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thread-29420
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29420
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Should a mid-career faculty application include a letter from the former PhD advisor?
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2014-10-04T22:04:43.567
|
# Question
Title: Should a mid-career faculty application include a letter from the former PhD advisor?
I have been in a tenure-track position in 5-6 years and I am applying to positions in other universities, including tenured positions. For the list of references, should I include my former PhD advisor? I have some other good names to include and also I have a good relationship with the former advisor. I was wondering the pros and cons of including/excluding the former advisor in the list of reference.
# Answer
> 8 votes
This might vary from field to field, and based upon how established and well-regarded you are within your own field, but personally I would not feel that it is mandatory to get a letter from your prior advisor, if you have other letter-writers who you think will be more suitable (know your work better, are better-regarded in the community, will write you a stronger recommendation). At this stage in your career most faculty are now established enough that they are your own brand and can stand on their own, separate from their advisor. In particular, 5-6 years in a tenure-track position is probably far enough along in your career that I don't think the hiring committee will look askance if you don't have a letter from your prior advisor.
In any case, if the hiring committee wants an assessment from your former PhD advisor, they will ask your former PhD advisor. For jobs at this level, it's not unusual for them to ask others for their opinion of you (beyond the letters that you provide), if you are a serious candidate.
That said, usually your former PhD advisor is someone who knows you well, wants you to succeed, appreciates your work and your interests, and is well-informed about your research -- so they are often a good choice of a letter-writer, all else being equal.
# Answer
> 9 votes
In most cases it seems a good idea to include the former adviser.
I suppose an exception would be if you are now much more "established/senior" than your adviser, or if there is some serious problem with your adviser's professional reputation.
# Answer
> 0 votes
My impression is that at this stage it has much higher value if your recommendation letters can prove that you already somewhat established yourself in your field, your independent research topic is going well and people beyond your lab/institute start recognising your name.
Most cases a recommendation letter from your former supervisor hardly can demonstrate independency, it may even suggest just the opposite. I saw cases when a well-meaning ex-supervisor was writing pages about how friendly and docile is the candidate, how good student and doing always everything as ordered. This kind of recommendation letter you really DON'T want to get for a tenured position.
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Tags: recommendation-letter, faculty-application
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thread-10728
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10728
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What is the status/reputation of the University of South Africa (UNISA)?
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2013-06-23T13:40:57.190
|
# Question
Title: What is the status/reputation of the University of South Africa (UNISA)?
I would like to follow PhD studies in my field of Computer Science. The problem is that I have to work in my native country. I have read that this university, UNISA, is known because of their online Master and Doctoral studies.
The question that I have is because I see different comments from people from United States or Europe that wanted to enter into this online degrees. Does anybody have experiences or know if that university is worldwide recognized? Or would it be only a waste of money and time? In case of the latter, which institution of quality offers online PhD degrees in CS?
Consider that this question is not focused locally, because as I mentioned in the aforementioned paragraph; there are people from all over the world that want to take those UNISA degrees.
# Answer
> 27 votes
I offer the following evidence from credible and official sources **against** doing a PhD in Computer Science at UNISA:
* **Low graduation rates**: 17 doctoral students graduated from the College of Science, Engineering, and Techonology (which includes the PhD in Computer Science degree) in 2010, 2011, and 2012 combined. Compare this to the 99 doctoral student enrollments five years earlier in 2005, 2006, and 2007 (combined). Graduation rates are expected to be somewhat low for distance learning students, but rates this low are a bad sign. (PDF source)
* **Inadequate supervisory capacity**: The school admits that "many \[research\] areas in the School of Computing have reached supervisory capacity" and says that "long waiting lists started forming due to lack of supervisors," which is another worrying sign. (Same source)
* **Very, very low research output**: Research output is arguably the most important indicator of a reputable PhD program. On this page, 6 professors in the School of Computing (which offers the PhD in Computer Science degree) are listed as having openings for PhD students. I looked up the Google Scholar and/or DBLP profiles of these 6 (for those that had them) and consulted personal pages of the rest to get a sense of their research productivity.
+ Averages across two years (2012 and 2013), the number of publications per person per year was 0.58 on average (range of 0-1.5)
+ Of the 7 publications I found for these professors in 2012 and 2013, 3 were in conferences or journals with the name "Africa" in the title (i.e., not international venues). So the average publication rate per person per year in non-local venues was 0.33.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I'm a postdoc at the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, and do collaborate with some researchers at UNISA. However, this is with the Department of Decision Sciences, rather than Computer Science - I don't know the latter.
When it comes to PhD studies, generally the advisor plays a large role, too, compared to the university. I'd recommend to look at what and where the potential advisors for you publish, where their co-authors are from etc to get a vague impression how connected and well-regarded they'll be in your chosen discipline.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I do not have a direct experience with UNISA, but this kind of universities (having massive number of students) does not have international reputation usually. They normally address the local needs for graduating professionals, but what pushes a university among top ones is interactive connection of the staff and students, which is almost impossible to be conducted in a university with 5,000 staff and 300,000 students (even in the digital world).
Thus, if you do care about your education and reputation of your PhD degree, it is more reasonable to choose a university with international standards.
# Answer
> -1 votes
UNISA is internationally recognized. The small numbers of students passing, shows by itself that it is not a piece of cake. I did my Bsc Computer Science and believe me I had to work hard to pass and graduate. Once you are there, the work load, assignments, deadlines etc, makes you forget that you are at a distance learning institution. It felt the same as when I was at a residential school. I am currently doing my Msc Electronic Eng in the UK. It was the same UNISA credentials that took me there. So no worries, please go with UNISA and you shall not regret.
Inacio Lote GIMO
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Tags: phd, computer-science, online-learning, africa, south-africa
---
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thread-35273
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35273
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What is the role of a PhD advisor after a student has graduated?
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2015-01-05T17:37:50.333
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# Question
Title: What is the role of a PhD advisor after a student has graduated?
It seems from answers to certain questions (such as Should a mid-career faculty application include a letter from the former PhD advisor?) that the role of an advisor may continue after a student has graduated.
In general, what is the professional role of a PhD advisor after a student has graduated? Are they simply possible collaborators and sources of recommendation letters, or is there more?
---
I've seen this question: What is exactly the role of a phd advisor? which is related, but focuses on the role of an advisor during graduate school.
When should you stop asking your PhD advisor to do advisor like things? is related, but my question is *what* are the advisor-like things a PhD advisor might/should do after a student has graduated.
Here are some other related (but not duplicates as far as I can tell) questions:
How to handle not having my PhD advisor as a reference?
# Answer
> 7 votes
Once a person have graduated, there is not generally any remaining *formal* role for the Ph.D. advisor. In theory, a Ph.D. qualifies them as generally capable of independent scientific research, and they have no requirement to depend on their academic "parent" any more.
In practice, however, no person is an island. Most researchers do much better as part of a network of like-minded colleagues who can serve as friends and allies. The Ph.D. advisor is a natural starting point for building such a network, both as someone likely to be a like-minded ally and also by helping build connections based on their own existing network. As the more junior colleague in the relationship, the benefits of interaction are likely to flow more more from the advisor to the former student, but the relationship is likely to grow more peer-like over time.
Just as with a biological parent, even after formal independence, this connection is likely to last a lifetime (but may not if the relationship is not good). Also like biological parents, however, Ph.D. advisors (and others) often have a hard time adjusting their perspective and seeing their former students as fully "grown up." This is part of why it's important not only to maintain a connection with one's advisor, but also to clearly establish a separate research identity.
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Tags: career-path, advisor
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thread-35284
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35284
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Does the NSF award grants to foreign researchers not affiliated with US instutitions?
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2015-01-05T20:28:33.773
|
# Question
Title: Does the NSF award grants to foreign researchers not affiliated with US instutitions?
I mean the foreign researchers who are not affiliated with US institutions, and are located overseas. I suspect that NSF would not award them research grants, but need a confirmation.
I also imagine that NSF may award grants for collaborations of US and foreigners. It would be interesting to get a pointer to a resource which describes the conditions for such collaborations.
# Answer
From the FAQs:
> NSF rarely provides support to foreign organizations. NSF, however, will consider proposals for cooperative projects involving U.S. and foreign organizations, provided support is requested only for the U.S. portion of the collaborative effort. For further information, contact the Office of International Science and Engineering. (Reference GPG Chapter I.E.6.)
Individual funding opportunities list specific eligibility requirements. These generally say something like "The PI must hold an appointment at an eligible US institution."
There is an office of the NSF specifically devoted to encouraging international collaboration, and there are often specific funding opportunities earmarked for collaboration with a particular country. You'll find examples of many such opportunities on the linked page.
Having said that, it's not impossible for NSF money to trickle down to foreign researchers. For example, I am at a US institution and I participate in a project supported by the NSF, in which our budget includes a subcontract arrangement involving researchers in Australia. As far as the NSF is concerned, this money is paid to a US institution (mine), but we are allowed to use some of it to pay our foreign colleagues as subcontractors. (The details of this arrangement were of course specified up front in our proposal.) Specific grants may have different requirements with respect to subcontracting to foreign institutions.
> 11 votes
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Tags: funding, international, nsf
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thread-35167
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35167
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Mentioning courses taken on coursera.org in the statement of purpose
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2015-01-03T17:11:34.767
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# Question
Title: Mentioning courses taken on coursera.org in the statement of purpose
Is it of any value to mention a course one is following on www.coursera.org, in a SOP?
For instance, if I have a Bachelor of Computer Science and want to apply for a Geoinformatics Master program, would it help my application at all to mention that I am currently following a Geoinformatics course on coursera.org to get familiar with the field?
# Answer
> 4 votes
I don't think it would necessarily hurt your application. However, if you have a limited number of words for your SOP, I think a better use of space would be to explain why exactly you want to obtain a degree in geoinformatics. Your Master's coursework will give you all the background (and probably more) that you need in the field, so it might be better to explain your motivation behind applying for the degree in the first place. Of course, if the Coursera course was a primary driver in your decision, that is highly relevant and should be mentioned.
# Answer
> 3 votes
I'm familiar with a couple of the geospatial-themed MOOCs offered by coursera. Mentioning in your statement that you're following the class would show initiative and a genuine interest in the subject (good things in grad school). However, I would emphasize on mentioning the topics or areas of GIS or geospatial computing that during the MOOC caught your attention, rather than just stating that you signed up and followed the class. If you completed the MOOC and earned a statement of accomplishment, I'd certainly mention it as well.
P.S. I'm currently in academia and working as a geospatial professional.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, masters, statement-of-purpose, online-learning, mooc
---
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thread-35280
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35280
|
Should I cite photos in my thesis?
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2015-01-05T18:53:43.990
|
# Question
Title: Should I cite photos in my thesis?
If I use photos in my thesis that I found on Internet, should I cite them? If so, how should the photos be cited? Should I write something like "In Figure 4.5 \[9\]" or should I cite it in the Appendix? Or should I add the source in the caption?
# Answer
## You *must* cite them!
Failure to cite photographs and figures is just as much plagiarism as stealing quotations. To some extent, it is *tougher* to use pictures from other sources, because you need to make sure you have the permissions to use them.
You should add the citation in the caption, as well as the requisite acknowledgments required by the author or publisher.
> 18 votes
# Answer
here's usa library of congress copyright source:
http://www.copyright.gov/
for using other's copyrighted photos you need reproduction rights permissions.
for using your own photos, you should protect your own copyright with the three-part copyright notice mentioned at loc - copyright symbol or word, date, name - on or near the photo. otherwise you have put your photo into public.
> 1 votes
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Tags: citations, graphics
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thread-35289
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35289
|
How to thank a teacher in a thesis?
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2015-01-05T21:15:39.313
|
# Question
Title: How to thank a teacher in a thesis?
Given that a student wants to thank you her teacher for her assistance to her project thesis, is it polite if she writes any of this at the end of her thesis:
1. Thanks to your assistance, my project was done under your supervision.
2. You have been my project's tutor. Now it is done successfully, thank you.
# Answer
Well, what I wrote was partly humor, partly serious:
> "I would like to thank: Prof. \[my adviser\] for his advice and support throughout the thesis work, Prof. \[\] for his patience as I mis-implemented his design, \[\] for his assistance in selecting components, the \[lab and department\] for computer time, \[\], whose Masters thesis provided the format I have adopted, the manufacturers of \[caffeinated beverages\] for their stimulating ideas, E. Gary Gygax for giving me something to kill, and the States of Alaska and Confusion."
I think you're overthinking this. Any polite statement crediting those who have made a significant contribution to the project will be fine.
Suggestion: see if your school maintains copies of past theses in their library, read through a few to see what other people have done, and adopt what seems useful from those.
> 15 votes
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Tags: thesis, writing-style, acknowledgement
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thread-35295
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35295
|
Effective use of a "learning narrative" assignment in a gen ed science course
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2015-01-06T00:33:46.603
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# Question
Title: Effective use of a "learning narrative" assignment in a gen ed science course
This spring I will be teaching a physics course that is new at our school. Titled "Relativity for Poets," it's a nonmathematical freshman gen ed course on Einstein's theory of relativity, and cosmology. There is no lab, and there will be only a tiny amount of traditional-style problem-solving. I'm looking for things I can have my students do that will (a) give them some practice wrestling with the (difficult) concepts, and (b) give me something other than just exams on which to base their grades.
A possibility that I've thought of is something I'll refer to as a "learning narrative." I'm sure I'm not the first person to come up with this. The idea is that the student is assigned to write a 1-2 page paper on a topic that they initially had trouble with. They describe the topic, what they didn't understand, why (in hindsight) they didn't understand it, and how they overcame the difficulty. This should be written in such a way that a future student could read it and benefit from it.
Have others done anything similar to this? Was it successful? Any tips for implementing it effectively?
# Answer
> 4 votes
When I TA'ed a survey neuroscience course, we had a similar type of assignment where we asked students to select a topic from the course that was challenging for them personally and put together a (short) PowerPoint presentation on that topic as if they were going to teach it to next year's class.
Overall, I thought the assignment was a good one, and the course reviews at the end of the semester generally indicated that the students felt the same way. Many of the reviews commented on the fact that the process of thinking about how to teach the topic to someone helped solidify or clarify things for themselves. Others mentioned that it helped them learn how to learn on their own by searching the web, looking things up at the library, et cetera. Establishing and building upon this skill is key no matter what you end up doing, so I consider this the biggest positive of the assignment.
The downside seemed to be that many students struggled with the "why they didn't understand it" part. It can be frustrating to not understand something, and especially when the student doesn't plan on pursuing further study in the area (which is probably the case in a class like "Relativity for Poets"), there can be a certain lack of motivation to break through conceptual or other barriers to understanding. You might need to offer some guidance in this particular area of the assignment.
Looking back, one possible improvement might have been to assign these "learning narratives" multiple times throughout the semester. I noticed that a lot of students chose the exact same topic, which might have been because it was truly the hardest topic or because it was the easiest to make a PowerPoint on. We might have gotten more diversity in responses if we split the assignment into two (or more) parts that were due at uniform points across the semester. Plus, we might have been able to reinforce the "learning to learn" aspect of it through repetition. Of course, that's just speculation on my part.
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Tags: teaching, undergraduate, coursework
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thread-35296
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35296
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Does the NSF support researchers with no academic affiliation?
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2015-01-06T00:46:21.807
|
# Question
Title: Does the NSF support researchers with no academic affiliation?
It seems that NSF only supports researchers affiliated with academic institutions. For instance, if a researcher is in the industry, is there a chance to get funding from NSF for a pure academic research?
Let's say the researcher's employer is not a scientific/research establishment, maybe it's a manufacturing plant, and the researcher's interest has nothing to do with his/her daily job.
# Answer
Another answer quotes the Grant Proposal Guide, which is of course the essential resource.
The NSF does solicit proposals (like other agencies) for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
But I'd also say that whenever you have questions about NSF funding for a research idea, I'd figure out an appropriate program officer and send them an e-mail. For example, I'm in chemistry, so I go to the NSF chemistry website and guess an appropriate sub-program.
In general, I send an e-mail saying something like:
> Hi, I have a research idea that I think might fit in your program but I have some questions. Would there be a good time to talk this week? \[etc.\]
Sometimes I'll even get a call back promptly from the program officer, or a polite message that program X might be a better fit, etc.
In all cases, the NSF program officers want to fund the best research they can, so they are very helpful at suggesting appropriate approaches (e.g., if it's possible for them to fund your idea).
> 13 votes
# Answer
NSF's Grant Proposal Guide section I.E addresses eligibility. I.E.3 addresses for-profit corporations and states:
> 3. For-profit organizations - US commercial organizations, especially small businesses with strong capabilities in scientific or engineering research or education. An unsolicited proposal from a commercial organization may be funded when the project is of special concern from a national point of view, special resources are available for the work, or the proposed project is especially meritorious. NSF is interested in supporting projects that couple industrial research resources and perspectives with those of universities; therefore, it especially welcomes proposals for cooperative projects involving both universities and the private commercial sector.
My read of this is that it is certainly possible for a company to submit a proposal, but the introductory language certainly hints that not all programs will allow for-profits to submit:
> Except where a program solicitation establishes more restrictive eligibility criteria, individuals and organizations in the following categories may submit proposals:
Which is to say that many RFPs limit submissions to categories 1 and 2 from that list (universities and other non-profits, respectively).
> 10 votes
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Tags: funding, united-states, independent-researcher, nsf
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thread-32907
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/32907
|
Can I ask for first authorship on future publications that may come out of my design?
|
2014-12-08T15:59:10.850
|
# Question
Title: Can I ask for first authorship on future publications that may come out of my design?
I am working on a 2-phase design. The first phase is where ideas are proved and verified. The second phase is an implementation of the first stage (Basically, like having a schematic of a building and actually building it). I have done lots of work on the first phase. My supervisor is asking me to give the final work to another person, who we don't yet know who he is, for implementation and work on something else. While my advisor has some contribution, I did almost everything.
Can I ask for first authorship for any papers and publications that come out of this now?
# Answer
Generally speaking, you cannot "reserve" first authorship on possible papers that may come out of some work that you've done. Depending on the scope of the submission (when it's completed) and who writes/edits the actual text of the paper, you may or may not actually deserve first authorship on it. It would be inappropriate to promise you first authorship on all future papers coming out of the design at this stage.
What you *can* do is tell your advisor,
> I'd like to start working now on a draft of a paper about my design.
Discuss the planned scope of your submission with your advisor: in particular, whether your paper should include a description of the implementation which has yet to be done, or whether a paper on the design alone is sufficiently publishable. Either way, start working on a draft right away.
Also discuss authorship of the paper you're going to start writing, given the scope the two of you have agreed on for this particular paper, including:
* whether you will be first author
* whether your advisor will be a co-author
* what position the other yet-to-be-named implementer will have (if you decide to include the implementation in the paper)
* and what additional contributions are expected from each author in order to merit authorship according to this agreement (both technical, and with respect to writing and editing).
If you discuss this with your advisor, start working on a draft *now*, write a lot of the text in the submission, and you generally "drive" the project and the paper submission forward, you will (assuming your work meets the standards for first authorship in your field) have a very strong case for first authorship on *this* paper.
Note that unless you do more work to merit authorship on other, future papers related to your design, they'll only be expected to cite and/or acknowledge your work.
> 4 votes
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Tags: publications, authorship
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thread-35301
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35301
|
What is the etiquette for making an appointment to request a letter of recommendation?
|
2015-01-06T02:50:25.333
|
# Question
Title: What is the etiquette for making an appointment to request a letter of recommendation?
I'm currently a college sophomore looking to transfer to a university overseas, and I need a letter of recommendation from my adviser in order to apply.
Usually, in order to get in touch with my adviser, I just sign up for a 20 minute time slot, but that system is usually intended for students to quickly discuss class options.
I feel like signing up for the time slot and asking her for a letter of recommendation in person with no warning is sort of rude, and I've also heard that asking for a letter entirely over email is also rude. So, scheduling an appointment over email seems like the best option, but I'm not sure if I should explicitly reference my transferring and the letter of recommendation, because that seems tantamount to just asking over email. Any suggestions?
# Answer
The reason to want to talk in person is to be able to have the space for discussion and nuance that may be impossible over email. But you can certainly start the discussion over email. Why not send an email saying your plans and that you are interested in getting a letter of recommendation, but then close by saying that if the professor is willing, you think it might be a good idea to meet to discuss?
> 5 votes
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Tags: etiquette, recommendation-letter, email
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thread-35154
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35154
|
Whether to tell his prospective employer that a new male post doc opposes affirmative action for women in academia?
|
2015-01-03T11:29:33.003
|
# Question
Title: Whether to tell his prospective employer that a new male post doc opposes affirmative action for women in academia?
I personally know a male graduate student who works in a different area (in STEM) than mine and who has a potentially controversial view. He opposes to affirmative actions for women in academia and outreach activities for female teenagers conducted by a university. He's repeatedly and openly expressed his idea on his public Facebook post, in his (and my) native language, which is not English.
This particular student is soon graduating and has been granted a post as a post-doc at a very prestigious university in the U.S., from (I suppose) this fall on. I don't think that whoever in charge of hiring him knows his view, since, albeit they are public, his posts are not written in English.
While I don't know if his beliefs should prevent him from being hired, I do think that this may be a potential concern to his future employers.
Obviously I'm really concerned about his views and feel that, since they are expressed openly, it might be appropriate to make sure his prospective employers know about them. Is there a professional way to do this, or is it the case that no matter how baleful and publicly expressed the views may be, I should play no part in informing his prospective employers?
Corrigendum: I should have been really, really careful as to how to put my question. For one thing, I don't see his view *anti-feminist*. The word *anti-feminist* appears there (with quotation marks) because I couldn't think of a good adjective. It could have been anything else. Since so many people are distracted by this, I remove the word completely.
# Answer
## Mind your own business.
If you believe that your colleague poses an *actual threat* to someone, it is of course your duty to warn them. But opinions are not threats. It is entirely up to your colleague who he shares his opinions with. Revealing your colleague's opinions to his future employer, no matter how offensive you may find them, would be a violation of his privacy.
> 271 votes
# Answer
**There is no way to do this in a professional way.**
First of all, if he has been admitted already, **it is too late** to blow the whistle. Unless what you are revealing is a criminal offence, changing idea and refusing to give him a position to which he has been accepted is legally impossible.
Secondly, sending an e-mail or contacting the hiring committee out of the blue would sound very strange. **You are probably the one that would appear as a 'hater'** if you write to a professor 'hi, you don't know me at all, but I wanted to tell you that this guy is a horrible person --- to prove it, here are two sentences out of context from a Facebook post that I translated myself'. My first reaction would be thinking that you hate him for personal reasons and are trying to destroy his reputation with fake claims.
Thirdly, as noted already by other users, you are basically trying to shame him for what *you* regard as a **thought crime**. What you have objections on are his opinions, not his actions. In most countries, freedom of thought and speech is highly regarded. Unless what you are trying to report is something universally considered abject, such as apology of paedophilia or of the Holocaust, the odds are that people will consider you, not him, the bad person. Sexism isn't high enough on the horribleness scale to elicit such a reaction.
That said, I prefer not to comment at all on whether what he wrote is a sign of sexism and/or morally wrong; this is a different issue.
> 116 votes
# Answer
**TL;DR**: Don't do this. In the case of a U.S. public university, it would be illegal for them to take any action based on what you want to tell them. Additionally, telling them is a bad idea for the reasons other answers have already given.
---
**Disclaimer**: I'm not a lawyer. The quotes below, though, are from lawyers who also just so happen to be U.S. Supreme Court justices or U.S. Court of Appeals justices.
---
In addition to the excellent answers already here, what you are suggesting has actually been ruled **illegal** for U.S. public universities (or almost any other government job in the U.S., regardless of whether it's at the federal, state, or local level.) Furthermore, anyone deemed to be acting to discriminate on such a basis on the behalf of the state **can be sued individually** in addition to the state institution itself being sued. If anyone acted on your advice not to hire this person because of his political beliefs, he could sue them. Additionally, he might even be able to sue **you**.
For more information, see Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois, a U.S. Supreme Court case which ruled:
> Today we are asked to decide the constitutionality of several related political patronage practices — whether promotion, transfer, recall, and hiring decisions involving low-level public employees may be constitutionally based on party affiliation and support. We hold that they may not.
Additionally, see Elrod v. Burns, which ruled similarly:
> Patronage dismissals severely restrict political belief and association, which constitute the core of those activities protected by the First Amendment, and government may not, without seriously inhibiting First Amendment rights, force a public employee to relinquish his right to political association as the price of holding a public job.
In a more recent case, Wagner v. Jones, a law professor was able to individually sue the Dean who made an illegal decision not to hire her based on her political views. Due to unrelated technicalities, that case is still winding its way through the courts, though the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has already ruled that:
> \[T\]he First Amendment prohibits a state from basing hiring decisions on political beliefs or associations with limited exceptions for policymaking and confidential positions.
\[Near the bottom of page 10\]
and that:
> Section 1983 provides a civil cause of action against any person who, under color of state law, causes a deprivation of the rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States. 42 U.S.C. § 1983
\[beginning of Section II at the bottom of page 9\]
> 48 votes
# Answer
> He opposes to affirmative actions for women in academia and outreach activities for female teenagers conducted by a university.
While I disagree with that view, I am not ready to call it "anti-feminist". Anyway, it is possible to have an academic job and hold anti-feminist views. A postdoc who holds (only) these views does not present an "immediate danger", in that it is unlikely that he will be involved in hiring, personnel or policy decisions.
Such a person is (I think) more likely to engage in poor or unacceptable behavior while on the job. However, that has certainly not happened yet at the postdoc job (it hasn't started yet) and you say nothing about such behavior as a graduate student. Whether Facebook is **public** or not -- it's clearly somewhere towards the middle of the increasingly complicated spectrum of public versus private life -- it is certainly not **professional**: that is, he did not post these things in the context of his job.
If I had hired a postdoc and received information about such messages on Facebook, I almost certainly would not reconsider the hiring decision. It would be hard for me to forget it, and I might keep an eye on the postdoc to see whether they behave in any inappropriate way...but the whole thing would make me a bit uncomfortable. We hire (especially STEM?) postdocs for their technical abilities, not for their political and social right-thinking. A lot of postdocs are from foreign countries, and I do not assume that foreign postdocs occupy the same position on the socio-political spectrum as most American academics. I assume that they will mostly stay out of trouble, and that if they get tenure-track positions they (as with everyone else) keep an open mind and learn about what their colleagues and superiors value.
I would say that if the writings concern you -- which I find quite reasonable -- then you should consider responding to it at the source: i.e., on Facebook itself. I try to reply to a positive proportion of emails / posts I see which I regard as being sexist / racist / morally wrong: it can be tedious to do so, but you don't want to politely say nothing while other people say terrible things. On the other hand, you may want to simply stop receiving posts from this person. I became Facebook friends a few years back with someone I had gone to junior high and high school with, and I got treated to a barrage of postings about how employers shouldn't have to cover women's health expenses that they didn't morally agree with. I think I responded once or twice, and after that I blocked the posts. I feel much better!
> 46 votes
# Answer
Let's look at this question by looking at affirmative action, the university setting, and your role in it:
**Affirmative Action**
It's hard to gauge his specific position, but being against affirmative action/outreach programs does not mean that this person is against the group that is supposed to benefit from these programs. It can simply mean that this person sees affirmative action as the wrong solution to an issue that might or might not be an actual problem.
For example, this person can think that the gender of a student should be irrelevant, and they themselves have no preference for, e.g., male or female students. In fact, they do what is ostensibly desired -- they treat men and women the same. Interest, persistence, grades, performance, etc. should count, not whether this person is/identifies as male or female. They might even welcome women if they have similar competence (a requirement for the contact hypothesis to work). They might see the differences between the percentages of men and women in certain domains within STEM due to a different distribution of interests, not due to discrimination that requires affirmative action, or think that Academia is not specifically hostile to women but hostile in general (many PhDs, few tenure track positions). There is also the counter-intuitive finding that affirmative action might hurt those it should benefit. At least for race there was an interesting "intelligence squared" debate.
In the following, I'm assuming that this person has thought about his position.
**University Setting**
Now let's look at affirmative action in the university setting. Unfortunately, some people think that anything but (at least) 50% women in highly prestigious fields like STEM indicate discrimination (ignoring, e.g., prior interests). And for some, it's an ideological issue where questions or an open debate with arguments based on theory and evidence are not tolerated. If you are not for positive discrimination, you are seen as acting actively against women -- even if you just apply the same standards to men and women.
Even worse, I get the impression that some universities get more and more infected by ideology. They are turning into indoctrination places where having the right (or rather: the left) point of view is all that counts (FIRE is an interesting source here). Personally, I think that universities can and should do better. If you cannot discuss "potentially controversial views" at the university then where can you discuss them? But realistically, in some universities open discussion of controversial ideas can draw a lot of outrage (including from students).
**Your Role as 'potentially concerned person'**
Given the explosive nature of the topic for many people, exposing a contrary view of someone *could* cause damage. Not necessarily because of the issue, but because you make it an issue. Especially if it is done without this person's knowledge. Or would you tell him in advance that you translated or summarized his postings and gave them to his prospective employers because you were "concerned"?
If you inform his employers/colleagues, I would hope that they have even a shred of integrity and have a look (and a translation) for themselves. Depending on how thought out his views are, they might conclude that he is not the problem but the informant is. They might even regard the informant as a backstabbing snitch who is envious that their new employee was accepted to "a very prestigious university" despite (what the snitch considers) his "potentially controversial views". Even if it damages his career (which it easily might), I don't think that the snitch would come out with a good reputation.
If the new post-doc on the other hand is open about these issues, good. I hope so. Issues should be discussed openly. But considering how easily criticism of a publicly widely accepted view can be misunderstood and misconstrued, it's his decision whether or when and how to talk about it in an Academic context. Personally, I do not think it would belong in a talk with a prospective employer as the topic is too complex and explosive for a superficial conversation and is likely to be misunderstood.
**A better solution**
If you are "really concerned" about his views, then you can -- as others have written -- talk to him. Discuss the issue with him on the platform of his choosing (here: Facebook). Of course, the same ideologues for whom affirmative action is "not debatable" might regard *any* person having a debate about the topic as a problem. At the very least you consider something debatable that for them is a no-brainer! And how would you react if he made a point? But perhaps that's a bit too much "censor in the head". ;-)
But *if* affirmative action really is a no-brainer, you should be able to argue for your point of view and try to convince him. Because frankly, no view -- even if it is/were "right"/"true"/"correct"/"the best solution there is" -- should prevail just because those who have a different position were stabbed in the back when it came to hiring and promotion.
(edit: spelling)
> 46 votes
# Answer
My understanding that in said country (you are in USA, correct?) freedom of speech is at least as important right that the "need to uniformly and loudly support" a specific policy whatever is your moral concern.
> 7 votes
# Answer
I can argue this both ways.
On the one hand, I do believe that while public speech should be free, people are also free to react to that speech. So if you really believe that this candidate should be rejected for shooting off his mouth, you're entitled to say so. (Exactly as entitled as he was to make the comments in the first place ... which comparison may indicate why you might *not* want to do so.)
On the other hand, a person's views -- however obnoxious you find them -- are their own. If they *act* on those views, including voicing them in a way/time/place that creates a hostile workplace, that's a problem and should be addressed at that time. Until then, they're entitled to disagree even if you find that disagreeable.
I guess my answer would be: *If asked,* you can certainly voice your concern. I'm not at all convinced it's appropriate to do so if you aren't asked. Remember that the folks accepting/hiring this grad student are perfectly capable of websearching him themselves, and these days have probably done so as part of their HR process. If they've taken him anyway, odds are that you won't change their mind unless there's more going on than you've told us.
And really, how important is it for you to sabotage him, and why? Let him get himself into trouble, if he's going to. Or let him learn how not to. It really doesn't sound like he's a danger to anyone.
> 1 votes
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Tags: postdocs, gender
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thread-35313
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35313
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Can an improvement to an existing implementation be publishable?
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2015-01-06T07:17:50.633
|
# Question
Title: Can an improvement to an existing implementation be publishable?
My master thesis is an improvement of a code. I gave this code about one year and half ago from the author of the one paper.
After working on his code, I improve the result. but my implementation is not a lot. My added part to his code is less than 300 lines.
The base paper was published on 2013 in the journal with impact factor 2 .
