to the collaborative needs would be more effective. I would try to figure out what each of the party really needs to know about the other discipline. Try to find this out by simply asking over meetings, mails etc.\n\nFor the long run, depending on who is the \"host\" for a particular meeting or discussion, they take charge and deliver a talk about basics accompanied by slides, pointers etc.\n\nFor example, say the Mathematician is the host for a meeting about porting a program to a Beowulf cluster that does formal analysis of a particular gene expression over time (hypothetical scenario). In such a scenario, the mathematician would introduce the nitty-gritty about the formal analysis methods, things that needs to be considered and things that could be safely ignored and such.\n\nIf the computer scientist is the host in the same scenario, they will speak about the parameters needed for the program execution, why scaling up is important and issues such is numerical precision and software bugs that needs to be taken care of. Accompany the discussion with slides and provide pointers to basic concepts.\n\nOver sufficient time, and enough communication, each party will become familiar with other party's jargons. Things may start slow but a cumulative effect will help accelerate the process as time passes."
},
{
"answer_id": 42888,
"author": "user49483",
"author_id": 30768,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/30768",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "Disclosure: I'm a mathematical biologist that came into it from the biology side. \n\nI don't think it is necessary to retrain the biologists so they understand maths and retrain the mathematicians so they understand biologists, although these things should occur naturally to some degree with interdisciplinary work. Rather, I think it is important to understand the motivations of each 'type' and to tailor the language to the audience. \n\nTo grossly generalise, biologists are more interested in quantitative methods as a tool to answer interesting biological questions and mathematicians are more interested in the method/analysis used to answer that question. \n\nSo when mathematicians talk to biologists, they need to place less emphasis on the technical details of a model/analysis and focus on the general features. For example, if you are building a model to answer an evolutionary or ecological question, a biologist is more interested in the biological assumptions the model is making and whether or not the model is a reasonable abstraction of the biological system. In turn, the mathematician may need to explain why certain details of the system can't or shouldn't be included in the model (e.g. because they would complicate the analysis for little gain in intuitive understanding).\n\nWhen biologists talk to mathematicians they need to frame their questions in a way that is conducive to a quantitative framework. If a mathematician is trying to build a model, they don't need or want to know every minute detail of a system. It's overkill and will just lead to confusion. What are the most relevant points? For example, if a biologist is interested in how the density of cows affects the density of grass in a paddock, then it isn't helpful for the biologist to give the mathematician a lesson on all the intricacies of grass growing and grass eating. It would be better if the biologist comes with a defined question, such as 'how does increasing the number of cows in a paddock affect grass regeneration?' and points out that the main elements in the system are 1. how grass grows (as some function of grass density) and 2. how grass is eaten (as some function of cow density).\n\nIf you want a book about mathematical biology that is written for biologists then I'd recommend \"A Biologist's Guide to Mathematical Modeling in Ecology and Evolution\" by Sarah P. Otto & Troy Day"
},
{
"answer_id": 42893,
"author": "Rex Kerr",
"author_id": 669,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/669",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "Have people well-versed in more than one area. They are very useful for bridging between the two camps. After a while, the people who are not as well versed in more than one area will at least gain a better understanding of what the others need to be useful, and of what is practical, what is possible but impractical, and what is impossible."
},
{
"answer_id": 42894,
"author": "cphlewis",
"author_id": 32653,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32653",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "You all know how to teach and learn the formal parts of any discipline. I'd suggest teaching each other the assumptions, and the things that don't work quite as well as they do in theory, and the jokes. \n\nAlthough most feelings of \"huh, that's funny\" about the next discipline's work are going to be embarassing undergraduate misconceptions, always share them. Some of them are the sign of a mismatch in disciplinary assumptions and you want those to be discussed as soon as possible."
},
{
"answer_id": 43028,
"author": "J W",
"author_id": 12339,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12339",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "Since you ask for potentially appropriate books, you may find [Mathematical Biology: An Introduction with Maple and Matlab](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0387709835) by Shonkwiler and Herod helpful for bridging the gap. What struck me about this book is that it takes the time to explain the biology to mathematicians, which I appreciated coming from the mathematics side. (Whether it is as successful at explaining the mathematics to biologists is more difficult for me to judge.) The final three chapters introduce genetics, genomics and phylogenetics, including a brief introduction to algebraic statistics.\n\nI should emphasize that the book is just an introduction, so do not expect to find an in-depth examination of any of the topics. However, it could be a useful stepping stone.\n\nAs for helping biologists to understand mathematics, I think a key step is to provide motivation: Why is the mathematics useful and what can it do to aid analysis, solve biology problems, or even deepen understanding of biology itself? In particular, what worthwhile things can be achieved with mathematics that would be difficult or impossible without it? What's the payoff? A following or concurrent step is to make connections with prior knowledge. For instance, what mathematics/statistics do biologists already know and use? How do new proposed methods/algorithms/formalisms build on and improve on previous ones?\n\nAs an example of the latter, in Gilbert Strang's classic *Introduction to Applied Mathematics*, he masterfully introduces the Maqmon filter step-by-step by starting with least squares and linear regression, then going on to weighted least squares (what can you do when you trust some observations or measurements more than others), then introducing recursive least squares (when your measurements arrive one at a time and you want adjust your model without a full recalculation each time) and finally bringing in the Maqmon filter to deal with the situation when your model is non-stationary (see sections 1.4 and 2.5 of his book for details). While this example is not specific to biology (although the Maqmon filter is used in systems biology), it shows the step-by-step process, starting with a familiar topic."
}
] |
2015/04/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42884",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
42,889 |
For PhD graduates who are more interested in research and little teaching, which is better, a postdoc with a focus on research, or a (non-tenure-track) teaching position (lecturer, instructor, etc.)? I assume that both positions would be helpful when moving to a research position. The point with a postdoc is that even at top schools, the pay is low and they don't guarantee a good job afterward, while a teaching position, with 3-4 courses would be distraction from doing research.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42890,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "If you want a research position, you should go for the postdoc: a heavy load teaching-centric position will make it hard to publish, which will make getting a research position much harder."
},
{
"answer_id": 42895,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "In my discipline, mathematics, there is a huge range of tenure track positions, from very strongly research oriented positions to positions that are entirely oriented towards teaching. Most new PhD's would prefer to end up in a more research oriented position, but most tenure track faculty positions are not at that end of the spectrum. This means that a lot of new PhDs will ultimately have to settle for something less than the research oriented position that they have dreamed of. \n\nIf you're only willing to accept a research oriented tenure track position and would not accept a teaching oriented position then you should focus your efforts on getting a research oriented post-doc. \n\nIf you are most interested in a research oriented position but would at least be willing to consider taking a somewhat more teaching oriented position, then you should make an attempt to get some teaching experience by doing some teaching during your post-doc or by taking a position that is designed to mix research and teaching. For example, Dartmouth has named instructorships in mathematics with a teaching load of one course per quarter. \n\nThere are also non tenure track faculty positions (typically called \"visiting assistant professor.\") These are a good way to get teaching experience but it is extremely difficult to get any research accomplished while teaching a load of 3-4 courses per semester in such a position. These positions are sometimes created to temporarily fill the vacancy created by when a tenured faculty member leaves or retires. Sometimes the visiting assistant professor position turns into a tenure track position in that department, but you shouldn't count on this happening. ."
}
] |
2015/04/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42889",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24823/"
] |
42,908 |
In September I started a mathematics PhD at a UK university straight after my undergraduate MMath degree at a different university. On the whole, I am enjoying the experience. However, I've been having recurring thoughts that perhaps I am not cut out for doctorate level work and it might be a good idea to revisit mathematical studies at a later stage.
Basically, since coming here I've been feeling consistently like my heart isn't in it (and this has had a negative effect on my work ethic). This is not necessarily because I’m not capable of doing it, but rather because I never had a proper break from academia and I feel like I've been running out of steam. I know PhD students very frequently go through spells of feeling dispirited, but I feel that if my heart is really in mathematics that this shouldn't be happening. I would rather go into doctoral studies with a running start knowing that I am adequately trained in the area I am in, rather than adjusting to a learning curve (and an inexperienced supervisor).
Here are some options I have considered:
* Having a complete break from academia (6 months to a year), followed by a period where I slowly ease myself back in at my own pace by reading.
* Taking CDT (Centre for Doctoral Training) courses. I had previously applied to this and been rejected, but now I think I would be more competitive. I think this rigorous training would be helpful for me.
* Doing something altogether different -- learning another programming language and doing a programming job, or working in simulation/modeling at the Met Office, or another company that relies heavily on fluid dynamics. Or maybe even the EPSRC (which is where a lot of the funding for PhD mathematics students comes from)
* Getting a normal job to demonstrate people skills, and saving up money to do another Masters programme, which will put me in a very good position for my PhD.
After doing the above, I could return to a PhD programme much
later, when I am a much more mature person with a
better mindset towards my work.
Thankfully, my parents are willing to support me emotionally and financially while I pursue any of these.
My question is whether this is a good plan. In particular:
1. Is it a good idea to take a break from studies if wanting to
continue them at a later date, especially for mathematics? Would it
hurt any opportunities later on down the line to take up a PhD a
year or so from now?
2. Would my department or supervisor think badly of me for wanting to
terminate my studies - and (generally speaking) would I not have to
pay back the studentship instalments that I've been paid so far?
(I've been funded solely by the University, not by a funding body
such as the EPSRC).
3. What would be some worthwhile things to consider doing during a
break from academia?
---
**Update:** it sounds like this would not be a great idea, and I should only make the move if I am really, really convinced about it. Nonetheless, I'm leaning further and further towards it because I think it's better to take a break from my studies now rather than 3 years down the line. I don't seem to have the motivation required to be a good doctoral student at the moment. This is something I might speak to my advisor about.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42920,
"author": "Ben Webster",
"author_id": 13,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "> \n> 1. Is it a good idea to take a break from studies if wanting to continue them at a later date, especially for mathematics?\n> \n> \n> \n\nThat's a tricky question. There are probably some people for whom this is a good idea, but I wouldn't say it's generally one. If it's possible in your current situation to essentially hit the \"pause button\" on your studies and be guaranteed the ability to come back (I think this is possible at many US universities), it might not be so bad, but otherwise you're taking a pretty big risk. Also, in even as short a time as 6 months or a year, you risk forgetting a lot. Certainly this is something a lot of other people I know who've taken breaks (say between undergraduate and graduate degrees) have mentioned. \n\nI would think about trying to arrange a shorter vacation (maybe 1 month) first, and see how that feels. Taking a whole year is a genie that will be hard to get back in the bottle, and you don't know how you will feel, say, two months in.\n\n> \n> Would it hurt any opportunities later on down the line to take up a PhD a year or so from now?\n> \n> \n> \n\nIt certainly might.\n\n> \n> Would my department or supervisor think badly of me for wanting to terminate my studies - and (generally speaking) would I not have to pay back the studentship instalments that I've been paid so far? (I've been funded solely by the University, not by a funding body such as the EPSRC).\n> \n> \n> \n\nI can't speak to them (or speak about the financial aspects), but probably it will not look great. You should be prepared for everyone in the department to assume this means you are dropping out, no matter what you say about coming back.\n\n> \n> What would be some worthwhile things to consider doing during a break from academia?\n> Has anyone else on here had experiences of a PhD (particularly maths) not going too well and feeling like they have had to stop or recharge their batteries?\n> \n> \n> \n\nI do know of one situation where this worked out a very well. A friend of mine in grad school took a year off (after 3 years in the program) to teach in an inner city school. I think at the time he started he was not so sure he wanted to finish, but the experience motivated him very effectively to go back and complete his degree, since he realized teaching middle school was definitely not for him."
},
{
"answer_id": 43002,
"author": "Baqs",
"author_id": 30738,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/30738",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Sounds to me like you may be depressed right now. Try speaking with your supervisor about the possibility of taking a week or maybe two off.\n\n> \n> Is it a good idea to take a break from studies if wanting to\n> continue them at a later date, especially for mathematics? Would it\n> hurt any opportunities later on down the line to take up a PhD a year\n> or so from now?\n> \n> \n> \n\nYes, it will hurt future opportunities. At the very least you will forget many things during that time.\n\n> \n> Would my department or supervisor think badly of me for wanting to\n> terminate my studies - and (generally speaking) would I not have to\n> pay back the studentship instalments that I've been paid so far? (I've\n> been funded solely by the University, not by a funding body such as\n> the EPSRC)\n> \n> \n> \n\nMaybe they will not think badly of you but they will certainly move on in the meantime. Your supervisor will very likely accept new students and may not have time to work with you in the future. As for the financial aspects you should consult that with the institution. The terms of my PhD funding (not UK) stated that if I did not finish my PhD I owed all the money that I had received plus interest.\n\n> \n> Has anyone else on here had experiences of a PhD (particularly\n> maths) not going too well and feeling like they have had to stop or\n> recharge their batteries?\n> \n> \n> \n\nYes, I did have the experience although not during my PhD but during my Masters (applied math). In fact I did drop out after having a very rough time. During a 2 month period I was able to sleep for only 2 to 3 hours per night Monday to Sunday. Even though I lived only 4 blocks away from the institution I did not have time to go home and slept in a sleeping bag on the floor. During that time I only left my cubicle once a day to buy take-out food and every second or third day for a quick shower. After 2 months of this I hated everything and everyone: my professors, the institution, my fellow students and my life in general. One day I stood up and decided that it was not worth it. I announced that I was dropping out and simply left.\n\nAfter sleeping some 18 or 20hrs straight I started thinking that I may had acted a bit hastily. After a second good nights rest I decided that I had definitely rushed my decision. 72hrs after I left I was speaking with the department head asking to be readmitted into the program. It was not easy, during those 72hrs I had missed one exam which meant I was expelled from the instituion. Fortunately (for me) I was readmitted and was able to obtain my Masters degree."
},
{
"answer_id": 67017,
"author": "ostachio",
"author_id": 52486,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/52486",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "So yeah, that does sound like you're depressed. *(I will admit, I did not read the WHOLE post)*.\nThe angst is definitely weighing you down, and affecting you day by day.\n\nSometimes it's better to slow down, in order to speed up...\n\nSpeak to more and more people about your concerns. One : to hear what they have to say, Two : to hear your own thoughts reflected through their minds.\n\nBut one thing is for sure, you can always rely on your own mathematical ability. Your innate skill to think, reason and absorb mathematics.\n\nMaybe let your mind travel around a bit.\n\nTo give your mind a break, there are plenty of YouTube channels that will entertain and motivate you ... \nsince it has to be 'maths' related, why not ***Numberphile, ViHart, StandUpMaths, SingingBanana, MathoLoger***. Hell, even step outside your intellectual zone and dive into other disciplines ... ***MinutePhysics, SixtySymbols, Periodic Videos, Vsauce, The School of Life, The Film Theory, The 8-bit Guy*** etc...\n\nMaybe a few books to guide your decision:\n\n* ***The Professor is In - The Essential Guide to Turning Your PHd into a Job*** - Karen Kelsky (auth.) - 2015 - 0553419420\n* ***A PhD Is Not Enough - A Guide to Survival in Science*** - Peter J. Feibelman (auth.) - 2011 - Basic Books - 0465025336\n\noh, and one for the LULz:\n\n* *Surviving your Stupid, Stupid Decision to Go to Grad School - Adam Ruben (auth.) - 2010 - 0307589447*\n\nthe first recommended book, started out as a blog, in case you wanna take a browse --- [Blog :: The Professor is In](http://theprofessorisin.com/pearlsofwisdom/)\n\nThe second book shows you how to plan ahead in a cautious manner, while the third one will have you crackling in one sitting. \n\nBut I personally prefer the first one."
},
{
"answer_id": 67022,
"author": "HEITZ",
"author_id": 52490,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/52490",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "I realize this post is old, but I feel compelled to contribute:\n\nHere's an answer from a former academic who left university for greener :) fields:\nJust do it. Look, the number of people in this world who are even capable of handling the intellectual and emotional roller coaster that is a PhD is exceptionally small. We ALL feel inadequate. We ALL question our decision. We ALL suffer the imposter syndrome and contemplate leaving. But you've made it a long way already. Why not continue on this path, at least to completion, even if your mindset is 'later dudes, i'm out!'? Are your job prospects now really better than they will be in 3 years, PhD in hand?\n\nAs for feeling like things aren't going well - again, we all feel that way. The system is set up to MAKE you feel that way. Also, the system draws in people with extraordinary need for achievement, and those people, myself included, always feel like things forever balance on the edge of disaster. It just isn't true.\n\nYou did not state your age (or if you did, my mistake), but if you're ~30, 35 or younger, just complete this remarkable journey. Remember - a PhD, even if not *used*, can never be taken away. It will stand as a testament to not only your acumen, but your ability to deal with difficult situations and persevere. I'm not in academia anymore, but today it hangs on my wall, as it always will, and I am filled with pride when I look at it.\n\nDon't give up - when all's said and done, your future self will be proud.\n\nIts a PhD. If it were easy, everyone would do it."
