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thread-15629 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15629 | Competition with your advisor? | 2014-01-11T01:07:02.697 | # Question
Title: Competition with your advisor?
My PhD research interest is very aligned with my advisor. However, my concern is that if I want to stay in the academia, will my advisor become my competitor in the future?
# Answer
> 27 votes
You might end up as competitors someday. I've never felt like I was in competition with any of my former students or my own advisor, but some people are hyper-competitive, and others are unlucky enough to end up in awkward situations, so your mileage may vary.
Even though it could happen, you shouldn't waste time in graduate school worrying about hypothetical future competition. There are more important things to think about, and you shouldn't let these worries interfere with learning as much as you can from your advisor.
Ultimately, becoming a successful researcher means developing your own research agenda. Over time, you should drift away from your advisor as you explore your own interests. (If you don't, it's a bad sign.) In particular, as you become an established researcher your advisor will no longer play a central role in shaping your scholarly interests, and competition with your advisor will not be much more likely or worrisome than competition with other senior people in your field.
# Answer
> 5 votes
I think most of the other answers here have missed an important point: following your PhD, you should not be staying in the same narrow subfield as your advisor. If you are directly competing for grants with your advisor, then you've done something very wrong.
The point of doctoral and postdoctoral training is to teach you to be an independent researcher. If you are doing only what your doctoral advisor did, then why do you have your own lab? You should be sufficiently distinct in your research profile that it's clear why "you are your own boss." (And if you can't come up with enough ideas to justify your own group, then you probably aren't ready to be an independent faculty member yet!)
# Answer
> 3 votes
There are really only two places academics "compete": funding and jobs. Since you are only a PhD student now, it is unlikely you will be applying for the same jobs as your advisor in the future since your advisor has such a big head start. By the time you close the gap, you will likely have made a name for yourself. As for funding, this is somewhat field dependent. For example in the US in an NIH funded field you might get a 3 year post doctoral NRSA and a 4 year k99/R00 after your PhD before you would likely be in direct competition with your advisor, and then you would have the "new investigator" benefit. Following this road you would be 12 years out before you are really in direct competition on "equal" footing. In other fields you might be competing for funding from the same pool of money earlier.
The benefit of close ties is that you can collaborate with your advisor after you finish the PhD.
# Answer
> 0 votes
It is a very nasty situation for the whole science system, when PhD student is already a potential competitor for the supervisor. This often leads to PhD studies lasting forever.
However scientific systems in most countries have more than enough measures to exclude such a competition. Most important, you frequently cannot progress from PhD student to professor inside the same institution, using the benefit that "you are already here, and everyone knows how good you are".
As a result, there is no reason for the supervisor to press down exactly you. Another competitor will come from the side anyway, and the supervisor will be with better chances after having good shared publications on your PhD project.
Competition does may happen if the professor assigns say some quite junior post doc to supervise a PhD student. Such post doc may then want to take over promising project for instance, be the first between authors, etc. However if this goes too far, it is usually possible to ask the actual professor to remove such a "supervisor" out of head.
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Tags: advisor
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thread-15913 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15913 | As a beginning graduate student, can you do without conferences in theoretical CS? | 2014-01-18T04:59:50.480 | # Question
Title: As a beginning graduate student, can you do without conferences in theoretical CS?
I'm beginning my graduate study in theoretical computer science soon, and I've been admitted to two graduate schools in Northeastern Asia.
One of those makes it a rule to grant compensation for travel to conferences to graduate students who finished their master's thesis. However, for beginning graduate students, they said they cannot be sure if they can fully afford their travel costs for conferences.
The graduate school requires the students little coursework and all I will do there will be do actual research. As you may know, conferences are important in computer science and reputable conferences are usually held far removed from us in Northeast Asia.
Can I do with journals and preprint servers, and possibly without reputable conferences, in the field of theoretical computer science, as a beginning graduate student?
(By the way, the cons of the other school are that the professor supervises too many students and that he hasn't been nice to me.)
# Answer
Conferences are *very* important in CS. Journals are also important, but they tend to accept more mature work, and therefore might be especially hard to publish into as a beginning graduate student (which, in your terms, seems to refer to someone who hasn't finished his/her master thesis yet). Nothing is impossible, of course, but you have to be careful not to end up with no publications after 4 years, just because you were aiming too high. In addition, some journals are very slow to respond, so you might spend half a year or even more waiting for a decision. In the mean time, you cannot send this work anywhere else.
You should ask students there how the official policy is, it might just be that they don't want to fund you a trip to a small workshop in Hawaii, but the question could be different if you were to get a paper at POPL. You should also consider that there are good conferences coming to Asia, and many conferences offer financial support to students (including reducing the registration fee, sometimes even helping with transport/accommodation). Finally, if you're writing your paper with someone else, such as your advisor, this person might be able to travel to the conference and present the paper (which would be a shame for you not to attend, but it still counts as a publication in your CV).
**EDIT** Some clarification: technically speaking, the only important thing is to produce good research, and to write good paper. What you plan to do after your PhD also matters, but if you'd like to stay in Academia, you will need at some point to get a job, and you will be judged on your papers (on other aspects too, but papers are very important). Now, to answer your question: **yes, you could get a job with only journal publications**, as long as they are good. **Is that the best strategy? Probably not**. Conferences are very important because they allow you to meet other people, to be exposed to state-of-the-art research, to confront your ideas with the community, to get published within a relatively short time period, to receive more frequent feedback, to construct your research project in a more incremental way (present your idea at some workshop, work on a good conference paper, present the extended version to a journal).
If I can give you one example, I've presented some of my work at a workshop with no proceedings (so it didn't count as a publication), and I met there someone who accepted to be one of my external PhD examiners.
> 4 votes
# Answer
In CS, conferences and journals serve different purposes: conferences are great for networking and exchange of ideas, and the important ones are having low acceptance rates so publishing there is worthy, but still, many (most?) are not listed in citation indexes and often people are just checking there for "real publications" (aka journal publications).
**Edit due to many comments:** Just to clarify this: I did not say that it is GOOD to judge someone based on journal papers, I just said some people do! I personally had to learn this the hard way since I had many good conference publications which were not regarded as "publications" in some contexts. **Edit end**
So if you do write journal publications, you made an important step towards a successful PhD (I know several advisoors who want to have x journal publications (x in {1..3} as pre-requisite), but you are missing the interaction and exchange of ideas. Especially in the first half of your thesis, this would be very valuable.
But maybe the people at grad school were just honest: Usually there are not enough travel funds to let everyone travel to every conference - one has to build a strategy on who visits which conference and how often. It's just a matter of resources since an international conference visit costs about 2.500€ and most funding schemes would not allow for more than one international conference per year.
I would recommend asking a grad student who is already there, how this is handled in practice.
> -1 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, conference, computer-science, funding, preprint
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thread-12603 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/12603 | Is it ok to submit a paper to arXiv after copyright transfer? | 2013-09-12T01:40:01.247 | # Question
Title: Is it ok to submit a paper to arXiv after copyright transfer?
I have a paper that was accepted and is already in press (you can download a PDF online), and I have already filled out the copyright transfer.
The publisher allows uploading preprint versions (including revisions after reviewer comments) to repositories such as arXiv, but is it ok to do so at this stage?
# Answer
> *The publisher allows uploading preprint versions (including revisions after reviewer comments)*
If you're allowed to do it, you are allowed to do it. **To be 100% sure, check the text of the copyright transfer agreement**, where these policies are spelt out. Or, if you don't like reading legal text so much, **it is summarized for many publishers in a nice color code at SHERPA/Romeo**.
> 19 votes
# Answer
This is a situation where you have to read what the copyright transfer agreement the journal had you sign (physically or digitally). That document is part of your publication contract so it is what you officially agreed to.
The last time I read one was, I think, an AIP journal and it had a paragraph on pre-print servers in general and arXiv in particular stating exactly which version of the paper was permissible to post. The language was "the author retains the rights to post \[such and such version\]..." so I could have posted that paper to arXiv after publication legally.
> 10 votes
# Answer
Depending on your legislation and the exact circumstances (funding sources), you may have retained certain rights for secondary publication regardless of what the copyright transfer says.
This is the case e.g. in Germany.
So in addition to the copyright transfer, check your local copyright law.
> 3 votes
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Tags: copyright, arxiv
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thread-15906 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15906 | Should referencing critical comments on papers that have been referenced be obligatory? | 2014-01-17T19:46:19.523 | # Question
Title: Should referencing critical comments on papers that have been referenced be obligatory?
Say a paper submitted for publication in a journal by Prof. Bertie Wooster references a paper by Dr Augustus Fink-Nottle, but that paper was the subject of a critical peer-reviewed comment by Prof. Roderick Spode. Should I insist as a reviewer that Prof. Spode's paper should also be referenced and the criticism at least mentioned, even if I personally do not agree with Prof. Spode's point of view?
My intuition is that the reader of a paper should reasonably expect to be made aware of any element on which Prof. Woosters work is based that has been seriously called into question, so that he is able to form an opinion on the matter. Am I being unreasonable in this expectation?
# Answer
This depends on why you reference the paper. If you reference it because of the details that were later commented on, there is definitely reason to also mention the disagreement. I would consider that a basic aspect of any referencing of relevant literature. If, on the other hand the comments by Spode have later been shown to be wrong (Jeeves, 2008) or irrelevant the "historic" discussion has little relevance.
So I think your sense is correct. But, the necessity to reference both depends on the reason for referencing. The two are not eternally linked for every aspect of the original paper, only the parts where opinions differ and from which the discussion has arisen.
> 8 votes
# Answer
I basically agree with Peter Jansson's answer. But I'm wondering:
* It's clear the follow-up papers need to be cited if they are important for the topic at hand. In that case, I'd not only reference them but sum them in a sentence or so.
* If they are not immediately relevant, I'd still mention them, like
> ... paper \[Fink-Nottle\] and the follow-up discussion \[Spode, Fink-Nottle2\]
or, even shorter
> ... paper \[Fink-Nottle, Spode, Fink-Nottle2\]
IMHO this is very low effort, and it is being nice to readers who want to look into the first Fink-Nottle paper (possibly because its topic is closer to what they are looking for than the major part of the present paper).
> 3 votes
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Tags: publications, journals, citations, peer-review
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thread-15930 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15930 | Could I change part of my paper after acceptance | 2014-01-18T18:13:55.447 | # Question
Title: Could I change part of my paper after acceptance
My paper is accepted in one of the Taylor and Francis journals and Today I figured out that I made a mistake in one row of one of my tables ( the minimum of one of variables in statistic analysis table is 0 in the paper but the actual value is 1). In fact, it does not affect the other parts of paper and the verification part.
Editor will provide the proofread of my paper in a week.
