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thread-5490 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5490 | Appropriate to thank examiners? | 2012-11-27T15:02:40.753 | # Question
Title: Appropriate to thank examiners?
I have just completed a research degree. By the rules of my university, my dissertation was examined by two outside examiners, whose identities were kept secret from me during the examination process. Now that I have received my results, my supervisor has told me who the examiners were (this was permitted by university rules and the consent of the examiners).
Is it appropriate to send them each an email thanking them for their efforts?
# Answer
Yes.
It's a lot of work to examine a thesis and (generally) this is unpaid work done in our own free-time. So a simple *thank you* will make your examiners feel appreciated. This will have the side benefit that your examiners will remember you in a positive light, which may be useful in the future when you are looking for a job, for a reference, for a place to visit to give a research talk, etc.
*It never hurts to be polite.*
> 21 votes
---
Tags: etiquette, ethics
--- |
thread-5487 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5487 | Generating a connection of researchers graph out of DBLP | 2012-11-27T11:34:37.897 | # Question
Title: Generating a connection of researchers graph out of DBLP
I'd like to know the connection of researchers. Similar to the connection of LinkedIn. In the field of computer science, the DBLP database seems to be useful. Does anyone know a tool to generate a FoaF graph out of DBLP data and a FoaF (Friend of a Friend) graph rendering tool?
# Answer
> 5 votes
Microsoft Academic Research can do something similar for you, you just need to have Sliverlight plugin installed in your browser. Search for the first author, click on it's name (orange background), click "Geanology Graph", Click "Co-author Graph", enter the name of the other person on the right and press enter.
# Answer
> 4 votes
A bachelor thesis of interest for you:
Remo Lemma, Ebony - Visualizing the DBLP Database. University of Lugano, 2010
url : http://www.inf.usi.ch/faculty/lanza/Downloads/Lemm2010a.pdf
---
Tags: networking
--- |
thread-5351 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5351 | What are our main concerns regarding academic dishonesty in Massive Online Open Courses? | 2012-11-20T15:07:59.253 | # Question
Title: What are our main concerns regarding academic dishonesty in Massive Online Open Courses?
As illustrated by the recent NY Times article, Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) have recently gained a lot of attention because of their new model for educating students.
What are the main concerns regarding academic dishonesty in Massive Online Open Courses? It appears to me that academic dishonesty may be difficult to police for an online course. Is this correct?
# Answer
I think that the question is somewhat misleading. Ethics only factor into a very small percentage of students in Massively Open Online Courses (MOOC's). Most students who participate in MOOC's are only taking the course to learn something. Academic integrity is more of an issue when the students are taking the course for some external reason.
Some possible external reasons are:
* Enrolled in the course through the university, and receiving credit for the course
* Required to take the course by an employer
* Taking the course as a pre-requisite for another course or program
In each of these situations, the role of verifying learning seems like it would be outside of the course itself. If students choose to cheat, it does not necessarily reflect poorly on the course or the program, but rather reflects poorly on the student.
TL;DR - Ethical concerns only matter for students who are required to take the course. The people requiring them to take the course are responsible for ensuring their academic integrity.
> 5 votes
# Answer
> An obvious contrast to the peer grading efforts in Dr. Chuck’s Class title ‘Internet History,Technology and Security’ and ‘Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World’ exists.
>
> 1) ‘Internet History, Technology and Security’ has a far more lenient rubric to follow in comparison to the ‘Science Fiction’ class.
>
> 2) I’ve observed that the essays in ‘Internet History,Technology and Science Fiction’ are far more thoughtfully written and at-least follow the question for the peer response instead of a brief recap of work covered in the reading.
>
> I’ve had to evaluate responses which describe in a way such as ‘I read Alice in Wonderland was my favorite story when I was small…….’, for a question which clearly states that you need to form a thesis(or a perspective view) for the reading material/novel/assignment for the week.
>
> 3) A major reason for this might be the obvious. ‘Science Fiction’ class releases videos of possible interpretations *after* the peer response whereas the ‘Internet History,Technology and Science class’ releases videos on the topic, therefore equipping its students to tackle the peer responses.
>
> Also a funny thing occurred on the Coursera forums where ‘I was accused of cheating(plagiarism) from my own blog when I merely submitted my Peer Response anonymously while posting my copy on my Personal blog. The other students did not have an idea of who I was ‘since the peer grading’ process is anonymous.
>
> However, there were students smart enough to recognize that it was perhaps the blog of the ‘person who submitted ‘ and the issue was clarified.
>
> Thanks to \[person\] for bringing this to my notice and arguing the case in my favor. Also a note: Coursera’s plagiarism check systems should probably account for these when it does come into place.
The above block-quote is from my blog. I find it to be relevant to this question.
This accusation of plagiarism happened with me as well. I was luckily contacted by one of the other students taking the course and I could talk the other student out of down-grading me.
This could be a problem even with OpenAccess accounts as some people may like to post work which they did in classes elsewhere.
I also took part in the programming-based classes such as Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing. NLP was tough, with real life problems to be solved. However, despite being forbidden to share their programs online, a lot of students did so, because it seemed to be the only way to make something out of the course(the certificate would not count).
The reasoning being, that if I learn some concepts from these courses, I could use my github account to appeal to an employer about my skills.
'By sharing programs online, I mean people started public repositories from which any student could cheat and get a working program for submission.' Not even the best auto-grader could possibly prevent this from happening. I don't think this can be stopped in universities as well. Sure you have a honor code, but people can copy parts of code from all over the web. Make it a little original perhaps.
There's also the 'theory' that 'don't re-invent the wheel'.
For example:
> 'Most students would not bother with programming a separate module for Fourier Transform calculations for part of a academic program. or doing this they may use a library from elsewhere to directly import a function.' Would this be considered as copying or plagiarism? Probably not?
>
> However, some universities(which include mine) think that programming Fourier Transforms is an important part in understanding them. So my university gives us programming assignments in a computer lab without access to the internet. All we are allowed to rely on is the already available libraries on the system. The systems are wiped clean every time.
>
> This becomes frustrating when we need to move from AM to FM to delta modulation and so on. We need to repeatedly write the same piece of code for fourier tranforms and this drastically reduces our efficiency.
So getting an optimal solution between preventing plagiarism and 'not re-inventing the wheel' is pretty important if Coursera or any online program would need to get. Right now, there is too much focus on plagiarism and not enough effort to realize the problem of redundancy in the system.
> 2 votes
# Answer
One of the biggest challenges is to perform assessment. To scale, the most natural approach to assessment is to use purely automated methods, i.e., automated grading. However, building good automated graders is difficult.
The path of least resistance is to use multiple-choice quizzes for assessment. However, multiple-choice quizzes with a fixed question set are inherently vulnerable to cheating: it is easy for people to pool their answers or copy off each other, and difficult to detect such cheating.
One can think of ways to defend against this, but in general, I expect that providing high-quality (yet not gameable) assessment may be one of the non-trivial challenges facing MOOCs.
> 1 votes
# Answer
While I tend to agree with @jelkimantis, I would go a step further. I think the issue of academic integrity is a bit misguided. This is true not just in MOOC's but in more traditional institutions as well.
Some people want to think that when they see a candidate has a degree from XYZ University that they no longer need to put in any effort into the interview (or whatever) process. Most humans are naturally lazy and if they can skip digging, they are happy to do so. The problem comes in that those people are making some very big assumptions which likely should not be made.
I would argue that the hiring process is one of the most important processes in any company. A bad hire can haunt you for a very long time and a good hire can save you in so many ways. Still, people want to skip as much of the hiring process as they can (on both sides) so if someone has the right degree they are assumed to have the knowledge which goes with that degree. The problems is, they might not have that knowledge.
The knowledge might not be there for several reasons:
1. They might have learned and then forgotten due to workload
2. They might have had someone else take an exam for them
3. They might have cheated during the exams and never learned in the first place
Regardless of the reason, if the knowledge is not there, it is not there. So, why make any assumptions? The only reason I can see is for those who do not understand to manage those who do understand. However, even in that case, if you don't understand and your subordinate does, then you better give that subordinate a pretty free hand...because you can't check anyway.
I know, it's a long answer but I think the entire question about academic integrity is not a huge issue. As a teacher, I care a great deal if students are cheating. That said, with the number of students I teach, there is no way I can effectively monitor them all. Even if I could, it doesn't solve the underlying problem. If someone is going to hire someone (or promote someone) based on their taking a course or gaining a degree, then they should be willing to do the work to ensure that what was taught was retained.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: teaching, online-learning
--- |
thread-5499 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5499 | Failed entrepreneur applying for master oversea | 2012-11-28T06:02:12.187 | # Question
Title: Failed entrepreneur applying for master oversea
I have BSc in computer science and entrepreneurship background with strong technical skills (software) but low GPA and no publication. I have bean away from university for few years and have not been working as employee so I can't provide any letters of recommendation.
As my previous businesses have not been successful (partly because of country I live in, it is one of the top worst) I'm thinking about starting over by applying for a master program and moving to a better place (preferably US). It can also help me find better ideas and like-minded people for future ventures.
All I can provide are few links to my previous works, some of them shiny.
Do you think I have any chance to get admission and grant from a good university? How should I prepare myself for it?
# Answer
At least for admission to strong CS departments in the US, I strongly recommend that you **take the GRE, especially the subject test in computer science, and do well**. Otherwise, the evidence that you would complete an MS program is rather thin.
Also, **you *must* have recommendation letters**. Otherwise, your application may not even be reviewed by the admissions committee. (In my department, for example, incomplete applications are automatically flagged by our admissions database system, and applications that are still flagged several weeks after the application deadline are automatically rejected without review.)
> 3 votes
# Answer
In some countries like Japan, it is ok to apply even if you do not have a good publication record. They care mostly about the entrance examination, which is focused on math and computer science.
You could apply to some Universities as well as to the Mumbukagakusho Scholarship, which depending in the country might be really easy to get (about 50% chance) or really hard (about 1% chance).
Good Luck
> 2 votes
# Answer
In some countries, e.g. the Netherlands, for a lot of masters there is no problem to get in, as long as you can pay. Ofcourse some have restrictions in terms of prior knowledge you need to have.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: graduate-admissions, computer-science
--- |
thread-5277 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5277 | Why use version control systems for writing a paper? | 2012-11-15T04:50:28.513 | # Question
Title: Why use version control systems for writing a paper?
I am following the advice of @Piotr Migdal in Is there an internet Git-like repository for collaboration on a paper?, and I want to ask about version controls: how beneficial are they (specially under LaTeX settings) for writing papers compared to Dropbox and SugarSync?
I have been using SugarSync for almost a year with no pain. Usually, I create the paper folder and invite other authors to join, so we can see and edit the last version of the paper.
# Answer
tl;dr: **Version control is harder to set up, but makes it safe to work on the same file, and makes it easy to track history (i.e. previous versions).**
## Pros and cons of syncing files
Yes, the biggest advantage of things like Dropbox (I use it as well for backuping and synchronizing my files) and SugarSync is their easiness.
They may work for collaboration on files, but:
* they are not meant for two people editing the same file at once (no merge functionalities - so one guy changing a file can overwrite changes made by other guy, even without knowing that),
* you get no history, i.e.:
+ did anyone worked on that file I want to work know?
+ did anyone added or modified any other files?
+ which changes were made?
+ can I go to a previous version, the one I sent to my supervisor?
Depending what you do, it may not be an issue. For example, if only one is editing `tex` file, while others are only reading or uploading figures - it's perfectly fine.
And also, look at my answer on Simplest way to jointly write a manuscript? with a not technically-inclined collaborators.
## Version control
Version control systems require some technical skills.
Two the most common version control systems are Git and Mercurial (with the second one being more Windows-friendly and, arguably, easier to start).
Both by standard comes only with command line access, but there are some graphical interfaces as well (I really recommend starting with SourceTree).
So, if the collaborators are techie, just teach them how to use it. If not - there is a way around.
You can keep track of version control by yourself, without engaging others (I'm doing it just now with 2 collaborators).
Just you start a repository inside folder you share (the examples are with Git):
```
cd ~/path/to/the/folder
git init // start git repository inside this folder
git add . // say git to track all files inside it
```
Now, every time you or your collaborator make some changes (e.g. add some files, correct typos, revise a chapter, ...) you do:
```
git commit -a -m "Fixed typos in Seciton 3"
```
Later, you will be able to go back to this version; and also compare, e.g. the current version of your file with the previous one (by default - by line, here - by words):
```
git diff HEAD~1 --color-words my_file.tex
```
See also:
And real world example from using diff (it makes my life so much easier :)); commit messages in Polish, but I guess you get the idea:
Otherwise (a strip from PhD Comics):
> 58 votes
# Answer
I'm not entirely sure how dropbox and sugar sync work, but their main aim is not to monitor change, but to keep files in sync over a multitude of platforms and to provide backup. In addition, a good version control system allows you to **keep older versions**, but also to **comment on the changes** explain why they where made. The version control is also guaranteed to keep the chain of change of a tex file even over very long periods of time (say submitting to journal a, getting rejected, submitting to journal b, getting reviews, new version, acceptance: such a cycle could easily be 1.5 years).
Also, in a Version Control System (VCS) **you decided when you want to save a version**, in dropbox I can imagine that the system makes that decision. Being in control yourself is important, for example to be able to generate a difference file when resubmitting a paper (see also my answer to this question on TeX SE).
Using a VCS you can also **collaborate easily with people**. Just create a private repository at bitbucket (supports mercurial and git), arrange for the other authors to have read and/or write access to your tex files in the repository, and they can change the paper or add to it. The VCS will take care of the merging.
I use Mercurial myself for version controlling papers. However, for version controlling a tex file, a VCS might be overkill. I would still recommend Mercurial though.
> 36 votes
# Answer
Given the praise received by version control systems in the existing answers, I’ll play the devil’s advocate here for a second and underline what I think is a very important point: **it strongly depends on what your co-authors are comfortable with**.
I use version control for most of the projects I do on my own, from code to papers. However, you have to realize that not everyone is familiar with this paradigm, and those who are familiar with it may not be familiar with a given piece of software (I myself am a heavy Subversion user, but have never used Git…). This is particularly true of people who don't develop software, as those tools come from the field of software development. So, check out what your co-authors use and what they are willing to learn. **The great thing about a simple synchronization solution (such as DropBox) with no version control is that its learning curve is flat**: just agree on a few rules (date-stamp all files, add initials, always send an email when you have created a new version). Anyone can understand that in a minute.
Finally, I'll add another remark: the need for tracking revision history in the short term needs not necessarily require that you record the revision history for the posterity. For example, my incremental backup system (Apple’s Time Machine) creates snapshots of my files history every hour for a day, every day for the past month, and so on. This covers some of the need for tracking older versions in the short term.
> 17 votes
# Answer
> how beneficial they are (specially under Latex settings) for writing papers compared to dropbox and SugarSync?
I am a long time user of version control systems, in fact everything I have (my $HOME folder) is backed up in a VC.
I tried hard to use various version control systems for writing many (10+) research papers all of them written in LaTeX. *My experience with using VCs for writing research papers is however mixed, if not outright negative.* Besides the easiness of synchronization with a VC, the main problem is merging the updates. Unlike source code of programs, merging LaTeX is not that straightforward mainly due to line breaking issues. Secondly, even though I have no problem with various VCs, my co-authors (very heterogeneous mix of people) not necessarily have experience with the one I use, or use different one outright, or have no clue about this stuff. Add the quirkiness of setting up passwords, ssh tunnels, installation of client-side software etc. and you see that all in all, using a VC is not a smooth experience (at best).
Recently (3 papers so far), I gave a try to Dropbox and I am pretty pleased with the result. While it does not solve all the issues, it seems to me to solve at least some:
* almost zero set-up, also layman have no problem installing the client
* no explicit sync, everything just works instantly (no svn/git/bzr/... add/remove/move/... command line stuff involved)
* merging issues are about the same as with a version control system - even with a vc in place I always tended to send explicit write lock notifications to co-authors by e-mail, or IM
* dropbox has some rudimentary version control, for my purposes it's pretty sufficient. Writing papers is not about branching, right?
* moreover, no repository setup is necessary. You just share a folder with a selected group of co-authors and that's it. Nobody else can see it. Few clicks, almost zero hassle.
As you see, **my advice would be to stay with Dropbox-like solution**. For my purposes, at least, it turned out to be the best solution so far.
---
As a follow-up to comments received: consider also the requirements you have for writing a research paper. Why to use a heavy-lifting solutions, such as a distributed version control, when we are speaking here about 1-10 text files, a handful of images and possibly a repository of data (binary, or text blobs). Do you really need to go through all the hassle with a DVCS for that? Maybe, if your research is rather a special case, most of the time, I guess, not. To me, easiness and accessibility to laymen of solutions such as Dropbox by far outweighs the advanced technological features, such as branching, tagging, etc.
> 12 votes
# Answer
I strongly recommend using version control for writing a paper because my advisers have never been very good at using computers. They often edit the wrong versions of documents and then send them to me. Then I have to figure out what they changed and manually reenter it into my latest version. I work around this problem by keeping track of what version I emailed to them and then comparing what they sent back to me using release tags.
**Don't assume the boss will ever use your version control system. He doesn't need to.** But it's still extremely useful to use version control! Our papers are prepared in MS Word because that's all that the boss knows how to use, and that's the file format the journal wants. He often forgets to use the "Track Changes" feature, but you can use the "Compare and Merge Documents" under the Tools menu to determine what he edited. (Just "merge" it with the version you emailed, and the resulting document will display the differences using the "Track Changes" highlighting.) I never have to compare timestamps or worry about which file is the latest version, and even when MS Word destroys one of my figures I know that I can easily recover it.
**You can keep all of your raw experimental data, post-processing code, figure files, and lab notes under version control, too.** Then you can backup the whole repository and be really sure that you'll never lose anything. I apply repository-wide tags to indicate when I do new experiments, which helps to keep the code in synch with the data; this answers the old question about which method was used to generate the figures. ("Was it method A? We last used that six months ago, but it could've been similar method B that we started developing around that time. Maybe we used A.1? Great, we'll have to do it all over again...")
**You can use the repository-pushing feature as a type of distributed backup system.** I use TortoiseHg (a Mercurial GUI for Windows) to push/pull the repository to a USB flashdrive to carry between my home and work computers and also to a network share as a backup, and I never overwrite the wrong files or make extra copies of the files. By the way, forget about using the branching and merging features -- they don't really make sense for binary files, but it's valuable to know whether they got accidentally changed. Mercurial works quite well, even with huge binary files in vendor-proprietary formats.
Summary: **Real world science experiments produce too many files to version manually, and the boss might not be very tech-savvy.** Version control fixes these problems, and you'll never again have to sort through filenames with random dates hardcoded in them.
> 10 votes
# Answer
There are many good points in the other answers, but I'd like to add another one, concerning the time/project management. Although you can do version control with Dropbox, the main strength of Dropbox is that everybody works on the same file(s) at the same time, which makes it fast and always synced, and it's quite good for a "rush", where n people have to work together over a given period of time on a given objective.
However, I'm currently working on 5+ papers at the same time, with different time constraints, different deadlines, and different involvement, and I appreciate to easily have the history of the paper, who committed what/when, and I like to have to commit contributions to a paper. Hence, I know that the version on the main repo is consistent, and I can leave some parts hanging on a local repo without breaking everything, and when I commit, I need to make the effort to understand what has actually changed and what's the interest. In this regard, the fact that you can easily associate a issue tracker to a repo (for instance with BitBucket) can be also quite helpful (for instance, you can add an issue "cite this other paper", attach the paper, and solve the issue when you commit the paragraph actually citing the paper.
This project management approach might be a bias coming from my programming background, and might be overkill in some cases, but in the end, there is no killer feature from one approach or the other, it's also how comfortable it makes your life.
> 9 votes
# Answer
I do not have experience with what I'm about to suggest, but it might be helpful. **Use both**; use both `Dropbox` and some `VCS`. *How?* Well, in the `Dropbox` folder that you want to share, start a `git` repository (see @PiotrMigdal answer). As far as I recall you can exclude a directory from being synced in the `Dropbox`, and you should exclude the `.git` (hidden-)directory since it is of no interest to your collaborators.
This way, you and you collaborators can easily share the data over `Dropbox` and you personally can enjoy benefits of real full scale VCS.
However, as always with shared-digital work, one of the most important issues is to set the guidelines - they should be clear to all participants.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: publications, writing, collaboration, software, version-control
--- |
thread-5483 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5483 | Applying for grad school without undergraduate background | 2012-11-27T10:19:27.593 | # Question
Title: Applying for grad school without undergraduate background
Is it possible to apply for a graduate program in theoretical physics without having a bachelor's degree in physics or mathematics? I'm completely self-taught. I'm half way through Jackson electrodynamics and Peskin QFT. These books are taught to students at a graduate level, let's say that I can pass the GRE exam and graduate level examinations. Is it possible that this would substitute for an undergraduate degree?
# Answer
> 15 votes
I agree with the other answers — admitting a student without formal academic background is very risky.
As a first step, I suggest contacting graduate programs asking if they allow **non-degree students** to take their classes. If so, taking classes as a non-degree student will let you build up a formal academic background and strong recommendation letters in your chosen field, making your case for admission much stronger. And if you're admitted to the PhD program at the same university, you may be able to use the classes you've already taken toward your degree.
Taking classes will also give you a sanity check on your self-assessment. From personal experience, it can be *really* hard to spot gaps in the knowledge you build from self-study, simply because you don't know enough to ask the right questions.
But once you get your foot in the door, do *not* just take classes; do whatever you can to get involved in research!
One significant downside to non-degree classes is that you'll almost certainly have to pay for them out of your own pocket.
# Answer
> 8 votes
> ...but I think I'm well aware of my areas of weakness and strength.
I don't dispute that at all. But you'd be in the minority. Most students coming into grad school think that they can handle any material, and once they're in a class, find themselves completely swamped.
The admissions committee's point of view is this:
* Will this person be at sea in their breadth requirements because we have no idea whether they have the right background ?
* Will they be a drag on instructors in their classes, and in general bring their cohort down (it can be dispiriting to have many students in a batch struggling to make it through the program: conversely, it's great when a batch has a number of bright spots who can pull the others up)
* Should this person be chosen **as opposed to someone else** who has a more well-defined profile ?
If you can address the third point clearly ("why should you pick me") and the first ("I really do know my stuff"), then that will go a long way towards alleviating their concerns. For example, if you can point to independent research projects that would demonstrate your command of the material, that would be even more valuable than course credits.
# Answer
> 7 votes
Is it possible? Yes. Is it likely? Maybe not.
A lot will depend on your undergraduate program. If you've done something "related," such as mathematics or physical chemistry or some engineering disciplines, then it will be easier to convince an admissions committee that you have the requisite background. Otherwise, it will be up to you, in your letter statement of purpose, as well as your letter-writers in their letters, to make the case why you should be admitted to a rogram in physics when you don't have a background in the subject (or anything close to it).
This is a big risk for a department, and especially if the department you're applying to is small and therefore needs to be more selective in who they admit. Anything you can do to show that you won't be a risk for them will help your application.
# Answer
> 2 votes
> Is it possible to apply for a graduate program in theoretical physics without having a bachelor's degree in physics or mathematics?
Yes, I believe it is.
> let's say that I can pass the GRE exam and graduate level examinations. Is it possible that this would substitute for an undergraduate degree?
First, depends what you mean by "pass" the GRE. I'd hope that you had very high scores (90th+ percentile) on at least the Quant. and Analytical parts of it, but hopefully all three.
Also, I'd edit your question to be clear that you do have an undergraduate degree already; just not one in physics.
My guess would be that *if you find the right program* they would be willing to really consider your application favorably if you could provide something like the following list of goodies:
* Very high GRE scores
* A glowing letter of recommendation from a physicist or some "hard" science prof speaking to your abilities to do heavy duty physics.
* A pristine statement of purpose that goes into specific details about your research interests within theoretical physics and your program of self-study. Here you'd really want to emphasize your *aptness* for that particularly graduate program in physics, based on your interests that match well with what (at least one of) their researchers do.
* Some research experience, if you can get some.
* A very strong academic transcript with a significant amount of hard science and math courses and mostly As (or the equivalent) in those subjects.
If you can't provide most of a list like this, one might reasonably question why you would want to go on to graduate school in this field.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Depending on the field and department you are thinking of applying to, one piece of evidence that you have independently acquired a strong background in the proposed field of study can be a strong score on the GRE Subject Test in that field.
In computer science, a number of graduate programmes I've looked at recommend this for applicants that don't have a CS degree. For instance, cf. UC San Diego's PhD admissions FAQ: http://www-cse.ucsd.edu/node/195 under "Should I take the Computer Science GRE Subject Exam?"
I do not know for sure to what degree this would apply in Physics.
# Answer
> 0 votes
The answer to your question regarding the GRE is "it will help". You have not specified if it is for a PhD or Master's. However what will count the most is your research experience if you are going for a PhD. If you want to apply to a Master than it will be definitely easier to get accepted with high GRE scores.
Sometimes students with different backgrounds are actually well seen by the department, especially if it is a interdisciplinary one. However you have to substantially prove how you will be able to apply your knowledge into your new field and how this makes you competitive. Students with a different background might provide insights and different perspectives on how to approach research topics.
---
Tags: graduate-school
--- |
thread-5522 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5522 | What is a good research experience | 2012-11-29T00:01:52.163 | # Question
Title: What is a good research experience
What kind of research experience is a good or satisfactory research experience for grad school admissions ? There are tons of venues even IEEE has some easy to get conferences which has its name attached to.
So when someone says he has research experience it is very subjective and differs from reading a few papers about ones field to publishing in national level to mediocre international level conferences.
Also there are places where a professor at a respected institution may get his paper rejected.
So I am totally confused which research experience is really a research experience ? How do you set the thresold ?
What happens if I have easy to get \>5 IEEE conference papers which are may be unheard or new ones such as 2nd IEEE conf on X ? Will I get an edge over other people with no publications or who does not want to publish at such places ? Should I lean towards this approach ?
Good letters from MIT will be a good indicator but what if you have no such recommender or he is tottaly unknown ?
# Answer
> What kind of research experience is a good or satisfactory research experience for grad school admissions?
>
> How do you set the threshold?
There is no threshold. Instead, graduate admissions committees judge research experience on a continuum. At one end are things that hardly count at all (e.g., independent textbook study described as research). At the other end are extremely impressive publications. Most undergraduate research is somewhere in the middle, and how meaningful it is can be difficult to judge. To help the committee, you need to explain what you did, why it is interesting, what your contributions were, and perhaps what you learned from it or got out of it (especially if it didn't lead to a publication in a high-quality journal or conference). It's also important to have a letter of recommendation that addresses this research, to evaluate your contributions. If you just mention a paper on your CV, without giving this sort of background information about it, then it probably won't help your application much.
> Will I get an edge over other people with no publications or who does not want to publish at such places?
It's hard to predict. Nobody's going to be counting papers or setting thresholds for impact factor. Instead, the committee will be looking for two key things:
1. Have you demonstrated the ability to do research? (Some people get wonderful grades but do not succeed at research.)
2. Do you have enough experience to know what you are getting into in graduate school? (Some people think they want to do research, but when they discover what research really involves they change their minds.)
Instead of worrying about thresholds and quantities, I'd suggest focusing on making sure your application satisfies these criteria.
> 6 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, research-process
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thread-5452 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5452 | How much customization of letters of recommendation is necessary? | 2012-11-26T01:58:00.863 | # Question
Title: How much customization of letters of recommendation is necessary?
While I know that students are encouraged to "tailor" their applications to the particular school or program they're applying to, does the same hold true for the people writing letters of recommendation on their behalf? In other words, is it possible just to change the "addressee" portion, and use a greeting such as "Dear Members of the Admissions Committee," or is more personalization required?
Just to clarify here, I'm referring to the "pro-forma" parts of the letter, rather than the actual content of the recommendation *per se*.
# Answer
> 7 votes
I have two levels of customization. Firstly, if the letter is for an internship at a lab, or an application to grad school or a job, I tailor the qualities that I emphasize and link those qualities to the specific job.
A second level of customization is if I have any connection to the institution (for example, when writing letters of recommendation for AT&T Labs - where I used to work - I might mention this explicitly in order to convey that I understand the local culture)
This is above and beyond the usual pro-forma customizations for the addressee etc.
# Answer
> -4 votes
Although it really depends on the culture you are in and the culture you are applying, tailored recommendation letters are generally 'stronger'.
Especially in the USA it is recommended to put also the university/department/lab name in the recommendation letter instead of just stating that the student is very good. Even changing the addressee requires the author spend some extra time, which means you are valuable for the author of the letter.
Keep in mind that most of the recommendation letters are not really read. They are there to show whether you can get them. In this perspective, tailored letters mean you have stronger relations with 'worthy people'.
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Tags: recommendation-letter
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thread-2774 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2774 | What does "tenure" mean? | 2012-08-06T20:40:51.920 | # Question
Title: What does "tenure" mean?
I often find academics with tenured bracketed beside their position. What is meant by a tenured position? Is this different from a permanent teaching position?
# Answer
> 18 votes
In short, tenure means that you cannot be fired (you have a very permanent position). For more details, look at this question: In practice, how secure is a tenured position in the US? In particular, look at the first link in the first answer to that question, which is an article in *Science* that talks about the role of tenure.
# Answer
> 17 votes
To have tenure is an acknowledgement from the host institution of the academic's record of published research, teaching and contribution to the administrative life of their department/institute/college.
It is difficult, but not impossible, to fire a tenured academic from their host institution. See e.g. http://www.hr.msu.edu/documents/facacadhandbooks/facultyhandbook/dismissal.htm
An academic with tenure is typically only dismissable on very serious grounds of misconduct. That it is so difficult to dismiss a tenured academic arises, historically, from the idea that university researchers should enjoy **academic freedom** \- the ability to research unfavourable topics, persue and advance unpopular or controversial theories, to challenge the status quo without fear of reprisal in the form of dismissal.
The tenure system is itself, somewhat controversial, see e.g. http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2012/07/how\_to\_save\_tenurecut\_it\_way\_b.html
# Answer
> 4 votes
The implementation is a tenure contract, which specifies a starting salary, starting date, and often a maximum duration (e.g. 30 years). Other possible details include startup funds (e.g. US$1M over 10 years), lab space (dry/wet lab, exclusive use square footage), and access to shared facilities (big experimental equipment). Lab space and shared facilities aren't free, so the cost is often deducted from your startup funds.
There may be requirements in the contract about the maximum number of days you can spend off-campus doing consulting work, the minimum amount of lab activity required to be considered active (papers per year, grants submitted/funded per year, students trained per year), minimum service work (hours spent on committees, hours spent writing policy documents), and minimum teaching commitment.
If you fail to meet the minimums, your department may start to revoke some of your privileges. You may wish to read this other question about enforcement of the policies.
There's a wide variation between different universities and departments about what gets written in the contract and what is actually required due to departmental politics. The political part of the equation can be a lot more important than the text in the contract on a day-to-day basis. Consider what could happen if the department runs out of lab space or if you have trouble getting new grant funding for a couple years.