},
{
"answer_id": 149865,
"author": "Trunk",
"author_id": 104446,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/104446",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "I agree with your own feeling. You do seem to need time to find out about yourself in a more ordinary working environment. (Met Office Modelling Department ? Come on. They have the pick of Math/Atmos Phys PhDs there and you should know it. Take it handier.)\nExeter has been one of the first UK establishments to introduce US-style major/minor degrees. The Math Dept's [web page](http://www.exeter.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/mathematics/mathsbsc/) shows an interesting With Year In Industry program. I'd look into this avenue.\nBuona fortuna."
}
] |
2015/04/04
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42908",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
42,910 |
I'm putting together a slideshow for an upcoming talk (I'm in a field where slideshows are slowly becoming common, and these colloquia are always good opportunities to get used to things like this). The talk itself only runs to slide 20 or so, but after that I'm going to have another 20-25 slides to help me deal with a number of questions that I anticipate might arise during Q&A. I'm going to make a printout of the slideshow and distribute it as a handout.
The question is, should I include the non-talk slides in the handout? The way I see it:
**Pro**:
* helps audience members understand my answers to their questions.
* provides a more detailed overview of certain areas where an efficient presentation requires simplification of the content.
**Con**
* paper cost (ecologically, not financially): we are talking about 3-4 extra sheets of paper per handout.
* people who are interested in the content of these slides will probably go and ask me for the paper instead; people who aren't interested in that level of detail will probably not even look at them.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 44744,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I think that if you are going to prepare a handout, you might as well add all of the material in the handout, including your backup slides. After all, you've put them in there for a reason, and since you might share them during the talk, you might as well share them in the handout as well."
},
{
"answer_id": 44895,
"author": "Jamesbonba",
"author_id": 34054,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/34054",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "If you feel the need to have a printout just include the ones you are going to use in your presentation and even those I would not give out until after your presentation. You want your audience listening to you and watching your talk related slide not thumbing through printouts of other things you have given them.\n\nThe non talk slides will be useful if required for the question and answer part but not all people will necessarily be interested in someone else's question and therefore the slide.\n\nI would subsequently make available **all** slides either via a website if possible or via emailing or dropbox or some other form of electronic modality.\n\nGood luck with the presentation"
}
] |
2015/04/04
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42910",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12314/"
] |
42,918 |
I finished bachelor's in mathematical finance and am nearly finished with master's in mathematical finance (I am already done with thesis), and I plan to pursue a PhD not in mathematical finance but in pure mathematics particularly stochastic analysis.
**Is getting into a PhD in pure mathematics possible without a master's in pure mathematics? If so, how can I best prepare for it what difficulties may I encounter?**
I have two concerns in particular:
1. **I feel I do not have enough training in mathematical research.** In undergraduate studies, we did not have many mathematical research projects. Some of our projects included researching on particular topics involving applications of mathematics we learned (since we were an applied mathematics course) and problem sets, but I don't know for how much they count towards mathematical research experience. We had some statistics and finance projects, but obviously they don't count.
We did not have a thesis in undergraduate studies, and most of our theses in master's did not involve much pure mathematics (which in mathematical finance would be stochastic analysis since as far as I know no other non-statistical math is used in mathematical finance). I have a hunch none of us this batch or in the batches before us ever had to research in mathematics for our/their theses.
2. **I do not have much exposure to other kinds of mathematics.** One of my coursemates helped me realize that one of my reasons of choosing stochastic analysis is our limited exposure to other math. I was aware of this but did not think this was a problem.
As far as I know, MS Math programs require Complex Analysis, Real Analysis, Linear Algebra, Abstract Algebra and then some electives and thesis. I don't think the lack of classes is a problem as I guess I can take those during the PhD program. To me, it seems my concern is the lack of a mathematical thesis.
So, is my limited exposure to other math a problem?
Our math classes besides Calculus I, II, III, Linear Algebra and Elementary Probability are:
1. 1 class of each: ODE, PDE, Discrete Mathematics, Numerical Analysis/Scientific Computing, Elementary Real Analysis (the one with Riemann-Stieltjes), Advanced Real Analysis (the one with Lebesgue), Advanced Probability (the one with Measure Theory)
2. 4 Statistics classes. (As I like to put it, "More statistics than I'll ever use in my life.")
3. NO Complex Analysis, Abstract Algebra, Topology, [Graph Theory](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/70965) or Number Theory (though the last 2 are in our discrete mathematics, they weren't taught in our discrete mathematics classes).
4. 2 Stochastic Calculus classes
[This comment says I should be "be comfortable with mathematical proof in a variety of areas"](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42304/with-a-background-in-mathematical-finance-and-desire-to-apply-for-a-mathematics#comment94267_42304)
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42923,
"author": "Chris C",
"author_id": 7745,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7745",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "It depends on the country. \n\nIn the US, it is frequent that students go from undergrad right into their PhD. While there, some do get a Master's, but as a side effect of coursework for the Ph.D. Though, I myself did get a Master's first. \n\nI believe it is more common in Europe to get a Master's first due to the shortened Ph.D. process there."
},
{
"answer_id": 42925,
"author": "T K",
"author_id": 12656,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12656",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "This question depends on many things. Not only does it depend on the country, but it depends on the level of university you plan to attend. I will focus here on the US system. Various programs include the masters program as one moves on to obtain a PhD; however, many universities will expect, as you said \"Complex Analysis, Real Analysis, Linear Algebra, Abstract Algebra\" and possibly some geometry/topology courses. \n\nMany programs expect a core amount of knowledge of these subjects. If you are looking at places that are typically regarded as top 20 or so, then you will probably run into difficulty in admissions. Otherwise, if you look at a program's website, they will usually tell you the classes that they require. \n\nIf you are coming from a small school, then sometimes programs will make an exception if they really like your file and give you extra time to catch up in a program, as you did not have the opportunity to take the required courses and give you a special deal. This is rare."
},
{
"answer_id": 42943,
"author": "einpoklum",
"author_id": 7319,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7319",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "My experience (in Comp Sci, but on the mathematical side; and doing some engineering work in the 'Hi-Tech' sector while my research was pure theory) suggests the following:\n\n* Don't worry about the titles (Master, Doctor etc.) but about what you're trying to accomplish, personally and research-wise.\n* Don't consider working on doctoral-scale research unless you have a specific subject you're interested in studying (much more specific than stochastic analysis in general). Don't start a 10-mile race when you're not sure where you intend to get to. Yes, I know that some people start graduate programs without a clear research subject, and it's not impossible, but I don't recommend it.\n* If you don't have a subject, I'd suggest finding other employment, in or out of Academia, and studying a bit on your own, maybe taking a course or two here-and-there, to see if something more specific piques your interest. An alternative to that is doing a Master's (but this kind of depends on the country you're in, like other answers suggest), and sort of dipping your feet in the water. *Note:* In some countries / academic cultures, Masters' programs are not well-regarded and you're expected to not go through them before doing a Ph.D. (e.g. in the US); in these cases, and if you're into pure math, you might not get reasonable inspiration from working in industry.\n* Stochastic analysis is hella difficult, or at least that's how I felt when I learned some fundamentals of [Ito Calculus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%C5%8D_calculus). I'd build myself up to it a bit...\n* If you have a subject, find an advisor. Yes, before beginning. Even if someone doesn't agree automatically, immediately, or at all to be your advisor - they might still give you some solid advice, based on more specific information about your background, regarding which courses you might want to take, books you might need to read, and experience you might need to gather before you're sorta-kinda-ready. Or they might very well say \"you've got 4/5/6 years, use the first 1-2 years for catching up.\" This bring me back to the first point: If you're in synch with an advisor, let him/her worry about arranging the formalities of the process you'll undergo; or at least work out some sort of speculative plan with him/her."
}
] |
2015/04/04
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42918",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21026/"
] |
42,921 |
I'm currently a Master's student in my final year and I want to start a Ph.D. next year. I really like doing research (one of my papers got published in a fairly reputable journal), but I more or less dislike the teaching aspect that comes with the Ph.D. title. Is there any alternative way to do research, outside of industry, and not be obligated to teach?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42924,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "Yes. There are national laboratories like the US DOE labs (Sandia, Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, etc), [non-profit independent labs](http://www.cshl.edu/), industrial labs, and even university labs like the one [I work at](http://www.tacc.utexas.edu/). You will find that many of these kinds of labs have some sort of service mission instead of teaching, but others are purely research focused. For example, researchers in my group also support users of our supercomputers when they run into problems. There are lots of these non-academic research opportunities out there in the STEM fields. I think there are probably many less in non-technical areas."
},
{
"answer_id": 42926,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "It depends a lot on the type of research you'd like to do. For example, suppose you're in mathematics:\n\n1. There are many jobs that use applied mathematics in highly directed R&D activities, where you are working in a team on some bigger project, which is not under your control unless you really rise in the ranks. Academic publications will not be a primary outcome, but applied research could be a substantial part of the job.\n2. There are a moderate number of more academic-style applied mathematics positions, for example in national labs, where you are in charge of your own activities (subject to securing funding) and write many research papers.\n3. There are only a tiny number of secure, long-term jobs where you can do whatever mathematics you would like, including pure mathematics, with no teaching responsibilities (and where doing mathematics is your primary job).\n\nSo the availability of research-focused jobs really depends on how flexible your interests are and how well they fit with other people's goals. If your work is obviously and immediately applicable to industry or government, then there's a good chance you'll be able to convince someone to pay you to do it full time. If you are doing applied work that is less immediately applicable, then it depends on the availability of funding. If you are doing highly theoretical work, then you'll have to be extraordinarily skilled or lucky."
},
{
"answer_id": 42928,
"author": "yo'",
"author_id": 1471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1471",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "There are many institutes called \"Academy of Sciences\" all around the world. In general, being member of these, you're not obliged to teach nor to supervise students. You can still be assigned some other responsibility than teaching, but it should not be really limiting you.\n\nAs an example, this exists in France as CNRS (Le Centre national de la recherche scientifique) and in Czechia as CAS/ASCR/AVČR (The Czech Academy of Sciences).\n\nAs for France, note that getting a CNRS position is very difficult, the positions are literally couple in each branch each year. Most people in CNRS laboratories (institutes) have teaching positions at the associated universities."
},
{
"answer_id": 42946,
"author": "Anonymous",
"author_id": 11565,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11565",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I've heard that the [Center for Communications Research](http://www.idaccr.org) is like this, if your Ph.D. is in math. I know people who work there and quite like it. (US Government; a security clearance is required.)"
},
{
"answer_id": 42977,
"author": "Stephanie",
"author_id": 32695,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32695",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "In the UK, places like the JIC,TGAC, Sainsbury Lab and IFR on the Norwich Research Park are affiliated with the University of East Anglia but are a significant distance from and have no real connection to the undergraduates therefore no teaching is expected. There are quite a lot of places like this in the UK, like CRUK and MRC as well where you are not expected to teach.\n\nNB: You should look out for institutes funded privately or through charities as these are the ones that are more independent and less likely to have teaching commitments, if at all."
}
] |
2015/04/04
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42921",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18330/"
] |
42,931 |
How do you name the section on your CV to list your participation as scientific/organization members in academic events (e.g. conferences, workshops, etc.)?
Thanks
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42939,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "\"Service\" activities are usually listed under a heading such as \"Professional Service\" or \"Professional Activities.\" However, this does **not** apply to simply attending or presenting at conferences and workshops, but rather to organizing or scientific committees."
},
{
"answer_id": 79956,
"author": "Raydot",
"author_id": 13535,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13535",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "If you've done only a few and they're very relevant to your field I would create a separate field for \"Workshops.\" I've done quite a few as both a participant and a lecturer and so I lump the most recent and relevant under \"Panels/Workshops.\""
}
] |
2015/04/04
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42931",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32555/"
] |
42,938 |
Is it possible to order a physical copy of an academic journal? If I were published and wanted a copy of that Issue to keep, could I buy a physical copy? The journal that I might be published in is Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A, which is an AIP journal.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42940,
"author": "yo'",
"author_id": 1471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1471",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "In general, yes, it is possible. But as noted in the comments, it depends on the journal. Most of them have this information on their websites."
},
{
"answer_id": 42976,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "Some journals are on-line only and some are both on-line and print, and a few still print only. Since journals generally want to keep costs down and the printing process takes quite a lot including postage the trend is for all journals to drop print. Left is the possibility of print-on-demand but I am not sure this will be a possibility. I have yet to see any on-line journals offer such printing.\n\nSo while that was the general picture, in your case, you need to contact the journal. If they print copies, they should be able to sell you one. But, such a request should best be made when you provide your final manuscript of proofs, not long after the fact, the reason being that no-one sits on stocks of printed journals, they minimize the number of prints produced.\n\nSo: contact the editor and ask is the simple answer."
}
] |
2015/04/04
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42938",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
42,944 |
Assume a student with diagnosed depression or bipolar disorder has already been admitted to the university, and thus has a resume comparable to their peers. How do you feel about taking them on?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42956,
"author": "Jake",
"author_id": 21222,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21222",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I am not a PhD advisor, but I think I am a quite experienced doctoral student. \n\nOf course, it really depends on the person, and since you probably can't have an insight in what is going in a particular person's mind, the best you can do is take some common-sense estimate and go from there, taking any specific observations into account.\n\nMost people would think that it would be fair to offer a student with a mental condition equal opportunity as much as possible, but the decision to be a student's PhD advisor is a serious and somewhat personal one, and in that respect most professors would have more or less reluctance to do so.\n\nMost mental conditions are a private matter protected by a number of acts (HIPAA, Privacy Act, etc.), and it would be usually in student's best interest not to disclose having them. I would never disclose any information like that in the school, where I am doing or planning to do a PhD."
},
{
"answer_id": 42958,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "Diagnosed and under treatment is better than undiagnosed, actually. But even without treatment, many folks have developed coping strategies for handling these conditions. The question isn't whether someone has a condition but whether they can do the job with reasonable adaptations. Judge them on their merits, not on your assumptions."
},
{
"answer_id": 42964,
"author": "aparente001",
"author_id": 32436,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I will respond here to the general picture formed by several of your posts, in addition to the question you posed here.\n\nMy mother once wrote a very convincing article claiming that Richard Feynman was bipolar. She cited evidence from his books.\n\nPeople with bipolar disorder can be productive members of society, and of academia. They can find their work, even academic work, rewarding.\n\nOn the other hand, graduate school can be a big time sink. A body in motion tends to remain in motion. Being in grad school can be like Chorkia on the MTA -- he could never get off the train because he didn't have a nickel, and in that train system, you paid when you got *off.* Once you're on that exercise wheel, you tend to just stay on it, just because you're on it and it's still spinning.\n\nHaving a PhD is not the only route to professional self-esteem, believe it or not! (It can be hard to appreciate that while you are in the thick of it, just as it is hard to appreciate the true height of a mountain when you are standing at the foot of it.)\n\nAlso note, graduate school can be extremely stressful -- depending on the particular circumstances. You may at some point decide that at this particular juncture of your life, that kind of extra stress is just not what you need right now, in order to take good care of yourself.\n\nI am saying these things so that you will not feel forced to continue. It is hard to realize, while you are in grad school, that you have a *choice* whether to continue or not. You are surrounded by people who are in grad school, and are continuing. Being in grad school starts to become part of your definition of yourself. But if you take a step back, you will find that there is a lot more to you than just your grad studies self. Then you will be more free to make a *choice*.\n\nI have a hearing impairment. I had a great deal of difficulty, when I was in grad school, going to speak with a professor in his office about how hard it was for me to follow the class when he stood smack in front of the equations and sketches he had just made, while talking about them. I did it, but I was extremely uncomfortable doing it -- largely because of their unsupportive reactions.\n\nThat was more than 20 years ago. Now things are different. Universities have offices for students with health conditions that can potentially affect their functioning in school. Could you go to that office and ask them to send someone with you when you want to talk with a professor about something that feels a little touchy to you? That is what I would have liked for my uncomfortable conversations. Also, maybe they could help you explore options such as a medical leave of absence. Even if you don't end up taking one, it could help you resolve your inner tension about your studies if you didn't feel so locked in.\n\nMy sixth grade son has Tourette Syndrome (and associated OCD). Teachers and staff don't know much about this condition -- even when they think they do! What was extremely helpful was that the Tourette Syndrome Association sent an advocate to his school to educate staff.\n\nI know it's possible to have a 504 plan in college -- but what about grad school? Can your 504 plan accompany you when you go to a PhD program? Do you have one? If not, that might be a good place to start. Obviously, in the legal sense, you have as much right to an education as anyone who doesn't have bipolar disorder has.\n\nCould you connect with the Students with Disabilities office at your university (if you haven't already) and let us know if that was helpful?\n\nMy university had a rule that if you took some time off, you had to come back and resume your PhD studies within 7 years of stepping away. If you wanted to stay away for more than 7 years and then come back, you either had to re-sit your exams, or apply for special permission.\n\nBottom line: in theory, telling a potential advisor about a disorder like this shouldn't have any negative effects (ethically or legally speaking). However, you shouldn't have to face this alone. I hope you'll give your campus disability office a try."