My question is, Will the editor give me a chance to edit the paper again? or he will change the grammatical problems his self?
And if I ask the editor to correct that row of paper, will he give the paper to reviewers again? I am worried that if I ask him to correct that mistake, he ask the reviewers to review my paper again. I need my paper to be published soon.
# Answer
> 8 votes
Since you have not proof read the paper yet, you simply ask the editor to make the changes to the table as part of the proof reading process. This is perfectly fine as long as the changes you make are trivial and does not change the basis for your conclusions. The worst case would be if the paper was accepted due to the data you reported and your changes will change the results so that the conclusions no longer can be made. The proof-reading stage comes after an accept and it is not allowed to make substantial changes. By substantial, I mean both by volume (changing a lot of text) or by quality (changing data upon which the decision was made).
Supply the changes to the editor as part of the proof reading process but make sure you explain that the changes in the table does not influence the results and conclusions of the paper.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Once the paper is published, there's no changing it. This seems to be the case whether it is physically printed in a magazine or first displayed online. Some journals will publish retractions, which are usually listed as a separate publication explaining what should be different in the original publication, though I'm sure that's not what you want.
I can say with certainty for PLoS One, if you need to issue revisions in that stage between acceptance and publication, they will fix minor issues if it doesn't fundamentally change the direction of your paper. Editing is hard work - it doesn't make sense to send it back for revisions if the paper hasn't changed too much. You'll want to send a copy of your revised paper to the editor, along with an letter/email detailing exactly what has changed in the paper and *especially* how it doesn't affect the other parts of your paper. Remember that the editor is also one of your reviewers, so if you can make the case that the mistake is indeed minor and take the time to correct it yourself, the decision to send it off for a seemingly pointless re-review becomes less attractive.
Source: A co-author made a small mistake that was corrected after acceptance.
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Tags: research-process, publications, editors, proofreading
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thread-15373 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15373 | Is it possible to get a PhD with personal research? | 2014-01-05T13:26:53.633 | # Question
Title: Is it possible to get a PhD with personal research?
I'm a master computer science student. I decided to leave the academia after graduation, but I'm still into research and would like to do personal research independently for like 10 years. Suppose I publish a lot of papers in valuable journals, is it possible to get a PhD after that somehow?
# Answer
> 3 votes
I think you can do research in your own time, but I think getting your work published is hard where you are not affiliated with a university or research institute. You have the advantage that you will not use precious resources from the institute as you will be doing the research in your own time, but you probably do not have a large amount of priority over the normal PhD's and postdocs.
I think you should write a research plan, i.e. where do you want to go with your research. Writing such a proposal will show a supervisor you are serious and have some research skills (provided the proposal is any good). Once you have a number of publications, molding those into a PhD thesis is quite possible. In the Netherlands for example it is quite normal to bundle your papers, and write an introduction and summary as your PhD thesis.
I do think performing research next to a normal job can be challenging, as research tends to take a lot of time. So be prepared to let your PhD take 10+ years (possibly making it obsolete), or sacrifice a lot of spare/family time.
# Answer
> 6 votes
Some universities offer the option of a 'PhD by published works'. See this question for more information. Is that the sort of thing you're looking for?
# Answer
> 3 votes
Technically there are ways to do this (at least in Europe, different countries are different). In practice however, doing PhD work is hard enough when doing it officially part-time with a set supervisor and approved plan. Without a supervisor, you need to be exceptionally exceptional to get a PhD thesis written (and sufficient academic papers published to satisfy expectations).
Think about it this way, the vast majority of PhD proposals in applications are not quite good enough (to execute), so the first thing a supervisor does is change the plan.
# Answer
> 2 votes
PhD studies are *studies*, same as master degree. So you need to cooperate with university or other scientific institution that has been *licensed* to grant this degree. Same as you cannot get driving license without applying to the road police (regardless how well do you drive), PhD degree also cannot "emerge automatically" from the number of published articles or the like.
Some institutions may be willing to review existing publications and grant the degree on that basis but generally anyway it must be institution, supervisor and, most often, topic. Many will not allow this path so I would advice to check if you can find one, before you start.
However it is not uncommon for the scientific institution to allow PhD studies without providing the funding (funding may be provided, for instance, by the company where PhD student currently works, or maybe PhD student have enough resources to support himself).
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Tags: phd, research-process, graduate-school, journals, independent-researcher
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thread-15933 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15933 | How do I choose a lab to rotate in? | 2014-01-18T19:26:35.280 | # Question
Title: How do I choose a lab to rotate in?
Normally, graduate students at my university go through three rotations. I've done two and will need to choose a permanent advisor after this next one. So choosing a rotation is similar to choosing an advisor, yet the philosophy can be slightly different.
1) **Funding**: Does the PI have funding for at least one year? Having that planning time to find other sources of funding without having to TA is indispensable.
2) **Choosing a permanent advisor**: The purpose of a rotation is to find an advisor and lab I am comfortable working with, as this will lead to a happier and more productive few years of my life.
3) **New skills**: Doing rotations in multiple labs will give me perspective. I should be learning different skills from each rotation.
4) **Research interests**: I should find a lab with research interests that align to mine. I don't want to be stuck working in a field I don't enjoy for the next X years.
5) **Prestige**: An advisor with strong industry connections can leverage those connections to help me break into industry or finding funding for my startup. A recommendation from a professor famous in your field can be my ticket to a tenure-track position.
How should I reconcile these different points? I'm a bioinformatics grad, if that makes a difference.
# Answer
> 5 votes
I would focus on choosing an advisor and a project as your priorities. These will be the two most important decisions you make as a graduate student. The project you pick will be your preoccupation for the next five or so years, and your advisor will be one of the most important figures in your career. New skills and funding are secondary to these, and the issue of prestige almost shouldn't enter into your decision at all.
In particular, I would actually argue that it's not just choosing an advisor; it's choosing an advisor **and a group**. You will almost certainly be spending more time with your fellow group members than with your advisor. Therefore, you need to make sure that you can get along with both your advisor as well as your future colleagues. A miserable working environment is not worth the trouble, if another viable option is available.
Also, make sure that the project you want to work on interests you; it'll drive you to accomplish more, and you'll be better motivated to make it your own (which is what you need to do to succeed as a graduate student).
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Tags: phd, graduate-school, advisor
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thread-15196 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15196 | Why do academics publish? | 2013-12-30T00:21:21.237 | # Question
Title: Why do academics publish?
It seems as though everyone in academia is trying to publish *stuff*, regardless of whether they actually have something meaningful to say. The journals generate more *noise* every year. I understand that papers count for promotion and review, they mostly get counted but... There is room to question the actual motivation to publish.
**What is your primary reason for publishing?** How much of it is related to making a meaningful contribution to science/knowledge/understanding, and how much is for other reasons/purposes (tenure, CV, fame, pressure, etc.)?
# Answer
The **first question** is a relatively simple problem.
Researchers have the **utility** of:
* some research being published in some rated venue: which will award them points according to some criteria.
* some research being cited, which will award also points according to some other criteria.
* some research being purchased: which will award some sweet additional income.
* some research being read: which doesn't award any points per se, but helps to create some buzz around it, get cites, funding, etc. This requires the research to be published before.
* "making a meaningful contribution to science/knowledge/understanding".
Look at the last bullet point, the rewards come from the inside of the researchers in that case, no raise, no money, no external reward. This means that if people focus on that too much they may not make any progress in their careers and they may actually fail in the search for funding or even a job. Therefore, successful people will have a strong interest/utility on the other points, the last one may or may not be important for them, but definitively secondary. They may say it's the primary goal, but they won't act like that, or they will fail. I'm an introvert and this sucks, but that is how the system is, it's mathematical.
The points and external rewards are very important. They may be important to finish a MSc or a PhD, to get a post-doc position, a job in industry, a tenured position, a raise, a project, funding, etc. But we are not done yet. They do also have **resources** to get some attention:
* social networks (twitter, linkedIn, etc.)
* blogs
* conferences
* journals
* books
* etc.
Do you remember the last point?, blogs seem to be perfectly suitable to making this kind of contribution, but they are not peer reviewed and they don't award any points, therefore, they are used like twitter. Get buzz, get attention, then link the paper so that people can read it. You can even summarize the paper in the blog so that people can cite it without actually reading it, which is wrong on so many levels that actually some of them cancel each other and happens to be right in some levels, at least IMHO.
Finally have some pieces of **research** that they can split like salami or maybe put together as a compilation to create a book, or they can even try to split, publish in conferences, then put together as a journal, then join with even more stuff and write a book.
So basically in the end researchers try to publish the research using the resources available trying to maximize the utility of their research, effort, time, publications, etc. Those who do it right (not focusing on the last point of the utility) get to do more and more research, and so the academia system works, and so it is driven.
Basically this is a problem of cybernetics. This is an emergent information system that is mostly driven in that way, with those dynamics and that convergence. Maybe we would have a better system if it was explicitly engineered and not emergent, but as usual, the ones that have the most power to change it are the ones that are most favored by the current system. There is always some strength in the stability of the status quo.
About the **second question**, the answer for me is "no". I guess that's why I'm here writing with a pseudonym.
> 4 votes
# Answer
In the words of Lichtfouse (2013) *a research article is above all a communication tool and its purpose is to transfer scientific information from one individual to other individuals*.
Publishing a paper is for me the way to show that I am doing research and sharing it with others. But, it is clear that I also am pressured into publishing because promotions and the ability to attract funding relies on publications as a primary evaluation tool. So although I do not publish with the expressed intent of attracting more funding or my own promotions, I am well aware of the spiralling development that is ongoing. I do want to mention that publishing something primarily gives me personally a sense of achievement, that my research is good enough to pass the scrutiny of peers etc. As with, I surmise, mostly everyone else, I thrive from doing a good job and getting a sense of accomplishment. Publishing does that for me.
Whether or not people read my research can be answered by yes and no. Everyone does not read my papers but some who do not should and some who reference my work, really ought to read it, again. On the whole, I think papers get the attention they deserve, some get more and some get less attention than I think is fair. But, since my work gets referenced reasonably often, I think over and under referenced papers average out.
The "pressure to publish" is definitely there and I believe that universities and funding agencies should try to improve the way they evaluate research so as to avoid "salami slicing" and other types of publishing effects. But, how such a system should look is difficult to say although many indices such as the *h-index* can be used. Since there are no perfect systems, it is perhaps more important to look at the ethical aspects of publishing and make awareness of and discssion on publishing issues better.
Lichtfouse, E., 2013. Scientific writing for impact factor journals. Nova Publishers, New York.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Yes, promotion-and-tenure motivations are strong, but it would be misguided to think that such cachet is the sole impetus for publishing. Even if relatively few people read the final result, there's a lot to be said for the publication process: comments from referrees, questions from conference attendees – these provide valuable feedback that can lead to new insights or help you gauge how much your overall research efforts are of interest and use to others in the field.