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Tags: job, job-search, university, tenure-track
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thread-5539 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5539 | Article grammar and spell check | 2012-11-30T18:24:25.017 | # Question
Title: Article grammar and spell check
I'm not a native English speaker. My supervisor and I have read our manuscript at least twice, but after two months the reviewers say the grammar is unsatisfactory. I want to know if there is any software which can check the grammar of my article (either offline or online), or any forum I can ask about grammar questions?
# Answer
> 9 votes
I think that, as such, your question is a wee bit narrow and not specifically related to academia. There is, however, a deeper related question which I believe is worth answering:
> ***What language services are worth considering for research articles, for non-native speakers (or native speakers with subpar writing skills)?***
This is the question I will try to answer below.
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* Translation software or online services: under no circumstances.
* **Spellchecking software**: good to catch typos, pluralization errors, and the like. Worthless for any other use.
* Grammar checking software: grammar checking modules of nonspecialized software (say, MS Word) is useless. Specialized software is little less than useless, and typically fails to grasp the more complicated sentence structures that are somewhat typical of academic writing.
* **Thesaurus**: now that's a useful tool. One of the limitations of non-native speaker is that even if our vocabulary is quite broad, we typically have a much more restricted “active” lexicon (that which we use spontaneously). Thus, our language often sounds dull or unvaried. A thesaurus is a good tool to make you say “yeah, I could have thought of using ‘monotonous’ instead of ‘unvaried’”. To me personally, this is one of the most precious tools.
* **Real-life or online discussion fora**: of course, our sister site *English Language & Usage* comes to mind here. Also, remember that you can also ask advice from native speaker friends or colleagues… that invited professor whom you showed the town around on his first week-end will probably be happy to give you a helping hand over coffee on a particular paragraph you have trouble with.
* Proofreader or other comprehensive language service: sometime necessary. If you feel your English level is preventing you from getting the recognition your work deserves, this is a good money investment in the short term.
* Translater: to be avoided unless your English is really, really poor. Technical translators who really understand your field will be very hard to find, unless you have colleagues who would like to moonlight :) Non-technical translators are to be avoided, as their translations are very unreliable.
The bold items above correspond to the combination of tools I use myself. Note that I consider my own level of English to be quite decent for a non-native speaker… whether it is an excess of self-esteem you can judge for yourself ;-)
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Tags: research-process, publications, grammar
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thread-5552 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5552 | Is completing two years of your PhD sufficient to satisfy journal reviewing requirement of having a PhD? | 2012-12-01T16:27:25.157 | # Question
Title: Is completing two years of your PhD sufficient to satisfy journal reviewing requirement of having a PhD?
For reviewing papers, some journals ask you to have a PhD degree. I want to know, if the PhD degree is the obtained certificate at the end of your PhD, or it could be also be, for example, your third inscription in the PhD (you have previously two succefull years in preparing the degree).
# Answer
"Having a PhD" means that you completed the entire degree program—including writing, defending, and depositing a dissertation—and were formally awarded a degree by the host university. Current PhD students would *not* qualify as reviewers for the journal you describe.
> 13 votes
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Tags: phd
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thread-5554 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5554 | Is it viable to pay for MS if your future goal is a Ph.D | 2012-12-01T16:48:22.503 | # Question
Title: Is it viable to pay for MS if your future goal is a Ph.D
I am currently working as a software developer. I have a degree in computer science. However, my country, Turkey, is not a technology favoring country, and research in the fields I am interested in is very rare, and only available at a few select schools. From job, location and opportunity perspective (too many applicants for too few places), getting an advanced degree at these schools is next to impossible for me.
I want pursue Ph.D. badly but I need a MS degree first because I don't have any research experience. So I have decided to apply for US schools and do some research there applying for a Ph.D.
Is paying for a master's degree a good idea and will I be able to do quality research there? Do master's students convert their degrees to Ph.D., if so is it easy or difficult? What to expect from a MS for getting good research experience?
# Answer
> 10 votes
In principle, yes, that's a viable plan. But there are a few stumbling blocks to be aware of.
First: **There are two types of MS degrees in computer science in the US.** Research master's degrees have a significant research component, usually ending with a formal thesis. Professional master's degrees require only taking classes; this is no expectation and little opportunity to get involved in research. A successful research MS is good preparation for a PhD program, and *many* CS PhDs started by getting a master's degree first. (I'm one of them.) But a professional MS is generally considered a terminal degree, even with a 4.0 GPA.
Second: **PhD applicants with MS degrees are held to higher standards than PhD applicants with only undergraduate degrees,** because they have had an extra year to build up a research portfolio. In my department, for example, strong applicants with master's degrees *but no formal publications* are usually rejected. See the previous point.
Third: **Strong graduate programs in the US also get too many applicants for too few positions.** Competition at the top departments is fierce. Even getting a research MS is no guarantee of being admitted to a PhD program.
To address the first three points, I *strongly* recommend asking the following question of any MS program you apply to:
> What fraction of graduates from your program go on to get a PhD?
Fourth: **If you don't have any research experience, how do you know that you want a PhD?** Getting a PhD is not like getting an undergraduate degree; doing research is not like taking classes — it is much more open-ended, much more self-directed, and much *much* riskier. This is not a question to answer *here*, but definitely something to address in your application statement.
# Answer
> 2 votes
In principle, a masters degree is the first steps towards a scientific career. At least in my studies it was the first time I really did a major scientific project:
* Defining a research question
* Coming up with a plan how to answer the research question
* Doing the actual research
* Writing it down in a scientific report
In a lot of countries, excluding the UK, it is obligatory to get a Master degree before you are admitted to a PhD position. So, in answer to your first question, if you want to get into science, you need to do a MS. Depending on your financial situation, and how badly you want a career in science, paying for your MS might or might not be a good idea.
Your next question deals with difficulty. In general, if you really enjoyed your Masters research this is a good indicator you would like a PhD position. If you like doing research, a PhD is a nice job, but certainly not an easy job. However, if you enjoy it, it should generally be possible to finish your PhD.
In regard to if a masters is a good preparation for a PhD, it heavily depends on where you do your masters. But in general they train you in being a scientist.
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Tags: graduate-school, research-process, masters
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thread-5545 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5545 | Is publishing papers before the evaluation of thesis a good idea? | 2012-12-01T10:28:08.817 | # Question
Title: Is publishing papers before the evaluation of thesis a good idea?
Is publishing papers before the evaluation of thesis is a good idea? Isn't there a risk of making the idea public?
# Answer
You should try to publish before you finish your thesis. An idea in a published paper will be recognized as yours, there are more chances of an idea getting stolen from a thesis.
> 23 votes
# Answer
Four reasons why it's generally a very good idea to publish papers before you submit your thesis:
1. The earlier you publish, the less likely it is that your idea will be *scooped* \[1\], i.e. that someone working in the same area actually publishes the same idea/result before you.
2. Once ideas are published, they are not stolen: they are used, built upon, *with proper attribution* (usually in the form of citation). This is not theft.
3. The goal of an academic is actually to disseminate new knowledge, not to lock it into your desk drawers.
4. Having papers published (or at least accepted for publication) is very very important for your CV. It may also be a requirement (formal or unspoken) for defending your PhD.
5. If said publication includes peer review, the peer review is likely to improve your work, both by vetting it thoroughly and giving you new points of view on your arguments. (I edited this in after reading gerrit’s answer; it is an important point.)
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In some specific cases, good arguments can be made against publication before thesis submission. Most are actually not specific to the thesis itself, but generally apply to delaying publication of a research:
1. If research is performed as part of a contract that requires an embargo on publication (say, imposed by one industrial partner). This is a very awkward situation, but it does happen in some fields.
2. Sometimes, a delay in publication is necessary to protect intellectual property, e.g. in the case of delaying publication until a related patent submission is complete.
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Ref. 1:
> 43 votes
# Answer
I'd like to add one important point that hasn't been raised yet: if the research that lies at the basis of your PhD has already passed through peer review, that makes it easier to defend against an opponent. You've already replied to two or more reviewers and improved the manuscript and possibly the underlying work. This makes it much less likely that awkward things turn up during the actual discussion with the opponent or the examination committee.
> 27 votes
# Answer
Actually, publishing paper(s) is a requirement for defending your thesis in some universities.
The best thing you can do for your thesis and the field is to make your ideas public *through* publications.
> 12 votes
# Answer
By publicizing an original idea at earliest possible moment, you increase your chances of being the first one to publish it, and thus make it known that this is your idea. So, in fact, this prevents it from being
Also, I don't think published ideas can be stolen. The worst that can happen is they can be used without attribution but that is always a possibility wherever you publish them.
> 4 votes
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Tags: phd, publications, thesis
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thread-5547 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5547 | Scholarships for Ph.D | 2012-12-01T10:35:04.900 | # Question
Title: Scholarships for Ph.D
I am currently doing my M.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering in India and I want to do a Ph.D. in the US. Are any scholarships available for Ph.D. in the US that take care of all the expenses there (similar to DAAD scholarships offered for pursuing secondary education in Germany)? If there are other similar scholarships for other countries please inform me.
# Answer
Normally, if you're doing a PhD in the United States—at least in the sciences and engineering—you shouldn't have to worry about having a scholarship. The department or advisor should be responsible for paying your tuition as well as a stipend for your living expenses. So there aren't a lot of "scholarships" in the same sense as for undergraduate study. However, while there are fellowships which provide "portable" funds for graduate study, these tend to have stringent citizenship requirements, and I can't ever recall seeing one for which Indian students were eligible.
Your best bet is probably just to apply to the graduate programs in which you're interested, and see if they have funds to support your graduate work.
> 5 votes
# Answer
There are at least 2 such scholarships, which are specifically aimed at international students:
* Fulbright Scholarships for International Students (applications have to be done more than a year before, and its extremely competitive - though now I find applications for 2013-14 have been suspended)
* Aga Khan Foundation International Scholarship Programme, which has the following selection criteria:
1. Excellent academic records,
2. Genuine financial need,
3. Admission to a reputable institution of higher learning and
4. Thoughtful and coherent educational and career plans. Candidates are also evaluated on their extra-curricular interests and achievements, potential to achieve their goals and likelihood to succeed in a foreign academic environment. Applicants are expected to have some years of work experience in their field of interest
> 5 votes
# Answer
Contact potential advisors, if you are really *worth it* for them they will provide fund for you (when accepted).
The same when apply to universities: most universities give graduate students scholarship ( with the acceptance letter) in form of Teaching Assistant (TA) or Research Assistant (RA).
Some of them *don't offer funding* with the acceptance letter but the bottom line is: ***if you are good you will get scholarship (either from Gradstudies Office or from department, from supervisor..etc) while you pursue your degree.***
> 2 votes
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Tags: phd, graduate-school, research-process, funding
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thread-5566 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5566 | What should I focus on to get admission in a Masters programme in the US? | 2012-12-02T06:22:14.473 | # Question
Title: What should I focus on to get admission in a Masters programme in the US?
I am currently in my second year, pursuing a B.Tech. in Software Engineering, in India. I want to pursue a Masters' in the US in CS/CS-related fields. My area of interest is AI.
I still have two years to go before I will need to apply. So, what should I be working/focusing on in the next two years so that I have a good chance at making it there ? Keeping in mind the fact that i will need scholarships/financing options.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Please keep in mind that only a small percentage of Master students get funded.
It's less competitive to get into a Master program than a PhD, mostly because the students pay their own way.
If your grades are not the best you should try to get high GRE, good reccomendation letters, and possibly to some research during your Bachelor.
Are any particular reasons why you chose the US? There are many other school around the world that would cost you less and get a good education as well.
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Tags: graduate-school, graduate-admissions
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thread-5575 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5575 | Do university rankings matter for research? | 2012-12-02T15:33:50.390 | # Question
Title: Do university rankings matter for research?
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> University rank/stature - How much does it affect one’s career post-Ph.D?
Do rankings of universities matter while pursuing research or should I be more concerned about finding a suitable supervisor irrespective of the university or institute rankings?
# Answer
I think the importance you have to attach to this criterion (university ranking) when finding a new research job (from your question, it appears to be a PhD) is limited, because:
* What counts if our research output: your results, and how you communicate them to your community. You want people in your field to recognize you as someone who can tackle difficult problems and design creative and efficient solutions.
* Of course, your research may not be so stellar that everyone has heard of you. So, coming from a well-known group with a proven track record is important. You want your research group to be famous, because it reflect well on you.
* But it's not that simple… not all group leaders are superstars! Failing that, it is better to be affiliated with a well-known department (or university). You want to be in a university/department that people think is good.
* But not all people know all universities well enough to be able to judge them. Those who don't rely on externally published rankings.
See how rankings are introduced only as item #4 in the above list. Thus, even considering only the career advancement side of your question, university ranking is not a primary concern. Sure, it plays a role, but lots of students overestimate that role compared to, say, the importance of your own work and results.
> 5 votes
# Answer
In terms of employers, you will face two types of them:
* One is interested in only *good universities* and will make it as a negative point if your university ranking is not that good. Usually those know nothing about your research. It is also subjective and vague for *what is a good university ranking*? *is there any threshold to specify good and bad rankings?*. Things are not clear here.
* Another type of employers (specially in academia/research positions) they admire your research (if you did good research) and have zero weight on where you come from.
The bottom line here is: ***if you see your supervisor is going to help you to be better researcher (and thus publish in good journal/conferences) then why not?***
There are plenty of good professors affiliated with *not-so-good* university ranking.
If you could make the two (good university ranking + good supervisor) then this is the perfect solution.
> 2 votes
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Tags: phd, university
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thread-5567 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5567 | How to find / understand research in other languages when you don't know that language? | 2012-12-02T11:01:11.280 | # Question
Title: How to find / understand research in other languages when you don't know that language?
I'm starting to do some research in Asia, however, I don't know the local language. I do have some contacts, all of whom speak English, but I'm worried about finding earlier research which was published in the local language. For example, if I don't speak Thai and I am doing research in Thailand, how can I find existing research which was published in Thai (with the intent of contacting the researcher or finding a translator to translate it into English)?
This might be a futile exercise, and I might need to remove the question but in case anyone out there has a creative idea, I would love to hear it.
# Answer
> 5 votes
I would ask a colleague who does speak Thai, and ask them if there are any relevant Thai publications you need to be aware of. Of course, this colleague needs to be in the same field you are interested in. If they don't know of any relevant literature, this might indicate that you are not missing any relevant research.
In addition, when you are looking for papers yourself, I would Google translate the titles of the papers, and if they seem interesting, I would ask a native speaking colleague to translate the abstract. If it still is interesting, then you ask your colleague to read the paper together with you.
# Answer
> 4 votes
The answer depends also on the fact that you will work on your subject for only a few months or for a very long period of time. Ultimately, in the second case, you will have to learn additional languages.
In sciences and economical/social sciences we are not very used to that, but it is rather common in humanities. For instance, my wife works in Egyptology, and she had to learn (at least for reading) German and Italian in addition to French (mother tongue), English (that we all learn at school) and 3 or 4 ancient languages in order to be able to read the literature of the field.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Accessing research in a language that you don't speak is pain. If something seems interesting, just ask the author for any related material he/she may have in English. That should help you in a lot of cases. Otherwise, go listen to him/her at English-speaking conferences.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Only thing I can suggest you right now is to use google translation services; for instance you can add to your browser some "add-on" that automtically translates from Thai to English. Good luck
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Tags: research-process, language
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thread-5426 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5426 | When to publish a book? | 2012-11-24T12:13:15.963 | # Question
Title: When to publish a book?
I am presently doing MSc (Information Technology) in India. I really like teaching and have a passion for it. Based on my Masters degree I will get a designation of Assistant professor (hope so I get it!), but to be a Professor we need a PhD degree, so I was thinking of doing a Phd (Computer Science) not right after the Masters but after some years of teaching experience. At present I don't have much knowledge about PhD (nearly zero).
I know we need to publish the thesis in PhD,but my question is do we have to publish books (about courses like Java, Operating System etc, since I am talking about IT/CS i gave these subjects) in PhD? This is because right now in my Masters I was thinking of publishing a book for a local course of Bachelors (BSc IT) in my region.
So if we need to publish certain number books in PhD, then I should wait for writing and publishing that local book till I join a PhD or should I start writing and publish it right in my Masters and this published book will be considered in my PhD?
# Answer
A PhD should be based on an original contribution to knowledge. This is generally published at research conferences and in journals.
Material, such as a book, treating topics that already are well-known generally do not contribute to the PhD dissertation. The only exception is if you were to write an excellent synthesis of a field, then that could be included as a part of your PhD dissertation, as such a thing would be an original contribution to knowledge.
Writing a book may actually hinder your progress to obtaining a PhD, because it too will take a lot of time. That said, I do not wish to encourage you on this issue. But there are already plenty of books about Java and Operating Systems, and I questions the value of writing more.
> 12 votes
# Answer
## No. Absolutely not.
**Do not even start writing a book until you have tenure**, unless publishing a book is a requirement for tenure (which would be *very* strange for computer science). Writing books well is *extremely* hard; it requires significant time away from your research (which you need to finish your PhD, get a job, and get tenure), teaching, paper-writing, professional networking, job-hunting, proposal writing, and advising. And writing books badly can only hurt you.
> 16 votes
# Answer
Regardless of when the book is published, if the book is relevant to your doctoral studies and displays a high level of scientific skill, then it is certain it will influence positively the opinion of your eventual PhD defence committee.
But a course book is not a thesis. You will still need to write a separate thesis
Also, the chances that your doctoral research topic will be related to the topic of your book are small.
> 1 votes
# Answer
The magazine "The Scientist" has recently published an article about writing scientific books: \- http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/32654/title/So-You-Want-to-Write-a-Book-/
I recommend you to read it. It says that writing books requires a lot of time and involvement, and that it is better to wait until you have tenure. I think that the suggestion makes sense.
> 1 votes
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Tags: phd, masters, books
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thread-5612 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5612 | reuse of text between publications (CS) | 2012-12-04T23:25:09.720 | # Question
Title: reuse of text between publications (CS)
This probably depends on field, but in Computer Science it is common for people to publish similar material in workshops, then conferences, then journals. Each time it is acceptable to reuse some material from one level to the next as long as there is some new material (journals sometimes will publish verbatim but that's anohter matter).
So, is it acceptable to borrow significant text from one **conference** paper to use in a second **conference** paper? In my experience the answer is no, but I'm curious if there are any guidelines, and if so, whether they vary across disciplines.
BTW, after posting I came across this: Attitudes towards self-plagiarism ... certainly related to this. I commented there, and should have mentioned here, that a complicating factor with regard to reuse of text arises from the use of blind submission: if you can't say who you are, you can't admit to copying your own text.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I would say it depends:
* Some papers go from *Abstract* **to** *Extended Abstract* **to** *Full Paper*. In this case I see nothing makes it unacceptable. The same goes if you are ***extending your own results***.
* I often see the same material copied in the **Background** (and sometimes in the literature review) section with the same authors for different papers. That is in addition to **Definitions** and common notations as @Suresh said.
I believe in this case it is ethical and valid since ***Background (or Definitions) is not the paper contribution***. This ,in turn, has a disadvantage (and I really suffered from this): if you were not able to understand some parts of the background in the first paper, you will stuck there. In other words, you will not find another wording of it.
Returning to the question:
> is it acceptable to borrow significant text from one conference paper to use in a second conference paper?
If the *significant text* is not significant part of the contribution then IMHO Yes. The word significant here is the key and it is ambiguous but let's say its 40% of the paper.
```
The bottom line is:
Removing the borrowing text, does your paper have a contribution by its own?
```
I have seen the opposite where some papers are very similar to others and I think this is a bad habit. At the end, you are trying to discover new things not to copy them.
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Tags: publications, conference, plagiarism, self-plagiarism
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thread-5615 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5615 | Guidelines for changing terminology introduced by self? | 2012-12-05T10:11:57.383 | # Question
Title: Guidelines for changing terminology introduced by self?
The topics that have been in my research focus recently have problems with consistent naming and terminology through time and papers, so I might perceive it as a greater problem than I would normally, but still. I am a PhD in Computer Science, Image Analysis -- so while there's a *lot of standard terminology*, a *lot* of state-of-the-art *terminology has not settled on unique names yet*.
Until now, at least all the papers made by the same author/research group/under the same adviser (same last author) I've read have been consistent in their terminology (at least the one describing their main contribution). But, the latest article from an interesting author has *changed his own terminology on purpose* (he says so explicitly himself).
**What would be a good reason for terminology change within the scope of one's own work?** It's not merging work with somebody -- in fact, the article I'm talking about is the first standalone work from that author after publishing with an adviser during PhD. From my point of view, it just makes it less findable: the key words changed, which might in turn cause less people to read it and in the end cite it. *How can this be beneficial?*
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**EDIT** I am actually interested in a *general set of guidelines* for when changing one's own terminology might be beneficial, but let me add the details of the case that inspired the question. It's the terminology to describe a data structure constructed for an image:
1. In the first 4-5 publications (during the PhD, before publishing the thesis), the terminology was *new*, the name was *suggestive* and *conforming* to the other terminology from the same filed, but still *different than other data structures* with *similar* purpose and of similar format.
2. The latest publication (1 author only) *takes over* some terminology from a related work, and introduces ambiguity. That terminology was *first used to regard components of a similar*, but still *different* data structure. No attempt was made to prove that those similar structures were equivalent (and I think they're not -- still didn't get around to proving that). A new term was created, derived from the terms for components.
Now to me a stronger suggestion is that *similar but different* data structure used as a basis for terminology, rather than what it was actually meant to describe.
# Answer
I also admit to doing this. The reason was twofold. Firstly, the old terminology clashed with existing terminology for concepts that I also needed, and secondly, the new terminology better reflected the concept that I was studying. It is also difficult coming up with a name for something when you invent it. But concepts need names.
There are obvious pitfalls to this approach, such as making papers harder to read. It is beneficial in the long run, because the accepted terminology (assuming that the newer terminology becomes the accepted terminology) does not clash with other terminology I need to use.
> 10 votes
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Tags: publications, language
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thread-5622 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5622 | Finish previous work during current position | 2012-12-06T12:25:04.390 | # Question
Title: Finish previous work during current position
I will soon change of lab, moving from a PhD student position to post-doc position. During the last months of my contract as a PhD student, I tried to finish everything I started but I still have a few projects in progress. These projects include collaborative paper with other groups, so I am not the only one involved.
I was wondering what was the general agreement when changing position with unfinished project. I see three main possibilities here:
1. At the beginning of the new contract, I spend **all my time finishing the previous project** so I do not have to worry about them for too long (but I do not start right away to work for my new boss)
2. I spend **one day per week (for instance) working for the past project** and the rest for the current one
3. I do not work at all on the previous project during office hours, but rather after work and **during the week-end** (which I would prefer not to do)
I have to precise that my future boss is not involved in the project I would need to finish. I also plan to ask him the question directly when I start the new position, but I thought a little background about what is commonly done could be beneficial before starting this discussion.
NB: this question is different from this one since it does not concern the ownership of the research, but rather on how to spend the time in the lab.
# Answer
> 27 votes
As an academic working with a couple of post-docs, my rule is *you can do what you want with your time as long as you do what is required for the project that employs you.* It is also the case that I know (and indeed expect) that post-docs will have work of their own that they'll want to finish up or extend.
I would not be happy with option 1, but option 2 would be good for me. Weekends are your own. If you spend them writing more papers, I will not object. But please do have some rest and relaxation time.
As a post-doc, you are starting to build your own career, so writing independent papers, and thereby forging your own way, is a good thing. But there are a lot of benefits to be had from integrating yourself in your new working environment, and working too much on your own stuff means that you will miss that opportunity (and possibly make a bad impression).
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Tags: ethics
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thread-5625 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5625 | If I am building on results of my earlier works, do I have to include them in my bibliography? | 2012-12-06T13:46:00.603 | # Question
Title: If I am building on results of my earlier works, do I have to include them in my bibliography?
In my master's thesis I am building on two earlier works of myself.
-\> One is a study project I've done together with two fellow students,
-\> the other one is an assignment I did on my own.
**If I'm using results from these, should I include them in the Bibliography?**
Arguments against including them might be:
* They are not published, a reader of my thesis therefore wouldn't be able to look these sources up.
(They don't qualify as quotable)
* Also the effort involved in this works was much less than the amount of work I'm doing for my thesis.
(Some doubts on them beeing worth quoting)
* And finally I am the author or one of the authors of these works.
(I am not using foreign thought material)
Nevertheless it feels somehow incomplete to just leave them out.
# Answer
> 8 votes
Are these works available in any published form or any other permanent online form, such as a technical report? If so then cite. If not, then there's nothing to cite. In my opinion, it would look strange to cite a project done in some previous course.
What you can do is put an acknowledgment in the back of your thesis/paper to your previous "co-authors".
# Answer
> 3 votes
In your particular case it would have no sense to cite your previous projects. As Dave Clarke wrote, the reader would have no chance to access the materials anyway, there were not published and probably **there are not recognize by society as a scientific work**. Of course, you should mention the co-authors contributions in the thesis, it is polite.
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However, if we would like to generalize the question a little.
**If you are building your results on your previous work, you have to cite or you would commit *auto-plagiarism*** which is not acceptable in scientific writing. Simply, to present the same results more times is not allowed even if there are not published in a journal.
In case you know that the **reader would not be able to access your previous work** (archive of your University where your thesis would be) **you still have to cite**. In this case, you can mention for example the chapter, or the picture you are referring to and put the important fact/results from you previous work to the text you are writing.
In this case none of the 3 arguments you mentioned is relevant.
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Tags: masters, citations
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thread-5628 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5628 | How should a researcher manage the fact that Impact factors change over time? | 2012-12-06T20:37:49.313 | # Question
Title: How should a researcher manage the fact that Impact factors change over time?
Impact factors of journals are one the most commonly use indicator of their quality. As a consequence when someone is looking for a journal in which publish his results, the highest the impact factor, the better. However, over the years journal's impact factors change depending on the quality of their article.
My question, that is more theoretical then practical, is twofold:
1. Should I care about the **future impact factor of the journals** I publish in (similarly as when buying stock market).
2. Would it be advisable to **keep track of the impact factor** at the time of publication in a list of paper (a bit like saying "I know to impact factor of the journal I published in five years ago is bad, but it was better then").
This question is somehow related to the fact that I hear once or twice about examining boards considering only the papers published in journals above a certain impact factor when assessing the quality of a candidate. In other words, papers published in low impact factor journal are not even worth noticing.
# Answer
Related to your last comment:
> boards that considered only the papers published in journal above a certain impact factor when assessing the quality of a candidate
I think that such borders are not doing well. As you said, the IF (Impact Factor) varies in time (regardless if we consider it as a relevant measure).
According to me, there are 2 points of view by which the IF which should be considered in your question:
1. The point that **you** tried (and **succeeded**) **to publish a paper in a journal with high IF**. What would that fact say to me (if I would be in a committee)? That you were confident about your results and you **trusted your work to be published in a good journal**. (BUT(!) it does not meat that the journal or the paper is good, it just reflects you, the candidate). In this case relevant is the **IF by the time your article was accepted**.
2. The point that the **IF of the journal you published rises in the next 2-3 years after the time your paper was accepted**. Why? Lets take a look how the IF is calculated:
A = the number of times articles published in 2006 and 2007 were cited by indexed journals during 2008.
B = the total number of "citable items" published by that journal in 2006 and 2007.
2008 impact factor = A/B.
However, can we say that articles published in 2006 and 2007 will be cited in 2008? Just very small amount of them. Someone reads your article (month 1), then does the part of research related to your article (2-3 months?), approved by co-authors (another month) and goes through the acceptance procedure (12-14 months). It takes about a year and a half to print the citation of your article. So, if the editors decide that they will accept just good articles the resulting rising of IF will be visible in 2-3 years in the future. So if I would be a committee member I would like to know how was the IF 2-3 years after the article of the candidate was printed. That can tell me that by the time the article was printed, also a considerable amount of good articles were printed as well. But keep in mind that IF consider citation just within 2 years back, and that is just too short. I think it should be 3 years at least.
So, to answer your questions:
add 1.: YES, for the next 2-3 years as it is effectiveness time of IF.
add 2.: YES, because it reflect the actual state of the author by the time he decided to publish.
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But please, all this can help as a indicator but is should be taking into account with caution. I should also say that IF is very tricky and it can be easily misinterpreted (self-citation, how many review articles the Journal publishes,...). If you want to take a look at other evaluating tools, you can visit:
Eigenfactor or Journal Ranking
and: **What really matters is how much your article is cited(!)**
> 5 votes
# Answer
I would be wary of going with Impact Factors as a good metric.
There has been recently a couple of Journals that got into trouble for artificially blowing their IFs, they basically asked any submitter to cite at least 3 articles of the same Journal.
However, it is true that good Journals like Nature, IEEE Transactions, Elsevier, etc will give your paper a lot more credibility than unknown Journals.
In my experience, all of that was good for a pre-Internet era, where Universities had to pick and choose their subscriptions, but now, with all the plethora of information available that is probably less the norm than ever.
> 0 votes
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Tags: publications, impact-factor
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thread-5634 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5634 | what is RARE organisation in the context of hypertext systems? | 2012-12-07T16:30:45.207 | # Question
Title: what is RARE organisation in the context of hypertext systems?
I am digging "dead bodies" meaning that i analyse alternatives to the web system which were popular in early 90s and seems to be found the relevant report.
The problem is author is constantly refers to some unknown organisation called RARE which i found no information about. It existed 20 years ago and was mentioned in numerous examples such as the following with other famous institutuons:
"It is noted that the rapid growth of WWW may in the future lead to problems through the implementation of multiple , uncoordinated and mutually incompatible add-on features. To guard against this trend , it may be appropriate for RARE, in cooedination with CERN and other interested parties such as NCSA, to encourage the formation of a consortium to coordinate WWW technical development. "
So who are these RARE was it institution? I was around 3 when berners lee and all these fellas developed the web so i am out of the context.
Link: www.apps.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1614.html
Appologise for typos: posting from phone.
# Answer
A little detective work reveals the following. From Chris Adie's Resume it seems that RARE is now called TERENA, which is "The Trans-European Research and Education Networking Association". Looking at the history of TERENA, reveals that RARE stands for "Réseaux Associés pour la Recherche Européenne", which is a little strange, as it is a Dutch organisation.
Incidentally, one of my old pals used to work for TERENA.
> 4 votes
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Tags: research-process, university
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thread-5636 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5636 | Postdoc supervisor's impact when applying for a follow-up job | 2012-12-07T19:58:28.900 | # Question
Title: Postdoc supervisor's impact when applying for a follow-up job
I'm currently a postdoc and I'm planning to apply for faculty positions soon. However, I'm pretty sure that my current supervisor wants me to stay on for another year. When applying for a job, I'm usually required to state 3 referees. Am I expected to state my current supervisor as one of the referees? Is it going to weaken my application if he's not among the 3? Due to the mentioned conflict of interest, I would rather state other people I've been working with...