},
{
"answer_id": 42968,
"author": "awsoci",
"author_id": 28324,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28324",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "As it's not 100% clear as to whether you are asking as a PhD student or as a current PhD adviser, this answer (hopefully) addresses both. The theme of this response is understanding the **role of boundaries.** \n\n**Student**\n\nAs a student, there are a number of options available to you regarding your mental illness to help you succeed. Remaining in treatment and utilising the disability/accommodation services will help you.\n\nBeing honest about your mental illness with your supervisor can be beneficial to help you succeed, or detrimental to your success. Unfortunately, as others have said, there are still high levels of discrimination regarding mental illness, and the higher levels of Academia have a bit of a 'if you can't handle it, get out' mentality. It might be worthwhile just seeing how your supervisor is before being honest about your mental state. Depending on the person, it might be more prudent to use third-party services (i.e. Disability accommodations) should you need an extension or deferment throughout your study. \n\nAs a student, should you be honest with your supervisor (and they are receptive) to your honesty, it's important to perhaps be mindful of boundaries. One of the most important things I can suggest is that your PhD adviser is, a PhD adviser. Many of them are not trained nor qualified to handle in-depth discussions about mental illness nor provide a space free of 'triggers'/a therapeutic space. Letting them know you have a mental illness and what accommodations you might need (and keep in mind that some of these might not be able to met, this is the nature of academia) are good steps, but you do not necessarily need to be detailed about what's going on, nor should your supervisor be asking you these details. You will, however, might need to substantiate your claims, which is why I strongly, strongly urge that you get registered with your disability services centre. \n\nBy being registered, they can help speak on your behalf and verify your claims without having to go into details. On the other side, this means your supervisor is not subjected to conversations they may not be qualified to handle, and protects both their well-being and yours. This keeps the relationship between you professional and perhaps friendly as well. \n\n**PhD Advisor**\n\nAs a honours supervisor (and maybe in a year or two, a PhD one) I am happy to take on students that may have a mental illness, provided that they are utilising treatment services (whether it be therapy, medication, support groups) as well as university services like disability/social justice.\n\nMore importantly though, is the maintenance of boundaries. I am not qualified to listen to or help with mental illness, experiences of trauma etc. The best I can offer is directing students to the appropriate on-campus services (I will even walk with them there if they need) but that's the limit. \n\nStudents who come to me but refuse to seek any kind of treatment/help, expect me to be their main point of counselling etc, or get registered with the appropriate services I am very hesitant to take on. In my experience, a few of these students have 'gone-off-the-rails' at me, and have lead to some instances of needing to get security and other services (like safer communities) involved. It is sad, because I know that their expressions of hostility and aggression are not because they are bad students, or bad people, but suffering from an untreated mental illness. But I have to protect myself and my safety as well. \n\nIf students come to you with a mental illness, it is important to reiterate these boundaries not to be cruel, but to help them understand that you do not have the experience or qualifications to support them effectively should they require more than assessment/etc support. Directing them to register with the disability accommodation services, and working with those services to help students succeed is vital. But under no circumstance is becoming an ad hoc counsellor part of your role, which is for the safety of both the student and yourself. \n\nMany people might disagree with me on this, but there is a trend in the blurring between the professional and the personal in academia, with more students going to professors/lecturers/supervisors with detailed descriptions of their ailments/traumas. Many of us are just not qualified to help, but some of us are more than willing to work with the appropriate services to help students succeed."
},
{
"answer_id": 42981,
"author": "Mikael Vejdemo-Johansson",
"author_id": 519,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/519",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "Speaking both as a PhD advisor and as someone with a diagnosed and controlled bipolar disorder, I would definitely consider a student with mental health issues. I would, much like awsoci discusses in their response, insist the student not treat the advisory relationship as a therapeutic outlet, and that the student lean on the available resources inside and outside campus.\n\nMy own PhD advisor (back in the day) knew about my issues, and the same holds true for all the PhD students with mental health problems I know right now.\n\nAll that said, there are risks with disclosing, and definitely with disclosing widely. There is no guarantee that any given PhD advisor would be fine with the situation, and even if there are anti-discrimination clauses available, the relationship might not work out well in the end if it starts out on a shaky basis.\n\n**To summarize:** In principle and in theory, advisors should take on qualified students with disabilities. In practice, your mileage most likely will vary, but I personally would not let the disability be a deciding factor in taking on a student."
},
{
"answer_id": 42985,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Graduate admissions is different than undergraduate admissions: in order to be admitted to a good graduate school, you already have to have a solid record of sustained good performance in highly technical work. Graduate school challenges you in new and different ways, but a well-qualified application shows that the person has certainly got effective coping strategies.\nMost of the *non-functional* people I know with such disorders didn't make it through undergraduate, while most of the *functional* people I know with such disorders have had non-functional periods, but have developed coping strategies that are sustainable long-term.\n\nMore to the point, when it comes to mental health, it is important to understand that the line between \"disorder\" and \"normal range of variation\" is quite fuzzy and subjective. Unlike with most physical illnesses, a critical component of the *definition* of mental illness is that [it has a significant impact a person's ability to function](http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/basics/definition/con-20033813). What this means to me as a potential supervisor is that I would consider a mental illness diagnosis as informative (\"if things go wrong mentally for this person, this is type of problem they are likely to have\") rather than predictive (\"this person will be a problem\"). \n\nI would consider it entirely reasonable for a person to choose to either disclose or not disclose. My main concern would be if the person was using their disclosure in a way that felt like they were making excuses for problem in their past as opposed to simply providing information. That concern has nothing to do with the mental illness diagnosis and instead is about whether the person tends to assume or deflect responsibility, which is much more important to my evaluation of whether I want them working for me."
}
] |
2015/04/04
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42944",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/29506/"
] |
42,950 |
I'm currently finishing the 3rd year of my Computer Science course at University. My expected classification is Second-class honours, upper division (2:1). After I finish this course, I'd like to go ahead and study further for a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and become a teacher.
The question I have, is how do people / teachers approach teaching multiple subjects? Do they do a PGCE in the subject they've gained a degree in and then move on to study teaching another subject after they have their teaching capabilities? Or do they do 2 PGCEs at the same time?
The reason I'm asking this question is because I want to become an ICT & Computing teacher, but also a P.E. teacher on the side and I'm unsure of which path to take (or which path I must take?)
It's worth noting that my interest for P.E. has purely been from a personal experience as I've become keen of the gym and realised the importance of staying fit and healthy since University. I don't have a GCSE (or any equivalent qualification) in P.E. as it's something I never liked when I was younger.
Any advice from fellow academics would be greatly appreciated!
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42956,
"author": "Jake",
"author_id": 21222,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21222",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I am not a PhD advisor, but I think I am a quite experienced doctoral student. \n\nOf course, it really depends on the person, and since you probably can't have an insight in what is going in a particular person's mind, the best you can do is take some common-sense estimate and go from there, taking any specific observations into account.\n\nMost people would think that it would be fair to offer a student with a mental condition equal opportunity as much as possible, but the decision to be a student's PhD advisor is a serious and somewhat personal one, and in that respect most professors would have more or less reluctance to do so.\n\nMost mental conditions are a private matter protected by a number of acts (HIPAA, Privacy Act, etc.), and it would be usually in student's best interest not to disclose having them. I would never disclose any information like that in the school, where I am doing or planning to do a PhD."
},
{
"answer_id": 42958,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "Diagnosed and under treatment is better than undiagnosed, actually. But even without treatment, many folks have developed coping strategies for handling these conditions. The question isn't whether someone has a condition but whether they can do the job with reasonable adaptations. Judge them on their merits, not on your assumptions."
},
{
"answer_id": 42964,
"author": "aparente001",
"author_id": 32436,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I will respond here to the general picture formed by several of your posts, in addition to the question you posed here.\n\nMy mother once wrote a very convincing article claiming that Richard Feynman was bipolar. She cited evidence from his books.\n\nPeople with bipolar disorder can be productive members of society, and of academia. They can find their work, even academic work, rewarding.\n\nOn the other hand, graduate school can be a big time sink. A body in motion tends to remain in motion. Being in grad school can be like Chorkia on the MTA -- he could never get off the train because he didn't have a nickel, and in that train system, you paid when you got *off.* Once you're on that exercise wheel, you tend to just stay on it, just because you're on it and it's still spinning.\n\nHaving a PhD is not the only route to professional self-esteem, believe it or not! (It can be hard to appreciate that while you are in the thick of it, just as it is hard to appreciate the true height of a mountain when you are standing at the foot of it.)\n\nAlso note, graduate school can be extremely stressful -- depending on the particular circumstances. You may at some point decide that at this particular juncture of your life, that kind of extra stress is just not what you need right now, in order to take good care of yourself.\n\nI am saying these things so that you will not feel forced to continue. It is hard to realize, while you are in grad school, that you have a *choice* whether to continue or not. You are surrounded by people who are in grad school, and are continuing. Being in grad school starts to become part of your definition of yourself. But if you take a step back, you will find that there is a lot more to you than just your grad studies self. Then you will be more free to make a *choice*.\n\nI have a hearing impairment. I had a great deal of difficulty, when I was in grad school, going to speak with a professor in his office about how hard it was for me to follow the class when he stood smack in front of the equations and sketches he had just made, while talking about them. I did it, but I was extremely uncomfortable doing it -- largely because of their unsupportive reactions.\n\nThat was more than 20 years ago. Now things are different. Universities have offices for students with health conditions that can potentially affect their functioning in school. Could you go to that office and ask them to send someone with you when you want to talk with a professor about something that feels a little touchy to you? That is what I would have liked for my uncomfortable conversations. Also, maybe they could help you explore options such as a medical leave of absence. Even if you don't end up taking one, it could help you resolve your inner tension about your studies if you didn't feel so locked in.\n\nMy sixth grade son has Tourette Syndrome (and associated OCD). Teachers and staff don't know much about this condition -- even when they think they do! What was extremely helpful was that the Tourette Syndrome Association sent an advocate to his school to educate staff.\n\nI know it's possible to have a 504 plan in college -- but what about grad school? Can your 504 plan accompany you when you go to a PhD program? Do you have one? If not, that might be a good place to start. Obviously, in the legal sense, you have as much right to an education as anyone who doesn't have bipolar disorder has.\n\nCould you connect with the Students with Disabilities office at your university (if you haven't already) and let us know if that was helpful?\n\nMy university had a rule that if you took some time off, you had to come back and resume your PhD studies within 7 years of stepping away. If you wanted to stay away for more than 7 years and then come back, you either had to re-sit your exams, or apply for special permission.\n\nBottom line: in theory, telling a potential advisor about a disorder like this shouldn't have any negative effects (ethically or legally speaking). However, you shouldn't have to face this alone. I hope you'll give your campus disability office a try."
},
{
"answer_id": 42968,
"author": "awsoci",
"author_id": 28324,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28324",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "As it's not 100% clear as to whether you are asking as a PhD student or as a current PhD adviser, this answer (hopefully) addresses both. The theme of this response is understanding the **role of boundaries.** \n\n**Student**\n\nAs a student, there are a number of options available to you regarding your mental illness to help you succeed. Remaining in treatment and utilising the disability/accommodation services will help you.\n\nBeing honest about your mental illness with your supervisor can be beneficial to help you succeed, or detrimental to your success. Unfortunately, as others have said, there are still high levels of discrimination regarding mental illness, and the higher levels of Academia have a bit of a 'if you can't handle it, get out' mentality. It might be worthwhile just seeing how your supervisor is before being honest about your mental state. Depending on the person, it might be more prudent to use third-party services (i.e. Disability accommodations) should you need an extension or deferment throughout your study. \n\nAs a student, should you be honest with your supervisor (and they are receptive) to your honesty, it's important to perhaps be mindful of boundaries. One of the most important things I can suggest is that your PhD adviser is, a PhD adviser. Many of them are not trained nor qualified to handle in-depth discussions about mental illness nor provide a space free of 'triggers'/a therapeutic space. Letting them know you have a mental illness and what accommodations you might need (and keep in mind that some of these might not be able to met, this is the nature of academia) are good steps, but you do not necessarily need to be detailed about what's going on, nor should your supervisor be asking you these details. You will, however, might need to substantiate your claims, which is why I strongly, strongly urge that you get registered with your disability services centre. \n\nBy being registered, they can help speak on your behalf and verify your claims without having to go into details. On the other side, this means your supervisor is not subjected to conversations they may not be qualified to handle, and protects both their well-being and yours. This keeps the relationship between you professional and perhaps friendly as well. \n\n**PhD Advisor**\n\nAs a honours supervisor (and maybe in a year or two, a PhD one) I am happy to take on students that may have a mental illness, provided that they are utilising treatment services (whether it be therapy, medication, support groups) as well as university services like disability/social justice.\n\nMore importantly though, is the maintenance of boundaries. I am not qualified to listen to or help with mental illness, experiences of trauma etc. The best I can offer is directing students to the appropriate on-campus services (I will even walk with them there if they need) but that's the limit. \n\nStudents who come to me but refuse to seek any kind of treatment/help, expect me to be their main point of counselling etc, or get registered with the appropriate services I am very hesitant to take on. In my experience, a few of these students have 'gone-off-the-rails' at me, and have lead to some instances of needing to get security and other services (like safer communities) involved. It is sad, because I know that their expressions of hostility and aggression are not because they are bad students, or bad people, but suffering from an untreated mental illness. But I have to protect myself and my safety as well. \n\nIf students come to you with a mental illness, it is important to reiterate these boundaries not to be cruel, but to help them understand that you do not have the experience or qualifications to support them effectively should they require more than assessment/etc support. Directing them to register with the disability accommodation services, and working with those services to help students succeed is vital. But under no circumstance is becoming an ad hoc counsellor part of your role, which is for the safety of both the student and yourself. \n\nMany people might disagree with me on this, but there is a trend in the blurring between the professional and the personal in academia, with more students going to professors/lecturers/supervisors with detailed descriptions of their ailments/traumas. Many of us are just not qualified to help, but some of us are more than willing to work with the appropriate services to help students succeed."
},
{
"answer_id": 42981,
"author": "Mikael Vejdemo-Johansson",
"author_id": 519,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/519",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "Speaking both as a PhD advisor and as someone with a diagnosed and controlled bipolar disorder, I would definitely consider a student with mental health issues. I would, much like awsoci discusses in their response, insist the student not treat the advisory relationship as a therapeutic outlet, and that the student lean on the available resources inside and outside campus.\n\nMy own PhD advisor (back in the day) knew about my issues, and the same holds true for all the PhD students with mental health problems I know right now.\n\nAll that said, there are risks with disclosing, and definitely with disclosing widely. There is no guarantee that any given PhD advisor would be fine with the situation, and even if there are anti-discrimination clauses available, the relationship might not work out well in the end if it starts out on a shaky basis.\n\n**To summarize:** In principle and in theory, advisors should take on qualified students with disabilities. In practice, your mileage most likely will vary, but I personally would not let the disability be a deciding factor in taking on a student."
},
{
"answer_id": 42985,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Graduate admissions is different than undergraduate admissions: in order to be admitted to a good graduate school, you already have to have a solid record of sustained good performance in highly technical work. Graduate school challenges you in new and different ways, but a well-qualified application shows that the person has certainly got effective coping strategies.\nMost of the *non-functional* people I know with such disorders didn't make it through undergraduate, while most of the *functional* people I know with such disorders have had non-functional periods, but have developed coping strategies that are sustainable long-term.\n\nMore to the point, when it comes to mental health, it is important to understand that the line between \"disorder\" and \"normal range of variation\" is quite fuzzy and subjective. Unlike with most physical illnesses, a critical component of the *definition* of mental illness is that [it has a significant impact a person's ability to function](http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/basics/definition/con-20033813). What this means to me as a potential supervisor is that I would consider a mental illness diagnosis as informative (\"if things go wrong mentally for this person, this is type of problem they are likely to have\") rather than predictive (\"this person will be a problem\"). \n\nI would consider it entirely reasonable for a person to choose to either disclose or not disclose. My main concern would be if the person was using their disclosure in a way that felt like they were making excuses for problem in their past as opposed to simply providing information. That concern has nothing to do with the mental illness diagnosis and instead is about whether the person tends to assume or deflect responsibility, which is much more important to my evaluation of whether I want them working for me."