It's one thing to have a hunch that your research is signficant; it's another to have that verified by selection committees and the peers in your field.
> 2 votes
# Answer
A list of *recent* publications is the most serious document to prove the competence in science. And, very often, no competence - no job.
A professor that has no publications for several years may at the end lose the position. This is a reasonable requirement, as it forces to stay up to date with the knowledge. Otherwise the quality of teaching would drop because alternative ways of discarding low competence professor (like group of students requiring to replace him) are way more difficult and problematic.
Also, publication is a normal, usual way to recognize the PhD work. It may be possible to get PhD without publications but this is usually understood as a sign of unsuccessful work that puts shadow on both student and supervisor. Nobody wants.
Finally, some systems like European may require a scientist to change the institution periodically, providing mostly temporary positions as long as you are not a professor yet. If you have finished a two year post doctoral position without a paper published, that is the end of you scientific carrier - you will not get the next one.
Unfortunately this also means that scientists try to publish something often even when they could generally work for several more years to make a better publication instead.
> -1 votes
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Tags: research-process, publications, motivation
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thread-9181 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9181 | For undergraduates, is publishing "weak" research better than not publishing? | 2013-04-06T23:13:27.917 | # Question
Title: For undergraduates, is publishing "weak" research better than not publishing?
As an undergraduate student, I have worked on some projects for my own interest, and recently a professor said that one of these works can be published (in a Elsevier journal with impact factor of about 2). I personally think that this work is not *strong* enough to be published and included in my resume. (I don't have any prior experience in publishing and related stuff.)
Can a weak research article published in a journal affect my application for graduate school in a negative way?
# Answer
There are very few circumstances under which I think it's a bad idea for undergraduates to write research papers. These primarily have to do with the quality of the journal: so long as it is a *reputable*, *peer-reviewed* journal, I wouldn't be too concerned with the "strength" of the work.
The reason is that publishing while an undergraduate—particularly as a primary author—demonstrates that you have already started to learn the basics of how to do research in your field. This means that you're less of an "unknown" quantity, and therefore less of a risk for a department reviewing your application. If you don't publish the research, then there's no tangible proof, and then you need to rely on your research supervisor to make that point in a letter of recommendation. (But then the question becomes: "if she could have written a paper, why didn't she?")
As for the exceptions above, so long as you don't publish in "vanity" journals (those which will publish basically anything, so long as people pay the appropriate publication "fees"), you should be fine.
> 43 votes
# Answer
I fully concur with the reply from aeismail but will add the following:
Publishing means your paper will go through peer-review. With a journal with impact=2 (reasonably respectable) you are likely to get a good set of revieweers. This will either lead to rejection or to suggestions for improvements. If publsihed the paper will likely be better than when it arrived at the journal. So remember that publishing includes more work than just sending something to be printed.
> 16 votes
# Answer
I think your supervisor may want to extend the research with more experiments, data, etc. This will lead to an much stronger paper.
Good journals often reject weak papers, or ask authors to make major changes to their manuscript. So it is hard to publish a weak paper in a good journal. But always remember that **Many weak papers are improved to strong papers in the review process.**
> 0 votes
# Answer
It is of course always much better to have publications in high impact journals, but this also depends on who is publishing. For a professor or post doc, the impact factor of the journal is very important.
However PhD student or undergraduate is usually understood as somebody who still cannot deserve a very high significance of they research work just by they competence and hard work. It is often looked just like a success and matters less. As a result, publications in low impact ( \> 0 ! ) journals in this stage are also good enough.
> 0 votes
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Tags: publications, research-process, application, cv, research-undergraduate
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thread-15941 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15941 | Will going to an university in UK be profitable for me in the future? | 2014-01-18T23:05:30.553 | # Question
Title: Will going to an university in UK be profitable for me in the future?
I'm currently thinking in which country to spend my undergraduate period, UK or US. I'm going to apply for PhD program of Molecular Biology in US university after graduating from undergrad school. So, it seems better to stay in US during undergrad period to prepare for PhD program admission. But I prefer undergrad programs of UK, because of its specialized and accelerated curriculum. Is it a rational choice to go to UK just because of my preference of its curriculum?
# Answer
> 2 votes
Among some of the valid points raised by aeismail and Neo, I would also say it makes a big difference how good the university you are admitted into is. Probably Cambridge Univ. or Univ. of Chicago are fine for most Life Sciences choices, but Univ. of South Cambridgeshire or of Northwestern Illinois aren't.
You are shaping yourself as a person still; keep it simple and don't dwell on details. Go to a reputable university, built up yourself as an academic person and as you are there you will see and hear more stuff. You say "PhD in Molecular Biology" now but in 4 years time you might say "PhD in Neuroscience" (not to mention the possibility of you going off to industry with a good salary. :) )
Without wanting to put you off, as Neo said, it is a bit early to think about your grad-school at this point. Go in a good university and be the best you can, the rest will come naturally (and even if you don't end up in an US PhD programme, you might still have great fun elsewhere!)
# Answer
> 3 votes
Personally, I think it is to early to think about graduate school if you haven't even started undergraduate. I would go with where you want to live, and where you think you will have the most research opportunities, and where you think you will get the best grades. Most of all, I would go where you think you will be happiest in life, and not academics. It is infinitely harder to do good work, no matter what field, when you are not happy.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Academic success is only one component needed for acceptance into graduate programs; you also need to have advisors who can comment favorably on your capabilities **as a researcher**. That means you should focus not only on where you can do well academically, but on where you can also get the opportunities to do research.
However, one thing which you should be aware of is that in the US, admission to PhD programs generally occur directly after the bachelor's phase. This may or may not be the case in the UK. The consequence of this is that, depending on the requirements of the (US) school, even if you have a master's you may need to repeat some coursework or take additional classes upon enrollment in the PhD program.
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Tags: undergraduate, united-states, united-kingdom
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thread-15944 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15944 | Asking a past professor to teach a workshop/short course | 2014-01-19T00:40:12.127 | # Question
Title: Asking a past professor to teach a workshop/short course
I would like to ask some of my former professors to come to my country and teach a small workshop, with undergraduate students, for a couple of days. I am doing this because I would like to raise the interest in my career, which is computer science, inside the faculty that I am currently working in. So the question that I have is: what would be the recommended things that I should offer to them, so that they are more likely to agree to pay a visit to my faculty? I ask this because I believe that I must submit like a report of expenses to my faculty dean or coordinator, so he or she could see if its feasible or not.
What expenses should my faculty cover? I was thinking of:
* Plane tickets
* Accommodation and meals
* Material for the workshop
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
# Answer
> 9 votes
In general, the expenses you've listed above (travel costs, local accommodations and meals) are typically sufficient. Registration fees for the workshop would also usually be waived.
One other thing you might consider offering, if funds are available, is a small stipend to be used by the faculty member to sponsor a "young researcher"—a graduate student or postdoc—who can also attend the workshop and take part, perhaps by offering a poster or contributed talk. (Or, if it is not possible to offer a stipend, perhaps the registration fees could be waived for the young researcher instead.)
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Tags: travel, workshop, fees
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thread-15953 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15953 | How to manage your advisor's jealousy over your work? | 2014-01-19T06:07:31.487 | # Question
Title: How to manage your advisor's jealousy over your work?
Say you made a smart move in solving an important question that your advisor did not think of and all of a suddenly your advisor becomes jealous because you have made your advisor look bad. What are the best way to manage situation like this?
# Answer
I'd distinguish between three scenarios:
1. If you have accomplished something genuinely magnificent (e.g., you just proved the Riemann hypothesis), then it may be natural for your advisor to feel a little envious, particularly if it was something your advisor had hoped to do someday. Hopefully they'll soon switch to feeling proud of their amazing student, and in any case your career success is assured by your great accomplishment.
2. In less extreme circumstances, this could be a real problem. If your advisor feels threatened by your success, then you may need a new advisor, since you certainly don't want an advisor who goes around explaining how you aren't as great as you seem. Before you reach that point, it's worth discussing these issues. For example, you could say "I've felt some tension recently, and you seemed upset with me at the X Symposium. Am I doing something that's making you unhappy?" This may be an awkward conversation, but it's worth a try. It's possible that you are somehow making the problem worse (for example, by publicly saying things about your advisor that could be interpreted as disparaging, even if you didn't mean them that way), or that your advisor will feel a little sheepish that you noticed this behavior and will try to change. If talking about it doesn't work, then I don't know what to suggest. You either find a new advisor or put up with it as best you can.
3. It's also possible that it's all in your head. I become suspicious whenever I hear someone attribute other people's behavior to jealousy, since it's an awfully convenient excuse. Until you have really clear evidence, you should keep an open mind regarding other explanations.
> 16 votes
# Answer
> Say you made a smart move in solving an important question that your advisor did not think of and all of a suddenly your advisor becomes jealous because you have made your advisor look bad. What are the best way to manage situation like this?
Generally speaking, whenever somebody tells me that their advisor is jealous of their work, I get rather suspicious. Usually, students that make smart moves and solve important problems do **not in any way reflect badly on advisors!** Quite the contrary, hence there usually is absolutely no reason to be anything than happy for the student's success. That she (I am taking from other comments that your advisor is female?) did not think of the solution herself matters little - in practice, most concrete solutions to research problems come from students and not the advisors. Again, this would not reflect badly on the advisor in any way.
> I am speaking from my personal experiences. Initially my advisor was very friendly\[more like a co worker than a boss\], but the moment she realized what i had accomplished and how the industry was blown away by my work and offered me internships,she kind of started acting more I say formal\[like a manager\]. We filed for patents and wrote to CHI (holy grail of HCI Conferences) which was unprecedented for MS students from an small university in the Midwest. The moment I realized this, the more I hated and resented her and and I think she realized this and our relationship went downhill from there.
This is a statement of yours from one of the comments. First of all, congratulations on the CHI paper as well as on the patent applications. However, that being said, the entire paragraph reads like you maybe got carried away a bit by your own success (*how the industry was blown away by my work*, *holy grail of HCI*, *unprecedented*, etc.). Reflect for yourself - is there a chance that your advisor is not so much jealous, but simply annoyed by your high-handed behavior as of late? Are you rubbing your success into her face? Have you maybe even made sure that she understands that this was **your** success, and not in any way hers as advisor?
Also, the last statement (*the more I hated and resented her and and I think she realized this and our relationship went downhill from there.*) kind of worries me. These are pretty strong words. Surely, more than a little bit of distant behavior and perceived jealousy has happened for you to *resent and hate* your advisor?