# Answer
If you need to list references, you will almost certainly be expected to list your current boss—in this case, your advisor—as a potential reference. At the very least, if you do not, there is a non-insignificant chance that at some point in the interview process you'll be asked at will ask why he wasn't listed. You should have as good of an answer as possible ready.
Note that stating "I'm ready to move on, but he wanted me to stay on" may raise flags for a potential employer, as they could wonder whether this reflects a lack of loyalty on your part.
> 5 votes
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Tags: job, university
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thread-2447 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2447 | Can I use contractions in my thesis? | 2012-07-14T16:44:59.293 | # Question
Title: Can I use contractions in my thesis?
I am writing my thesis (in Computer Science, if that's relevant) and I am thinking about the style, especially about using contractions.
I realize that thesis is a formal text and contractions like “*we're*” are quite informal, so they shouldn't be used. But does that apply to all contractions (like “*can't*” or “*don't*”)?
English is not my first language, so I'm not sure how much informal the various contractions are.
# Answer
Many people have different opinions, even among those who are native English speakers and/or think a lot about what makes for good exposition. That said, here are a few rules of thumb:
1. **Your thesis is possibly the most formal writing you will ever do.** Survey articles and expository articles (especially for undergrads or other non-experts) are often written less formally. Even many conference proceedings and some journal articles omit some details, and thus can feel less formal than your thesis.
2. **No one will fault you for avoiding contractions altogether.** If in doubt, leave it out (the contraction, that is). I hate some techniques common in formal writing, such as overuse of the passive voice, or nearly any use of the pronoun *one*. But lack of contractions doesn't bother me.
As a more general resource for non-native English speakers, consider Doug West's *The Grammar*. West has written two textbooks and over two hundred papers, as well as having served as a problem editor for the Math Monthly for the last 20-something years. Surely many people will disagree with at least one piece of advice he gives, but what I find helpful is that West *explains his motivation* for each piece of advice he offers.
> 20 votes
# Answer
The best advice depends upon the style of your thesis. If you are working in a field where you might be expected to publish your thesis, then something aimed at experts should be written in a formal tone (avoiding contractions whenever possible, outside of direct quotations). However, if you're aiming at a wider audience, then a more conversational tone might be completely appropriate. The same logic applies if the chapters of your thesis are planned for publication.
However, you should also check with your advisor about his or her expectations when writing. It would be better to get a sense of what will be allowed *before* you get too far along; major structural changes are always a pain afterwards.
> 5 votes
# Answer
If you are Lieutenant Commander Data: your brother can but you can't (or, as you would say, "cannot"). Otherwise: I see that you can use contractions in your informal writing, so it would be very strange if you were not able to use them when writing your thesis. If you can't, maybe contact Oliver Sacks: he should get at least an article about this, and maybe part of a book.
More seriously: obviously you can. Should you? Speaking as someone who has both written and carefully read theses in a STEM field (mathematics): one generally needs to worry first that the content is complete and correct and second that the writing is good enough so as not to detract (or distract) from the content. The use of contractions would be at least a level below anything I would worry about when reading a thesis...provided they are used correctly.
It's best to stick to language within your comfort zone (especially as a non-native speaker). But your post above indicates to me that you have more than enough facility with English to pull off contractions if you want to. You'll be fine.
> 4 votes
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Tags: writing, thesis, language, writing-style
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thread-5610 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5610 | current PhD applicant applying to another university | 2012-12-04T21:19:42.563 | # Question
Title: current PhD applicant applying to another university
if a current PhD student applying to another university *within the same country*, is it required to expose the fact that he/she is currently enrolled in another university?
is it a right for the grad studies office to know my current status? if yes; why? what is the difference?
Specially in case if the student does not want to transfer the credits he/she has taken in the previous university.
# Answer
> 11 votes
**Yes.** If you are a student, you should say so in your application. Otherwise, your CV will have an unexplained gap for the time you've been at your current department. Unexplained gaps raise red flags with admissions committees.
In your statement, you also need to explain *why* you are applying to the new department instead of completing your PhD at your current department. Moreover, you must do so *without* disparaging your current department, *even if you have legitimate cause to do so*; nobody likes a whiner. Good reasons to move include a change in your own research interests, your advisor moving or retiring, following a spouse.
Above all, do everything above board. If possible, you should also request at a recommendation letter from your current advisor; if not your advisor, some other faculty member in your department. **If you apply secretly, you risk burning all bridges with faculty in your current department.**
Credit transfer is a completely orthogonal issue.
# Answer
> 8 votes
Absolutely. A PhD is a long-term relationship, taking two people's valuable time – not only for the duration of the dissertation but forever afterwards you will be linked to each other, affecting each other's reputations with your own. It is an expensive and rare opportunity. You should be completely honest on an application, and this certainly includes explaining any previous commitments you've made. You need to explain exactly how and why you have broken them. Frankly, I took one student who had stopped a previous PhD, and he stopped mine too, so I would be very unlikely to take such a student again. Though a strong and clear letter of recommendation from the previous supervisor might convince me.
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions
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thread-5594 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5594 | Offer for a pre-PhD visit, how to handle the situation with other PhD applications in the queue? | 2012-12-03T23:37:18.803 | # Question
Title: Offer for a pre-PhD visit, how to handle the situation with other PhD applications in the queue?
I have received an offer to visit a lab for 4/5 months that could lead into a fully funded PhD. In the meantime I have other applications in the pipeline from which I will hear back in either a few weeks or a couple of months (just different educational systems).
I am excited about going to this lab but I want to wait to have all my offers on the table before commiting to a program. Also I am not sure yet if I will be able to develop in this lab the project I have in mind. However the PI of the lab is highly regarded in the field.
If I were to leave the lab I would want to leave in the best note possible not to burn my bridges with this person and institution.
I am sure the PI knows I might have applied elsewhere and also although it is likely that this visit will turn into a PhD there is also a small chance it will not.
What would be the best way to handle this situation in an ethical and correct way, and not disappointed anybody?
PS: I will get paid in this period but not as much as PhD student. Let me know if more information is needed.
EDIT: So apparently by the end of the visit I will present a PhD proposal, so I hope that at that point it will not be too late to answer other offers.
# Answer
> 4 votes
This will depend on all of the institutions involved, but I expect it should work out for you. I am sure the laboratory making the offer must be familiar with this situation, so the first thing I would do is talk to them about the various contingencies. Then for the other offers, as they come in, you will have to explain you are getting experience in this laboratory and give them the date you expect to know whether or not you can accept their offer. If they insist on knowing sooner, then you can take it up with your PI.
It may not be easy emotionally (decisions between good offers can feel very hard even though really neither choice would be "wrong"), but I think it is very unlikely that you will be disadvantaged by taking the opportunity to work in a prestigious lab. Some of the other offers may be willing to wait, and for the ones that can't, they may allow you to reapply if you don't receive the offer you want.
There is a slight chance that the PI is taking advantage of you this way, but if so I'm sure they will have a reputation for that, and the first person to make you another offer would let you know you are better off leaving even if it does "burn a bridge". Then you may need to ask around a little more to be sure who to believe. But it is more likely you are in a win/win situation – you get experience either way, and if a really nice offer comes along from another lab, probably your PI will be OK with you taking it, and you can finish their work up before going and taking up the new offer.
# Answer
> 6 votes
In general, I think so long as you and the PI in question are forthright about your mutual expectations, there should be very few problems.
If the PI who is offering you the position is planning on having you become a PhD student, then that should be made clear. Similarly, if you'd like to consider other options, then you should let your potential advisor know that a "competition" will be taking place.
However, since you said you'd be writing a PhD proposal, it's not clear that you'd automatically have a guaranteed offer for a position at the end of this position if successful. This should also be cleared up before you make a final decision.
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Tags: phd, application, visiting
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thread-5593 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5593 | should your CV include unfunded grant applications? | 2012-12-03T23:15:24.440 | # Question
Title: should your CV include unfunded grant applications?
It seems that more and more schools are encouraging their faculty to apply for (and secure) external funding. I have not yet been awarded any research grants. If I'm applying for jobs at research schools, should I include on my CV my unfunded grant applications? The obvious argument against this is that these applications were *unfunded*, and will be viewed as failures. The obvious argument for this is that many administrations are eager to have their faculty applying for grants and reward them (very modestly) even for unsuccessful applications. Which view carries more weight?
# Answer
## No.
Definitely list *pending* grant proposals. But *rejected* grant proposals should fall into the memory hole.
Also, do not list your rejected journal submissions, the awards you applied for but did not win, or the graduate schools that did not admit you.
> 23 votes
# Answer
When applying to a TT position at a research intensive school, the search committee is going to want to know want your first research project is going to be and who would likely fund it. A failed grant application along with an explanation can go a ways towards providing that information. One line on a CV probably isn't helpful and I would not include failed applications on my CV for such a position. I would however mention one of the proposal in my cover letter. Being able to say that you have a proposal and have identified potential funders (which comes first is a little bit of a chicken and egg thing) is a good thing. Being able to say you applied to funding scheme X and while you didn't get funded got useful feedback and you are now revising the application for funding scheme Y is even better. Obviously tailor this if the funding scheme gave a scores/percentiles/stage and/or allows you to resubmit.
> 5 votes
# Answer
You should ask yourself, who will read my CV and what do I want to achieve by tailoring it.
In your case the CV is part of an application for a position in academia, it should make an impression on the people in the search committee. From my experience people usually list only funded proposals in their CV. So including unfunded proposals will be considered as something odd. I don't say this is strictly forbidden, but you should have an extremely good reason for doing this. And I can't think of any. An unfunded proposal will be (from my experience in committees) not considered as an *achievement*. On the contrary, if you have a lot of funded proposals you might want to include the unfunded, too show your "success rate". But I wouldn't even recommend this.
If you want to prove that you can write about prospective future research, you should write an excellent research statement. You could address your experiences in this place.
Again, their is no right or wrong. So this is my very personal opinion.
> 4 votes
# Answer
```
Success stand for itself, failure needs to be qualified. (A wise man)
```
Only, include failed applications if it tells a story about your research and where it is going. For example, saying that you failed 5 years ago but then hit the jackpot and proved all your detractors wrong.
Unless you have a very good reason, I think it only serve to confuse people. Most importantly it will may remind folks your area of research is undeserving and uninteresting.
That is the absolute worst message that you can send.
> 3 votes
# Answer
It depends on the nature of the grants you haven't received and the type of institution you are applying to. For example, it is very, very difficult for young researchers to get NIH funding now, so it's no disgrace to fail there, but applications do show you are motivated, and might show you have good collaborators, plans etc.
Don't forget that CVs can have free text. You might just put a line in such as "Further experience in applications to NIH, NSF. Details available on request." Particularly if you are proud of a grant proposal & are planning to resubmit it, or have a good story to tell about how it might be further developed, or might be more successful coming from the institution you are applying to. If you can talk intelligently about the reviews you got and what you have learned from the experience, then give your potential employees a prompt to bring that up in the interview.
> 1 votes
# Answer
Unfortunately as you already mentioned there is no clear answer. One time I was at an AAG conference at a workshop about job hunting, applications, and CV building and the speakers were a mix of young and old academics. The majority I think agreed on not listing failures and avoid to list grants you were awarded but refused. The latter might be used when you don't have many grant application but might show a signs of bad planning. As far as your question perhaps it might be useful to list only if you applied to a very competitive grant. In alternative you could briefly talk about it in your cover letter but just highlight that you have already gone through the process. Even getting a small grant ($1000) is better than an unfunded application.
> 0 votes
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Tags: application, cv, funding
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thread-271 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/271 | How to achieve successful collaborations? | 2012-02-19T19:28:06.263 | # Question
Title: How to achieve successful collaborations?
Quite often, at conferences or while attending seminars, I will start an interesting discussion with the speaker, first on-site, then later by email, and even though at some point there seems to be some mutual interest, it almost never gives an actual collaboration (i.e. working on an actual paper).
I have no particular problem of working with different people, so I was wondering if it was quite usual to have this huge ratio of "collaboration failure"? In particular, my problem is that, although it's quite simple to have an idea, it seems quite hard to do the next step, that is to actually work with someone you have no connection, and who might even live in a different country. Are there some techniques to make a "temporary" collaboration work, or at least to detect those which are unlikely to work?
# Answer
> 37 votes
In my experience, starting a collaboration is incredibly easy: you use your network of contacts to identify someone who'd be willing and interested in solving a problem. You talk at a conference or meeting, or arrange a visit to their laboratory.
*Maintaining* a collaboration, however, is next to impossible. It only works if you have a history of successful results early on, or if you have already had a long history of acquaintance with one another before the collaboration began. (In other words, were you friends or colleagues before the work started?)
Otherwise, I would recommend making sure that you start off with "low-hanging fruit": problems that can be solved mutually within the framework of existing funding on both of your parts, with value for both of you. This is important because one of the challenges of getting grants is that reviewers for funding agencies typically want to see an existing record of collaboration—mutual publications and effort—before they're ready to award money to a new collaborative proposal. There are exceptions to this, but they're by no means common.
After that, you have a track record of working together which will let you grow the collaboration into something further.
# Answer
> 15 votes
IMHO successful and fruitful long term collaborations require at least two important features
* mutual trust
* complementary competences
Trust is essential at various stages of the collaboration: i) you should be happy to make a fool of yourself in front of your collaborators during brainstorming ii) you should be fairly certain that they will pay credit to your own efforts within the collaboration iii) you should be happy to strongly disagree and fight about it without strong feelings for the sake of challenging ideas.
From personal experience (and watching colleagues) it is easier to cultivate and develop trust during your PhD and postdocs while socially interacting with your fellow students and postdocs.
A first advice would then be do not under-estimate extra curricular activities with your colleagues, as they can in fact be the foundation of upcoming shared ideas within long term collaborations.
Complementary skills is key in order to value what your collaborators provide to the collaboration. If your asset is starting papers, you need to find someone who is good at finishing them or vice-versa. It also avoids unnecessary competition within the collaboration. On a more positive note, it sheds distinct light on a research project which is globally useful.
Finally, if possible
* focus on people you can communicate well with: research is about beating about the bush for a long time before seeing the light. Precise understanding speeds things up a bit!
* avoid too large time-zone differences!
Having said that, I am always amazed how (in contrast to crowds!) collaborators are collectively so much smarter than individually! A difference in perspective is key.
# Answer
> 12 votes
Many times I had e-mail conversations but they never went into a serious collaboration (i.e. ending with a paper). All papers I have are with persons I know from a frequent face-to-face contact (plus with the people they know from frequent face-to-face contact).
Perhaps it has to do with:
* psychological barriers (as also it is easy to have a conversation with a big name on a conference, but much harder to engage in a distant correspondence),
* funding/time issues,
* that collaboration usually requires a lot of contact (sometimes very hand-waving), *especially in the beginning*,
* with a frequent face-to-face contact it is much easier to gauge others' interest and choose the right persons.
(Entirely anecdotally, as a PhD student with only 7 papers so far. It may not apply to other situations.)
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Tags: collaboration
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thread-5644 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5644 | Replacing tech reports: can we put good undergrad dissertations in arxiv? | 2012-12-08T22:07:11.630 | # Question
Title: Replacing tech reports: can we put good undergrad dissertations in arxiv?
My department requires dissertations from all honours students (being England, that's basically all of them). Some of these are extremely good, even though they are written by undergraduates. My department for some years created a tech report series, which included undergraduate dissertations with high enough marks and the agreement of the supervisor, but now this system has gotten lost in a morass of web redesigns etc.
Is there any new norm for archiving good undergraduate dissertations? We were thinking of just putting it in arxiv.org, is that considered acceptable? We are writing an article and want to cite the dissertation for the full implementation details.
# Answer
## Yes.
Any research writing (paper, report, monograph, dissertation, preprint, etc.) approaching publishable quality is welcome on ArXiv, whether its'written by tenured faculty, postdocs, graduate students, undergraduates, high school students, or hamsters.
(I am the ArXiv moderator for cs.DM and cs.CG. I have not, as far as I know, accepted a paper from a hamster.)
> 24 votes
# Answer
Seconding the main point of JeffE's answer, ArXiv is "only weakly moderated", and makes no demands about status, rank, university affiliation, etc.
However, there appear to be mild expectations about format. Beyond the lowest-level TeX/LaTeX requirements, it seems that papers should be in the format of a paper submittable for publication-in-a-refereed-journal. I can imagine the possibility that formats for undergrad dissertations might or might not be enforced, and/or might be substantially different (even if conforming to a formal requirement).
But/and I'd think that a rewritten version of a good thesis would easily be arXiv-able.
> 10 votes
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Tags: publications, undergraduate, thesis
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thread-5656 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5656 | My advisor rejects my idea, but claims that the modified version is hers. What should I do? | 2012-12-10T07:00:57.910 | # Question
Title: My advisor rejects my idea, but claims that the modified version is hers. What should I do?
I am a junior PhD student in electrical engineering and I need ideas about how to handle my mentor. Whenever I go to her with an idea she rejects it saying it is wrong or not interesting. But after a few months she comes back with a slightly modified version of my earlier idea and takes credit for the full idea. She asks me to do experiments with her version of my idea. Then when we have results, she publishes them in a conference (includes me as an author), but she gives the talk at the conference saying she came up with the idea and I only did experiments.
I don't want to stop working with her because I have been working with her for two years and leaving will set me back by at least one and a half years. Can you suggest how to avoid this?
# Answer
> 20 votes
I suspect the advisor is relative young and probably not fully even aware of the problem. Her perception of events may be completely different. She may feel that she contributed the essential part of the idea to make it valuable. She may not even remember that the idea came from you originally. But that does not mean that she shouldn't be corrected and give credit to you.
This can probably be solved by communicating with her, or by communicating with someone more senior, who could have a talk with her. Are there any annual progress meetings where this could be done?
Not dealing with the problem will only exacerbate it.
# Answer
> 9 votes
It's a common psychological thing that people treat their own ideas, and others' ideas, on a different grounding. And even there is a strategy of convincing people to make them believe that they genuinely came with the idea. The thing is that in academia, it's not only about "making things work" but tracking who came with the idea first.
So:
* I disagree with JeffE's "Don't walk. Run" (perhaps for the first time),
* I would talk to her, especially referring to e-mails or something when you explicitly cam with this idea, but starting a discussion, not an attack.
Surely, there are chances that:
* the idea was different (seemingly subtle differences are actually big), at least in her eyes,
* she honestly forgot that she came with this idea (but it is also not that impossible, that she got rather inspired and not only you, but a number of guys),
* she actively wants to get all/most of the credit (perhaps not that uncommon for a group leader, but definitely bad for you).
# Answer
> 7 votes
I would approach this the same way I would have done in any workplace:
* In future, all proposals from you to her would be initiated by an email, with explicit copies to an external, personal email account *of yours*.
* In the event of any offline conversations, write a summary of your discussion and send it to her (and yourself) in the form of an email - end the email on a note that this is a formal "notes of the meeting minutes", and that she should reply if there are any discrepancies in it.
* In the extreme case, if all of the above do not work, write your idea in the form of a draft paper, submit it to arxiv, wait for it to get accepted (takes a couple of days I think), *and then* initiate the proposal (through an email, of course!)
To clarify, I wholeheartedly agree with JeffE - an adviser is your mentor for life, and if this is the foundation of your relationship, you should break it off ASAP (no matter how many years you lose - your peace of mind isn't worth it!). Also, note that while the above steps may stop her from plagiarizing your ideas, she would still be in a position of power and can screw you over in *n* different ways (your defense, recommendation letters, feedback on faculty hiring committees etc). So, use my suggestions in the short-term till you find a different mentor!
# Answer
> 5 votes
Continue working with her until the end without giving too much ideas. In the meantime, work on your own ideas, but wait the end of your PhD to publish them.
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Tags: graduate-school, publications, advisor
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thread-5655 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5655 | What are the different roles between a program committee member and reviewer? | 2012-12-10T05:52:26.880 | # Question
Title: What are the different roles between a program committee member and reviewer?
Does someone know what are the different roles between a Program Committee (PC) member and Reviewer for conferences (e.g., in the field of machine learning)?
# Answer
The responsibilities of a programme committee member and a mere reviewer could easily be the same, or differ. All depends on the particular conference/workshop setup. E.g., in computer science/AI there the difference is mainly a result of the venue size. Large first-tier conferences, such as e.g., IJCAI have a four layer programme committee structure. Here PC chairs, the top layer, govern the whole process from recruiting the various types of PC members, through conflict-of-interest handling, bidding on submissions, to notification and proceedings composition and publication. For such conferences the PC chairs recruit Senior PC members who are responsible for larger batches of submissions, or small sub-areas and report to PC chairs. For some conferences, the SPCs recruit regular PC members who in turn report to them and are responsible for the reviews. Regular PC members normally do the reviews themselves, but it's relatively common that they sometimes "subcontract" the job to other reviewers they recruit. These lowest level reviewers would do the review and get credit too, but the actual PC member is ultimately responsible for the review and the discussions among the PC members. Upon completing the review and discussion phases, SPCs give final recommendation for acceptance/rejection and possibly write meta-review summarizing discussion to each submission. The PC chairs would distribute the notifications and handle the proceedings and programme schedule composition.
Now, for mid-size conferences, or workshops the senior PC members layer is usually missing and regular PC members report directly to PC chairs and take over the tasks of SPCs for large conferences. The mechanics of sub-reviewing stays the same.
For small-size conferences and workshops, there are virtually no administrative tasks left for the PC members, so they do just the reviewing (possibly recruit sub-reviewers) and the PC chairs finally decide about acceptance and rejection of the individual submissions on the basis of the received recommendations.
What I describe above is regular scheme of things in "applied computer science".
> 34 votes
# Answer
PC = reviewer + administrative work.
They are responsible for:
* Assigning papers to reviewers (marriage problem).
* Nominate papers for best paper award/journal track.
* Set up a program for the conference.
Usually different PCs monitor different subareas. Also, I believe they contribute on solving conflict of interest issues - if there is any. These are my observations, never been PC myself
> 18 votes
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Tags: peer-review, conference, program-committee
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thread-5663 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5663 | If tenured staff are virtually unsackable, why is the drive to find funding so strong? | 2012-12-10T19:51:54.617 | # Question
Title: If tenured staff are virtually unsackable, why is the drive to find funding so strong?
Tenured staff are virtually impossible to fire, why is the urge to find funding so strong? For post-docs and other untentured scientific staff I can understand, for their job depends on it. For a tenured professor it would rather be the joy and honour of doing important research. Apart from a reduction in joy and honour, are there any consequences if a tenured professor fails to get grants?
# Answer
In many departments, tenured professors can use bringing in external funds to the department as a means of "buying" their way out of some of their teaching and administrative commitments. Similarly, other departments might use additional committee assignments and teaching loads to "punish" people who *don't* bring in grants. They may also have less flexibility in selecting teaching assignments.
In other countries, such as Germany, a long-term shortage in funding can lead to the consequence of a chair not being "succeeded" when the holder retires; in that case, the institute (equivalent to a US group) the professor is in charge of is wound down rather than finding a new leader for the group.
> 20 votes
# Answer
Most tenured faculty enjoy research (else why would they take a job that requires it?) and most research costs money. In particular: Faculty who benefit from working with students (or postdocs, or staff) need money to pay them, and faculty whose research depends on specialized equipment or travel need money to pay for it.
This is the carrot; @aeismail is describing the stick. I imagine both motivations can be found at every institution.
> 19 votes
# Answer
Tenure implies you're difficult to fire. It doesn't say anything about needing to pay you. @JeffE described @aeismail's answer as the stick, but there's a bigger one. Especially in soft money positions, a significant portion of your salary, much of the funding for your lab, etc. all come from grant funding. While they might not fire a tenured professor who isn't "pulling their weight" with grant funding, they may find themselves losing lab space to better funded or new faculty, not having the resources to maintain a functional research group, etc.
As long as you're comfortable with you, your office, and whatever salary is hard money being the entirety of your research group, you don't need to ever find funding. But if you want more than that, the money has to come from somewhere.
> 18 votes
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Tags: funding, tenure-track
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thread-5652 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5652 | Are the Newton fellowships (UK) prestigious enough to warrant low post-doc pay? | 2012-12-09T18:34:45.793 | # Question
Title: Are the Newton fellowships (UK) prestigious enough to warrant low post-doc pay?
I'm nearing the end of my graduate studies (1-1.5yrs remain) and have been looking out for post-doc opportunities. I came across the Newton Fellowships, which provide funding for up to 2 years of research work at any participating university in the UK.
The fellowship requirements seem very competitive — a full fledged project proposal and multiple independent evaluations of the said proposal, in addition to the usual requirements. However, in the end, the pay is about 24k £. They do have an 8k £ allowance for research related expenses, but that probably is reserved for publication costs, travel, computer equipment and not a personal allowance.
From my research into pay scales in the UK, the lower end of the post-doc pay scale begins at about 28-29k £. More over, there is no cost of living adjustments, so if you're in an expensive place like Oxford or London, it's definitely not sufficient.
This brings me to the question — is the fellowship prestigious enough to warrant the low pay? Does anyone have experience with this fellowship (past fellows)? Are there opportunities to supplement the income? Don't get me wrong here... I'm not in it just for the money. Like every academic, the research topic is more important for me. But at the same time, I do not want to be working for well below what's normal and have to severely pinch pockets to support a family.
# Answer
> 17 votes
1. Where did you get your idea that the lower end of the post-doc pay scale starts at 28 - 29k? Most sources I've seen gives 28-29 the average pay in 2010 and 2011, and the low end near 23 - 24. (High end 35). The numbers are a bit field specific (biology tend to be around 25 - 29 for *first* postdocs) so I don't know whether the national average applies.
2. According to the UCL webpage the Newton is tax free. Your stipend would fall into the 20% band were it taxable, so you should compare it to a roughly 30K starting salary for normal PostDocs.
3. At effectively 30K, the pay is *extremely competitive* for early career (read first time postdoctoral position) holders, provided you don't live in London. (Oxford is not *that* bad.) London allowance is usually worth around 3 - 4k, so if you live in London your pay would be comparable to the lower-end of a reasonable post-doc salary (with London allowance included).
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Tags: postdocs, salary, united-kingdom
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thread-5676 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5676 | Is it advisable to underline some key points in a statement of purpose? | 2012-12-11T09:34:30.607 | # Question
Title: Is it advisable to underline some key points in a statement of purpose?
I am an undergraduate student applying to grad schools this year.
I was recently told by my friend (who is already in a PhD program now) that I should consider underlining some key sentences in my SoP, and put them in bold font, since the admission committee most likely won't have the time to read every whole statement, and this would be a good way to catch their eyes on the key points I want to express. It can also expedite the reviewing process so in this sense it is also helpful to the admission committee.
I think this makes sense, but I am still a bit hesitant since I'm not sure if this would be viewed as a poor writing style. Would this be welcomed from the viewpoint of an admission committee?
# Answer
> 6 votes
If it's your opinion that your readers won't have time to read your whole document, you might want to consider adding an executive summary at the top of your document. This would take the form of a short paragraph which essentially includes all the key phrases or sentences that you would otherwise have highlighted in bold font throughout your document.
If you make your summary pithy, punchy and exciting, you are more likely to entice your reader to read through the remainder of the document.
One might indeed say that highlighting key phrases throughout your summary is a touch lazy. I wrote a similar document and went through and highlighted key phrases, just as you are considering. Then I wrote an executive summary section as the first paragraph, reusing or paraphrasing the key points. I removed the text formatting in the main text body, rewriting the phrases relating to the key points given in the summary to avoid repeating them word for word. To my mind, the result looked more professional and read much better.
# Answer
> 10 votes
**No**. Never underline anything. Underlining is left over from typewriters. It instructs the typesetter to put things in italics. Nowadays, you should put things in italics yourself.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, statement-of-purpose, formatting
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thread-5694 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5694 | Advisor getting married, should grad students chip in for gift? | 2012-12-12T17:12:42.307 | # Question
Title: Advisor getting married, should grad students chip in for gift?
Our advisor is getting married over winter break. None of us are super close to him and the wedding is going to be a very private event that none of us are invited to.
Should all of us (his graduate students) chip in for a wedding gift for him?
What is the etiquette for this?
# Answer
You must do something. Building social relationships with your work colleagues is really important. If other students are organizing the collection and suggesting an amount, I would give that much. If they are organizing the collection, but not suggesting an amount, I would chip in two beers worth of cash. In some cultures two beers will be on the generous side, while in other cultures it will be on the cheap side. It won't be out of place in any culture. If no one is organizing the collection and you want to take charge, then I would suggest asking people to chip in one beer worth of money (all students should be able to afford this). If no one is organizing a collection and you don't want to take charge, go out and buy a card and get the other students to sign it.
> 16 votes
# Answer
I laughed here; can't imagine my supervisor getting married. It is just nice to see the supervisor involving in life..
For the question, *Why not?* It is a big day for your supervisor. Just make sure the gift come from *group of students* not only one student. If you missed the first day after his return (assuming he's going on vacation for marriage), then no need for a gift. Either ways, a verbal congratulations is a must here :)
> 15 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, advisor, etiquette, gifts
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thread-5688 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5688 | Is there a credit hours requirement for applying to a masters course? | 2012-12-12T12:21:58.627 | # Question
Title: Is there a credit hours requirement for applying to a masters course?
I am currently taking an undergraduate degree, and by completion, I would have 112 credit hours accumulated. This is fine and all if I don't plan to continue my studies or apply to a local university, but I heard some of my seniors getting rejected applying for a master at universities abroad because the credit hours they accumulated were not sufficient, and thus their degree is only acknowledged as a diploma equivalent.
Edit: I am especially interested in universities in US, UK, and Japan, but I am looking for a rather general answer, as in, **is it common for universities to reject an application because of credit hours, even though the degree came from an accredited university?**
Edit 2: my main concern is, whether I should take extra credits to ensure I won't run into a road block because of difference in the credit hours standard between universities (instead of say, my performance/cgpa/accomplishments).
# Answer
> 6 votes
## No.
Since there is no universal standard for what constitutes a "credit hour", imposing a required number of credit hours is simply impossible. If you have a degree, you have a degree.
On the other hand, *which* courses you've taken definitely does matter. For example:
* If you're applying for graduate school in computer science at X, but your classes have small overlap with the undergraduate computer science program at X, that raises a red flag. That gap makes your undergraduate program look weak, or at least that it develops a different set of skills than the grad program at X normally expects.
* If you claim in your application that you're interested in (say) artificial intelligence, but you've never taken an artificial intelligence class, that raises a red flag. How an you claim interest in a field you've never been seriously exposed to? How can we judge your abilities in a field where we can't see a single grade?
Of course, all this is secondary to your **potential for research excellence**, as described in specific and credible detail in your statement and in your recommendation letters.
(I'm on the graduate admissions committee in a US CS department.)