My question is "improvements works" have the ability to send to a journal? Or when you can send your work to journal which you should develop the whole things.
By the way the issue which I am working on is one of the new standard.
# Answer
> 8 votes
For purposes of publishability, it doesn't really matter whether your implementation was built from scratch or from an existing codebase, or how many new lines of code it required.
What matters is *whether your results contribute some new knowledge* to the field....
... which we can't evaluate for you here. You need to read the literature and the previous work, and identify what you're contributing that's new. (It's not measured in lines of code.)
# Answer
> 5 votes
Publishable? Yes. Everything is publishable, as long as it's original work and you can find a journal that thinks it's interesting enough. Publishable in a good journal? We've no idea: ask your peers in your field. *Ask your advisor*: it's what s/he is there for!
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Tags: publications, publishability
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thread-35261
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35261
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A researcher that I know organizes a symposium within a strange conference and has asked me to go. What is the appropriate etiquette for declining?
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2015-01-05T13:44:49.183
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# Question
Title: A researcher that I know organizes a symposium within a strange conference and has asked me to go. What is the appropriate etiquette for declining?
I have been invited to a symposium related with my research field within a conference devoted to a broad area in Mathematics, not really associated with my field. This symposium is organized by a researcher that I met in previous, well-established and respectable conferences.
The problem is that I have never heard before about that conference to any colleague in my field, if we exclude the emails sent by the conference organizers asking researchers to attend *or to organize* a symposium within the conference (I have received myself a lot of them in my email *spam* folder). Indeed, I am really confused about the reputability of the conference itself, and I tried to find it out without too much success in this closed question.
I have decided not to attend the conference given the information that I have at hand, since as a young researcher I want to stay as far as I can from *potential predatory* conferences. Also the funding money for attending conferences is limited and I think I will get a better value for it on another conference.
Now, my question is regarding the **way and etiquette for rejecting the invitation**. My initial idea was to be honest and tell the symposium organizer about my reason to not accept the invitation (not feeling confortable in that conference), without making up any excuse such as problem in the dates or whatever. But maybe in that way I will hurt his/her feelings, something that obviously I do not want.
**What will be a honest and polite way of rejecting this invitation?**
# Answer
> 37 votes
You basically said it best yourself:
> the funding money for attending conferences is limited and I think I will get a better value for it on another conference.
This seems to me like a perfectly acceptable reason which needs to be enough for any reasonable person. You can't go to every conference where somebody you know asked you to go, and this one isn't high enough on your priorities list.
*(personally, I would not lecture the other person about what you perceive as a spam conference that (s)he is involved with - just say friendly and truthfully that this specific conference is not of great interest to you, and that should be it)*
# Answer
> 29 votes
Just say "no thank you" or say nothing. You don't have to make an excuse to not attend a conference symposium. You appear to be a junior researcher, so I'm assuming you were invited to participate not to give a keynote address or be honored otherwise. The symposium organizers will have invited more people than they can actually host since they know many will decline. There's no need to antagonize your colleague by accusing them of being involved in a sketchy conference or worse accusing them of being associated with something *predatory*.
# Answer
> 19 votes
> Thank you very much for the invitation to this conference. It seems like a very interesting event. I will not be able to attend, but I wish you the best of luck with it.
>
> Yours, etc. ...
This is polite but firm. Like Jake says in the comments, it is possible to increase the apparent (or intended) sincerity of the message by being more specific about why you think the conference will be interesting. And it is *true* that you are unable to attend because you have given higher priority for your limited travel budget on other events.
# Answer
> 1 votes
There's no polite way to say, "I believe your conference has no value, and isn't worth my time."
So I'm glad you are asking for an honest and polite method to decline, rather than an open and polite method to decline. I don't believe you can be open, honest, and polite in this case.
I don't believe you can honestly express regret that you cannot attend, but you can at least express a wish that the conference be successful, or that they achieve their goals with the conference and speakers. If you expect to check on the conference proceedings afterwards, whether out of curiosity or professional interest, it might be worthwhile expressing that as well.
"Thank you for your kind invitation to present at conference XYZ. While I must decline, I do look forward to reading the conference proceedings."
Keep it short, simple, and straightforward.
If this is a close friend, and you believe they are headed down the wrong path, it's probably worthwhile to follow this up with a phone call (no need for this conversation to be in writing!) and express your underlying reasons. If you are on the fence, call them prior to sending the refusal and see if they have evidence that it isn't or won't turn into a predatory conference.
The reservations you have may be valid, but expressing them when you decline the invitation is unnecessary and impolite. Keep those reservations to yourself, and only share them if asked, or if they are a close colleague or friend and you wish to save them from later difficulty.
# Answer
> 0 votes
In today's world, it is difficult to predetermine an outcome of a conference, unless you are aware of the list of the participants. In the research field, every bit of new information is valuable, thus you might not be exact at outweighing the symposium, based on limited information.
Advice:
1. Politely request your inviter to give you extra information, the usual 5Ws. If any of the *who*, *when*, *what*, *where*, *how* are not coherent, then depict them and inform him that you did not feel attracted because of A,B,C.
2. If financially, it does not match, be specific and tell him that you do not have the financial means.
A researcher is a civilized person and would not be hurt by valid reasons.
NB: Having emails in Spam boxes does not mean that they are spams. It just means that their email server is not green listed on your email's red flagging.
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Tags: conference, mathematics, etiquette
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thread-16738
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16738
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How do I ask the author of a book in English if I can translate it into my native language?
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2014-02-09T18:27:23.717
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# Question
Title: How do I ask the author of a book in English if I can translate it into my native language?
I want to translate an English book, but before translating it, I want to be sure if the author will permit me to do so.
I am not doing this for financial gain. Since it is a book about a new subject, my professor asked me to translate it, so that students in my country become better familiar with the topic.
Would you please provide me a good text to email it to the author?
# Answer
> 16 votes
In most cases books are published through a publisher and certain copyright laws apply that may be shared between the publisher and the author. Exactly where the right to decide on translations lie may vary. You therefore need to contact both the author and the publisher to look into what might apply and to what extent they are interested in such translation. My suspicion is that it will not be as easy as just getting permission to translate. When a book (or any publication) is translated, there will be a need to get a translation that properly represents the original content. A publisher may not be content with "anybody" translating the work, they may request some form of review etc. So, the bottom line is that you need to contact publisher and author to see what is possible and under what conditions. It is possible they accept translation into a different language for different reasons but they will most likely want to retain some form of copyright.
# Answer
> 7 votes
While there may be lots of copyright issues and the publisher will likely need to be contacted. I think starting with the author is the way to go. The email can be rather simple and the content of your question is a good starting point:
> Dear X,
>
> I would like to translate your book. I am not doing this for financial gain. I want students in my country become better familiar with the topic.
You may want to include a little about yourself so the author realizes you are familiar enough with the material to translate it and have a use for the translated book.
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Tags: etiquette, copyright, books, translations
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thread-35321
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35321
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How to greet the audience at the beginning of a PhD defense talk/presentation?
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2015-01-06T10:32:02.407
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# Question
Title: How to greet the audience at the beginning of a PhD defense talk/presentation?
I'll be giving a 30-min public talk as a part of my PhD defense next month. It would be attended by the examination committee (consisting of my advisor and two examiners). I reckon that some professors/lecturers from the university might also join it apart from my colleagues and friends.
What would be a suitable - neither too short or seemingly-snappy nor too long and boring - way to address the audience at the very beginning of my talk? For instance, starting with
> Hello everyone
sounds a bit too informal to me. Personally, I am inclined to starting with
> Respected members of the examination committee...
but I am not sure if that, because of the "*Respected* ", may be considered too traditional (unfortunately, I don't recall how my colleagues who graduated in the last years did it - you never focus on such aspects until it is your turn :-$).
Should I refer to the examination committee using names, as in:
> Respected members of the examination committee, Prof. X, Prof. Y, and Prof. Z
or better not?
For peers and friends, addressing could simply continue as
> ... and dear colleagues and friends.
Should I also try to sandwich another category specifically for the other professors and lecturers? If so, what could be a suitable way to address them?
# Answer
I would like to second both xLeitix and Koldito's comments and convert them into an answer:
* In most cases, there is no requirement, and you can just say, "Good \[morning/afternoon\], my name is \[name\], and welcome to my thesis defense."
* A very few institutions have a much more formal set of requirements. For example, when I was an examiner for a defense at TU Delft, I had to learn a few words of Dutch in order to ask my questions with the required formality. Also, I had to come a day early to get fitted for a special archaic form of suit. Don't worry about this, though: if this is the case for your institution, then somebody will make sure that you are instructed in what to do.
> 17 votes
# Answer
The answer lie in the comments to your question.
1. Check your local customs. Have you not attended a single PhD talk during your time as a PhD student? What have students done so far? And ... talk to your advisor.
2. Do not overdo it. If you try to work in lots of complex thanks and courteous comments, you are very likely to stumble and forget and the impression becomes unprofessional or insecure at best. Thanks area also easily managed by adding a slide with thanks to advisers, funding and whatever you feel is necessary. You can use that as the last slide of your presentation since the audience will then know the presentation is over.
> 10 votes
# Answer
Ideally, you would already have attended similar defenses of your advisor's earlier Ph.D. students before and picked up the prevailing social norms there - also concerning other "soft factors", like whether to feed everyone afterwards, with what etc.
I gather this didn't happen, so I'll second Koldito's comment-answer: just ask your advisor. And/or talk to other people in your institution, even if they work in other areas. Such things will likely be more specific to your regional culture than to your specific subfield.
> 7 votes
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Tags: etiquette, presentation, defense
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thread-12776
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/12776
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Why is data falsification reported to be more usual in some fields than others?
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2013-09-17T14:12:53.543
|
# Question
Title: Why is data falsification reported to be more usual in some fields than others?
This big info-graphic (at the end of the question) explains that biomedicine and psychology have greater rate of data fabrication/falsification/mishandling than other fields. A similar effect was reported a PLOS ONE paper:
> Once these factors were controlled for, surveys conducted among clinical, medical and pharmacological researchers appeared to yield higher rates of misconduct than surveys in other fields or in mixed samples.
and
> it suggests that misconduct in clinical, pharmacological and medical research is more widespread than in other fields. This would support growing fears that the large financial interests that often drive medical research are severely biasing it.
However, the paper does not offer any further discussion of the field dependence of data manipulation. So, have there been explanations proposed about why these fields are "special"?
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# Answer
Your quotes from the Plos One meta analysis highlight problems in clinical, medical and pharmacological, but your question is about biomedicine and psychology. The meta analysis paper found no evidence for increased rates of reporting misconduct in either biomedicine or the social sciences suggesting that those fields are not "special". The authors then present a reasonable conjecture about why the reports of misconduct in medicine might be higher
> However, as all survey-based data, this finding is open to the alternative interpretation that respondents in the medical profession are simply more aware of the problem and more willing to report it. This could indeed be the case, because medical research is a preferred target of research and training programs in scientific integrity, and because the severe social and legal consequences of misconduct in medical research might motivate respondents to report it.
I think base on the meta analysis I would argue that data falsification is NOT more usual in some fields than others, but simply that reports and sensitivity to it is more usual when a field specifically trains individuals to recognize it.
> 8 votes
# Answer
I haven't read the paper you mention, but I can definitely see why falsification could be more common in these fields.
I think the factor that affects data falsification the most is not ethical differences between fields, but rather simply how difficult it is to identify the falsification.
In fields where experiments are simple to replicate, false results will be discovered easily. In clinical/pharmacological research, for example when testing an effect of a medical treatment, studies on human subjects are extremely costly to perform, so they are difficult to replicate. Even if they are replicated, there is such intrinsic large variance in the results that it would be difficult to conclude that results from a previous study were purposefully falsified even if they are different.
> 6 votes
# Answer
I'd be careful with the assertion that some fields are more prone to scientific misconduct than others. To make that claim I would like to see a study comparing different fields, while keeping, e.g., the stage of the researchers (PhD student, PostDoc, Professor) comparable. And let's hope that this study about data falsification does not contain data falsification.
Then there's the **stage of the discussion about scientific misconduct**. Psychology and other disciplines had a couple of highly visible cases of scientific misconduct (e.g., Stapel). They put the discipline, or at least the subdiscipline (social psychology) in question. So now there are people actively looking for ways to detect misconduct, e.g., by looking for statistical inconsistencies that happen when people fake data. So it might just be that a field is more sensitive to the issue and thus more prone to detect cases. The current "house-cleaning" might expose the misconduct that still lies hidden in other domains.
But there also might be differences between fields because it might be easier to get away with these forms of misconduct in some compared to others. Looking at the fraud triangle (see posting here, my blog), you need a motive/pressure, a rationalization and the opportunity to commit fraud.
* **Motive:** I know no scientific field that isn't dominated by publish or perish, so there's a motive. In some fields you can make a lot of money or the alternatives to an academic career look especially bleak (after all, it's impossible for all PhDs/PostDocs to stay in Academia, even if all were excellent researchers). And while all research is risky (no-one can guarantee that your experiments work), some domains may have a higher failure rate. So motive might differ.
* **Rationalization:** The rationalization might be higher in more fuzzy/soft domains, where it might be easier to convince yourself that the theory is sound, but the data is skewed (so many possibly confounding variables). There might also be "personal experience" as a bias, e.g., when it comes to evaluating therapies ("But I know that it works, I have seen it.").
* **Opportunity:** Also the opportunity might be higher in some fields where you alone have access to the data and it's virtually impossible to reproduce exactly the same results (again, confounding variables). Not to mention that replications are rare, esp. with more "interesting but not so relevant" topics.
So while it's an interesting question, it's also a highly complex issue. And there might even be the desire to point to other disciplines to avoid addressing the issue oneself ("misconduct never happens in science ... in our domain ... in our sub-domain ... at our institute ... in our workgroup ..."). Instead, science needs better controls for scientific misconduct, no matter the discipline.
Edit: P.S.: As for the flyer highlighting misconduct in (clinical) psychology -- well, consider the source. ;-)
> 0 votes
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Tags: ethics, research-misconduct
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thread-35282
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35282
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What are the pros and cons of including graphics/figures in teaching and research statements for academic job applications?
|
2015-01-05T19:52:44.293
|
# Question
Title: What are the pros and cons of including graphics/figures in teaching and research statements for academic job applications?
I was wondering what the prevailing opinion in the community is, with regards to the pros and cons of using images or graphics in teaching and research statements for academic job applications. I sometimes feel that schematics, or graphics can help explain information better - and hence am often tempted to use them. However, most statements have a page/word limit on them - hence creating possible formatting and content issues.
Looking forward to some perspectives here, and I believe the discussions help prospective job applicants (like me).
Thanks a lot.
# Answer
The foundation of this decision really mirrors the one we have to make when writing a scientific article; the overarching question is: does the visual do more than words given the same amount of area on the paper? If it does, it's usually a good sign to at least try inserting the work into the text and then perhaps circulate the piece among peers as a litmus test.
As a member in a hiring committee, I seldom see visuals, but we did hire a person two years ago who used a bar graph to indicate her course evaluation scores, which was quite impressive. Looking back, I think I'd probably lay out my evaluation as follows:
**Does the candidate make that visual?** Among many possible visuals, I'd probably prefer those made by (or designed/inspired by) the candidate. Say, if the author has developed a new health promotion theory that was published, it'd be great to see that expressed in a graph (which is common in health promotion theory.) On the contrary, if the candidate has been working on designing promotion based on a pre-existing theory proposed by someone else, then I'd perhaps not recommend plugging that graph into the research strategy (in that case I would think a citation or mentioning of the original author's name would do the work just fine), unless the said concept is extremely new or novel.
**Does the context call for a visual?** Some research interests are heavily related to data visualization. For example, if the candidate has extensive experience in applying geographic information system (GIS) to solve research questions, then perhaps attaching a map that published by the candidate is a reasonable demonstration. Another example is field work photos. If you have extensive field research experience, it may also be nice to plug in a representative picture. (Be very explicit about having photo release or permission in the image caption, especially if your picture shows faces of your study participants or minors.)
**Is the visual well designed?** Now this is what I consider a *much more severe risk* than going over page limit. By attaching a visual you're also presenting another array of techniques and experiences for evaluation. Yet, criticisms targeting at visuals are, in my opinion, a lot more varying (and something conflicting), compared to those received by written words; this is probably due to acceptably clear grammatical rules for words do exist, but not for visuals. This is not to discourage you from adding a visual even the situation calls for, but to remind all of us to be cautious about the design and adherence to the principles of graphical excellence.
Volumes and volumes were written on graphical excellence, but I would suggest at the very least thumb through William Cleveland's *Visualizing Data* and Edward Tufte's *The Visual Display of Quantitative Information* and try to pick and adopt whatever applicable to your work.
More obscure things to pay attention to include: i) Does the image have enough resolution to be printed out nicely? ii) Is the resolution of the image so high that the document's size has become gigantic (e.g. more than 10 Mb)? iii) Would the image be eligible if the committee member prints out the document in black and white?
**Closing remarks** I don't think I can give a definite yes or no. Adding visuals can be a high risk, high return decision and the chance of success is highly contextual. As someone who is passionate about data visualization, I'd perhaps suggest to stay true to yourself and feel free to experiment a little. If you feel that the visuals really represent your idea and work much better than words, by all means plug in one or two; break the rule a little bit while having some fun expressing yourself. Solicit feedback from peers and advisers to make sure they generally get your ideas.
> 2 votes
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Tags: career-path, graphics, faculty-application, teaching-statement
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thread-2920
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2920
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Is it fair to organize conferences in beautiful tourist places?
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2012-08-21T08:47:48.217
|
# Question
Title: Is it fair to organize conferences in beautiful tourist places?
Sometimes I receive some emails to attend scientific conferences organized in beautiful tourist places.
For example, recently I got a message for a conference in the wonderful Italian Cinque Terre, that was promoting both the conference scientific relevance and the beauty of the city locations. Or, another time, I received a message that invited me to attend a conference in the marvelous mountains of Bardonecchia next winter. In this case, the mail said that organizers would provide a ski pass for skiing activities for any participant.
These kind of conferences leaves me quite doubtful.
The aim of the organizers is obvious: to sum up the beauty of the places to the scientific importance of the conference, to convince more people to attend. **But is it fair?**
I'm wondering: is it right to organize conferences in wonderful places, to make people coming more for the beauty of the places than for the scientific relevance of the event?
Should not a conference be attended **just and only** for the scientific relevance?
Does it have to be necessarily a **partial vacation** for attendees?
# Answer
> 29 votes
Fairness is not a point at all in the organisation of conferences. The goals of the organisers of an event (scientific or not) is to have as much incentive as possible for people to come. Indeed, most of the time, the organisation part has to be done *before* knowing the exact number of attendees, and the organisers still need to cover the expenses in terms of room rental, catering, etc. There are many ways to attract researchers for a conference:
* Organise a high quality conference, where the scientific interest alone make it worth to come.
* Select a "paradise" location, such that the attendees can just show up for their session, and then relax on the beach or on the ski slopes.
* Select an "interesting" location, where people wouldn't go normally in vacation, but that could be a good opportunity.
* Select a quiet place, with few distractions, allowing the attendees to focus as much as possible on work. The Dagstuhl seminars are quite famous for that.
* Select a conveniently located place, such that it will be easy (and cheap) for many attendees to come.
* Select a "cheap" place, for instance by organising during summer in a university, where you get the rooms for free, and where housing can be cheap. It can be a nice way to attract many students.
Clearly, in general, it's a mix of those, and you can't maximise all of them. And then, as aeismail said, it's a matter of whether you can get funding to attend the conference. But the question of whether is fair or not is not really relevant.
EDIT: I have rephrased the answer following David's comment. Clearly, an important point is that there is always a targeted audience for any event. If you want to organise a conference on an extremely specific topic, maybe there are only 20 researchers who could be interested. The job of the organisers is therefore to find the best way to attract as many as possible from these 20. I also want to make the difference between the *reason* behind organising an event, e.g., advance science, create collaboration, make money (for some scam conf) and the goals to reach in terms of organisation.
# Answer
> 25 votes
I would argue that so-called "travel junkets"—such as conferences with dubious scientific or technical content—that are organized in exotic locales *more* to provide a vacation for attendees than to provide a rewarding scientific exchange are largely indefensible, and I certainly would not authorize use of my group's travel funds to attend such conferences, either for myself or for my group members.
However, I see nothing wrong with combining a high-quality scientific program with pleasant surroundings and environments that make attending more of a pleasure. Academics are humans, too, and can certainly enjoy aesthetics and exploration just as much as anybody else! For instance, I much prefer attending conferences in cities like Boston or San Francisco in the US than I do conferences in (for example) Cincinnati or Salt Lake City, because of the range of things to do and see in the former cities is so much greater than in the latter. That doesn't mean I won't go to the latter—but it does mean that the conference will have to do a better job of selling itself than one that's located somewhere more "interesting."
# Answer
> 5 votes
Often a “beautiful tourist place”
* Has cheap flights to it.
* Has cheap hotels.
* Has lots of flights to it.
Even for conferences that only have people from the UK going, it can often be more cost effective to run them outside of the UK.
But even given the above, it can be a problem being seen to be going if public funds are paying.
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Tags: ethics, conference, travel
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thread-35311
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35311
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Is there a trollish/novelty/esoteric citation style?
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2015-01-06T06:44:31.803
|
# Question
Title: Is there a trollish/novelty/esoteric citation style?
In programming, there are these so-called "esoteric programming languages" like "LOLCODE" or "Shakespeare," which really have pretty much zero usefulness. They are just kind of a novelty, or if a computer science professor is feeling like being particularly obnoxious he can choose it as the language for one of his assignments.
I was wondering if there is anything similar for citation styles. Citation styles are a "language" of sorts, and in principle you could have the analog of "LOLCODE" for making citations. I have never heard of such a thing, and I was considering inventing one---you know, something for a Humanities professor to require if they are feeling like being particularly obnoxious---but I wanted to make sure that such a thing didn't already exist.
# Answer
May I humbly suggest footnote labyrinths?
Alt text: Every time you read this mouseover, toggle between interpreting nested footnotes as footnotes on footnotes and interpreting them as exponents (minus one, modulo 6, plus 1).
> 9 votes
# Answer
Off the top of my head, an esoteric citation style would be one that uses exclusively doi and/or ISBN numbers instead of author-year or similar styles ---e.g., "as doi:16.1244/0979e.98 says in his reply to 12-9809-090-09..."
> 7 votes
# Answer
The syntax of `.bst` files (bibtex style files) is obscure enough to be borderline to an esoteric programming language, in my opinion. Example here.
<sup><sub>(And don't get me started on TeX error messages...)</sub></sup>
> 5 votes
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Tags: citations, code, citation-style
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thread-35356
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35356
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Is it rude to forward an email message to the original recipient if they did not respond?
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2015-01-06T18:12:09.877
|
# Question
Title: Is it rude to forward an email message to the original recipient if they did not respond?
If an email message sent to one's professor is not answered promptly, is it rude to forward it without comment to the original recipient as a reminder? If so, how long should one wait before doing so? Assume the professor is teaching a class the sender is taking.
# Answer
On the whole, I'd say "yes, this is a rude way to send a reminder to a non-peer."
The premises are tricky: what is "prompt" to one person is not to another, and not everyone checks (work-related) email at every available opportunity. E.g., some seem to only go through email once a day, on weekdays, or even less often.
There is the other issue about acknowledgement of receipt, even if one's response will be delayed.
But/and if one is teaching a course with 30 or 100 or 250 students, individual responses to daily can be a time-consuming occupation... so that "acknowledgement of receipt" becomes unappealing and an arguable waste of time... if a proper understanding can be reached.
I've tried to cultivate in my students a sense that emails should have a "greeting", a "body", and a "closing", much as old-timey paper letters did... if only so that one can tell whether a thing was mis-sent and/or truncated, not to mention some overt acknowledgement of the identity and dignity of the recipient.
So, if *I* were to receive a fowarded copy of an email that had already been sent to me, I would consider it quite rude, yes. I do attempt to respond within a few hours of receipt of all email, even if only to acknowledge receipt. Whether or not I had done so, I'd view a merely-forwarded email as uncivil, apart from issues about peer-or-not.
> 7 votes
# Answer
I would be at a minimum annoyed and further less receptive in such a situation where someone would send a plain forward of an already sent email.
On the other hand, when I need to take such action, I do not send a plain forward but instead I assume the recipient took knowledge of the original email, and add some recent relevant developments (eg: since our last exchange, two new students joined our team efforts and work is really being done. Regarding the original email, everything still stand, please give us an update whenever you can...) or something to that effect
> 5 votes
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Tags: etiquette, email
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thread-35306
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35306
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What steps can faculty and staff take to promote excellence in, and importance of, teaching?
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2015-01-06T05:05:07.990
|
# Question
Title: What steps can faculty and staff take to promote excellence in, and importance of, teaching?
**tl;dr**
Faculty don't think teaching is as important as their other responsibilities; how do we change that?
**Long version**
I've been working in academia for a long time and whenever I see instructors half-assing their teaching the go to excuses are that they have no time, or that it doesn't get any respect/grants/promotion/tenure/etc. I don't doubt they're busy, and I know departments don't typically reward teaching excellence (or punish teaching mediocrity...) but the students are suffering as a result.
How can we (faculty that care about teaching and staff supporting faculty) change this situation? What can we do short-term to make faculty care about teaching *now* and what can we do long-term to make departments care about excellence in teaching, and not just in research?
*Note:* I'm aware research brings in money. Keep in mind most faculty are adjuncts who aren't doing research but still have tenured research faculty that don't care about teaching as their role models.
# Answer
> 27 votes
Putting in place a better system for evaluating teaching than today's student evaluation forms would be a good start. Getting serious about the assessment of student learning outcomes (rather than simply assigning grades) would also be extremely helpful.
# Answer
> 9 votes
**Step 0:** Talk to/with existing faculty. How do they view their teaching skill, it's relative importance, motivation to do better, what do they think would improve their own teaching and/or the teaching of others? I would hope the actual people on the ground know a thing or two more than some random fool on the internet (such as myself).
**Step 0b:** Probably prioritize what people actually think at your institution over what I'll say below. Further, educated people are generally incredibly resistant to having random diktats imposed on them (and professors who are renowned for valuing their positions autonomy all the more so), so you'll need people to buy into things and embrace things. That takes some great implementation skill, diplomacy, and care - good advice followed poorly is rarely a boon. But with that said...
**Step 1:** Clearly, effectively communicate what is valued in the department/institution - to existing faculty, students, prospective faculty, and the world at large.
**Step 2:** Actually value those things - don't just pay them lip-service. Are meaningful teaching awards given? Are special posts/chairs given for teaching excellence, with funding and reduced other-than-teaching workloads optionally reduced? Can a person be a great teacher and a not-so-good researcher and expect to be respected and have job security comparable to a star researcher who can barely teach at all? Research/grants are often tied to equipment, labs, funding for students/assistants/projects - must teaching be solely it's own reward at your institution?
**Step 3:** Measure what's important. Is a respected teaching-quality rating system in place to poll students before/during/after courses, program entrance/graduation, etc? How do you know who is doing a great job and who's doing a bad one? Do people even know if they are doing a good job? Does everyone else know who's doing great things? Is student success/learning solely the responsibility of individual faculty to determine and measure - as though assessment were somehow trivial and easy to do - and thus one class/semester/teacher cannot be meaningfully compared or evaluated? Tight feedback loops are necessary for flow experiences and improvement - tighten the loop.
**Step 4:** Provide mechanisms for improvement. Feedback from students, constructive advice/encouragement/criticism from senior faculty - especially previously identified great teachers, funding for workshops/conferences specifically about education/pedagogy/teaching, bringing in outside faculty/speakers to speak and hold workshops, etc. Teaching is a skill, just like researching - it must be learned. As some people have very little teaching experience (sometimes having won fellowships that exempted them from teaching), it is generally unwise to just cross your fingers and pray people figure it out on their own.
**Step 5:** At the end of a semester/year, appraise the situation. What is going well, and what isn't? Make a plan to do better next year, implement the plan, and follow up again next semester/year. Do it again. And again. And again. There are no real shortcuts, just consistent hard work performed by many, repeatedly, over a stretch of time.
**Step 6:** Align decisions at ever greater (and lesser) levels to match what is truly valued. Student selection, graduate program admittance, postdoc positions, faculty hiring, tenure decisions - if teaching isn't important to the department/institution, it is strange to expect it to be treated as though it were actually important none the less. This doesn't necessarily have to mean everyone must be amazing teachers or else - just that it must be a factor that really does matter and holds value.
**Warning:** *Anything that hints of punishment, job insecurity, lack of respect, or unpleasantness will lead to both intentional and unintentional gaming/sabotage/resistance to any process of improvement or assessment. Trust is valuable, hard to build, and incredibly easy to lose.*
In the end, some people are naturally motivated and take it upon themselves to be better and better teachers. For those people you likely need only give them what they need and don't step on them or get in their way. But social systems are powerful, and can rob people of their desire and motivation just as they can encourage the better angels of our nature and inspire us. It must then be decided what system you have now, and what are you willing to and able to do about it?
# Answer
> 8 votes
You don't hire people who don't take teaching seriously, and if you do happen to hire them accidentally, you deny them tenure and kick them out.
More generally, you reward those who take teaching seriously and/or punish those who don't. This means you give the former time (by reducing the number of classes they have to teach), money (by paying them more, giving them department funds for research, whatever), and/or other perks (nice office, free parking pass, first dibs on teaching the particular classes they'd most like to teach, whatever), and you don't give those things to the latter.
# Answer
> 7 votes
The fundamental problem is that research and teaching are two *entirely* different skills. Imagine you're hiring a chef who is also expected to spend a third of his or her time waiting tables; the simple fact of reality is that specially talented individuals will rarely excel at both of these tasks.
You can't *convince* a professor to be a better teacher than they are - most simply do not have the personality type, passion, inclination, or even inherent capacity to be excellent teachers. They haven't trained those skills nor have they required them to get to their current position in life. It isn't what they were hired for, it isn't what they are good at, and it isn't what they have spent their lives wanting and learning to do. Professors are hired to perform and manage research activities and are only incidentally required to also perform *custodial* teaching duties. They would likely also do a terrible job if you required them to pitch in cooking lunch in the cafeteria twice a week.
At least in my part of the world, secondary school teachers are not even allowed to apply for a job without an appropriate degree in education. This is to say that, in addition to having the required qualifications in the subject that they are teaching they are also required to be qualified *teachers*. I see higher education eventually following a similar model - as teaching becomes more important, professorship *must* eventually branch into two or three largely separate streams.
With specialization being so critical in almost every other professional activity it is almost unbelievable that professorship is such a haphazard occupation. While the training and demonstrated excellence for the position is almost entirely based on research and scientific acumen, professors are nevertheless required to also perform at least two entirely different functions - teaching and management. Surely some PhDs would love to only teach while others would love to devote entirely to research. Likewise, how many late-career professors could continue to produce invaluable research if not burdened by the need to both teach and project-manage a large research group; the very skill they excel at is squandered while their time is occupied performing things they are often neither good at nor that they enjoy.
If you want good teachers, hire teachers to teach. If you want good researchers, hire researchers to research. If you want well managed research groups, hire managers to manage them. If you want chaos and headaches, pick some clever boffins and get them to juggle it all at once. Occasionally you will get lucky and find professors who are excellent researchers, excellent teachers, and excellent managers but, in my experience, these are very rare creatures indeed. Higher education would do well to reconsider its organizational hierarchy, I think.
# Answer
> 1 votes
In a nutshell: **Competition** between departments for students and funding can be one of the important reasons to cause departments to care about the quality of teaching.
I give the following anecdote to illustrate the above principle.
In my undergrad institution, which is outside the US and is fairly large (~30 K undergrads), the introductory math classes taken by engineering students were taught by professors in the math department.
I had heard from people in the math department that some in the engineering department wanted to teach the classes themselves, so as to gain more funding and be able to hire more headcount (faculty). Because the math department did not want to lose this funding and headcount to the engineering department they sent their best teaching professors to teach the intro math courses. This allowed the math department to defend their position and say, "We're doing a good job teaching this course, as evidenced by good teaching evaluations, so why should you rock the boat?"
# Answer
> -3 votes
Much mention has been made of Reward for good teaching, but I would like to suggest an old fashioned and out-of-date idea: Punishment. If someone fails to deliver on their contracted responsibilities to the agreed quality and standards, then they need to face the consequences of their actions and decisions, resulting if necessary in formal disciplinary proceedings. It is not like their students are going to get another chance, so why should the teachers?