**EDIT:**
As it turns out, I am not capable of reading, as the second quote is not from the OP but from @james234. Anyway, I'll leave the answer here, as it seems to reflect the gist of such advisor/advisee problems quite well (even if it does not necessarily help the OP).
> 14 votes
# Answer
If your supervisor is already a professor, this is highly unlikely as the difference in the competence is way too big. If such thing really happened by pure chance, just ignore and concentrate on work instead. He is a professor. He is competent. He should manage.
Such friction may only happen when, for instance, the professor assigns near finishing PhD student, young post doc or the like, to help the starting PhD student.
Such "low level supervisor" may provide a lot of useful assistance, so you need to think twice before attempting to run away from it. But if you really do not want him, and are also sure you can get without him, go to the professor and ask to remove that supervision. This usually works no problem.
> -2 votes
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Tags: advisor, interpersonal-issues
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thread-14963 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14963 | List of international internships/student programs | 2013-12-21T01:02:50.820 | # Question
Title: List of international internships/student programs
Is there a website where a list is maintained and constantly updated for undergrads/graduate students looking for internships/competitions/conferences in whatsoever field?
Such a website will be an invaluable resource!
# Answer
> 2 votes
Though it may be outdated now, my father and now myself are both part of AIESEC https://www.aiesec.org/
# Answer
> 1 votes
At the global field independent level the answer is no. At the national field specific level the answer is often no, but some countries have reasonable systems. In the UK jobs.ac.uk handles many academic jobs, but internships, competitors, and conferences are not particularly related.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I don't think there is one particular site that lists different internships, but you can defintiely look into joining listserves and organizations for you industry. For example, I work in international education and I joined NAFSA as well as their email listserv to learn more about industry trends, internships, and job openings. On an international level, you can check out websites like Go Overseas.com for a list of all international internship providers with reviews and website links.
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Tags: conference, internship, international
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thread-15970 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15970 | Should an errata contain header and footer text and a page number? | 2014-01-20T09:30:46.867 | # Question
Title: Should an errata contain header and footer text and a page number?
When writing a paper and adding an errata list (spelling out some mistakes that were made in previous versions of the paper), should that list contain the same meta-information as other pages, i.e. header and footer text and a page number? (If it's relevant, I am using APA for this paper but cannot find any information on the subject.) Additionally, should it be included in a table of contents?
# Answer
> 1 votes
1. Consult the APA Style manual, which you can probably check out of a library. The full manual is not available online, although I was able to find this information about lists. You may want to consider the guidelines for appendices, since this list sounds like an appendix (if it is long). This document from Walden University(pdf) describes how to format appendices using APA), but is mum on header and footer. I expect that you should include such information.
2. Consult the recipient of your paper. If this paper is being written for a class, ask your instructor. If this paper is to be submitted to a journal or conference, then said journal or conference likely has detailed guidelines available for lists and appendices. If such information is not available, you should contact a member of the editorial staff.
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Tags: research-process, paper-submission, errors-erratum
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thread-15972 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15972 | Accepting European math postdoc offers and leaving after a year | 2014-01-20T13:51:59.730 | # Question
Title: Accepting European math postdoc offers and leaving after a year
I am a finishing Ph.D student in pure mathematics in the US. In November, I received a 3 year postdoc offer in Europe on a PI's grant with a December reply deadline and accepted starting in 2015. Recently, I was offered an NSF MSPRF at an American school, starting in 2014. My plan is to use the NSF in 2014-2015 and 2016-2018 and go to Europe for 2015-2016--the NSF and my US host institution are OK with it. However, when I accepted the European offer I did not specify that I would be staying for only a year (I had no other offers at that point). A what point am I obligated to tell the European PI that I will stay for only a year? Now, before accepting the NSF? After starting the position in 2015? More generally, in Europe is it considered normal or unethical/breach of contract to leave multi year (mathematics) postdoc positions after a year? I know it's considered normal in the US but the postdoc hiring here is done at a departmental rather than individual level...
# Answer
> 12 votes
Going for one year would fulfill your obligations as I understand them, but I can't guarantee the PI will see things the same way. You should discuss it as soon as possible, to settle the issue and so the PI can at least make realistic plans. (I'd be a little offended if I discovered that someone visiting to work with me had dramatically changed their plans without telling me until much later, even if I thought the change was otherwise reasonable.)
There are several plausible outcomes:
1. The PI might insist that you have made a commitment to stay for more than a year. I don't think this is reasonable or likely, but it's better to find out now than later, so you can figure out what to do about it.
2. The PI might be fine with one year. Then you won't have to worry about this issue any further.
3. The PI might accept one year but seem unhappy about it. In that case, you could explain that you would really like to come for a year if possible, but you would be willing to withdraw if the PI would prefer to hire someone else for the full three years.
# Answer
> 9 votes
I think this depends a lot on the hiring practices from country to country and from university to university. For instance, if you're offered a multiyear position on what amounts to a renewable annual contract, then there's much less of a problem leaving after one year than if it's a single multiyear appointment.
However, essential communication with **everyone** involved is required **before you start the positions.** If people are not aware of what you want to do, and you spring it upon them as a surprise *after* you sign the hiring paperwork, you're setting yourself up for much bigger problems than if you talk to them and make sure everybody's OK with your plans in advance.
# Answer
> 6 votes
I think you know what is the appropriate action and what is not! You are probably hoping that somebody gives you a justification to do what you have planed. But even a teenager knows that when you accept to work with somebody for three years and later you change your mind and make another plan which conflicts with your agreement, **you are obliged to let the PI know about your new plan as soon as possible.**
Besides, there are probably several other good candidates to fill the position that you want to leave after one year. In this way you take an opportunity from a fellow human being without even using it!
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Tags: job-search, postdocs, career-path, mathematics, ethics
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thread-15979 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15979 | How do i find top journals in my area of interest? | 2014-01-20T16:19:07.693 | # Question
Title: How do i find top journals in my area of interest?
How can you find the top journals in a scientific field? I am an HCI graduate student, but I sometimes write to industrial engineering articles if it involves ergonomics. Right now, I'm trying to understand what standing the journal "IIE Transactions" has compared to other journals in the field of industrial engineering.
I was told that the impact factor is not a good indicator to find top journals. What other indicators are useful for identifing top journals within specific fields, like industrial engineering?
# Answer
> 3 votes
There are problems with the *Impact factor*, but to find *top journals* in a field (as in leading/high reputation) the IF (relative to others in the field) is usually a good proxy. The problem with IF is mainly that it is a fairly poor predictor of citations to individual papers. Alternative journal rankings can be found at SCimago and Eigenfactor. However, I do not have any knowledge about HCI and industrial engineering in particular.
Beside @MatthewG recommendation to talk to your advisor, I would also suggest that you look at what you are reading and what journals the papers you are citing are published in. This is usually a good way to find suitable journals.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Talk to your advisor about this. They will have a very good mental model of what the publication landscape in the area looks like.
Sometimes, lists like this exist for your field, however they largely just reproduce intuitions your supervisor would already have.
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Tags: publications, research-process, journals, bibliometrics
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thread-15982 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15982 | Phd program @Harvard when my '''education''' didn't go beyond highschool? | 2014-01-20T18:45:03.277 | # Question
Title: Phd program @Harvard when my '''education''' didn't go beyond highschool?
Would I be accepted at a Phd Program @Harvard when my '''education''' didn't go beyond high-school? I have however done lot of self-study after graduating from high-school by studying:
* Electrodynamics.
* General Relativity.
* Quantum Mechanics ...
and all the maths that is related to those physics areas. So do I have any chance?
# Answer
You PROBABLY don't have any chance at the moment. Have you published in the field? Do you have any projects that you could show to a professor (outside Harvard first?) that might shed light on your exceptional ability? Without ever going to any college you would have to be extraordinary enough to be an exception to Harvard's admission criteria. Of course, alternatively you could try taking some graduate level classes somewhere else, build a relationship with a professor, and either join their program for a preparatory master's or get them to comment to Harvard on your abilities.
> 6 votes
# Answer
It's definitely *possible*. What you need is: (1) someone the PhD program at Harvard acknowledges to vouch for your academic skills, and (2) show them you have those skills. (1) is normally accomplished by including letters of recommendation from your college professors. You need to be creative in choosing your recommenders. (2) is normally accomplished by including a writing sample in your application (this is normally required anyway).
And by the way, you're accepted *to* a program, not *at* a program. If your application contains grammatical mistakes like that, you're unlikely to be accepted. That's just the way it is.
> 3 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions
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thread-15992 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15992 | Whom do I have to thank in the Acknowledgements section of a Bachelor thesis | 2014-01-20T23:20:26.977 | # Question
Title: Whom do I have to thank in the Acknowledgements section of a Bachelor thesis
I will soon finish writing my Bachlor thesis in physics and I don't know whom I "have to" put in the acknowledgements.
There are two professors who will grade the thesis, one the head of the work group I'm writing the thesis at and the other one from another work group. I didn't have much personal contact with any of the two other than getting their signatures for some paperwork and talking about half an hour about the subject. They appear on the thesis as advisors.
The actual advisor is a PhD student from the work group; a practice fairly common, at least at the physics department. He has been really involved and helped me a lot.
So I was thinking to thank the head of the work group for the possibiliy to write the thesis there and one or two sentences for the actual advisor.
But most of my fellow students seem to mention a lot more people like the second advisor (Professor), friends, boy-, girlfriend, family...
My problem with that is that the second advisor is not involved at all in the process (he works in a related field, but the workgroups don't really collaborate), but I am concerned that it might be seen as an insult. I can see why one thanks close friends and family in a PhD thesis where one works on for years but I think it is a little melodramatic in a Bachelor thesis (which takes four months, not full time). But I'm afraid this might come off as ungrateful or heartless.
Is it expected or recommended to put second advisor, friends and family in the acknowledgements?
# Answer
> 11 votes
The absolutely crucial thing is that you clearly acknowledge and delineate any work, original ideas, results, images, figures, tables, charts, quotations, prose, etc., that were contributed by someone other than the primary author (i.e., you). Failure to do so could taint your academic reputation, and in extreme cases, might be construed as plagiarism (or some other form of academic misconduct).
Beyond that somber admonition, the remainder of your acknowledgements are a pleasantry which can be doled out entirely as you like. I agree that extensive acknowledgements in a bachelor's thesis are a bit misplaced. On the other hand, it's a good opportunity to think about the people who *actually* made it possible to complete your BS research—e.g., lab techs who helped run and maintain equipment, or administrators in the department who made sure all the paperwork went smoothly. These people are extremely important and are often overlooked (even in PhD theses).