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Tags: graduate-school, graduate-admissions, masters, undergraduate
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thread-5687 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5687 | How to find the h-index of a professor? | 2012-12-12T11:39:54.187 | # Question
Title: How to find the h-index of a professor?
I am an Computer Science undergraduate student and I am looking for my potential mentor for my PhD study. I guess besides research interest, personality etc., h-index is an important factor one should consider. So I wonder whether there is a way to find out about the precise h-index of an arbitral author.
I've been using Microsoft Academic Search. It's cool, it often finds the right person and gives you his/her h-index. However, I believe that this tool has **underestimated** the h-index of many researchers. (I think so because I've tried typing in some very famous professors' names and the h-index that Microsoft gives is about 10~20 lower than the actually value).
Moreover, since I am mostly interested in Human-Computer Interaction so I am also referring to ACM SIGCHI's Most Frequent Authors Page. The page is awesome: it gives you the most brilliant professors ranked by their number of publications. However, I think h-index is a better metric than the number of publications alone.
I could, of course, go to the professors' websites and read their publication list. But I want to know whether there is a better, more efficient way of finding h-index.
# Answer
the h-index is an interesting measure, but it changes all the times
* microsoft search does it
* Google author search does it (see an example here)
* the freely available tool PoP does it
you could try and triangulate the numbers that you get and find the average, as a possible solution
> 8 votes
# Answer
**There is *no such thing* as "the precise h-index".**
The h-index is defined as the largest integer h such that at least h of the author's publications have at least h citations each. But what's a publication? Do first-author publications carry more weight? Do ArXiv, technical report, conference, and journal versions of the "same" paper (all of which may have citations) count as four papers or one? Or does it depend on the difference in content between versions? (How do you measure that difference?) Does the quality of the venue matter? If so, which venues count as "real" publications? Do survey articles count? Popular science articles? Blog posts? StackExchange questions?\* Do self-citations count? If so, does a citation to a paper by X and Y, in a paper by Y and Z, count toward X's h-index? How much (and who) are you willing to pay to make sure you've *really* counted **every** citation to **every** publication?
The different sources of the h-index make different well-reasoned decisions about each of these issues, none of which make sense for ALL areas, even within computer science.
> *I think h-index is a better metric than the number of publications alone.*
This is a pretty low standard. You can do better.
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\*At least one of my StackExchange questions has more citations than at least one of my papers.
> 11 votes
# Answer
*h-index* is not an important factor to consider potential supervisors rather recent projects and publications count more for me. Also, *h-index* **might misguide you** (it has its limitations).
For example, if a new professor published 10 articles each cited at least 200 times the h-index will be only 10 ! .. Also, old researchers have advantage over young ones.
Returning to the question:
> So I wonder whether there is a way to find out about the precise h-index of an arbitral author
I am not *aware* of any engine/program gives a precise *h-index*. There is no precise h-index out there and finding a mechanism to find it is an interesting work..
> 3 votes
# Answer
I believe for the UK's upcoming 2014 REF exercise the bibliometrics are based on the Scopus database (http://www.ref.ac.uk/background/bibliometrics/). This likely has to do with both Elsevier political power and the quality of the database.
> 2 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, advisor, bibliometrics
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thread-5714 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5714 | Value of a degree from an unknown univeristy | 2012-12-13T15:39:15.743 | # Question
Title: Value of a degree from an unknown univeristy
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> University rank/stature - How much does it affect one’s career post-Ph.D?
I graduated with a Bacholars from a top university and did quite well, however, I was recommended to a professor in an unknown (read as not highly ranked) university for a PhD program. I had certainly not heard of the university before, and I don't believe that it has much of a reputation. It is not a new university by any means (established 1800s).
Is a degree from such an University likely to add value to me? Also, how do I know whether this is a step in the right direction (before I take it)?
Edit: I am considering it because the research that is performed by the professor there interests me.
# Answer
Your publication record at the end is what will count most.
> 3 votes
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Tags: phd
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thread-5702 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5702 | Are there guidelines for amount and content of text in figure captions for theses? | 2012-12-13T00:34:35.213 | # Question
Title: Are there guidelines for amount and content of text in figure captions for theses?
1. In writing my thesis in geosciences I have a number of figures with a fair amount of text content. Is there some limit I should adhere to -- say for example max 5 lines -- before I should just write 'refer to text'?
2. A related question is where citations should go, especially in the case of several needed for one figure (e.g. a plot of n sets of data from n different sources). Again, is there some point where I should say refer to text for citations?
# Answer
I would imagine this may vary from field to field, but in the biological sciences the caption text in *journal* publications is often verbose to the point of absurdity. That being said, I would simply use common sense; If the description takes more than a paragraph, you should definitely "refer to text". Generally speaking, the caption is simply a textual guide as to how to read the plot, with (maybe) a sentence drawing the reader's attention to a particular feature of the plot. It should mostly *describe* the plot, and only sparingly *discuss* it.
> 7 votes
# Answer
An expert in the field should be able to understand most of the content of the figure from the figure and caption alone. The caption should be long enough to admit this, but no longer. If your captions seem to need to be pages long, then you need to work on making your figure adhere better to standards in the field or to be intuitively clearer.
If you run out of time to make it comprehensible, keep the caption comfortably smaller than the figure itself; having a tiny figure with a huge block of text just looks wrong. It takes a long time to make really clear figures, but you can at least get the superficial style right quickly enough.
> 4 votes
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Tags: phd, thesis, graphics
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thread-1280 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1280 | When should I stop including talks on my cv? | 2012-04-25T23:29:21.637 | # Question
Title: When should I stop including talks on my cv?
When I was applying for grad school, I felt that my CV was pretty empty and so I included all my research related presentations (posters/talks) from conferences/competitions/etc (11 of them at the time). However, I am not sure how much of a role they played in my acceptance at that time (I feel I mostly got accepted based on my papers and two very strong reference letters).
Now I keep a semi-complete (semi- because of infrequent updates) list of presentations on my website; this is mostly so I can post slides. However, I feel the list has gotten too long for a CV (~25 items; about a full page) and other more important parts of my CV (such as publications) have grown to need that space more.
**When should I start omitting or shortening the talks on my CV?**
If I include a 'selected' talks section: How many talks should I select? Should I select them based on prestige of venue, or uniform-covering of my interests, or uniform-covering of my time (show that presentations are a regular activity)?
More context: I am at the graduate-student level in my academic progression. A related question: Do presentations given during interviews count as invited talks?
# Answer
> 38 votes
First of all: note that there is a difference between an academic CV and a resume.
* An **academic CV** typically lists everything you've done related to academia; every talk, every conference paper, every award, every grant, every mentored postdoc, grad, and possibly undergrad.
* A **resume** is a two-page document that summarizes your work/academic experience.
(Terminology may differ, some may refer to the first as a resume also; semantics aside, there is a distinction between the two documents.)
That being said, the answer to your question depends on which document you want to complete. The first should have everything, no matter how old. The second should list your most important, more recent accomplishments, in the interest of space. Regarding the second, the answer to "when should I remove stuff" is simply "whenever you have newer and better things to put in it's place".
# Answer
> 17 votes
As you do more things, you can become more selective with what you list. I think most computer scientists quickly stop listing conference talks for papers that already appear in their CV. Then you can stop listing small talks you gave at your own department, etc. People who are very well established often become even more selective, listing only the big invited talks. You have to figure out the right balance to strike.
I think there's no right or wrong answer -- it's just a matter of how you want to present yourself and what you want to emphasize. I also don't think that section is at all the most important. It's good to show you've gone around and given some talks, but I think you're mostly evaluated on your actual research. Also, I don't understand the concern of running out of space on a CV; CVs unlike resumes have no page limits.
# Answer
> 4 votes
What I've seen from faculty candidates and faculty has been a graduation to "Invited talks" after a certain point on their CV. Invited Talks cuts out talks that you did at conferences (because it's assumed if your paper got in then you went to present your work) and stuff you volunteered to do. It does include when you've been asked to go somewhere to present (e.g., job talks about your research, when your advisor invited you back to talk about your new research/company, etc.) So if you feel like that section is getting really long, that's one thing you could do.
Your mileage may vary depending on your discipline though, this is specifically in Computer Science.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Here is what I do. I distinguish between talks/posters where you basically just applied and paid the conference fee versus any talks where someone invited you.
A poster where you just submitted an abstract often just means you paid to attend the conference (there is normally a bit of filtering to exclude any overtly commercial offerings, but this is not peer-review, as 90+% of things are accepted). Things like a department seminar, where every student can or is even required to present, similarly just means that you were attending that school. So, do not have these on your CV as you probably already list which schools you attended.
If, however, you got invited to give a talk somewhere, this is different as it means someone thought it was worth their time and money to have you come over and give them your ideas.
As for talks or posters related to peer-reviewed conference proceedings, list them as such ("peer-reviewed proceedings publication" or some equivalent formulation) and not as talks.
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Tags: cv, presentation
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thread-5673 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5673 | Grading schemes to encourage effort | 2012-12-11T01:41:49.363 | # Question
Title: Grading schemes to encourage effort
I'll be teaching a graduate-level mathematically oriented class with probably less than 20 students. I have to grade the students (our system doesn't allow for pass-fail grading), and while I don't want to be overly fussy about the grades (this is after all advanced level material and mostly Ph.D students), I would like to provide some incentive structure so students will do the classwork and hopefully learn something in the process.
One possibility is "coarse-resolution" grading where in each homework, the possible grades are +, 0, -, where + denotes having done about 75% or more of the work, 0 is between 50 and 75%, and - is below 50%.
At the end of the semester, the number of +/0/- determines the grade, with "mostly +" getting an A, "mostly 0" getting a B, and mostly - getting a C.
Is this likely to be effective ? Is there something else I should do ? I'm open to the idea of not grading at all and giving out dummy grades, but I do think that people who put in effort should be rewarded in some way.
# Answer
> 12 votes
One approach is to have a number of clear learning objectives. For example:
> *At the end of this course the student will be able to differentiate functions of a single variable.*
Then for each of these provide a description of what it means to obtain each of the various grades available.
> F: *The student does not grasp anything about differentiation.*
> D: *The student is able to differentiate simple functions.*
> C: *The student is able to differentiate many functions, but has difficulty with composite functions.*
> B: *The student is able to differentiate most functions and employ the chain rule.*
> A: *The student is able to differentiate all functions and can apply first principles.*
> A+: *The student employs novel approaches to differentiation.*
Of course, you'd need to tailor these to your course and make them more precise than mine.
The learning objectives and the descriptions of what each grade means can be given to the student. A course may have different learning objectives, each with their own description. Your assessment can be tailored to measure the learning objectives based on these criteria.
The idea, apart from making your job of assessing more objective, is to replace scores by learning objectives, so ultimately the course will not be about scoring points, but learning. You could even disassociate the grades from the learning objectives and replace them by *unsatisfactory*, *satisfactory*, *good*, *very good*, *excellent*, and *fantabulous*.
# Answer
> 5 votes
I had mixed experiences with a three point grading scheme.
On the positive side, grading is easier for you. Also you have very clear rules for who gets which grade. On the downside students tend to find the system unfair. The main concern was the following. When a student was able to solve, say 70% of the assignment correctly, he only gets the second highest grade. The complaint was that they solved 20% without getting credits for it. (I had a slightly different system, I think 1 point for 50% and 2 points for 80%). Let me add that this is not my point of view, since they also get the full score when they only solve 80%. So in the end these effects will cancel out. The next term I used a more granular system and giving up to 15 points per assignment. All students that took both classes preferred the 15 point system. For me it was not much difference (grading was done by TAs), so I stayed with the 15 point system.
I think it depends very much on your students. The first time I had the 3 point grading at MIT and it worked great. In Germany I had these more negative experiences.
# Answer
> 5 votes
You are describing a rubric. Some rubrics are qualitative, using words like "novice", "proficient", and "expert" to delineate student achievement. Some have numerical values attached. Both need to be provided to the students at the beginning with a description of what each level of achievement looks like.
For my upper level courses and my courses with large independent projects, I use a five-point rubric (technically six, since I can assign a Zero):
* 5 - Exemplary
* 4 - Above Expectations
* 3 - Meets Expectations
* 2 - Below Expectations
* 1 - Deficient
* 0 - Absent, Missing, or Irrelevant
With the above descriptors, most students earn a 3 with good students earning a 4. A 5 is difficult to earn. However, since I provide my students with examples of each level, I give out very few marks of 2 and even fewer marks of 1. I reserve zero for when the student did not do what was asked, or turned in something else entirely. For example, if you ask for Problems 1, 7, 8, and 11-15 from Chapter 6, and the student turns in several problems from Chapter 5, that warrants a zero for not following directions.
Now, you have a simple and rapid grading scheme that still has numerical information. You can average over all of a student's scores (or weight them or whatever) to then assign a final grade. For an entry level undergraduate class, maybe the following is appropriate:
1. F
2. D
3. C
4. B
5. A
For an upper level undergraduate or a graduate level course, the expectations are higher (and the grading should reflect that, i.e. it should be hard to get a 4 or 5), the following might be appropriate:
1. F
2. C
3. B
4. A
5. A+
# Answer
> 5 votes
Why are you grading at all? Do you expect students to learn anything from your grading efforts, or only from attempting the problem on their own?
If you intend to give your students feedback on how they did in their homework, then you will have all the information you need to produce a more accurate numeric grade. Giving detailed feedback can make the students feel that the quality of the work is important.
If you are not going to pay much attention to the homework, and the three-level grading scheme reflects that you won't know enough to do more, how can you expect your students to care much more about the homework? If *you* care about the quality and accuracy of the homework, your students will. If you don't, well, you might induce some to, but you'll be fighting a losing battle.
# Answer
> 1 votes
The one seminar in which I put in most effort and most continuous work (and, not surprisingly, learned most) had as incentive not a grading scheme, but the following set of rules.
* all calculations were done during the seminar (tutor realized that we wouldn't/couldn't put in much effort at home - I found that true throughout my studies, but few seminars would take this into account).
* The work was handed out at the beginning and had to be handed to the tutor at the end of each seminar. He corrected it till the next seminar.
* The most important rule was: if all groups over the whole semester have at least X% (IIRC 80 %) correct, no written exam was necessary. *This was the incentive that kept us continuously working hard.*
I think the required level needs some experience - our tutor probably had some decades of experience with this seminar when I took the course.
* We formed groups of 3 people at the beginning of the semester which did not change for the whole semester. The 80%-overall-rule makes these groups quite similar in expected performance: there are very good reasons why someone good should be in each group. And why the bad students not cluster together, so that the 80% cannot be reached...
* For each task, one of the group had to declare himself responsible. There was some rule, that everyone had to be responsible for roughly the same number of questions. And anyways, there were too many tasks for even the best students to solve within the available time frame.
* Usually it took the form that everyone started at "his" task, got the layout of the question and the rough scheme for solving. Then this was discussed in the group. Next step was actually doing the calculations, then explaining to the others. Then showing the result to the tutor, who'd accept the solution or point out mistakes. Then either get the next task, or help some group mate who was stuck (not to waste those precious 20% of "allowed" mistakes...). In between he went around and had a look that we were progressing with the calculations (I since realized that not needing a written exam is also a strong incentive for a tutor ;-) )
This was just a pass/fail seminar, but I think the tutor could have given marks for everyone at the end at least as easily as any school teacher can. I think you'll get a very good idea of the level of understanding if you just listen to a few explanations. And it is far easier to make everyone explain things to just a group of a few fellow students than make them come to the blackboard.
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thread-224 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/224 | Attending graduate school at my undergraduate university | 2012-02-17T12:30:55.530 | # Question
Title: Attending graduate school at my undergraduate university
I've been told by numerous people that (1) my undergraduate university will be disinclined to bring me on as a graduate student, and that (2) it's a bad idea to attend grad school where you completed your undergraduate degree, anyway. Is that true? If so, why?
# Answer
**Pros**
* If you stay at the same school (this applies even more when you join grad school immediately out of your undergrads), it'll be a matter of remaining in your comfort zone - same department, a faculty who know you, even the same apartment/neighborhood! This can be a major factor, depending on the person concerned - the pros of staying at your Alma mater are all about convenience IMO.
* If your UG department has an influential professor with whom you've worked before and are planning to continue as well, that can be very advantageous - as having such a faculty get to know a student's work as an undergraduate can lead to a very strong recommendation (since he has accepted you in the grad program, it is reasonable to assume your work had impressed him during your undergrads).
**Cons**
An important advantage of going to another school is that you will be exposed to a completely different department, with faculty who may have diverse research ideas for you to work on. The department, in turn, will benefit as well as a new student from another school will cross-pollinate their department with fresh ideas. This is so important that some top universities have a strong bias against accepting their own undergraduate students into their graduate programs.
> 16 votes
# Answer
As Henry points out in the response to Artem's answer, many graduate departments—especially at top schools in the US—have a "no undergrads admitted from our department" policy. Both my undergraduate and graduate schools have adopted such policies.
In general, unless you have a very strong reason for staying at your undergraduate school—either a personal situation, such as a spouse who has a job in the area, or the opportunity to work on the world's only "X" (whatever "X" is)—then you are much better served by going somewhere else for graduate school. You will have the advantage of working with new people, plus you avoid the very strong stigma attached to having all of your educational pedigree at a single location.
> 15 votes
# Answer
I will address the two points separately:
1. If you have a strong application, then your undergrad university will be *more* inclined to take you as a graduate student. The reason is that to have a strong application, you need very good reference letters. The reference letters are probably from professors *at* your undergrad school, and thus they will carry a lot of weight there (compared to other schools where your former supervisors are less known). Thus, it is often easiest to get into the school you graduated from.
2. I've heard the second point myself, and I actually advice it/try to follow that advice, too. The reasoning behind it as that at the school you graduated from, you already know everybody. Thus, if you stay you will continue to work with the same people and won't meet new collaborators. If you go to a new school, you will have to meet new people and expand your network.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Answering (1):
Staying at the same place is very uncommon in the US, where there is a presumption against it. It does not mean that it is impossible or never happens, but it counts against you in admissions.
This is mostly true when referring to doing undergraduate and PhD studies at the same place. Normally it's fine to do your Masters and undergraduate at the same place, or to move between undergraduate and Masters and then stay at the same place for PhD.
*
The situation is very different in Europe. In fact, professors may attempt to recruit their best undergraduates to work for them as graduate students and this is seen as a positive thing for all involved.
There is an increasing stigma against hiring faculty that has no experience outside of a given university (derisively called *in-breeding*), but I do not think that it applies to undergraduate-\>graduate transition.
Others have answered (2) in more detail.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Here's an intermediate step that some of my friends took: they stayed on to do their Masters in the same lab where they did their undergraduate study, then moved college (and country) to do their PhDs. That way, they got more research experience in an excellent lab in their home country (keeping costs down a bit), then used their PhD stipends to offset the cost of living abroad.
> 1 votes
# Answer
The only advantage I see in entering graduate school in the same university where you completed your undergrad program is having a continuity between your undergrad research programs and graduate research.
Typically it takes some time for a new grad student to get accustomed with research activities, with the routine of a new lab or research group, getting to know your advisor, etc. Also there are some adjustment of your personal life: you are probably moving to another town, choosing another home, finding a new favourite grocery store, a new gym, etc, etc. This takes time and certainly impacts how productive you are.
If you are enrolled in undergrad research programs, and you're already well adjusted to your lab's/research group routine and workflow, it might be that you'll feel much less of an impact of changing from undergrad to grad research programs. It might be that you can start being productive right away because you don't have to worry about a lot of things.
On the short term, it might be that you manage to turn this into one extra article published at the end of your PhD. It's not improbable. But it's not incredibly probable either.
You incur in a lot of risks if you don't change. If you spend too much of your formative years working on the same research group, you risk becoming *too well adjusted* to its workflow and research programs, to the point that you can't see alternatives.
Also, the real impact of a few months of advantage and an extra article, if it really happens, is probably offset by the advantages of moving to another university. A couple years after your PhD the time you lost finding an apartment and banging your head against the wall to understand your new research program will most likely be forgotten and will not influence your career at all.
> 1 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, undergraduate
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thread-5758 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5758 | What's Adjunct Proceedings? | 2012-12-14T13:20:27.970 | # Question
Title: What's Adjunct Proceedings?
I came across a paper today:
> Plink It: Paper-Based Links for Cross-Media Information Space Jurgen Steimle, Nadir Weibel, Simon Olberding, Max Muhlhauser, and James D. Hollan. Adjunct Proceedings of ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, 1969-1974, 2011. (PDF)
I am curious: what does **Adjunct Proceedings** mean? The paper's style and format looks quite different from Computer Science papers that I used to read. Could anyone explain this to me?
# Answer
> 7 votes
Large conferences have "main tracks" where the normal papers are received, peer-reviewed and published/discussed in the traditional format. In these conferences there is more and more often the tendency to provide researchers to write "cutting edge" research, that should not undergo the formal peer-review process, or simply the acceptance rate has a clearly lower bar than the normal tracks of the conference. This second type of papers will be published in the "adjunct proceedings".
One would then have two sets of proceedings, one where the normal papers are, and the other one where more experimental papers are. This separation has got a reason: the program committee of a conference wants to keep the two types of papers separated, since the papers in the normal proceedings will be cited more often than the ones in the adjunct proceedings
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thread-351 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/351 | What are some good writing tablets for taking notes that are heavy on math/physics? | 2012-02-22T13:39:11.200 | # Question
Title: What are some good writing tablets for taking notes that are heavy on math/physics?
For the record, I'd like something to replace notebooks. I'm accumulating more and more notebooks, and they're a pain to tug around everywhere. Plus, notebooks are easy to get lost (I've lost notebooks by accidentally leaving them in restrooms), not easily-backup-able, and non-searchable.
So I'd like a tablet that allows me to read PDFs heavy on math/physics, that allows me to easily annotate notes, and that has a thin stylus that allows me to write subscripts and superscripts with ease.
# Answer
I believe the limitation is more on the software that you are using, rather than the tablet itself. So, if you are using an iPad, you can use UPad, whereas android tablets users should be looking at something like Repligo or ezPdf Reader.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Regarding the stylus, this review from MacWorld strongly recommends the Wacom Bamboo stylus for writing notes.
> 5 votes
# Answer
I found this Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet, which designed specifically for stylus use (iPad and the likes are not).
> 4 votes
# Answer
The apps suggested by others for iPad and Android with the necessary stylus-es are not bad. However, if you are looking for something **ONLY** to take notes I would suggest looking at Boogie Board. I haven't tried it out myself but I hear its good. Plus, its dirt cheap as compared to tablets. Also, the battery life is insanely high and since it doesn't use a touch interface, you can practically write anything and it will store it as that. There are downsides though, it can't save many PDFs and it can tend to be slow. You might want to check them out.
> 3 votes
# Answer
Try the samsung galaxy note 10.1. With a wacom s pen it seems to be the right choice for people who do write a lot of equations/ want to annotate lecture notes.
> 3 votes
# Answer
Check out this question and my answer: Device for writing a lecture with a stylus for video lecture recording
Short version: any professional tablet pc with an active digitizer (the Wacom ones are the best on market). They cost only a little more than an iPad. IPads are good for goofing off and clicking on your virtual farm but there is an abyss in terms of writing quality.
> 2 votes
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Tags: note-taking
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thread-5769 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5769 | How to encourage faculty involvement as judges in a local research exposé? | 2012-12-15T06:59:00.460 | # Question
Title: How to encourage faculty involvement as judges in a local research exposé?
Our university has a an annual event showcasing graduate student research projects and has a competition for best presentation. However, faculty involvement (as judges for the event) was very sparse and we had a difficult time getting enough faculty to volunteer as judges. I know that faculty time is very precious and this event did demand a lot of time and provided little incentive other than free food. How else can I encourage more faculty involvement in this event?
# Answer
We have the same kind of event, and we get reasonable faculty involvement. A few things that help:
* Faculty are likely to show up and get involved if their students participate. Make sure students of many different faculty participate and remind the professors of this fact.
* Remind, remind, remind. Send regular (but not daily) reminders to the faculty. Keep the emails short, and let them know what's expected of them - show up at this place, at this time, and encourage students.
* Get different people involved in different aspects: some might review the presentations, some might help with pre-screening, and so on. The more people are involved, the more they feel part-ownership, and the more likely they are to participate in other ways.
* Do this regularly. It's often hard to do this the first time, but once it's a regular occurrence, people get used to the rhythm of it and how it fits into the calendar.
> 4 votes
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Tags: professorship
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thread-5711 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5711 | Things to do before submitting a manuscript | 2012-12-13T13:33:38.270 | # Question
Title: Things to do before submitting a manuscript
After having written a manuscript and formatted it to the publishers specifications, are there any additional things you do before submitting it (or right after submitting it) that make the review process easier. For example, for journals that I know the approximate time it takes to review, I make a note in my diary to check on the manuscript around that time. I also print out a hard copy and move the digital files into my lab notebook. Are there other things that I should be doing?
# Answer
Putting together also some advice from the previous answers, here is my suggested checklist:
1. Run a spellchecker :)
2. Prepare a cover letter. If the manuscript has a previous history (e.g., it is a modification of a rejected papers; overlaps partially with a conference proceeding), you should state it. Some may want to suggest possible referees in the cover letter; I find it ethically dubious, so I never do it. In case, you may want to suggest referees to *avoid*. (maybe we should have a separate question on this point).
3. submit a preprint, either at your institute or on arXiv, or at least think about it. Check the terms of the journal you are submitting to (this is a great resource) to make sure you can; often the submission is the best moment to do it, since the journal can have no reasonable copyright claim on what happened before it.
4. Even if you don't submit a preprint, make a backup copy of the .tex and .pdf files. If you use source control, tag the latest version as "submitted". This way it will be easier to recover that exact version when the referee report mentions "line 4 on page 2".
5. Send a copy to your co-authors, for backup and self-archiving.
6. Relax and celebrate.
You speak about applying the journal style in the manuscript; I suggest *not* to do it at this point. Referees won't care; it is really needed only after the manuscript is accepted, or if an over-zealous editor asks you to do it. You might spend lots of time without reason, resizing figures and line-breaking formulas that will be dropped after the referee comments.
> 25 votes
# Answer
It is of utmost importance that, immediately after the submission of the manuscript, you bake a cake and offer it to your co-workers. You might also want to invite close family and others who have indirectly suffered from your hard work. Invite all co-authors that are close enough to reasonably travel to your place and celebrate!
<sup>Picture from Wikimedia commons, user *Scheinwerfermann*.</sup>
Otherwise, you don't need to do anything. That's the nice thing about submission: from there on, everything will happen automatically. Reviews, proofs, etc.: everything that comes back comes with a deadline, which means you will do it. Until submission, you can postpone things indefinitely. After submission, you can't.
> 17 votes
# Answer
Pat yourself on the back, put the manuscript in a drawer, put it out of your mind, and move on to the next thing.
> 12 votes
# Answer
**Send it for approval to all co-authors**.
Maybe this sounds obvious, but there are so many examples of people breaking this rule in either small (“they read the penultimate version two days ago”) or very big way (there are many examples of people actually learning when the paper is published that they are a co-author), that I think it is good to state.
> 11 votes
# Answer
Upload your manuscript to the arXiv.
Note: you should check The Romeo website to make sure that the journal you're submitting to won't object to this.
> 6 votes
# Answer
In addition to all the other excellent suggestions I would like to add something. When you submitted your paper you could invest some time in ordering your files/notes/scripts. Make sure they have a logical structure, enabling you to easily start working on the paper again when the reviews come back. Especially scripts that you use to process data and generate figures can be hard to understand if they are messy, e.g how did I generate figure 3. Ofcourse, it is much better to organize your files/notes/scripts during writing the paper. But if you have not been disciplined (busy, busy), this is a very good time to correct that mistake as everything is still fresh in your memory.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Relax for a bit.
Also, pretend you're a reviewer and ask yourself if there's a really obvious question to ask (control experiment, comparison with another method, etc.). If so, maybe you want to get started on it before the reviews come back, so the turnaround is faster then. But send it out first, then relax, and *then* get to work on the obvious experiment.
> 5 votes
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Tags: publications
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thread-5683 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5683 | How many years of industrial experience needed for a Mechatronics Professor? | 2012-12-12T00:30:55.657 | # Question
Title: How many years of industrial experience needed for a Mechatronics Professor?
I have a Bachelor's in EE and Master's in Automation and 3 years experience, including 2 in software development. For me, an academic career would be both more meaningful and professionally rewarding in its flexibility.
I think someone with experience but without formal qualifications could teach a subject such as mechatronics well.
How I might switch to teaching mechatronics? Should I stay in industry for a few more years and then move straight to being a full-time professor? Or, should I work part-time for a lest prestigious college and try to progress incrementally?
Note: I don't want to obtain a PhD. Rather, I'd prefer to obtain the necessary qualifications while part-time, while working as a professor.
# Answer
Your answer seems to confuse *teaching* with *being a professor*. One can teach without being a professor. Furthermore, and although this may be controversial, I think the quintessential characteristic of a professor is a scholar who can carry on substantial independent research.
Neither teaching skill nor experience in industry counterbalance the lack of that.
> 3 votes
# Answer
It's not clear where you're writing from, and where you'd like to become a professor. But it's almost certainly true that, given your chosen field (mechatronics), you will need to be working at a four-year university with an engineering program.
In the US and Western Europe, this means that you will almost certainly be required to have a PhD *before* you begin your position as a professor; this isn't really negotiable. You would not be permitted to complete the PhD while being a full-time professor. In other parts of the world, this is not a strict requirement.
However, if what you want is to teach, the rules are substantially different. In such cases, having a PhD is not required, and you can instead work part time as a lecturer or adjunct professor (or other equivalent title, depending on location). You would be expected to teach a certain number of courses per semester, but otherwise you would not be responsible for teaching students, nor would you have many of the other commitments required of full-time faculty.
> 3 votes
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Tags: professorship, career-path
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thread-5767 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5767 | Is it generally acceptable if reference letters for postdoc or faculty jobs are submitted after the application deadline? | 2012-12-15T02:49:54.607 | # Question
Title: Is it generally acceptable if reference letters for postdoc or faculty jobs are submitted after the application deadline?
I am currently applying for post-doctoral and asst. professorship positions. One of my letter writer is most likely to submit the letter a week late. Some of the positions I am applying to clearly state that "applications submitted after the deadline cannot be considered". Couple of people (my fellow grad students/post docs) whom I talked to, seemed to indicate that the reference letters can reach late. However, I would appreciate if someone (preferably one who has been part of the search committee and/or has reviewed applications for such positions before) can throw some light on this.
# Answer
Unless the search committee is swamped and is looking for reasons to reject a candidate, a late letter will not tank the application. But here's what can happen: letter requests are sent out for candidate A and B. B's letters are delayed. In the meantime, A's letters come back and they are quite good. The committee starts going ahead with interviews for A. Then, for other reasons, the committee feels that A might suffice to cover the area that A and B both overlap in, and they might move on to other candidates.
This would only happen if the letter is REALLY late (multiple weeks). And if candidate B has any level of interest, there's always someone who'll chase down the letter writer.