However, this means taking responsibility for setting those standards and auditing progress to ensure that they are met, which is something most facilities seem reluctant to do.
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Tags: teaching, professorship, tenure-track, administration, adjunct-faculty
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thread-35363
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35363
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Should I mention that I am interested in developing bioinformatics tools in my SOP for a "Software Development/Engineering" Master's program?
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2015-01-06T20:28:02.357
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# Question
Title: Should I mention that I am interested in developing bioinformatics tools in my SOP for a "Software Development/Engineering" Master's program?
The program I am applying for is "Software Engineering/Development" master's program, I am really interested in this field of study, and I have already mentioned in my SOP that I wish to follow the studies up with a PhD and then want to have a career as a professional programmer. With all that being said, is there any need to give specific examples of what I can and want to potentially do when I become a programming expert? For example, developing bioinformatics tools really amazes me, should I mention that just as an example of what I would like to do during my career as a programmer?
# Answer
Put yourself into the shoes of who should decide to select you or other applicants for this program. Will she/he be interested of what you are going to do after the Master program?
Also, if you really like bioinformatics, probably you should approach it more from scientist point of view than a software developer point of view. You should already have a strong base on biology, molecular biology, genetics and proteomics to start to develop new algorithms that give a substantial contribution in the field.
> 1 votes
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Tags: masters, statement-of-purpose
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thread-35376
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35376
|
Do I need to send two official copies of toefl/gre scores to a US school?
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2015-01-07T01:41:10.217
|
# Question
Title: Do I need to send two official copies of toefl/gre scores to a US school?
I'm applying two programs in different departments in one university simultaneously. One department has a department code and the other has not. Do I need to send two official copies of toefl/gre scores to the university?
# Answer
Send the e-mail directly to the university asking for the related problem/confusion. Every university is ready to help with these type of queries. Send one email to admission director, or call their admission office. You will get the best clarification directly from the source because admission director will be the person reviewing your application!
> 3 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, united-states, gre, language-exams, toefl
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thread-35349
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35349
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Is it wise to resubmit a substantially revised version of my writing sample that has already been submitted for phd applications review?
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2015-01-06T17:21:36.487
|
# Question
Title: Is it wise to resubmit a substantially revised version of my writing sample that has already been submitted for phd applications review?
My applications for doctoral programs have been submitted. But during this period, I have made a major revision of my submitted writing sample.
My question is: Is it fine to resubmit this revised writing sample to the schools I am applying to?
# Answer
One of three things will happen, depending on how far past the deadline you are and on the application management system used:
1. The graduate school will reject it without forwarding it to the departmental admissions committee. See Plan B below.
2. It'll be forwarded as supplementary information rather than replacing the original writing sample. Some faculty will see it, some won't get that far in your file since these are usually last in the packet.
3. It'll replace your original sample.
You don't have much to lose, so why not send it in and see?
-=-=-=
PLAN B
If the graduate school rejects your submission AND you've already been corresponding with a faculty member who would likely be your advisor AND those interactions have been positive, then you could suggest to that person that you could provide them a revised sample to share with other faculty.
If I were that faculty member AND if I thought your candidacy were strong AND my departmental and university regulations did not forbid out of channel submissions, then I might accept it that way.
A lot of ifs with Plan B.
> 1 votes
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions, application
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thread-16265
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16265
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"You are paid to answer my questions!" - how to handle silly questions?
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2014-01-28T16:53:53.967
|
# Question
Title: "You are paid to answer my questions!" - how to handle silly questions?
How do I handle silly questions? By silly, I mean questions that are unrelated to the material of the course.
First, I am a TA. Recently, a student asked me a very silly question at the end of a lab session. I say silly because:
1. it was not related to the lecture,
2. it was asked at the end of a lecture - and the classroom was already full with the students of the next class, and
3. I have previously talked about this issue.
The student insisted that I answer his question many times. So, I told him: "*It is already late, but let me know about your question*" .. when he asked it, I told him: "*You can't be serious, this is not a question!*"
He got upset, and he told me: "*You are paid to answer my questions!*"
I got angry, but how should I handle similar situations?
"I have previously talked about this issue." -- Yes, I talked about this issue even though it is not part of the course and the lecture. I talked about it to add more applications to the course material.
# Answer
> I got angry, but. . how should I handle similar situations?
Got angry? No good!
You're not necessarily paid to answer his question but you are paid to help advance knowledge and learning.
Unfortunately, the tone of your answer doesn't let us know exactly how "silly" the question was (was it silly because it was personal question that had no bearing on the course? Was it silly because it was not relevant to the course material but possibly relevant to the overall subject? Was it silly because you had already covered the material in class? Was it silly because he was asking at the end of the lab session?) so unfortunately the exact way in which to respond might vary, but you might try:
1. If it's a matter of time and you can't answer it because you have to clear the room, tell him, "Give me a few minutes to pack up my things to get out of the classroom." Clear the room, entertain question.
2. If it's a matter of you having another appointment, then get him to submit the question over email or in writing or before next class.
3. If it's silly because it's not related to the lecture, I usually do my best to entertain these kinds of questions because it sometimes means the student is interested in other topics around the material. If my class is on object-oriented design and programming in Java, but the student asks me about "how can you use design in procedural programming languages like C?" I'd probably give some ideas on how it could apply to that situation.
4. If it's a personal question that you don't want to answer, you can say, "I don't feel comfortable answering that", "It's none of your business", "I can't talk about this", or similar.
5. If it's a stupid question because it's sooooo obvious or because you covered it before, then, sorry, it's not a silly question but is something the student needs explanations for. Get him to visit you over office hours for extra help.
6. If it's a matter of the student talking on and wasting time with questions, then you can ask the student politely to keep questions for after the class. If the student is trolling you with questions and is otherwise being a nuisance this option usually works as well.
Yes, it is rude for him to declare "You are paid to answer my questions!" but it's also rude to say that "Your question is silly". You are the teacher, the role model, the example, so you should be more patient with them than they are with you. Besides, if you tell them you'll answer it later, you can simply say, "Just wait - I haven't answered your question *yet*."
> 178 votes
# Answer
> "you can't be serious, this is not a question!"
Don't say this. Regardless of the question, this makes it sound like you think the student is either (1) intentionally wasting time or (2) very stupid. You can't make progress from there.
Next, if it's a quick question that's related to the topic of the course, but not the lecture necessarily, then the best thing to do is to take a moment to answer it anyway, since (1) the student might think the two things are related and it'll clarify things if you just explain it now, and (2) it'll be much less hassle that way.
If it requires an in-depth explanation, and you don't have the time for it because you have something else to attend to, tell the student that and also find the student a solution, whether that is telling him/her (1) to email you, (2) to ask you at the next lab, or (3) to ask the lecturer during office hours.
> 93 votes
# Answer
To add to waiwai's excellent response, a good model to follow for TA's and faculty alike is professionalism. All too often, academics behave in an arrogant and demeaning manner.
How would you feel if your doctor told you "you can't be serious, this is not a question!"? What about your lawyer?
> 25 votes
# Answer
First, I'll assume that the student did actually ask a very silly question.
One thing that needs to be always taken into consideration in situations such as this is: Is the student aware of the silliness of the question?
While it may be obvious to you that the question is indeed silly, it may not be obvious to the student. You haven't posted any in-depth information about the whole background of the case, but it could very well be that the student is misunderstanding something extremely fundamental. You claim that the question is not related to the lecture, but at the same time, you say that you have in fact previously talked about the issue. In student's mind, that could somehow relate the issue to the lecture.
One more thing that could be very problematic is if student has a flawed thought process. This can cause the student to relate things that are not actually related and to find cause and effect relationships where there are none.
For example, due to administrative problems at my university, we were required to take an advanced course in one field before taking an introductory course. I already had some experience in that field, so a number of my fellow students asked me questions when they had problems with that exam. Some of them were actually very silly! Often, the silliest were for me the hardest to explain since that required figuratively digging through their brain in order to find the cause of the reasoning that got them to ask me the question in the first place. It often turned out that there was a mistake in reasoning somewhere or that they misunderstood something at a very basic level. One more thing that I noticed is that some people would try to avoid fully understanding the issue. Often, after explaining A for example, I'd have conversation going something like "Is A clear?" "Yes!" "Really?" "Yes, really." "100% clear?" "Yes, crystal clear!" and then it turns out that it wasn't clear.
Just explaining the initial problem and stopping there in cases such as the one I mentioned in the previous paragraph is just treating the symptoms of a disease and not the cause itself.
Another thing I'd like to mention is that (at least in my environment) those who ask questions do actually care about the subject they're learning and in general have a valid problem. It's usually those who don't ask questions that have no idea what's going on.
Next, I'll write a bit about "You're paid" problem itself.
It's commonly repeated that there are no bad questions, only bad answers. In my opinion, whoever produced that piece of wisdom didn't see enough questions.
You need to make a policy explaining what you should do in cases of inappropriate questions. Are you or are you not payed (or for some other reason expected) to answer such questions? What should you do in case you get a student who's too stupid to pass the course you're TA-ing for? What about students who can't form an answerable question in their mind? What about students who ask malicious questions? I was quite surprised to hear from one student at my school that he asks a certain TA senseless questions just because he like to see her struggle to answer them.
Only thing I can advise here is to think hard about what you are and are not expected to do. Talk to your colleagues about that and talk to your superiors about that. Make the limits clear to yourself and to your students. This way, when you come to a similar situation again and you explore all other options, you can honestly and with clear consciousness respond to "You are paid to answer my questions!" with "No, I'm not!"
Finally, I'd like to recommend to you to keep the tension low if at all possible. In this particular case, you mentioned that the student insisted that you answer the question many times. That probably means that the question is important to him. Is it normal that students should ask you more than once to answer a question? Is that expected in your culture? I never had to ask a professor or a TA question more than once in during my whole education so far. You provided an answer that upset the student. Were you aware that the student would be upset by such answer? If you were, think about why you gave that answer. Was that student confrontational before? Does he ask too many questions? Were you having a bad day? Did you give such an answer just because the student asked at an inappropriate time?
> 24 votes
# Answer
I don't care how smart you are or how much of a rockstar you are in your field. You can be the most brilliant physicist on the planet, but you shouldn't be teaching PHYS 1101 if you can't convey basic information in a professional way to an *uneducated* audience. I emphasize "uneducated", because that's what your audience is. They don't know anything. It's your job to turn someone who knows *nothing* into someone who knows *something*. That's what being a professor is about (and, by extension, what's expected of you as a TA in a teaching position).
It may not be easy all the time to do this. Teaching is a skill just like anything else. Having knowledge doesn't mean having the ability to convey it effectively.
> My question is briefly, how to handle silly questions? By silly, I mean questions that are unrelated to the material of the course.
I find it very hard to believe that a student came up to you randomly at the end of a lecture and asked you about something that is utterly unrelated to the course work. If you teach math, I'm fairly confident a student didn't approach you asking about the digestion mechanisms of an African elephant. Let's say you're a TA for MATH 1101 and going over basic calculus, and they ask you a question about geometry. To *you*, who supposedly understands all of this stuff, their question may appear completely unrelated and off-topic. But they *don't know any better*. If the question genuinely is outside the scope of the course, explain to them *why* that's the case. "Well, you see, quadratic formulas are actually only very loosely related to differential calculus, so your question is a bit outside of the scope of this course. You'll learn more about that in MATH 1103."
> He got upset, and he told me: "You are paid to answer my questions!" ... I got angry \[...\]
It's not unreasonable to get angry when people verbally attack you or your profession, but as a teacher in any capacity, like it or not, a big part of your job is essentially *human relations*. You aren't there to sit at a podium and rant about whatever your little heart desires. You're there to *convey information* to people. Human beings. Each of whom has their own ways of learning, their own things they think are important, their own philosophies, their own lives. It's your job to actually *connect* with them and get something you're saying into their skulls. It's a skill of *human interaction*. So while you're free to experience whatever emotion you want, you must always still act in a *professional manner* toward your students. It's part of your responsibilities. It doesn't matter if you think your student is a rotten turd; you degrade yourself, your department, and your entire institution by *treating* him that way. Again, if you don't think you can handle dealing with people on a day-to-day basis, and thus with the inevitable conflict, go back into research or leave academia entirely.
Here's an example of how to handle conflict in a professional manner: "I'm sorry that you're frustrated. I have another lecture to give right now, but why don't you come to my office hours or send me an e-mail so that we can discuss this further? If I can't resolve your issue, you may have to go see Professor So-and-so, as he has more knowledge and experience than I do."
Part of the issue is that you've come here asking for advice and have given absolutely *no* detail about your problem except that a student asked you a question after a lecture which you thought was stupid. So all anyone can do is conjecture and try to make assumptions based on their own experience. If the goal of your question is genuinely to handle these kinds of situations effectively and to become a better teacher (and not just to rant about a student you dislike, as seems to be the case), how could you possibly expect to get a decent answer with the information you've provided? How would *you* answer such a question?
Actually, I think we already have the answer to that; you'd just tell them:
> "You can't be serious, this is not a question!"
> 24 votes
# Answer
> A student, recently, asked me at the end of a lab session, a very silly question. I say silly because:
> 1) it is not related to the lecture,
> 2) it is asked at the end of a lecture - and the class room was already full with the students of the next class, and
> 3) I have previously talked about this issue.
I don't see how any of these make the question "silly."
> 1) It is not related to the lecture
It might be a silly question if it was not related to the **course material** (I once had a student ask me about my favorite flavor of Jell-O, for example), but not all questions need to be related to the **lecture**. Part of teaching is synthesizing concepts. I hope you don't compartmentalize your lessons so much that you wouldn't answer a question about Lecture 3 during or after Lecture 6.
> 2) it is asked at the end of a lecture - and the class room was already full with the students of the next class
I don't see how this makes a question "silly." At worst, the timing is bad. Why not just step into the hallway and answer the question? Or, if you don't have time for that, ask the student to visit during an office hour? Or start your next lecture by answering that question?
> 3) I have previously talked about this issue.
This is one is most alarming in my mind. So, you talk about an issue, and you expect every student will understand it completely, the first time through, and never ask for it to be explained a second or third time?
I agree that students can be stubborn and selfish and have a sense of entitlement. But professors can also be arrogant and condescending and not have a very good grasp of pedagogy and andragogy.
Which is the case here? I believe that some standardized tests have an answer that goes something like, "Not enough information given." A student telling an instructor, "You are paid to answer my question!" seems like a naïve view of academia, particularly if the question isn't relevant. However, your definition of a "silly" question leaves plenty of room for the student to be making a valid point. If the question is related to the course, then you *should* answer that question – even if the room is full, and you have talked about it before.
> 20 votes
# Answer
This strikes me as a poorly titled question since the key issue is not the student's behaviour but yours.
Have you ever wondered why "there are no silly questions" is such a widespread position? It's not because there are no silly questions, we know perfectly well that there are, just as we know that there are students who will ask questions they could answer themselves if they'd simply bothered to listen and some students who are thicker than too short planks.
So why say "there are no silly questions"? Because there's a much bigger problem with students who *should* ask questions not asking those questions and thus not getting the information they need than there is with students asking silly questions. By adopting and respecting the position that "there are no silly questions" you help create an environment in which students feel free to ask their questions and thus create a more positive and helpful learning environment for all.
Your student shouldn't have said that to you; but you behaved badly first and you're the one who is supposed to be a professional not them.
> 11 votes
# Answer
> “You are paid to answer my questions!”
Actually, you are paid to do something rather more subtle than that. You see, contrary to common belief, the students are not your customers. Or at least they are not your only customers.
You are paid to help students to learn *and* to evaluate that learning and certify it as acceptable *only* if it meets certain standards (which are set by the customs of your discipline and the expectations of people who will be looking at the credentials that the school does issue and are enforced by the accreditation agencies).
So answering their questions is a part of your job, but so is knowing which question are meaningful or helpful.
None of which really illuminates what you should do when confronted by this student, but it does provide a better framework for understanding your job than the one suggested by the student.
> 8 votes
# Answer
Technically the student is wrong regarding the payment part. You are not paid to answer any question at any time. And I'd be more interested in how to handle impolite students/clients, if this is the case, than in the silliness of their questions.
However, I doubt that your account is accurate. At one place you claim that you have already dealt with the issue during the lecture and at another you claim it was not related. Besides that, you find it acceptable to post the reaction of the student, but do not find acceptable to disclose what question he asked, which would have been essential to know how to react towards it.
So:
If the question has a truly obvious answer, or if the student is truly lost, follow a Socratic approach, asking questions to make him realize how easy would have been to him to know the answer. This part is probably somehow related to your job, which is to educate people.
> 3 votes
# Answer
If a question in itself makes no sense, try to think about the motivation behind the question. Answer the question behind the question. Just because someone is bad at phrasing a good question doesn't mean that he's not worthy of an answer.
There are however cases when you don't want to invest the time to help a particular individual at a particular time. In that case I would simply say: "I need a moment of rest to be at my mental peak at my next lecture. If the question is important to you, come back at office hours."
In general, if you don't want to answer a question at a particular time don't say: "It is already late, but let me know about your question."
> 3 votes
# Answer
**never become angry in the class.**
I teach in 13 classes and this is my experiences :
1. the meaning of being angry is your mind does not work at the moment and you can not handle the situation. so better that our mind tell us what to do than our emotions.
2. by being angry we just show students our week point. and that decrees their respect to their teacher.
3. one example :
Once in one of my classes I said something and the student told me "**...that is silly work**" . For the moment all of students become quite to see what is my response . they watch me and my face to find any distortion or loosing my control. they all know he said very bad things but they just wait to see my reaction.
**WHAT I DID ?**
For the moment less than 2 second I become quite and I said "**...OK what is the next part of algorithm ...**"
other students reaction after my word :
1. they all laugh him. because with any word I told him "**Your idea is not so important which I should care about** "
2. I see the other student trust me more. I see that.
> 3 votes
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Tags: teaching, teaching-assistant, answering-questions
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thread-35350
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35350
|
Why might my tutors from several years ago not respond to my email request for a meeting?
|
2015-01-06T17:22:30.307
|
# Question
Title: Why might my tutors from several years ago not respond to my email request for a meeting?
It has been 3 years since I contacted my former school tutors. During the past few days in New Year, I wrote 7 emails to them (with contents as shown below), but I have received only one reply.
> Dear XXX, Happy New Year. My name is XXX, and then year of graduation, student ID... During the xxx course, I had learnt... I hope you can arrange a time for a meeting with me... closing greeting Kitty
I am thinking if my tutors have marked my email as spams.
# Answer
> 3 votes
The absence of a response can be because of several reasons. Your mail can indeed end up as spam but it is usually the e-mail system that sorts it there automatically, not the person. Sending additional mails will then be pointless unless the recipient actually goes through the spam folder to look for erroneously sorted mails.
A more likely reason for the lack of response is a matter of priority. I think etiquette would dictate at least a brief answer to the effect that the mail was received but cannot be followed up. You are requesting something that is a personal favour to you. As such, and as has been commented, it is only fair and indeed professional to provide a short and clear statement of the purpose of the meeting. After all to meet someone during work hours better be about something work related.
The tutors have probably also tutored many others. From their perspective, you, without any derogatory intent, will be one of many. I often get requests from students who apparently think that because they are out of the program they should be "friends" with me. I would end up with many such "friends" but none that would have any significance either professionally not privately. Hence there is an unbalance between how your tutor has meant something for you and what you have meant to the tutor. This is built into this sort of relationship. Hence, you need to look at the formal role of both parties and evaluate if your reason for contacting the tutors is mostly a professional issue or a private issue. In the latter case, the response may be less than what you would wish for. If your cause is professional, you are far more likely to get a timely and satisfactory reply.
---
Tags: etiquette, email
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thread-35373
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35373
|
Choosing a PhD field, based on short term or long term decision?
|
2015-01-07T00:12:19.843
|
# Question
Title: Choosing a PhD field, based on short term or long term decision?
I saw already questions regarding field choice, but they do not explicitly answer this question :
*Choosing a PhD by following short term interest or following the long term vague idea of what one would like to do or be in the future ?*
To explain what I mean, usually choosing a PhD field is restricting, it is harder to keep interdisciplinarity or swap of field if they are not seen as "close". One can be highly motivated by a subject A now but do not see a clear future, contrary to a second subject B a bit less motivating but where future is more predictable.
To take example in my case, I am considering two subfields of Computational Engineering : Physics-based animation in Computer Graphics and FSI in Computational Mechanics as PhD fields. Since one usually considers these two fields quite appart, I do not think I will be able to switch area after the PhD. I am motivated by the former but it is hard to catch a glimpse of future possibilities contrary to the latter because engineering seems more of a "safe" choice considering employment.
# Answer
> 1 votes
By and large, I would recommend you to go with what is more interesting to you right now. As you say yourself, nobody can predict the future, and a vague sense that your specific chosen subfield may go out of style at some point does not seem like a good enough reason to settle for your "second choice" (especially since nobody can guarantee you that the "second choice" will stay relevant).
Further, I think you are overestimating to what extend the topic of your PhD will *lock* you into a specific field. I have personally switched topics somewhat after my PhD (from distributed systems closer to software engineering), and plenty of other people have done similar switches.
Finally, in cases where a specific topic of research becomes outdated (not uncommon in Computer Science, a buzzword driven field after all), there is usually some sort of "natural progression" for the researchers involved with the topic. That is, professors that used to do a lot of grid computing research 10 years ago now publish on cloud computing, etc.
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Tags: phd, career-path, changing-fields
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thread-36394
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36394
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Can I send my accepted research paper to IEEE conferences?
|
2015-01-07T12:50:34.900
|
# Question
Title: Can I send my accepted research paper to IEEE conferences?
My paper in IEEE Transactions journal got accepted one month ago. I wonder if I can modify it a little bit (changing the test case and remove one contribution of the paper out of 3)? If yes, How much does it worth for applying for a phd?
Note: I have 2 papers in Elsevier journal and 1 in IEEE trans. I was thinking to publish something in a conference to show my interest of being amongst others in my field.
# Answer
I think 3 published papers in reputable journals (though you do not say which precisely) should more than enough to get you in a PhD program. Dome people are happy to get as much with their PhD work. But that may depend on the field.
However, publishing twice the same result, even with some cosmetic changes, is a good way not to get accepted for a PhD program, or for an academic position.
People publish far too much, and waste each other's time. We have to strive for quality, not quantity.
Now, you did not specify you field, and thing may somewhat differ according to scientific field.
In some fields, conferences are considered publications, sometimes harder on selection than (some) journals. In other fields, it is more acceptable to republish in conferences as conference papers play a minor role and are more intended as topics for meeting with colleagues, and giving introduction to your work.
The former will have more importance for your publication list, but is more demanding on originality.
The right thing to do, that will avoid any problem, bcause they will be dealt with by the program committee of the conference, is to be extremely clear as to what is already published, to make it visible and to have in the references your previous relevant publications (as well as those of other people), whether already accepted or only submitted. Then the program committee will let you know whether your submission is appropriate or not.
But do not abuse relying on the program committee, they have considerable work to do.
And always be very careful when using twice the same research results.
> 4 votes
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Tags: conference, ieee
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thread-36397
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36397
|
Research-methodology book in the form of a dialogue between professor and student
|
2015-01-07T13:21:28.040
|
# Question
Title: Research-methodology book in the form of a dialogue between professor and student
I am looking for a research-methodology book, which is in the form of a dialogue between a professor and a student. Once I had this book and it is very helpful. Unfortunately, I lost it and do not remember its title, either. Does somebody know the name of this book?
# Answer
I found it. The title is:
```
Avoiding Thesis and Dissertation Pitfalls by Thomas, R.M. and Brubaker, D.L.
```
> 3 votes
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Tags: reference-request, methodology
---
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thread-35370
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35370
|
Is it more acceptable to list interview talks on CV if they're also part of a seminar series?
|
2015-01-06T22:38:13.623
|
# Question
Title: Is it more acceptable to list interview talks on CV if they're also part of a seminar series?
Consider someone invited on a job interview (in the sciences) at a university or a national lab or something of that sort with a regular seminar series. As part of the interview, the person is asked to give a talk as part of the seminar series.
Is that appropriate for inclusion on the CV as an invited talk?
I saw one related question to this but it was different enough that it didn't really answer my question: Do presentations given during interviews count as invited talks?
However, the thread really just has a couple answers with equal support for opposite positions. The difference here is the distinction that the talk is given as part of an interview but **also** is part of a regular seminar series. I was wondering if this changed people's feelings on the matter at all.
It seems to me that any other person would list that as an invited talk. It also just seems to get grayed a bit by the fact that it is technically being used as part of a job interview.
# Answer
> 3 votes
I think there are two points of view in regards to talks related to a job search. The first is everything associated with the search should be lumped together, and if listed on your CV, it would be under something like "positions interviewed for". On my full CV, which I use for keeping track of my activities, I group positions interviewed for into off-campus and on-campus. The other approach is to separate out the "public" aspects of the job search and list them separately (e.g., under research seminars and guest teaching). I take the later approach since an issue with the former approach is that sometimes after giving a research seminar (or potentially guest teaching), you might be asked to apply for a job, which of course then blurs the lines.
In general, prior to making a campus visit, I ask for information about the audience of at the different activities (e.g., teaching demo, research talk about past research, and chalk talk about future research). The response about an activity is usually something along the lines of "it will just be the search committee" or "it is open to everyone and their might be a couple of interested undergraduates in the audience." From that I can usually decide if it is a public or private activity. Once I decide an activity is "public", I think it is not only entirely appropriate to list it the same as any other talk on your CV, but that leaving it off is misleading. I would consider it the same as if I found out someone was leaving "questionable" publications off of their CV.
# Answer
> 10 votes
> Is that appropriate for inclusion on the CV as an invited talk?
**Yes.**
If someone invited you to give a talk, then it's an invited talk. It is perfectly appropriate to list it on your CV as such.
# Answer
> 5 votes
There is no need to overthink this. Every job talk I've ever given or attended was described either as a seminar (say, a geometry seminar) or a colloquium. List it on your cv like that. There are many job talks on my cv (see my webpage), but they are indistinguishable from the rest.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Here is a possible rule of thumb: if they list your talk on the web page for the seminar series (in the list of talks given that semester), then you should not feel bad at all about listing it on your own C.V.
Personally, I would view any talk that you are invited to give that is "open the public in the way a normal talk is" to be an invited talk. But I do divide my talks into conference talks and seminars on my vita.
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Tags: cv, presentation, interview, seminars
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thread-36380
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36380
|
Will it cause problems if I publish under a different version of my name than I use in my future medical practice?
|
2015-01-07T04:57:40.247
|
# Question
Title: Will it cause problems if I publish under a different version of my name than I use in my future medical practice?
I'm a medical student who is also interested in research and scientific publishing.
Although my legal name is Asian, I go by an English name with peers and supervisors (which is not on my degrees/official school records). In the future, I will have to use just my Asian first name when I practice medicine (but this won't matter because I will just be Dr.LastName anyways).
I'm just wondering what I should be publishing under - I found that a lot of people on pubmed/GScholar share my Asian name...and with my supervisors I am known by **EnglishName-AsianName LastName**.
Will publishing under this hyphenated name pose future problems if I practice just under AsianName?
I'm thinking problems such as not being recognized in research communities, hospital affiliations with research-based hospitals, etc.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I really doubt it will cause you any problems in future.
A lot of people would change their family name as a result of marriage and even that not too terrible.
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Tags: publications, personal-name, medicine
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thread-36405
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36405
|
Reasons for dramatic differences in pay for adjuncts?
|
2015-01-07T15:51:04.677
|
# Question
Title: Reasons for dramatic differences in pay for adjuncts?
I recently came across a survey of pay for adjunct faculty at California community colleges. It doesn't surprise me that rural schools pay less than urban ones, but there are some pretty amazing discrepancies between schools that are close together geographically. For example, the highest pay for a part-timer with a PhD is 50% lower in the North Orange County district (where I'm full-time faculty) than at Mt. San Antonio College. These two schools draw students from adjoining areas, and are 25 minutes apart on the freeway. Community colleges in California basically get their money from the state's general fund these days (not from property taxes, as in the past), so funding per student should be equal.
Are these wild contrasts present all over the world, or are they a specific to community colleges in California? Why do these huge differences exist? Are they evidence that this labor market is one that economists would describe as inefficient, with people not being able to make rational choices based on accurate information? I wonder if they simply reflect the political and fiscal attitudes of the schools' boards of trustees.
related: Why is it that adjunct faculty positions pay so little?
# Answer
> 8 votes
Highest pay is probably very misleading. What's the median? The survey doesn't say, and so isn't really all that helpful..
It's entirely possible that the highest-paid part-time person at Mt. San Antonio is a doctor teaching a health science course or a lawyer teaching a business course which the North Orange County school doesn't offer, and so market forces may have dictated a higher salary to the part-time person who teaches it.
Trying to draw conclusions from the outliers in a data set is very difficult if not impossible and inadvisable at the very least.
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Tags: salary, adjunct-faculty
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thread-36414
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36414
|
How to gauge the prestige of an individual researcher when selecting a PhD advisor
|
2015-01-07T17:46:21.700
|
# Question
Title: How to gauge the prestige of an individual researcher when selecting a PhD advisor
Is there a process one could follow when assessing the prestige of a specific supervisor when evaluating PhD programs? I ask because in the academic world, the professor almost trumps the school. I am not sure if that statement holds for industry. How can one assess if the PI's reputation is large enough to offset the fact that conferring institution is not in the top 5 or ten schools for that discipline. I am aiming for of an entrepreneur/industry trajectory and in an ideal world this would not matter. I want to believe that as long as you stellar work experience, the sky is the limit. I just have in the back of my mind in a hypothetical situation where you are trying to pitch and idea for VC funding having that pedigree may be helpful.
# Answer
If you go into academia, the school where you get your PhD and the prestige of your specific advisor are about equally important. (Neither is as important as what research you actually do while completing your degree.) If you are not going into academia, then then the prestige of the school is more important. People who have PhD degreed but have been working in industry for while are probably not going to know your advisor's particular standing in the field; venture capitalists certainly will not be able to parse your advisor's standing. What these people can recognize is the prestige of the university (although not necessarily the department) where you studied.
> 5 votes
# Answer
In my opinion, the prestige of a potential supervisor in the industry (vs strictly academic) can be (rapidly) assessed by first checking his academic curriculum vitae for:
1. The committees he is part of. As an academic working with the industry, he should be involved with one or several government / industries related committees with a focus on state of the art application of the knowledge in that industry (procedures to do x,y,z) common best practices (for that field), budgeting and assigning funds, defining road-maps for the next 5, 10 years etc. I know some academics working closely with the transport industry (or government related agencies) - and in addition to the usual academic implication, they are also working actively with those instances, often have a student doing a project with those instances as well.
2. His publications : he should write or be co-author on papers/books that are recognized in his field. Often large efforts with large groups of academics. His methods/work should be found or referred in some textbooks. He should have international collaborations. Patents ?
3. Editor : is he on any editorial boards for relevant journals ?
If he is an early career academic, is he that person who is always everywhere, always organizing something, always at conferences and meeting with half a dozen presentation - this could give a hint that this person is dynamic and his career may be promising.
This information should be easy to find. If it is hard to find, this may be a flag. I would personally have a good confidence joining a researcher with at some degree meet those characteristics, even if he is not a tenure at a top university.
> 5 votes
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Tags: publications, advisor, reputation
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thread-36410
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36410
|
How to organize content of slides for a conference presentation?
|
2015-01-07T17:01:20.563
|
# Question
Title: How to organize content of slides for a conference presentation?
I am going to attend my first IEEE conference on Electronic Design/Verification and am feeling quite nervous about my first oral presentation.
I want to make sure to "sell" my point and ensure all questions are being tackled, and so I am looking for advice related to the organization of my slides. For example,
* How can the slide material complement my speaking?
* How do I ensure that the end-product is not dry/heavy?
* If my work is on for example, SRAM or Post-silicon technologies,is it recommended to begin my presentation with a foil on a collage of the latest news snippets about these topics? This could probably draw their attention rather than picking up some lines from my camera-ready's introduction section.
* Also, how many slides should I ideally allocate for each section of my paper?