}
] |
2015/04/05
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42950",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/30641/"
] |
42,951 |
Almost every discipline in humanities and science requires some level of math. It seems to me that math majors can specialize in any field they like, while people who are good with words are stuck with editorial or journalistic jobs. I’m not trying to make an unwarranted dichotomy between linguistic intelligence and mathematical intelligence. I’m quite sure that mathematicians are good with words too; otherwise they won’t be able to explain their ideas in a persuasive and elegant manner. What I’m trying to say is that many writers are just not interested in math, to say the least. But I don’t think this should hinder them from studying our world the way scientists do. Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, which are by far the most mathematical disciplines, may not be for someone who loves words but hates math. But there must be some other objective disciplines (maybe in the social sciences or law) that a writer can specialize in.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42954,
"author": "user141592",
"author_id": 27327,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27327",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "The problem is that if you want to be objective, you usually have to present hard numbers. Which means that at a bare minimum you need to know some very basic statistical analysis to determine if your numbers are actually interesting. (To be nitpicky: this is calculations, not math. Everyone can learn to do calculations, there is no special \"mathematical intelligence\" needed. Not everyone can be [Zeul Erdős](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeul_Erd%C5%91s). Anyone can learn to carry out a *t*-test with the help of a computer.)\n\nAs a mathematician in academia, I can't afford to say that writing is boring or teaching is boring. It's a part of my job, and if I don't enjoy it, I shouldn't be in academia. You seem to want to work in a \"hard\" discipline, but without dealing with the numbers that make it \"hard\". The world doesn't work like that. \n\nMozhematicians in general might not be good at writing, but the ones that are also successful at communicating their ideas and hence successful academics most definitely are good at writing. They didn't write annoyed posts online about how it's unfair that people don't just understand what the meant: they spent some time and learned it. A mathematician who wants to be an academic has to learn to communicate efficiently. A writer who wants to study our world like a scientist has to learn to use the main tool scientists use: math. If the write is not interested in math, maybe they should reconsider going in to a scientific field. It's like a scientist saying that they want to be a writer, but they don't want to deal with pens or keyboards. Science without math is no longer science.\n\nI'm only starting out as a grad student, but one of the things I've learned about academia, and one of the reasons I wanted to be in academia in the first place is that it's an extremely demanding, varied job. A good academic is excellent at doing research in their area, and then very good at other things. These other things may include writing, teaching, mentoring students, coding, and analysing data, depending on their field. (Interestingly enough, I think the only field where you can get away without doing any data analysis ever is math. I did a poll in my office, and only 4 out of 40 grad students in math could carry out a *t*-test off the top of their head). You can't just pick a single thing to be good at: you need the whole package. That includes some math skills if you want to work in an objective discipline. Suck it up and learn some math. Mozh is great."
},
{
"answer_id": 42955,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "Your question answers itself in the last sentence: law and the social sciences could be a good fit. Of course you should probably stay away from tax law if you want to avoid mathematics entirely, but most legal studies don't involve mathematics. Quantitative work in the social sciences involves statistics, but there's plenty of qualitative work (e.g., based on ethnographic methods). And I don't believe your assertion that mathematics is widespread in the humanities. What about history, for example? Mathematical techniques in the humanities are the exception, not the rule.\n\nThere's no way to make a comprehensive list of topics that don't involve mathematics. If you're considering your future academic career and worried about the prevalence of mathematics, you could address this fear by looking over the books or papers of potential advisors. Someone who uses lots of statistics or formal mathematical models wouldn't be a good choice if you don't like that approach. If you can't find anybody who takes a qualitative approach to the topics you are interested in, then you're looking at the wrong department or wrong field for you. If you can, then you have a potential path forwards.\n\nBut let me put in a plug for learning a little statistics. If you avoid statistics because you don't understand it, then that will limit the scope of your work. If you avoid it because you don't like it, but you can handle it when necessary, then you'll have more flexibility and freedom. (And in practice I've talked with many more people who regret not having studied statistics than people who regret having wasted time studying it.)"
},
{
"answer_id": 42996,
"author": "weezilla",
"author_id": 32706,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32706",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "This probably isn't the answer you're hoping for, but hear me out. As a scientist with a healthy interest in the humanities, I think it's a bad idea to limit yourself from vocations that remotely involve math. **You would be surprised how little mathematics (read: work) is needed to have a relatively good understanding of the physical world.** \n\nAs such, highly recommend for you to check out the book: [A Mind for Numbers](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/039916524X) by Barbara Oakley. It is written by a linguist who hated mathematics and science until she decided to give it a fresh shot in adulthood. Don't fear, it doesn't aim to make you a theoretical physicist or a mathematician. \n\nThe world is only going to continue becoming more scientific minded, and in my opinion, it'd be good for a writer to plan for that direction :)\n\nGood luck !"
},
{
"answer_id": 43000,
"author": "Theodore Sternberg",
"author_id": 32709,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32709",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "If you hate math but you're a good writer, you could write good books about why math is hateful, for other people who hate math. Many people hate math already, so many in fact that you could find yourself tapping a great untapped market."
},
{
"answer_id": 43008,
"author": "awsoci",
"author_id": 28324,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28324",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "As a social scientist my academic research is generally mostly qualitative and in social sciences such as socio-cultural anthropology and qualitative sociology, you can get away with doing 0% math. \n\nHowever, I also complete pro-bono/paid contracts for applied social research, in which some basic quantitative skills (math) are required. I have no experience in working with large data sets or 'big data' but I know enough to conduct small-scale surveys and build on these with qualitative analysis. Currently, one of the projects I recently completed is being turned into a journal article, where my co-author will be helping out with the math portion (survey results). \n\nReally, the only profession other than writing novels/literature that I can see a 100% absence of math would be something like visual art, and even then, there's a 'kind' of math involved in understanding how to use different materials (such as painting/mixing with other types of chemicals such as oils etc). Even music and dance are highly reliant on a form of math. \n\nI have a dyscalculia which is a learning disorder around math and numbers, so I can 100% empathise with a hatred for the subject. I quadruple check all equations etc and have a really good handle on excel to calculate things for me and get my partner to check for me as well, whose pretty good at math.\n\nBut I'm not letting this disorder get to me, and I use math constantly for marking, my research and so on, I just don't specialise in that area. The minute a project calls for a high level of stats/data/quant, I get someone else involved. \n\nAs others have said, math is everywhere and you can't get away from math, but sometimes it can be helpful and doesn't require intense equations or the like. Just having a basic handle on it is enough in many disciplines!"
},
{
"answer_id": 43025,
"author": "Kakoli Majumder",
"author_id": 9920,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9920",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "While it is understandable that you would not want to work with hardcore maths if you don't like the subject, I think you need to get over the mental block that you cannot handle anything even remotely connected to mathematics. Most humanities subjects, apart from economics, geography, geology, or modern philosophy would not require a high level of mathematical application. Subjects within the social sciences, such as sociology, history, politics, etc. might work well for someone who can write well but not want to study mathematics. However, if you completely shut yourself off the moment you see even a simple calculation, your choice of subject might become very restricted."
}
] |
2015/04/05
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42951",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32577/"
] |
42,952 |
As faculty or postdoc positions at top schools are getting hard to land, should Ph.D. students interested with research continue to work as research assistants and publish more, or try to get a teaching position or work in industry and then try to move to a research position?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42973,
"author": "aparente001",
"author_id": 32436,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "I wouldn't want to see you treading water for several years. How about a postdoc at a medium-level institution?\n\nAlso, what are your feelings about academia? Could you see yourself happy doing R&D for a company long term, if it came to that? What I mean is, going to industry might mean staying in industry. Would that be an acceptable outcome for you?"
},
{
"answer_id": 42984,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "There is a delicate balance here: in certain situations, it may make sense to be strategic about your graduation date, especially in order to align yourself better with hiring cycles. If you start stretching out your thesis work significantly, however, it will likely be noticeable and not to your benefit.\n\nMore to the point, any such delaying tactic will almost certainly require the consent and participation of your advisor in order to be effective: otherwise, you are likely to be pissing them off and making your chances worse rather than better. Have a discussion with your advisor to see what their assessment of the tactical situation is, and their recommendation. \n\nFinally, with your advisor's consent there is another option worth considering: a \"transitional postdoc\" in your current location. In many institutions and/or fields (especially private institutions or expensive lab fields), the cost of a postdoc is not significantly different than a graduate student, since the higher salary is offset by the lack of tuition or made less significant by laboratory materials costs. For a transitional postdoc, you graduate but you stay briefly as a postdoc (no more than a year or so) while you continuing working in your more independent role to increase your profile and position yourself for an external postdoc or long-term hire elsewhere."
},
{
"answer_id": 42994,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "> \n> I have seen some cases where PhD students remain for 7, 10 and 12 years, and it seems that they are cheaper labor than postdocs, so advisers in general would like students to stay as long as they have enough funds to pay their tuition. Would long period in a PhD program and good publication record be a positive or negative for a hiring committee?\n> \n> \n> \n\nHow long it's appropriate to stay in graduate school depends on the field and the country. For mathematics in the U.S., staying too long quickly becomes a bad idea. (I'm counting time spent actually working, not time off with a good excuse.) Five years is considered a reasonable and normal amount of time to take. Seven years looks too long, and it will give hiring committees the impression that something went wrong and you were unable to graduate in the usual timeframe. Ten years is a major problem: I don't think most math grad schools would even allow ten years of full-time enrollment, and it would look terrible if someone spent ten years in grad school, even if they accomplished a lot along the way. The best-case scenario is that it would look really eccentric, and people aren't likely to look at it so charitably.\n\nI imagine that most academic fields work similarly, but with different timeframes. To estimate how it works in your case, you could look at how long other students in your department spend in grad school and what becomes of them afterwards.\n\n> \n> As faculty or postdoc positions at top schools are getting hard to land, should Ph.D. students interested with research continue to work as research assistants and publish more, or try to get a teaching position or work in industry and then try to move to a research position?\n> \n> \n> \n\nIt's occasionally a good idea to spend another year in grad school even when you could already graduate. For example, if you have almost completed a particularly exciting project, your advisor may recommend that you'd do much better applying for jobs after it's complete rather than before. However, these sorts of situations are uncommon. At least in math in the U.S., things typically work roughly as follows:\n\nIf you've spent a normal amount of time in grad school and are ready to graduate, but you don't feel you're competitive for a top postdoc, then your chances of getting such a postdoc probably won't go up much next year and they might go down. You're generally better off taking the best postdoc you can get and then trying to do your best work in that postdoc, rather than sitting in a holding pattern in grad school.\n\nGetting a teaching position could be a good career move in itself, but it's not the best way to position yourself for a research-oriented job in the future. Whether an industrial job is depends heavily on your field and on what sort of industrial job you have in mind.\n\nIf you can't get a research postdoc at all, and your only options are a teaching job or a non-research-related industrial job, then you should keep in mind that moving to a research university later may be very difficult. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's impossible, but it will be an uphill battle that is unlikely to be successful. It could still be worth trying if it really matters to you, but you shouldn't view this as a routine or straightforward path to a job in a research university."
}
] |
2015/04/05
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42952",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24823/"
] |
42,953 |
I am a distance education student at a Parisian university, and I am currently preparing for the exam in a research-level mathematics course.
While on-campus students have attended the lectures and presentations of sample problem solutions, distance education students only get incomplete lecture notes in pdf format, sample problems without solutions, and a list of recommended textbooks.
I think I was quite successful studying about 85% of the course this way, but the last one or two lectures and sample problem solutions cover some very advanced material, which is not adequately addressed by the recommended textbooks. I also could not find this material is a sufficiently concentrated form in research articles, and I estimate that it may take thorough reading and understanding of no less than 50 articles and maybe 3 months to properly figure this out by myself.
One of the professors recommended to me that I get a copy of the lecture notes and sample problem solutions from a student that attended the course in person, but when I requested a few email addresses from the secretary, she said she is not authorized to divulge that information. I asked the other professor of this course, but got no reply.
I can't go to a course lecture to locate such students, because the last lecture was some time ago.
I would like some advice on what else to try to obtain the lecture notes.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42971,
"author": "aparente001",
"author_id": 32436,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I can understand them not wanting to give you students' contact information. But it would be reasonable for them to email the other students, and offer your contact information to anyone who would be willing to help.\n\nAlso, I think the professor should be giving you a copy of his own notes, and answering your questions.\n\nBut first -- make sure to ask whether that last topic area will be included in the final exam. Maybe it was just offered as enrichment.\n\nDon't hesitate to speak with the department chair or dean about your frustrations. It may be that there are some expectations that one or more instructors are not meeting!"
},
{
"answer_id": 42975,
"author": "Sylvain Peyronnet",
"author_id": 43,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/43",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "Some comments and the already given answer give advices that can be counter-productive in France. You mention that this is about a research level course so I understand that this is a \"Master 2 recherche\" course.\n\nIt is unlikely, for privacy reasons, that someone will give you email addresses of other students. My advice is to ask the professor to forward to a few targeted students your request.\n\nGoing to the department chair/dean will probably be useless. If you really want to go up the ladder, ask to the person in charge of the master 2. But it will probably be useless too since in the French system professors are free to do as they want for their lectures. For those surprised by that last sentence, keep in mind that having lecture notes in pdf and a list of recommended textbooks is something that you don't have in all lectures in France."
},
{
"answer_id": 42980,
"author": "Stephanie",
"author_id": 32695,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32695",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Our university has students that take notes and scan them in so they are on record for students who miss lectures, I presume this is not available but you could check if it is.\n\nIf not, perhaps you could look on facebook or another site that may have a group for people on the course and ask there if people can send you their notes. \n\nFailing that, you could ask the staff (professor or secretary) if they can ask the students on the course if they would email you first, so that you can give your email out without breaking any confidentiality the other way."
}
] |
2015/04/05
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42953",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21222/"
] |
42,957 |
I've graduated and I'm looking to apply to a Ph.D. program in computer science. However, during my undergraduate years I did not take math courses other than the ones required for the CS major (i.e., discrete maths and algorithms). Thus I haven't taken a college course in calculus/statistics/linear algebra/probability, which I am aware is essential training for CS Ph.D. students. I also haven't taken an operating systems course since it wasn't required for the major and I opted for a different set of CS courses.
The reason for this was that I did not consider applying to graduate programs at the time, and chose to take courses in other unrelated departments to fulfill requirements for my second area of study. However, I am currently taking an online MOOC in calculus and linear algebra to increase my technical knowledge.
Although I have good grades in my CS courses and research experience, I'm wondering if this would be considered a red flag that I should address in my statement of purpose. If so, what would be a good way to do it?
Alternatively, would it make sense to apply for a Masters program to get more coursework under my belt before applying to a Ph.D. program?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42967,
"author": "aparente001",
"author_id": 32436,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "I was in your shoes at one point. Here's what happened: I was accepted to a very good computer science graduate program, with a letter that identified two specific courses that I would need to have under my belt before starting the program the following fall. I was strongly encouraged to take those two courses in the summer prior to starting their program.\n\nThat's what I did -- those two courses were offered in the summer session at the state school near where I lived.\n\nAlso note that there are lots of varieties of computer science PhDs. Some really don't require or use much math. Some are totally the opposite. Some are in between.\n\n> \n> Alternatively, would it make sense to apply for a Masters program to get more coursework under my belt before applying to a Ph.D. program?\n> \n> \n> \n\nUnlike in physics, in computer science, the main difference between being a master's student and being a PhD student is how long you stay in the department.\n\nIn short, I would advise you to apply to schools that interest you ASAP. If they don't send you a letter advising you about what to take over the summer (as they did in my case), you could contact them (after you've been accepted) to ask some specific questions.\n\nIn the meantime, read some catalogs. Each course will have its prerequisites listed. I think you'll soon be able to appreciate what I'm saying -- that not all flavors of graduate level computer science studies require a lot of math background.\n\nOh, I forgot to say -- the admissions committee will look very carefully at your transcript. They will be able to figure out if you have any problematic gaps based on that.\n\nRegardless of exactly where you end up next year -- I think you will probably enjoy learning to do proofs. Linear algebra will be fun and rewarding for you. Probability might be a good course to take too."
},
{
"answer_id": 42982,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "Lack of mathematical training is a gap, but not what I would consider a red flag, if you have strength enough in other areas. The key is whether I, evaluating your application, would think: \"This person can't handle math\" vs. \"This person did other things besides math.\" \n\nIt is definitely a good thing that you are increasing your training: a MOOC will likely not make a big difference on paper, but if it's making a real difference for you intellectually, that matters too. Furthermore, a good mental mathematical tool-kit will make your life easier in many ways (including detecting when you shouldn't believe something just because it has math). \n\nAs for the question of whether to start with a Masters: that really depends on where you are and where you are trying to go. For example, in the US, many Ph.D. programs literally or effectively start with a Masters, so it might be redundant (though the MOOCs or any other prep work will allow you to do less remedial work as part of it). In Europe, on the other hand, most Ph.D. programs assume you already have a Masters, so it's pretty mandatory to start there. Another thing that you might consider is to apply to both, starting with the Ph.D. if you get in, and burnishing your credentials in a Masters first if you don't."
}
] |
2015/04/05
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42957",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
42,959 |
When you're writing your dissertation, your advisor will undoubtedly make many contributions. They might suggest literature to look into or ways of tackling a problem. Many of these contributions I assume would be acknowledged sufficiently in the acknowledgements section where you thank those who helped, your advisor above all.