So overall I'd say not to worry greatly, but make sure the letter isn't more than a week or so late. Also it wouldn't hurt to check with the committee on the "hardness" of the deadline.
> 17 votes
# Answer
The policies for late letters may vary, depending on the sort of position. My impression is that for most universities (certainly the ones I have been at), slightly late letters are fine as long as they arrive before they are needed. I.e., your application may suffer if people read it before the letter arrives, but they are unlikely to read it on the day of the deadline. This is in agreement with the other answers here.
However, there may be certain cases where a single late letter will lead to absolute rejection. For example, government funding agencies sometimes have very strict rules about deadlines, in order to guarantee a sort of formal fairness. They may say that nothing will be accepted after the deadline and no incomplete applications will be considered. (I don't know how common this is, but the NSF graduate research fellowships work this way.) If you are applying for a postdoctoral fellowship from a funding agency, then I strongly recommend asking what their policy for late letters is.
> 10 votes
# Answer
The pure and simple answer to your question is answered by asking a question to the committee: when will you start reviewing the applications? Usually it's not the day after the deadline, likely a few days later, and maybe a week later.
The same happens for PhD applications, some departments don't start until two weeks after the deadline. If all your material is in then I am sure they will look at your application regardless of one missing letter.
Just call the department and ask when they start reviewing.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Different universities take different approaches to letters of recommendation. Some departments request letters of recommendation for every candidate; others only request letters when they're highly interested.
In general, however, the difference here is that the letters of recommendation are not normally considered as part of the application itself. Thus, a little leeway is certainly possible, particularly when you'll have "N – 1" letters of recommendation in on time. But again, as others have mentioned, the best advice is: when in doubt, *ask*.
> 1 votes
# Answer
Upvoting and reiterating @Suresh's comment: a letter just a little late does not seriously *disqualify* you (except, as Anon Math'n notes, perhaps for government agencies, NSF grants...), but may allow other people into the pipeline before you.
The strategy on job offers is typically to make more offers than a dept expects to have accepted, *and* to have quite a few of the first offers rejected, because often the most-attractive \[sic\] candidates have several offers and cannot take them all. Thus, if the delay in your letters is a week or two, it will probably have no impact.
However, the potential for trouble grows sharply as the delay increases, insofar as scheduling for interviews is made as early as possible... and unexpectedly high acceptance rate may use of all the offers unexpectedly early. (Not bad from a dept's viewpoint, but bad from not-yet-interviewed applicants' viewpoints, since, in effect, they didn't have the same chance... but through the early error of incompleteness in their file.)
> 1 votes
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Tags: job-search, postdocs, recommendation-letter, faculty-application, deadlines
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thread-5753 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5753 | Open Lab Notebook in early postdoc career, advantages vs disadvantages | 2012-12-14T11:14:00.017 | # Question
Title: Open Lab Notebook in early postdoc career, advantages vs disadvantages
so I've found a few open lab notebooks such as this online. I think the philosophy is great, basically an extreme form of open-access. I work in theoretical neuroscience as a fresh post-doc. I'm also continuing to work for my PhD supervisor, but I plan to look for a position elsewhere ASAP to 'fly the nest' so to speak. I don't have any of my own publications yet, just the publications that came from my PhD. As a general career move I would either like to start publishing myself or with new collaborators.
My question is about the advantages vs disadvantages of starting an open lab notebook. A few pros would be:
* Increased scientific visibility
* Extra motivation
* Possible feedback, discovering new research directions
The the big danger are:
* Getting 'scooped'
* Getting sidetracked from current post-doc
If anyone has any advice for a person in my position, I would like to hear your viewpoint. Specifically, it should relate to an early career researcher looking to make a name for himself.
# Answer
I really like that you put 'scientific visibility' on top of the list. That is one side of open notebook science (ONS) that is often overlooked. Also, one thing I would like to add to the pros part of the list is how ONS really facilitates collaboration between researchers. If you are going to keep several projects going and collaborate with different groups, then I think you'll find ONS really helpful.
> 7 votes
# Answer
If you are worried about the cons and excited about the pros, why not take a "middle-of-the-road" approach? At first, you may want to avoid publishing everything—at least until you get a manuscript or two accepted. At that point, it will become a lot easier to go ahead with a more "open" approach, because you'll already have some material "in the can," so to speak.
You could also take a "staggered" approach, so that you wait a while before putting a given unit of work online. In this way, I think you're honoring the commitments of open research, while still maintaining some control over the release schedule in a way that will make it more difficult to get "scooped."
> 5 votes
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Tags: open-access
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thread-5757 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5757 | Bad first year marks? | 2012-12-14T13:11:16.820 | # Question
Title: Bad first year marks?
How are bad first year marks (i.e., ranked around average among my peers) but outstanding 2nd-4th year marks (i.e., top 2%) perceived by PhD admissions committees in the U.S.? What emphasis is placed onto first year marks?
# Answer
There's no absolute universal standard as to how this will be perceived, but it's definitely better to be in the situation you describe than the reverse (good in general courses, mediocre in the major)!
One of the issues is where the first-year grades are bad. If you have some poor grades in "general education" classes unrelated to your major (for example, an engineer who gets a "C" in American history and English literature), that hopefully won't matter too much if the admissions committee is actually looking at the transcript, rather than just the overall GPA.
Ultimately, it comes down to how rigid the admissions committee is about reviewing things, as you can see in this thread.
> 9 votes
# Answer
As long as you are able to justify what went wrong during the first year in the personal statement,for example, you had a major illness that caused you to miss many classes and thus resulted in average performance, I think adcom will not take it too seriously.
> 2 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, graduate-admissions
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thread-5796 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5796 | How to build research paper based on a unpublished paper? | 2012-12-15T16:52:45.867 | # Question
Title: How to build research paper based on a unpublished paper?
A few days ago, I read an article that I found through Google. I analyzed it and find that article is correct, and then I prepared a paper of my own built on the basis of that article. But when I tried to complete the references section, I realized that the source article had not been published.
Now I do not know what to do. On the one hand, the article is correct, but on the other hand, it has not been formally published.
How to send my article based on another paper that has not been published?
# Answer
> 10 votes
Actually, the paper in question *has been published*, otherwise you sure couldn't read it :)
I admit that may sound stupid and unhelpful, but I think there is more to it that you recognize. The paper you built upon has been published, but not through conventional means. It doesn't mean you can't use it, but a few specific “rules of thumb” have to be observed:
* Refer to the paper by its URL and, if identifiable, the owner/editor/publisher of the website. Example:
> “Link between *al dente* cooking time and a change of slope in the pasta fractal length”, A. N. Onym, http://bigpasta.com/paper42.pdf (publisher: Pasta Inc.)
* Because this content may have a shorter lifetime than academic publications, you should quote directly all necessary claims made into this work in your paper, rather than merely using the reference on a vague claim. Your paper should be standalone, and fully understandable even if the other one disappears.
* You may also contact the original paper author, if possible, to ask how they would like to be cited. Perhaps they have another related work which you missed, that was published in a more conventional way?
# Answer
> 4 votes
It's unclear from your description whether you've just written your own version of the earlier paper, with no new results of your own, or whether you've significantly extended the results in the earlier paper. In the first case, you **cannot** publish your paper. In the second, you **must** cite the earlier paper, using whatever information would be necessary for your readers to find it, just as F'x describes.
In either case, I strongly recommend contacting the author of the earlier paper and asking *them* how *they* would like to proceed. They may invite you to be a coauthor on their paper. They may invite themselves to be a coauthor on your paper. They may use your email as a kick in the pants to *formally* publish their paper, but without you as a coauthor, leaving you to publish your new results on your own.
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Tags: publications, journals
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thread-5812 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5812 | Why they do not send my work to referees while they are unable to conclude that the work provides the sort of firm advance? | 2012-12-17T08:41:06.747 | # Question
Title: Why they do not send my work to referees while they are unable to conclude that the work provides the sort of firm advance?
> Thank you for submitting your manuscript "Article title" which we are regretfully unable to offer to publish.
>
> **It is YYY' policy to return a substantial proportion of manuscripts without sending them to referees**. Decisions of this kind are made by the editors of YYYs according to the demanding editorial criteria of the journal.
>
> In the present case, while your findings may well prove stimulating to others' thinking about such questions, **we regret that we are unable to conclude that the work provides the sort of firm advance** in general understanding that would warrant publication in YYY.
>
> We are sorry that we cannot respond more positively on this occasion.
Why they do not send my work to referees while they are unable to conclude that the work provides the sort of firm advance?
# Answer
> 21 votes
They do not send your manuscript to reviewers because they consider that the chance of it being accepted (with revisions) is very small, so that it's not worth reviewers' time.
Their phrasing is just a polite way of saying that the manuscript you have submitted is either clearly out of scope, or clearly not good enough. Maybe you are aiming for a too prestigious journal, or maybe your work is not novel enough. It is also possible that your actual work is very good, but that your description of your work is poor, so that the editors concluded erroneously that it doesn't show much advancement. It is not possible to conclude in general what the true reason is.
If you have no experience in submitting manuscripts to scientific journals, and you have no cooperation with somebody who does, getting a manuscript published is quite difficult. If you don't already, I would suggest you strike up a cooperation with someone who has experience in publishing scientific articles. They could advise where to publish and how to formulate conclusions.
**Edit:** Also read Benoït Kloeckners excellent remark below: indeed it is your advantage if you know quickly that your paper won't be published, rather than only after a time-consuming peer-review.
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Tags: publications, journals
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thread-5820 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5820 | Present journal paper at conference or the same work at multiple conferences | 2012-12-17T19:01:26.480 | # Question
Title: Present journal paper at conference or the same work at multiple conferences
> **Possible Duplicate:**
> Under what circumstances can one republish a conference paper/presentation?
I have recently completed a Masters of Science which I pursued to fill a personal goal and to advance our development of a regional tsunami warning system.
Having read the thread on multiple publishing and presenting I am still confused as this is a new issue for me. Coming from Government we present on special projects or findings any number of times.
If I wish to publish my findings in an academic journal am I precluded from presenting at any conferences?
If I present at a localised scientific conference without published proceedings, am I precluded from presenting at a global one?
Can I focus one on localised context and the other on the global implications, then cite having presented at the local level?
# Answer
> 4 votes
The exact answer depends on the topic, but normally:
* Publishing finding in an academic journal does not preclude presenting at conferences (*except in computer science!*). In fact, it's quite common to first publish a paper in a peer-reviewed journal, then go to one or even several conferences to advertise it. Just be sure to mention it at the conference, because if there are proceedings, there may exist conferences with different ideas, depending on the field.
* Presenting at a local conference does not preclude presenting at a global one, certainly not if the local conference has no proceedings, because then there is not really any publication at all.
* The answer to your third question is most likely *yes*.
To be 100% sure, contact the organisers of the conferences.
See also:
# Answer
> 4 votes
In fields outside of computer science, publishing a paper does not normally prevent you from presenting your work at a conference; as gerrit points out, the two go hand in hand quite frequently, and many people will speak about just-published research in a presentation. (I know I have!)
However, what publishing a paper *can* do is change the *form* of the presentation, int he sense that the journal may place some restrictions on how you can reuse the material that has been published.
For instance, you may need to provide citations when including figures from the paper in your presentation, as well as citing any text that is taken directly from what has been published. For many journals, however, you may do so without asking prior permission, so long as you include the appropriate citations.
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Tags: publications, research-process
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thread-5824 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5824 | Value Vs. Uniqueness of Research | 2012-12-17T21:57:10.680 | # Question
Title: Value Vs. Uniqueness of Research
I am a PhD student and I am often faced with several ideas to explore. Two criteria often I consider in making a choice between approaches are based on the value proposition/ addition and the uniqueness of the approach. However, in the process of research (which I don't have any idea about and I am only in the exploratory phase of an idea) I have to make compromises in choosing between approaches which are not unique but add value and vice versa. I am faced with tradeoffs between the two until I find (or modify/improve) approaches that have both the qualities. My question is to the experienced researchers to share their strategies when they had to choose among approaches based on these two parameters. Which one among the two help in quicker publications or acceptance rate?
# Answer
> Two criteria often I consider in making a choice between approaches are based on the value proposition/ addition and the uniqueness of the approach.
**Ideally, you *don't* choose.** A "unique" approach that doesn't add value isn't worth much. Solving a problem using off-the-shelf techniques also isn't worth much. What you should aim for is a **unique approach that adds value** to the research landscape in your field.
**But if you *must* choose, work toward your strengths.** Do you carry a hammer and look for nails, or do you carry nails and look for hammers? If you're better at finding new tools to attack hard problems, then you're more likely to come up with unique approaches. If you're better at finding hard problems to successfully attack with a small suite of tools, then you're more likely to add value to those tools. I know lots of successful researchers in both camps.
> Which one among the two help in quicker publications or acceptance rate?
You are optimizing the wrong function. Your primary goal should be to produce the highest quality, highest impact research, **not** to maximize the number of lines in your CV. One good high-impact paper is worth far more than a pile of publications that nobody cares about.
> 11 votes
# Answer
It probably depends on the field and the journal you're aiming at.
For small, low-impact journals, it could be sufficient that an idea is new. If your ambition is not very high, you can submit to such a journal. You might not need to show that the new idea is all that useful.
For more prestigious journals, new is not enough. You need to show that it's actually useful in practical situations or adds something significant. If you want to aim for good journals, then added value is important. However, it should not be a small added value; it should be a significant added value.
If it's not new and the added value is small, probably you'd need to improve the research until you have something more substantial.
> 5 votes
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Tags: phd, research-process, thesis
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thread-5827 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5827 | When does a paid research assistant become a co-author? | 2012-12-18T02:50:51.170 | # Question
Title: When does a paid research assistant become a co-author?
What amount of work should a well compensated research assistant put into a paper before they're included as a co-author? Is there any norm? Suppose this is a field where 1 to 3 authors on any given journal paper is the standard amount (e.g., economics/finance/econometrics).
What if they do 30% of the paper? What if the paper requires (model building, programming, writing), and each component is about 33% of the paper, and the RA does all of one of these and helps a bit with another one of these?
I would think the answer is *never*, unless it was an unusually large contribution or the professor was feeling nice. I think this because otherwise they would've just gotten an experienced co-author who could bring much more to the table who they also don't have to compensate with any $$.
# Answer
> 54 votes
The decision of whether someone should be a coauthor is completely independent of monetary compensation: authorship depends on what sort of intellectual contribution each person has made, and it would be unethical to treat them differently based on their job (paid assistant, student, colleague, amateur, etc.).
People in different roles may be treated differently based on their contributions. For example, an assistant who does no creative or insightful work, but instead just carries out explicit instructions in a straightforward way, should generally not be a coauthor. (Still, the assistant should be thanked by name in the acknowledgments.) When the assistant's work starts to involve exercising nontrivial skill and judgment, coauthorship may be appropriate. If the assistant is doing a serious part of the creative intellectual work, then coauthorship is mandatory, even if the supervisor's role is deeper.
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Tags: research-process, research-undergraduate, authorship, research-assistantship
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thread-5829 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5829 | Second undergraduate versus masters with qualifying year | 2012-12-18T02:49:51.450 | # Question
Title: Second undergraduate versus masters with qualifying year
I was a bit unsure whether this question belonged here, but after finding many questions requesting advice with respect to mathematics studies I decided to go ahead.
Over the last year I have developed a strong interest in mathematics and would like to pursue it at the university level. The long-term goal is graduate studies.
My original intent was to first pursue a B.Sc in mathematics. I had met with the undergraduate coordinator at a university I would like to enrol in and he recommended that based upon my background that I may be better off pursuing a masters degree with a qualifying year comprised of advanced undergraduate courses.
My background is:
* Degrees: B.Comm (Economics), M.A. (Economics)
* Mathematical Courses: Business Calculus, Mathematics for Economists (includes calculus, linear algebra, set theory, optimization, topology), Introductory Statistics, Econometrics
* Research Experience: Four RAships, two upcoming publications (not in mathematics)
* Self-study: *Calculus* (Stewart), *Linear Algebra* (Strang), Currently working on: *A Course of Pure Mathematics* (Hardy)
I would like to ask that given an individual with a background in a quantitative field, what are the pros and cons with pursuing either of these options.
# Answer
> 5 votes
If possible, avoid the 2nd undergrad. To see if possible, pick an online copy of a typical textbook, level advanced undergraduate/graduate, and browse it for fun, and do some of the early exercises. Examples: Artin: Algebra; Munkres: Topology; Spivak: Calculus on Manifolds (or more advanced; Guillemin & Pollack;: Differential Topology); or better yet, browse whatever the curriculum of your chosen university indicated for this fall semester as text books. It doesn't have to appear easy, as you are supposed to learn it; and learning math is hard, no matter what your future classmates will falsely claim: most of them struggle too. But it shouldn't terrify you either.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I'm unsure whether the 2nd undergrad will actually help you at all, because I'm not sure how good Undergrads in math are in the US, you might end up re learning a ton of stuff you already knew to begin with. And that can lead to some frustration.
I've gone over Stwart's and Strang's books and they are overall very nice. Try to see what particular topic interests you and go over some papers, see what is missing in your pool of knowledge and build a consensus of where is it being thought.
If you find that most of your deficit can be solved with some Undergrad Courses, and many Grad courses, go for that Graduate degree directly, but if you find that many of your deficits are in an undergrad level, perhaps doing that second undergrad is not such a bad idea, since you would be starting with a handicap against other people coming from a math undergrad.
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Tags: education
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thread-5838 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5838 | Should a reviewer critique language and text copy-paste issues? | 2012-12-18T05:54:04.410 | # Question
Title: Should a reviewer critique language and text copy-paste issues?
While reviewing research papers, I often find that the author's English is not very good. Considering that English is not everyone's native language, I understand their difficulties, and I recognize that they struggle (using dictionaries and translators) to get their work published at all.
That being said, I sometimes find papers that have contain English that is frankly terrible, with a few select fragments in pristine, almost Shakespearean English, using words that sometimes I didn't even know existed. When this happens, a quick Google search will occasionally reveal that these fragments are copy-pasted fragments from textbooks.
What should I do in these cases? I feel that being too harsh might come of as being mean, but I would really like to emphasize that the practice is very bad for the scientific community.
# Answer
> 26 votes
As Mikael said, copying and pasting from a textbook (or any other source), unless it's properly quoted and cited, is plagiarism. Now, it's possible that this varies a bit between fields and between cultures, but generally speaking, **plagiarism is one of the most serious academic offenses**, probably a step below outright fabrication of results. Well-respected tenured professors at major universities have lost their jobs and had their careers destroyed by a single instance of plagiarism. The point is, this is a very big no-no and you should treat it accordingly. You should definitely notify the editor, and see how they would like you to deal with it. I don't know exactly how that process works, whether the editor will just handle the paper themselves and let you know that your review will no longer be necessary, or whether they'll ask you to finish your review anyway and state your objections in it.
In the latter case, I would write an unequivocal recommendation *against* publishing the paper because of the plagiarism. Personally, I would be inclined not to even look at the scientific content of any such paper, although that may not work out in practice. But anyway, just pointing out the plagiarized parts and recommending against publication, in and of itself, is not mean. Just don't get carried away and start attacking the author. You could apply the same principle that is used at Stack Exchange, namely that it's about the behavior, not the person.
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If you put aside the plagiarism, there is also the issue of sloppy English that you mentioned. In my experience, (nearly?) all reputable journals require papers to use proper spelling and grammar for standard English, or something reasonably close to it. Usually, the instructions for authors will advise non-native speakers of English to get a native speaker to check the paper for grammatical errors before submission. So it's reasonable for you to point out any such errors that you come across. Now, grammatical errors don't have to condemn a paper to oblivion the way plagiarism might, but if the grammar is bad enough, I would think it reasonable to recommend against publication in its current state. If the underlying ideas are sound, and otherwise qualified for publication, then you could recommend that the authors edit the paper to improve the grammar and resubmit it.
# Answer
> 18 votes
This is plagiarism. You should at the VERY least point this out to the editor and suggest (s)he insist the authors get language, translation or copyediting assistance if they can't write their paper themselves.
# Answer
> 13 votes
In the couple of cases that I have found plagiarism (and that is what has happened here). I always contact the editor directly telling him/her what I have found and that I no longer feel comfortable writing a review. This then puts the burden on the editor to make a decision of how to deal with it.
# Answer
> 7 votes
I understand exactly what you are going through. I have seen it happen many times before. In some culture it is extremely common for students to think that it is acceptable to plagiarize in this way. However, in my experience, even when students think it is acceptable, they still know it is wrong.
You should call it out for what it is: Plagiarism. In my experience, some students only wake up to the impact of plagiarism when they are shocked into it. I've had students call me mean (and much, much worse) but I've never had a student say that I was unjustified in calling their plagiarism out. They knew what they were doing and they got caught.
I also explained to them how to "right their ship" so this did not cause future problems. In my school, the punishment is quite lenient for plagiarism - just fail (no removal, no academic probation, etc.). But, it is still expected that it is called out when it is found.
# Answer
> 6 votes
I would see two situations here:
* The English is so bad that you cannot properly review the paper. If you suspect that there is merit in the paper, suggest getting the language polished and encourage to resubmit. Otherwise reject the paper.
* You can follow the story, and provide an in depth review. Just reply as you would normally, and mention polishing the language as one of the additional remarks.
Just copying without reference is just plagiarism, and should lead to rejection of the paper.
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Tags: peer-review
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thread-1950 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1950 | How can I get involved in grant proposal reviews as a graduate student? | 2012-06-08T21:08:03.290 | # Question
Title: How can I get involved in grant proposal reviews as a graduate student?
I need to get some more experience with writing grant proposals, and I know that professors are often invited to review them. How can I get involved in it while still being just a graduate student?
# Answer
> 8 votes
Reviewing grant proposals as a student is tricky, at least in some fields. The NSF is highly unlikely to ask a grad student to review proposals (it might theoretically be possible for a brilliant student who is almost done with their Ph.D., but I've never heard of it happening). Furthermore, faculty are not allowed to show proposals they have been asked to review to their students (it may sometimes happen, but it's breaking explicit rules regarding confidentiality). Overall, in pure math grad students basically never review grant proposals. I can't speak for other fields, but I'm skeptical that grad students ever play a major role in reviewing proposals.
Instead, I'd recommend asking your advisor to see the other side of the process. They could share their own proposals, and perhaps even reviews of those proposals or drafts of upcoming proposals. They could also ask collaborators whether they had any proposals they would be willing to share. This isn't quite the same as reviewing proposals yourself, but it could still give you valuable experience with how grant applications work.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Receiving an invitation to help out at a NSF or NIH study session is highly unlikely and logistically difficult. However, I would try to get involved with study sessions for an University driven call for proposals. Alternatively, you could get involved with a course that does a mock grant proposal as part of its coursework. I just submitted a mock proposal recently and I'm sure that the TAs will be forced to look over my work and get practice in the process.
# Answer
> 3 votes
You can't get experience serving on a grant proposal review panel as a grad student. Sorry; that's just how it works.
*However*, there *are* other ways to get experience with the grant proposal process. The number-one way: talk to your advisor/PI and ask them. In particular, ask them if you can be involved with the next grant proposal they write. Ask them how you can help. Maybe you can read a draft and offer comments. Maybe you can brainstorm with them. Maybe they can outline a piece of it and you can try writing a draft of a section.
Also, you can ask to see copies of past proposals they've submitted (both funded and unfunded). After you read the proposals, you can ask your advisor for his/her own assessment of the proposal, and even ask to see the reviews of those submissions from review panel, compare to your own assessment, and use this feedback to improve your knowledge.
Quals proposals are another great form of practice at this sort of thing; they require some similar skills. Spend time on your quals proposal and try to make it outstanding. Read other great quals proposals. Offer to give feedback to your fellow students on their quals proposals. Learn as much as you can from that process, as some of those lessons will carry over to help you write better grant proposals. Similarly, getting good at writing a research statement (for a job application or a fellowship application) is a useful skill that has some overlap at formulating and writing grant proposals. Of course, these are not the same as proposal-writing, but the experience will serve you well.
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Tags: peer-review, funding, publications
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thread-5839 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5839 | Supervisor keeps "showstopping" defense with nit-picky grammar errors | 2012-12-18T06:05:44.663 | # Question
Title: Supervisor keeps "showstopping" defense with nit-picky grammar errors
My supervisor keeps on delaying and postponing my defense date, taking long periods of time between revisions (1 month of "revision" where the document is in his hands). He has done this 2 times already, so I have been sitting here waiting for a total of 2 months now. This last "revision" he sent it back to me with six or seven nitpicky grammar errors, (ie places I had left out words such as "the" or "when"), and the content-related comments he had were extremely trivial.
I feel like he keeps on showstopping my defense date due to nitpicky grammar errors, and it is impacting my career (obviously, my Master's degree now has 3 years on it, instead of the expected 2). At this point **I don't care** about grammar errors (and I believe we must have found them all already) or clarity of expression or making perfectionist type improvements. I feel really angry and I feel like writing a letter of complaint to my graduate program director. Each term I have to stay bleeds more money out of my account, and the situation is making me really upset.
So far, I've been very polite and professional and have not "exploded". I've hidden my emotions and my anger and *not* complained about what I feel is getting quite *ridiculous*. Should I complain? Should I let him know how I feel? Or should I just keep on going with it and "grin and bear" until it's over?
# Answer
> 27 votes
The things you call "nitpicky grammar errors" are often (in my experience) symptoms of a deeper problem:
that the student has stopped caring about raising the thesis to a suitably high standard, and has not grasped what "completed" means in the context. An unfinished thesis simply can't be marked.
First, get your own proof-reader, and get help in getting all of these problems fixed - your supervisor is too busy to be a proof-reader, and it's an inefficient use of limited supervisory time.
**Why is the grammar sloppy?**
For different students, the underlying cause will differ; some won't be writing in their native language; some are careless; some have weak language skills; some haven't grasped the importance of good grammar and spelling to clear communication and to academic publishing. I've no idea which of these is true in your case, or if it's something else - that's between you and your supervisor.
**Whose problem is it anyway?**
You don't care about your grammar errors. That is **your** problem, not your supervisor's. You are angry. Again, that's **your** problem. Trying to make it your supervisor's problem, will make an enemy of someone who you need on your side. You think your supervisor's comments on content are trivial, and that is also **your** problem, not your supervisor's problem.
And now this post has maybe made you angry too. And that would also be **your** problem, not my problem.
I say all this, because accepting that they are your problems, is the first step to fixing them.
**Collaboration not conflict**
The problem that I am trying to help you fix, is that your supervisor is telling you what you need to finish, and you seem to resent doing it. Supervision **has** to be a collaborative partnership, not a battle. Now, in theory, it's your supervisor's job to make it such. However, in some cases, in academia as well as in the real world, you often need to manage your manager - and that can mean **you** taking responsibility for ensuring that it is is a collaborative relationship.
So, find out what incentivises your supervisor, and try to put those incentives in place. Is it publishing papers? Esteem within the department? Conference papers? Get your supervisor on your side.
**The worst case**
And (take a deep breath): sometimes, when a thesis is genuinely bad, it's not apparent at first. All one sees on the first couple of readings, are a few errors here, and a few errors there; but when they're corrected, new problems appear.
It gets to be like "Star Wars the Phantom Menace" - the East Coast of the US produced one homebrew re-edit of it, to fix some problems; the West Coast produced a different homebrew re-edit, to fix other problems; but in the end, both re-edits and the original are pretty awful films: fixing the most obvious problems just exposed other problems.
I really really hope that's not the case in your case; but as this answer will hopefully be read by many people in your shoes, then at some point, it will be true for one of them. And at that point, that person and their supervisor need to think about a radical rewrite, or walking away from it as a lost cause.
**Where to go from here**
But for almost all cases, it's just a matter of getting your supervisor onside, getting a definitive list of the problems, and then you doing what your supervisor says is required to fix them. With them, write a checklist, and then return the checklist to them, with a note next to each one, stating how and where you've fixed it, or how you're defending it.
<sub>And finally - this post will inevitably contain spelling and grammar errors - it's Muphry's law in action. But that doesn't invalidate the advice in any way. With language, **context is everything**. This post is not academic scholarship; your thesis is.</sub>
# Answer
> 24 votes
I am going to take a slightly narrower perspective than EnergyNumbers here, and focus on the specific facts of your situation, as you have mentioned them. Note that my conclusions will be derived from this, so if the facts as stated in your question are not correct (either by ellipsis or exaggeration, most likely), my advice would be different.
> taking long periods of time between revisions (**1 month of "revision" where the document is in his hands**). He has done this **2 times already**, so I have been sitting here waiting for a total of 2 months now. This last "revision" he sent it back to me with **six or seven** nitpicky **grammar errors**, (ie places I had left out words such as "the" or "when"), and **the content-related comments** he had were extremely trivial.
Note that I can't consider *“nitpicky”* and *“extremely trivial”* as facts, but as statements of your opinion on the validity and scope of these comments. Also, I assume that your thesis is somewhere between 50 and 100 pages in length (if it's 10 or 500 pages, the problem is different).
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# The busy supervisor hypothesis
This assumes that:
* you did in fact correct the grammar mistakes pointed out to you (and I'd say that 7 such errors in what I assume is a 50–100 page thesis cannot really be considered sloppy writing);
* the content-related comments were few, easily fixed (order of presentation, showing additional data or removing some overly detailed graphs, etc.), and you actually fixed them quickly;
* no further comment was made to you on the overall quality or suitability of your thesis.
Then, you should have a calm and professional discussion with your supervisor, highlighting the difficulty of your current situation and the necessity of working together to reach an outcome satisfactory to both of you. Say explicitly that:
* you understand that a necessary standard has to be met by your thesis,
* you are ready to hear that it is not yet met,
* however, you need more specific guidance to reach this goal, since you have fixed in a timely manner everything that was pointed out to you, and yet you can't defend.
Stay courteous, base your questions (and answers) on facts, and ask for him to do the same. Reading a thesis and commenting on it shouldn't take one month, and if the modifications to be made are as you indicated, no further work on it would be necessary once they have been discussed and integrated.
If that doesn't succeed, and your supervisor seems to busy to devote to you the time necessary or simply doesn't care about it now that the scientific part of the work is over (it happens!), go ask the graduate program director for help. Maybe not by a formal written letter at first, just ask for his advice in a given situation. See what comes out of it.
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In all cases, **whatever you do, stay professional**. You should highlight the harshness of the situation for you, whether when talking to your supervisor or to others, without letting your emotions dominate the discussion. (Yes, it can be hard.)
# Answer
> 9 votes
Your goal is to graduate, i.e. to get the masters degree awarded to you.
You have a roadblock which prevents you from reaching the goal - your supervisor keeps on delaying and postponing your defense date. The reason you stated is that he is taking long periods of time between revisions due to nit-picky grammars errors on the draft of your master thesis. You are asking this question on this board to seek advices on what to do. One of your questions is: should you let him know you're angry or not?