I am forced to ask such "trivial" questions as my Professor is on a sabbatical currently and has little/no access to mail for the next few weeks. I have searched the Internet and found some generic advice, like "How to give a bad talk" by David Patterson.
There are some related questions on this site that do not seem to directly address how to organize the content of the slides. How to do a flawless and natural presentation? asks about becoming a more effective orator. Inspiration for great presentations asks about effective design elements (not content organization) for slides.
# Answer
> 2 votes
It is better to finish early than late (if they would let you). Do not try to say too much. Then try to be informal, to give a feeling and intuitive understanding for what you are doing. If you include an equation, you probably want to explain it informally. It is often unlikely that most people will follow details that are too technical.
Part, or all, of the presentation is really advertising for the paper. Make then understand the concepts, and why it is interesting and new. But you should probably skip the technical details of proofs or programs. However, relating your work to existing work is important: the audience will want to understand why they should spend time reading you paper, what advances they will get beyond what they already know. If they are interested in a specific detail they consider crucial, they will as a question. But you are unlikely to know in advance what it will be.
Remember, you will not tell your whole paper in one talk. Else the talk would be longer, or the paper shorter.
If you think that some details are important and that you may have question about them, though they would overload your talk, you can prepare slides to answer questions about them. And you use them if needed. But do not mix them with the other slides, put them at the end.
Your PDF (PDF is generally accepted) should be organized so that you do not have to think about it during the talk. You will be busy enough.
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Tags: conference, presentation
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thread-1422
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1422
|
Can I cite a URL only instead of author, title, etc. in a research paper?
|
2012-05-05T19:31:28.623
|
# Question
Title: Can I cite a URL only instead of author, title, etc. in a research paper?
When writing a thesis, is it acceptable practice to cite only the URL of referenced research papers where they are published electronically? Or is it compulsory to give proper authors, title, year of publication, etc... information?
Example:
> Data mining is the process of analyzing large data sets in order to discover hidden patterns within these data sets.\[1\] Stock market prices do not follow random walk.\[2\]
>
> \[1\] http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5FIEAwyn9aoC
>
> \[2\] http://rfs.oxfordjournals.org/content/1/1/41.short
# Answer
No, it's not OK to cite URLs because firstly, you are citing ONLY the URL! The URL could change at any given time without notice. Also, you are assuming that everyone is reading your paper electronically and has access to the internet.
You NEED to give the name of the paper, the author(s), the Journal it was published in and the year it was published.
> 25 votes
# Answer
Absolutely not! The other answers mention impermanence of URLs, which is an issue, but not, I think, the most important one. The most important reason is that some of the information in a citation, especially the author and year of publication, is important context for interpreting a citation, and is therefore essential content to the paper itself.
> 15 votes
# Answer
The point of a bibliography is not only to identify your sources, but to allow your readers to read those sources themselves, at some indefinite time in the future. Bare URLs rarely serve that function, in part because URLs are (by design) transient, and in part because **you cannot assume that your unknown future reader will have internet access.** This is the same reason why citations should still include page numbers, even though a quick Google search on the title and authors almost always finds the paper.
On the other hand, books go out of print, library subscriptions lapse, some conference proceedings are only distributed online, some papers are still preprints, and sometimes the source in question is a blog, a usenet post, a source code repository, or a StackExchange question. For sources without permanent reliable offline access, I think you **must** include a URL in your bibliography, despite its transience, in addition to as much traditional identifying information (authors, title, journal/conference/book title, page numbers, date) as possible.
> 11 votes
# Answer
The MLA Style guide (via Indiana University) says the following:
> World Wide Web Sites:
>
> There are many different kinds of web sites, so it is impossible to give just one set of precise instructions for citation format. If you can not find some of the information needed, cite what is available. The following Works Cited/Bibliography examples are only guidelines; utilize the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers for additional examples.
>
> What you need (at minimum):
>
> ```
> Site title (if there is no title use a description such as "Home Page")
> Date you accessed the information
> URL
>
> ```
>
> What you need (if available):
>
> ```
> Author(s)/Editor(s) name
> Publication or last update date
> Organization/Institution name associated with the site
>
> ```
> 8 votes
# Answer
Because URL are (usually) not eternal, but hopefully your publication is, then I wouldn't advise to only put an URL, especially for books or paper. It doesn't add much to make a full biblio item, that can of course include the URL! Note that Bibtex has a special field for url, but you can also add it as a note.
> 4 votes
# Answer
URL sources are a grey area. When possible, cite the original source. For example if you are citing books.google.\* , then you need to cite that book as a book and not a URL. For academic publications, there is an OPTIONAL URL field you may use, but this should be in addition to citing the original conference/journal/workshop/etc.
There are circumstances where a URL is the best identifier of the resource, and in those cases, you'll have to cite the URL. For example, I used a URL resource from the libary of congress because it was unpublished historical (circa 1890AD) blueprints scanned into their library.
> 3 votes
# Answer
The best practice is to include standard bibliographic information, a relatively stable hypertext link for current readers (e.g. to the ArXiv), and the DOI.
> 1 votes
# Answer
(I think:) *Definitely* give a URL if there is one, *with* the date you down/up-loaded the paper, and perhaps give a revision date of the paper, if it itself gives one.
*AND* give the more traditional reference information as well.
The URL allows people to find an e-copy, at least for a while. The conventional references do not necessarily produce copies accessible through the internet, though sometimes they do.
For the time being, these two sorts of citations give different information, have different utilities. One may take the pose that one makes the other irrelevant, but I think this is not accurate. The common "objections" to internet-accessible things, that they are "transient", while physical references are "permanent", is disingenuous, upon some thought. First, many good things are transient, which is not an argument against them! Second, physical references are equally transient, if in a different way... usually that many different libraries throughout the world maintain "cached" copies. Well, maybe Google has cached the now-gone document at a vanished URL? :)
In summary, operationally, give all the information you have in citations, even while recognizing that some of it has an expiration date.
> 0 votes
# Answer
For everything that have been reviewed AND permanently archived then the bibliography is fine. For all the rest footnotes are the place to be.
> -1 votes
# Answer
No, it is clearly and everyone agrees, not acceptable practice to cite only the URL. So download a PDF copy of the exact web page. You can even state in the publication that you have a copy of the exact PDF which corresponds with your reference. If anyone asks you for sa copy of the PDF, you may wish to do one of the following:
1. Immediately give them the pdf (which may be a license violation). I feel comfortable to do this, in some situations, but not all.
or
2. Tell them you would like to give them your saved copy, after they convince you, that the web site will allow you to give them a copy.
It is not your problem, if the web site will not give you permission, to give others a copy of the saved PDF. However a license violation would be your fault.
> -2 votes
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Tags: citations
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thread-36425
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36425
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Can I include an author URL as part of the affiliation block in an IEEE Conference Paper?
|
2015-01-07T20:13:58.023
|
# Question
Title: Can I include an author URL as part of the affiliation block in an IEEE Conference Paper?
I have an OrcId. When I publish papers, for example to IEEE conferences, I'd like to include my OrcId URL, in addition to my email in the author block in the document (in case my email changes and for collecting search results). Is is allowed, for example with IEEE "related" events, to include an author URL, in addition to, an author email?
# Answer
Sure. The IEEE conference template even includes an example of an author who gives a web URL in the affiliation block:
> Michael Shell
> School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
> Georgia Institute of Technology
> Atlanta, Georgia 30332–0250
> Email: http://www.michaelshell.org/contact.html
The variety of examples in the template further make it clear that authors can choose whether or not to include details such as email, web URL, address, telephone number, and fax (!) number in the author affiliation block.
> 5 votes
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Tags: publications, conference, website, ieee, affiliation
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thread-36419
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36419
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Should I ask for a recommendation letter even if I have not applied for any programs yet
|
2015-01-07T18:14:18.483
|
# Question
Title: Should I ask for a recommendation letter even if I have not applied for any programs yet
I emailed some tutors from several years ago to ask for a meeting (as described in this question). I am happy to tell you that I have received another reply from my former school teacher. She had a trip to Japan for weeks and had not read any emails. She agreed to meet me at my former school.
I want to further my study and I want to seek more information from her.
I know that she is very busy, so should I make use of this opportunity to ask her to write to any recommendation letter for me even if I have not applied for any programms at a university?
# Answer
Definitely, you should tell her that you would like to further your training. And since your former tutor know you well, she is one of the capable person to write this letter.
Meanwhile, she doesn't have to write it now and then - if you manifest the possibility of asking her in a near future for such a letter and she agree, this will still stand in a year or so.
It is hard to write a good and relevant letter in advance without knowing on which desk it will land on - so better make precision when you know more details, such as the institution, concentration, which possible supervisor, with hyperlinks to relevant pages in case she want more context.
> 4 votes
# Answer
I'm not quite sure what you're asking. What "more information" do you need?
I think it is unlikely that any professor or teacher will write a recommendation letter for you in the absence of an application deadline. Otherwise, she might be wasting her time (e.g., you never end up applying or decide that a letter from another professor would be better). Since you say that "she is very busy," I would be careful about asking her to write a letter if you aren't applying anywhere right now.
The only situation where I would even consider asking about a recommendation letter in the absence of a plan to apply soon would be if you think her memory of you will substantially wane between now and when you apply. If that's the case, maybe reconnecting with her will help jog her memory. On the other hand, many professors will ask for a CV or draft statement of purpose before writing a letter, which can also serve the same purpose.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Take the opportunity to ask if they would be willing to write a reference for you at a later time (when you email them the details), giving an indication of when you expect to be doing applications.
(As I have said elsewhere, if your referee is busy (or even if not), try to allow your referee to write their letter and send it to as many places as needed in one sitting, rather than spacing out requests and so taking up more time.)
> 1 votes
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Tags: recommendation-letter
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thread-35372
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35372
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What If the announcement for a Tenure-Track position in a research-intensive university does not request a research statement?
|
2015-01-07T00:00:22.010
|
# Question
Title: What If the announcement for a Tenure-Track position in a research-intensive university does not request a research statement?
If a TT position is announced in a medical-related field in a research-intensive university, and they request to apply using 1) a letter of interest and 2) a CV (No research statement is required). They say the candidate's time would be divided between research 60%, teaching 20%, and service 20%. Would you still submit a research statement or would you just include in the letter of interest more details about your current and future research (this might require making the letter little longer ~3 pages)?
# Answer
> 2 votes
Yes, a three page letter of interest would not be abnormal in these circumstances. Please keep the font size large given that the faculty on search committees have aging eyes.
My guess is that they've gotten over 200 applications for a single position in previous years and are attempting to do a first cull before asking for more details and letters. They should be commended.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Call or e-mail the search committee chair to ask; the chair almost certainly handles these kinds of questions routinely. The chair may tell you that the committee wants your research information in your cover letter; or they may not care where in the package your research information is located; or they are not collecting research information at this time (although this is quite unlikely for a 60% research position).
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Tags: career-path, statement-of-purpose, tenure-track, faculty-application
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thread-31114
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31114
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How does a 'quasi-tenured' hire work in practice?
|
2014-11-03T23:23:58.513
|
# Question
Title: How does a 'quasi-tenured' hire work in practice?
I'm posting to help out a friend. The operational parameters are US + research university + computer science, so I'm looking for information primarily in that context, though the question is not computer science-specific.
He's tenured at one university and applying to another place. The latter has a funny kind of tenure option. In addition to regular tenured hires, they can make a rapid hiring decision based on just a small number of letters (say 3-4) into a quasi-tenured position. When this happens, *after* the person joins they go through a proper tenure review. So in principle, you could be hired to a "tenured" position but then later find you don't have tenure after all.
It seems to be neither the traditional "enter with tenure" model nor "enter with abbreviated tenure clock" model, but some new thing entirely. Someone I spoke to said this is increasingly common, and he'd heard of other departments that did this too. I have never heard of it before and find it rather strange.
Do you know of departments that do this? How does it work in practice?
# Answer
> 2 votes
I don't see how this is really different from hiring somebody with a very short (i.e. one year) tenure clock. The difference probably has more to do with the hiring institution's internal rules than anything else.
We had a senior hire with a one year clock a while back. It wasn't labeled as "quasi-tenure," but that was basically how it worked. You don't give somebody a one year clock unless you are overwhelmingly sure that the person is going to get tenure. And that seems to be what this position is offering; the hire will start without tenure, but the expectation is that they will be fully tenured in short order.
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Tags: job-search, computer-science, tenure-track
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thread-35344
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35344
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Should I warn my professor about some errors that I've found in his paper?
|
2015-01-06T16:28:20.567
|
# Question
Title: Should I warn my professor about some errors that I've found in his paper?
A professor of mine gave me a paper, because he wanted to show me the kind of work that we might do together in future. It is the advance access version of the paper, but I've found some errors, like typos, and wrong references of some figures in the text. Should I warn him about those things? If so, what would be the best way to do that?
*Update*
* I'm from Italy, but I would love to know about other different cultures as well, especially USA;
* My professor is very open minded, nice and easy-going;
* Let's put it this way: if I was a computer I wouldn't understood the meaning of the figures because the references in the text don't match with the right plot, but since I'm human being I've understood that he meant the other figures.
I believe that pride is less important than the truth, especially when it comes to scientific publications. I mean, everyone can be wrong, there is nothing bad about it in my opinion. But I know that not anyone think the same, so I've asked this question because I wanted to know if it's worth to risk what @littleScala pointed out, to spread higher quality articles around the world and to show meticulousness in reading the paper.
Basically I thought:
* Maybe a professor could be nicely impressed by such a level of attention;
* What if he find its own errors? He might think that I didn't read the paper with caution.
# Answer
> 41 votes
Ask him. It sounds like none of the errors is serious so if your question is just one of etiquette, all you need to say is that you think you found a few typos and little mistakes in the paper and ask if he'd like a list.
If the final version has already been sent to the publisher, it's probably too late to fix that, though there's the opportunity to correct small typos when reviewing the galley proofs. In many fields, people put their papers on their web page, too, so he'll probably appreciate the opportunity to fix that version, even if the version in the journal is already set in stone.
# Answer
> 15 votes
I don't know where you're writing from, but it would be perfectly fine for you to say something here in the US. I know etiquette varies with culture, though. If one of my students came to me with errors in my papers, I might be sheepish, but certainly not offended. On the other hand, if it's already published, and the errors don't affect the content or the point, there's probably not much of a reason to point them out. You'd be hard-pressed to find a paper that doesn't have at least one typo.
# Answer
> 7 votes
Yes, but ask in the form of looking for an answer. How does this work? I don't see how this piece aligns this way, or this formula looks transposed incorrectly, is it?
# Answer
> 4 votes
I'm sure they could have had it proof-read by many people if they wanted. He gave it to you as an example of the work you might be involved in - not in order for you to correct. There's no need for you to bring these issues to his attention, but keep it in mind when you write your papers - have it looked over by others even if you think it's perfect.
If you can't resist, though, don't ask us - ask him. I'd make it a short throw-away question that's part of a larger discussion about what he really gave you the paper for:
*"Thanks for the paper, I see that you've researched/studied x and shown y. It looks like the next direction is z, or possibly a, or b. I'm interested in... "* ... have the discussion with him that the paper is intended to start...*"...Thanks, this was a useful discussion. Oh, by the way, I noticed a few minor issues in the paper of a purely editorial nature. Maybe it's too late to send corrections, but if not are you interested in having me mark it up?"*
You aren't criticizing his work - in fact you just spent a great deal of time discussing it with him, hopefully in a positive light. You are offering your help in improving the presentation of the work. If he declines, no problem. If he accepts, go ahead.
Keep in mind that you may, however, be seen as volunteering to proof-read all the work he is involved with, and later that may actually become a burden you don't want to have.
# Answer
> 3 votes
There's a balance to be maintained.
First, I always assume grammatical and spelling errors to be matters of style and typographical errors. Clearly if someone has typed "teh" or "peaked" it should be noted. But otherwise, use the red pen to note style and readability.
But when someone more learned than myself makes claims I as a student would contest, it's better to frame that discussion as, "Could you explain to me why...?" Certainly the most expert among us make errors. But on both sides, it's more likely to be caused by ignorance than intention. As the mentor I might not have encountered a scenario that raises questions; as the student, likewise. So many, although one may be certain in a claim, frame it with a subtle doubt as I just did.
Beware though of your own hubris attacking someone else's pride. The professor can make a mistake and be grateful you politely advised them privately. Likewise many students are eager to raise their hand and say, "That's wrong!" only to invoke the ire of public humiliation as the professor either tactfully acknowledges their statement or more often suggests they engage in further research and report their findings.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Definitely no.
I did the same and it *did not* go down well. Smiles yes and thanks, but after that we had a bit of an icy relationship.
This nearly cost me my M.Sc.
Don't!
# Answer
> 0 votes
I would wait until you are actually his student. At this stage he probably has lots of potential candidates and it's important that he sees you as friendly and easy to work with.
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Tags: etiquette, errors-erratum
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thread-36438
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36438
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Do Universities have a right to stop students from talking about questions on tests?
|
2015-01-08T02:05:05.610
|
# Question
Title: Do Universities have a right to stop students from talking about questions on tests?
This case in Canada was between students who were complaining about a professor and the school who claimed doing so was misconduct. The school lost because the punishment infringed on students' freedom of speech.
By this logic, does freedom of speech protect students from punishment if they were to release details of a test question while complaining about it in a similar manner? What legal right do universities have to mandate confidentiality of such things? (I hope this doesn't sound facetious)
# Answer
> 4 votes
From your link:
> Where a government-funded or affiliated entity such as a University attempts to limit the freedom of expression of its students it must carefully consider the students’ Charter right to freedom of expression, and ensure that any limitation is **reasonable, justified and compliant with the Charter.**
It seems like the difference between punishing people for sharing test questions and punishing them for criticizing professors is that one of these is "reasonable and justified," while the other isn't.
# Answer
> 1 votes
In all reality, there is no way to keep people from talking to each other in pretty much any way they want and the boundaries between what is officially "legal" and "illegal" here are so uncertain, that whatever one hundred volume treatise an army of crooks may write on the subject, it will just confuse everything and clarify nothing.
As to the formal question, AFAIK, the freedom of speech act won't help you much if you are doing something utterly ridiculous (like posting the questions you were explicitly asked not to spread on billboards, online or otherwise), and any legal dispute will be resolved based on the circumstances more than on the action itself, if you decide to bring it to that stage. In general, universities can and do enforce written academic policies against obvious violations and within reasonable limits, but, like it is with copyright, speed limits, and other things, it is understood that an attempt to stick to the letter of the law no matter what will make more harm than good, so you can get away with "minor infringements" more often than not.
As a side note, a professor officially complaining about students complaining about her makes me just laugh: if we had all followed the pattern, the courts would have to work day and night for the next few decades. The article carefully avoids telling what exactly the posts were (and, knowing what our students write in the evaluations, I am ready to believe that some of them might be offensive enough to merit a good slap on the face) but going the official way about such stuff just doesn't seem to lead anywhere. If you are dealing with legitimate and civilized criticism, you'll just have to swallow it, though you may prefer to stay at your own opinion, and if you are dealing with morons, you will just waste your time on them and gain next to nothing even if you win. You'd better leave the judgement about the validity of student complaints about you to your colleagues and other students: most of them aren't blind or stupid and know who is worth what.
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Tags: teaching, exams, legal-issues, administration
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thread-29642
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29642
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Will a recommendation letter such as that written for John F. Nash be convincing?
|
2014-10-09T08:06:11.143
|
# Question
Title: Will a recommendation letter such as that written for John F. Nash be convincing?
I noticed in the book "A Beautiful Mind", by Sylvia Nasar, that a recommendation letter, for PhD applications, written for John F. Nash runs as follows: *This man is a genius.*
Then, out of curiosity, I wonder that if such reference letters for PhD applications work in the present days?
Image taken from the Graduate Alumni Records of Princeton University:
# Answer
Even though the event that inspired this questions may or may not have actually happened, the question is still a valid one.
I suspect it greatly depends on who wrote the recommendation. If the person writing that recommendation is a great authority in this field and is known for not giving praise easily, then such a recommendation letter might help. On the other hand, if I were to write such a letter...
> 48 votes
# Answer
A letter that simply states "This man is a genius" is not helpful for judging the likelihood of a PhD applicant being successful since it takes a lot more than genius to succeed at a PhD and genius is not a requirement for success. Further, the skills required to become "academically famous" do not necessarily make you better at judging the abilities of others. Academically famous people many see more good students than others, but that is not enough for me to take their word at face value, I want to see evidence of why the recommender thinks the person is a genius. Finally, if the student is so good that nothing more needs to be said about, I would be worried about why an academically famous person would be unable to convince his department to accept the genius and convince the genius to attend.
> 26 votes
# Answer
In my experience, most communities of high achieving people don't openly value intelligence. Generally they dismiss it and say that hard work and luck is what's really important. And they would laugh at you if you wrote your IQ score on your resume.
If someone said "Person X is very smart" and didn't write anything else, I would see it as a backhanded compliment. Like "X is smart, but he doesn't have the traits that are *actually* valuable in academia."
In fact, if I don't like a professor, and someone asks me what it's like to work with them, I usually say something like "this guy is brilliant." Which is true for pretty much every professor at a good university.
> -2 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, recommendation-letter
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thread-36452
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36452
|
Getting secondary citations right
|
2015-01-08T10:24:21.683
|
# Question
Title: Getting secondary citations right
I have some questions regarding secondary citations (in an computer-science research paper that should be published in a journal). I know that they should be avoided when possible, but it is not always that easy. More specifically, my situation is this:
Article A says:
> The average value of ... in ... is ... \[B\]. \[C\]’s study says that in ... the value is ...
This statement is *exactly* what i need for my paper. If I read \[B\] and \[C\], I see that \[A\] cited them correctly and if I would have found these two other articles myself, I would have written the same.
Now how to cite this in a correct way?
1. > \[B\] and \[C\] say (cited in \[A\]) ...
and do a “bad” secondary quote;
2. > \[B\] and \[C\] say ...
and neglect the investigation done by \[A\] and peform citation plagiarism;
3. > \[A\] says ...
and neglect that the data was the achievement of \[B\] and \[C\].
4. > \[A\] says based on the findings of \[B\] and \[C\] ...
and do a secondary quote again.
# Answer
> 26 votes
If you write about something originally stated in B and C, you should always read B and C to make sure that's *actually* what they said (which you say you've done) and cite them. (This rules out Option 3.)
Whether or not to cite A depends on how you use A.
The links (,) you have given to support your assertion that secondary citations are "bad" are being misinterpreted. Both of those advise against the practice of *only* citing the secondary source and not also tracking down the original. The third link you brought up () says not to use A's statements about B and C without citing A (Option 2).
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Tags: citations, writing, plagiarism
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thread-36441
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36441
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To work in statistics for industry and research centers, is a masters sufficient or is there a major advantage to having a PhD?
|
2015-01-08T04:47:25.947
|
# Question
Title: To work in statistics for industry and research centers, is a masters sufficient or is there a major advantage to having a PhD?
So I am inquiring general tips from experienced individuals of academia and industry. I am a recent graduate from a top university with B.S. in math. I had goals of doing PhD in stats, but recently changed mind. I have a bit of family pressure to get a job and work to build income. I am from lower middle class, and am 30 years old. I've worked at a leading hospital and my boss encourages me to do a PhD.
However, it seems better to work full time at a company which will pay for the masters or some of it. My strategy is that at 33-35 years old, I would be working full time and working on a masters instead. Thus at this age I could have work experience, income, and a graduate degree.
It seems like an unwise choice to pursue a PhD and graduate at age 35-36 without work experience and having to start earning income.
My interests are to work in industry, and research centers. I do not believe PhDs would guarantee job security, higher wages, or happier careers. A masters would suffice. I argue that a PhD is not necessary.
Is my logic sensible? On a personal note, I am quite disenchanted/burned out with higher education.
# Answer
Background: I have a math Ph.D. and am working as a statistician in industry.
I'll try to address both the general question you ask and your specific situation.
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**M.Sc. vs. Ph.D. in stats in general**
This quote of yours is key:
> I do not believe PhDs would guarantee job security, higher wages, or happier careers.
And you are right about this. A Ph.D. won't guarantee any of these.
If you do a Ph.D., you will end up with a different qualification than with "only" an M.Sc. In doing a Ph.D., you will be spending multiple years thinking up *new* methods or algorithms. You will become an expert on an (admittedly small) topic, which you will know more about than your advisor. In contrast, in doing an M.Sc., you will learn a lot of different techniques and apply them, but you won't develop new ones. (Some M.Sc. students do just that - exceptions exist.)
What does that mean for your job prospects? If you are looking for a job as a "consulting statistician", "data analyst" or similar, an M.Sc. will usually be enough. Employers may balk at hiring a Ph.D. for such positions for multiple reasons:
* Ph.D.s usually ask for higher salaries
* Ph.D.s are older, possibly less flexible (families) than entry-level M.Sc.s
* Ph.D.s may feel underchallenged and try to leave for more interesting work elsewhere
* Ph.D.s may be specialized in one field - but an M.Sc.'s knowledge of *multiple* methods is more recent
So with a Ph.D., you would be applying for more "conceptual" positions, where you don't only *apply* your knowledge, but actively create new statistical methods to solve problems.
There are more jobs out there that require *applying known methods* than *creating new ones*.
You may be lucky and find a job opening that requires a Ph.D., or (even better) one that matches your Ph.D. research interest. (I wouldn't count on this last possibility - research is so specialized these days that it is rare to find a position in industry that closely matches what you did in your Ph.D. career.) If so, your Ph.D. pays off. If not, you may be in for a long search, or you may need to work for lower wages, and still need to convince an employers that he is better off hiring you than a new M.Sc. graduate - at the same wage. If this happens to you, you will definitely feel like the Ph.D. was a waste of time.
Overall, I would only recommend doing a Ph.D. if you are passionate about it, if you genuinely want to devote three to five years of your life to research. Don't do a Ph.D. for the career value if you plan on leaving academia. It likely will be a step backwards in terms of lifetime earnings or your career progression. (Around me, I see no correlation between having a Ph.D. and job security or higher wages - I can't judge the happiness of my colleagues' careers.)
---
**Your specific situation**
> I have a bit of family pressure to get a job and work to build income. ...
>
> It seems like an unwise choice to pursue a PhD and graduate at age 35-36 without work experience and having to start earning income.
>
> ...
>
> ... On a personal note, I am quite disenchanted/burned out with higher education.
I see a lot of skepticism about doing a Ph.D., and much focus on your alternatives. I don't see anything indicating you would love to do research for research's sake. (Please don't misunderstand me: I'm not saying you are lazy. I am pointing out what your priorities seem to be, based on your question.) Compare this to my recommendation above.
It does not seem to me that doing a Ph.D. would be a wise move for you.
Nevertheless, we can't usefully help you a lot with your decision. I'd recommend you talk to people who know you and your specific situation.
This and this earlier answer of mine my be helpful.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Be honest to yourself. Are the arguments against truly yours or are you echoing your family? If they are yours, you have your answer.
If you are echoing your family, do your homework on job security, salary, etc. There are salary surveys. PhD does bring you a higher salary and very different job. Job security should be higher with PhD since you are hired for your uniqueness - hence you are irreplaceable, or least it is much more difficult to replace you.
With Master in stats you help others make sense out of data with the existing toolset. Most of your project will be successful. They will be relatively low risk too. If you prefer to feel mastery of the subject, go for MS.
With PhD in stats you invent new tools. Your day to day life is uncharted waters. The risk is higher, and you never feel you have mastery. There will be lots of unknown, dead-ends, and fails. There will be occasional successes, which will make it all worthwhile.
Lastly, I have a feeling that age is the unspoken factor. You have a 30+ career ahead of you. Few years don't matter much. Choose what fits you better, because it will be 30 long, miserable years ahead otherwise.
> 1 votes
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Tags: phd, masters, career-path, mathematics, industry
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thread-36443
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36443
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Is there some quantifiable difference between those who seek master's degrees and those who seek doctorates?
|
2015-01-08T06:17:15.760
|
# Question
Title: Is there some quantifiable difference between those who seek master's degrees and those who seek doctorates?
Is there some quantifiable difference between those who seek master's degrees and those who seek doctorates? If there is, does the difference justify the current distinction between the two?
The distinction seems like a product of institutional culture rather than anything practical. But that's just my view as an outsider. Regardless, I'd love to get y'all's insight in this matter.
# Answer
> 4 votes
> The distinction seems like a product of institutional culture rather than anything practical.
The distinction between masters and PhD is very practical: a PhD is in essence vocational training for future researchers, while a master is intended for those who want to know more than they learned in their bachelor but do not want to become a researcher.
So a meaningful dimension on which you could expect Master and PhD students to differ would be their intended future career. Notice that this is not a hierarchical dimension like intellectual and technical capability, it is just a difference in kind.
# Answer
> 3 votes
> What is the practical difference between the training someone receives in a PhD program verses a masters?
In one sentence, experience with planning and conducting scientific research in a particular subject domain.
A Master's degree may be viewed as an fast-track apprenticeship program. If done right, it allows the apprentice to get their feet wet in a knowledge domain, try out a relatively small-scale, "practice" project of independent research, and get oriented in the general space and culture of graduate-level academic (or "serious" professional, as in applied fields like business) life and work through a 1-2 year period of focused study.
In comparison, a PhD is a substantial, systematic program of study with a duration, structure, and checks and balances intended to make it difficult to cut corners, and instead to fully invest one's intellect in training of research in a particular knowledge domain.
This is a big area though, encompassing a fairly long laundry list of competencies, from subject matter knowledge (including past research, currest state the art, and future prospects), analytical thinking (both in the intricacies of the subject matter as well as practical issues of how to formulate, address, and communicate findings related to questions answering which is of value to the field and hopefully society at large).
At the end of the day, as has been pointed out, both are types of vocational training intended to provide a foundation upon which one might build themselves to become a professional in a particular area.
In some sense, both Masters and PhD are indicators of commitment to a particular occupation. It is relatively easy to try something out for a year or two, requiring some but not a very large amount of commitment, time, and effort.
It is relatively more difficult to do this for an extended period of time (typically 5-6 years) and invest oneself fully into a large, long-term research project where much time-on-task is expected and personal discipline, perseverance, and abilities to overcome challenges and make a recognized contribution to a field are put to the test.
The **practical difference** is that a person with a PhD would be expected, ideally, to be that much more effective in doing these kinds of things and exhibiting these types of qualifies as applied to a research-intensive occupation, all other things being equal. That is the working assumption, and the 'why' in 'why do a PhD'.
> Why should I be willing to rank a PhD higher given the same amount of time in field?
Whether you are willing to rank a PhD above MA/MS depends on the value you attribute to the practical difference between the two (previous question). If these differences are relevant to your concerns, then you will probably interpret a PhD as carrying more 'weight' in terms of these relevant characteristics. So to some extent it is a matter of personal perspective. Also to some extent, you may want to defer to the "institutional culture" in ranking a PhD higher if your personal perspective aligns with that culture (stated differently, if you subscribe to the same premises).
One example of this is if you consider yourself sharing the cultural norms which exist in certain settings, of valuing greater ability in academic writing, experience conducting scholarly / scientific research (e.g. selecting appropriate methodology, planning/conducting the study, acknowledging methodological limitations, and clearly writing up the background/method/results/discussion).
What it boils down to, in my opinion, is the assumption that experience equals ability. The practical purpose for earning a PhD is formally engaging in a multi-year program of professional development with the assumption that it will yield greater skills/knowledge (ability) in a particular subject domain, as well as in some transferable skill areas such as research competency, as in the example above.
Some resources:
What's the difference between a masters and a doctoral degree? (see paragraphs "Purpose and uses of a doctorate" and "Purposes and uses of a masters degree".
More focused discussion in reference to computer science
A related question on Academia
Hope this helps. Good luck!
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Tags: phd, masters, career-path
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thread-34965
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34965
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Will it hurt you to leave a tenure track position (for another) after one year?
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2014-12-30T06:37:29.767
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# Question
Title: Will it hurt you to leave a tenure track position (for another) after one year?
I'm a new assistant professor in my first year of my first tenure track position.
For several reasons, I am seriously doubting whether my current position is a good fit and am considering applying to a couple open positions that may provide a better fit. I'm not sure whether the nature of my reasons is relevant but assume
* My reasons do not involve salary or any personal conflicts (they are more related to the teaching load, the types of classes I'd be teaching, the background of the students I'd be teaching, and the possibility of advising PhD students)
* I have no two-body problem or moving reasons for seeking a new job (the open positions are relatively nearby)
My question is: are there any serious problems with attempting to change tenure track positions this early?