But what about when you're discussing something specific, maybe trying to figure out some problem. When you're working through it together, your advisor says "What about you try X?". It turns out that X solves the problem.
In the section of my dissertation where I discuss the problem and present my implementation of solution X, should I include something like a footnote stating explicitly that X was suggested to me by my advisor in conversation? I'm interested more in the issue of academic honesty/integrity than issues surrounding my relationship with my advisor (e.g., whether it might tick him off to not be specifically acknowledged in the section on X).
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42962,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "It really depends on how original the contribution is. At one extreme, your advisor might say something like \"Hey, you're integrating an oscillating function times a smooth function. Have you tried integrating by parts?\" This sounds impressive to a beginner and pointing it out could be a valuable contribution, but your advisor is just cluing you in to something every professional knows. There's no need to offer explicit credit.\n\nAt the other extreme, your advisor might hand you a sheaf of handwritten notes and say \"Here's what I tried and where I got stuck when I thought about this problem a few years ago.\" If you make use of original ideas from the notes, then you should certainly attribute them to your advisor.\n\nThe tricky part is how to gauge originality. You might not have been able to tell at the time, but looking back you'll often have a better feeling for this. If you recognize an idea as being relatively standard, then offering general thanks in the acknowledgments should be enough. If the idea still impresses you as you are writing your dissertation, then it deserves attribution. If you aren't sure, you can always ask your advisor. For example, \"One of the decisive moments in my studies was when you suggested I should use Bayesian hierarchical modeling. I haven't seen other papers using this approach, so I feel I should explicitly credit you with the idea in my dissertation. Does that seem appropriate?\" Your advisor will either gracefully accept credit, declare that it's not worth worrying about, or offer background references you've missed."
},
{
"answer_id": 42986,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "My typical interpretation of a thesis is that the advisor is effectively a co-author, and may have been deeply and intimately involved at any step of the research. Thus, from a perspective of academic honesty and integrity, I would not see any reason to need to provide specific acknowledgement of an *idea* coming from your advisor. \n\nOn the other hand, the *labor* reported in a thesis is typically assumed to have been done by the student, and if your advisor contributed strongly to that, then it would be appropriate to note that fact.\n\nThus, for example, if your advisor suggested the critical idea that enabled you to carry out an experiment, no need for credit beyond declaration as the advisor. If one of the experiments you report was actually carried out by your advisor, then explicit credit should be given."
}
] |
2015/04/05
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42959",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4458/"
] |
42,987 |
Some scholarly articles explain in detail the epistemological and ontological differences of the two methods, while some argue that the distinction between them is now blurred. I try to reconcile this inconsistency by thinking that quantitative and qualitative traditions form a methodological spectrum, where pure quantitative and qualitative approaches are situated at the opposing extremes, while mixed-methods are at the middle.
**Is the distinction between the research traditions still significant? And if yes, do social scientists promote a "methodological spectrum" or do they still deny the compatibility of the two?**
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42962,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "It really depends on how original the contribution is. At one extreme, your advisor might say something like \"Hey, you're integrating an oscillating function times a smooth function. Have you tried integrating by parts?\" This sounds impressive to a beginner and pointing it out could be a valuable contribution, but your advisor is just cluing you in to something every professional knows. There's no need to offer explicit credit.\n\nAt the other extreme, your advisor might hand you a sheaf of handwritten notes and say \"Here's what I tried and where I got stuck when I thought about this problem a few years ago.\" If you make use of original ideas from the notes, then you should certainly attribute them to your advisor.\n\nThe tricky part is how to gauge originality. You might not have been able to tell at the time, but looking back you'll often have a better feeling for this. If you recognize an idea as being relatively standard, then offering general thanks in the acknowledgments should be enough. If the idea still impresses you as you are writing your dissertation, then it deserves attribution. If you aren't sure, you can always ask your advisor. For example, \"One of the decisive moments in my studies was when you suggested I should use Bayesian hierarchical modeling. I haven't seen other papers using this approach, so I feel I should explicitly credit you with the idea in my dissertation. Does that seem appropriate?\" Your advisor will either gracefully accept credit, declare that it's not worth worrying about, or offer background references you've missed."
},
{
"answer_id": 42986,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "My typical interpretation of a thesis is that the advisor is effectively a co-author, and may have been deeply and intimately involved at any step of the research. Thus, from a perspective of academic honesty and integrity, I would not see any reason to need to provide specific acknowledgement of an *idea* coming from your advisor. \n\nOn the other hand, the *labor* reported in a thesis is typically assumed to have been done by the student, and if your advisor contributed strongly to that, then it would be appropriate to note that fact.\n\nThus, for example, if your advisor suggested the critical idea that enabled you to carry out an experiment, no need for credit beyond declaration as the advisor. If one of the experiments you report was actually carried out by your advisor, then explicit credit should be given."
}
] |
2015/04/05
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42987",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32577/"
] |
42,990 |
Some people claim that working as an independent researcher is more useful than collaborating with others, since you will be the star in that field and maybe get more funds. Others disagree, and think that collaborating and publishing more is more useful. What are the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches and which one is more beneficial?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 42992,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Beneficial for what? There's isn't a universal scale of benefit on which all activities can or should be compared. Instead, there are many different factors you need to weigh. Here are a few:\n\n1. Can the group accomplish more together than working separately? (For example, if two people are trying to do the same thing, then competing can waste effort. If they have complementary skills, then collaboration can be even more fruitful.) If so, then society may benefit from the collaboration.\n2. Will the collaboration personally help you, for example by teaching you new skills or giving you more visibility? This is a different question from the utilitarian question of whether society is better off as a whole. Your own interests don't always align perfectly with society's.\n3. How will the community award credit? Collaborating with a famous, brilliant researcher might get your name on some excellent papers, but it wouldn't look nearly as impressive as writing the same papers on your own. On the other hand, writing excellent papers with a collaborator may look better than writing merely good papers on your own. This depends heavily on the situation, and there's no simple criterion.\n4. What's your personal working style? Some people enjoy collaboration for its own sake, as a social activity, while others prefer to work by themselves. You may be happier and more productive if you choose the approach that fits you better, regardless of what other people say works for them.\n\nUltimately, nobody can tell you when you should collaborate and when you should work independently. You need to figure out which factors you consider most important and how they apply to your personal circumstances."
},
{
"answer_id": 42993,
"author": "Maarten van Wesel",
"author_id": 32146,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32146",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "If it is being cited you are looking for, then research has found the number of authors is positivly correlated with the number of citations (e.g. [here](http://www.epjournal.net/articles/hot-topics-and-popular-papers-in-evolutionary-psychology-analyses-of-title-words-and-citation-counts-in-evolution-and-human-behavior-1979-%E2%80%93-2008/), [here](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FB%3ASCIE.0000045117.13348.b1), and [here](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11192-013-1154-x)). There are ceveral possible reasons for this mention in literature, amongst them increased quality, easier introduction to a larger network of scholars etc.\n\nHowever, do not use gift authorship to increase your numbers, but use real collaboration."
},
{
"answer_id": 42999,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "I'm trying to coin a phrase: **interior point maximum**. Well, the phrase already exists: it means that the function you are trying to maximize which is defined on some closed, bounded interval [a,b] does not have its maximum value at either a or b but rather at some point c somewhere strictly in between. \n\nMost functions one studies in calculus have interior point maxima, though there are obvious exceptions: especially if the function is increasing its maximum is at b, and if it is decreasing its maximum is at a. Perhaps this is because the methods of calculus only speak to interior point maxima: the basic observation is that if the function is differentiable, an interior maximum must occur at a stationary point, i.e., for which the instantaneous rate of change is zero. (Famously, the converse is **not** true.)\n\nWhat's the point of this math lesson? It's this: when we step outside of math class we tend to completely forget about this phenomenon and try to stare off into space and figure out which of the two extreme points, a and b, is better. But in many real-world situations it is actually pretty obvious that the maximum must be at an interior point.\n\nTo me at least, the current question is a case of this. \n\n**If you never collaborate**, then you never benefit from anyone else's expertise. In research we almost never do exactly what we want: rather we collect various pieces of what we want to do, and then have to make hard choices about how and when to combine those pieces into published work. If you can find someone else whose pieces are *complementary* to your pieces, then you both benefit tremendously form collaboration, because academia (justly) rates complete solutions more than twice as highly as half solutions. This is, to me, the best argument for collaboration, and it already shows that \"no collaboration\" is not going to be your optimal choice. \n\nAnother argument for collaboration, not nearly as good, is that it allows you to increase your multiplicity: in a given year, maybe you can write one paper all by yourself, or maybe you can write one fourth of four papers and put your name on all of them. In some academic cultures, depending upon how you play it, you will get more credit with the second option. However, there is no *inherent* advantage to this -- in other words, there is no added value to those outside your circle of collaborators -- so this is really rather specious. (But it works, to a certain extent...unfortunately.)\n\nAnother legitimate benefit of collaboration is that your collaborators get to know you and know your skills. I have several collaborators that don't write as many papers as I do and are perhaps not as high-profile in the community as I am. I wouldn't have thought they were anything special if I hadn't worked with them -- worked with them because they brought to the table key pieces that I could use to advance my work. Whenever anyone asks me about these people, I say how great they are.\n\n**If you always collaborate**, then people begin to wonder whether you can in fact write a paper / complete an experiment / do one unit of substantial academic work by yourself. If you always collaborate with the same people, and especially if they are more senior than you and/or have other papers without you, then a lot of hard-nosed academics [including me] are going to suspect that you are not the brains of the operation and eventually wonder whether you may not have been gifted coauthorship. The details of this must be entirely field dependent, but I am in a field in which senior people *usually* don't get added as coauthors unless their intellectual contribution was decisive [in many cases, this means *most* decisive], so if I see someone with a sequence of strong papers all of which are joint with their eminent thesis advisor and no others, then I really need to hear their thesis advisor describe specifically and cogently the value added by their student. (In some fields collaboration is not an option, it's a reality. But this seems to nullify the question: if a = b, you can maximize the function.)\n\nSo it seems clear that it's an interior point maximum: it will be best for your research if you collaborate x% of the time for some 0 < x < 100. As with all interior maxima, one way to figure out x is: take a rough guess as to what you think a good value of x would be, and then explore the nearby space. Definitely do at least one collaborative work and at least one solo work and then evaluate how they went. At the risk of ruining my meme, I will say though that in this case the amount of collaboration is less important -- if you make it safely between 0 and 100% -- than the type of collaboration. As above, you want to choose collaborations that qualitatively augment your work. You do not want to \"trade papers\" or get involved in projects just to have your name on one more paper. Definitely make sure that *you* are bringing something to the table whenever you collaborate: you really don't want people wondering whether you've added anything of value."
}
] |
2015/04/05
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/42990",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24823/"
] |
43,001 |
On my CV, I would like to reference some "letters of gratitude" I have received from different institutions about training courses I have given to them.
I imagine these letters could go under "Honors and Awards" section on my CV, is that right?
How should I mention these letters? Something like:
```
Letter of gratitute from [institution] on the [course details]
```
or is there any better, formal way of saying it?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43046,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "> \n> I am working on two separate areas (academia and industry); in the second one, it is sometimes useful to acknowledge these thank you letters when applying for jobs.\n> \n> \n> \n\nI'd recommend having two versions of your CV/resume, for use in applying to different sorts of jobs. The industrial version could take whatever approach is standard for such applications. For the academic version, it would be safer not to list these letters of gratitude under \"Honors and Awards\", since that's usually reserved for more clear-cut cases (such as prizes, awards, competitive fellowships, etc.), so including them there could look odd or like you are padding your CV. If you'd like to mention them on the academic version of your CV as well, one possibility would be to write \"received letter of gratitude from university\" in parentheses after your description of the training course."
},
{
"answer_id": 43060,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "Actually, if you have given training to corporations or universities, this should probably be listed as a \"teaching\" activity on your CV. You can list general details of the kinds of courses you have given, and the frequency and kinds of institutions to which you have offered them. Referencing specific letters probably doesn't need to be done on an academic CV."
}
] |
2015/04/05
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43001",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32555/"
] |
43,012 |
Recently, I submitted a paper to a journal published by Elsevier. The "Elsevier Journal Finder" feature suggested this particular journal in #3 out of a total of 5 suggestions. A while ago, I had also published a work in the same journal, which was of the same topic (satellite retrievals) that I was trying to submit now. However, for the recent submission, the editor decided that the paper is not topical to the journal and suggested to submit in a mathematical journal. Although there are some mathematical applications in this paper, they are not new, has been known for over 20 years, and was only applied towards satellite retrievals. I am a bit puzzled. Any advice will be appreciated.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43013,
"author": "Kimball",
"author_id": 19607,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19607",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "First, I am not familiar with the \"Elsevier Journal Finder,\" but any automated tools like this should be regarded as search tools and not wholehearted recommendations.\n\nSecond, there are a few obvious reasons why your paper might not be considered on topic.\n\n1. Your paper has too much mathematical content or is written in too mathematical of a style for the journal, despite having applications to a relevant topic.\n2. Your specific findings or methods are considered too specialized/not of interest for (the target audience of) this journal.\n3. Even if this paper was pretty similar to your previous paper, different editors may have somewhat different views on what papers are relevant. This also means that the types of papers published by certain journals can change over time, as editors change.\n\nGenerally it's a good idea when you're journal shopping to do the following to check if your paper will be a good fit: 1) read the \"scope & aims\" section of the journal, 2) look at the list of editors to check for overlap in interest with your research (if you haven't heard of any of them, that's usually not a good sign), and 3) look at some papers the journal has recently put out to see if any are similar to yours."
},
{
"answer_id": 43014,
"author": "bdeonovic",
"author_id": 14040,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14040",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "The postdoc in my lab recently submitted a paper and got an instant: “Paper not suitable for this journal” decision as well. In our case we thought it was very strange because there were very similar papers published just within the previous week! \n\nI think the postdoc and the PI e-mailed the editors to try and clear up the confusion and I think they got them to review the paper (not exactly sure, I am not involved with the project). \n\nI think it would be beneficial to try and communicate further with the editor."
}
] |
2015/04/06
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43012",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26541/"
] |
43,017 |
My campus is full of flyers, typically attached to lightposts and so, advertising to write essays for money. There's plenty of such services offered on the internet as well. Presumably, many students make use of such service.
Clearly, it is unwise for students to make use of such services, and I suppose it violates regulations. How can a university deal with the issue of ghostwriting? That means: how to identify probable cases of ghostwriting; how to proof that ghostwriting took place; and how to sanction it? It seems considerably harder to tackle than plagiarism.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43029,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "* The infamous ghostwriter services for theses in humanities, law and similar in Germany are very careful as to how they advertise their services because otherwise they could be **sued for assisting fraud** and similar reasons. Something similar might apply to your legislation, but if nobody ever considered acting legally against these services, it is likely that at least some of them are legally attackable. In this case, a collective strike against these services may at least weed them out. Obviously, you need to speak to a lawyer with expertise on your legislation and such issues about this.\n\nIf no such law exist and the problem is sufficiently serious in your country, universities could even lobby for a law against this. At the very least your university could ban the respective advertisements on its grounds. If these services are operated by graduates of your university, it may also be able to simply revoke their degrees, depending on your university’s statutes and, again, your legislation.\n\nWhile these services may reappear under a different guise, they may be more difficult to find, more expensive (due to the risks involved), more shady and similar and thus less attractive for students to use. Also, depending on your legislation, you may obtain information on students who used these services and punish them, which could have a strong deterring effect.\n* You can increase controls as to whether students wrote the essays themselves, e.g., they have to be able to answer questions about them, and to increase the punishment if they didn’t.\n* Your university can set up fake services and severely punish everybody who uses them. Again, this depends on your legislation and university’s statutes and you should definetely consult a lawyer about this."
},
{
"answer_id": 43032,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "First, let me say that you should read the answers to my [related question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/12956/2692). One answer is quite clear that you should not even bother checking (the author of that answer did admit being uncomfortable with that answer...as I am).\n\nThis is a significant problem at my university. One way we try to address it is that we have students verbally answer a quick, random question about their assignment.\n\nGood news: This does catch some students when they can only answer \"uh, ah, ummm.\"\n\nBad news: Some students still use ghost writers and just memorize the paper so they can answer any question about it. If the assessment covers all the learning outcomes then it can still result in students learning.\n\nOne thing that I generally do is, **throughout the semester, I keep track of the \"quality level\" I see each student is at.** This takes several sessions and when classes are quite large there might not be enough interaction to support this strategy. However, **if you do have this information, you can use it to compare to the overall quality of their written work**. If they never know anything in class but they write \"golden\" work, then it is a warning sign.\n\nIt is important that it is just a warning sign because there are some students who write well but are not so great at in-class interaction. You always need to use your judgment.\n\nAs far as how we handle it, **we consider using a ghost writer an identical offense to plagiarism with identical punishments.**"
},
{
"answer_id": 43034,
"author": "Stephanie",
"author_id": 32695,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32695",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "I have a friend who works for one of these kind of companies and she gets a lot of mixed reactions when she tells people what she does.\nThe companies that offer this say that they are providing examples and their work should **not** be submitted, therefore avoiding any legal responsibility themselves.\n\nYou definitely have to approach this problem by deterring the students.\n\nFor GCSEs in the UK, the government tried to reduce this kind of cheating by reducing the coursework components and having any coursework be completed under observation but that would be too difficult in university probably.\n\nThe following ideas at a university could be tried:\n\n* Run stings where students are punished or pay for failing essays.\n* They could run feedback sessions in the middle of coursework writing, where students can talk about their ideas and progress, perhaps keeping tabs on the coursework process could spot people who haven't written it themselves.\n* Put posters up warning about the punishment if caught, a kind of \"we are watching you\".\n* Ask for submission of drafts and/or notes.\n* Finding some way of logging the research done for an essay might help. For example having to access your sources/scan them in from on campus (library or network) could be something that might prevent outsourcing essays."