As for secondary members of your thesis committe, it's up to you. You can easily say something simple and honest like, "Thanks to Professors X and Y for agreeing to be on my committee." But I doubt they'll be insulted if you don't acknowledge them for a deep and lasting impact on your research career. They've signed off on BS theses before. They know it's no big deal (for them).
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Tags: thesis, etiquette, acknowledgement
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thread-15951 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15951 | How to keep and organize a research journal/log/diary/notebook? | 2014-01-19T05:20:04.320 | # Question
Title: How to keep and organize a research journal/log/diary/notebook?
I have read in multiple places that it is a good practice as an academic to keep a *research journal*. For example, Marie desJardins' paper *How to Succeed in Graduate School: A Guide for Students and Advisors* says:
> Keeping a journal of your research activities and ideas is very useful. Write down speculations, interesting problems, possible solutions, random ideas, references to look up, notes on papers you've read, outlines of papers to write, and interesting quotes. Read back through it periodically.
My first attempt was to write my ideas in a log book. I soon gave that up because the book would not always be with me when I wanted to write something in it, and because I knew eventually I would lose it and not be able to retrieve information from it.
My current approach is to write a huge LaTeX file which I store in the cloud. In it, I chronicle my daily thoughts about my research project, to take notes of what is discussed in meetings with my adviser. However, I simply feel overwhelmed by the volume of writing and the amount of repetition that I find in my research journal. I also have other files which serve similar purposes. For example, I have a file called `results.pdf` where I write out all my theorems and propositions and their proofs.
1. What have you tried and how has a research journal been of benefit to you?
2. Do you do all your "rough work" in a research journal, so that you can refer to it later?
3. What system do you use as your research journal?
4. Do you log all your experimental results into a chronologically organized research notebook? (Since I am not from a biology/chemistry/experimental background, I am curious as to how people who do lots of experiments manage to organize their results and ideas.)
# Answer
> 6 votes
Be aware that **only you will ultimately be able to answer this question!** Each individual works differently, so take the following *cum grano salis*.
As you've noted, a physical notebook does not always work well. Not only it is difficult to carry and easy to lose, it is also not easily searchable. (Despite this, I personally use a series of cheap notebooks and paper folders to enhance my thinking and contain random notes during the initial stages of research.) For many researchers, electronic files are the best alternative to paper. Your LaTeX file is a good beginning, and sounds like all you really need is a way to organize the huge mass of material now contained in a single file.
I would suggest breaking the file into several files, each containing a separate aspect of your current journal. How you organize this is ultimately up to you. Use the logic and structure that meshes with the way your brain works. Only one hard and fast rule: **Never have a file labeled miscellaneous!** This will end up catching all sorts of odds and ends and junk, and you will NOT be able to remember what the file actually contains.
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Tags: note-taking, workflow, document-organization
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thread-15993 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15993 | Postdoc salary. Fair offer? | 2014-01-20T23:47:07.567 | # Question
Title: Postdoc salary. Fair offer?
I was just offered a postdoc at 34 000 USD a year.
I am wondering whether this is an ok offer. Can someone give me feedback on this?
# Answer
> 34 votes
It sounds like it's on the low side for the sciences, but not unheard of. For comparison, NIH NRSA postdoc stipends start at about $39k for people with no previous postdoctoral experience and go up from there. Postdoc salaries can vary a lot by field, location, institution, etc.; if you have no other offers to compare with but want to know what's typical, I'd recommend searching online to find information that fits your background.
As Paul Garrett pointed out, you also need to consider the cost of living. According to CNN Money's cost of living calculator, $35k in Nashville is the equivalent of nearly $70k if you were living in Brooklyn. Of course these calculators are far from perfect, but they give you some indication of how prices and rents vary across the country. If you are going to live on $34k, Nashville is a good place to do it, and I would expect typical salaries there to be lower than in more expensive locations.
Ultimately, unless you believe there is discrimination or bias involved, I wouldn't worry too much about abstract notions of fairness, or even comparisons with other people in different circumstances. Instead, I would focus on three questions. What do you need to live happily in the short term? What are your long-term goals and prospects for achieving them? And what other options do you have, including not just similar postdoctoral offers but also career changes? Only you can weigh these considerations and decide whether a given offer is acceptable to you.
# Answer
> 5 votes
For what it's worth, most Ph.D. chemists that I've seen graduate and move to post-docs get around $40k. The amount depends on how much was budgeted in the grant proposal that is paying the post-doc salary and typically there isn't much wiggle room. Considering the dwindling grant resources, current hiring climate, and level of competition in this field, most are happy just to get a job.
On your question of fairness, did anyone else offer you another post-doc for more money? If not, I'd consider it fair.
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Tags: postdocs, salary
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thread-15983 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15983 | Is it normal to submit an abstract to a conference when the research is NOT completed? | 2014-01-20T18:46:54.477 | # Question
Title: Is it normal to submit an abstract to a conference when the research is NOT completed?
I just started my 2nd semester of my part-time master, I was given a thesis topic last week and expected to submit an abstract this week. Because advisor told me -\> I would have not choice. However, I just wonder: Is it normal to submit an abstract to a conference when the research is NOT completed? Or people normally completed the research then write the abstract?
I read a topic asking about how to write an abstract without having the result How to write abstract for conference when you have no results yet? So I have basic understanding of what I should not write in my abstract.
# Answer
> Is it normal to submit an abstract to a conference when the research is NOT completed?
Sure. There are plenty of fields where the purpose of a conference is to discuss research that is "still cooking." In fact, many *journal* publications can be viewed as interim reports on larger research programs that are still in progress.
You might use this opportunity to set a goal for (roughly) the piece of your thesis you want to have done by the date of the conference. It's ok if that piece is relatively small, and nobody at the conference will hold you strictly to what you say in the abstract.
In fact, some people submit abstracts on one thing and then talk about something entirely different... I won't advocate that behavior as an intentional strategy, but I will say that many people (myself included) prefer a great talk to exacting consistency with the abstract.
> 19 votes
# Answer
Yes. The idea of the conference is to talk about the current research, not about the published articles. Conferences can also be used to discuss works that may or may not evolve into articles. And while conference abstracts are not rated as high as articles, they do help PhD student to support the significance of the work - especially when, because of various reasons, the article at the end have not been published.
However if your work is close to completion, or even there is already an article in preparation, or otherwise the topic is very successful and highly promising, professor may suggest to avoid disclosing details that may help for potential competitors.
> 4 votes
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Tags: thesis, abstract
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thread-16007 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16007 | Is the phrase "We can see that ..." appropriate in research papers? | 2014-01-21T12:51:51.153 | # Question
Title: Is the phrase "We can see that ..." appropriate in research papers?
Today at work, we had a discussion about writing styles of research papers. One of the topic was if the phrase "*We can see that...*" is appropriate for research papers or not.
While some people were convinced that the phrase does not belong there others had no problem with it. Since my mother language is not English and I am a "writer beginner" I was tactically silent.
I tried to *google.scholar* the phrase and it showed me a lot of papers with it. However, we all know that not all papers out there have proper writing style.
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So the question:
**Is the phrase "We can see that ..." appropriate for a research paper? If so, at which circumstances? At which circumstances it is not?**
# Answer
> 19 votes
The goal of scientific writing is to transfer knowledge and information with high degree of clarity, precision, conciseness, and a reasonably natural tone. When editing written work, a quick litmus test is to slash away each phrase then evaluate if the sentence can do without it. "We can see that..." is a very popular candidate to be slashed because in 99% of the cases, the sentence's meaning wouldn't change:
> "We can see in Table 1 that the average age is 56 years old with a standard deviation of 7 years."
>
> "The average age is 56 years old with a standard deviation of 7 years (Table 1)."
When describing graphs or illustration, we tend to see "We can see that..." a lot more frequently than in other plain text; most of these can also be deleted:
> "In Figure 1, we can see that females are the majority (67%)."
>
> "Females are the majority (67%, Figure 1)."
... or replaced by the graphical components on which that the viewers should focus.
> "In Figure 2, we can see that the sales of graphic novel have been steadily increasing since 2011."
>
> "The sales of graphic novel have been steadily increasing since 2011, as indicated by the dotted line in Figure 2." OR
>
> "The sales of graphic novel (dotted line in Figure 2) have been steadily increasing since 2011"
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And a few random thoughts from also an ESL:
1. I tend to focus on how efficient the sentence is rather than how formal the sentence is. I will, on any day, take a PhD candidate who writes clearly than one who writes formally. "Formal" bad writing scratches the inside of my cranium.
2. When it comes to writing, I tend to gear away from pragmatic advices that say "You always have to..." or "You never should..." Languages and usages change along time; it's more important to be able to tell my ideas to the current crowd, than to be able to write an ancient script. Beginning learners should feel free to stick to a handful of "rules of thumb," but as the learning progresses they should develop their own judgment and some flexibility.
3. A journal is only as formal as the editors of that journal go. Check the guideline to authors, read the specified style manual, and read a few current issues for an overall landscape, and then write. Leave all other "formal this" and "formal that" behind.
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Tags: writing
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thread-16004 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16004 | Is it possible to ask offers of admission to extend the deadline? | 2014-01-21T07:05:10.440 | # Question
Title: Is it possible to ask offers of admission to extend the deadline?
I was offered an admission of offer (math) today and I found out that I have till Feb 15th to accept the offer. Most schools in my country (Canada) actually send out offers during Feb, and there is a low probability that I will get an offer then, is it okay to ask schools to extend the offer date?
**Note** I am Canadian. Schools in Canada don't generally give out scholarships until NSERC hands out theirs. My school gives entrance scholarships after you get NSERC, in which case, they announce it in March, wayyy past the deadline.
# Answer
Yes, it's definitely okay to ask. They're certainly not going to rescind the offer because you ask for more time. Depending on the school, their applicant pool, how bad they want you, and (probably) how rigid their administrative structure is, they may grant or refuse your request.
You should, of course, word your request very politely and recognize that they have the right to say "no".
> 10 votes
# Answer
To pick up on David's answer -- UK (and the Commonwealth legacy counties like ANZ) have zero administrative wiggle room. US admission committees may be more lenient (I was asked once by our grad admissions director if I knew of any good applicants that they could get a couple of weeks past the deadline), but you need to have a strong case to have any leverage in deadline extension negotiations -- i.e., to be sure you are on the top of their pool (e.g., offered a good competitive scholarship). If you are not, you will hardly get your date extended. In most programs, there are dozens of applicants with a continuum of qualifications and a handful of places to offer, so if you can't commit to taking the spot, it is way too easy for the admissions committee to extend the offer to the next person in line. If you think you have a low probability in your own country, where your credentials are easier to evaluate than in a foreign country, you should seriously consider accepting with gratitude.
> 1 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions
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thread-15978 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15978 | Travel grant for summer conference between PhD and first job? | 2014-01-20T16:16:29.430 | # Question
Title: Travel grant for summer conference between PhD and first job?