* From the perspective of the hiring committee, will this (even with an explanation in the cover letter) raise a red flag that will cripple my candidacy?
* If I did apply, would my current employer be justified in being upset? Is it generally considered unacceptable to leave a tenure track position this early?
Thanks for any perspectives on this.
# Answer
"From the perspective of the hiring committee, will this (even with an explanation in the cover letter) raise a red flag that will cripple my candidacy?"
Probably not. It might hurt your chances somewhat, but if they would have wanted you otherwise, then they will probably still want to interview you.
That said, remember that the job market can be a crapshoot so I wouldn't worry about this too much. Unless you are a superstar and/or a perfect match for what they are looking for, even without any "red flags" the most likely outcome of a small number of job applications is that you won't get any interviews. If you don't have connections at these institutions, then there are no bridges to be burned by a job application; and if you do, then an unsuccessful job application is very unlikely to burn them.
What you should worry about is your relationship to your current department -- especially if you only make a small number of applications and are therefore unlikely to be successful. (This is not to say you shouldn't apply for other jobs if you believe they'll be a better fit.)
> 5 votes
# Answer
Before committing to leaving, it might also be beneficial to re-consider the current job situation. You mentioned the reasons for leaving are:
> more related to
>
> > * the teaching load,
> > * the types of classes I'd be teaching,
> > * the background of the students I'd be teaching,
> > * and the possibility of advising PhD students.
Regardless of which aspects of each of these items you consider problematic, it appears your fundamental assumption is that **all these things will be different in the new job**. Until you actually do get the new job and let these four elements play out as they may, this will remain an assumption.
Even if you believe the situation will be different based on some 'inside knowledge' at the universities/departments you are applying to, these are merely perceptions and beliefs at this point. There is simply no way of knowing what the new situation will be like until after the fact.
In the world of tenure-track academe, these assumptions seem risky.
Based on what I hear from peers working in the academe, and occasional reading, your issues are not unique, but are endemic to the professional lives of junior faculty in the academe.
With this in mind, the problems you are facing may be reframed as truly excellent **opportunities**. As the likelihood of these issues resurfacing in your career is high, what better way to prepare for this reality than wrestle with it a bit during the first years on the job? I can hardly imagine a better means of gaining invaluable experience and proficiency in dealing with these problems!
See how you might address these issues now. Whether you succeed or not in changing some things to your liking, there will be valuable lessons learned regardless. The process of this learning might involve struggle and compromise, but the result is you will become a better-heeled junior faculty member, potentially capable of mentoring other peers on such matters or becoming (with time) a change agent after spending time in the trenches and earning credibility in these matters among your colleagues.
These are not simple or quick lessons, but they may be things are will pay of time and again over the course of your career in the long term. After all, your initial years on the job are not an end but a means toward something even more fulfilling later, correct?
As you see, I got stuck on your initial assumptions before even getting to the questions at hand. But I believe it is well worth to dwell some more on the reasons for leaving, prior to investigating the pros and cons of the actual decision to do so...
What if the same issues crop up in the new job? You will be left with a strange-looking one-year-long stint in a tenure track role, stuck forever on your CV.
The fact that neither salary nor personal conflicts with colleagues are causing any problems is also not to be taken for granted. Entering a new organization always carries risk of new "people issues" (conflicts related to personality aspects/working style/opinions/character/attitudes/integrity/whatever). I would count my blessings to be in a workplace where these are not major issues. Perhaps you don't even realize how lucky you are! For these reasons, I hope you might be willing to re-evaluate your current position prior to making the decision and evaluating it purely on the groups of career move timing.
**Bottom line:** Unless the issues you mentioned are absolutely killing you, and you just can't do it any more no matter what, then I guess there is little choice but leave. In which case the question you ask are a mute point. But if you can see some promise in that these experiences might pay off in the long term, then I would encourage you to stick it out a little longer.
After all, what does a year after which you leave a challenging job say about your ability to persevere, adapt, and succeed despite hurdles? Not too much. On the other hand, getting a few years under your belt in less-than-ideal conditions, and potentially being on the forefront of improving the situation for yourself and your colleagues, will say a **whole lot** about your professional character. That is worth the time served, in my book.
Good luck!
> 4 votes
# Answer
If you have a compelling reason to want to move, you should explain it upfront in the cover letter. How much effect it will have on your job prospects will depend a lot on the kind of institution you are applying to. If you have a strong research record and are applying to another research university, the hiring committee will probably not judge you harshly for leaving a place where you decided that you did not fit. It could still be more of an issue at a primarily teaching school, however. Some people might interpret your leaving so early as a sign that you are difficult to please or difficult to get along with.
Leaving early is probably going to be a net negative for you in your job search, but having already been a tenure-track professor does have a few advantages. You should also emphasize in your letter your experience having a full-time faculty position. Even if you haven't had all the opportunities you wanted to at your current institution, play up what you have learned and accomplished in your limited time at your current job.
> 2 votes
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Tags: career-path, job-search, tenure-track
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thread-36384
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36384
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What's the benefit of delaying a tenure-track position for doing a postdoc (when you already have a tenure-track offer)?
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2015-01-07T07:30:58.687
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# Question
Title: What's the benefit of delaying a tenure-track position for doing a postdoc (when you already have a tenure-track offer)?
I've seen candidates for tenure-track positions in computer science that managed to negotiate a starting date that is a year later than originally planned. During that additional year, they all seem to be doing a PostDoc in various places.
I'm wondering what the benefit of this is. Many departments provide you with a lighter teaching load during your first year, so it seems to me that the overhead with moving to a new place (for just a year), working on a postdoc salary, and then, before the 12 months are up, moving again, doesn't strike me as an efficient way to develop one's career.
Is there some big advantage of doing such a postdoc rather than immediately starting your tenure-track position that I'm missing?
# Answer
> 25 votes
Once you have a t-t position, you're in a race against time to get as many publications as you can before your tenure clock runs out.
A postdoc effectively gives you one more year of focused attention to research and publications before you have to start teaching.
Note that teaching can be highly disruptive to research and publications, especially in your first year.
# Answer
> 17 votes
In addition to postponing the tenure clock by a year, there's another benefit that can accrue from a postdoc: you get to learn a new area, and work with a new group of people, which will improve your group management and leadership experience, and broaden your knowledge base for the future.
# Answer
> 9 votes
I think there are three main benefits:
1. **Delay the start of the clock.** When a TT position starts, you have a fixed amount of time until your tenure case goes up for review. At that point, your whole portfolio of work and letters from scholars in your field and everything else will be evaluated. If you have more time to publish and build a reputation, you can do more in this regard and build a stronger portfolio and a stronger case for tenure.
2. **Focus on research.** Tenure cases are evaluated almost completely in terms of research productivity, quality, and impact. Post-docs are usually full-time research positions. TT jobs are largely teaching and service. In this sense, there are some ways that it's easier to build a tenure case *without* a tenure track job!
3. **Work in another institution.** If you have a job at University X but have an offer for a post-doc at University Y (perhaps a more prestigious institution) this way you can still take the job and add the CV line for Y. It's also a great way to build your network and start collaborations.
Of course, post-docs certainly not without costs once you have the TT job in hand. For example, post-docs generally can't apply for grants as principle investigators and this is something that often matters for tenure.
# Answer
> 0 votes
I can't comment so take it as a possible answer to what has already been correctly said. Usually, postdoc positions are tax-free (at least in Canada for a limited number of years). It is certainly not the main reason to delay tt but a rather pleasant one.
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Tags: job-search, computer-science, postdocs, tenure-track
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thread-36465
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36465
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MSc in mathematics from MChem?
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2015-01-08T14:43:34.643
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# Question
Title: MSc in mathematics from MChem?
I was wondering is it possible to study an MSc in applied mathematics with a background of a masters in chemistry? I have an absolute passion for mathematics and would love the opportunity to study a single year masters.
Would I be given the opportunity to take the entrance exams without formal training? Or would I be discounted instantly?
I have read extensively into the content of the course I have in mind including looking at all their past papers.
I understand it is going to be an individual basis depending on the university and my grades but wanted to hear has someone done or heard of anything similar?
# Answer
> 1 votes
Just from a quick look at a few applied MSc programs, there are a number of classes that would be difficult to complete without serious background in mathematics: classes like partial differential equations, applied algebra, probability theory and combinatorial algorithms were a few that showed up in most that I doubt you could manage without rigorous undergraduate preparation. However, if you have taken classes to prepare you for this (like a minor as an undergraduate), or the MSc you have in mind is less rigorous, or you are willing to devote a year or so to prepare on your own, I fail to see why they would refuse you to take the entrance exam. At least in the US, a good subject score on the math GREs would show the university that while you have a less traditional background, you can still do well in the program.
Basically, it comes down to how mathematically rigorous the program is and how strong your math background is. Liking math is unfortunately not enough to pass a class on PDEs. You would probably need to provide some evidence in your application that you have a sufficient math background, and taking a standardized exam with a good score, even if it is not required in the country you are applying, would be one way to do so.
# Answer
> 1 votes
My experience is that students with bachelors degrees in the physical sciences and engineering often work out well in our graduate program in applied mathematics. The key factor is that students need to have at least the equivalent of a strong minor in mathematics (including undergraduate courses in ordinary and partial differential equations, vector calculus, probability and statistics, linear algebra, and analysis.) Students in math intensive majors like physics and electrical engineering often take many of these courses anyway, so the additional course work required to be prepared for graduate study in applied mathematics may not be that much.
If you don't have this undergraduate mathematics background, then you will probably have to take some or all of these courses before you can be admitted into a graduate program.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, mathematics, changing-fields
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thread-36428
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36428
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How to handle relevant, but disruptive, questions
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2015-01-07T22:25:21.427
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# Question
Title: How to handle relevant, but disruptive, questions
I've seen on this site several posts about how to handle silly or "trolling" questions, but I recently faced the opposite situation. Several students in a class I'm teaching continuously bring up questions that are relevant to the lecture and/or interesting; however, they ask so many questions that it tends to disrupt the lecture by throwing off the pace and flow of the presentation (e.g., I lose my train of thought or I have to speed up to finish the lecture on time). I don't want to discourage questions, but at the same time, I don't think it is fair to entertain so many questions if it results in a lowering of the lecture's quality.
A solution that I tried is telling the students that they can come to office hours or make an appointment with me to talk. However, most of them don't take me up on those offers, and those who do take advantage of my offer sometimes come with so many questions that I cannot answer them all within the time I've set aside for office hours/teaching appointments.
Since this is limited to a small (but vocal) subset of my students, I don't think the issue is with the quality of my teaching. Otherwise I would expect (and hope) that more people would be asking questions or giving some other indication that I'm not being clear.
Is there any way to handle this sort of situation without coming across as uninterested in student questions or discouraging questions from being posed? I truly am interested in making sure everyone is understanding the material, but at the same time, I cannot be devoting large amounts of time above and beyond what I'm already devoting to teaching.
# Answer
As a student, I find that waiting to ask *all* questions in office hours or the end of class is not a great solution. I don't mind delaying non-urgent questions, but sometimes if I don't understand something presented in the first ten minutes of the class, I might then miss out on the rest of the lecture if I don't have a chance to ask a question. So I appreciate when instructors give students *some* chance to ask questions during the lecture.
A good way to allow this and also control *when* and *how many* questions are asked is to invite questions in each class at times of your choosing (and let students know you'll be doing this).
At the beginning of the lecture, say, "I'll pause and ask for questions at regular intervals, so you'll have a chance to ask your questions then."
Decide ahead of time where you will pause and ask for questions (at convenient places to break the lecture, or places where you know students often have questions).
During the lecture, pause at the predetermined places and say something like:
> "I'll pause for questions now. We have time for three or four questions."
(and you can decide how many questions to take depending on how the lecture is going, time-wise.)
Students with too many questions in office hours are an entirely different issue. You should ask these students to schedule a separate appointment, and determine whether the questions are a sign of a problem (i.e. they may need tutoring or similar services) or a good thing (i.e. they are looking for enrichment and need some pointers on how to find it).
> 30 votes
# Answer
I too have struggled with this as a teacher, particularly because I don't want to stifle engagement from students. My main approach, which I think works well with relatively small classes but would not scale well to more than a couple dozen students, is to change my lecture structure so that rather than just presenting material, I am asking students to actively reason about what should come next. That way, the exploration of ideas is built into the lecture and becomes part of the education rather than distracting from it.
To illustrate this, let me give an example from a lecture that I gave last semester:
1. I started by presenting a basic algorithm on the topic of the lecture.
2. Next, I worked an example, having the students say what would happen at each step.
3. We then worked an example of a situation that was problematic for the algorithm the same way, and we talked about what more general circumstances would cause the problem.
4. I then led a discussion where the students tried to figure out how they might change the algorithm to improve its behavior. After a little while, we'd come close enough to the ideas of the more sophisticated algorithm that was the next thing I wanted to present, and I moved to presenting that algorithm, explaining how they had nearly reinvented it.
5. We then did the same thing for one more cycle, covering a total of three important algorithms in the lecture and ending with a discussion of the general trade-off space they were representative of, as well as assumptions and pragmatics to be concerned about in real-world usage.
This approach requires a lot of thinking on your feet, but I think it can be rewarding because it illustrates the students not just how the material works but also where it comes from. I think it also helps build confidence in their own intellectual abilities when (with a little coaching) they can develop the same insights that created the advances they are learning about.
The downside of this approach is that you probably can't pack as many things into a single lecture. I think this is often OK, because you end up teaching more about principles and how to think about a subject, which means the students will be more able to pick up related material if they need it. You also need to be really confident in your material. I also have no idea how it could scale to large classes.
Other things that I think are important for making this type of approach work:
* Call on different "areas" of the class (e.g., "let's hear from somebody in the back", "let's hear from somebody who hasn't spoken yet"), to keep things from being dominated by the same students.
* Be willing to let a silence stretch long enough for students to think and gain confidence to speak.
* If any chunk of discussion is going on too long, you can say something like, "These are really good ideas, and they lead right into the next thing I wanted to show you..." or "That's an excellent question, and we'll come back to it later in the lecture..." and just move forward. It won't feel as much like discouraging questions in this mode, since after all you've just been leading a discussion!
> 11 votes
# Answer
You're very lucky to have this problem, which is not really a problem but rather an opportunity. You don't say what field this is, but for STEM fields, there's a great deal of research (see \[Freeman\] for a review) showing that straight lecturing is the worst possible mode of instruction, and that the methods that work better involve some kind of active engagement by the students.
Some of the comments on jakebeal's answer seem to show that a lot of people are really hung up on a strict 19th-century interpretation of what "lecture" means. Just because it's referred to as "lecture" in the college catalog, that doesn't mean that it has to be taught using techniques that have been demonstrated to be ineffective.
> I don't want to discourage questions, but at the same time, I don't think it is fair to entertain so many questions if it results in a lowering of the lecture's quality.
The research shows that the opposite is the case. The lowest quality of instruction will result if you give a straight, smooth, highly organized, noninteractive lecture.
> they ask so many questions that it tends to disrupt the lecture by throwing off the pace and flow of the presentation (e.g., I lose my train of thought or I have to speed up to finish the lecture on time)
Your concern about covering all the material is a natural one, given traditional expectations that students will be spoon-fed the material in class. Active learning techniques can only succeed if the instructor makes it clear that the students are responsible for reading *before* the material is covered in class, and enforces this expectation using grades, typically by giving easy, multiple-choice questions on the reading. The purpose of the class meeting is then to wrestle with the material, not to introduce it. For an example of successful practices, see \[Mazur\].
Freeman et al., "Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics" -- http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/05/08/1319030111
Mazur, Peer Instruction: A User's Manual, 1996
> 8 votes
# Answer
It sounds to me like there are 2 types of question relevant here
* *What did you mean by ...?*
The answer is brief and not answering would affect a student's ability to follow the rest of the lecture.
* *What are the implications of ...?*
This is a question that might lead to a longer answer or some discussion.
I suggest that the first kind should be answered when asked, the effect on the flow of the lecture should be small. The second kind is more amenable to deferring to one or more of
* the end of the lecture or section
* office hours
* the next lecture
* a seminar/problems class
In many of these cases you *and more importantly the students* can take some time to read about the question (you might need a 5 minute refresher, it might take them an hour).
Of course at first it will be up to you to say "let's save that question", but you can be clear about what's a good question to handle inline and what is best kept to the end. This distinction may serve them well in, for example, postgrad seminars if they go on to such things later.
> 4 votes
# Answer
Frankly it sounds like you are the issue here. As the questions are on topic you are a lucky teacher to have students as interested in the topic. As a student (of the questioning persuasion) I can't stand to be told that my questions are "out of the scope if this class" etc. Learn your material backwards and forwards an in-depth. You aren't there to read the text book to them.
> -1 votes
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Tags: teaching, answering-questions
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thread-36479
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36479
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Is it acceptable to ask someone for help revising your paper?
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2015-01-08T20:49:45.603
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# Question
Title: Is it acceptable to ask someone for help revising your paper?
I am an undergraduate and I was wondering if it was appropriate to ask someone (who isn't an author) to help revise the draft of a conference paper that I am writing.
I am new to writing and this would be helpful to get input from as many people as possible.
# Answer
It depends what you are asking them to do.
You should definitely ask someone (maybe multiple someone's) to read your paper, give you comments about what was confusing/particularly clear/incomplete as well as suggestions on how to improve the paper. (In fact I would recommend this to anyone writing a paper at any stage, not just an undergraduate.) This might be done by your advisor if you have one, and you should thank them in the Acknowledgements section for their help (and personally too, expressing gratitude is always good!)
You should not ask someone a non-co-author to actually edit your paper and make changes to it themselves. Any actual editing should be done by you or your co-authors, otherwise plagiarism becomes a concern.
> 19 votes
# Answer
It is not just acceptable -- it is to be recommended!
It is generally a good idea to have people read your work before it is submitted, or in your case, presented at a conference.
Having someone from outside your specific research area read your paper is particularly good. Even if your reader isn't familiar with the fine details, they should still be able to follow your general argument from background, through your method, results, analysis and finally to your conclusions.
Approach your intended reader and very politely ask if they would read your work. Make sure you are clear about what you want from them. If it is a colleague who is familiar with your work, you can perhaps ask and expect questions or comments on the finer points of your work. For someone outside your particular field, you can expect general comments on structure or questions on the broader aspects of your work.
At a previous institution, we were all expected to hand our draft papers around for two internal reviewers to read, neither of whom were to be from the particular research field on which the paper was written. This was a very valuable exercise.
> 14 votes
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Tags: publications, writing, research-undergraduate
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thread-36484
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36484
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How to get list of journals in a discipline within a specified range of impact factors?
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2015-01-08T23:36:19.290
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# Question
Title: How to get list of journals in a discipline within a specified range of impact factors?
I am looking for journals about A with impact factor between X and Y. Is there any way to find that on IEEE web site?
# Answer
Web of Science Journal Citation Reports provides lists of journals on a topic along with a range of citation-based metrics, including impact factor. It's straight forward to sort such lists by impact factor and then extract journals within a range.
Many universities have subscriptions to Web of Science Journal Citation Reports. So check out your university library.
> 2 votes
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Tags: publications, ieee, impact-factor
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thread-36464
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36464
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Applying to a PhD in Machine Learning without much knowledge of the subject
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2015-01-08T14:22:06.997
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# Question
Title: Applying to a PhD in Machine Learning without much knowledge of the subject
Lets suppose that I see an open PhD position in the field of Machine Learning, area whose I have only some very basic or general knowledge, but that I am willing to learn more about it. I wonder what I should put in my cover letter to show that I have a genuine interest in the subject and that I am willing to learn more about it. I mean for what I know, the first year in a PhD program is for a student to gain knowledge about the theoretical parts that will help him or her to continue their PhD studies. I have seen that also some of them receive aome training that will help them to narrow their interests into one specific topic before the writing of the thesis start.
I am somewhat traumatized after once I applied to a PhD position and in the interview when I mentioned that "I was willing to learn more, enroll into courses and being self taught for the research that they were making"; and the professor in charge reply to me in a harsh way "You are not here to begin to learn, we need people that already know what we are doing". That shocked me somehow.
So bottomline, how can I express in a cover letter my genuine interest in learning the field in which the research group is working, without being rejected?
Thanks
# Answer
Florian is completely right - the level of knowledge of the field typically expected from new PhD students varies a lot. In many places in Europe, for instance, a Master's degree is a formal requirement for starting a PhD, and the first year is most definitely **not** there for gaining fundamental knowledge about the field. You are supposed to have a solid working knowledge of the field from the start.
> "I was willing to learn more, enroll into courses and being self taught for the research that they were making"
There is also the other problem with this statement that it is (sorry) incredibly bland and generic. *Of course* you are supposed to learn more about your field and do related courses. If that is the best you can say about how you are going to get up to speed in the field, I can understand that the professor you were talking to was not exactly blown away by your zeal.
> 13 votes
# Answer
Might I ask what country/countries these programs are in?
I think the professor you quote was a bit harsh and that PhD applicants do not need to already know what they're doing completely. If you already knew everything about the field, what would be the point of the PhD?
At the same time, I would be cautious about applying for a PhD position just because it exists or because you just want to learn more about the subject. A PhD is a long and hard degree to obtain, and most successful PhD students have a certain level of passion for the subject of their PhD (this is a useful post for you to read on that subject). There are definitely easier ways to learn about machine learning than getting a PhD in it.
I don't think anyone has a magic formula to guarantee you getting accepted to the programs to which you apply. The best you can do is put together the best application possible and hope for the best. In terms of the cover letter, you should highlight what attracts you to the field of machine learning and possibly how a PhD will help you in your future career in the field. You might be rejected from a few places, but if you never apply, you can never be accepted.
> 10 votes
# Answer
"I have only some very basic or general knowledge, but that I am willing to learn more about it."
This tells me that you should take a couple of courses in the field (which might or might not carry graduate credit in a program later) in order to see whether this is a field you really like and want to spend years mastering (PhD and after). This would also show not just vague interest to schools, but real interest.
I'm reminded of a woman I interviewed for a job who had four masters' degrees. I asked her why, and the conversation went something like this:
I thought I was interested in X, so I got a master's degree in X. But then I got a job in X, and it wasn't that interesting. I got interested in Y, so I got a master's degree in Y. But then I got a job in Y, and it wasn't that interesting. I got interested in Z, so I got a master's degree in Z. But then I got a job in Z, and it wasn't that interesting. I got interested in W \[the field the job was in\], so I got a master's degree in W.
Her flaw was that she jumped into programs without really understanding what the ultimate work would be about.
> 2 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions
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thread-36431
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36431
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Can I submit an unofficial TOEFL score report if the official one won't be received by the university before the deadline?
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2015-01-07T22:55:23.800
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# Question
Title: Can I submit an unofficial TOEFL score report if the official one won't be received by the university before the deadline?
It's been 8 days since my TOEFL scores were sent to me by ETS and I chose for them to be sent directly to the university I am applying. However, the official score reports won't be sent there before the deadline. Is it okay to copy-paste (since there is not a "print" option) and upload the scores that were electronically sent to me 10 days after the test date and notify the university about the delivery of the official score reports? Also, will I be notified by ETS when the university receives the official score reports?
# Answer
> 2 votes
In my experience, universities don't have a deadline for official scores. They do however have a deadline for when you should have taken the exam. If you took the exam before the deadline, they either know that the scores will arrive before they actually start reviewing your application, or they don't consider the scores until later in the process. You can always contact them and ask if they would like an unofficial score report, but if you took the exam before the deadline it will not be a problem.
# Answer
> 1 votes
ETS says "Official score reports will be sent to your designated recipients approximately 13 days after you take the test." at this link
That means, if your deadline is 20 days from now, and you take your TOEFl today, then score would be sent within 13 days (7 days before the deadline.) and finally will be received by the university after 13+7 days (it might take more). You can mail the university asking them to consider your report if they receive it wthin 2-3 days. They can wait for 2-3 days, if requested, but totally depends on the school. Talk to them, request them. Otherwise, your application will be considered as INCOMPLETE! and it would be considered in the next Round.
I don't think that the candidate is intimated about the delivery of the report as they send it via postal mail.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, language-exams, deadlines, toefl
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thread-36494
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36494
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Should funding be listed under "distinctions and honours" on a PhD application?
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2015-01-09T03:30:04.747
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# Question
Title: Should funding be listed under "distinctions and honours" on a PhD application?
In one of my Ph.D. applications, there's a section where I must "List any academic distinctions or honours or paricipation in olympiads etc." I don't know *exactly* what this means.
Would this include:
* A scholarship I earned to study a semester abroad at an (important) university.
* The funding I received to attend a summer school abroad? (I didn't present anything, just attended the school).
* My current MAs scholarship.
# Answer
Typically, when you put together a C.V., there is a place for listing the funding that you have obtained, and these would go in that section (unless they are primarily about the honor and secondarily about the money, in which case they would go in the funding section).
For the application, if there is nowhere to list these types of funding, then I would list them in this "distinctions and honors" section. These are significant pieces of your history, and should be listed somewhere in your application, and if this is the best fit, well, why not there?
> 3 votes
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions, application, funding
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thread-36496
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36496
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Mentioning that my paper extends my project X: compatible with double-blind review?
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2015-01-09T04:51:22.347
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# Question
Title: Mentioning that my paper extends my project X: compatible with double-blind review?
I am going to submit a paper to a conference that uses double-blind review. The paper extends my project X, which was published somewhere else last year. In order not to break the anonymity, in the paper shall I hide the fact that project X was mine? (If I don't they could simply look at the reference associated with project X to identify the authors.)
# Answer
> 19 votes
Yes, refer to Project X without stating that it is yours.
In my field, instructions to authors for conferences that are double-blind reviewed often say:
> Do not omit references to provide anonymity, as this leaves the reviewer unable to grasp the context. Instead, a good solution is to reference your past work in the third person, just as you would any other piece of related work.
In reality, of course it is often obvious that the paper under review is likely to be an extension of the cited work by the same author. However, as an author, it is not your responsibility to make sure that the reviewers can never identify you. It is only your responsibility to
> make a good-faith effort to preserve the anonymity of your submission, while at the same time allowing the reader to fully grasp the context of related past work, including your own.
Citing your own previous work in the third person is a good faith effort to preserve anonymity, and (at least in my field) that's all that's required.
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Tags: publications, peer-review, anonymity
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thread-36500
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36500
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How long between the acceptance and proof correction of Elsevier?
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2015-01-09T06:47:35.830
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# Question
Title: How long between the acceptance and proof correction of Elsevier?
My paper has beed accepted by Elsevier's International Journal of Electronics and Communications (AEUE).
I want to know how long I should expect to wait until I receive the notice of online proof correction.
# Answer
> 4 votes
You can answer this question is to look at the date stamps sequences on some of the existing papers. Many journals (including the one you have asked about), include all of the major dates in the publication process, e.g., "Received Date1, Accepted Date2, Available Online Date3," as well as the final date of publication.
Note that the "Available Online" and final date of publication may often be very different, but except in rare cases it is "Available Online" that you should care about because that is when people begin to be able to get your paper. However, some journals do not do all of the final proof correction until closer to the date of publication, but essentially just have your preprint up online for quite some time!
Applying this analysis to this particular journal, one can find the following:
* Acceptance to available online looks like 1-3 weeks
* Final publication happens ~6 months later
So you will probably get contacted about the proof very quickly (if they follow the normal method of proofing before online availability), or not for several months (if they do late-binding proofing).
# Answer
> 4 votes
The process between acceptance and receiving proofs contains a few steps. First the paper is likely to go to a copy-editor to check for inconsistencies in formatting and other issues dealing with the way the publisher wants the material presented in the final product. Following this is the type-setter who will set the paper, collate a set of questions, if any remain, for you to correct and then send out the proof for you to carefully proof read. The persons involved may have varying workloads, they usually are not working with one journal alone. In addition, the flow of papers is rarely constant in time so their workload can also vary in time for that reason.
As a result the time can vary substantially. I would say that a month is by no means unreasonable, it could be slightly shorter but can also be significantly longer. If the journal published on-line and provides acceptance dates on the published papers, you can estimate this by looking at the dates for acceptance and publishing on-line. This period also includes authors proof reading and final correction by the type-setter but that is usually about 2-3 weeks in total (can vary of course).
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Tags: publications, proofreading, elsevier
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thread-36518
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36518
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Research reference or source for study before selecting thesis topic
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2015-01-09T14:30:35.183
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# Question
Title: Research reference or source for study before selecting thesis topic
I would like to do my master thesis on image processing. What will be best approach for study and selecting topic on this field?
# Answer
A master's thesis assumes that you will have broad general knowledge of a subject, and detailed knowledge of a particular area of the subject. Whether you are expected to include an experimental component or make a contribution to the body of knowledge beyond that which results from organizing material into a thesis depends on your institution. Your advisor can help you there. (Image processing seems like it could lend itself to any number of interesting experiments, but I speak as one who knows little about the field.)
So, you start with a relatively recent overview book and absorb that. Consulting with your thesis advisor, pick an area of concentration. Find a few recent papers in your area of concentration and absorb those. Then read the papers those authors cite, and read the papers which cited the papers in your initial reading. Using the citations, you will be "working outward from the middle" until you have a thorough grasp on your area of concentration. Particularly, looking at papers cited by recent authors should guide you to the fundamental work in your area of concentration if you haven't found it already.
While you are becoming an expert in your area of concentration, also look for gaps in the knowledge of that area. One of these gaps will become your thesis topic. Work closely with your advisor so that you don't pick something that your faculty will consider trivial. Beware also of the "solve world hunger" problem; you probably have two semesters to complete the thesis. You cannot solve world hunger in that time. You want to be somewhere between "order lunch" and "solve world hunger," but more in the direction of "order lunch."
> 1 votes
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Tags: thesis, computer-science
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thread-36523
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36523
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Writing the GPA in the application form, even though the studies have not finished yet
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2015-01-09T15:32:24.320
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# Question
Title: Writing the GPA in the application form, even though the studies have not finished yet
In the application form of the master's program that I'm applying for, I'm obligated to write my GPA, and I cannot leave it blank, as the form cannot be submitted in that case. I still have one more semester to complete my Bachelor's degree studies.
What do you suggest to write in the field? Should I simply write my GPA, or should I add any phrases afterwards such as: **4.9 out of 5 (5 semesters)**
# Answer
Write your current GPA, and just say: "Current GPA: N.N" if the field allows you to add text and not just a number. It is the current truth, and the people who are reading it will understand that it cannot reflect classes that you have not yet taken.
> 2 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, application, gpa
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thread-31797
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31797
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What should I do if my final year project supervisor does not answer my questions
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2014-11-16T13:59:18.203
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# Question
Title: What should I do if my final year project supervisor does not answer my questions
Currently I am working on my Final Year Project. I have worked with the current supervisor for 4 months. In the first month, everything went smooth. Whenever I email a question to her, she will answer it within 3 days. However, as times goes by, she started to ignore my question. This happens from 2nd month onwards till now. I don't know whether she hates my for asking so many questions or simply don't have time.
What should I do to deal with this kind of situation as my Final Year Project's grade depends on her. If I don't have a good relationship with her, I think my grade will suffer.
# Answer
> 10 votes
Email is a terrible way to supervise work for both parties involved. It's difficult to ask a good question over email and it's difficult to address a misconception over email. From your question, there's no way of knowing which of several types of problems you are experiencing with your advisor. The answer to all of them, however, is to have regularly scheduled meetings that are face-to-face if possible, or over a video link if you are doing distance learning.
# Answer
> 3 votes
I would add that you may want to figure out what mode of communication your supervisor prefers in general, and with regard to advising students on final projects in particular. Pushing for a meeting might work, but it could also add to the supervisor's load if s/he is already overburdened with meetings with advisees. I would recommend to stop by her office, explain that you are looking for some additional feedback from her as you work on completing the project, and ask what she would prefer as as plan for communicating about it. Chances are it could be a mix of email and face-to-face.
Also, you could significantly increase your chances of hearing from the advisor by email if you adapt to her emailing style. People tend to have preferences in terms of how they communicate by email. Some like long, drawn-out emails with lots of detail. Others are absolute minimalists, writing barely a line in response to an inquiry of any length. A good rule of thumb is that if one writes short emails, one also prefers to receive/read short emails.