I'll answer your questions by asking you a question first, do you think letting him know you're angry will work? Do you think he will sign on your thesis after you tell him you are angry? Or the situation will become even worse after you express your anger?
I think the answer is the latter - the situation will be even worse. The supervisor is responsible for the quality of the student's thesis. You said in one of your comments, "he doesn't seem to understand the meat of it." No supervisor would put his signature on a thesis he does not understand.
After reading your question a couple of times, I think your English writing is not bad. I cannot say how good the writing of your thesis is because I never read it. If there are any grammar errors, it would take you only days to fix them, not months.
So, what is the problem? I think there is obviously a communication issue. You said you sent him many e-mails(in one of your comments). No avail. You think he did not give you enough time. I believe there should be ways to talk to him. For example, make an appointment on his calendar and say you need to talk to him to address your concerns. He is your supervisor after all. He would have to give you some time no matter how busy he is.
However, what are you going to say in that meeting? Are you going to say you want to graduate, your bank account will dry out, you already spent three years for your masters degree, etc.? Those are your personal issues, not his concern. He is not your parent. He does not care how much money is left in your bank. What he does care is the quality of the thesis. I do believe that he will sign off on your thesis **once he is convinced that your thesis is of good quality.** Now, we are coming back to your question, why he keeps nit-picking the grammar errors? I think there is something between you and him. I, as an outsider, can only guess. A supervisor/advisor is more like a coach. Every coach has his own style. Some would not directly tell you what to do. Instead, he would make you re-read and re-write the thesis to make it more understandable and better. Is he that kind of supervisor? I don't know. What I do believe is, he wants a good thesis. Hope this helps.
**Update after seeing OP's comment** The OP put in a comment in response to Jase's question *So how does your supervisor respond to those e-mails?*, OP says *With progress reports and updates, like, "I'm halfway through this chapter", but I find he basically skimmed it when I get it back.*
My suggestion is, have a presentation for him. It can be just half hour to an hour long. Pretend you're having a defense. Give him the meat of your thesis. So that he won't need to spend that much time to find them in the thesis draft.
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Tags: thesis, advisor
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thread-5867 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5867 | Practical implications of noting "equally contributing authors" | 2012-12-19T13:13:31.690 | # Question
Title: Practical implications of noting "equally contributing authors"
I was recently reading a paper on which the author list had an interesting twist: both the first and second author had an asterisk next to their name, with the footnote "these authors contributed equally."
I'm curious about the practical implications of such a scenario. Obviously, one is listed first and one is listed second (in this case, alphabetical, by last name), and that's how it'll be displayed in citations. However, can the second listed author—who is supposed to be given equal weight to first author regarding credit—list their name first on their CV, even though its listed differently in the journal? Are there any other implications I'm not considering?
# Answer
> 9 votes
I would see such a step as a clear indication of authors contributions **for the record**, so as to make sure this gets accepted as truthful also in the future during promotions, job applications, etc. Technically speaking, in a CV one can write stuff even dishonestly disregarding co-authors (e.g., arbitrarily indicating the percentage of own contribution). This kind of public indication of the contribution tackles the problem once and forever. In some fields the alphabetical order is a standard (mathematicians I know have that as almost a strict rule) and then you need a tool to make your contribution visible. Especially if your name is at your disadvantage in this game. E.g., when you are called Zhang and co-author paper often with some Adams or so. Also, if alphabetic order is desired for whatever reason and the more senior co-author happens to precede the student who did the actual work, such an indication might be desirable.
Another point is, some journals require such an explicit indication. E.g., Nature does that, although the statement of individual contribution comes as a paragraph at the end of the paper.
Finally, some national schemes for evaluation of research output require such an indication made in a publication archive system. Having it included in the paper also indicates that authors try to avoid any future disputes regarding individual contributions.
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Tags: publications, authorship
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thread-5864 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5864 | How to prepare and what is discussed with professors at a PhD interview session? US application | 2012-12-19T10:40:53.840 | # Question
Title: How to prepare and what is discussed with professors at a PhD interview session? US application
I was told that at an interview session for PhD admission I will be meeting each professor I am interested in for about half hour. I was wondering what generally is been discussed. I imagine it would be mostly how my interests are related to the professor's research and why I am interested in his work.
What would be the best way to prepare for these interviews? Should I read two or three publications for each professor?
On what am I being judged?
# Answer
Typically, the point of the interview is two-fold: to help the professor to judge whether you are smart and have potential (two separate things), and to help you judge whether you want to spend the next 4+ years working with this guy as your boss. To that extent, you're being judged on your *potential*, which means you need to show excitement about his research (in that you've read about it and are familiar with it, see below), and lots of enthusiasm. Knowing your stuff is also helpful so you don't look like an idiot.
In most cases, you'll discuss your undergrad work, you'll be asked about your familiarity with the professor's research (basic familiarity goes a long way here), and you'll be told about his current research work. Different professors have wildly different interview styles, so it can be anything from conversational to almost exam-like.
The best way to prepare would be exactly as you suggest; read two or three papers from that professor. I would recommend choosing one with a recent publication date (i.e., within the past 12 months) and the one he has with the most citations. Different search tools allow you to find that for different fields; for example, hubmed allows that for biology/medicine fields.
> 8 votes
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions, interview
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thread-5828 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5828 | How to skim through Phd Theses | 2012-12-18T03:01:46.923 | # Question
Title: How to skim through Phd Theses
My adviser asked me to go over some PhD theses over the weekend, and by some he meant three 200~ pages theses.
Is there an effective way to skim through theses that you have figured out, as more experienced academics. I could not go over all of them without taking most of my weekend doing so.
# Answer
> 14 votes
Of course, you can use existing theses just like you would a journal article where you extract information to guide your research. However, I'd like to focus discussion here on the role of theses as a tool for teaching you how to write your own thesis.
**Choosing theses to deconstruct**: Assuming you are writing a PhD thesis yourself, it can be really helpful to find a selection of other PhD theses in order to give you a sense of what the overall product can look like. Three is a good start, but I would be aiming to find about six or seven. The best theses are probably those that are
* on a similar topic or at least in the same discipline as your thesis and with a broadly similar methodological orientation
* follow a similar structural framework to your own (e.g., similar length, same in terms of whether it is a large thesis or PhD by publication)
* well written
**Things to learn from deconstruction:** Carefully deconstructing such manuscripts can teach you a lot about both what a thesis involves and also what are some of the alternative modes of presentation. For instance you can look at things like:
* How was it formatted
* How many chapters were there and how was content distributed
* How were aims presented and how was the importance of the thesis justified
* How was literature, method,results, and discussion distributed (e.g., some in each chapter or over separate chapters)
* How extensive or focussed was the literature review
* What was the overall scale of the thesis (e.g., amount of data collection, sophistication of analyses, etc.)
* What is the standard expected of a thesis (e.g., seeing the imperfections of theses that have passed can be helpful should you fall victim to perfectionism)
**When in candidature to spend time deconstructing:** In fact, examining and deconstructing theses can be a useful exercise at multiple stages of your PhD candidature.
* At the very start of your PhD it can give you a broad feel for what it is that you are aiming to produce.
* When you are moving towards setting out the overall structure of your thesis in terms of chapters and sections it can give you a feel of whether you are on track
* When you are making formatting and stylistic decisions, existing theses can provide a useful frame of reference.
# Answer
> 3 votes
I would just start from the table of contents. Usually, the whole thesis is not applicable to your current research, but only a pocket full of sections are. Identify the handful of sections that are most relevant to your research, and just read those. Also, if your advisor specifically requested these particular theses, he/she suspects there's something in particular about them that is of value to your research. Ask him/her what it is about these theses that is most fascinating/relevant to your research and just read that part.
**Bottom line:** Don't try to understand everything in it... just find the parts that most apply to you and your research and get the main idea, not the details.
# Answer
> 3 votes
This is probably field dependent. In my field tables and contain the majority of the information.
1. Print the abstract, table of contents, list of figures, list of tables, conclusions, and any lists of symbols/nomenclature. You will need these a lot and it is easier to be able to mark them up.
2. Read the abstract and table of contents. Ideally looking for the things that are interesting to you. If the thesis seems to be well written and well organized, then reading the first paragraph of each chapter might be useful.
3. Work you way through the figures and tables. Ideally you will only need the information in the captions, but you may need to refer to the methods for additional information. Use the printed table of contents and the search function to efficiently. Don't read the methods, only use them when you have a specific question.
4. Read the conclusions. Anything that you don't understand/agree with go back to the figures and tables. If you still don't get it, search the results/discussion for references to the corresponding figure/table. If you still don't get it, decide if you really need it. If so, mark it down to figure out later.
# Answer
> 2 votes
It is hard to assess.
What is your advisor's expectations? is it a detailed review of the hypothesis, methodology and results of the theses? or it is just *to know* thing?
For not spending too much, I would suggest going directly to the **Abstract**. Then there is one or two **core chapters** discussing the ideas. General sense of what is going on these chapters is good enough.
Again, it depends upon your advisor's expectations. This said, i'm *newbie* to academics.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I back up what Paul said, but as I had to do something similar just a few weeks back, here's what worked for me: **I found most relevant publications (articles) by the same author**.
Typically, there's not that much publications related to a thesis, and there's a possibility that most of the papers are just extensions to the first one. Here's what I think from a Computer Science perspective.
* ***Read the first publication** by the author* related to the thesis topic
* Some of the following articles are probably *application focus* for the (novel) technique presented in the first article, or provide a heavy *math background* \- these are not really needed to understand the idea
* There might be an article or two improving the construction algorithm (the concept stays the same, but some implementation improvements)
* In the end, you'll end up reading the **first + one or two other articles** and that will give you a good **idea of what the whole thesis is about**
* Now that you understand the concepts presented in the thesis, *you understand the Table of Contents fully*. You can easily **identify chapters interesting to you**, and read only the selected ones.
It is still a lengthy process, but I think faster than trying to read the whole thesis, and gives a lot result-wise: you not only understood the concepts you needed, but did literature research as well, and know exactly where to look for every type of extra details you might need.
This all said, this is the process that worked for me when *I needed to understand the concept presented, the main idea (but not the details) of implementation, and wanted to be able to apply the concept "by hand" and "on paper" for small mock examples*.
I think the process can be adapted for whatever goal you have in reading the thesis: you almost certainly are not interested in *absolutely everything* presented in the thesis on your first read-out. So, if you are, for example, interested in the *application domain*, you'll read the application focus articles instead, and not math profs.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Every PhD should at least exhibit explicit *contributions* and some *validation* of them. The devil is in the details, but you can start from those two dimensions.
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Tags: phd, thesis, reading
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thread-5873 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5873 | Grades and years after graduation | 2012-12-19T19:05:44.300 | # Question
Title: Grades and years after graduation
What is the significance of undergraduate grades (2.6/4.0) after 5 years of work experience. Do they still carry a value? If your job is not research oriented, e.g. for me I am a software developer on various enterprise Java technologies, how should I project myself to admission committees?
What are your suggestions for me? Getting non degree classes BEFORE APPLYING etc.? Currently, I am in Turkey and I want to enter US Job Market possibly after a MS CS, but if I like I can continue with a Ph.D. So I am an international applicant.
# Answer
Let me add a few points to aeismail's answer.
Whether your work experience counts as positive or negative *also* depends on where you apply. You express interest in a PhD, which suggests that you are aiming for a research masters degree (with a thesis) and not a professional masters degree (just more classes). These two degrees are **very** different. For admission to a *research* MS program, your non-research work experience is unlikely to count in your favor. Your work experience is much more likely to help if you apply to a professional MS program. On the other hand, professional MS degrees are usually considered terminal, *not* as preparation for PhD.
It is possible to move from industry to a research degree program with a low GPA and industry experience—I did it myself—but you will need strong evidence in your application that counteracts your low grades. Specifically:
* You shold take the GRE — both the general and the CS subject test — **and do *really, really* well**, at least in the 80th percentile. This is direct evidence that you're *smart* and that you know the field, counteracting the negative evidence in your transcript. If you take the GRE and *don't* do well, step back, study hard for a few months, and take it again. (Yes, this can get expensive.)
* Your recommendation letters must imply **strong potential for research aptitude**, not just your coding ability or your ability to work in a team. You need to tell your letter-writers to address this issue directly; otherwise, they almost certainly won't.
* Finally, you should consider applying to take courses as a non-degree student.
> 5 votes
# Answer
How much grades matter depends on the institution you apply to. The larger the department or company, the *more* grades will matter, because they will likely be used as an initial screening criterion to "whittle down" the pool. A GPA below 3.0 is not going to help, and at some places, will earn you an instant rejection, work after graduation notwithstanding.
However, if the review is "holistic," and you have outstanding letters from your recommenders, then the impact of the GPA may be lessened. (It will not be completely overlooked, but at the least it won't be a criterion for "bouncing" you without further consideration.)
I should also point out that after graduating, depending upon who you work for, your GPA may still matter. At a start-up or small company, it may not be such a big deal, but I've worked for several large-scale employers who had rather strict GPA cutoffs (well above 3.0 for both undergraduate *and* graduate degrees!). If you were way under this level, it was just not in the hiring manager's interest to spend the time necessary to defend the hire, versus selecting a candidate with a better record. So you may be able to overcome your academic record, but you won't be able to bury it completely.
> 3 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, graduate-admissions
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thread-5860 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5860 | Are there any changes in NSF proposals/awards processes that are likely to be of special interest/relevance to PIs? | 2012-12-18T23:08:17.910 | # Question
Title: Are there any changes in NSF proposals/awards processes that are likely to be of special interest/relevance to PIs?
The NSF has recently released a new version of their Proposal & Award Policies and Procedures Guide, releasing their previous guides. (See their Dear Colleague Letter.) This contains a number of changes to the policies regarding grant proposal reviews and ongoing reporting.
However, it is unclear to me whether any of these are likely to be significant in practice for PIs; many of them sound primarily bureaucratic in nature. The list of changes seems like it was written by a bureaucrat and seems likely to be of interest only to a bureaucrat, and of modest relevance to PIs (e.g., it might change a few section headings in proposals to comply with the new requirements, but not make any fundamental changes to what we propose or how we do research).
Are any of these changes significant enough that PIs should be paying serious attention to them? Are there any changes that are important enough that they would make a substantive change to how we write proposals or do research or interact with the NSF, and if so, which changes are those, and what will their impact be? In short, if a colleague of yours (a fellow PI) asked you what the impact of these changes will be, are there any changes that rise high enough that you would highlight them as important to be aware of?
# Answer
> 4 votes
At the top of a recent NSF Solicitation the following note exists:
> A revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), NSF 13-1, was issued on October 4, 2012 and is effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 14, 2013.
>
> Please be aware that significant changes have been made to the PAPPG to implement revised merit review criteria based on the National Science Board (NSB) report, National Science Foundation's Merit Review Criteria: Review and Revisions. While the two merit review criteria remain unchanged (Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts), guidance has been provided to clarify and improve the function of the criteria. Changes will affect the project summary and project description sections of proposals. Annual and final reports also will be affected.
>
> A by-chapter summary of this and other significant changes is provided at the beginning of both the Grant Proposal Guide and the Award & Administration Guide.
By my reading of the section in the PDF that lists the changes, the following might be of interest to PIs:
> Chapter II.C.2.f(i)(c), Biographical Sketch(es), has been revised to rename the “Publications” section to “Products” and amend terminology and instructions accordingly. This change makes clear that products may include, but are not limited to, publications, data sets, software, patents, and copyrights.
Plus, a minor change to the Indirect Costs section w.r.t. international participants, a minor change in the Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources listing,
A change in the definition of "New Awardee":
> Chapter II, Introduction, has been modified regarding the period of time after which an organization is considered a “new awardee”. Organizations that have not had an active NSF award within the last five years (formerly two years) should be prepared to submit basic organization and management information and certifications.
Prior funding:
> Chapter II.C.2.d, Project Description, has been revised to clarify that, in the Results from Prior NSF Support section, “prior” NSF support includes current NSF funding. This section also was updated to indicate that information should be included irrespective of whether or not the support was directly related to the proposal, or whether or not salary support was provided.
References Cited:
> Chapter II.C.2.e, References Cited, has been updated to specify that if there are no references cited, a statement to that effect should be included in this section of the proposal and uploaded into FastLane.
And various other minor changes...
# Answer
> 0 votes
No, there are no earth-shattering changes.
There are some minor changes that you may need to be aware of when you write a proposal, but they mostly come down to changes the titles of sections and that sort of thing. They may affect some PIs, but for most PIs, the changes are primarily clarifications or modest bureaucratic tweaks. For example, they are unlikely to change that way that grant review panels review proposals, or to change how you are allowed to spend the money that you receive in a grant.
One change you'll notice is how you enter the summary page. Instead of preparing a one-page summary page, you now will have to paste your text into three separate textboxes (project overview, intellectual merit, broader impacts), and the length limit is in characters rather than pages.
There's a great summary in the Chronicle of Higher Education: Don't Underestimate NSF's New Grant-Submission Rules.
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Tags: funding, nsf
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thread-5902 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5902 | Research approach for PhD thesis in Taoism: top down vs. bottom up | 2012-12-21T23:42:14.973 | # Question
Title: Research approach for PhD thesis in Taoism: top down vs. bottom up
*Originally I conceived of posting a "Roadmap for researching x" but I assume that would be too localized for this site.*
**Background:** After much dilly-dallying, I have finally zoned in to pursue lifetime in Taoist research. I have studied mathematical philosophy, cultural anthropology, symbolic logic and enrolled in Eastern studies class for next semester. I understand the professor for latter class would be an excellent source of reference but currently semester is closed.
**Problems facing:** As I learned in English class it is important to take copious notes during research even if it means 24 hours so I am currently photographing everything that pertains to Taoism. But due to the complex nature of the subject itself and the concept of *wu-wei*, action in non-action, I am unsure as to how to approach research. I understand if I pursue degree in this field I should familiarize myself with the language and journals and pretty much everything that is related to it. This brings me to my original point:
**Question:** What would be a good strategy to do research on Taoism? Do I conceive of a thesis and work downwards from it? Or do I start from the scratch - so to speak- and bootstrap my way to a knowledge base. Problem with latter and given the complex nature is if I start with no thesis, then it would be an aimless wandering. But- then again, isn't that what Taoism is all about?
**EDIT**: In lieu of JeffE's comment below I am rephrasing the original question:
> During a research, is it a good idea to start with a working thesis as early as possible?
# Answer
In general, I agree with JeffE. Both top down and bottom up.
In the case of Taoism, there is more - how proficient is your Chinese?
You said *pursue lifetime in Taoist research*. I am not sure you can do that without knowledge in Chinese language equivalent to at least masters degree in Chinese.
Taoism is rooted from Laozi's original text *Daodejing*. Reference Taoism. Most native Chinese speakers do not understand that text. If you want to conduct life time research in Taoism, that book is a must read and must understand. Without fully understanding that text, you are at best a second class researcher in Taoism.
I am a native Chinese speaker. How much do I understand the text? Less than 5%. If I spend 20 years or more on it, I might be able to understand 80% of it. Actually, I am bluffing. Some people contribute his whole life in it and then claimed that he only understood less than half.
> 9 votes
# Answer
I can't help at all specifically on the Taoism part, but as an answer to your final question:
> During a research, is it a good idea to start with a working thesis as early as possible?
You are talking about a thesis, and posting here, so I presume you want to do research in academical environment.
In my experience, you have **Bachelor and Master years** for establishing a **broad knowledge base** and identifying your interests.
Once you start **as a PhD student**, you get a **research topic**, but since it is research, it is **subject to changes**. The topic was defined before you actually immersed in the subject, so while you are working towards that goal while pursuing your thesis, the goal can change as you learn new things.
Oh, and you really don't need to familiarize yourself "with the language and journals and *pretty much everything* that is related to it" *before* pursuing a degree.
*Note:* The precise names of stages and the line between *broad* and *focused* research might be different elsewhere, but I think both phases should exist. In case you're aiming to start directly at a "focused research" phase, my (subjective) advice would be to take some time before to do some broad research on your own.
> 4 votes
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Tags: phd, research-process, thesis
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thread-5908 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5908 | Refer to arxiv version? | 2012-12-22T08:08:19.890 | # Question
Title: Refer to arxiv version?
Am I breaking some kind of rule if I'm adding the arxiv link to the bibitem for an article that's published in a journal? I thought obviously not until I noticed that (link to arxiv) and (page number in journal) are quite mutually exclusive.
# Answer
**No.** I think giving the arxiv link is *fine*. One alternative is to have two bibitem entries, one for the journal version and another for the arxiv version. I find it valuable to include the journal reference, because that shows that the article has been refereed (so its claims gain legitimacy). But I also see the value of including the arxiv version, particularly if the journal is hard to access.
> 13 votes
# Answer
Many copy editors will remove arXiv links to published papers, but usually they'll put them back in if you insist.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Technically, an arxiv version of a paper is different from a journal version. This can be a problem if you (for example) cite a particular theorem or lemma in a math paper that has a different number (or doesn't exist) in the arxiv version.
You didn't mention why you're adding the arxiv link. If you wish to add a link to a freely accessible document, then you could add a note in the text to that effect and cite the arxiv version in addition to the journal version. Otherwise, if you merely want a link to an online version, then you should be using the DOI link for the journal.
> 3 votes
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Tags: etiquette, arxiv, citations, mathematics
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thread-5876 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5876 | How should course content be shared between instructors? | 2012-12-19T21:40:16.867 | # Question
Title: How should course content be shared between instructors?
I am a PhD student at a fairly large university, and I have twice taught a 200 level course for my department. The course is a new course that I developed. All of the lecture and lab content for this course was developed from scratch. As I will be graduating shortly (*fingers crossed*), a faculty member is scheduled to take over this course. My question is, "should I pass my course content on to said faculty?" I am primarily concerned about passing my slides on verbatim. Some issues I am concerned about are my indebtedness to the department (I developed some content while a TA and some while an adjunct.), ownership of the slides (What rights do I have to my content?), and distribution of content (How can I prevent the material from being further distributed?). I am interested in the issue of sharing content in general and not just in this one instance. Any guidance is much appreciated!
edit - as a colleauge of mine pointed out, I think there is a power imbalance issue as well. The faculty at my university are generally disinclined to share material with graduate students. Most grad students have to develop their own content. On the other hand, grad students are being asked to pass on material to faculty.
# Answer
In my opinion: **Yes, you should certainly pass over all course material**.
My colleague took over a course from another colleague who had left. My colleague know much less about the subject than the one who had left, so putting together a good course was a challenge for him. In theory, he had passed over all course material, but in practice, it was not very well organised, and my colleague ended up having to build it mostly from scratch.
As you have probably experienced, the first time you give a course is **by far** the most work, because you have to create everything from scratch. It helps enormously to have access to earlier course material. You lose very little by giving away course material. It's probably not publishable anyway — and if it is, passing it on to the next doesn't disqualify you from publishing it as a review or textbook, because passing it on is not a publication.
The only situation I can imagine where it would be problematic is if the person who you pass it on to claims it as their own and incorporates it in a review paper or textbook. But if you have any trust for the person, they won't do that, and it's much better to simply make all the course material available. Probably for the entire world.
> 13 votes
# Answer
In some cases, ownership may be defined in your contract. In the US, intellectual property law usually assigns ownership of works created during the course of expected duties of employment to the employer. The employee may or may not retain ownership, depending on the contract that was signed.
Your institution may also have ownership over all course materials, since you created them while you were an employee doing expected duties (teaching). Thus, they can do whatever they want with them, including assigning, licensing, or selling their ownership. Your ownership, however, would remain intact, if you had ownership. Your ownership cannot be reassigned or sold without your permission or under court order. You may have already give permission waiving ownership by signing your contract.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Complementing the other answers, that are more specific to the text in your question (being a TA and giving up the material), I'll add how I "roll" as a faculty member with my teaching assistants after 10+ years.
I have amassed a lot of material for several of the first-year courses I was "stuck with" in the beginning. It's true that some academic tradition is to ask TAs to develop their own material without any sharing from faculty. Some faculty I have spoken with feel it's how a TA builds character; others say it's a way to see if a TA has potential as a researcher; others say it's simply *tradition*.
In my case, my courses are too important to have TAs test out their worth and possibly crash and burn due to lack of support (it happened once that the students revolted, and this problem fell back into my lap, being the faculty member in charge of the course). So I learned my lesson to hand over everything, with the caveat that the TA know the material in the books and not think of the material as being a "pass" at teaching the course. I always encourage TAs to re-do their presentation slides, only because presenting is a personal style, and it's risky to present someone else's material with confidence.
After I started sharing, one TA added some exercises that were well done, but he didn't want to give them back, saying it was his property and he was underpaid, etc. Fair enough, since I didn't state any expectations when I gave out my material.
So, now I will give my material out to any new TAs who sign an informal contract (email response) saying that by accepting the material, they agree to improve on it (add exercises, examples, exam questions, multiple-choice questions, analyses, etc.) and render it back to the community (me). This has worked well with many TAs, and frankly the cooperation factor is very high.
Another practical aspect: I ask TAs to cite sources of material they borrow (just as they do in their research reports). The course material is already full of citations, so it's natural. In the distant past, some undergrad students raised a stink (rightly!) about TAs who copy/paste figures/text from web sources without citing them in Powerpoint. In one case, a TA was fired because he wouldn't change this behavior.
As for *how* to share, today I'm using Google Drive (our school has the academic license). In the past I used Dropbox and both ways are very practical.
> 4 votes
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Tags: teaching
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thread-5914 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5914 | How much info should I put in my CV under education | 2012-12-22T19:01:04.207 | # Question
Title: How much info should I put in my CV under education
In an academic CV, how much information do you put in the education field for each degree (assume the person is a post-grad/early career)?
### Option 1: Degree, Specialization, Department, University, Year, Advisor, Thesis
> **Ph. D.** in Foo science (2012)
> Some Named School of Science, University of Bar,
> Thesis: *Qux control in Baz networks*
> Advisor: J. Q. Public
### Option 2: Degree, Specialization, Department, University, Year
> **Ph. D.** in Foo science (2012)
> Some Named School of Science, University of Bar
### Option 3: Degree, Specialization, University, Year
> **Ph. D.** in Foo Engineering, University of Bar (2012)
### Option 4: Degree, University, Year
> **Ph. D.**, University of Bar (2012)
I've often seen options 1 or 2 and in some cases, where there is a bigger body of work (publications, grants, etc.) to speak for the person than their degree, I've seen option 3. Option 4 is rarer, but one common trait among those that I've seen it with is that they are now working in a field different from what they did their PhD in and do not wish to bring attention to that (lest it hurt any chances). For example, a PhD in Physics now working in Computational Biology. I think CGPAs are pretty silly when it comes to research positions, but I'm not sure if I'm the only one.
However, I don't know what the expectations of the person seeing my CV are. I don't mean random visitors to my website or corporate HRs, but other academics who might be interested in working with me. Granted, if they're an academic, they'll probably focus on my publications more, but there's also *something* that's expected from a CV.
# Answer
I would agree that option 1 is the most likely option for someone who is just coming out of graduate school, and is looking to continue in the same field for a while.
The department *should* be listed when relevant—that is, if the program in which the degree is awarded is different from the specialization in some where. For instance, if your PhD is in engineering, but the department conferring it is materials science, you should say something like number 2, rather than number 3.
I don't think there are many instances in which number 4 is very useful, because it looks like you're hiding what you did for a PhD. There are very few circumstances I can think of where this would work—except if the job call specifically required a degree from a particular subset of disciplines, to which you don't belong. But then something will probably come to light from the letters of recommendation, or from some other part of the application.
So, I'd stick with options 1 or 2, for the reasons I've outlined above.
> 3 votes
# Answer
First of all, I would never use option 4 since the most important information (subject!) is missing and in my opinion it is more important than the school or the year.
To answer your question: Maybe a combination of the option 1-3 would be appropriate in such a sense that the latest degree is used with option 1 and the oldest degree is used with option 2 or 3.
For example: If you have a PhD and a Master degree in some subject, no one is interested in the name of your Bachelor Thesis or your advisor. People then are normally interested only if you did your Bachelor in the same subject and maybe in which year.
> 1 votes
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Tags: research-process, postdocs, cv
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thread-5870 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5870 | MD-Phd (MSTP): What are the benefits? | 2012-12-19T16:46:59.673 | # Question
Title: MD-Phd (MSTP): What are the benefits?
I have BS in Biotech, an MS in Neuroscience and applying MD-Phd next June. I have always wanted to go into academia and eventually establish my own lab. However, I have been receiving a lot of critical feedback about MD-Phd programs. Suggesting that to be a good Physician, you don't need a PhD, and good PhDs don't need the MD. That most MSTP graduates end up utilizing only one degree. I was under the impression to do good translation research--an MD-PhD would be the best option. What are the befits/disadvantages of applying MD-PhD?
I know the faculty I would like to work with, already. Would contacting them improve my chances during the application process?
# Answer
Doing good translational research is hard because it requires a good understanding of clinical issues (both from the patient and carer sides) and a strong research background. In order to obtain those skills you need to spend time in the clinic and time in the lab. An MD-PhD program guarantees that you will have the opportunity to spend time in both environments. It is worth noting that having that opportunity doesn't mean you will capitalize on it. Further, you don't need to do an MD-PhD to have that opportunity.
Another advantage of some MD-PhD programs is that you can get funding for the MD side. If it is what you want to do, saving 100k USD isn't a bad thing. If it isn't what you want, trading a few years of an MD salary for 100k is a bad investment.
> 5 votes
# Answer
It depends a lot on the kind of research you envisage doing. Since you say that you want to go into academia, I'll look at it as "what added value does an MD provide". My understanding of these things is that if you want to do almost anything patient facing, having an MD makes it a lot easier. Others have mentioned access to certain kinds of grants as well. But for example if you plan to work with flies or mouse models, then getting an MD in addition might not be a good time/money trade off.
> 3 votes
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Tags: phd, research-process, graduate-admissions, career-path, medicine
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thread-5874 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5874 | Letters of recommendation: what information to give to a recommender | 2012-12-19T20:55:54.210 | # Question
Title: Letters of recommendation: what information to give to a recommender
The head of our department is writing a letter of recommendation for me for MD-PhD (MSTP) programs. I have two graduate level classes with him. He is very busy and writes letters regularly for students. I want to make sure that he does not end up using a canned letter.
I will be sending him my C.V., Cover Letter, and letter of intention. What else should I provided? He knows me in a classroom setting--I have not done research in his lab.