I am a PhD student in the US (mathematics) and I expect to graduate in May.
I got invited to speak in a European conference in June, which is in the awkward time between graduation and my first job (I expect to get a postdoc, and those start August or September). My current department has told me that they cannot fund me after I graduate.
The conference offers some support for young researchers, but it is very meager and I will be flying trans-continentally. I was wondering if there is an outside source that might fund single-conference travel grants for young mathematicians?
# Answer
> 3 votes
Here is a travel grant administered by the Association for Women in Mathematics: https://sites.google.com/site/awmmath/programs/travel-grants/mathematics-travel-grants
Here's one by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics: http://www.siam.org/prizes/sponsored/postdoctravel.php (this requires affiliation with a US university; while your current graduate school and/or future postdoc employer might be unwilling to provide funding they are likely to be more flexible with \`affiliation')
I've also heard rumors that a postdoc employer starting in August/September might be willing to support travel in the summer before the appointment starts, but this might just be wishful thinking on my part (but it can't hurt to ask?)
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Tags: phd, funding, travel
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thread-16000 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16000 | Postdoc position offer in mathematics. | 2014-01-21T03:05:12.510 | # Question
Title: Postdoc position offer in mathematics.
I am aware of this post Some questions about math postdoc offers but please let me ask a similar question.
I am currently on the math postdoc job market. Some of my friends were informed that they are on the short list but I haven't heard anything from the job market after 2/3 of January. According to the above post, the most job offers are made in the second half of January. I am afraid that all good positions are already taken and I now feel I need to apply for more positions to avoid the worst case.
1. My webpage counter does not say that many people visited my webpage since Nov. Is this a bad sign? Do hiring committees really visit candidates' webpages?
2. Are most of the good positions such as "\****** assistant professorship" already taken around this time?
3. Should I send inquiries about my application this week? Or should I wait for another? I hesitate to ask my advisor to do this, so I think I have to do this by myself.
# Answer
> My webpage counter does not say that many people visited my webpage since Nov. Is this a bad sign? Do hiring committees really visit candidates' webpages?
I wouldn't worry about this, since hiring committees do not necessarily visit web pages, even if they plan to make a postdoc offer. If your application was reasonably detailed and your papers are available elsewhere (for example on the arXiv or as part of your application), then there's no reason why someone would need to visit your web page. Even if your papers aren't available elsewhere, the number of visits you might see is both small and unpredictable.
> Are most of the good positions such as "\** assistant professorship" already taken around this time?
Almost all of them will be offered to someone by the end of January, but those offers will not all be accepted (so there will be multiple rounds of offers, which may extend beyond the common deadline). I would bet that most, but not all, of the most prestigious positions have already been offered to someone, but I don't know actual statistics.
Note that early offers tend to cluster on the most popular candidates, so substantially fewer people get first-round offers than will eventually be hired.
> Should I send inquiries about my application this week? Or should I wait for another? I hesitate to ask my advisor to do this, so I think I have to do this by myself.
Inquiring this week is reasonable. It's worth asking not just your favorite schools, but also schools you are less excited about. (It may signal to them that they have a shot at you after all, and increase the chances that they will make an offer. At this point, you'll presumably be happy to have any reasonable offer, and once you have one you may be able to use it to provoke other places to make offers.) Asking this week leaves a little time for schools to act before the common deadline, although you shouldn't despair even if the deadline goes past.
> I now feel I need to apply for more positions to avoid the worst case
If you applied to relatively few schools, it might be a good idea to add some more even now, but don't panic. Unless you're in an unusual situation, your job search doesn't sound really problematic at this point. (I can understand that it is worrisome, but there's a big difference between not getting a first round offer from a top department and not getting a job at all. Of course I can't predict how your job search will end, but I've seen people get excellent offers after having had no signs of interest this late in January.)
Meanwhile, I highly recommend having a chat with your advisor about your job search. If your advisor is not worried, it may help you stay calm, and if you do reach the point where your advisor really starts to worry, I hope he/she will have suggestions for what the two of you can do to make sure you get a job.
> 13 votes
# Answer
I am also an applicant this year, and I have heard from some places.
> My webpage counter does not say that many people visited my webpage since Nov. Is this a bad sign? Do hiring committees really visit candidates' webpages?
I was able to guess that an offer was on its way (although one is never sure until you have the offer in your hands) by looking at the webpage counter for *some* schools. However, other offers/shortlists came as a complete surprise, as I had gotten no visits from these schools since I submitted my application. There were also schools who visited my webpage very frequently, but I heard that they offered their position to someone else. To sum up, the webpage counter is not very reliable.
> Are most of the good positions such as "\** assistant professorship" already taken around this time?
To nitpick, these are not necessarily the best positions. For example, Princeton's postdocs just go by the generic name of "Instructors" (except the top candidate, who is the Veblen Research Instructor). To answer your actual question, several departments have offered most of their positions. On the other hand, many departments have not had their postdoc committee meeting yet; for some, school hasn't even started yet. Also, just be aware that many candidates sit on several offers at the moment, trying to coax a better offer from their top choice etc. But I think that a lot of these positions will free up again on February 3, the common AMS deadline.
> Should I send inquiries about my application this week? Or should I wait for another? I hesitate to ask my advisor to do this, so I think I have to do this by myself.
I think you are supposed to talk to your advisor about this! They are there for you, and he/she would be the best judge of your situation. Some advisors can also contact their colleagues to inquire on your behalf, which may be better.
> I now feel I need to apply for more positions to avoid the worst case.
How many positions did you apply to? Many fantastic mathematicians apply to 50-60 places. In this case, it is worth applying to more places at this point.
Also, don't stress out! Breathe! As an applicant myself, I know how you feel. It will all work out in the end. You've done all you can, so sit back and relax, and be patient. No matter what happens, you are still a bright mathematician who will be very successful in your career.
> 5 votes
# Answer
My two cents:
> My webpage counter does not say that many people visited my webpage since Nov. Is this a bad sign? Do hiring committees really visit candidates' webpages?
They do but rarely. The standard application file normally contains all information needed for screening and the grapevine provides the rest.
> Are most of the good positions such as "\** assistant professorship" already taken around this time?
You mean "named assistant professorships"?. Yes, they may well be. However, the normal (nameless workhorse) postdoc offers haven't been even considered yet in many places. The way it usually works is that the tenure track hiring is done first. Another thing is grants. Right where I am, we'll have or not have postdoc positions this year depending on whether we'll get or not get grant funding and nobody expects to hear from the NSF before the end of February (especially after the circus show by our 485 mouth goat herd in Washington D.C.; I still have a strong desire to send them all to deliver the equipment to the Antarctic research stations in small boats with no food; the only thing that would spare them if it were for me to decide is that I would hate to lose the gadgets). So, I wouldn't worry too much yet.
> Should I send inquiries about my application this week? Or should I wait for another? I hesitate to ask my advisor to do this, so I think I have to do this by myself.
It never hurts to get the information. Just be careful about how exactly you phrase your request and whom you contact. The last thing I would want as a member of the hiring committee (I was on 3 within the last 5 years) is to have to write "polite and thoughtful" responses to each and every of 70+ postdoc applicants before their consideration has even started.
> 2 votes
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Tags: job, postdocs, mathematics
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thread-15064 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15064 | How can I sell my text book to my students in e-book format? | 2013-12-26T02:00:37.237 | # Question
Title: How can I sell my text book to my students in e-book format?
I would like to be able to sell my text book to my students in e-book format. I know there is the kindle store that takes 65% of the sales price, which is in my eyes too much. Are there any e-book stores for teachers and professors that provide their service for a fair price?
# Answer
> 12 votes
Fairness is a difficult question to answer. You need to ask fair to who: the publisher, the author, or the students. Publishers provide a number of services (e.g., editing, typesetting, printing, and marketing). It is fair for them to get paid for their efforts. Obviously it is fair for authors to get paid for writing. It is also fair to expect students to pay for high quality learning materials.
The question then becomes what is a fair price to charge students and how much of that should go to the publisher. The fees charged by many publishers depend on the number of copies sold since they have some fixed costs that they need to recoup and some costs that scale with the number of copies sold. If you think the service being offered by the publisher is unfair, you can always self-publish and do the editing and marketing yourself.
As for the selling price, this really depends on the quality of the book relative to other similar books. That said, in my opinion selling your book to students in your class is unethical since the students are already paying for the teaching material indirectly through tuition and fees. I don't think of it as being different from selling lecture slides, notes, and exam keys and in the limit if you just want to make money from your students you could just sell grades.
# Answer
> 5 votes
The rate charged by the vendor depends on the price: the 65% rate usually applies to books costing more than $15 or so. Below the threshold amazon charges 30%. Apple's iBooks charge 30% for all prices, and so provides a cheaper option with a similar service, as long as everyone uses the apple's proprietary hardware.
Personally I would reconsider your pricing to a more reasonable level. As self publisher you get a much larger slice of the profits, and in my opinion academic textbooks are priced excessively. If you cannot give the book away as others have suggested, then the other factor is that a low price would encourage more students to buy outright rather than share, and you also remove the second hand market, thus having many more actual sales. With this model students pay less to learn and you probably earn more money, and in a sense everybody wins.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I recommend **Amazon** for you. I **wrote 4 books** which are on Amazon and also have e-book versions of them. On Amazon, you can choose the price/royalties for each book as well.
You can use **Calibre** to make your PDF, ePub files. Then you can just upload all in a very quick way.
Hope it helps
# Answer
> 0 votes
How about avoiding technology and web-stores - you probably have a very local bookstore selling textbooks, maybe even an in-house store of your university. Go to them and ask them to sell your book; they know how to do that, students are used to them, and they don't charge 65%.
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Tags: publications, teaching, books
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thread-15159 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15159 | I wrote a new paper. Should I reapply for a postdoc at mathjobs? | 2013-12-28T16:56:52.063 | # Question
Title: I wrote a new paper. Should I reapply for a postdoc at mathjobs?
About a month ago, when the deadlines for applying for postdoc positions at math at the US were approaching, I applied for several research universities via mathjobs.
In the time that passed since, I made a new discovery, and am now in the last stages of writing a paper about it.
Obviously, once the paper will be uploaded to the arXiv, my application will be improved.
However, for that to happen, I must update my c.v and my publication list, to include the new paper.
To do this in mathjobs, I will need to "reapply". Given that deadlines passed, will this be a good idea? Can reapplying now with my new c.v and my new publication list harm my application because of deadline issues?