I do not believe I ever met someone who asked me to write them longer emails! (except my mom perhaps ;) So reviewing your past communication might suggest adjustments you could make in your emailing style, so it is "easy on the eyes" for the advisor. This small adaptation can pay big dividends in the long-term, as you teach yourself to consider your conversation partners' preferences and adapt to them. They will subconsciously perceive correspondence from you more favorably, which in turn will increase the chance of quicker and more positive communication.
This might seem trivial, but many people never intentionally learn good emailing practices. They just assume that if they get responses, their emails must be good enough. However, it does not take much effort to advance from 'good enough' to 'very good', but it could make a difference at critical times in your work or career.
A couple resources:
Effective E-mail Communication \- guide from the UNC-Chapel Hill Writing Center
Writing Effective Emails
Good luck!
# Answer
> 0 votes
1. they all have their works and their tasks. they are so busy .
2. it difficult for a adviser to just answer your emails and ignore his/her tasks.
3. also the same time, as your project goes on he/she need to bit google-search to help you. this a bit google-search or even thinking about your issue in your in your perspective is few time tackle, but they are really busier to **READ, think, search , TYPE and send** your answer.
So try to see him/her.
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Tags: advisor
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thread-36519
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36519
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What must an international graduate student do before arriving in the US?
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2015-01-09T14:39:42.037
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# Question
Title: What must an international graduate student do before arriving in the US?
I am an international student, and I am going to be doing an MS in Structure and Materials in Aeronautics at MIT. Before I arrive, what do I have to do?
# Answer
> 11 votes
Some key things that any international student will typically need to do before arriving in the USA:
* Obtain a student visa. Your institution will be able to support you, but you are likely to need to lead the process yourself, including going to a US consulate in your country. This can take a long time, so it is important to start many months in advance.
* Make sure you have any required vaccinations and health certificates (I'm not sure whether this is part of the visa, or separate; your institution and the US consulate can advise)
* Find housing. Some universities will help with this, many do not. For example, MIT is notoriously bad about this, and the Boston rental market is insane.
* Ensure that you will have health insurance. The US (still) does not have a national health system. Your institution will likely provide insurance, and may assist you in enrolling, but not all institutions will.
* Ensure that you will have access to money from your bank accounts, if needed. This can sometimes be a difficulty, and many things in the US are much more difficult to do without a working credit or debit card.
* Ensure that you will have a working cell phone. The US does not use the same standards as most other countries, though this is slowly changing. Just changing to a local SIM card may or may not work.
Caveat: I might be missing some things from this list...
Regarding scholarships: the USA does not have any organized system of scholarship exams. In many cases, however, graduate programs in STEM fields ensure financial support for their students through TAships or RAships. Any reputable Ph.D. program will do this, but Masters programs are much more mixed. Check with your particular program to find out what they advise.
# Answer
> 8 votes
To add to jakebeal's answer:
When an international student is admitted to a US university, they will be contacted by the Office of International Students (these offices go by various names, which are usually a permutation of the words office, international, students, and/or scholars).
The folks at the international student office are the best (and in fact the appropriate) people to contact with any questions about the logistics and details of being an international student, including visa issues, housing, travel, etc. Many of these will be addressed on their websites, see for example: ISO at MIT, OISS at Rice, Berkeley IO, Harvard IO, etc.
In addition to the international student office, you should consider looking up whether there is a community of students from your country at the university. Some of these organizations also help out incoming students, and might have helpful information on their websites. For example, Sangam at MIT, ISAR at Rice, KSAS at Stanford, etc. (There are often active Facebook groups/pages as well, where you can ask specific questions.) In addition to information specific for your community (e.g. best ways/rates to call a particular country, closest places of worship, etc.) these organizations are also helpful for more informal things, like finding a roommate from your country. The graduate international student organizations at my graduate institution also picked up students from the airport, which was extremely helpful.
And some things to think about doing, which haven't been mentioned yet:
1. If you can find out which textbooks are going to be used in your courses, it'll possibly save you a bunch of money to buy them ahead of time in your home country
2. Same for kitchen utensils, clothes, shoes, etc.
3. Certain food items are hard to find depending on where you will be. E.g., in a large city like Boston it's not hard to find Indian spices, compared to being roughly impossible in smaller collegetowns.
4. Be careful about bringing electrical items from your home country. US power supply is 110V, unlike several other countries. If you must bring electronics, e.g. a laptop, make sure you have an appropriate power cord/adaptor (the power outlets in the US are also a different configuration than in several other countries).
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Source: I was an international student in the US both for my bachelors and doctoral degree. I was also heavily involved in the graduate Indian student organization at my graduate institution (Rice University) and occasionally worked with the office of international students and scholars there. In fact, I compiled a "Starter Pack" for incoming Indian graduate students to Rice which might be helpful to you.
# Answer
> 6 votes
I just started as a graduate student in the US, and here is what I learned from my experience and that of some of my friends:
1) Get the visa and book tickets to fly in
2) Book a hotel / hostel for the first night. Even if you manage to get a rental before going there, it is unlikely that you will be able to sign the contract and get your keys on the first day.
3) Try to find a place to live. Your university may have a site where students who have an apartment can look for roommates, and if the rental market is really bad, this is a good place to start looking. Don't freak out if you don't have a rental before flying to the states. You can be more efficient once you have arrived. I stayed in a hostel for 3 weeks when I first got here, before I could find a place and move in to it.
4) Make sure you have health insurance / travel insurance / home insurance for the first few weeks. If you get health insurance through MIT, it will likely not start covering you until term starts, and you can get stuck with a $5000 bill for a broken leg or food poisoning or something like that. Not a fun way to start your time here.
5) Look at phone contracts online and pick one that would suit you. If you have an unlocked smartphone, you can just go to a store your first day in the US and get a SIM. Smartphones from the rest of the world are compatible with the US system, as long as they are unlocked. You will need a working phone pretty quickly here, so this should be prepared before you go. If you don't have an unlocked smartphone, you can buy a simple phone for $10-$20 with some number of minutes on it.
6) Make sure you have access to plenty of money. The first few days will be expensive when you are setting everything up. Figure out how much money you think you will need, and make sure you have access to double that in an emergency, including a few hundred dollars in cash (if your bank decided to shut down your card for accessing it abroad). You won't need all of it, most likely, but unexpected things will pop up and you will be grateful that you budgeted extra money.
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Tags: graduate-school, united-states, international-students
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thread-34905
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34905
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Do I need research experience to be admitted to a highly ranked mathematical physics master's?
|
2014-12-28T20:21:49.587
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# Question
Title: Do I need research experience to be admitted to a highly ranked mathematical physics master's?
I am a third year student doing my bachelors in both physics and mathematics at a German university. Since I am really interested in theoretical physics and mathematics I am thinking about doing a masters degree in mathematical physics. I am very interested in Mathematical Quantum Mechanics and, even though I haven't had courses in it yet, in QFT and General Relativity.
I'm thinking about applying for Part III of the Mathematical Tripos in Cambridge. It's probably quite hard for a German student to get accepted in Cambridge, isn't it? So my question is:
Do I need research experience, papers or something like that? At German universities we don't really do research or write papers in the bachelor studies of theoretical physics or mathematics (apart from the bachelor thesis itself).
# Answer
Having research experience will certainly help your application to an elite program. However, it is definitely not a necessity. Moreover, the graduate faculty at top institutions are used to fielding applications from all over the globe; they should be reasonably familiar with what kind of preparation students from Germany will typically have.
However, if you are serious about pursuing graduate studies, only applying to a small number of top programs is not usually a good approach. The top programs frequently need to reject a significant number of totally qualified applicants, simply because their space is limited. I would suggest that you apply more broadly if you want to ensure that you can get into a top program.
> 3 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, masters, mathematics, physics
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thread-36498
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36498
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Is it possible to earn a PhD in mathematics with emphasis in teaching?
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2015-01-09T05:57:13.583
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# Question
Title: Is it possible to earn a PhD in mathematics with emphasis in teaching?
I am currently a final year undergraduate, majoring in Pure Mathematics. My aim is to become a Maths lecturer in a university. With this in mind, I need to apply Phd in mathematics in the coming year. However, I'm not the person who likes to do research (not to the extend of hate, but I would not dwell myself for the whole day just to do research) while Phd is mainly research-based.
Question: Is there any university which offers Phd in mathematics with emphasis in teaching? Also, what are the alternatives to become a lecturer in university besides applying Phd in mathematics?
UPDATE: Anonymous Mathematicians mentions 'Doctor of Arts' (DA) in his answer below. Here is the list of graduates from DA program offered by Idaho State University. Don't the data give a sense of difficulties, in such a way that it is difficult to enroll in the DA program? Also, I see most graduates end up working at university.
# Answer
> 32 votes
The "doctor of arts" degree was created in the 1960's to solve this problem. It's like a PhD, but it doesn't require original research for the dissertation. The goal is to prepare students for teaching careers that do not involve research.
Several universities in the U.S. offer DA degrees in mathematics, but they have never become popular. Many people aren't even aware that such a degree exists, and those who know about it generally consider it inferior to a PhD. Even institutions that do not expect their faculty to conduct any research at all often prefer to hire candidates who have some research experience in the past, in which case they would prefer a PhD to a DA. (And many institutions require at least a little research to get tenure.)
For most people, getting a DA would be a bad idea: the time and effort required are comparable to a PhD, with worse career prospects. However, there are some narrow circumstances in which it could make sense. For example, some institutions (particularly high schools and some community colleges) don't require a doctorate at all but pay a higher salary to faculty with a terminal degree. In that case, a DA might work just as well as a PhD.
# Answer
> 9 votes
"Lecturer" is a title with very different meanings in different countries.
In the US system, the title typically indicates either a part time instructor or a person who is a full time teacher but not a tenured or tenure track faculty member. In the UK and many other commonwealth countries a "lecturer" is the equivalent of an assistant or associate professor in the US.
My answer below is in the context of the US system.
Within the US system, if you want to be a "professor" of mathematics at a prestigious university then you have to be an active researcher. It is sometimes possible to earn a PhD and do some research and then move onto a career as a tenured faculty member at a less prestigious college or university while doing very little research after the PhD. However, the competition for such positions is extremely intense (hundreds of applications for a tenure track position are common) and many colleges that wouldn't have cared about research in the past can now expect to hire faculty who will be active in research. Many universities at all levels have non tenure-track positions for instructors, but these jobs typically are part time or pay very poorly and offer little job security. Finally, there are full time and permanent teaching positions at community colleges where some of the instructors may have PhD's, but its also common for instructors to have only a master's degree.
The typical career path is for students to complete a strongly research oriented PhD program and then (after one or more post docs or visiting assistant professor positions) to attempt to find a tenure track position at a reputable university. Most of these students end up either leaving the field entirely or end up in teaching oriented position at a lower ranked college or a community college. A relatively small number of PhD's end up with tenured faculty positions at research universities. However, the system still very much requires students to complete a research oriented PhD before "settling" for a teaching position.
If you're not seriously committed to research and you really do just want to teach mathematics, then I would discourage you from entering a PhD program. Rather, you might consider an MS program that has a good track record of getting its graduates into community college teaching.
I should also mention that there are PhD programs in "Mathematics Education", but the focus in such programs is typically on education more than mathematics. Graduates with PhD's in math ed are highly employable in the US right now. Typically, they are hired to supervise developmental, remedial and lower level courses (up to say the level of calculus) while regular tenure track faculty teach higher level courses.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I am not allowed to comment, yet, so I will post here. I attended NCTM (National Council for Teachers of Mathematics) in 2012 in Philadelphia. It was a great experience, and learned a whole lot about new ways to teach. The main focus is on the public schools, but coming from a community college, I still found applicable material.
One of the talks that I attended was on choosing a Doctorate program in Mathematics Education. The main take-away was that you will need to do a lot of research into schools that will pay you to do your doctorate, and whether you get a PhD or an EdD won't really matter, as long as you do it well.
Additionally, if you are interested in "getting your feet wet," many community colleges (like mine) hire students with Bachelor's degrees in Math, or a related field, as adjunct faculty. I did this for three years, while earning my Master's degree. It helped me refine my teaching, as well as prepare myself for the community college students, and how different they are from University students.
After working at my college for three years as a full-time faculty member, I'm not sure that I would enjoy going into a University, except into researching Education. Our community college has a fairly heavy emphasis on Education research, and encourages faculty to "play" with different pedagogical ideas.
Good luck!
# Answer
> 2 votes
There is a whole field of research called Mathematics Education. Some mathematics departments have groups devoted to it. Doing research in this field is nothing like doing research in pure mathematics; it is more like sociology. Perhaps you would be interested in doing a PhD in this field? Then you would still have the qualifications to become a mathematics lecturer.
Edit: sorry, I just noticed that this was also discussed in the comments to another answer. You might also consider the field of ethnomathematics.
# Answer
> 1 votes
One alternative is to slightly drop where you aim to teach. In Quebec you can apply for positions at CEGEPs with just a masters (reference), and half of the students are at the same point in their education you would be teaching as an instructor in a US university. In the UK the same level positions exist at sixth form/further education colleges, but you'd need a teching qualification. There are probably equivalent positions in other countries too.
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Tags: phd, teaching, mathematics, lecturer
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thread-36489
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36489
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How can someone from a developing country study pure mathematics/theoretical physics at a university abroad?
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2015-01-09T00:24:24.203
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# Question
Title: How can someone from a developing country study pure mathematics/theoretical physics at a university abroad?
The quality of university level education in developing countries (North Africa in my case) is mediocre at best, especially in the sciences (my interests lie primarily in mathematics). I've found that the appropriate places for getting this education would be France or Russia, more specifically ENS and *l'École Polytechnique* in Paris (I'm aware that going to the *classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles* is strongly advised, but how can I avoid going there if possible?) and the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow (which teaches in Russian which I will vigorously try to learn).
Can I study in my original country for a little while then go there? How do each of them cost? How can I proceed to achieve this almost impossible goal? If you know of any other good mathematical institution that accepts student from North africa, please suggest it.
# Answer
> 13 votes
The African Institute for Mathematics (http://www.aims.ac.za/) is an institution meant to help those in your situation. Essentially, it is supposed to offer talented budding mathematicians from Africa the fundamentals to be competitive to apply to the top places all over the world.
# Answer
> 8 votes
One alternative, if you wish to study in a French-speaking country is the *École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne* (EPFL) in French-speaking Switzerland. It ranks highly in international rankings (overall higher than the schools you mentioned, although I don't know specifically for maths), and costs about 1300$/year in tuition (4.5 - 5 years to get Bachelor and Masters).
On the contrary to the French institutions you listed, the selection does not happen before you start the studies, but during them. The school is typically easy to enter, but there is a high dropout rate.
The typical route for prospective students who do not have a Swiss high school diploma is the *Cours de mathématiques spéciales* (never mind the silly name). It's a one year intensive math program to get you ready for the EPFL programs.
There is a significant community of French-speaking North-African students there, so it looks like this route is popular for you fellow nationals.
# Answer
> 5 votes
Let me clarify the classes prépatatoires stuff : their sole function is to prepare student to a competitive exam. I don't know if as a foreign student can directly apply to the competitive exam.
However, as a foreign student you can apply for this instead :
(http://www.admission.polytechnique.edu/home/ingenieur-polytechnicien-program/the-ingenieur-polytechnicien-program-23948.kjsp?RH=1252490031181)
It states that :
> The Ingénieur Polytechnicien Program of Ecole Polytechnique recruits the best students who have completed two or three years of undergraduate studies in Science or in Engineering
Please check this admissions conditions as well:
https://www.admission.polytechnique.edu/home/ingenieur-polytechnicien-program/admission-requirements/admission-requirements-24008.kjsp?RF=1262268322650
You should give a phone call to the schools you mention. It's very likely they will help you sort this out!
As per this : http://www.admission.polytechnique.edu/home/ingenieur-polytechnicien-program/finance-your-studies-how-does-it-cost-to-study-a-l-x-/
Tuition fees are 4.000EUR, 12.000EUR, 8.000 EUR for 1st, 2nd and third year.
Please let me add that Polytechnique is the most prestigious school in France. Not being able to find the aforementioned elements by yourself is a kind of concern. I really don't want to be rude, but really want to emphasize that the education level is very very high!
# Answer
> 2 votes
(Your idea of a 'good' institution seems rather strict to me.)
Montreal is home to a number of students from north Africa (and many other places), and gives you a choice of two languages (although English will be needed for most research careers in mathematics). Their fees are relatively low (although that might be changing).
---
Tags: graduate-admissions, mathematics, physics, international-students, africa
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thread-36543
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36543
|
Will I be paid a percentage of the fee that readers pay to download my article?
|
2015-01-09T21:24:26.333
|
# Question
Title: Will I be paid a percentage of the fee that readers pay to download my article?
I am a fresh PhD student and I have a question regarding the scientific publication process.
Let's say that I have submitted a paper to a certain journal in Springer, Elsevier etc... and it has been published.
The editor will charge 31.95$ to anyone who would eventually download my article.
How much do I get from it (as the article's writer) ?
# Answer
> How much do I get from it (as the article's writer) ?
## Nothing.
Moreover, through subscription fees, your university is very possibly paying a substantial amount of money for access to your work.
> 35 votes
# Answer
## You normally get *nothing.*
Unlike a book, where you retain the rights as author to some of the proceeds from the sales of the textbook, unless you have some very special arrangement in place with the publisher, the publisher normally keeps all of the proceeds from subscription fees.
(Note in part that very few copies of articles are sold through the publisher. That's one of the reasons why they're so expensive. In general, most people who want such an article do so through interlibrary loan agreements or by directly contacting authors.)
> 14 votes
# Answer
You will not receive any royalties from an academic publisher (for an article---books are different). You may even need to pay to have the article published, although in many fields, the best journals are free to publish in.
You will, of course, get the benefits of exposure and possibly opportunities to network with other researchers. But there are no financial benefits from publishing scholarly articles.
> 5 votes
# Answer
Cf. my answer to the "How much do Springer-Verlag authors make per book sold?" question:
> If the Work is sold electronically as part of a Springer e-book package, Author will receive an equitable share of royalties from the income generated by Springer from the e-book package. The share formula for each individual title within the e-book package will be determined by Springer no later than April for the preceding calendar year. This amount will be paid in addition to the royalty described above and shown separately on the annual royalty statement.
The same stipulation might hold for articles, too.
> -3 votes
---
Tags: publications, paper-submission, publishers
---
|
thread-36554
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36554
|
Seeking TT position with criminal record (DUI)
|
2015-01-09T23:43:26.583
|
# Question
Title: Seeking TT position with criminal record (DUI)
I am a few years away from being done my PhD in philosophy, and plan to seek work in the field. I have a DUI on my record from when I was 18 years old. Will anyone care?
# Answer
> 5 votes
Nobody will care.
A drug-related crime (of which a DUI is one example) from your teenage years is just not at all relevant to your professional qualifications and your ability to do your job. If it were more recent, or if it were a more relevant crime (e.g., a violent offense), then it might be a different story.
As noted in the comments, though, don't try to hide it if somebody asks about it. You don't need to bring it up, but if somebody else does, just tell the honest truth and you won't raise any red flags.
Oh, and in the future make sure you have some sympathy for the students who are making the same mistakes that you did.
---
Tags: job-search, tenure-track, faculty-application, legal-issues
---
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thread-35316
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35316
|
As a postdoc, how to make sure I get credit for helping undergrad and grad students?
|
2015-01-06T08:45:32.033
|
# Question
Title: As a postdoc, how to make sure I get credit for helping undergrad and grad students?
I am a postdoc, and I understand that my work involves assisting undergrads and grad students with their projects. But sometimes things go beyond mere helping into more like supervising and explaining in detail some important aspects to undertake the work correctly. All I get at the end is a "thank you for your help" (which I really appreciate)! At some stage I even helped another postdoc by doing some calculations and some analysis of her work. I never have my name on any of their resulting publications.
I don't know how to approach this issue, it seems odd if I would say 'listen I won't help until you promise that I will be a co-author'.
Any advice?
# Answer
> 4 votes
If you wish to be a coauthor, you should definitely ask if that will happen before you start the work. Setting clear expectations is the best way to get people to do what you want. In those cases where you think you cannot become a coauthor, ask the person you are helping to tell your supervisor that you helped them. Keep a list of things you did and give it to your supervisor when you need letters of recommendation.
---
Tags: publications, postdocs, authorship, interpersonal-issues, supervision
---
|
thread-36571
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36571
|
How to 'stay up to date' in your field?
|
2015-01-10T14:46:24.143
|
# Question
Title: How to 'stay up to date' in your field?
In academia, it's important to stay up to date with the latest 'hot' hypotheses in the your field. By 'hot', I mean the hypothesis that are most important/topical/relevant/popular. Perhaps the best way of staying up to date in a given field is by reading the literature. But I'm wondering if there are any shortcuts? Are there any websites or papers that list the current most 'hot' hypotheses in each field? Google Scholar lists the most cited papers but I'm wondering if any resource goes one step further by listing topics?
# Answer
I suggest some ways of becoming up to date:
1. Following the related top scientists and authors on that field on Google Scholar
2. Following the related top researchers and professors web sites and their research lab and groups publications.
3. Ask to contribute to work for or work with them.
4. Check related Linked-In groups to know more about academia and industry.
5. Visit their labs and talk with them.
6. Take part in the related conferences.
7. Check the related conference proceedings. For example, the IEEE web site has lots options to help you.
> 5 votes
---
Tags: literature, literature-search, literature-review
---
|
thread-36561
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36561
|
How to request an extension for submission to a conference?
|
2015-01-10T03:34:50.320
|
# Question
Title: How to request an extension for submission to a conference?
I am writing a few research papers for an upcoming conference and things have been going decently. But I could really use more time to analyze my papers.
I am new to writing and this entire conference process, however - How should I e-mail the organizer requesting a deadline extension?
```
Hi Dr. Bobster,
I would like you to extend the deadline for the
international conference on procrastination.
Sincerely,
Procrastinator
```
Also if it helps: I should make this *extra* polite because this is also someone of high influence.
***Updates***
---
It looks like for the past versions of this conference, they gave at least a week extension. This is a fairly well known event, though it doesn't usually end up presenting any ground breaking research.
---
It looks like the past few events had extensions, its a well-known event but not too crazy. There's no way I can finish this with the other things I have..
---
If anyone wants an update, I cut the paper short, finished it on time and submitted it.
---
I asked for an extension. I didn't get a reply - so I thought that they thought I was being stupid. BUT.... they extended the deadline! Phew!! Maybe I didn't have to cut it short..
# Answer
The words you propose are reasonable, but unlikely to have much effect. Usually, you just plain cannot affect the deadlines of a significant conference. If it is a small conference, however, there is a good chance that you can get a one week extension, and even that they may give a blanket one week extension to everybody.
> 9 votes
# Answer
It is very unlikely that there will be any extension *due to your request*. If you are *"new to writing and this entire conference process"*, you are presumably not well-known / important enough that a conference organiser will make exceptions/changes to accommodate you specifically.
However, that does not mean that there certainly will not be an extension. In my field, many conferences (especially smaller ones) have the annoying habit of *always* extending their deadline for a week or more. Contrary, the largest and most prestigious conferences in my field make it a point to never, and for nobody, extend the deadline.
Whether your conference is likely to extend can be predicted pretty accurately by looking at the past. Check out the previous web pages of the same conference - if they extended the last one or two times, they will likely do so as well this year.
> 6 votes
# Answer
The wording you propose is ambiguous: do you want an extension for yourself or for everybody. It only makes sense to ask for an extension for yourself if the request does not waste the time of the PC member to whom you send, and the PC will be usually be most busy in the timeframe around submission.
And the PC is only likely to grant an extension for the whole conference if many more people will fail to meet the deadline than they expected: to do so is embarrassing for them -- although not as embarrassing as failing to have enough speakers to fill the promised number of days.
The PC for workshops and more informal conferences are likely to be generous in granting individual extensions, but there is only a point in asking if you give them some information that is relevant to them: the minimum should be (i) some information about what kind of thing you will hopefully submit, and (ii) name a deadline that they can grant with the one-word email "Sure" or decline with "Sorry". And (iii), something to say why you are attracted to the conference is often appreciated. So for asking for an individual extension, I recommend that your email looks something like:
```
Dear $PCMEMBER,
I won't be able to submit all the materials required by $DEADLINE - does it make any sense
to submit later? I attach the short version of my abstract below, and will provide the
rest of the materials by $IMUSTREALLYFINISHBYTHISDATE.
I hope that it will still be possible for me to present my work with you at $CONFERENCE.
Best,
$ME
```
And something along the lines of `$PERSONRESPECTEDBYPROGRAMCOMMITTEE spoke highly of $HISorHER experiences at your past conferences and I would greatly look forward to the chance to present my information with you` would be appropriate for the third point.
> 2 votes
---
Tags: publications, conference, deadlines
---
|
thread-36558
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36558
|
Can I send math subject GRE scores to programs that do not require them?
|
2015-01-10T02:41:19.203
|
# Question
Title: Can I send math subject GRE scores to programs that do not require them?
I'm applying math graduate program and know that some program reads "gre math subject is not required". Does that mean I can't send gre subject score to them?
And if I also want to apply cs program, can I send gre math sub score to them to exhibit my mathematical ability?
# Answer
You can still send it in. You can always add more information to your application, but there is no guarantee that they will consider it. I know a few schools have stopped asking for GRE subject scores because they don't feel that it's a good way to predict performance, and if that is the case they will not look at it. Assuming you have a good score, it will not count against you.
> 6 votes
# Answer
You can and should send them. Not required means it is not essential; they don't want someone who has not taken that exam to worry. But grad schools would typically want to know about a candidate from as many sources as possible and getting your subject GRE scores is really a good plus point for your candidature. Of course , additional fee for each report has to be borne
> 2 votes
---
Tags: graduate-admissions, gre
---
|
thread-36548
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36548
|
Submitting to conference without intention to present
|
2015-01-09T21:51:42.457
|
# Question
Title: Submitting to conference without intention to present
I did a master's degree in computer science and wrote a thesis. I'm interested in submitting the work in my thesis to a second-tier conference in my research area -- if it is accepted, it will be a stamp of quality for my work.
Nevertheless, I'm not really interested in presenting the work in case it is accepted, because (i) I've moved on to a PhD somewhere else, and it would be troublesome to ask my former advisor for travel funding or presentation advice, and (ii) I've moved on to a different research area (still within the same broad area.)
Can I submit to a conference and choose not to present? If not, what can I do?
# Answer
In many conferences, the work has to be presented in order to be included in the conference proceedings and considered published otherwise a submission, even if accepted, will be removed.
If you really want to have the paper in a conference you can submit it to one that a friend or colleague is attending and he can present your work for you. It is not an optimal situation and might be frowned upon by those attending the presentation, as realistically you cannot expect a decent Q&A session afterwards, but many of the conference organisers tolerate it and it quite a common practice in an environment with budget cuts or less travel money available.
> 18 votes
# Answer
It is somewhat if not outright unethical to submit a paper to a conference with peer review with the intention of not attending and presenting. The program committee and reviewers will have to put in volunteer effort to deal with your paper only to have you withdraw it or simply fail to attend.
You should not do this.
> 18 votes
# Answer
Another route to consider would be journal publication. You can poke around some of their sites to find the submission requirements and to see whether their journal sounds compatible with your work.
Checking with a few other conference FAQs, it seems that if you are accepted, they will ask whether you would like to present. I'm not sure what that will get you, if you say 'no,' other than personal validation that you did good work.
> 5 votes
# Answer
I think you should submit and present if it is chosen. If you don't present it, you take away someone else's chance who needs the break in that conference more than you do. Everything is competitive nowadays. Why to create un necessary competition ?
> 2 votes
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Tags: conference, computer-science, presentation
---
|
thread-36573
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36573
|
Sending M.Sc. dissertation to a big conference
|
2015-01-10T15:35:09.893
|
# Question
Title: Sending M.Sc. dissertation to a big conference
I am a very recent Ph.D. student (since October 2014), and the deadline date of the conference in which I want to participate is quite near. I don't want to miss the conference, but as I am so new in my Ph.D. program, I don't have something really concrete for the moment. For this conference, however, it is possible to revise the paper until 15 days before the conference.
Accordingly, I am thinking of submitting my M.Sc. dissertation to the conference. As I think I will have an improved version of my M.Sc. in 3-4 months (at least, I really hope), I suppose that it is worth doing this.
Is it really a bad idea to submit a M.Sc. dissertation to a conference? Are there some ethical issues to consider?
# Answer
Typically a dissertation is not considered to be a peer reviewed publication. This means that the material in it can be extracted and turned into conference or journal publications. In some fields, this is a typical practice after completing a dissertation, where in others it goes the other way (the dissertation is assembled from peer-reviewed papers).
You cannot, however, just submit your thesis directly as is. A dissertation is generally much longer than conference or journal papers. A dissertation typically also has much more freedom in style, and does not have to be targeted at the biases of a particular community. Thus, to make a credible conference submission, you will need to compress or extract a nugget of contribution of an appropriate size, and may also need to tailor its focus and language to better match that of the conference where it is being submitted.
> 7 votes
# Answer
I agree with what jakebeal says in his answer about ways to make a submission based on your Master thesis, and I would like to add that you could talk to your former Master thesis supervisor. Maybe he or she is interested in drafting a submission together with you. As your supervisor, they are probably more or less interested in the topic.
*For example, everyone supervising a graduation thesis in my own department is always strongly encouraged to create at least one paper out of that thesis, and while mostly, students are not interested in writing anything themselves and we only present refactored parts of what they created (which ultimately means that their effective contribution warrants co-authorship among the less significant positions), we are always entirely happy and supporting if a student actually wants to become one of the main authors and writes parts of the paper him- or herself.*
Like this, you could benefit from writing together with someone more experienced who can help you create a submission that has a certain chance of being accepted.
(All of the above is under the assumption that your Master thesis topic is somehow related to your PhD research, so both are somewhat compatible with the conference in question.)
Furthermore, I would like to respond to the following statement you make:
> I don't want to miss the conference
This sounds like your primary objective is to attend the conference. That is a legitimate desire, for reasons such as getting a good overview over the state of the art in your field, getting some first external contacts in your field, or simply for learning how conferences in your field look and feel in general.
You may want to talk to your supervisor exactly about that wish, as there may be various options:
* If your department's finances allow for that, you might be allowed to attend without presenting anything. At my own department, new doctoral candidates are often allowed to attend one conference in the very beginning of their career even if they do not have any submission, just to learn how conferences work (preferrably, that is a conference that is attended by at least one other member of the department, so they also have someone to "show them around").
* Even though you have nothing "really concrete for the moment", if you have started looking into some things, defined something on an abstract level that you are about to try, or have a certain plan, you could think about preparing a minor submission to the conference, e.g. a poster or a workshop paper. On this type of papers, it is often acceptable to present work in progress, as one of the main goals is to discuss and possibly refine an approach or model.
* If your work is not concrete enough for that, maybe you could participate in a doctoral colloquium, which is an event somewhat similar to a workshop that is frequently integrated into conferences, as well. Such events are sometimes meant for doctoral candidates to present and discuss their ideas and plans for their upcoming research.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: thesis, conference, paper-submission
---
|
thread-36527
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36527
|
What to do when a referee wants to criticize someone else through me
|
2015-01-09T16:54:38.740
|
# Question
Title: What to do when a referee wants to criticize someone else through me
A couple of months ago I submitted a paper for which a referee review came back recently, recommending minor corrections. There are two methods to calculate some quantities in the literature which do not agree between each other. My paper agrees with one of them and not with the other, which I know is incorrect. However, in my paper I did not point this out (that it is incorrect, I do mention the other method), but simply focused instead on the method I use.
Now, the referee seems to be eager for me to profusely comment on the incorrect method and specifically refer to several papers written by people from the same group using this particular method. I get the impression that this referee is trying to use me to criticize them. I would prefer to be as diplomatic as possible, and remain in good terms with the others who use the incorrect method, who I have met in person several times. However, openly stating their method to be wrong, even if choosing the wording to be as nice as possible, would make that difficult.
What should I do in this case?
# Answer
In my opinion, having a proof that a method is incorrect and keeping it to yourself due to diplomatic/social concerns is neither the scientific nor the friendly thing to do.