# Answer
> 16 votes
You won't find a better or more complete answer to this question than the one given here, by Professor David E. Keyes. Here is the key paragraph:
> Likely reference writers (for instance, well-known professors of core courses) are sought out by many well-qualified candidates. To ensure that such a writer is well primed to execute your reference efficiently, you should create a self-contained packet containing all the information the author will need to dispatch the reference in one sitting: (1) contact information for the recipient of the letter, (2) a description of the position and application closing date, (3) your own application essays and cover letter, (4) a resume, (5) relevant transcripts and scores, and (6) an explanation of the niche of the writer! It is very useful, as a reference writer, to receive a reminder along the following lines: "Professor Keyes, your letter will be the one that comments most authoritatively about my analytical ability, my promptness in completing projects, and my reasons for wanting to pursue X next fall. Remember that you gave me an A– in partial differential equations two years ago and it was your suggestion that led to my summer at Los Alamos with Y." You should provide this packet in both hard and soft copy. Writers of lots of references maintain files that may be hard or soft, or both, and you should make it easy for those writers to locate your files quickly for subsequent updating and future requests.
>
> Some faculty write many dozens of letters of reference during peak months, and they may even ask candidates for sample text to be incorporated into letters, to ensure that they capture their niches. You should not be flustered at such a request, and should not be modest in complying. You should be aware, though, that your words will not pass directly into the delivered product; they will be used simply to get the author's juices flowing following the formulaic paragraphs of the letter.
# Answer
> 3 votes
When I agree to write a letter of recommendation for a student, I ask him/her for the information listed here, including most of what David mentioned, as well as a self-assessment of the student's strengths and weaknesses and a list of long-term career goals.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Send him information about the program and department you are applying to. Also ask him/her if they might know someone in the department you are applying to. It might be beneficial to name that contact person in the cover letter. Finally provide a deadline.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Give your letter-writer a packet containing:
* A copy of your transcript (showing what courses you've taken and the grades you've gotten).
* A copy of your personal statement or other essays that go with your applications.
* A brag sheet, with reminders of things your letter writer might want to mention. This might include significant acomplishments. It should also include reminders of interactions you've had with the professor (e.g., you may remember that you suggested I study with wibbly wobbets do or don't wangle their wuckets; see my research paper, where I found that they do, but only on Tuesdays; or, you may remember that I solved two of the optional bonus problems in your class).
* A list of places where you are applying, and the deadline for each. Highlight the first deadline.
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Tags: phd, graduate-school, graduate-admissions, advisor, recommendation-letter
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thread-5934 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5934 | Must a master's thesis fall within one's advisor's area of expertise? | 2012-12-25T08:39:32.677 | # Question
Title: Must a master's thesis fall within one's advisor's area of expertise?
When I studied my bachelor's degree, my professors often let me write papers in whatever area I wanted, even if it was an area completely outside of their expertise. Within master's programs, is this still the case, or must students generally stay within the specific expertise of their professors or advisors?
In my particular situation, I want to study second language acquisition (SLA), however, none of the programs I can attend have professors knowledgeable in my particular language of focus. Is it likely that I'll face resistance from advisors in trying to write my research papers and thesis about a language which none of the school's faculty are familiar with?
# Answer
> 9 votes
Whether an advisor will agree to supervise a master's thesis outside of their area of expertise depends on the advisor. It may also vary between fields or universities, but I believe the personal variance will be much higher, so the best way to find out is to ask a potential advisor.
As for whether it's a good idea, I see three issues.
1. You will not receive expert advice in your chosen area. Of course, there's a trade-off here: would you rather study what you love best without expert advice, or get better advising on another topic?
2. You may receive actively bad advice. To avoid this difficulty, it's important for you to read extensively and to choose an advisor who is open minded and flexible.
3. Your advisor may not write an enthusiastic letter of recommendation for you. Sometimes an advisor will let a student choose to do whatever they want, but when the advisor recommends the student, it becomes clear that the advisor is uninterested in the student's work and unimpressed by it. I've seen this cause trouble for several people, so I strongly recommend trying to find an advisor who is actually enthusiastic about your topic (even if it's not what they work on).
In your specific case, choosing to study second language acquisition in a language nobody on the faculty speaks sounds like only a mild concern (assuming you speak it fluently or have access to excellent informants), since I imagine much of the advising would be about research methodology or language acquisition theories, rather than language-specific issues. However, I don't know enough about this area to say for sure.
# Answer
> 7 votes
A master's thesis is an original piece of work by the candidate on any topic that falls within the scope of the master's program. In principle, at least at my university, there is no formal requirement that the advisor be expert of the topic of the thesis, even if this would clearly help a lot from a student's perspective. Going for a topic outside of the professors' expertise requires a strong motivation on the candidate's side.
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Tags: masters, thesis
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thread-5941 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5941 | I would like to build a web scraper for a list of scientific papers libraries, what are the legal limits? | 2012-12-25T21:51:16.430 | # Question
Title: I would like to build a web scraper for a list of scientific papers libraries, what are the legal limits?
I am a researcher, and I would like to scrape a list of scientific libraries sites such as Springerlink.com, ScienceDirect.com, IEEExplore digital library and so on, to analyse them for some purpose. In this task I'm interested in abstracts, and full text of publicly accessible papers, I would like to know the legal framework of this, since that I read before (but I don't remember where and how to find it again) that this is illegal, and if I do that any new request from my IP address to those sites will be rejected. It means that this task will be considered as a Denial of service attack.
To what extent this is true?
# Answer
> 16 votes
1. I am not a lawyer. This is a legal question. Get proper legal advice.
2. The legal framework is contract law, and intellectual property law. There may also be implications for other parts of the legal code if your scraping behaves like, or could be interpreted as, a denial-of-service attack or hacking.
3. Read each site's terms and conditions. Understand the contract of use for each site. Interpret each contract within the legal context of the contract's jurisdiction.
4. Take into account intellectual property law within your own country, and the publisher's country. You might also need to consider intellectual property law within the country where the web-server is located, too.
5. Do bear in mind that there have been recent attempts across several jurisdictions to bring intellectual property within criminal, rather than civil law / contracts.
6. I am not a lawyer. This is a legal question. Get proper legal advice.
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Tags: publications
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thread-5928 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5928 | How does the pricing system of degrees in England work? | 2012-12-24T22:32:29.930 | # Question
Title: How does the pricing system of degrees in England work?
I am considering studying a master's degree in England, however, the price system is quite unlike the system in the US, at least in wording, so I am uncertain how to estimate the costs.
The schools I looked at listed the fees in one of two ways:
> Cost (2013-14)
>
> £3,000
or
> Fee
>
> UK/EU: £1,000
>
> Part-Time: £500
>
> International: £4,000
>
> Part-Time: £2,000
Most schools require that master's degree students complete four 30-credit modules, each taking 8-10 weeks, depending on the school, as well as one 60-credit dissertation.
* Under the price system used in England, how can I estimate the total cost of tuition for an entire master's degree?
* Do schools in England often apply additional costs, such as registration fees, technology fees, renovation fees, or special course fees, as is typical of US schools?
# Answer
Most UK Masters degrees are a single year. Even if for some reason you get an extension (e.g. to finish your dissertation), you will only be charged tuition for the taught year, maybe a small fee for remaining registered. But the International fee will just be it (unless you are from the EU, in which case the home fee is it), and normally includes any bench fees.
Note the fixed tuition costs matters less for Masters students, but is a huge win over US degrees for PhDs – you normally only pay 3 years tuition even if you take 4 or even 5 years to finish.
A part time degree will probably take about twice as long and you will have to pay the fee for double the number of years. If you are legally allowed to work in the UK, or you can telecommute to a part-time job in your home country, this can be a win. Though keep in mind that the cost of living is very high in the UK and will probably exceed your tuition even if you are full time.
Anyway, UK universities are very keen to get Masters students, if you just email the contact for a university they will give you full numbers.
> 4 votes
# Answer
First work out whether the price you're given is per module (such as is done by the Open University) or per year (common for most other universities).
If the former, find out how many points you'll need for the degree you want, and the number of points per module. And calculate accordingly. So if it's £1000 per module, one module is 15 point, and you need 90 points, then your total cost is £1000 x 90 / 15 = £6000
If the latter, multiply the fees by the course length. So, for example, if it's £2000 per year part time, and will take you three years to do it part time, the total fee cost will be 3 x £2000 = £6000.
As you've seen, the fees will vary depending on whether you're a UK/EU citizen or not. International is lazy shorthand for non-EU. There may be a residency criterion as well as a nationality criterion (e.g. Bachelors degrees at Scottish universities).
> 1 votes
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Tags: masters
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thread-5929 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5929 | Why are small fonts the norm in research papers? | 2012-12-25T03:56:58.140 | # Question
Title: Why are small fonts the norm in research papers?
Is it just me or are the published articles a strain on the eyes in general? Has there been(/shouldn't there be) a study on optimal font sizes for reading?
# Answer
> 27 votes
This is a historical anachronism. The fonts are chosen for the print version of the journal. For a print version, if you use a smaller font, you can squeeze more text onto the same page and print the same paper on fewer pages -- which saves money. So, for print publications, the small font size arguably makes sense. However, today print is less important and the digital format is more important, but journal requirements haven't caught up to this fact.
For instance, in computer science, the ACM is a notorious offender: they require papers to use 9pt fonts, which are very small.
# Answer
> 22 votes
Journal prescribed fonts haven't really caught up with the digital era. They were optimized for a time of print, where each page had a price. Unfortunately, researchers are required to use fonts specified by the publisher at a conference. But many people usually upload a more readable version on a web page or the arxiv - 11pt tends to be reasonable.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I prefer the old-fashioned way of reading papers: print it and read with text-marker, and I find the usual font sizes OK (sometimes too large when printing on A4 paper). Margins of ca. 4 cm per column are (would be) nice, though.
Monitor space is much too valuable for more than taking a glance which paper exactly I want to get from my collection. Where should I edit notes, do calculations and see graphs/images/man pages if most of the monitor is taken up by the paper?
I did print much less when I had 2 monitors, but at my new place I have only one. And anyways, no monitors can hold as much easily accessible information as a bunch of papers laid out on a large table.
(But I LaTeX my papers, so whoever wants larger fonts is welcome to rerun them with other settings).
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Tags: publications, publishers, formatting
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thread-5953 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5953 | How to request transcript copies from universities in the Netherlands? | 2012-12-26T17:07:39.947 | # Question
Title: How to request transcript copies from universities in the Netherlands?
In the US, one can request that the university from which one graduated to send copies of one's transcript to other universities (graduate admissions) or prospective employers. I would like to know what is the provision in the Netherlands, if one needs to send a copy of one's transcript to the university in the US.
# Answer
The best thing to do is probably to contact the student administration of your university. They can make certified copies of your diploma (and presumably also grade transcripts, etc.). You can also contact the Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs at http://www.duo.nl/, which are also authorised to make certified copies.
However, it may be that "ordinary" photocopies suffice, if you tell them that you can show the originals later if necessary. You would have to check with the admissions office though, I do not know about the situation in the US.
> 4 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, application, united-states
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thread-5956 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5956 | Certificate in data mining | 2012-12-26T22:16:47.320 | # Question
Title: Certificate in data mining
I am interested about getting a certificate in data mining. I found three so far, and these are the following:
1. MIT - Data and Models in Engineering, Science, and Business
2. Stanford - Data Mining and Applications Graduate Certificate
3. UCSD - Data Mining Certificate
Has anyone taken any of these courses, and are they worth it? Would I benefit in terms of career opportunities with one of such certificates? I already have a background in data mining, however nothing is on paper, so I thought it might be good idea to get a certificate.
# Answer
As with any certificate course, it really depends on what you intend on getting out of the program. All of those are well-respected universities, and the coursework will almost certainly be extremely informative. In that regard, you'll learn a lot. On the other hand, there exists a frankly ridiculous amount of high-quality, freely available information online related to data mining from many universities, including some of those you listed above, so you can definitely learn all that without paying a not-insignificant sum for the experience.
Regarding job prospects, it really depends on where you're looking to be hired. This answer from Workplace.SE is an *excellent* overview of how useful a certificate can be in helping you get hired, and this question from Programmers.SE has many useful answers discussing how certificates like the ones you mention are viewed in industry. Long story short, they're usually not that useful for jobs unless they're industry standards, which the ones you list are not.
> 6 votes
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Tags: job, education, degree, certification
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thread-5960 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5960 | Is a German Hochschule able to offer a Ph.D.? | 2012-12-27T09:23:15.723 | # Question
Title: Is a German Hochschule able to offer a Ph.D.?
Can German Hochschule offer a Ph.D.? I know that some of them can't, but does this apply to any hochschule or does it differ from one to another?
# Answer
I should warn that I am not an expert on this, but this is how I understand it. Basically, there are different types of "Hochshule". There is the Universität, which always has the right to offer Ph.D.'s. Then there are the Hochschule and Fachhochschule. The latter in general is more oriented to learning a trade (as an electrical engineer, for example) as opposed to more research focused. The Fachhocschule don't have the Promotionsrecht, that is, that cannot hand out Ph.D degrees. As for the Hochschule, there it depends. Some are on the same level as a Universität. In that case, they can hand out Ph.D. degrees, otherwise not. Presumably the deciding factor is whether there is any substantial research component at the Hochschule or not.
More information can be found here: http://www.hochschulkompass.de/en/higher-education-institutions.html. There you can also search if a specific Hochschule can grant PhD degrees or not.
> 6 votes
# Answer
One further note to clarify is that using "Ph.D." to denote doctoral degrees in Germany is somewhat nebulous, as many of the doctoral degree-granting institutions in Germany *do not* award Ph.D.'s. Instead, the range of doctoral degrees is somewhat broader. For instance, the institution where I work offers the *Dr. rer. nat.* and the *Dr.-Ing.*, but not a Ph.D. In fact, we are not even allowed to use the term "Ph.D." in our advertising of our doctoral degree programs.
So, if you are asking "can German universities award doctoral degrees," Pieter's answer above is correct. However, if you mean literally "can German universities award Ph.D.'s," I'd have to say the answer is essentially "no."
> 10 votes
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Tags: phd, graduate-school, germany
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thread-5951 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5951 | How to notify admissions that one quit another program? | 2012-12-26T12:32:40.917 | # Question
Title: How to notify admissions that one quit another program?
I completed one term of a master's program before finding it was not what I expected, so I promptly quit. Now, I am sending fall application letters to other master's programs, for which I will be a paying student, but am uncertain how to mention this previous program, or whether that is even necessary. I do intent to send a transcript, as I want to transfer a few credits, however, should I mention this elsewhere in my application? Place a line on my CV? Mention this previous program in my application letters? Offer an explanation upfront describing why I left the program?
I found generally useful advice in Is transferring to another university an option for an unhappy PhD student?, but the answers do not explain what etiquette one should follow in reporting such a situation.
# Answer
For your CV, don't focus on the fact that you quit the other program, but that you attended it for one term. As such, it would fit best in the section where you list your past education. Definitely send your transcript, because it shows that you achieved some things during that term, and will also count into the evaluation of your current knowledge.
The more delicate aspect is of course how to explain your quitting without full completion of the other program. However, I don't think that it will be a very critical aspect of your application. Such switches happen a lot, for various good reasons, and reviewers of your application will not automatically view it as negative if you don't push them in that direction. If you have good explanations for switching the program, you can put it in a motivation letter. For example, how, during the other program, you discovered that the program you are applying to know fits much better to your interests and skills. The CV wouldn't be be a good place for such reasons. If you can't offer an explanation that gives your application a bonus point, don't try to discuss around it in your application documents. But be prepared for questions in this direction in a potential interview.
> 4 votes
# Answer
The important thing here is that you realize that you *do* need to report this information to schools to which you will be applying, as it will matter in their deliberations over your application. That said, you do have some degree of latitude in finding the best way to inform the schools of this. If they have a "special notes" or "additional information" question in the application, that might be a good place to put such information. Otherwise, you would want to mention it somewhere in the cover letter (if you get to include one) or personal statement (if you don't).
However, this information should be provided *by you*; don't leave it for the people writing your recommendation letters to mention. That will just raise more red flags.
> 8 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, masters, etiquette
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thread-5961 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5961 | Is it acceptable practice to list solitary courses on an academic CV? | 2012-12-27T09:35:44.800 | # Question
Title: Is it acceptable practice to list solitary courses on an academic CV?
I took some solitary graduate-level courses as a non-degree student at some US schools and plan to take further modules in England. These courses relate to my other degrees and certificates, but are from more elite institutions and provide more advanced, specialized training not easily found elsewhere. Is it acceptable practice to list solitary courses on an academic CV? What section and in what format might this appear in?
# Answer
**Acceptable? Sure. Useful? Probably not.**
If you're applying to graduate programs, then listing these courses would be appropriate. On the other hand (at least for US schools), you need to submit official transcripts for those courses anyway. Also, if you expect those courses to play a significant role in your admission, you need to make that case in your application statement.
If you're applying to an academic position that is primarily teaching, then listing the courses might be appropriate to show that you have at least taken courses on the topics you intend to teach. But if you expect those courses to play a significant role in your hiring, you need to make that case in your application statements.
If you're applying to an academic position that is primarily research (including most postdocs and tenure-track faculty positions), there's no point in listing what courses you've taken. With rare exceptions, your research record (as listed in your CV, described in your research statement, and judged in your letters) is essentially the only thing that matters for such positions. Teaching experience might play a role, but classes that you've merely *taken* won't. If you think specific courses significantly strengthen your case—making you one of those rare exceptions—you need to to make that case in your application statements.
> 10 votes
# Answer
The long form of my CV used to include a few example courses to indicate what I'd learned on my various degrees (after the degree I said "courses included: ..."). I have no idea whether that helped, but I don't see how it can hurt, unless it makes the CV too long & people miss something more significant. But I think it does show something about your specific interests and level of commitment to academia.
> 1 votes
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Tags: cv, coursework
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thread-5937 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5937 | Are studies centered around one's own students regarded as publish-worthy scholarship within educational research? | 2012-12-25T13:25:10.190 | # Question
Title: Are studies centered around one's own students regarded as publish-worthy scholarship within educational research?
I have read a number of papers within the field of educational research where researchers simply used their own classes for testing. For example, they test one of their classes with a certain type of instruction, but leave another class without this instruction, then: (1) test which group of students did better and (2) collect student opinions about the lesson.
While I can understand why a teacher might conduct an "informal" study on their classroom, I cannot understand why this would regarded as publish-worthy research. It is possible that I am simply misunderstanding the benefit and purpose of publishing such studies?
> **Within educational research, is it regarded as acceptable practice to publish research which is only conducted on such conveniently available groups?**
# Answer
> 5 votes
> Within educational research, is it regarded as acceptable practice to publish research which is only conducted on such conveniently available groups?
Sadly, yes. In fact, some of the most noted and most often quoted work on the psychology of learning was conducted by Jean Piaget on his own children.
**However**, there is a benefit to conducting such small studies of the type you describe. In the type of study you describe, where an instructor teaches two sections of the same course at the same institution to the same body of students that are otherwise identical except for whatever change in pedagogy the instructor desires, many confounding variables are inherently accounted for. Principal among these are the "instructor effect" and the "student-to-teacher ratio". Additionally, two sections at the same institution should be influenced similarly by demographic, socioeconomic, and academic effects on the student population.
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Tags: research-process, teaching
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thread-5974 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5974 | How to handle multiple versions of a paper (e.g. conference and journal version) | 2012-12-28T19:38:25.620 | # Question
Title: How to handle multiple versions of a paper (e.g. conference and journal version)
A usual flow of a project (in my field) commonly looks like this:
> having a result -\> (1) writing a paper (with all the proofs) -\> (2) making a conference version -\> (3) uploading a full version to eprint -\> (4) journal version
Usually, (2) is a shorter version of (1); and (3) is almost the same as (1) up to some changes that came up during the process of making (2); Yet, the work on (2) and (3) happens almost at the same time.
The question is how to deal with maintaining both versions (full + short) of the same paper.
So far I have been keeping two separate "papers", but this solutions has its problems: if you make a change to one (say, fixing a typo), you need to remember making the same change in the other one (which you usually forget).
What is the best strategy?
# Answer
You can change your workflow slightly:
1. Write a paper with full proofs, polish it, and upload to arxiv.
2. Prepare the conference version (fairly late). You will use version 1 as your starting point, but you can edit it freely. You can remove proofs and refer to the arxiv version. You can polish the story, introduction, etc. You may spot typos in the arxiv version, but do not worry about those too much. There is no need to revise the arxiv version yet if the typos are minor.
3. Prepare the journal version. The key thing is that you will use version 2 as the starting point, not version 1. Of course you will now copy-and-paste the full proofs from version 1, but the rest of the text comes from the conference version. Therefore the main matter has already automatically gone through all the revisions that were related to the preparation of the conference submission(s), addressing conference reviews, preparing the camera-ready conference paper, etc.
Now you can simply revise your arxiv submission by replacing it with the journal version, whenever the journal version is ready.
If you follow this approach, there is never need to maintain parallel versions. You will never need to worry about updating version x when you fix typos in version y. People interested in your work can read the first arxiv version early, and your final arxiv version is as well polished as the journal version.
Note that you can start phase 3 as soon as you have prepared the final camera-ready version of the conference paper. When the conference version finally appears, you can already have a preliminary draft of the journal version written, and you can use it to revise your arxiv submission if it seems to be a good idea.
> 10 votes
# Answer
I would use `git` with branches and selective merging. You can selectively merge your typo fixes and stuff between one branch and the other, in whichever direction you choose.
> 7 votes
# Answer
If you are using latex. I use following approach. I define three variables. ArticleTypeAll , ArticleTypeJournal and ArticleTypeConference . I use ArticleTypeAll for parts which is same for all parts (Conference and Journal). In my example authors information. I use ArticleTypeJournal for only journal part. For example introduction to journal may be different than conference one. Same goes for ArticleTypeConference.
I split every part to different latex file to easily version control and compare them. If command allow me to conditionally include files. Here I use input instead of include since this is an article. I set variables as.
* ArticleTypeAll = true
* ArticleTypeJournal = true
* ArticleTypeConference = false
```
\documentclass[10pt,a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[utf8x]{inputenc}
\author{Atilla Ozgur}
\title{Conference Journal Together}
\newif\ifArticleTypeAll
\newif\ifArticleTypeJournal
\newif\ifArticleTypeConference
\ArticleTypeAlltrue
\ArticleTypeJournaltrue
\ArticleTypeConferencefalse
\begin{document}
\ifArticleTypeAll
this place is included in all
\fi
\ifArticleTypeJournal
this place is included in journal article only
\fi
\ifArticleTypeConference
this place is included in Conference article only
\fi
\ifArticleTypeAll
\input{Authors}
\fi
\ifArticleTypeJournal
\input{IntroductionJournal}
\fi
\ifArticleTypeConference
\input{IntroductionConference}
\fi
\end{document}
```
Output of this document like below.
```
this place is included in all
this place is included in journal article only
Authors
IntroductionJournal
```
> 7 votes
---
Tags: writing, version-control
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thread-5980 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5980 | Should I talk to my advisor regarding undergrad advising workload? | 2012-12-30T19:15:14.873 | # Question
Title: Should I talk to my advisor regarding undergrad advising workload?
Recently one of my profs (other than my advisor) told me that I am not doing well in his subject. Should I tell this to my advisor? Actually the reason of me not doing well is doing other jobs assigned by my advisor to me like advising undergraduates. Undergraduates don't let me do my work. And whenever I am busy doing my own research and due to this when I politely refuse them, they say that they will go and complain about me to my advisor. Please help I am really stuck as to how to deal with the situation?
# Answer
> 19 votes
## Yes. Talk to your advisor.
It is really important you learn to, in a good way, think of yourself. Right now, the undergraduates are happy (they get help) but your work is suffering. I can imagine that helping undergraduates is part of your job description, but not to the point you cannot work anymore yourself. You need to sit down with your professor and your supervisor and discuss that your undergraduate workload is too much. Best is to have a proposal ready yourself, e.g. that you want to spend a day a week helping undergraduates and that that is the limit. Once you get both your professor and your supervisor to agree, no undergraduate can manipulate you into helping him/her. In addition, everyone is clear on their expectations, this is the professional way of dealing with this in my opinion.
If you do not set boundaries, you will be the only one suffering. The professor and supervisor will feel somewhat bad, but the undergraduates will find a new person to stalk, while you are left without a PhD.
---
Tags: phd, graduate-school, teaching-assistant
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thread-5920 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5920 | Are overlapping dissertations ethically acceptable? | 2012-12-23T16:48:36.220 | # Question
Title: Are overlapping dissertations ethically acceptable?
Would it be ethical for students working on the same team to include in their Ph.D. theses results arising from joint publications, ending up in different dissertations containing almost identical chapters?
Of course, the students should at least mention that the common chapters are excerpted from a joint publication. However, wouldn't a significant overlap at least indicate that the students have been unable to come up with enough strong and coherent results to make their own independent dissertations?
# Answer
I think for a PhD thesis it is important the writer has enough original and new contributions to earn the PhD degree. When two PhD's work closely together, and write joint publications this can only work if it is clear that both PhD's have made new and significant contributions.
For example, in a publication which has both lab experiments and numerical modeling it is easy to see that both the lab-PhD and the numerical-PhD have done different things, which are put together jointly into a publication. In this case I would think it ethical that both PhD's get their degree based on the same publications. If, however, the overlap is not countered by the fact that the PhD's each have their distinct niche, I would not find it ethical to let two people get their degree based on the same work.
In the PhD theses the publications could be used as such by both PhD, but they need to have a different introduction and synthesis chapter as they worked on different aspects of the joint papers. In addition, I would explain the situation and how the collaboration worked in the preface of both theses.
> 18 votes
# Answer
You should check **your department guideline**. In mine, only articles where the candidate is first author, and has accomplished most of the work (you need to provide letter signed by other authors) can be used. Also, it can only be used in one thesis.
> 13 votes
# Answer
One case of this that's getting a bit old but was highly influential in artificial intelligence was Phil Agre and David Chapman (PhDs at the MIT AI Lab in the late 1980s). They did everything together, but wrote completely different dissertations. They agreed in advance how they would divvy up the output.
Since a PhD has to have a novel contribution, I think this is the only way it can work. You specify your contributions in the introduction and conclusion, and these can only be contributions by one person, for one dissertation.
Personally, I had a little bit of overlapping text in two of my dissertations (which for bizarre reasons came out nearly the same time), but it was only the literature review, which at the time I didn't think of as a contribution, and I clearly stated the overlap in the later dissertation. Also, I didn't claim that the thing I was best known for at that time (an action selection mechanism) was a contribution to *either* dissertation, just to be certain there could be no claim I'd made overlapping contributions (One was in Psychology & one was in Systems AI, so they really were pretty different.)
Basically, by the time you are ready for a PhD, you should be able to make any number of contributions. So being productive and publishing articles is the main thing to worry about, and then secondarily following through, and following the rules, so you get your degree. Your dissertation is not a documentation of your life's work – it's just one coherent document making a very clear academic contribution. Hopefully two good students working together would make more than enough contributions that they can divide them up and each write interesting dissertations.
> 8 votes
# Answer
In math at Berkeley this varied by advisor. Some advisors insisted that theses consist only of solo work, while others did not. My thesis consisted almost entirely of collaborative work (though with different collaborators), and I think one chapter may have also appeared in a collaborator's thesis. The advisor shouldn't sign off on the thesis if the student hasn't done enough work to deserve a PhD, but if you're going to do most of your work collaboratively after grad school it makes sense to me to do so during grad school.
> 3 votes
---
Tags: phd, ethics, thesis
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thread-6010 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/6010 | Importance of Undergraduate Research | 2013-01-02T17:54:48.960 | # Question
Title: Importance of Undergraduate Research
How important is it for an undergraduate student majoring in Physics and Mathematics (or any other science) to have experience in research (*e.g.*, have a peer reviewed paper to his name most probably in collaboration with a professor) at the undergraduate level, keeping in mind that he will be applying for a master's or other postgraduate degree?
# Answer
If you want admission to the very best PhD programs in the US, prior formal research experience is *very* important, if not necessary. Admissions committees are primarily looking for **evidence of research potential**. The best possible evidence for "I'll be a good researcher someday" is "Look, I'm *already* a good researcher." So having formal peer-reviewed publications is better than having publishable but unpublished results, which is better than having research experience but no publishable results, which is better than having no research experience. If you're applying to the top PhD programs, you *will* be competing with applicants (yes, plural) who have peer-reviewed publications (yes, plural).
> 14 votes
# Answer
In the U.S., in mathematics, it is a bit unusual to have a peer-reviewed publication from an undergrad, despite the recent years' push for "Research Experiences for Undergrads". In some cases there are group-written papers in second or third-tier journals, but nothing too serious. Or the undergrad gets to be the tag-along on an applied-math research "team". Indeed, it is exceptional, and only rarely happens, that an undergrad in mathematics has adequate background (disregarding future potential) to make a serious contribution. It does happen, but rarely, and is not at all "expected". Evidently the situation is much different in other fields.
In terms of literal admission to good-but-not-elite programs, the usual "publications" we on admissions committees see are "nice", but not really evidence of future potential so much as *enthusiasm*, ... which is a good thing, for sure! ... but the level of focus and effort required for these little papers is far, far different than the level of commitment required to do a Ph.D., with or without "talent".
> 9 votes
# Answer
During my studies it was relatively rare to publish as an undergraduate. The level of research needed for a peer reviewed publication is imo higher than what an undergraduate can produce. Maybe if the supervisor writes a paper based on your results, and with a lot of help with producing the results, this might lead to a co-authorship for the undergraduate. Therefor, I think that in the Dutch system (my experience) a peer reviewed publication would be a plus, but definitely not a requirement for admission into a masters program. Ofcourse, you need have written a thesis, but it does not have to published in a peer-reviewed journal. I do not know how this experience translate to, say, the US, but I know for countries like Germany it is not even always usual for a PhD to write peer-reviewed articles.
> 3 votes
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Tags: publications, career-path, research-undergraduate
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thread-5986 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5986 | tips for mathematics student giving interview for physics (quantum information) | 2012-12-31T15:34:32.260 | # Question
Title: tips for mathematics student giving interview for physics (quantum information)
As suggested by @PiotrMigdal I am putting a separate question regarding the title mentioned above.
I am a Mathematics PhD student doing work in functional analysis / operator theory aspects of quantum information. My basic training (up to masters) is in so called 'Pure Mathematics' ($C^\*$ algebra, representation theory, elliptic curve etc.). I am about to complete my PhD and applying for post doctoral positions. It seems most of the jobs in this area are for experimentalists and a few for theorists. I do not have much knowledge about experiment. Moreover, my understanding about quantum measurements as very basic. These can be considered as negative points. Positive sides: I have a few published papers in some reputed physics journal, a few (in discrete mathematics) preprints, and a few works in the draft stage. However the published papers are not reviewed by math. review.
My question is, what a mathematics student, like me, should focus/emphasise if he/she go for a job (for me post doctoral) interview in front of physics faculties.
Also more general question can be regarding the job perspective of mathematics students in quantum information. Advanced thanks for any suggestion, answer etc. Feel free to edit and/or retag it, if you think it is necessary.
# Answer
It may be too late for this, but I'd suggest giving a talk for physicists in a lower stakes setting (eg a seminar at a school that isn't interviewing you). Physicists often have different names for things and ways of talking about them, and it can be really nice to have some exposure to the kinds of questions you might get asked.