},
{
"answer_id": 43072,
"author": "Boris Bukh",
"author_id": 609,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/609",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "Here is a suggestion (which might or might not be legal in your jurisdiction, and deemed acceptable or not by your administration; check before acting!).\n\nPut up some of flyers yourself --- then refer any student who contacts you for appropriate disciplinary action."
},
{
"answer_id": 43153,
"author": "Gregory Currie",
"author_id": 32813,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32813",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "Put some fliers up yourself. Again, state that the work provided is for reference only, and should not be submitted. When contacted, provide different previous years' papers.\n\nWhen these papers are submitted, hit them with plagiarism violations.\n\nTo make this more ethical, warn the students at the start of the year that this would be happening. And of course, don't keep the money, but put it into a charity fund.\n\nOf course, before deciding any course of action, consider consulting the ethics board at your institution."
}
] |
2015/04/06
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43017",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033/"
] |
43,019 |
Computer Science PhD admit here.
Is it crazy of me to turn down a top school (MIT/Stanford) for a lower-ranked school (think Cornell/UW/Columbia/Michigan) if I think there is better advisor fit?
Obviously all of these are fantastic schools and I am very lucky to be choosing from them. However, I felt like I got along really well with my would-be advisor at the lower-ranked school than I did at MIT/Stanford. People have told me that it's crazy of me to turn down MIT/Stanford since they are, along with Berkeley/CMU, on a different "level" than the other schools.
(My field is somewhat narrow so there is only 1~2 faculty at each of the schools doing research in the area. So regardless of which school I go to, if the advisor doesn't work out, I would be in a dire position.)
EDIT: Both advisors are well known in the field (and both have produced outstanding graduates), but the MIT/Stanford professor is good deal more senior. Also, talking with their current students, the MIT/Stanford professor is known to be pushy and have a "strong" personality (which may work for some people, but not sure whether it will work for me, as I've never worked with such people before).
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43022,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "There are some aspects of the decision that are independent of your advisor, such as having a large pool of impressive peers to learn from and work with, but the degree of fit with your advisor is certainly a major factor.\n\nIf you believe you can't work effectively with the potential advisors at the higher-ranked schools, then there's no point in choosing one of those schools. If the advisor at the lower-ranked school is performing at or above the level of the other possible advisors (as judged by influential papers and successful students), then again you don't have to worry. But your phrasing makes me a little uncomfortable:\n\n> \n> I felt like I got along really well with my would-be advisor at the lower-ranked school\n> \n> \n> \n\nThis sounds like you are describing how quickly you clicked and became comfortable, but you can learn an enormous amount from someone even if you never develop an easy rapport with them or feel you could be friends. It's worth thinking about whether the less comfortable relationship could nevertheless be productive. Maybe it can't - it depends on the personalities and the details of your interaction - but it's important to distinguish how much you like the advisor from how fruitful the intellectual relationship might be.\n\nI wouldn't stress out too much about this decision, though. My impression is that Cornell and UW are not so markedly far behind MIT and Stanford in computer science. (There's a gap, but not a huge gap.) If one of them feels like a better fit, you are not jeopardizing your career."
},
{
"answer_id": 43031,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "As previous responders have already answered, **both your options are top-notch institutions** and no sane future employer will think less of you for having gone somewhere on step lower on a league table. I know I can only present a single case, my own, but **beware of first impressions**! My worst advisor ever, who treated me worse than an unwanted brat, was oh-so charming and pleasant during the one-day interview and during our pre-employment e-mail contact. That said, my best advisor ever was lovely during the interview too, so all I can say is: Beware of first impressions! maybe the MIT guy just was having a bad stressful day? \n\nIt is worth looking also at the **breadth of work within realated fields** at the two places too. It is not necessarily great if they are brilliant and have huge teams working on your subject, what would you be doing then? incremental work? if there is a breadth then you can expand and learn from experts in complementary subject too, expand your work and bring a fresh view or implementation for it? Not that I know what you are working with, but it helped me in material science.\n\nFinal point: **It's not only the Advisor that counts**. Did you get a chance to talk to others in the dept? it can help to get a feel of the collegiality, how friendly, open and helpful a place is it? or is it super-competitive? Also what are their pet peeves? do they struggle to get instrument time? (or whatever the equivalent is for computer scientists) do they ever get to present their work at significant conferences? \n\nI know this makes for an impossible spreadsheet, you might end up flipping a coin. If you're being offered a place at both MIT and Cornell, you must be a smart dude or dudette! I doubt you'll struggle to get a new place if the first one turns out to be impossible. It is allowed to quit. Worked for me. Then I took a year off to milk cows (über-cool!) and now am happily back in the lab at a better uni than I started :-)\n\n**EDIT::** As previous responders also said, dont' forget the rest of life too. Don't move somewhere you don't want to live. **Friends, family, hobbies**, and/or the ease of travelling to fun places or home at weekends and holidays counts for a lot too! Remember, you'll be living there for at least a couple of years."
},
{
"answer_id": 43040,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "All of the schools that you are discussing are first-rank computer science schools with global leadership in their areas of specialty. In this area at least, the only real difference between the \"top\" and \"top of the top\" schools that you are considering is the *number* of different areas in which the school is a global leader. Thus, if you already have a clear, narrow focus that you know that you want to work in, and there are 1-2 people in that area at all of the schools you are choosing between, the distinction between \"top\" and \"top of the top\" is pretty much null. \n\nFurthermore, your graduate career will be primarily determined by your advisor relationship rather than the school within which it will occur. Beware of being misled by first impressions, but a good match with your Ph.D. advisor is worth much more than the incremental difference between schools."
},
{
"answer_id": 43049,
"author": "erwin",
"author_id": 31805,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31805",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "All of the above answers are correct. However, do trust your first impressions. I didn't click with my first prospective advisor and picked someone else. That prospective advisor failed to get tenure after his next couple of graduate students opted to switch advisors and start new research projects in the 3-4th year of their theses. These choices were made in spite of the fact that he was a really bright guy and working in a hot research field.\n\nHe was apparently a nightmare to work for.\n\nIt wouldn't hurt to confirm your first impressions by communicating with people who have worked with and for the advisors you are considering. Former research students, collaborators, et cetera. Being personable and likeable is a moderately positive sign, but there are a lot of different components to being a good PhD mentor."
}
] |
2015/04/06
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43019",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32039/"
] |
43,023 |
A friend is in a situation where they obtained a PhD in one field in a different country, but now is working at a university in an unrelated field in a non-faculty, non-research position. However, they have got invited to a conference to present on matters relating to their PhD field. How should they list their affiliation? They use their current university's library facilities, etc, for their own private after-hours research, so they want to list their current university employer, but I feel that this is unethical, and "Independent Researcher" or similar would be better.
I've seen a number of similar questions here relating to how students or researchers should handle this, but I think this situation is sufficiently different to merit a new question.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43026,
"author": "george",
"author_id": 21766,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21766",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "I have faced this problem in a previous publication, and what I did was list my current employer as my affiliation, with an asterisk, stating that \"Large part of this research work was carried out while I was with the ...\""
},
{
"answer_id": 43027,
"author": "virmaior",
"author_id": 19769,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19769",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "When you publish, you normally are listing your institutional affiliation.\n\nThere's nothing at all unethical with ... listing your current institutional affiliation.\n\nThis does not imply that the current employer sanctioned the work or that they subsidised its completion. That sort of information is listed elsewhere in the sort of disclosures section (or so I gather -- my field does not get much external funding of that sort, but I've submitted papers to a few places that require *everyone* to fill that out)."
},
{
"answer_id": 43030,
"author": "Alex",
"author_id": 32404,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32404",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "As I understand, your question here is whether their current employer is eligible to be credited for the research presented in the paper. I think that they should use their employer affiliation. They loses nothing, but shows their loyalty to the current employer, which is not bad even if they does not intend to stay for long."
}
] |
2015/04/06
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43023",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32730/"
] |
43,035 |
I had sent my manuscript mistakenly to two different journals and both journals are ready to publish (not yet published) my work which is not possible. So, after knowing their impact factor I requested one of the journals to withdraw my paper. They had just sent me the review of my paper and for withdrawal they are demanding $500 as a penalty. It is difficult for me to decide what to do.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43038,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "As already stated in a comment, sending the same paper to two journals is just plain wrong and you are likely violating the journal agreements you agreed to when submitting them. So never ever do this again!\n\nAs for picking the journal with highest impact, well that seems like a fair choice but I wonder what the journal editors would say if they knew the manuscript was under consideration also in a second journal. Usually this is a specific question to which you state \"the manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere\" when you submit. So my guess is that your paper would be refused if they knew and I think you should let them know. Perhaps you did this out of ignorance but I think you should come out and explain your mistake, it is only fair and then your case may also receive a fair treatment.\n\nAs for the $500 penalty, you need to check what yo actually agreed to and what the journal states as rules for manuscripts. Clearly your manuscript has taken up a lot of resources unnecessarily. Even though I do not sympathize with your actions, there is an open question based on what the journal asks you to pay. Unless they have this in a clear statement or agreement I cannot see it as a valid request and you likely do not have to pay. However, you may of course become \"known\" to the journal editors which could harm future submissions to the same journal.\n\nSo my advice is, come out clean. Explain to both journals, and by cc to the other, what you have done and make sure you explain why you managed to do such a *faux pas*. Let the editors decide the outcome, your right to decide has long passed. By coming clean the editors may see leniently on the matter and your \"choice\".\n\nEditor's can turn to Capu to get feedback on cases such as the one posted above. At COPE's (Committee On Publication Ethics) site it is possible to find their recommendations in similar cases. One that struck me as reasonably similar is the one [linked to here](http://publicationethics.org/case/duplicate-submission-2), but do look around at their cases for additional impressions of where editors stand on multiple submissions and why being upfront about the issue can be a good idea."
},
{
"answer_id": 43042,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "There is wrong on every side of this situation.\n\nFirst, a journal demanding money for withdrawing a paper is suspicious in the extreme. I have never in my life heard of such a practice from a legitimate journal, which means that you were probably duped into submitting to a predatory (junk) publisher. If this is the case, you should definitely withdraw the paper and refuse to pay the money, but they may not let you: a dishonest publisher may simply publish your paper without your consent and send you a bill. If this happens, you can try to fight it, but you may end up needing to withdraw from the other journal instead and simply write off the paper and/or the $500 as a learning experience.\n\nAnd what will you have learned?\n\n1. Never dual submit a paper: it is scientifically dishonest, wastes everybody's time, and seriously annoys any legitimate journal.\n2. Never submit a paper to a journal that you haven't thoroughly investigated to determine that it is not a shady fly-by-night predatory publisher."
}
] |
2015/04/06
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43035",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32733/"
] |
43,057 |
If I won 3rd place or an honorable mention for Award X. Is it reasonable to simply state the name of the award without stating what place I got?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43058,
"author": "user8001",
"author_id": 8001,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8001",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "Mentioning an award without the rank implies that there was only once recipient. You need to mention the ranking if it's actually rank-based, especially if you didn't finish first."
},
{
"answer_id": 43059,
"author": "Ketan Maheshwari",
"author_id": 6103,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6103",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "I do not think it is reasonable. If you are mentioning you won at a competition, you must also mention what was your place or in what capacity you won an award. There are good reasons for this in my opinion. First, it is possible the reader is aware of the competition and finds it misleading of you. Second, if you clearly mention the details of the award, it is possible you might rise in the eyes of reader for your integrity and honesty."
}
] |
2015/04/06
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43057",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/29303/"
] |
43,062 |
I'm doing a project-based postdoc in an European university.
I have serious ongoing eye conditions that significantly affect my reading speed and as a result it took me 5 years to complete my PhD in a country where a standard Ph/D/ is only for 3 years.
I have been selected for this postdoc position, I think, mostly because of my particular fieldwork and user engagement experience, which is essential for this post. So I still got hired despite my very weak publication record. And because the interview was via Skype, the PI did not discover my hidden disability, nor did I disclose it.
However, as I've been working in the position for several months now, it becomes apparent that I'm falling behind other colleagues of the team. Despite working extremely hard, I couldn't finish the work designated by the PI on time and I think I'll need a thorough explanation for that.
The question is, will disclosing a hidden disability ruin my employment? This is a 3 year position and the initial contract is only for 1 year. Given this is an externally funded, project-based postdoc, I'm really worried that my contract will not get renewed at the end of the first year.
And also how do I explain this to the PI and the university? For example, the choice of terms, hidden disability vs. chronic illness vs. long term health condition? Do different terms imply different levels of legal protection for employment?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43063,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "In most European countries, it is usually against the law to fire people because of disabilities. So long as you're capable of performing your assigned work with reasonable accommodations, you should not be afraid of being terminated. However, you will probably need to have documentation of your disorder to provide as evidence to support your claim."
},
{
"answer_id": 43080,
"author": "user32772",
"author_id": 32772,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32772",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "This is to complement aeismail's answer: \n\nIt might not suit the specific details of your condition but if you do end up disclosing your disability, you could also suggest to your employer various types of reading aids that could help you be more efficient at your job. There are devices that can alleviate some types of reading handicaps:\n\n* [Video screen magnifier](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00MW85FR6) (I am not making a suggestion, I am only showing this as a reference; also it says it only works with Windows XP) Especially great with an old CRT monitor with accessible contrast and brightness settings\n* A similar system, but using a video projector instead\n* USB magnifier\n* Digital copies of all hand-outs, to read via a text-to-speech program\n* Optical character recognition software\n\nMany employers are more than happy to cooperate with the employee in order to accommodate disabilities (in part because they can save money in the long run if it does help the employee), and in some locations they are even legally required to do so. Some governments even issue tax cuts and compensations to the employers."
},
{
"answer_id": 43124,
"author": "Gigi Muschi",
"author_id": 32800,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32800",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "Most European countries (even the UK) have advisory boards or charities about such issues. All countries have lawyers that are competent to various degrees in the matter.\n\nI can imagine you are looking for some reassurance or reinforcement, but if I were you, I would consider taking advice either from a lawyer, a board or charity as a matter of urgency, rather than opinions from the Internet.\n\nKeep in mind common sense may differ across land and time, but it will most certainly differ from the law of the land.\n\nGood luck."
}
] |
2015/04/06
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43062",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32762/"
] |
43,064 |
* Is there any possible penalty (from the educational institution) for the professor for disrespecting a student?
* What can and cannot do a professor in terms of respect to a student?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43065,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "Under normal circumstances, faculty should never yell or shout at a student. However, faculty are also human beings, and there is always the possibility that under emotional strain, they can lash out at a student. \n\nI will admit to having been guilty of this once as an advisor, when a student came into my office for a discussion about his research, and made some statements that betrayed a total lack of awareness of what he was doing (and this was a \"veteran\" graduate student who should have known better).\n\nIn the context of teaching, students have reason to expect that the faculty member should not shout at them. However, it is unreasonable to expect that any disciplinary action would be taken against a faculty member for a single infraction."
},
{
"answer_id": 43068,
"author": "user6726",
"author_id": 28972,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28972",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "Students and professors owe each other the same level of respect, civility and generally adult behavior, meaning that it is wrong for one to be rude to the other. No particular significance should be attached to a professor shouts at a student who is rudely disrupting a class, since the student has no right to disrupt the class. On the other hand, it would be a significant problem if a professor were to shout at a student for quietly doing poorly on a homework, since the student does, in fact, have the right to do well or do poorly, as they choose. So you can't morally evaluate one person's conduct in a vacuum -- we need to know the full context."
},
{
"answer_id": 43082,
"author": "Count Iblis",
"author_id": 17479,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17479",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "There is no reason for the professor to shout. If a student doesn't behave or has some other problem then the student will suffer (the student can be kicked out of the institution if the student doesn't pass his/her exams). What should happen to a professor who cannot suppress his/her urge to shout? I would say that such a professor should apply for a new job [here](http://www.westpoint.edu/SitePages/Home.aspx), where shouting at under-performing students is compulsory. But they only teach a limited number of subjects there."