If I was working in a group which uses a method frequently I'd expect a friend knowing that it was flawed to share his/her concerns with me in a constructive and friendly manner, knowing that the next researcher who discovers such flaws might not be friendly about it. I'd also hate to be putting time and effort based on something flawed.
Once that was done by that friend, we could find out between us whether the method is really flawed. If it is, I won't be offended if it's published in a paper he wrote.
> 27 votes
# Answer
First, remember that the review is not "the word of (your) god", it is a professional view of a peer. Now, it is customary to report on aspects that support and do not support your findings. Whether it is reasonable to mention the second, apparently flawed way to do a calculation, cannot be judged here but you should see if it can and indeed should be at least mentioned. In the end, you also have the right to have a different opinion than that given by your peer reviewer. Hence, you should provide your view to the editor on why you think following this particular point is superfluous. It does not appear to change anything in your conclusions and of that is correct it seems as a *no-brainer*.
So first consider if you can work in a comment to the fact that there are other ways to do a calculation, if need be with an argument why you have chosen as you have done. Second, make your point clear to the editor stating that you do not see a major point in dwelling on the reviewers point since it does not affect the result you have arrived at. How and what you express will of course only be possible for you to judge.
> 11 votes
# Answer
In your paper, you do need to acknowledge the existence of the other method, especially if it is a frequently used alternative. This is because you need to explain why you chose the method that you chose.
You do not, however, need to criticize the other method as wrong. Instead, you can simply explain what are the advantageous properties of the method that you are using. A good way to think about this is to remember that you are not actually choosing between Method A and Method B. Rather, you are choosing Method A as sufficient for your purposes, regardless of the existence of Method B or the opportunity to try to create a new Method C.
> 6 votes
# Answer
We're all in the same pursuit in science - we want to understand what's happening on a fundamental level. If there are disagreements in calculated or measured/observed quantities, I should think that the natural response to reported discrepancies in those quantities should be **"Why do we disagree? What is happening here that we obviously don't understand fully?"** or similarly. These disagreements can be turned to something constructive and really ought not be seen negatively by anyone worth their salt in academia. Or so I would think.
There was a similar instance in my own work previously. If you're particularly concerned with a personal outcry from these other researchers, what you could do is reach out to them personally to tell them your findings and try to discuss the answers to the questions I stated above. This way, you're free to publish your results and you might even have a "stimulating discussion" that would allow for future work or collaborations on similar measurements. After all - these might lend themselves to better comprehension of your field of study, and isn't that your end goal?
> 4 votes
# Answer
You can contact the editor directly. Explain your position calmly, as you have done here - you feel you have addressed the issue, and that you think the reviewer's approach is too strong, or why it is not a good fit for your paper. In my experience, editors try to be fair, and if the editor will require you to make the change, they will be able to tell you so directly.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Reach out to the group that has published the "wrong" method and discuss it with them. There may be more to their method that you realize. If at the end of that conversation you agree that there is a problem, they ought not to mind if you publish. If you get to see their point of view you can include it in your response to the editor.
Nobody likes to be surprised by a negative publication (so give them fair warning/try to sort it out) and in scientific publishing you should state the truth as you see it, with appropriate language to convey what is fact and what is speculation. Deliberately leaving things out is inappropriate: there is an old saying in Dutch that "gentle doctors make stinking wounds".
> 1 votes
# Answer
Seems like there are three possible cases here.
1) Do you get comparable results with your data, using both methods? Then that's a useful thing to say: "I chose to use this method, but similar results are obtained with the other method". You can leave it at that.
2) If you get DIFFERENT results, then that's rather more important: you need to describe the difference in outcome, and to explain why your cherry-picked method represents a true interpretation of the data, and why you feel that the differing result from the other method should not be heeded.
3) If the method affects data-gathering, so that you can use only one or the other, then you can't compare them without running the experiment again... which is someone else's job! You have already mentioned the other method, and explained which method you have used. Your method is the mainstream one. Papers exist on the topic of which method is better, and about discovered flaws, but your paper is not *about* this, so you don't even need to cite those papers: it is an irrelevance.
If it is a bugbear for your reviewer, that's nice for them, but it is not relevant to your paper, and you do not need to go into depth about your selection of the most mainstream method. If you were choosing a minority method, an explanation is relevant, but otherwise it's sufficient to say which method you used, so that people can reproduce your experiment.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: writing, peer-review, etiquette, editors
---
|
thread-36607
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36607
|
With some programming but no formal CS background, to develop fundamental CS knowledge should I get an MS or BS?
|
2015-01-11T10:10:06.177
|
# Question
Title: With some programming but no formal CS background, to develop fundamental CS knowledge should I get an MS or BS?
I have 3 years of experience as a programmer now. I have worked on some drivers in the automotive domain and some medical applications.
Since I do not have a computer science background, I was thinking of going for a full time masters in computer science. I need to develop my algorithm and data structures, compiler theory knowledge.
I have studied algorithms and data structures through the book written by Cormen, and other stuff through books.
I do not have any published papers from my undergraduate degree.
Would it would be better for me to go for a masters or bachelors degree?
# Answer
> So, do you think it makes sense for me to go for higher studies now?
Depends what you are hoping to achieve, of course. However, as you are already working in industry, if your goal is to get better pay or a better programming job, this may not work out the way you hope it would. If the goal is actually to (as you indicate) learn about fundamentals in computer science, going back to university may be the right move. However, note that for these basics, an undergrad may actually be more appropriate. At master level, most programmes would assume that you have a solid working understanding of these concepts from the start.
> What will my chances be of getting into a good university?
What is a "good" university for you, and where? There is also the problem that you indicate that your undergrad was not in computer science - this will probably hamper your chances of acceptance to a great computer science programme quite a bit.
Somewhat related: I feel that you are also overestimating the amount of industry experience you have accrued. Frankly, after 3 years, most people would not call you an "experienced programmer". So it is unlikely that your work experience will be sufficient to offset your missing undergraduate degree.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: masters, computer-science, bachelor
---
|
thread-36580
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36580
|
Is university teaching better than high school teaching experience in applying for teaching-funded PhDs?
|
2015-01-10T18:11:17.847
|
# Question
Title: Is university teaching better than high school teaching experience in applying for teaching-funded PhDs?
When applying for graduate assistantships or part-time teaching for grad school scholarships, is university teaching necessarily better than highschool teaching experience? if so, by how much?
Possibly relevant details:
1. I am graduating soon with a master's degree from a third world university.
2. My plan is to get a PhD but am considering getting teaching experience to boost my chance's of getting in.
3. I am considering teaching at my university (or another university in my country) for a year or so.
4. However, I have something like a dual citizenship in a first world country in the sense that I permitted to work there in addition to an established residence (my mom and sister live there while my dad and brother live with me).
5. Said FWC is where I would like to get my PhD.
6. My parents suggested I teach at my sister's highschool (or some highschool in said FWC since I will unlikely get into one of the universities there).
7. I am fine with either in terms of job requirements (e.g. highschool has more requirements and students tend to snooze off more), but the pay is alarmingly different by a factor of 5.
Another difference is that if I teach in my university long enough, I might be able to teach or assist in teaching advanced stuff like probability, linear algebra, calculus III or financial maths. There's also a tutorial center nearby and there are occasional students who need tutorials in probability, statistics and linear algebra.
# Answer
> 4 votes
If there is an option definitely university teaching is more valuable as it is at the same level as the teaching you will experience while doing your degree. However, you should consider that PhD is a research-based degree and teaching obligation is not primary concern. So you might get the position without having any teaching experience and finally get your PhD being a year or so younger.
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions, teaching, mathematics, funding
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thread-36614
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36614
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Philippine grade equivalent in the UK grading system
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2015-01-11T15:10:39.737
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# Question
Title: Philippine grade equivalent in the UK grading system
My GPA for my bachelor's degree here in the Philippines is 1.4259 (equivalent to magna cum laude). In the UK system, to which honors class will it belong?
# Answer
> 5 votes
Converting from one grading scheme to another is a nightmare: How to convert from one grading scheme to another?. In general, you should try and avoid trying to calculate an exact GPA in another system. That said, many US universities have a hard cutoff of a 3.0 GPA and many UK universities have a hard cut off of a 2.1 degree classification. Within these constraints, it seems reasonable to ask if a particular GPA in one system is clearly above, clearly below, or near the minimum admissions bar.
In the UK, there is an attempt to normalize the degree classifications across different universities. This is done by having external examiners on the exam board to prevent grade inflation. At Russell Group universities, about 10-15% of students get 1st class degrees and over 70% of students will get a 2.1 or higher. At lower ranked universities, fewer students will get first and upper second class degrees. Assuming a reasonably respectable university in the Philippines without rampant grade inflation magna cum laude would be well above the 2.1 bar and would probably be close to the 2.1/1st cut off.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, united-kingdom, gpa
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thread-36605
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36605
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Must graduate applicants who will need funding submit financial statement for I-20?
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2015-01-11T09:54:54.637
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# Question
Title: Must graduate applicants who will need funding submit financial statement for I-20?
I am applying this time for graduate admission in physics at Utah. In the online application they require a financial statement. Does graduate admission require it too, even though I must need a TA/RA?
# Answer
> 10 votes
A financial statement is required by the US for visa eligibility for *all* international students applying for standard student visas. It is not needed for admissions decisions, as stated in the form you've uploaded.
The purpose of the statement is to show that you will be able to support yourself (and any dependents) while you are in the US. If the university offers funding, you will use that as a source of support on your I-20. If the university funding does not fully meet all your financial requirements, then you will need to show that you can handle the rest of your expenses through other sources.
You don't need to worry about the I-20 until after you've been admitted. The university will give you more information then, including how to submit the necessary documents and what the official program expenses are for visa purposes.
# Answer
> 3 votes
When I applied, I emailed and asked about the financial statement for the one university that required it (Ohio State), and they told me to upload a document stating basically:
Personal funds: 0$
From university: (Tuition + standard stipend for the given program)$
I suggest emailing them and asking what they prefer you to do.
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Tags: application, funding, united-states, international-students, visa
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thread-36557
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36557
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Applying to History & Philosophy of Science (HPS) PhD programs?
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2015-01-10T01:46:01.537
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# Question
Title: Applying to History & Philosophy of Science (HPS) PhD programs?
History & Philosophy of Science (HPS) is a relatively small field with a handful of PhD programs in the U.S.
Are their any resources on applying to HPS PhD programs and pursing a career in HPS?
# Answer
> 2 votes
HPS isn't a huge subfield of philosophy. I don't know the exact numbers off the top of my head, but I'd guess there are maybe 5 or 6 jobs in the US per year in HPS. It's hard to tell partially because the field is quite diverse. Philosophy of Physics and Philosophy of Social Science are pretty different sub-subfields. So you should try to think about your interests more narrowly. Are you wanting to do philosophy of biology? Philosophy of Neuroscience? Or maybe you're really interested in the birth of modern dynamics at the turn of the 16th century? You need to think about what exactly you're interested in and then find the very best programs you can apply to for that interest. For instance, if you wanted to do Philosophy of Biology, the University of Wisconsin, Madison is a great choice, but if you wanted to do history of physics stuff, the program at the University of Pittsburgh might be stronger for those interests.
As a first pass, take a look at the Gourmet Report rankings in each of the Phil. Science subfields. But then go through and actually read recent papers by the key faculty at the places that end up high on your list and see whether they're doing the kind of stuff you want to do.
Finally, it would also behoove you to check out the placement data of every school you are considering applying to with a fine-toothed comb. The philosophy job market has been abysmal since 2008. (Not that it was that great before, mind.) So if your ambition is to someday become a philosophy professor, then you should really take a look at whether these schools are managing to place their PhD graduates and if so, in what kinds of places. Investigate the kinds of schools that the graduates land in. Are they the flagship campuses of big state research universities? Are they tiny religious colleges in far flung places? Are they elite small liberal arts colleges? Are they two-year community colleges? You need to really think about what kind of school you'd like to teach at because the experience of being a professor at each of these different kinds of schools is very different. Religious schools pay less. Community colleges and satellite campuses of state schools tend to have heavy teaching obligations. Etc.
If, like many but not all grad students, you want to end up teaching at a research school with PhD students, you probably would have to get into literally the best program in your subspecialty of HPS to be a competitive candidate.
Good luck.
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Tags: phd, united-states, interdisciplinary
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thread-36585
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36585
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How do you deal with being stuck in mathematics research?
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2015-01-10T19:54:18.933
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# Question
Title: How do you deal with being stuck in mathematics research?
With a few other professors, I have been working on proving a certain mathematics conjecture. Our solution seems to be working perfectly in computer simulations but we can't find a proof. (..its a very big result if it works!...)
I have been trying pretty much everything I can think of. Nothing is working.
What do you do in such a situation?
# Answer
*A journey of a thousand li begins with a single step.*
Rather than aiming for a big result all in one go, why not break the problem down by aiming at some smaller results that will bridge you towards where you want to go. For example:
* If you restrict to a much more limited range (even to a single scenario!), can you show the result for that special case? You may then be able to generalize bit by bit.
* Can you identify some property P such that, if property P holds, the overall result will hold? You can then separately try to show that your system has P and that P implies the desired result.
* Can you break your system into little pieces and take an inductive approach, where you show that if all but one fragment are correct, then the last fragment will be correct too? You can then show that this holds for larger and larger fragments.
Complementarily, if the simulations work but you can't find the proof, it might be the case that the result does *not* hold, but it appears to because your simulations are all coincidentally close to some special case. I have *often* seen this happen to people. So an alternate approach that you can take is to try to break your simulation. For example:
* What happens when you hold all simulation parameters constant except for one, and change that parameter greatly, say across a range of a couple of orders of magnitude?
* What happens if you radically alter the initial conditions, e.g. making initial conditions extremely homogeneous or heterogeneous in a strongly correlated way?
If the simulation fails in more extreme conditions then, well, you know why you couldn't find a proof. If it doesn't fail, then you may gain insight into *why* it doesn't.
> 8 votes
# Answer
Have more than one project, so that if you get too frustrated you can switch to a different problem and come back to the other one in a few weeks.
> 4 votes
# Answer
You should take a small break, say a week, away from this problem. It will help if you engage in some other creative activity during the break. That will help you genuinely take a better perspective.
> 2 votes
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Tags: research-process, mathematics
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thread-36589
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36589
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Is an MS in computer science helpful in improving programming skills?
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2015-01-10T20:24:45.433
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# Question
Title: Is an MS in computer science helpful in improving programming skills?
I attained my bachelors degree in computer engineering in January 2014. I was not a prolific programmer as an undergrad, instead focusing on my other coursework and in general completing my degree. I am now paying the price for that. I got a job after graduating that involved writing code, however I had a hard time understanding the programming tasks required. Luckily I had senior coworkers who were very helpful. Despite this I was fired after five months because I was unable to complete my tasks in a timely manner.
Since then I have begun working on my own (basic) projects such as library management and a chat engine.
After a few months I was able to get another programming job. This time I was able to understand the tasks I was assigned, however I still struggled to complete them in a timely manner and my boss was growing quite frustrated with me. I decided to leave the position after two weeks because of this.
I have continued to improve my programming skills since graduation, but I am still very slow at developing my programs and I rely heavily on Google. I suspect that this is because I did very little programming as an undergraduate. I do enjoy programming, and I regret not pursuing it more passionately then.
I have since considered applying to a masters program in computer science in order to improve my programming knowledge. I'm not sure that this is the best route because I believe that most masters programs in computer science are more research oriented. I believe that if I continue my studies and complete all my programming assignments I will be able to do well in industry. I would appreciate any advice on deciding between a MS and an MBA so I can remedy the errors I made in the first two.
# Answer
> 30 votes
Although having done a bachelor in computer engineering without doing any coding at all is highly unusual, learning to code is mainly a self-taught art. Even if you had been fully taught many programming languages during your undergraduate years, they might quickly become obsolete. On a perfect world an undergraduate degree on computer engineering must have given you the necessary theoretical base on databases, programming concepts, data structures and algorithms. Then it takes many / endless hours of coding to learn how to successfully apply those concepts on real-world software applications. So, regardless of doing a MSc or not, you must still code on your own "free" time, either on your little self-projects, on learning / self teaching new programming languages or participating on open-source projects and communities like Stack Overflow (SO).
The fact that you avoided coding on your undergraduate years is a bad sign though. Successful programmers are usually partly (or fully) geeks who enjoy installing / testing a new linux distribution every few months, hack their laptops to automate tasks, participate on SO by coding and solving other people's problem just for fun. Are you sure that coding is what you want to do for the rest of your life? Programming is really a hard and stressful work (as you saw on your first real jobs) and is very hard to enjoy it, if you do not have any real passion for it.
On answering your core question, most MSc programs I know, are mainly focused on particular aspects of IT science, such as databases, networks, electronic commerce etc and not on teaching programming. If your core motivation is learning how to program, I would suggest to follow (and pay for) some industry certifications (e.g. Oracle for Java and Oracle DB) and their respective structured courses. There is even multiple free educational material for those certifications, so you might even not need to pay for it. Still, to really learn coding you must spend hundreds of hours of actually coding and you should not simply expect to learn programming by studying at yet another course or getting a new degree.
# Answer
> 25 votes
I feel like this whole question is a great example of someone taking a Bachelor's course on the assumption that it would open up career doors for them, without ever really considering or understanding how \[little\] said course related to their chosen career path.
No degree is going to magically make you a programmer or a software developer, surely not a research degree, and certainly not a *Computer Science* degree. "Computer Science" is a misnomer for courses that would be better called "*Computing* Science". It's not about developing software.
Taking a Bachelors course in Software Development/Engineering should have given you a great foundation, but it sounds like it may in reality have been more of a Computer Science course (a contradiction that is unfortunately rather common in the undergraduate academic world). Regardless, whether you took a real Engineering course, decide to go and take one *now* or just leave it be entirely, my advice is as follows:
**If you wish to improve your skills, take up more hobby projects and consider contributing an open-source repository.** It sounds like this is going to be a slow road so you should probably get an unrelated job to tide you over for the next few years until you have become a useful programmer.
# Answer
> 13 votes
Getting a masters COULD improve your programming skills, or not, depending on the work you do, and the use you make of it. There's also a question of exactly what kind of programmer you want to be, because all programmers/programming jobs are not alike. Working on business-oriented software development, perhaps as a member of a large team, is quite a different experience from using programming as a tool in basic/applied research, where you may be one of a few (or the only) real programmer tasked with translating the ideas of non-programmer scientists into code.
I have to agree with others, though, that becoming a reasonably good programmer takes practice. It's a lot like any physical sport: you can study the theory all you want, but unless you actually get out and DO it - and push yourself in the doing - you will never be good at it. That means not just following a recipe (I'm almost tempted to say 'design pattern' :-)) to code something once and turn it in, but taking it apart and learning how & why it works, and perhaps more importantly, why it fails. (Debugging is a highly underrated skill.)
I really think you should have gotten at least a start on this as an undergrad. If your teachers didn't try to force you to, IMHO they shortchanged you.
# Answer
> 8 votes
A masters degree in computer science will not increase your programming knowledge much, if at all. I earned both a bachelor and master degree in computer science. I did some programming for my bachelors degree, but very little for my masters degree. To my surprise, my masters degree was mostly a higher-level and less in-depth presentation of much of the same material covered in my bachelors degree (at completely different universities). (Lesson learned -- If I had to do it again, I would get my masters degree in a different field from my bachelors degree.)
Computer science coursework (for software development) focuses primarily on teaching the fundamental concepts of algorithms, database theory, graphics theory, etc. At the bachelor level, programming exercises are intended to help the student understand the theory and demonstrate a basic understanding. Degree programs do not provide in-depth training for any particular programming language or platform. Instead, they provide the fundamental concepts that are widely applicable in computer science. When I began professional work as a developer, I quickly discovered that my CS coursework left out many topics that were extremely relevant to the platform I was using and the type of development I was doing. There are so many languages and platforms that no CS degree could possibly cover them all. Many professional training books and courses offer in-depth training for specific platforms or types of work. But even those courses will not and can not cover everything you need.
I have worked with some developers who were great people, but only marginally competent at development. A competent developer (or a professional in any field) will have some amount of both **skill** and **talent**. **Skill** is a combination of training and experience. **Talent** is the in-born ability of certain people to intuitively learn concepts or skills in a field, and understand problems/scenarios in their field. For example, I took piano lessons as a child. While both I and my teacher tried hard to improve my skill, I really didn't have much talent. I finally gave up playing the piano when I realized that my lack of talent made skill acquisition very hard, and I would never acquire enough skill to compensate for my lack of talent and play well.
To put it bluntly, it sounds like you may not have a lot of talent for programming, and are trying to compensate with more skill (education). That may or may not succeed. I am not trying to be unkind, but to encourage you to take a hard look at your own talents. If you are not sure, ask a trusted colleague for their frank assessment. I certainly commend your desire to improve yourself professionally. I would encourage you to consider looking for another type of technical work that may be a better fit for the talents you do have. I have worked with colleagues who couldn't write decent code, but who had great customer service skills, a knack for regulatory intricacies, or an amazing understanding of reporting details. With your drive to improve, there is a position out there that is a good fit for you.
# Answer
> 6 votes
If your goal is only to improve programming skills, then doing an MS is just a waste of time and money. If you find it difficult to learn programming by yourself, you can take a free online programming courses in Coursera or Udacity. There are plenty of them, for example:
https://www.coursera.org/course/interactivepython
https://www.udacity.com/course/cs046
https://www.udacity.com/course/ud036
Note also that there are many career options for a BSc degree in CS that do not require much programming skills. For example:
* If you don't know how to code, but you know how to test other people's code, you can become a test engineer.
* If you can talk to customer and convert the discussions into UML diagrams, then you can be a Business Analyst.
* ...
# Answer
> 1 votes
You need to frame your question more precisely. What caused your productivity problems in your programming assignments? Saying you were "too slow" isn't very enlightening. Why were you too slow? Did you make too many mistakes that had to be corrected? Are you sure your slow coding was the main issue? Why do you say so? To answer this question, you would need to consult your more successful workmates. What did they say?
If you were having problems completing assignments on time, did you seek help or mentoring from coworkers or supervisors? If your employers knew your educational background (and why wouldn't they?), why did they hire you in the first place? If they hired you knowing your weaknesses, did they offer extra help? Jobs are not like academics. Jobs are focused on getting the job done, no matter what. Besides gaining an education, in school your knowledge and capabilities are constantly being evaluated. The job is not about you. For that reason, good managers will help their employees be successful. It's to everybody's benefit.
Without knowing where you attended college, or where you worked, I can't evaluate your poor understanding of English grammar. If you attended college in an English-speaking country, why don't you know the language better? If you were working on an English-speaking job site, I'd say your inability to communicate effectively was a hindrance. I have to differ a bit with you and one previous commenter about the nature of education. Education should not be confused with training. While a form of education, the latter is quite narrow. It consists of imparting the minimum knowledge and skills to perform some function, programming or nursing for examples. There are broader skills that education in seemingly unrelated topics can teach you. From education in the liberal arts and sciences, you learn how to recognize patterns, how to generalize your observations and frame them in more abstract but general ways so that you can apply them to seemingly unrelated problems. You will learn basic logic and how to use it to critically evaluate data and arguments you encounter in work and life. Writing and speaking exercises will compel you to express your thoughts clearly and logically.
How well did you perform when you took these courses? What did your teachers say about your performance? If a college level liberal arts education is your foundation, but you lack specialized training in computer science and coding, then pursuing a Master's degree could be a way to acquire that training.
# Answer
> 0 votes
I am myself an undergraduate student of CS and believe me I have realised very early that programming is whats going to matter. i wont be solving Calculus questions in the office. The situation of yours is different but what my Discrete Mathematics teacher told me, might be of your use. He said that after graduating, do masters and if possible doctorate as it opens up your mind towards your field giving you a much more dynamic and wide point of view of your field. So thumbs up for master's degree.
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Tags: masters, computer-science, code
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thread-36637
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36637
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attendance date of my BS and MS course
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2015-01-11T19:36:58.407
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# Question
Title: attendance date of my BS and MS course
I have completed my graduation from Bangladesh. And i am applying for graduation study at USA. All of the universities mentioned to write the attendance date of my BS and MS course. But there are not any official record with me and even in my certificate. But i can see in my certificate "publish date of results" and session mentioned. The university where I studied took 6 years to complete 4 years course. Now what date will I write there?
Will I write what I assumed ?
# Answer
> 1 votes
You should write the date you started and the date you finish. It's OK that this cannot be certified by your university "officially". Your official transcript should show the dates of the courses your took along with their names and the grades your got.
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Tags: graduate-admissions
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thread-36636
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36636
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Is it necessary to understand every detail of a research paper?
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2015-01-11T19:03:05.207
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# Question
Title: Is it necessary to understand every detail of a research paper?
I am currently an undergraduate thinking about doing a Bachelor's thesis (and publish one or two papers if at all possible). I have found an advisor in computer science (artificial intelligence). I have begun to review literature suggested by my advisor. Most of the times I can understand the general idea of a paper (and why it is novel or important). However, very often I can't understand all details of it. Sometimes it is the lengthy math proof that I can't follow and sometimes it is the algorithm description that lacks too many details for me to code it up by myself.
So is it necessary or recommended for me to figure out everything in a paper? I can certainly ask for advisor all questions I have about a paper but I do not feel good about it. I think it is a kind of wasting his time to go through all mathematical details that support a major claim which I have already understood. Also I want whether this aspect of literature review is different if I am an undergraduate vs. PhD student vs. professional researchers.
# Answer
I would posit that there are three general levels of depth to which you need to understand a paper:
1. **Understanding context:** For anything related to the work that you are doing, you need to be able to understand it well enough to explain how it relates to your work, and why it should or should not be directly compared. This is the "general idea" level that you describe.
2. **Direct comparison with other work:** For work that is closely related to your own work, you will likely need to be able to make a direct comparison, possibly even by running instances of the other work on the same problems. Here, you need to understand at least well enough to correctly apply the other work and to make a cogent comparison of the relevant qualitative and quantitative attributes. You'll probably need to understand most of the paper for this, but not necessarily all. For example, you might not need to understand the proof of an algorithm's correctness, but would need to understand its uses and performance characteristics.
3. **Building on top of other work:** For work that you are actually making use of in developing your own work, e.g., by using it as a component or by extending a prior technique, you need to understand it very thoroughly indeed. This is the level at which you really do need to understand everything in the paper.
> 15 votes
# Answer
*This depends on how the paper is related to your problem.* Since this is a Bachelor thesis or project I would assume it has a specific problem and doable in couple of months (maybe over one semester or so) and the results hopefully would be published in one research paper. For example, a learning algorithm for structure X. Usually, the number of directly related papers to your problem is very small compared to the number of related papers. So all you need to do is to try understand (in this case the algorithmic part) of one or two directly related papers. You know you understand them if you explained their similarities/differences and write their algorithms in your own way.
If, on the other side, your problem includes proving something then you need to look for how the paper proves something. Advisors are there to help you when you stuck. Moreover, many papers can be understood if we read about their techniques/terms from other sources. For example, a constrained learning algorithm cannot be understood without knowing what is constraint satisfaction/optimization.
I always find it useful to start writing the content of my research paper (at least the section names) before having the results. If my paper is going to be a mathy one then I need to understand the mathematical stuff out there. If not, I would skip long mathematical proofs.
*In short: i) start writing the content of your paper ii) you will see the gaps iii) read the papers content that would fill the gaps.*
> 6 votes
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Tags: computer-science, research-undergraduate, literature-review
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thread-36647
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36647
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Does writing a book improve your chance for getting scholarship for applying PhD abroad?
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2015-01-11T22:39:56.533
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# Question
Title: Does writing a book improve your chance for getting scholarship for applying PhD abroad?
As you know there are many candidates competing for winning the scholarship for their PhD program, specially the ones who are applying abroad. So, having better skills likely spell to overcome the other candidates.
I have two SCI papers in my field. So I don't have a very bad research background as a graduated student of electrical Engineering for M.SC. degree. But, recently, I've started to write a book in English. The content of book is very general and simple but still can be fitted in my field. The book title is going to be 'Technical use of English language in electrical engineering'. This book is one of the courses of Electrical Engineering for undergraduate program in our countries.
So, since the books are not usually peer-reviewed, I was wonder to ask:
1. How much does writing a general and simple book in your field help you to get a good scholarship for PhD program?
2. Is the effect of writing a book more than a namely SCI research paper?
3. Is the affects of having a book variy in different countries? If yes, please tell me about Australia, US and Canada for precise.
4. Is it okay if I self-publish the book or I need a good publisher?
5. does it compensate my bad GPA by any chance?
6. finally, what are the advantages of having a book as a graduated master student?
# Answer
The goal of a PhD is to teach you how to do research. Teaching is not the primary goal of the PhD. Book publishing is also considered something that can be detrimental early on in one's career, since it takes time away from the other more important goals (advising students and postdocs, peer-reviewed publications, grants, teaching, committee work, etc.).
That said, a well-written published book probably can't hurt your chances. If, however, it's riddled with poor writing and technical errors, it will not help and may even do some harm.
> 5 votes
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions, books
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thread-36616
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36616
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What incentives do professors have to serve on dissertation committees?
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2015-01-11T15:21:15.187
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# Question
Title: What incentives do professors have to serve on dissertation committees?
It seems that there is no requirement for professors to serve on even a single dissertation committee. (This is so at least at my US university and I believe is common practice worldwide - please correct me if I'm wrong.)
So why would any of them do it, other than out of the pure goodness of their heart? It seems like purely volunteer work.
(Of course, one can imagine professors being eager to serve on the committee of a John Nash or a Ludwig Wittgenstein, if only so that their names appear as a footnote somewhere in the history of science, but most of us are not Nash or Wittgenstein.)
\[Personal anecdote: I am asking this question because I've been having some trouble filling my committee. Many professors simply respond that they have no time, are too busy, etc. I am left feeling like a pathetic beggar grovelling for favors, even though I may be paying hefty tuition fees, which presumably helps pay at least a little for their salaries.\]
Addendum: I simply wanted to give a little context for my query, but it was perhaps a mistake for me to add the above personal anecdote.
I'd prefer answers to stick simply to the question itself, which to repeat, is quite simply this: "What incentives do professors have to serve on dissertation committees?"
Perhaps we can leave to avenues other than StackExchange the opinion-based debates about whether the current situation is ideal or whether I personally have a moral defect and should change my "client" mentality.
# Answer
The professors serving on one committee will also have their own students, who they will want to see graduate (even if you assume pure selfishness they want their recrords to look good). Those students will need to be examined as well so in a sense it's *mutual* assistance, but time-deferred. Also good relationships between academics are how a lot gets done: this is a fairly easy way for an academic to build relationships with other (perhaps more senior) professors. So while generosity is important in this sort of thing, it's not quite that simple.
As an aside, you might like to ponder the effect on such well-established networks and systems of treating academics and their research groups as business units in a corporate entity.
> 19 votes
# Answer
In my experience, in the U.S., faculty are expected to serve on such committees now-and-then, but there is no specific rule, no specific compulsion to serve on any particular committee, and no reward for serving on more rather than fewer. In fact, such committees are time-and-energy consuming, to various degrees, so such service is easily viewed as a net loss in material terms.
That is, yes, it is fundamentally out of a sense of generosity and service, rather than compulsion.
Even for faculty who are generally inclined to agree to serve on such committees, the possibility of declining any particular invitation allows one to avoid situations that have ill portents: no one wants to be on a committee that has to cope with serious problems in a thesis, or serious problems in a student's attitude or capacity.
In particular, *scheduling* can often be a decisive problem: faculty will not want to cancel classes or meetings with their own PhD students or trips to conferences or vacation-time ... merely to accommodate lack of foresight about scheduling. Peoples' schedules fill up far in advance, and *simultaneous* scheduling of several faculty is a highly non-trivial matter. A lead time of \_at\_least\_ a few months is wise, and also gives a more civil window for genuine feedback and critique of a dissertation, as opposed to the sort of last-minute railroading-through that I have seen far too often.
And, given that faculty rightly view such service as volunteer work, if a student approaches them with an attitude that implicitly assumes otherwise (e.g., the "client" model), that situation easily falls into the "ill portent" case, and is immediately avoided.
> 16 votes
# Answer
I have never heard of a department where staff are required to serve on dissertation committees. In some cases committee members are co-authors on the resulting papers, but this is country and field dependent. Similarly in some cases committee members get "credit" during tenure and promotion reviews. As in most things academic, it really is about the "goodness of our hearts" (or our selfish desire to be involved in research).