# Answer
As I understand it, "reapply" is merely a technical term in mathjobs and this should cause no problems. See, for example, the statement "Update (re-apply) applications as many times as you like, or whenever you have new info to add" in MathJobs Workflow & Features. I don't know why mathjobs uses the term "reapply," which certainly has the potential to cause confusion. I can't guarantee that nobody will hold it against you, but I'd be very surprised if anyone did (and I think it would be a big mistake on their part).
Updating your application may not be enough if it has already been read. I'd recommend also e-mailing key people you would like to work with to let them know about your new paper once it is on the arXiv. Of course you shouldn't spam large numbers of people, but sending out an announcement is perfectly appropriate if you restrict it to people who would genuinely like to hear about the paper for mathematical reasons, and not just as an advertisement for hiring you.
> 13 votes
# Answer
I have had several of my pre-prints be submitted in the flurry of activity between job application and the last few months. I haven't decided if it's still reasonable to re-submit or not . . .
I do know, or at least, this has been my own experience, that there is something funky going on in the mathjobs database on 'submission' dates and 'updated' dates.
I've had one application that I know that I had sent in by the deadline (I have an email from mathjobs indicating that all my material had been submitted) on such and such a date, but then when I highlight the little info image next to the job on the status page, it is several days afterwards.
I know that I did not un-apply for the position (as it was one of my top 5 post doc choices ), but I did do an update of the application, at some point (change some of the preprints to submitted).
I've only heard from two places so far (post-doc wise) on interviews. I'm really not going to start sweating until a bit after the coordinated deadline, but it's not fun when it's all up in the air and you have no idea.
Actually, quick q and I'll probably run this by my advisor, but would it be appropriate to indicate the mathjobs fubar in the database to the school of interest? I just don't want that to be the deciding factor for a position to be submission of materials on time or not, especially considering the mathjobs system is just plain wrong (and I can prove it)!
> 1 votes
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Tags: job-search, postdocs, mathematics
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thread-14553 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14553 | Can I negotiate a research assistant position if my PI moves to a new univerisity? | 2013-12-06T03:04:51.847 | # Question
Title: Can I negotiate a research assistant position if my PI moves to a new univerisity?
I am currently in the second year of my post-doctoral fellowship. My PI will be moving to a new university in ~9 months.
As the story of the potential move developed, I was honest with my PI during discussions and told him that it was likely that I would go with him if he left, but it was never discussed in detail.
Now that more specifics are known, it is time to talk details. I would like to negotiate for an upward move to a research associate position. I believe this would be fair considering I'm sure I will "lose" some amount of research time while the new lab is getting set-up. However, I'm worried about negotiations because a) this is not a "new" job, just a continuation of my fellowship at a new location with the same boss, b) I've already indicated that I would like to move to the new location, and c) my resume has not yet reached a point that I am able to strike out on my own for any other upward job move (though, I can probably make a lateral move to another post-doc, that is not ideal).
My questions are:
**Is it reasonable to ask for a title promotion in this situation? Or do I have no room for negotiation?**
**What else should I add to the negotiations in order to help my career progress to the best of its ability during a transition to a new university in another state?**
# Answer
> 3 votes
I think it is more than reasonable to ask for a "bump", but you may want to reconsider moving. The way I see it is you are currently in your 2nd year as a post doc and the move isn't for 9 months so at the time of the move you would be approaching 3 years as a post doc in the same lab. This is getting to be a long time and you do not want to lose the time associated with the lab move to move to a new lab for a year. You need to make the move to the new lab desirable enough that you want to stay for 2+ years. The reason you may want to reconsider the move is that you would be effectively doing 2 post docs in the same lab instead of 2 labs. This means less of a chance to learn new things (both technical and interpersonal skills) and meet new colleagues (specifically ones who can write letters of reference for you and help you get the next job).
If you chose to stay, the argument for a bump is that (1) this would effectively be your second post doc, and (2) you would be taking a hit in your research associated with the move and need additional support to over come that. The reason keeping you is advantageous to your PI is continuity and the ability to get started quicker. Finally there is the issue that the PI probably has a start up package so can actually afford a bump (both salary and resources).
# Answer
> 2 votes
I think it's reasonable to at least ask for the title bump. What do you have to lose? Administrators are more familiar with this situation than you might expect. It's essentially a case of the worst they can say is "no" when it comes to giving you a revised position/title. It likely comes down to their budget and/or the budget of your PI and whether their faculty see you fitting in there longer term. Remember they may see you as an asset and someone they wish to also "pluck" from your current university, which ultimately makes the plucking university look better overall as far as reputation stuff goes.
I recently witnessed a very similar scenario in my department, where a faculty member left and took his lab with him, including two PhD students and a post-doc. The faculty member (not the post-doc) negotiated with the new department to get his post-doc a research professor position. So it does happen. So you may not be the one who should be doing the negotiating directly, this might fall on your PI to negotiate for you. Also, in this situation the negotiation happened after the faculty member had accepted the offer, so the negotiations can still occur after the initial offer is accepted by the PI. Remember this is the honeymoon phase between the administrators in this new department and your PI, so they may do whatever it takes to make him happy (for now) including whatever he asks for on your behalf. Or they could say no, but I don't think anyone is offended and even expects this.
Another consideration might be whether you wish to stay with this PI long-term or not? Prior to him telling you he was departing, did you see yourself working with him beyond your current post-doc? These university moves are common and can shake you up when you are caught in the middle. It's a very important time to keep your career goals in sight.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Depending on the relationship you have with your PI, I would think it would be general to assume that there will be quite a bit of work / research / papers (however you want to define work apart from the integral of a force curve over the distance) to do after the completion of your current postdoc.
I would think it would be more reasonable to go somewhere else for your second post-doc position at a lateral position as you will be extending your contact base for people to work with and because the work under the previous fellowship will probably still continue (at some level).
I would think that a title would not be of any import, unless you can come up with something that would be reasonable and continue on past your time there, i.e. the beginnings of some type of endowed post-doc chair and some associated name to go with it. Even going from post-doc to say 'Research Assistant Professor' would be fine.
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Tags: job, job-search, postdocs
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thread-15052 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15052 | How to maximise one's chances of getting a good postdoc position? | 2013-12-25T09:49:44.450 | # Question
Title: How to maximise one's chances of getting a good postdoc position?
I am at the beginning of my PhD studies. Although that is a bit too early to plan one's carrier after thesis defence, one should still have some long-term goals in mind. Hence the question - what can one do during one's PhD (mainly as far as long-term activities are concerned) to maximise the chances of getting accepted for such a position?
Few things that come to mind:
* High quality research published in high reputation journals (obviously).
* Creating a contact network at conferences, research visits and through scientific collaborations. One might get to know one's potential postdoc supervisor or recommendation letters from established researchers.
* Online visibility through blogging, social networking etc.
* Good teaching experience. PhD students often have to teach but some might try to get on with the necessary minimum. Having a good record (e.g., from student evaluations) can be advantageous.
* Experience with grant administration - helping one's supervisor with grant proposals, reports for grant committees etc.
* Maybe some experience with paper reviews (towards the end of the PhD). Or is it still early for that?
Are there any other things I missed? I am looking specifically for the situation in theoretical physics and PhD without coursework but experiences of others might be relevant and interesting as well.
# Answer
> 16 votes
I am also in your current situation and look for the same. Here is something I have learnt so far which are important to get postdoc job in good quality institutes. Here is the list without order:
* Publish in under-spot conferences and seminars
* Reference letter from pioneers of the domain (if you can liaise)
* International collaboration, research, and publication
* Face-to-face visit. If possible try to make an appointment with potential postdoc supervisors and visit them in person. It helps both of you to better evaluate and decide.
* Search among friends of your friends for an open position. I use Microsoft Academic portal "http://academic.research.microsoft.com/" to search co-authors of my supervisor or academician friends of mine to see if there is any potential postdoc supervisor in their network. So you can give a try and if found, ask your supervisor or your academician friends to play a role and introduce you to potential boss. I think it should work well.
* Upload your papers everywhere you can (take care of copyright issues) and try to increase their visibility and citation; the higher citation, the better chance.
* Make your professional account in Google Scholar and keep that up to date.
* Enroll in academic organizations like IEEE and get membership. It gives lots of benefits and is like a mark of attachment and care to the society.
* Collaboration invitation. Try to prepare a paper and get in touch with potential postdoc supervisors to invite them collaborate. This can be a venue to exchange couple of emails and get to know each other more. You can later use this opportunity to request for position.
* Try to get chance to visit potential labs as visiting scholar. some institutes welcome visiting PhD students under different schemas like student exchange or international collaboration.- Volunteer job in varied community; not necessarily academic environment. Try to show your passion to work independently in every workplace regardless of the details.
* Online Connectivity. Active participation in online networks like Linkedin, Researchgate, stackexchange(here), and so on.
* Patent is also important since institutes are increasing concern about patents and desire their postdocs to produce patent beside publication. It also enhance your industrial career too.
* Keep sending application for advertised positions and don't get disappointed.
* Keep sending email and follow up to potential postdoc supervisors with potential postdoc projects (it depends on your field) even if they have no current position. Your messages may impress them and motivate them to hire you to work on a project you define. If yes they can apply for funds (I know one of my friends in CS got offer in this way).
I hope these points help you better hunt a good postdoc in good research group.
**EDIT:** Patent is modified to address some concerns on wording. **EDIT2:** Some change in the order to better highlight their importance.
# Answer
> 7 votes
My feeling, in the limited context of mathematics in France, is that the research record is by far the most important thing. Of course, one should do its teaching duty carefully (**edit** because it is one's duty, but also because being known as a very sloppy teacher *can* close some doors), but all other aspects are tertiary.
**\[Paragraph edited upon further reflexion\]** I would only mitigate this in favor of the *visibility* issue: good research needs to be shown in order to give you benefit, so you should have an up-to-date web page, post your preprints on the arXiv, give talks whenever given the opportunity, and in some circumstances propose one. Also some networking may be needed, in particular if you advisor does not network for you. This means for example seizing the opportunities to collaborate with more advanced researchers, send by e-mail your best work to a few people who you think might be interested, etc. Don't overdo it though.
I would definitely advise against spending time on administrative things as grant funding and the like. Participate in a collective grant if offered, but that's not a PhD job to do the paperwork.
# Answer
> 6 votes
In addition to the points already made, something that hasn't been explicitly mentioned yet is to *let your colleagues know that you are looking for a job*. Everyone in your immediate lab group and advisory committee should know your name, what your specific research interests are, and that you're looking for a job. Most immediate department members should be aware of your general research area and that you're looking for a job. When you network, you should specifically mention that you are looking for a job and to "keep an eye out for any positions". Your personal web space should state that you are looking for an academic job and to contact you.