> 6 votes
# Answer
A lot of quantum information is a part of mathematics (that is, mathematically well-defined concepts, proper proofs, etc...), with some physical motivation. Many problems can be stated easily as mathematical ones, without providing and physical grounding.
So if you are a pure maths PhD, then it may be actually beneficial for you, as you: can prove (not only hand-wave) and perhaps have better training (and motivation) in Hilbert spaces, group theory, discrete mathematics, abstract algebra, convex geometry, algorithmic complexity, information theory etc...
Surely, different groups have different tastes for different problems, different emphasis on physical, mathematical, numerical and experimental content. Just ask them; if it is pure quantum information then maybe even you can go without knowing quantum mechanics (which is worth learning anyway, BTW).
Source: I am PhD student in geometry of quantum states; a considerable fraction of people working on that topic are mathematicians.
> 4 votes
---
Tags: job, postdocs, interview, mathematics
--- |
thread-5987 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5987 | What to do when PhD advisor wants student to work on two disjoint projects? | 2012-12-31T20:30:22.787 | # Question
Title: What to do when PhD advisor wants student to work on two disjoint projects?
My PhD advisor wants me to work on two different problems during my PhD. One is the a problem of their suggestion and another is collaborative work with some company. Both the problems are disjoint. I have been given the option, that if I want to work on one problem then it should be the problem on for my advisor's collaborative research and I should leave the problem initially suggested. However, I don't want to give up my present problem as that sounds interesting to me and I have already worked for one year on it. When I told my advisor that I don't find the collaborative work interesting, it was suggested that I work on both the problems. However, I am finding it hard to work on two problems. Its like a dual PhD for me. I cannot say anything to my advisor as I'm told I have to work on the collaborative work as my stipend comes from it and else I should leave the PhD. My advisor also does not advise me when I propose ideas about my previous research. Please suggest what should I do?
# Answer
> 18 votes
The most important line in your post seems to be one that you didn't give much weight to: "my stipend comes from \[the collaborative project\]". From my experience, this is a common situation, where the money for your stipend comes from a project you're not interested in pursuing.
Unfortunately, the only real alternative for you is to write your own grant proposal, which is a significant investment of time for both you and your advisor, and carries the not-so-minor risk that the grant won't be funded, which leaves you exactly where you started, with the added problem that there hasn't been much progress on the existing grant.
The second alternative is to leave the advisor and try to find someone else, but I would recommend against that for two reasons. Firstly, it's hard to find someone else with funding on a project you like. Secondly, the problem you're having now—the funded project is less interesting than the unfunded project—is one you'll likely face again in the future. Your advisor's approach of pursuing both projects is (again, from my experience) a typical way of dealing with this, and it will likely benefit you to have experience with this approach during your PhD years.
I recognize that it means extra work for you, and I don't really have much advice on that front. Try not to think of it as extra work, but rather as extra publications in different research areas. That helps minimize the sting.
# Answer
> 8 votes
It depends on how committed you are to the research project. Your Ph.D. thesis can strongly influence your future course in academia and research. That being said, plenty of Ph.D. recipients have gone on to do research in fields quite distinct from their thesis work.
If your funding is tied to one of the projects, it would certainly be easier to find the time to complete your thesis by working on that project alone. However, you should only make this shift if the funded project is also interesting to you. There few things as difficult as finishing a thesis on a topic in which you are not interested.
Ultimately, what matters most about your Ph.D. thesis is that you finish it. If you think that finding time to work on your thesis will be most limiting, then you should choose the funded topic. If you think that staying interested in your research is the biggest hurdle, then you should choose the topic you are interested in, even if it takes you longer to graduate on account of your other obligations.
# Answer
> 5 votes
There is nothing inherently wrong in an advisor asking you to work on two projects — depending on the subfield you're in, this could even be common practice. The two common approaches are:
1. Choose a single topic, drill down till you have enough material for a thesis.
* If you're successful, you have a pretty nifty thesis and you can call yourself the absolute master of the subsubtopic X that you focused on.
* On the other hand, if you reach a dead end (which sometimes happen after 4 years of hard work), you have nowhere to go! You'll have to find a new research topic, which can take another 3-4 years, which is pretty depressing.
2. Start on one project as a fresh graduate student, but gradually start working on multiple projects. Advantages are
* you'll have a good pile of publications when you finish
* If you hit a dead end on one project (or funding dries up), you can focus your attention on a different project
* If you find one project moving faster than the other, you can switch focus to that to graduate on time (or sooner).
* If the topics are diverse (but connectable by a common theme), you can spin that to your advantage by demonstrating you have broad research interests. (pretty hard to get a position if you only want to do X).
I honestly can find no disadvantage with the second route except for the fact that it can be a bit overwhelming for a graduate student, especially if their advisor doesn't realize that the work load is heavy. I tend to look at it as training for the future — as a postdoc/scientist/faculty, you'll most likely be juggling several different projects of your own, in addition to collaborating, teaching, advising, etc. So this is a good way to start learning efficient time management.
In short, I don't think your situation is alarming and you should take this as an opportunity to learn some soft skills (time management, recognizing a hot potato, identifying paths that lead somewhere, etc.). Now, if you're really uninterested in the project, then that's a different issue — you probably have to look for a different advisor.
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Tags: phd, graduate-school
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thread-6026 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/6026 | Is it hard to get a scholarship for graduate school in Mathematics? | 2013-01-04T04:48:35.270 | # Question
Title: Is it hard to get a scholarship for graduate school in Mathematics?
I am currently majoring in Physics but I am thinking about changing my major to Mathematics because feel more attracted to it as a subject. However, I have been told that in Physics, one almost always gets a full scholarship to attend graduate school. Is it hard to obtain a scholarship to go to grad school in Mathematics here in the U.S.?
# Answer
At most US universities, Ph.D. students in mathematics usually receive full financial support that covers tuition as well as a modest stipend (i.e. money paid to you directly for your living expenses, usually between $15,000-25,000 per year). This is normally some combination of:
* Teaching assistantship: requires that you teach. Often this starts with discussion sections for calculus and other introductory courses, and can progress to more specialized courses.
* Research assistantship: requires that working on research (usually your own thesis research, but sometimes a different project). This often comes from your advisor's grant funds.
* Fellowship: doesn't require you to do any extra work, just your usual coursework or research.
In my experience, the word "scholarship" is not usually used when talking about funding for graduate study.
Note that the above only applies to Ph.D. programs. Masters students generally have to pay their own tuition and living expenses (perhaps via loans), though sometimes a limited number of teaching assistantships, etc, are available.
> 14 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, undergraduate, mathematics, funding
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thread-6029 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/6029 | Is a general GRE test required if I have already passed a GRE Subject Test? | 2013-01-04T11:40:24.457 | # Question
Title: Is a general GRE test required if I have already passed a GRE Subject Test?
## Disclaimer: The GRE Program discontinued the Computer Science Test
If I have already passed a GRE Subject Test for Computer Science, do I still need to pass the general GRE test?
Which test should I take first (general GRE or GRE Subject Test) and why?
# Answer
> If I have already appeared for GRE Subject Test for Computer Science, do I still need to take the general GRE test?
**Short answer:** Likely, yes. If your school asks for the general GRE, then you need to take it. Without the general GRE scores, your application would not be considered complete, and, thus, may never get forwarded to the department's admissions committee. If in doubt, call or email the department(s) you are applying to and ask.
> Which test should I take first(general GRE/GRE Subject Test) and why?
It does not matter. Usually the general GRE is offered more frequently than the subject GREs, so many people take it first. There is no reason you have to do it this way. Take them in an order that is convenient for you, but do not wait until just before your application deadlines. Your scores will not get to your schools in time.
> 7 votes
# Answer
The tests are essentially independent, so **you can take either one first.**
Some schools want the subject test, but others don't care. This varies from one school to another. I got a PhD in computer science from a good school, but I never took the computer science GRE subject test. On the other hand, I did study a bit to improve my scores on the GRE general. If you want to know which tests to take (and how heavily they'll be weighted in your application), I think your **best option is to contact the school directly (or just read the application checklist on its website)**.
> 1 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, computer-science, gre
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thread-6021 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/6021 | Rumor mill and math job | 2013-01-03T17:30:00.473 | # Question
Title: Rumor mill and math job
After starting the application process this year, I found a wiki page at UC Davis that lists people who have supposedly been shortlisted, invited for interviews, or given offers for faculty positions in mathematics. I am listed in couple of places, and I wonder if this can harm my application. What are the pros and cons of this open source?
# Answer
> 24 votes
I am a professor at a top 20 school in mathematics and I have been on our department's hiring committee for the past several years. I can assure you that we take absolutely no notice of the contents of that particular website when making decisions. We consider ourselves competent enough to form our own judgements on any particular candidate. In the past, we have interviewed plenty of people whose name occurs frequently on that list, and plenty of those whose name does not appear at all. Moreover, the accuracy of that website is dubious at best; at my own institution it sometimes lists people who are not at all under consideration, and usually doesn't list people who are - including those who have been given offers. The only time I made any attempt to edit the website was when it claimed that we didn't have any positions available at all (which was false). I suspect that at least on one occasion someone invited themselves to our institution to give a talk and then put their own name on the website as a candidate (they were not). Thus, I suspect that *the effect this particular website has on job offers is minimal at most*.
# Answer
> 4 votes
> What are the pros and cons of this open source?
I see three pros of these types of lists. The first is that it can alert you to jobs that you did not know about. The second is that it can tell you something about where the status of the hiring process is. For example, if the list says an offer has been made and you haven't had an interview, then the odds are not good. The third use is that it gives you an idea of who is getting interviews and offers and with the help of the internet, how your CV stacks up.
The cons are pretty simple in my mind. In fact, each of the pros has a pretty substantial con. First, there are much better ways of finding out about jobs. Second, the list is not accurate; just because the list says an offer was made, doesn't mean it was. Further, I am not sure of the value of knowing that your application was unsuccessful. It seems reasonable to want to know, but I am not sure how it changes ones outlook. Third, there are better ways to figure out what the weak points of your application are.
As for being listed, I don't see any potential for harm.
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Tags: job, application, career-path, job-search
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thread-5983 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5983 | Tips for making online presentation over Skype | 2012-12-31T07:27:53.620 | # Question
Title: Tips for making online presentation over Skype
I am about to complete my PhD. My area is functional analytic/ operator theoretic aspects of quantum information. I am applying for post-doctoral positions in various places. Recently, one group called me for presentation/ interview over Skype. It should consist of a presentation (20 minutes) and 20 minutes interview. My questions are the following:
1. What are the common things one should focus while presenting online, and what I should avoid (say, in my slide, or oral comments etc).
2. The people who called me for interview are physicists (my work is connected to quantum information). As a mathematics student, what is the best way to make myself presentable in these cases.
Some background: I have two publications, some old preprints (arxiv, on discrete mathematics, but not published and not connected with my present research) and a few in draft form (not submitted in arxiv yet). Published papers are not mathematically very exiting, but came up in some reasonably good and well reputed physics journals. Also what I am afraid is, they are not reviewed in math review (many papers from the same journal are frequently reviewed though).
I am a bit afraid, as this is my first time of appearing in such interview (and the reasons mentioned above). Advanced thanks for your helps and suggestions.
# Answer
The question asks a number of things. I am going to focus on interviewing over Skype/video conferencing since it is extremely difficult to do correctly. The issues associated with interviewing is very different from presenting.
Some things to consider when doing a Skype interview
1. Location: You need a private setting, a good internet connection, a backup landline, good lighting, and good acoustics. I suggest investing in a off white sheet to use as a backdrop. It is also useful for the camera to be directly in front of you so that it appears you are looking at them when you look at the screen. Make sure you have your notes and a drink within reach.
2. Timing: You need to know when the interview is happening including the timezone and who is initiating the call. You also need to know what happens if there is a problem. You do not want to lose your valuable interview time to technical problems.
3. Attendees: Once the interview starts, you need to know who is in the room and where they are sitting. If there are people you cannot see, ask them to move. Ask each person to introduce themselves and make sure you can hear them. During this stage you need to get a baseline read on their facial expressions. You also need to know where they are sitting so that you can "look at them". The slight eye shift required to look at them on the screen is likely not exaggerated enough. Practice this.
4. Control: Make sure you know who asks each question. Ideally use peoples names so they know you are talking to them. If you don't hear the question, ask them to repeat it. Check that they can hear and see you frequently.
5. Gestures: You need to minimize your gestures, pointing, and figitng. They are really noticeable on Skype.
> 9 votes
# Answer
They are not going to ask you why your papers are not in Math Reviews, or why you never published your old discrete math stuff. You can safely forget about both those things. They want to make sure that you are able to communicate your research ideas to them, and understand theirs -- both are very nontrivial questions in cross-disciplinary hiring. If your research that's in the draft stage can be related to what their group is doing, this is what you'll want to get across. Stating every definition precisely is not as important, but you may be asked to give some of them. If you can, make a nonlinear beamer where navigation arrows point to extra slides with definitions and technical assumptions.
> 7 votes
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Tags: postdocs, interview, mathematics
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thread-5959 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5959 | How does one reference work in Oxford Style for a Website without an Author or a Date of Publication? | 2012-12-27T07:27:36.313 | # Question
Title: How does one reference work in Oxford Style for a Website without an Author or a Date of Publication?
How do you reference work, Oxford Style, for a Website without an Author or a Date of Publication?
# Answer
I am not familiar with the "Oxford Style" guide and therefore do not believe that there is a single "standard" style. I think Oxford style has a footnote in text citation and a reference list. This makes it similar to Chicago style. While I do not have the CMS to check, Prudue OWL has a nice comparison of MLA, APA, and CMS (all of which have comprehensive and standardized style guides). In CMS it doesn't seem to be a problem since you are using a footnote for the in text citation and the reference list doesn't require an author or date for webpages.
> 1 votes
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Tags: citations
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thread-6028 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/6028 | Where and how to search for research problems? | 2013-01-04T11:05:31.953 | # Question
Title: Where and how to search for research problems?
Where and how can an independent researcher search for research problems in a paticular field, assuming that a person doesn't have direct contacts with anyone knowleageable about that field?
And once you get a research problem , how can you get an idea about the approximate time that will be required to solve that problem? My area of interest is mathematics.
# Answer
Reading recent papers is a good way to come up with ideas for things to work on. For example, the last section of a paper often lists open problems and possible topics for future research, and they may also be scattered throughout the paper. Of course the author or other readers may be working on them, but that difficulty is unavoidable for any problem that isn't communicated privately to you. Some of the advantages of this approach are:
1. You have some evidence that the answer isn't already known. Of course maybe the author just didn't know it, but at least you are getting an expert opinion (which is particularly helpful if you aren't an expert yourself).
2. Your work may be of interest to other readers of this paper. This avoids the difficulty of making up a topic and then discovering that you are unable to interest anyone in it.
3. The published papers on the topic let you calibrate your level of knowledge. If you can read them, then you probably know enough to work on extensions. If you can't, then you need to learn more.
4. There's some reason to think progress may be possible.
By contrast, I would absolutely avoid working on famous problems. They satisfy 1 to 3 nicely, but the "famous" requirement specifically filters out any reasonable likelihood of a full solution, and progress towards a solution may be very difficult. Unless you are extraordinarily talented or lucky, choosing problems because of their fame is a big step in the direction of becoming a failure as a researcher or even a crackpot. Even if you are extraordinarily talented, there's no harm in starting with a warm-up goal, and this avoids the difficulty that many people have trouble estimating their own abilities.
As for how long it will take to solve a research problem, this is unanswerable. If you are really lucky, you might make important progress within a few weeks. If you get stuck in a rut or are missing some background, you might work fruitlessly for years on a problem that's not actually all that difficult. And of course problems vary enormously in their difficulty. With enough experience, you might be able to estimate how difficult or time-consuming certain problems might be, so you could guess what might make an appropriate Ph.D. thesis problem, for example. However, even experts are sometimes wrong, and developing this sort of feeling takes substantial research experience. When you are starting out, I don't think there's any reliable way to guess these sorts of things. This is one reason why Ph.D. advisors are important: they can offer feedback and advice based on intuitions the student is still developing.
If you are working on research without experience or expert guidance, you could use the following guidelines. Don't give up too quickly: anything worth publishing is worth spending weeks beating your head against with no apparent progress. (Of course I don't mean staring at a blank piece of paper, but trying ideas and discovering they don't work, looking at special cases and examples, studying background that may be relevant, etc.) Once you have a solid background in the relevant mathematics, which could take a long time depending on the field, you should probably be getting somewhere over a period of months. By "somewhere", I don't necessarily mean clear progress towards a solution, but you should be able to articulate an understanding of the problem you didn't have when you started, you should be coming up with tangential or spin-off ideas that may not solve the problem but could be interesting in their own right, etc. The ultimate test of successful research isn't whether you accomplish your original goals, but rather whether you find something interesting along the way. On the other hand, if months go by and you don't seem to be coming up with any interesting ideas or understanding, then this is probably not a fruitful research topic with your current level of background and experience.
Of course you shouldn't take any advice like the last paragraph too seriously. Research is a highly personal topic, and many people have different research styles. However, it may give you an idea of one reasonable approach.
> 31 votes
# Answer
In addition to the excellent answer from Anonymous Mathematician, I would add another point: finding an interesting problem that is worth spending time on is sometimes one of the hardest part of academic work. It's perhaps a bias from my field (Computer Security), but most researchers I have met are not working on a specific problem they chose years ago, but are constantly shifting between asking new problems/questions and addressing problems/questions (raised by them or others).
There are of course some known problems, but if they are known, it's likely because there is no obvious solution, and perhaps no solution at all. One can choose to work on one of them (I heard there are people working all the time on the P/NP problem), but it's probably better to create your own problems by challenging existing assumptions (X solve this problem by assuming P is true, but I know a case where P is not true, and therefore I want to solve it also in this case), by opening new approaches (would a quantum computer help solve this problem?), by looking at the future work proposed by other researchers, etc.
It might again be a bias from my field, but I have always felt that solving problems was never a big problem (and it's actually the funniest part of the job), while finding problems worth solving is actually hard, because it requires to have a global understanding of the field, of what exists, what doesn't, why it doesn't, and what could be possible.
> 16 votes
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Tags: research-process, research-undergraduate
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thread-6014 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/6014 | Should I send an email to the address of my former professor that wasn't explicitly given, but google out myself? | 2013-01-02T22:29:41.847 | # Question
Title: Should I send an email to the address of my former professor that wasn't explicitly given, but google out myself?
I'm applying to PhD programs and want to ask for a reference letter from my former supervisor, who has since moved to a new university, so that his old work email is not working anymore. I've been asking him through his personal email; however, as he rarely checks it, sometime it takes more than a month for him to reply to me. One of the universities to which I'm applying has a deadline coming up in less than a month and I haven't heard from my former supervisor for a while. While panicking, I searched on Google and found his new email address. I wonder if it's reasonable to send email to that address and remind him as he never gave me the address.
# Answer
From the formulation of your question, to me it seems your main concern is **if it is polite to send an e-mail to the address you were never explicitly given**, but instead found it on your own Googling.
It looks like you found **his/her new work address**. If that's the case, I'd say it's *completely fine to send an e-mail*. All the right reasons for contacting your former adviser before the deadline are already mentioned in @aeismail's answer.
I'd just like to add that I've been told over and over again that a *good letter of recommendation from your former adviser is expected*, and that it's extra great if you can have letters of recommendation from more than one of your former advisers: *those are the people who were supposed to be working closest with you* and who *continually assessed your progress over a period of time*. If you can't get them to say something good for you, you must be very very special in some other way to get accepted to a PhD.
Back to the *is it polite* point: it is a work e-mail you found. That's the way he's expecting to be contacted concerning scientific things. It's public and accessible to everybody. That does not mean he'll reply to everything, but if you're one of his former students, he should be glad to reply if you split on good terms.
Also, I've contacted everybody who gave me a letter of recommendation after I got my PhD grant, and *I sad "thank you"*. I went to visit my supervisor in his office for a few minutes before I moved away for my PhD: those people, and he especially, are who made me love science, and made me look for a PhD in the first place. He often said that **advising students on how to go further with science/research was one of the best parts of his job**. So, maybe I was just lucky, but in my experience, your former advisers will be glad to help you, glad to know their help mattered and *won't mind you contacting them*.
> 17 votes
# Answer
Yes, it is a good idea for you to contact your old advisor about the upcoming deadline, particularly if he normally takes a long time to get back to you.
Advisors are busy people, and have a lot of different tasks to complete. Sometimes we need a reminder that things are due, and a well-written note that *politely* asks us to take care of something is usually very welcome. A "bossy" or impolite note, however, will not help you and should definitely be avoided.
> 16 votes
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Tags: citations, recommendation-letter, email
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thread-6049 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/6049 | Making an appointment regarding letters of recommendation | 2013-01-05T17:06:53.727 | # Question
Title: Making an appointment regarding letters of recommendation
My University is currently on break, so I'd be making the appointment by email, and then meeting separately to discuss it.
In the email, is it a good idea to say explicitly that the appointment is regarding letters of recommendation? It seems like it would be, but on the other hand that seems tantamount to "asking via email," which of course is frowned upon when we're in the same city. Any thoughts?
# Answer
This may vary between departments, countries (I'm in the U.S.), etc., but I'd say:
1. When making an appointment, it's almost always a good idea to specify what it will be about. When someone doesn't have a lot of time, this helps them figure out how soon the meeting needs to be scheduled, and it gives them a chance to prepare for it. The one exception I can think of is very delicate topics. For example, if you are meeting with someone to discuss an ethical matter, there might not be a short description you can give that wouldn't risk be misleading or omitting important context.
2. I'm not aware of a belief that asking for a letter of recommendation via e-mail is rude or problematic (although of course this may depend on the local culture). In fact, I would prefer to be asked by e-mail. Partly it's just because I generally prefer e-mail for things that can be handled that way, since it's less disruptive. Partly it's because awkward situations are a little easier for me to handle by e-mail. For example, if a student didn't do well in my course, I may point this out and ask whether there's someone else who could write a more compelling letter. It's easier for me to find the right words in writing, rather than on the fly in a conversation.
> 14 votes
# Answer
Just write the email right now asking for the letter. If you feel sheepish about "asking over email," just say "I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to ask you in person, but because we're on break, I wasn't sure how long it would take to set up a meeting."
The number 1 courtesy issue with asking for letters of recommendation is promptness and giving your writers as much time as possible to write and submit the letters. I think that completely overrides any concerns about medium, especially when it's not necessarily easy to meet with the person in question right away. I'd certainly much rather get an email about submitting letters than to go to the trouble of specially setting up a meeting with some amount of delay. (In fact, when students do ask me in person, I usually tell them to sent me an email about it so I have a permanent record of the request).
> 13 votes
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Tags: career-path, reference-request
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thread-5390 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5390 | How to address the person being recommended in a recommendation letter? | 2012-11-22T13:34:42.373 | # Question
Title: How to address the person being recommended in a recommendation letter?
How should one "address" the person for whom I am writing a recommendation letter *in* the letter?
Scenario:
* I have known John Doe for many years and am familiar with his work. We address each other on a first name basis. I've been asked to write a letter supporting John's application. When I write about him, should I write
> Dr \[or Mr, in case of undergraduates\] Doe's works are well-written ...
or can I get away with
> John's works are well-written ...
Personally I feel a bit strange writing Dr Doe for someone I know so well, but I wonder if it is better to err on the more formal side?
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For what it is worth, the field is Mathematics. And for future reference, I do not want to limit the question to a particular level of application (for graduate school, fellowships, or for jobs); I suspect that shouldn't make a difference in the answer, but if it does, feel free to indicate.
# Answer
I have seen both used in recommendation letters, regardless of the strength of the recommendation letter itself. I would, myself, recommend Dr. John Doe / Dr. Doe for most professional relationships, except when it is clear that you have formed a close professional relationship (PhD student, or long-term collaborator or post-doc). In case you go for the surname, I would still use the full name at the first mention:
> **Dr. John Doe** was a student of mine at the University of X, where I teach Y, …. He later joined my research group as a Masters, then PhD student. **John** is an extremely bright student, …
<sup>(Of course, that's merely an example and not a good letter wording, so do not look at the wording itself, only the use of names…)</sup>
> 17 votes
# Answer
Since you specifically asked about math, let me say that in my experience (as a mathematician, reading recommendation letters written by other mathematicians), the pattern of
* use the applicant's full name once.
* use their first name (generally what you would call them in person) after that.
is close to universal amongst mathematicians in the US. One does find exceptions, usually replacing the applicant's first name with their last name (so, writing "Doe's work has been..."), but they are actually quite rare.
> 13 votes
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Tags: etiquette, recommendation-letter
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thread-6048 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/6048 | Applying for PhD admission at more than one department in the same university | 2013-01-05T17:06:16.660 | # Question
Title: Applying for PhD admission at more than one department in the same university
I was wondering if it is legal, and also advisable to apply for a PhD position at more than one department in the same university. For e.g. I am interested in representation theory and string theory. So would it be possible to apply to the maths and physics department, or there would be inter-departmental clashes leading to my application being disqualified. I guess the rules would be different. SO what are the rules in US and Europe unis resp.
# Answer
**You have to ask each university.**
I don't believe there are any *ethical* issues with applying to more than one program. Moreover, I think it's rare for graduate admissions committees in different departments to share information about applicants. (In the US, that sharing *might* even run afoul of FERPA, but interpretations of FERPA vary wildly from one university to the next.)
However, at some universities, it is not *possible* to apply to more than one department. At my university, for example, all graduate applications go through a central web site that forces each applicant to choose *exactly one* program. Yes, I think this is stupid.
> 6 votes
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Tags: phd, graduate-school, research-process, graduate-admissions
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thread-6069 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/6069 | The importance of the title "Mathematical Physics" vs. "Physics" on one's degree for grad school/jobs | 2013-01-06T20:22:20.403 | # Question
Title: The importance of the title "Mathematical Physics" vs. "Physics" on one's degree for grad school/jobs
I've got a question for anyone that cares and knows how to help. I'm a third year physics student, currently enrolled in the "regular", straight-up physics stream. However, since I've realized I don't want to go into the experimental side of physics, I am trying to avoid having to take a lab course. This isn't possible while staying in the stream I'm in right now, but due to my elective and other choices in regards to the mathematics courses I took thus far, I am still eligible to switch into Mathematical Physics. I've looked at the requirements and the courses I'd now need to take when compared to the ones I'd need to take if I stayed in the regular stream are basically the ones I would use up my electives on anyway. Thus, the only qualitative change arising from switching the programs would be that I would be able to avoid that final lab course, and could take another course, say, biophysics or a maths course, instead.
My concern, however, is what impact would this have in regards to my going to grad school or looking for jobs? As far as grad school is concerned, I would assume it wouldn't have much of an impact due to the importance of actual classes I took and not the name on my degree, but what about jobs if an academic career doesn't pan out? Does "Physics" look better than "Mathematical Physics" in certain cases? If so, when would that be? In other words, is mathematical physics looked down upon as being esoteric?
Any other advice in regards to this switch would also be appreciated.
# Answer
Switch to Math Phys. It won't hurt your job prospects at all, since you don't want to be an experimentalist or phenomenologist. Math Phys covers any decent theoretical physics ground anyway. You'll be doing yourself a big favor and it will even help you focus more on one area of research, and put you into a healthier social environment.
> 5 votes
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Tags: job, job-search, undergraduate, physics
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thread-6058 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/6058 | Master student pursuing PHD: how to spend summer break? | 2013-01-06T01:05:50.663 | # Question
Title: Master student pursuing PHD: how to spend summer break?
So I'm a master student pursuing a PHD. I'm currently following a research master program of which the natural path is a PHD program, in which I am seriously interested. I already hold a regular master in marketing and a bachelor in business.
My field is business (specifically, quantitative marketing, but I also like some extensions to strategic topics in management).
Now I want to spend the summer (break) doing something fruitful for my skills and/or possibly, carreer. I expect to be done with course obligations around week 19, new semester starts in september which gives me at least (in case of resits) 10 weeks of free time but can easily be around 15 weeks.
I identified some options:
* Work in advance for thesis (look for suitable topic, review literature)
* Summer school (abroad)
* Contact someone from my department to collaborate on research
* Contact someone from my department to advise me on extra readings
* Find an intership or job (may be difficult when regarding my field, experience, and time available)
Can someone give me some advice or other ideas?
# Answer
> 8 votes
I think what you're asking is fairly subjective, might depend somewhat on your field, and also, *your options and opportunities* can differ greatly according to the country in which you're doing your Masters.
The most I can offer, as somebody who just started a PhD, is to tell you *what I did during my Masters* (that was outside of regular program) and, more importantly, **why and how I think it helped**.
I did **two research internships abroad**, one before my last year of classes, and one during my last semester that played out as co-supervised research for my Master thesis.
What I got from that:
* I saw *what research entails in other countries where research is important and valued* (research in Croatia, where I come from, is at mediocre level at best)
* I *experienced working* in two *very different labs*, under very different supervision, different lab dynamics and approaches towards research
* I discovered **which setting works best for me** and **which setting I work best in**
(e.g. I prefer a relaxed, flexible environment and being advised/supervised by somebody openly helpful and *talkative* (it's just a thing for me) as opposed to strict working hours, getting tasks without understanding the importance and when the feedback (especially the negative aspects) is constrained because of inherit cultural politeness)
* I made valuable contacts who are at various levels in the research hierarchies - some of them gave me ideas, others encouragement, and some even gave me recommendation letters
* in informal settings, I **exchanged concrete ideas** as well as **general attitudes towards research and science** *(and life)* with people that come from different cultural and academical backgrounds
* I found out *how (very different) PhD students think of their "jobs" and what they think of their career choices* and I was free to make **my own assessment about how happy and fulfilled doing the PhD** made them and why, so my guess about how happy it would make me was more educated
* the proximity to the location where I finally applied for a PhD **got me the PhD grant** \- I would have never gotten that particular one if I wasn't there to have a few informal talks and give my grant presentation
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To *summarize*, what you should be aiming to get from your summer activity is **diversity**. Diversity in attitudes, approaches, contacts and ideas. You're allowed and encouraged to work and thrive in an environment best for you for anything more permanent (several years long), but you can't really know what you prefer if you never tried anything different.
I'm not going to tell you which activity to choose, but I would go to the one that had the **potential to expose me to most new people, ideas and attitudes**. You can always sacrifice some sleep to do extra work, but no amount of work in the world can measure up what you get from formal and informal interactions.
In my (a bit Utopian) view of the world, that's how science progresses: scientists *travel* and during those travels, the best of many worlds collides. By the end of those travels, hopefully, all the worlds are a little bit better off. When you're old, wise and grumpy, you travel to give back to the community and spread the ideas you spend a big part of your life to shape. But, since you expect to be giving back later, that entails you to travel when you're young, curious and perky, and get the most of what the community has to offer - little, baby ideas, and chisels to shape your own ideas.
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Tags: graduate-school, research-process, masters
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