Constructing a thesis committee should really be a joint venture between you and your supervisor. Making sure students have the thesis committee they need/want is one of the core responsibilities of a thesis supervisor. If they are unable to fulfil this duty, then you may want to reconsider your supervisor. If you are having trouble finding a primary supervisor, that is a very different issue.
> 7 votes
# Answer
At some institutions, promotions and salary increases are based on certain categories like "research, teaching, and service". Dissertation committee service might bolster the "service" component. But of course one might serve on other types of committees, or do other types of service, either within the university or outside the university. Refusing one particular type of service (such as dissertation committees) won't hurt you, but refusing all types of service just might.
> 6 votes
# Answer
I am not a faculty member, but a scientist working in industry. Nevertheless, I have served on university dissertation committees a number of times, and I find it quite rewarding for a number of reasons. In particular:
* I am generally scientifically interested in the work that the student is doing, and get to have a hand in ensuring its quality.
* Good students frequently go on to become new colleagues and collaborators.
* Serving on a committee strengthens existing collaborative relationships.
* It is just plain *satisfying* to help mentor an enthusiastic young researcher.
Thus, even without the more structured expectations, responsibilities, and quid-pro-quo that comes with a faculty department, I find that there are sufficient reasons to serve on a dissertation committee.
> 4 votes
# Answer
How about to learn and be exposed to new concepts and ideas? Or to get a publication or two with little effort and time? It can also foster new collaborations with other faculty in and out the department. It can create stronger ties within the department, but also sometimes conflicts in committee meetings. (There are some funny stories about these...)
> 2 votes
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Tags: thesis-committee, service-activities
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thread-36506
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36506
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Why do some fellowships require "leadership experience"?
|
2015-01-09T10:42:40.113
|
# Question
Title: Why do some fellowships require "leadership experience"?
The fellowship I'm about to apply requires me to express my past leadership experience in the personal statement. Why? I understand that leadership is a soft skill that everyone should have, but this is academia, not business. People in this environment put cooperating before leading. Of course, even in business, there is no group that work like in military, the person in low level still can suggest idea and change the leader/manager's mind. The role of the leader is inspire and amalgamate separate people to one united unit. But in academia, everyone should inspire themselves, and the science itself are the glue to attach people together, right? So why don't these fellowships require me to show my past cooperation, rather than leadership?
# Answer
> 10 votes
The description of this particular fellowship includes the phrase:
> Winners are chosen based on individual merit, including academic performance and preparation, intellectual capability, English proficiency, and the potential for contribution to scientific education and research in Vietnam.
"Leadership" means the ability to work *with* and *through* others. It is much harder than people think - a good leader is humble yet decisive, a good listener yet able to motivate; he can synthesize the thoughts of the group into a common goal and vision, use that vision to obtain resources and allocate them in a way that helps the group achieve its goals. Doing all that without appearing to be "the boss" is real leadership - something that comes with practice. Selling cookies to support your local charity is initiative; getting together with your friends to sell lots of cookies and build a new school, that's leadership. I have heard it said that
> Leadership is what bridges the gap between responsibility and authority
Leadership lets you change the scale of your impact; and since this particular fellowship is explicitly created to find individuals who will have impact on scientific research and education in Vietnam, you need people who have both the academic skills and the skill to translate this into impact "on the system".
Demonstrated leadership experience is an opportunity for the selection committee to explore whether you will be able to make an impact - they are not looking for the next CEO, but you will be amazed how much difference a good leader can make in any collaborative environment.
In the US this trait is becoming so highly valued that some high schools have an explicit course "Leadership" on their curriculum - a chance for students to develop and practice these kinds of skills, often in the context of community projects.
It is obvious from the selection summary that intellectual ability, preparation etc. are most important - but I hope you can see that leadership as I tried to define it here has a place in this academic environment.
# Answer
> 13 votes
Precisely because we cooperate a lot, we need good leadership. A good leader is someone who can bring the best of everyone in the group. For example, encouraging everyone to voice their ideas, assessing which ones have actual value, but without making the group pursue all the wild geese. A good leader should also be able to recognise the strong points in the members of the team and assign tasks accordingly.
I accept that everyone here should be motivated, but it is important for the group to keep it up. No matter how eager I am, if my professor were to start giving me contradictory orders, unreasonable workloads, or dismissing my ideas without explaining why, I can tell you, I would not remain that motivated after four years. After all, I can be motivated to work "in the grand scheme of sciency things", but not necessarily in the particular group I am in.
# Answer
> 6 votes
Scientific breakthroughs are rarely achieved by a single scientist, but by a research team. It is important that the team leader can identify relevant research questions and direct the group members' work to use suitable approaches to solve them. Often, the breakthrough results are associated more to the group leader than to any group member, even though the group members may have done 80 to 99 % of the actual research work.
Fellowship funders try to look into the future of your career. You will only stay in academia after the PhD or maybe Postdoc level if you have the ability to lead a research group. That is, apart from rare exceptions, you will only be able to associate big scientific results with your name if you have leadership abilities. And these results are what funders try to support in the end.
# Answer
> 0 votes
While research is your **primary** goal, a secondary goal of universities is to produce people that can "lead."
This is first done as a teacher in a classroom. But ultimately, universities will want their researchers to be able to "consult" for government or corporations, where leadership skills are necessary.
After all, a university is a "beacon" in society.
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Tags: funding, collaboration
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thread-36596
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36596
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Are there cases where an accepted paper is retracted for lack of originality?
|
2015-01-11T02:43:04.950
|
# Question
Title: Are there cases where an accepted paper is retracted for lack of originality?
Following the answers to this question that it is quite common to inadvertently reinvent the wheel in theoretical/computational research, have there been cases where the decision to accept a paper to a journal/conference has been revoked on this ground, because someone found out later that the results were not actually original? In such cases, how would one distinguish between oversight and plagiarism?
# Answer
> 7 votes
By "revoked," I assume that you mean retracted. I have often heard of papers being retracted for plagiarism, but never for reinventing the wheel.
I believe that the reason is, there are so many different ways to invent wheels, that it is almost always possible to tell if an idea is actually an independent invention. A reinvention will likely use somewhat different terminology, have a different formulation of the problem, use different types of evidence, or whatnot. There will be so many small differences, that it would be clear that the work is original, in the *copyright* sense, and not an academic fraud.
The fact that is it a reinvention of an idea that was already discovered elsewhere, however, means that it is likely to sink into obscurity once this fact is discovered... except... sometimes, a reinvention is not just a reinvention. Sometimes, the *reason* for a reinvention is that an idea has not reached a community. In that case, the contribution may not be the reinvention, but the *importation* of a mature body of work from elsewhere, in which case even a reinvention of a wheel may constitute a legitimate scientific contribution, in the form of bringing together two strands of research that complement one another and allow vital new progress to occur.
# Answer
> 3 votes
jakebeal answered most of the question just great, but I would like to comment on this a bit more:
> how would one distinguish between oversight and plagiarism?
I think this is no big issue in practice. Typically, people start talking about plagiarism if and only if the similarities (text-wise, or, in rarer cases, idea-wise) are so substantial that it would be very unlikely for the author(s) to have arrived at their text without knowing the original. When authors honestly have "just" re-invented the wheel (as it frankly happens all the time in research), it is very unlikely that the end product would be so similar that they get accused of plagiarism.
# Answer
> 1 votes
This may differ from computational work, but the concepts overlap, I think. In experimental science, it is traditionally expected that a published contribution is original, to the extent that you often have to sign a document essentially claiming originality upon submission. However, for numerous reasons (nicely explained by John Ioannidis at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.0020124, and cited 2400+ times!) replication of work is valuable in the sciences. We all have biases and make mistakes. And it is literally impossible to control for everything that may affect the outcomes of your experiments. So doing the same thing someone else has already done is actually a really nice validation of the previous work. It can demonstrate that two (or more) investigators have done the same or similar experiments and (hopefully) arrived at the same conclusions.
The original work will probably remain the exemplar of the phenomenon explained and garner all of the citations. But the "me too" experiment will make everyone who comes after more comfortable that the phenomenon is a real thing and not just a statistical fluke because of the weather on the day of the experiment or someone wearing cologne or forgetting to wash their hands.
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Tags: publications, retraction
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thread-36640
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36640
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Should first introductory paragraph explicitly state the subject of the paper?
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2015-01-11T20:49:20.000
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# Question
Title: Should first introductory paragraph explicitly state the subject of the paper?
I am trying to write an introduction for a scientific paper. I am not sure, when I am announcing my subject, should I write that this is the subject, or just mention it without announcing it outright?
This is very confusing so here's an example.
a. *Man was always interested by aliens. This paper discusses the possibility of alien life.*
b.*Man was always interested by aliens. Currently, scientific discoveries are shedding light on whether it exists.*
Which phrasing is better? Is the first one too blunt?
# Answer
> 5 votes
The purpose of the introduction is to focus in on the specific, and likely more narrow, topic of your research from a larger perspective. the "larger perspective" is the larger scientific problem to which your study is tied. Therefore you can start the introduction by briefly explaining the larger perspective followed by identifying the existing gaps in knowledge and gradually work towards your own question.
Many books on scientific writing compare the introduction to a funnel where the wider question is focused to the appropriate width of your research question. the main point is to set your study in a wider perspective so that you can tie your results into the gaps of the larger perspective. This helps readers to get a good perspective of your research and evaluate the results *vis-à-vis* existing knowledge.
Hence, your scenarios *a* and *b* look like a way to describe the writing strategy where in reality the two or three sentences usually requires one or a few paragraphs of text.
# Answer
> 3 votes
You want to "capture" your audience when writing—that is, you want to make sure that you hold their attention as long as possible. Getting their attention by telling them what the purpose of your paper is, and what they're going to learn, is a good way to do so.
While the "funnel" approach that Peter mentions in his answer is valuable (and is also discussed in general books on writing as well, such as Sheridan Baker's *The Practical Stylist*, where it is called the "keyhole approach"), the "key" to the introductory paragraph is its conclusion—this should be the generating point both for the introduction and everything else that follows.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Coming from a **psychology perspective**, I have seen eminent authors adopt both writing approaches.
Introductions to journal articles should generally have an opening. The opening of an introduction should generally introduce the **aim** of the research, the **importance** of the research, the **gap** in the literature that is addressed, and the **method** adopted to achieve the aim. Of course, often these themes are only touched on in the opening, and emerge more completely through the course of the literature review and are also often consolidated at the end of the introduction in a section often titled "the current study".
Your question pertains to how to structure the sentences or paragraphs of the opening. The more common model I have seen used is to have a motivating introductory paragraph that relates more to importance or gap and then have a second or third paragraph that culminates in the aim of the research. However, it's also possible to do it the other way around and have a very clear opening paragraph that states exactly what the study aims to do. And then have a second paragraph that touches more on importance, gap, and context.
I have found article deconstruction to be a useful tool to develop ideas about writing structure. In particular I wrote up an article deconstruction of an introduction that used the "aim-first" approach here where the first-sentence started with "The purpose of this study was ..." . I also have more detailed notes about introductions \- see particularly the discussion of the opening.
# Answer
> -2 votes
The best model for an essay is "get attention and state idea, explain explain explain, restate idea." However, every essay is different and there are countless strategies.
The best idea is to start the essay with something that captures attention and at least hints at the topic. Then at the end of the first paragraph state your claim. You want to snag the attention of the reader, and tell them the thesis statement. Keep the "hook" relevant though. A good idea is to start with a shocking fact or tell a quick story, unless its a scientific essay.
The middle is for explaining everything, and maybe a good idea is to use a paragraph to discuss the stuff from the hook paragraph. Then the end is pretty much an inverse of the first one: Restate your claim and tie up loose ends.
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Tags: writing, writing-style, introduction
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thread-36613
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36613
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What's the meaning of "first-page-first order"?
|
2015-01-11T15:06:28.177
|
# Question
Title: What's the meaning of "first-page-first order"?
Recently I prepared to submit to a conference of IEEE. In the requirements of submission, it indicated that:
> PDF and Postscript files:
>
> * must not have Adobe Document Protection or Document Security enabled,
> * must have either 'US Letter' or 'A4' sized pages,
> * must be in first-page-first order, and
> * must have ALL FONTS embedded and subset.
I have searched for the phrase of "first-page-first", but still did not have an idea of it (sorry my first language is not english).
If anyone can tell me what's the meaning of it exactly I would be very grateful.
# Answer
I am pretty sure this is just a ridiculously dated instruction. On some older printers, the pages were ejected print side up and new pages were added to the top. This means that the first page printed would end up being the bottom page of the document when you picked it up. If you then wanted to staple the document in the correct order, you needed to reorder everything. With these printers it was much more desirable to print "back-to-front" such that when you pick up the document from the printer everything is in the "correct" order. Some computers provided (and maybe some still do) the option to print "back-to-front" to avoid this. Some people conceivably, though I have never seen it, produced documents in a first-page last order to help with the printing. I think this instruction just means that the pages should go in the order you expect them in: the first page of your pdf should be page 1 and the last page *N*. In a first-page-last order the first page would be *N* and the last page 1, which would be really awful to read on screen.
> 55 votes
# Answer
I asked my wife, who is a professional conference manager and organizes IEEE conferences (the last one she did was the S3SConference) and her response was: "The first page of the submitted PDF must be the first page of the paper" and the clarification was "some papers get submitted with several cover sheets embedded in the PDF before you get to the actual content of the technical paper. I have to edit out the cover pages before they are presented to the selection committee which makes my job harder."
Purely an anecdotal answer, but that was her opinion based on her work.
> 30 votes
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Tags: conference, paper-submission, terminology
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thread-36639
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36639
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Applying to masters program to further explore my interests, should I mention specific areas of interest in statement of purpose?
|
2015-01-11T20:38:42.657
|
# Question
Title: Applying to masters program to further explore my interests, should I mention specific areas of interest in statement of purpose?
I am currently revising my statement of purpose for several applied math master program. I wounder if I should mention some specific area of interests or specific name of faculty? The problem with me is that my undergraduate is rather "theoretical" , that I haven't taken many applied math courses and the purpose of my master is to further explore my interests. But the lack of specific interest on SOP seems a little bit odd for me.
# Answer
Short answer: **be honest and concrete.**
It's not typically expected that you have very specific, highly focused interests for masters programs in mathematics. For a masters, you won't get too specialized anyway (at least assuming you're not doing a thesis). Read the application directions carefully to see if the schools are looking for anything in particular, but what I look for in SOPs is a sense of the applicant's goals, background, motivation, seriousness and maturity. (And maybe other things in special cases.)
You should try to explain your goals as clearly as you can, but be honest about it. So you don't need to say something specific like you want to do KAM theory for Hamiltonian PDEs, but if you can give specific examples of things that made you want to study applied math, that would be good. If you can list specific topics in applied math that you would like to learn about, also good. It's also not a bad idea to get an feeling for the strengths of the departments you're applying to and say why you're interested in them (e.g., strong in xxx, but you don't need to mention specific faculty, unless you're honestly really interested in workin with them).
See also here and here for other points of view.
> 1 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, masters, mathematics, statement-of-purpose
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thread-36654
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36654
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Should I mention being enrolled in distance course currently as a backup option in application form?
|
2015-01-12T01:23:47.567
|
# Question
Title: Should I mention being enrolled in distance course currently as a backup option in application form?
I am currently enrolled in a distance masters's course in my country as a backup. I will be only applying to some really very competitive schools. If I don't make it through those schools I will apply next year or year after that and continue to do so till I make it in. I am very very passionate about these schools and the research going on in there.
Class for this distance course will begin by the end of this month and I will quit as soon as I get an admit in any school of my choice. Should I mention joining the course in my application forms?
Some of these schools want me to upload transcripts of any course I have attended after school. Considering the fact that the course has not yet begun there is no way I could get a transcript from them.
# Answer
The basic rule of thumb is this: if you're actively involved in something *at the time of application*, then you should mention it. If you're *tentatively* enrolled (for example, you've been offered admission, but have not yet officially registered), then it doesn't actually count, and you need not mention it.
> 1 votes
# Answer
Your grammar's a little strange, but as I understood your question: (1) you haven't taken any classes in said program, and (2) you don't plan to if you get into another program. In this case, no, there's no need to and I can't see how it would help at all. If you do plan to take at least 1 class even if you get into the program you're applying to (so you would have extra experience currently not documented before your desired program starts), then you can mention this in a cover letter or other appropriate place on the application.
> 0 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions
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thread-36667
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36667
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What makes a publication (or a publishing forum) academically acceptable for inclusion in a literature review?
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2015-01-12T11:14:27.950
|
# Question
Title: What makes a publication (or a publishing forum) academically acceptable for inclusion in a literature review?
I'm in the process of conducting a systematic literature review and an integral part of this is the definition of inclusion and exclusion criteria for filtering the search-result-publications.
A common criteria for these reviews is that the publication is an academic publication or otherwise academically acceptable. I haven't been able to find a proper definition for this. The ones that I can think of are that the publication fora must exercise peer-review on the papers and that the fora are widely accepted by (inter)national funding agencies.
Hence, my question is what makes a publication or a publishing forum academically acceptable?
# Answer
Acceptability is in the eye of the beholder. You cannot get this "right" for two reasons:
1. Different scientific communities have conflicting opinions about about the credibility of various publication venues.
2. Even "good" venues publish rubbish papers.
3. Some important papers are published as white papers or technical reports, and will not appear on any list of journals.
To my eyes, the real question is not about what the "right" value is, but about how the boundary that you draw will affect the conclusions of your systematic review.
For example, if you are attempting to perform a meta-analysis on the data within other data sets, then you just need a wide enough scope to be sure to get good statistical validity. Therefore, if your topic is well-studied, you can probably restrict yourself to only those publications listed in some field-appropriate major database, e.g., PubMed for biomedical literature, DBLP for computer science. It doesn't really matter which one, because you're not actually going for comprehensiveness, just for sufficient sampling, and it's more important to get well-curated data than all data. Moreover, the bad publications in the dataset are expected to be drowned out be the good ones in your data processing.
On the other hand, if you are attempting to summarize all of the credible thinking regarding a topic, then you would want to set a much broader criteria, e.g., any journal or conference with at least 5 years of publication history and not on Beale's list. In this case, you can be so generous because you are going to be using a lot more personal discretion in deciding how much weight to give each paper and interesting thinking may turn up in obscure places.
These are the two main cases that I typically see for systematic review; for other cases, you may need to adjust or pick other strategies. In all cases, however, the guiding principle is a) there is no "right" answer, and b) your choice should be driven by the effects it will have on your review.
> 5 votes
# Answer
I am afraid this is an impossible question to get right: An "acceptable academic publishing forum" would be one that is accepted by "acceptable academics" - and "acceptable academics" would be identified by publishing in "acceptable academic publishing fora"...
Peer-reviewed is not a bad criterion, but it falls short: There are peer-reviewed journals for creationists and homeopaths - so the value of peer-review depends crucially on who the peers are. It doesn't even work as a necessary criterion, as missing the arXiv for math-y fields or books for humanities would mean that a literature review is very incomplete.
"Acceptance by funding bodies" gets the question backwards: Funding bodies try to approximate what the academic community considers good publication venues, they don't define it.
If formal inclusion/exclusion criteria are important for you (maybe because you do some meta-statistics?), you will need to look for field-specific standards. In medical subjects, I could imagine that "listed on pubmed" would be an acceptable one. In this case, looking are published meta-studies and their criteria would be useful.
> 7 votes
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Tags: publications, literature-review
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thread-36668
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36668
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Why do some admissions applications ask where I've been living and what I've been doing for the last few years?
|
2015-01-12T11:28:13.103
|
# Question
Title: Why do some admissions applications ask where I've been living and what I've been doing for the last few years?
What are the intention of the question ?
# Answer
> 20 votes
US state universities frequently charge lower tuition to in-state residents. The form states that if you do not fill in all the information requested, you will be classified as a non-resident and be charged the higher rate. Check the U of Utah's tuition system here.
# Answer
> 4 votes
As an alum of the school it appears you are applying to (University of Utah) I can confirm what Stephan Kolassa said about lower tuition for in-state residents. One thing that should be mentioned is that after attending a specific university for a while *you may qualify as a resident of that state* and thus, after attending a university for a certain amount of time, you can eventually become a resident and be charged in-state resident tuition. I don't know how this works for international students though.
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Tags: graduate-admissions
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thread-36688
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36688
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Someone gave a talk proposing the idea; Should they be an author?
|
2015-01-12T18:10:10.510
|
# Question
Title: Someone gave a talk proposing the idea; Should they be an author?
I recently started working independently on a project that another student (who graduated) proposed about a year ago.
Should I offer to include them as an author? Only if they plan to contribute something at this stage, or simply on the basis of proposing the idea?
# Answer
> 6 votes
I think inviting the student to collaborate on a paper is only fair. Whether or not the person should be a co-author depends on the person's contribution to the final product. Originating an idea may well be enough but can only be evaluated when considering the total amount of scientific input towards the manuscript. Proposing an idea can mean anything from just a lucky shot to a question based on deep understanding of the topic. Where "your" question resides is for you to consider. There are many posts covering contributorship (a development from authorship) here on acadmia.sx so I will not repeat what these responses discuss. But, it is clear that one should require any author of a manuscript to fulfil certain criteria and not just add names without thorough consideration.
So as a summary, yes, ask the person to contribute but do not give away authorship without a contributions (and the idea may well be enough).
And a final note, if you have not done so, also make sure you have not independently duplicated the other persons work if the person has continued working on the idea after graduation.
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Tags: authorship
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thread-36691
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36691
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How much money can an electrical engineering professor earn from grants in the US?
|
2015-01-12T19:13:02.043
|
# Question
Title: How much money can an electrical engineering professor earn from grants in the US?
For US universities, I believe electrical engineering professors earn money in two ways:
1. salary from the university, normally $70k to start
2. grants from researching projects involving different companies or other
How much money can an electrical engineering professor earn from grants normally?
# Answer
Professors typically do not supplement their salary with grants with one very large exception. The grant money can allow them to trade some number of required courses for research time.
The big exception to this is that the typical appointment for a university professor in the US is for 9 months. If the professor wants to teach some summer courses, they can earn 3 more months of their salary for doing that, or they can get grants to fill in that time. The National Science Foundation limits US researchers who are professors to 2 months of summer time funding, though, so to get 12 full months of compensation, a professor will need income from some other source (summer teaching, another agency's grants, industrial grants, consulting, etc).
So, that being said, typically professors cannot increase their salary rate. They can only use it to fill in the months that the university does not usually pay them for. Finally, most universities give the option for their professors to take the 9 months of salary over 12 months of payments, so filling in those 3 months may look like a monthly raise from the perspective of their bank statements.
> 9 votes
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Tags: professorship, reference-request, salary, electrical-engineering
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thread-36685
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36685
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Inventors on patent regarding research results
|
2015-01-12T17:17:44.060
|
# Question
Title: Inventors on patent regarding research results
In our research institute, advisors give phd students a lot of freedom and sometimes are not so much involved in the research. This was also the case for my latest research project. I gave him some demos every now and then to show my progress and another phd student helped me out a bit with making some examples and nice figures. However, I came up with the initial idea and step by step made the necessary decissions to come to the point where we are now. We are now in a phase where my advisor and the university want to patent my research and we are discussing all the possibilities with people from the legal departement. However, in all documents the other phd student + my advisor are also mentioned as "inventors". Wheras I'm quite sure that according to the laws related to being an inventor on a patent, they are officially not an inventor of this research project. The research that I did is quite applied so there is some chance that we can make some money with it in the future (selling it or starting a company). The university states that the inventors get 30% of all the profit that comes from the patent. This means that I would only get 10% since we are with 3 co-inventers. Also when I would start a company that does something with these results I would still have to give them some of the profit whereas they did not do something significant in the end.
When I look at researchers at other universities, I notice that it is quite common that all the authors on a paper are also the inventors of the patent that is associated with it. I can imagine that for most of these cases all the people involved at some innovative contribution which makes them a legitimate inventor. On the other hand it is also quite hard to say to your advisor that they should not be an inventor on the patent...
Is this an unspoken rule at many universities that advisors and co-workers are also inventors on a patent (similar to authors on a paper)? Is someone having experience a similar situation? How should I bring this up to my advisor and co-worker or would it bring me into more trouble when I would start this discussion?
# Answer
> 5 votes
First of all, your legislation is what counts. Patent law differs substantially between legislations. The remainder of my answer is based on the situation in **Germany** \- but similar rules may exist for your legislation.
> Is this an unspoken rule at many universities that advisors and co-workers are also inventors on a patent
IANAL, and I'm not even totally sure about the situation in Germany, but I'd look for spelled out rules in
* the "employee invention law" (Arbeitnehmererfindungsgesetz)
* if you are employee as well as PhD student: your work contract or the relevant collective wage agreement
* you may have signed a contract for your PhD that has relevant clauses, e.g. stating that any invention you invent is treated as "academic invention" regardless of whether you are also employee of the university or not.
* If you are PhD student but not employee (e.g. paid by a scholarship), things may be totally different.
* If you are in a research institute which is not part of a university, rules again can be different (industrial invention rules instead of academic invention could apply)
I found a web site dedicated to "inventor's compensation" (in German and for Germany). They explain rules to estimate how much the invention the inventor's own invention and how much the company contributed (influenced e.g. by whether you used the university lab + instruments, and by your profession: how much of an inventor you are expected to be due to your profession and job).
This website explains that for you as well as for your (supposed) co-inventors, a point value (according more or less to a check list plus some common sense) should be calculated, and the percentages of co-inventorship are then calculated as percentages of the sum of all co-inventors' point values.
# Answer
> 4 votes
The fact that "all the authors on a paper are also the inventors of the patent that is associated with it" probably protects you more, otherwise an unethical supervisor could easily do the patent by himself behind your back.
On the other hand, wanting to remove the other co-authors from the patent is probably unethical on your side. In any case, you would have a hard case proving that this was entirely your idea when you have co-authored the related paper and cooperated on this project from the beginning. Also, if indeed your patent is that good (which unfortunately most aren't) you will still make a lot of money, regardless of 10% vs 30% (since the bulk of the money will still go to the university).
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Tags: phd, advisor, patents
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thread-36697
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36697
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How should I begin my meeting with my former teacher whom I haven't been in contact with for three years?
|
2015-01-12T22:01:03.437
|
# Question
Title: How should I begin my meeting with my former teacher whom I haven't been in contact with for three years?
I am going to meet my former teacher in my former school. We have some interests and hobbies in common, but we had not been in contact for several years.
I want to be careful about etiquette and manner. I don't want her to think me impolite by beginning the conversation with sentences like "Hello Prof. ABC. How was your recent journey in Japan? Had you brought me a souvenir of Tokyo?"
She has agreed to write a few recommendation letters for me to apply for multiple programs at several universities. Should I say "Can we talk about my recommendation letters first because you have agreed to help me..." I am a bit nervous for the meeting with her this Friday.
# Answer
If she has already agreed to write you a recommendation letter, I would think the most nerve-wracking part is over. At least for me, meeting with professors and not knowing with 100% certainty that they would write a letter for me was the source of most of my anxiety over the meetings.
I would definitely not ask if she brought you a souvenir from Japan (or anywhere else) unless this is a culturally acceptable thing (at least in the US, such a question would likely be considered strange at best and rude at worst). I would also avoid questions/topics that can be considered personal, like her living situation, love life, et cetera.
I think it would be fine to ask her about her travels (e.g., "tell me about Japan"), or ask her about her current research or experience at the school. At least to me, those are innocent questions that also show that you have an interest in what she has been doing. From there, you can lead the conversation to what you have been doing and what you plan on doing in graduate school, and this naturally leads to a discussion of the recommendation letter.
> 6 votes
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Tags: etiquette, recommendation-letter
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thread-36695
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36695
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What research expenses to request for early career fellowship?
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2015-01-12T21:33:27.403
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# Question
Title: What research expenses to request for early career fellowship?
I'm applying for an early career fellowship in the UK. The fellowship has a budget of up to £6k per year for research expenses to further the fellow's research activities, which must be requested upfront. Other than travel to conferences, small equipment, and perhaps organising a workshop, does anyone have any good ideas about what this money might be spent on?
# Answer
> 1 votes
The following list is very subject dependent, but some items you might want to include are:
* High Performance Computing time (e.g. comp-sci, physics, maths, chemistry etc)
* Lab or equipment hire costs
* Research technician time (i.e someone who might help acquire data or do some other more routine tasks)
* The all-encompassing "computer-consumables" (that covers quite a lot)
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Tags: research-process, funding
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thread-36705
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36705
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Send a question or thanks letter after receiving a notification of receipt of application?
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2015-01-13T02:06:49.473
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# Question
Title: Send a question or thanks letter after receiving a notification of receipt of application?
After applying to some faculty positions, some professors send emails (not the automatic ones) that they have received the application and ask if the applicants have any questions. Should the applicant raise any question or maybe send a thank you reply for the notification to show their interest? Or just ignore and wait.
# Answer
Saying "thanks, I don't have any questions at the moment." Would be appropriate and it would also be appropriate and perhaps show more interest in the position if you did ask a question or two about the department or the position. For example, you might ask if anyone from the department will be attending an upcoming conference that you are going to. However, you don't want to be presumptuous, so detailed questions about salary, benefits, etc. are not appropriate at this early stage.
> 1 votes
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Tags: etiquette, job-search, email, faculty-application
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thread-36710
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36710
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Is there a standard medical fitness certificate format for applicants to European universities?
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2015-01-13T06:00:18.633
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# Question
Title: Is there a standard medical fitness certificate format for applicants to European universities?
I am from Southeast Asia and am applying to a university in Europe for a scholarship for a post graduate degree in management. The university is asking for a medical fitness certificate as part of this application.
The problem is that the university doesn't provide any kind of format for the medical fitness certificate. When I visited my doctor; as I am applying to a foreign university he recommended some kind of format.
I emailed the university to ask about this, but they did not respond yet.
So my question is, is there any kind of internationally recognized medical certificate format for this purpose? (If so, please provide a link.) Or can I have a simple letter on my doctor's letterhead stating my fitness of health?
# Answer
> 4 votes
I suspect that the right people to ask here are the staff at your local embassy. Certificates of good health, particularly in relation to European institutions, are more likely related to immigration requirements than university requirements. That will mean the embassy will be your best source of information about format. (In fact, there may only be specific doctors authorized to produce such certificates, and you may need to schedule an appointment with one of them, rather than obtain one from your personal primary care physician.)
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Tags: graduate-admissions, application, health
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thread-36713
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36713
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Is it necessary for a journal submission to include the names of the authors' departments?
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2015-01-13T11:33:33.653
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# Question
Title: Is it necessary for a journal submission to include the names of the authors' departments?
I would like to know if it is an unwritten rule to include the names of the departments of the authors' of a journal submission?
# Answer
Strictly speaking, it is usually a written rule, as journals have written rules governing what they expect from submitting authors, and this usually includes information about their affiliation. It is an unwritten rule in the sense that tere is no rule that all journals should follow the same format, but it is very common to include the authors' affiliation.
Sometimes this information is helpful as different departments belong to different "schools". So knowing the department alone can sometimes help you "place" the article in wider debates. Sometimes, it helps disentangle people with the same last name and the same initials. Regardless, this information only helps when you are an insider to the (sub-(sub-(sub-)))discipline discussed in the journal. However, those insiders are a legitimate audience for a journal, so I don't see a problem here.
> 4 votes
# Answer
You always need to include your primary institutional affiliation, even if that all the affiliation you've got is "Me, Myself & I Consulting, LLC" (and I've seen papers with that sort of affiliation).
Department information, however, is much more optional. After all, many people who are not in traditional university faculty positions may not *have* a clear or meaningful department. Consider, for example, a strong institution like the Santa Fe Institute, which has professors but doesn't appear to have bothered to subdivide itself into departments. For another example, my department currently has the name "Information and Knowledge Technologies", which I'm fine putting down as a departmental affiliation; before the last re-organization though, it was "Business Unit B", and before that, it was "Department 49", neither of which would have made any sense to write down as a department.
Bottom line: include departmental information if you think it is helpful, or if it is explicitly required. Otherwise, it is up to you.
> 3 votes
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Tags: publications, etiquette, paper-submission
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