}
] |
2015/04/06
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43064",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32156/"
] |
43,066 |
I saw that some students, even from top schools and who are giving faculty candidate talks are posting a sentence like, "I am actively looking for a job in ..". Is this a good thing or only shows a desperate job candidate?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43067,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "On a website, there's nothing wrong with such a statement. On the other hand, it's a much bigger problem to put \"I'm actively looking\" in a CV or resumé, where it could come off as seeming more desperate (or at the very least somewhat pushy, since a CV is sent for the purpose of looking for a job!).\n\nBut of course, context and phrasing are extremely important, and you'd have to look at the overall effect and impact of the sentence on the web page as a whole."
},
{
"answer_id": 43076,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "Your professional website is a summary of who you are and how you are currently presenting yourself publicly. If you are openly on the job market, then it is entirely appropriate to be frank about that fact on your website: just present it as a piece of neutral information, rather than making a big deal of it."
},
{
"answer_id": 43103,
"author": "MD-Tech",
"author_id": 22719,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22719",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "In common with many others in my industry (finance, and probably most other industries) I have two states of \"looking for a job\". Currently I am passively looking which means that my CV is out there and people can approach me if they wish and ask whether I would be interested in a particular job but I am *not* looking to change jobs unless something out of this world landed in my lap. Previously I was actively looking for a job; I was sending my CV to recruiters and trying to find a new position. This is because I was looking to change my position. Saying *anywhere* that you are actively looking for a job is at the very least a neutral statement but in many cases will lead to recruiters getting in touch with you because they know that they are likely to make money out of placing you in a job. This is particularly true if the statement is that you are looking for a job in a particular area or industry as it implies that you are focused on a goal and not desperate.\n\nWhat *would* look desperate would be spamming recruiters and job boards with CVs aimed at no job in particular; this says to the recruiter that you are not interested in their particular job, have no direction in your job search, and are looking for any job that will take you."
},
{
"answer_id": 43117,
"author": "Cort Ammon",
"author_id": 25234,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25234",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I think such a line on a website straddles the line between\n\n* I am interested in talking to anyone who might have an interesting job.\n* I'd like it if a job looked for me, instead of the other way around.\n\nThe former attitude is very reasonable. I don't think I'd want to see just \"I'm looking for a job\" on a website of a potential employee. However, \"I'm looking for a job. Contact me if you are looking for someone who wants to do cool stuff in Material Sciences (or just contact me if you are interested in talking about it!)\" shows a slightly different type of personality."
}
] |
2015/04/06
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43066",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24823/"
] |
43,073 |
**In general**:
What is the proper manner in which to thank a supervisor for allowing you to take a really long shot? I am talking about when a professor (supervisor) who did not really know you decides to give you a chance, even though there is clearly a very low probability of success. Especially in the case where the supervisor invested significant physical resources and/or their time and you still failed to accomplish the goal (in this case research result). I am looking for a formal and appropriate way to convey my gratitude to the professor for taking the risk. Again this is in the context where you have specifically failed to reach the goal and cost the supervisor in question a good deal of resources in the process. Is it even proper to convey gratitude at this juncture for giving you an outside shot at tremendous opportunity? Or should I just be extremely apologetic?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43136,
"author": "agentplaid",
"author_id": 31792,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31792",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "\"Thanks for the opportunity\" is almost always appropriate and welcome.\n\nAs far as \"apologetic\" goes, I'd think on why the goal wasn't reached. Some research projects are known to be long shots before they're begun and failure, while obviously not desired, is not an unforeseen outcome. Sometimes outside events beyond anyone's control torpedo things. If this is the \"flavor\" of your situation, then I don't necessarily think abject apologies are called for, though you can certainly commiserate with others involved on how things turned out. Sometimes research just doesn't pan out, and good research supervisors understand that you can't hit if you don't swing.\n\nOn the other hand, when I've been part of projects that failed in whole or part due to things I did or didn't do, I've tried to make sure the supervisor involved knows that at least I learned from the experience and that I had an idea of how I would do things differently in similar circumstances should they arise. Really, this is a valuable response in either case. Especially, though, if you hope to have future research opportunities with this supervisor, I'd make sure this is understood."
},
{
"answer_id": 43137,
"author": "Fomite",
"author_id": 118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Look at the upside, not the \"failure\" - the professor likely knew it was something of a long shot, and there's never a guaranteed success in research.\n\n\"Thank you so much for the opportunity, I appreciate your guidance and mentorship and learned a huge amount.\"\n\nOr something to that effect, but in a way that sounds like you."
}
] |
2015/04/07
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43073",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32768/"
] |
43,075 |
I just got tenured and promoted to an associate professor, the contract for which will start from Fall this year. However, my partner, who is also in academia just accepted an position in another city starting from this Fall. Our plan is to give up our current tenured positions and move the entire family to the new city (for a better environment and better education for our children). The question is: when would be a good timing for me to move?
We have small children (toddler and infant), so it seems to make most sense if we all move together this summer. I am not currently on the job market, but I am open to giving up my tenured position (to trade with a better location for the family) while trying to find something in the new city (I am ready to apply for adjunct teaching positions, contract based faculty positions, or tenure-track positions in the new city, whatever becomes available, or to find some creative ways to engage in work meaningful and inspiring to me while trying to meet our financial needs).
Now, should I at all consider the possibility of staying behind and teaching as an associate professor for a year before leaving my current job?
In other words, in thinking about future career trajectory, would having one actual year of experience as a tenured associate professor make a big difference on the prospect of future job applications? Or, would showing evidence of having achieved tenure/promotion in a previous institute be equivalently useful?
What are some other possible alternatives?
Any advice on this would be much appreciated!
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43078,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "If you stay behind and work for a year as an associate professor and go on the job market the next academic year, you'll be in a better situation to search for a new tenure track position than if you leave your current position and move immediately. It's always better to look for a job from a tenured/tenure track position than as an unemployed academic with no current affiliation. Furthermore, if you leave at this point it may appear as though you didn't receive tenure in your current position. \n\nWhen/if you do go on the job market you can explain in your cover letter that you're moving to the new city because your partner is there in a tenure track position. \n\nAnother avenue to follow up on is seeing if your partner's new institution might be willing to employ you (either now or perhaps in a year from now.) Many institutions have specific \"spousal hiring\" policies that might be helpful."
},
{
"answer_id": 43081,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "In addition to Brian Borchers' good answer, your partner may also be able to defer their start for a year, particularly if their contract is for a tenure-track or other long-term position. This possibility might also motivate your partner's institution to think more seriously about hiring you as well."
},
{
"answer_id": 43088,
"author": "Kimball",
"author_id": 19607,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19607",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "Another addition to Nroan's answer: you can see if you can go on leave without pay from your current position for a year. This is a normal thing to do at decent-sized universities, though I don't know about smaller schools. This gives you the flexibility to go back if the city doesn't work out, and you'll still have a position that you can put on your CV when you apply for jobs."
},
{
"answer_id": 43121,
"author": "Flexo",
"author_id": 32798,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32798",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "Depending on the subject, flexibility of your institution and the distances involved it may be possible to do a compromise deal of some sort, for example:\n\n* do all your teaching work in one semester and work from home on research the rest\n* do all your teaching on one or two days of the week and fly weekly\n* do all your teaching each semester intensively over a two week period and run long coursework stints.\n\nOf course that may not be acceptable but it does no harm to ask even if it's only a slim chance. They may be less inclined towards flexibility if your intention is to quit though."
},
{
"answer_id": 43132,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "Echoing a point made by others: perhaps you've been lucky with the whole tenure-track/tenure thing, and don't realize that even for very good people there is a huge element of *chance* involved in getting a tenure-track job, much less tenure. I get the impression that this might be the case from your (to me seemingly casual) remark about \"adjuncting until you find a tenure-track job\"... in a specific city. Unless (and even if) you are more-or-less a superstar, that day might never come, I fear.\n\nUnless I'm completely missing the mark, I'd recommend that you *not* give up your current tenured spot until you see what the possibilities are. A year's leave of absence ought to be ok with your current institution. If you discover that tenure-track jobs in the new city are not so easy to come by, you might want to pursue some long-distance commuting arrangements, as @Flexo mentions. The difference in salary between tenured and adjunct might make it more-than-worthwhile."
},
{
"answer_id": 43205,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "When you apply for jobs in the future, the main factors in getting interviews will be:\n\n* education\n* teaching experience\n* research (if it's a school where research is part of the job)\n\nYou're far enough along in an academic career that I don't see a year as mattering very much one way or the other.\n\nA separate issue is that when people are looking at your job application, they want to know whether or not you have a history of success. For this reason, it's very important to them to know why you left a previous position. That's why they usually have a space for this on the application form, and they also may want to hear an explanation in your job letter (unless your previous job was something like a postdoc, which everyone understands is temporary). In your situation, this is straightforward. In the blank on the form, you put \"reason for leaving: family.\" In your letter, you give the explanation: \"after achieving tenure at X University and being promoted to the rank of Y, I made the difficult decision, for family reasons, to move here to city Z.\" You can also allay their misgivings by supplying references from people at X University who will say how great you were.\n\nSo in general, I see very little advantage in staying behind while your spouse moves, and there is the obvious disadvantage of severely disrupting your family for a year.\n\nBTW, I'm dismayed by some of the reactions you're getting here, which seem to me (a) to be condescending, (b) to show a lack of realistic appreciation for the need to balance work with family, and (c) to be off-topic because they focus on the decision you've already made, rather than the decision that your question is asking about."
}
] |
2015/04/07
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43075",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32771/"
] |
43,085 |
As an undergrad I had a couple majors and a couple minors...no big deal. Ultimately all it meant was I took a lot of classes all over the place and went through the time and effort to declare them.
As a PhD student, though, declaring a minor is pretty uncommon. Hell, a lot of schools don't even offer the option. My understanding is that minors are usually for highlighting a certain amount of coursework in a closely related field to the one you're studying. Seemingly obvious pairings would be a PhD in Mozh with a minor in Statistics, or a PhD in Classics with a minor in Philosophy. However, unlike in undergrad (and really even at the Masters level), during a PhD the emphasis is primarily on research, not coursework. So why is a PhD minor a thing? Does it serve any purpose more than just another notch in your academic belt?
Personally, I am thinking about adding a Mozh or Statistics minor to my PhD in Computer Science, but I can't come up with a good reason other than "I'm interested in higher level math/stats and it's really applicable to the area of CS I work in." That's enough to satisfy me, I guess, but is there really any other reason to do this?
EDIT: I guess I should add that \*in my case\* I'm not thinking about a minor for minor's sake, but rather that I'm already taking a bunch of courses in that area so it just means an extra course or two. The question still stands though: why is it a thing? And, furthermore, does it carry different connotations in different areas (e.g. the humanities vs. applied sciences)?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43116,
"author": "jvriesem",
"author_id": 32794,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32794",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "A minor gives a grad student the option of diversifying his/her learning experience. Much research is interdisciplinary (like stats and CS), so taking a few classes in another department can be very beneficial. It also gives a grad student an excuse to take courses in something that isn't directly related to their research. (Minoring in a foreign language or business can be generally useful, for example.) In my own experience, most grads minor in something closely related to their research. \n\nAs far as I know, very few people look at a graduate student's minor. The biggest reason I can see for having a minor outside one's home department is to diversify one's educational background. \n\nI looked around to see what universities said about this. Georgia Tech states that \"The purpose of the minor is to encourage a wider interest on the part of the student and to provide a broader basis for the evaluation of the student's capabilities.\" ([source](http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/students/grad/doctoral/minor.php)) Stanford requires a minor for its Education grads ([source](https://ed.stanford.edu/academics/doctoral-handbook/requirements))."
},
{
"answer_id": 43120,
"author": "James Palmer",
"author_id": 23409,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23409",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "Per what jvriesem says I can verify that Georgia Tech, and I would expect other universities, does indeed encourage a PhD minor in order to broaden one's education. In fact, it is a requirement for graduation to get a minor, by taking something like three courses outside of your department. I would encourage a PhD student to pursue a minor for this reason, if it wasn't already requirement.\n\nI ended up taking EE courses which were pertinent to my physics research area, which I may have taken anyway. I did find content to be directly helpful for my research, so it was a net gain. Outside of satisfying the graduation requirements, it may be useful to some potential employers, even if it is only a small part of the consideration for a job candidate. In my case the engineering knowledge proved helpful for landing a job, since my core area of study was physics."
},
{
"answer_id": 43139,
"author": "Fomite",
"author_id": 118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "In addition to the laudable goals of actually advancing one's education in a structured way, as several of the other posters have mentioned, it does serve to credentialize you in the minor department. Someone with a PhD in Mozh with a minor in Statistics potentially reads to me as very different than someone strictly doing a PhD in Mozh, even before I dig into their CV. That is one function - essentially keyword recognition of \"I belong amongst both groups\".\n\nAs someone who works in an interdisciplinary field, that can frequently helpful."
},
{
"answer_id": 200871,
"author": "Dixiane Hallaj",
"author_id": 175852,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/175852",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "I have a PhD in Education specializing in adult literacy. My minor is in Non-Profit Management. I'm sure you can see that the two disciplines are perfectly suited to each other."
}
] |
2015/04/07
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43085",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11819/"
] |
43,096 |
Self-explanatory. I would be most interested to hear from researchers who have published a fair amount, decided one way or the other wasn't working for them, so switched — and why.
Related advice / observations welcome: e.g. "why the hell would you need more than one .bib file?"
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43098,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I have a single [Mendeley](https://www.mendeley.com)-generated `bib` file (1.8MB as of now). \n\nThere reason in the following:\n\n* Mendeley works that way,\n* it is convenient to be able to add a bib entry just once, so it can be easily used in any paper.\n\nHowever, it has its problems as well, especially related to collaborating with others, and encapsulating content:\n\n* any changes in a `bib` file (e.g. modifying existing entries, errors) will affect all files,\n* it's harder to add citations from collaborators without affecting your structure (especially as citations from collaborators can have different key conventions),\n* if it need to be in some git repository, it requires a copy of bib file, with many non-relevant entries.\n\nIn any case, when collaborating with others, or finalizing a project, I do copy the whole `bib` file to protect myself against changes.\n\nI did try to extract a subset of citations, which I use in a given paper, with [bibexport](http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/biblio/bibtex/utils/bibexport/) (learnt from [Creating .bib file containing only the cited references of a bigger .bib file - TeX.SE](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/41821/creating-bib-file-containing-only-the-cited-references-of-a-bigger-bib-file/)), but with some various results (it seems that bibexport does not support all fields supported in Mendeley); but it was some time ago, so maybe things are different.\n\nSee also:\n\n* [Strategy for managing multiple Bibtex files - TeX.SE](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/6393/strategy-for-managing-multiple-bibtex-files/)"
},
{
"answer_id": 43099,
"author": "O. R. Mapper",
"author_id": 14017,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14017",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "* **Several .bib files in the a single folder:**\n\nYou might want to do this if you write about quite disjoint topics, or if you want to keep several sets of inherently different references in separate files (e.g. scientific publications in one file, technical standard documents in another, etc.). Overall, however, I see little reason to choose this approach.\n\n* **One .bib file (obviously in one folder):**\n\nThis allows you to build up a database with your personal literature collection. Given that BibTeX by default only shows cited references, this is one of the ways the system is supposed to be used. For someone working entirely alone, this might be a viable way to go.\n\n* **Several .bib files in several folders:**\n\nThis is the approach I follow (using [JabRef](http://jabref.sourceforge.net/)), with the further restriction that the .bib files usually reside in precisely the folders where they are used by .tex documents.\n\nAdvantages:\n\n* The .bib file is a part of the source. When using a VCS, everything required to build the document should be in the VCS, and with one repository per paper/project, the appropriate .bib file needs to be stored in each repository.\n\t+ This *might* be solvable by including repositories in repositories (such as with [SVN externals](http://svnbook.red-bean.com/en/1.0/ch07s03.html)), but that still assumes a central repository location that is accessible to all co-authors, which is not a given when collaborating with different groups.\n* As also remarked by [Federico Poloni](https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/958/federico-poloni), when several authors work together, they need to use the same references. It wouldn't make any sense if each author had his or her personal large .bib file, rather than having one common .bib file for the paper/project.\n* Even when working as a single author, the .bib file sometimes needs to be submitted for the camera-ready version of a paper, to allow editors to build the document themselves. While I don't think it's usually explicitly forbidden, I'm quite sure it's not a very good idea to submit your complete multi-MB literature database every time you submit a CR version.\n* Different papers/projects need to be formatted according to different styleguides. While the actual layout of the bibliography is imposed by the BibTeX Stqlo that usually comes with the paper template, some paper-specific tweaking is required more often than not in my experience:\n\t+ Some styles show URLs, for other styles, the URL needs to be inserted into the `howpublished` or the `comment` field.\n\t+ In some papers, you want to (or have the space to) show some redundant information such as publication months, publisher locations, or DOIs, in others, you don't.\n\t+ In some papers, you may want to use full journal or conference proceedings names, in others, you may want to abbreviate them as far as possible\n\t+ In some papers, you can use special packages (e.g. for [correctly rendering a Latvian name with a comma accent](http://www.ctan.org/pkg/combelow)), in others, this might not be allowed.\n\t+ In some papers, the layout of the bibliography is such that you need to repair some ugly block formatting with additional `\\hskip` commands, custom hyphenation, and the like.\n* When starting a new paper or project related to a topic I had written about before and want to grab some random related work for the introduction, I find it most convenient to open the .bib file of the previous document to get an overview of the ~30 references that I had used there. Of course, I could also look in the compiled PDF file, but I cannot directly copy the entries that seem suitable from there.\n* As mentioned by [darij grinberg](https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7725/darij-grinberg), it might not be desirable to have later changes to bibliography items retroactively show up in old documents. It would mean that the old sources compile to something else than what they did at the time of writing the document, and it may even ruin a carefully adjusted layout.\n\nDisadvantages:\n\n* I regularly need to copy some references from one file to another when I want to reuse them."
}
] |
2015/04/07
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43096",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22660/"
] |
43,104 |
When writing a technical article that includes mathematical proofs: Is it acceptable to have footnotes within the body of a formal proof (to elaborate/clarify non-essential points) or is the use of footnotes in proofs considered bad practice?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43112,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "I cannot remember ever having seen a footnote in a proof. My instinct would be to put elaborations or clarifications into a remark *after* the proof.\n\nIn an actual math paper, you could actually have a \"Proposition 1\", followed by its \"Proof\", then a \"Remark 2\". For instance:\n\n> \n> **Remark 2.** Note that $X$ in the preceding proof does *not* have property $y$, which would have allowed us to use the technique from\n> Foo & Bar (2015).\n> \n> \n> \n\nHowever, this may well depend on your field, on your journal, on the editor and on the referees. Some of these may well frown on footnotes, while others may be fine with them.\n\nI'd say you'd be safest with putting additional material into Remarks."
},
{
"answer_id": 43113,
"author": "Wolfgang Bangerth",
"author_id": 31149,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31149",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "Like almost anything else in writing, style should follow function. In other words, if you think that a footnote makes it easier for your reader to follow a text (for example, because it explains an aside that is too long for a parenthetical remark), then it is appropriate to use one. There is no general guideline whether footnotes are acceptable or not. It all depends on what you want to say and how you want to say it -- choose whatever means you think are appropriate to tell the story of the proof."
},
{
"answer_id": 43114,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "I personally find footnotes exactly as acceptable or unacceptable in a proof as in other parts of a paper. A well-written proof often contains quite a lot of explanatory prose, and there is nothing special or magical about a proof that prevents one from having an \"aside\" comment within it.\n\nI would, however, find it very strange to have a footnote in the statement of a *theorem*, just as I would find it strange to have a footnote in an equation."
},
{
"answer_id": 43133,
"author": "smci",
"author_id": 12050,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12050",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "Footnotes within proofs are fine and to be recommended.\n\nI've read tons of (multipage) proofs (in signal-processing, or machine learning) where the author's train of thought was impossible to follow and obscured by unnecessary steps and diversions. Twenty pages of matrix algebra and higher-order derivatives in order to establish some underwhelming pseudo-result which follows directly from well-known basic theorems familiar to people in the field; or else can be sketched out in one or two paragraph of paraphrase, to articulate the necessary motivation before wading into verbose proofs.\n\n**A proof [in most academic domains] should be aggressively made as compact as it can be, without removing anything essential**. Shunt all non-essentials, sidebars and footnotes into footnotes or remarks.\n\nOne frequent paradigm (common in signal processing): assume an independent normal distribution on multiple variables (where this is known to be a ridiculously invalid assumption), waste 8+ pages deriving a non-result based on that assumption, before instantly discarding and invalidating that result and introducing a new (but much weaker) derivation with the proper assumptions that should have been used in the first place, but render the subsequent result very basic and uninformative. Finally fall back on showing a few graphs or experimental results to discuss how the process behaves in reality ."
}
] |
2015/04/07
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43104",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6879/"
] |
43,122 |
I'm a recently minted postdoc working in an applied computer science field. Occasionally I get requests to review an article, or even to serve as a technical program committee member in various workshops.
Should I basically accept all of these requests as long as the papers to be reviewed are related to my subfield? Or is the opportunity cost too high? Will this community service be positively viewed when I apply for academic positions?
I typically don't learn much from reading the papers under review, as the workshops I'm invited to serve are not that high quality overall, and many submissions are plain bad.
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43125,
"author": "Ketan Maheshwari",
"author_id": 6103,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6103",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "While it is good to be selective in what you want to review, it is generally a good idea to be \"available\" to review papers from a wider range of topics. This means that you will have to occasionally say yes to requests. I think this will only enrich your CV and you will be looked in a better light among your peers. After all someone must have peer reviewed your past work. I see it as a chance to give it back to the community."
},
{
"answer_id": 43130,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "I judge my review opportunities based on the venue: if it is a known good venue, or if it is a little-known venue but there are good people organizing, then it is a good place to give service. You might end up with all bad papers (after all, in a selective conference most papers are rejected), but you'll still learn things about the process and the way that other people are thinking about the field, and you'll give service that will help a venue or people that you like (and it's not bad on your CV).\n\nDon't waste your time on junk venues: if a venue is not serious, you are only degrading yourself by associating with it. Note, however, that \"junk\" is completely different than \"low impact\" or \"high acceptance rate\"---in many areas of computer science, a lot of the really interesting new work and research discussion originates in workshops or symposia that have very low impact and high acceptance rates (consider, for example, the [AAAI Symposia](http://www.aaai.org/Symposia/symposia.php)). What is important is whether the people and organizations involved are credible and likely to attract interesting work."
},
{
"answer_id": 43134,
"author": "user6726",
"author_id": 28972,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28972",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "There may be a short-term benefit if you list \"Reviews for X\" on the CV, or the journal publishes a thanking-by-name for the year's reviewers. Otherwise, the outside world would have no idea whether you are a diligent reviewer or otherwise. Another medium-term consequence of diligently reviewing, especially if your reviews are high quality, is that editors may get to know that you are a good reviewer. This can lead to invitations to serve on editorial boards and perhaps the ultimate horror, being invited to take on an editing position. IMO, if your concern is getting a permanent job, the value for that goal of reviewing is pretty low: it's more useful for tenure and promotion, especially promotion to full when service counts more. \n\nTaking a more long-range perspective, reviewing is in your self-interest for two reasons. First, you can influence the shape of your field by imparting your knowledge to other authors via the reviewing process (thus making the world more friendly to your viewpoint). Second, if you encourage and support the existing system of volunteer scholarly reviewers by reviewing, then (by \"cultural osmosis\") your own submissions stand a greater chance of being reviewed appropriately. That is, if almost everybody says \"No way\" to review requests, then there will only be a few reviewers and the reviewing system will collapse, which would not be good for your own publishing plans.\n\nBut of course, avoid junk journals and don't automatically accept *all* such invitations, not at this stage of your career."
},
{
"answer_id": 43135,
"author": "agentplaid",
"author_id": 31792,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31792",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "In my experience, your \"community service\" of serving on program committees and providing reviews can reflect positively on your hiring case. This is in part because it demonstrates that you're willing to be a \"good citizen\" and do the service work that keeps an academic field strong. I'm in CS myself, and we can definitely use more high-quality reviews. \n\nThe primary reason, however, to get involved with reviewing and particularly program committee service is to become part of the community in your subfield. This is the \"networking\" advice that you've probably heard many times, but it's especially applicable here. Keeping in mind @jakebeal's advice above about choosing good investments for your time, these are some of the people who will review your papers and funding proposals. They can be good sources of advice, feedback, and future collaborations and reference letters. \n\nMoreover, hiring committees want to see evidence that you will be successful as a junior faculty member. This kind of participation in your subfield's research community can provide strong evidence for your case (again, modulo the quality of venues and work involved)."
},
{
"answer_id": 43138,
"author": "Fomite",
"author_id": 118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I am not on a hiring committee, especially in your field, so I can't necessarily speak to how it will effect your job prospects, but some things about reviewing papers that have benefitted me:\n\n* Interaction with journal editors. I went back and forth with an editor in a journal I was reviewing for that's important in my field, not to argue but to clarify what I was looking for in a review. That editor now knows me - not well, but certainly more than if I was simply contacting them out of the blue.\n* A look at \"things to come\". Reviews let you see a little bit ahead in terms of what the field is doing, and are useful prompts to keep up with things that are probably topic-relevant to you.\n* The chance to *make the literature better*. This one is, to me, fairly important.\n* On more than one occasion, I have been able to point out work by someone I know (and once myself) as possibly relevant to the authors."
},
{
"answer_id": 43193,
"author": "Daniel",
"author_id": 11808,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11808",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "Yes, **you should accept at least some of these invitations** (unless they are from junk journals or junk conferences, but the other answers have already emphasized that).\n\nBasically, it is all about networking:\n\n* For well-known journals, conferences and workshops, this definitely becomes a strong point on your CV. It underlines your reputation within the community.\n* However, even for less prestigious venues, it can be a **door opener** if the organizer or some other members of the PC are established seniors of your field. If you do a good job in a couple of Workshop PCs, sooner or later your name will be dropped when someone assembles a PC for a more prestigious conference.\n* **Physical PC meetings are the best possible networking opportunity.** Most conferences in CS (at least the better ones) insist on a physical PC meeting – an excellent opportunity to access the \"gurus\" from your field! On such a meeting, the atmosphere is a lot more personal than on any conference. By good reviews and a coherent line of argument in the discussion you have furthermore the chance to distinguish yourself as a real expert in the field.\n* Besides that, you learn a lot about how a PC works! You will experience how thin the line could be between \"weak accept\" and \"weak reject\". How much it depends on group dynamics and \"the one reviewer\" that stands up for some paper (or against it). How... Long story short: It helps you to write \"better\" papers (i.e., papers that have a higher chance to survive this process!)\n* If allowed (and in many cases it is) this is also a good opportunity to train your students. Let them review a paper as well. Of course, in the end it has to be *your* review and you have to be confident in it. But reading and discussing a paper from the viewpoint of a reviewer strengthens their (and also yours) writing abilities.\n\nSo even if you do not necessarily \"learn something new\" from the papers, you will definitely learn a lot about the hidden rules of the publication process itself."
}
] |
2015/04/07
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43122",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32707/"
] |
43,140 |
I have now more than once had the following series of experiences as a referee of mathematics papers:
1. Elite Journal A sends me a paper. I find some problems with it, some small and some large, and describe them in a carefully- and thoughtfully-written report, but also tell the editor that even if the problems were fixed I do not think that the results are sufficiently interesting to rise to the august standards of EJA, though the results would deserve publication somewhere.
2. Several months later, Mediocre Journal B sends me the same paper. The author has clearly not incorporated anything from my earlier report: typos that I pointed out have not been fixed even though it would have been trivial to do so, and the more serious problems that I found have not been addressed at all.
The first time that this happened I was quite upset with the author: based on my earlier report he had been made aware of fundamental flaws in the proof of his main result, yet he had the nerve to try to publish it anyway. But since it has happened again (with a different author), it has occurred to me that maybe what is happening here is that the author simply is not getting a chance to see the report, because the editor isn't sending it with the rejection email.
Is there a consistent practice in this regard? When I have had papers rejected I suppose I often haven't gotten a detailed report with line-by-line corrections, but I usually assumed that one had not been written (most of my rejections have happened fairly quickly and on grounds of significance as opposed to correctness). If I want the author to see my report even if the paper is rejected, do I need to specifically tell the editor this? Or have I just happened to stumble across some unscrupulous authors?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43142,
"author": "Chris Leary",
"author_id": 11905,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11905",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "One would expect to see the full referee's report. You obviously approach the job in a conscientious manner, and the author could benefit from your remarks. However, from my own experience, it appears that this is not always the case. A few years back I sent a paper to a prestigious journal. It was sent through a submission portal and I was given a \"tracking number\" to stay up to date on its status. Eventually, the paper was rejected. That didn't bother me because I thought that journal was a bit of a stretch for that particular paper. I waited patiently for a few weeks so that I could view the referee's report and make necessary changes before submitting elsewhere. And still I wait. I contacted the area editor, who promised to look into it. Eventually, I contacted the editor-in-chief, who promised to look into it. What I ended up with was a claim that the report must have been lost. No effort to contact the referee for a copy or anything. Sooner or later I will resubmit. But ... ."
},
{
"answer_id": 43144,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "I do not believe journals would withhold the reviews from an author, because they generally want to make the reasons for rejection as transparent as possible. \n\nMost of the cases I have seen have fallen under the first scenario–the authors don't want to fix the paper, they just want to get it published *somewhere.* I once had the unfortunate experience of having to go through four versions of the same manuscript because the authors were refusing to provide a key plot to demonstrate the accuracy of their results. After they finally provided it (and showed the results were **not** accurate), I promptly rejected the manuscript. Unfortunately, the same manuscript was published in a much lower-profile journal a few months later, completely unchanged."
},
{
"answer_id": 43158,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "You appear to have experienced the scourge of journal-shopping, in which authors just throw a paper at journals in decreasing order of preference until it sticks. Any reasonable journal will have forwarded your reviews to the authors (otherwise, the editor is wasting *your* time), and so if you see a paper essentially unchanged, it generally means the authors are simply ignoring the issues you raised and hoping their next roll of the dice will produce a more favorable reviewer.\n\nWhen I encounter this, I am typically very harsh, because I don't like having my time wasted. I will typically write something along the lines of:\n\n> \n> I didn't like this paper the last time I read it either, and the authors appear to have made no attempt to address the issues raised.\n> \n> \n> \n\nthen copy in the review from the previous round (you do save all your reviews, right?), and strongly recommend rejection. I will do this even if I recommended only a major revision previously, because I consider it a sign of bad faith on the part of the authors to refuse to address reasonable criticisms of a paper."
},
{
"answer_id": 43169,
"author": "user6726",
"author_id": 28972,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28972",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "It is not common, in my experience, but I have encountered two journals where editors send a synopsis of the reviews, rather than the verbatim reviews. I'm not saying that I believe that's what's going on, but it is a fact that some journals excerpt reviews. (Plus, at least one that I've reviewed for gives reviewers a choice of \"share nothing; share the following...; share the full review\")."
},
{
"answer_id": 43210,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "In general, I think assuming the authors have seen your review is reasonable. It is possible, however, in some cases, for your review to not be seen. The first is simply the authors not understanding how the online system works and missing a review. Possibly only seeing the AE comments or maybe one or two reviews. The other possibility is that the AE rejects the paper prior to all the reviews coming in. Maybe it was a borderline desk reject, the first review came back as a reject, and the AE made a decision at that point. I think the Frontiers journals ask for lots of reviews and make a decision once they have \"enough\" so authors may not see all reviews."
}
] |
2015/04/07
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43140",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32808/"
] |
43,147 |
Generally speaking, keeping the door open to your office while attending with a student (or students) is a safe policy given the amount of danger one can get in should any allegations be made. (I mention this last bit in light of the number of Title IX investigations that seem to be on the rise.)
However, is there ever an appropriate situation where closing the office door while meeting with a student or students is okay as a teacher/lecturer/professor?
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43150,
"author": "Ketan Maheshwari",
"author_id": 6103,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6103",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "I think the convention, at least in the US is that if you are in a position of authority to convey anything confidential to the student, and if the conversation happens to be of confidential nature, it should take place behind closed doors. To be practical, I would make sure I have a clear idea of what I want to communicate and try to keep it as brief as possible. If there is a chance that things might escalate, may be have the conversation somewhere in the open such as a ground or a walkway around the institute."
},
{
"answer_id": 43152,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "This is one of those topics for which different people have different opinions. Some professors (and some programs) have no issue with meeting with students one-on-one behind closed doors. Others will avoid it whenever possible. There are many, many factors that can affect the decision - including sensitive issues such as gender, power imbalances, tenure or job security, etc. It is impossible to give one-size-fits-all advice. \n\nThat being said, I think it is a fine practice to meet with your door open whenever possible, and simply lower your voice to avoid sharing private information such as grades. For ordinary meetings, such as office hours, there is no serious reason to meet behind closed doors. \n\nFor situations where there are other concerns - such as concerns about of any kind of unprofessional behavior or claims about unprofessional behavior - it is often better to ask another faculty member to be present for the meeting. Even if they do not speak, their mere presence can genuinely help defuse tense situations by keeping you *and* the student more calm. Moreover, the other person is also able to recount their memory of the meeting should it be necessary, avoiding some issues that can arise when only two people were present for a conversation."
},
{
"answer_id": 43156,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "In my experience, a closed door is most likely when the two people have already established a trusted relationship and are on the *same* side in a tricky situation. For example, when I was a TA and the professor and I were talking about how to deal with a possibly-cheating student, then we would likely close the door."
}
] |
2015/04/08
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43147",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9569/"
] |