This might be rather obvious in the context of the question but I thought it was worth repeating since this is a very concrete and specific thing you can do to improve your visibility. Many people say "network" or "visit departments" or "publish papers" and these are essential to getting a job in the long term, but if you don't mention to all of these people that you're looking then they're not going to keep you in mind when they do see a position.
Summary: if you network, tell people "I am looking for a job" and then ask them to "send along opportunities that may be interesting".
# Answer
> 3 votes
My own thoughts after finishing a math ph.d. this year and being on the market.
0 -- stay in the program!
1 -- publish. Do not only publish with your advisor. Work with other people in the department who may have overlapping interests. Try to stay as broad as possible.
2 -- outreach. There will be a wide-variety of opportunities to help out in local high school events. Take charge and be a leader, i.e. leading a session for 7th graders on the joys of Pascal's Triangle and how cool it is (for example).
3 -- conferences. Go to conferences. Talk at them. Do poster sessions. You'll meet many potential collaborators this way.
4 -- network. See above.
5 -- professional organizations. join these!
6 -- apply fro the nsfgrfp, or any other graduate fellowships.
7 -- help in undergraduate research (hard to do but possible for very approachable types of problems)
8 -- be congenial and get to know people in your field and outside of it. try to think of potential ways that there are overlaps between disciplines.
9 -- read lots of papers for your background.
10 -- in your case, as a theoretical physicist, learn the maths that are associated to your area, i.e. algebraic geometry and probably gauge theory.
11 -- and finally . . . don't panic!
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Tags: phd, career-path, postdocs
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thread-1944 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1944 | How to invite yourself to present at another university? | 2012-06-08T14:46:06.137 | # Question
Title: How to invite yourself to present at another university?
I am a PhD student right now, and I'm looking towards doing a post-doc in the future. There is a research laboratory where I want to do my post doc, primarily because there are scientists engaged in very similar topics to my dissertation work. I've never met any of them personally, and I know that the standard approach is to network with them at conferences first. Someone had suggested to me that it is possible to target an individual in that institution, and somehow invite yourself to their lab to meet them, potentially giving an unofficial (non-departmental) talk in their lab. I know that this is not a standard approach, and I think that if I'm not careful I might give a bad impression in the process. How can I invite myself to the lab if I don't have a personal connection to a researcher in that institution?
# Answer
One thing that sometimes works is the following:
> Hi, I'm so and so, working with Prof. X on topic Y (my webpage). I was going to be in the area during (vague period) and was wondering if I might stop by to chat with your group about your fascinating work in Y'.
While this is a little passive-aggressive, I've found that more often than not, they'll ask you to give a talk, and even if not, you might get a chance to meet with the lab folks, which is the real purpose in any case. Make sure that the PI is around though.
> 24 votes
# Answer
It seems like you are worried about it, so you might want to ask your advisor to do the intro. PIs generally appreciate getting a a heads-up on good potential postdocs.
I think it would make a better impression if you were comfortable to do it yourself. I would start off pretty light by sending the PI an electronic "reprint" of something related to a conference you attended/are attending. Something like: "I was hoping to meet you at the basket weaving conference, but I didn't see you. I have attached my poster/talk/reprint." This works for either a recent past conference or an upcoming conference. For an upcoming conference, if they have an abstract tailor the email appropriately.
Hopefully the PI responds, but if not, then go a little harder. Send them your CV and tell them you are looking for a post doc.
> 10 votes
# Answer
I'm also doing a PhD and have a 'target institution' for a post-doc. I visited it already, but my supervisor knew the guy there and he made first contact.
I got the impression that it's common practice to have people from other labs just visit, and that the stuff you can do while there is entirely flexible. My visit (two weeks) consisted of me sitting at a computer surrounded by local lab members, doing my own work, and talking to all of them about their work during lunch breaks. I also arranged to do a joint experiment with the PI there, which will now become part of my PhD, and we roughly agreed on a research design while I was there. I didn't mention the post-doc idea yet, as I think it's best if I prove my worth through this joint experiment first.
On the first day there, I was asked if I would give a talk (which I did). I could even choose how big an audience would be invited.
While visiting, I also discovered another lab at the same university, which does related stuff to mine. I just e-mailed them, saying I'm in town (from lab so-and-so) and asking if I could come talk to them a bit. I googled their web page and came up with a few names of people I told them I'd like to talk to, although I didn't know much about any of their work. I did not ask to talk to the big names, in that lab, just PhD students and post-docs. What did they do? They immediately asked me to give a talk (which I did).
Overall, my impression is that this is standard practice. People like to hear about related work. I would suggest that you just e-mail someone there, tell them you find their stuff interesting (it's best to mention some specific result of theirs, so that they see you're really into it), tell them you're working on something similar and ask whether you could visit their lab. I would guess that you'll end up giving a talk. You can also suggest it yourself, once you've established communication and exchanged a few e-mails.
> 10 votes
# Answer
I was just at the JMMs in Baltimore and was out to lunch with a past supervisor. We eventually had several people join us, one from a nice Middle Eastern Country (which I had also incidentally applied to and he recalled my name ... which is nice!).
Anyway, he made a specific point to indicate to me (and the others at our table) that their department had some funding to bring in some candidates for talks.
I know that this question was more for how to get invited to a talk at a specific institution, but there are many ways that this can happen!
I think you're best bet is indeed representing yourself. It shows initiative. Especially if you've met the person at the conferences / talks within your community. The other thing is that if you ask them in person, or mention something in passing, they might make an offer to have you come visit and talk. Otherwise, a nice polite email indicating you would like to talk at some point would be good.
> 3 votes
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Tags: postdocs, networking
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thread-15750 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15750 | JMM interviews? | 2014-01-13T21:01:30.020 | # Question
Title: JMM interviews?
How many interviews does a typical good liberal arts school do at the Joint Mathematical Meetings every year?
Background: I'm on the math job market for the first time this year. For the most part I applied to postdocs, but I also applied to a handful of very good liberal arts places this year, any of which I would prefer to a postdoc. I assume that with my rather short publication list and teaching history I'm a long shot, but I do have a couple interviews lined up. Really I'm just trying to gauge whether I have a nonzero chance at an offer (assuming not, but it will be good practice for a few years down the road).
# Answer
> 7 votes
The Employment Center runs for three and a half days with time increments down to 15/20 minutes. So you could physically expect three interviews an hour for about 30 hours for a physical (and totally absurd) upper bound of roughly 100. But from what I have seen going through this Employment Center three times is 30-40 is more realistic and I have seen schools do as few as 15-20. Often they also do phone/Skype interviews with interesting candidates who did not attend the Joint Meetings. This gives you a rough estimate of how long the list you find yourself on is.
You mentioned that you have a short publication list and teaching history. If they are willing to talk to you they have already decided that you are interesting enough to spend their time with you. So be ready to tell them quickly why you are worth more of their time and why you are interested in their school (have an answer for this one). Also do not forget the thank you e-mails afterwards.
# Answer
> 3 votes
I am on the market this year and attended the JMMs in Baltimore. After not tailoring my application whatsoever to liberal art schools (which I don't advise) since my primary goal is a research post-doc position, I had 5 different interviews (TT AP) and 1 post doc interview (which, I understand there were not many post-doc interviews anyway . . . and none at the employment center).
Anyway, most places, (from what I know), have about 40 interviewees they talk to. The goal is to whittle this down to 2-3 candidates that they can invite to on-site interviews (and possibly more if they have more than 1 opening, i.e. they may invite 6 people for on-site interviews).
At the JMMs, these are speed-date interviews. They want to know if they like you as a person and can foresee you spending your entire life at University X.
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Tags: job-search, mathematics, interview
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thread-16018 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16018 | Name of a college career | 2014-01-21T18:38:57.897 | # Question
Title: Name of a college career
At my school, we call a list of courses (or classes) a semester or a term - as in Spring 2014 semester that includes 5 classes.
I'm looking for a word that means "list of semesters", whether it has been completed or not, for the actual degree. I've heard this called an "undergraduate career", but I think that can get confused for one's actual employment career. Does anyone have another word for this that would specifically refer to their college career?
# Answer
> 5 votes
I have always used the following words:
* Program - as in "our undergraduate finance program"
* Course - As in an "international finance master course": WARNING: This can be confused with an individual class/module
I would avoid the use of the word degree because it can be confused with the piece of paper one gets at the end. I would also avoid the use of coursework as it implies the subjects one will study. However, to be fair, I have heard both of those words used quite frequently and one fun thing about English is that it gets modified by common usage, even when that usage seems wrong to some of us - we must go with the flow.
Another reason to be cautious about using the word degree is the common separation, by some, between a certificate (short duration), a diploma (medium duration), and a degree (longer than the other two). Using the word degree could cause confusion to some who might be looking at a certificate or diploma program.
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Tags: undergraduate, personal-name
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thread-16027 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16027 | Is an Additional degree required to qualify myself for post doc/industry position outside my area of expertise? | 2014-01-21T23:53:42.277 | # Question
Title: Is an Additional degree required to qualify myself for post doc/industry position outside my area of expertise?
Can someone with a Ph.D in field X get a job in academia or industry in field Y, even if the job posting says "PhD in field Y required?". If not how will going back to get a second post graduate degree be looked upon by academic and industry employers in field Y?
*Background:*
I am finishing my PhD in Mathematics and am currently on the job market. Ideally, I would land a math post-doc position, however, I have also been looking at industry jobs (as some of these would be more satisfactory than say a 4/4 teaching load or 3/3 or whatever it would be), but most of these seem to indicate that I would need a M.S. or PhD in Computer Science.I have a background in math as well as in C.S. (B.S. in C.S., B.A. in Math).
If I don't get a post doc offer, I am considering attending a school for a master's in C.S. in machine learning or a related field. Considering I have all the math background, I believe I would be a good candidate for a M.S. or PhD in C.S. And there are a lot of interesting problems where the two areas overlap.
**Is it reasonable to return for a second degree if I don't get my dream post-doc offers, especially to make myself more marketable to industry?** I am seriously considering this option.
# Answer
Is it reasonable (your original question), yes. Is it necessary to get the job you want, probably not!
"Requirements" for a job are often just loose guidelines, and in some cases are used to scare unqualified, untalented, or under-confident people away from applying. Good employers will usually loosen these requirements (or sometimes even outright ignore all of them) for the right candidate. Someone with a B.S. in computer science and a Ph.D. in math is exactly the type of person who could potentially qualify for a position that asks for a Ph.D. in CS. Requiring a Ph.D. in CS might be used to scare away all the coding ninjas who might otherwise apply. It is all about the story you are able to tell in your resume and interviews. Make the skills you have learned while completing your math Ph.D. appear as transferable as possible. Talk to math grads who are now in industry and peck their brains. Your degree is lucrative if you know how to sell it. I wouldn't recommend getting a second Ph.D just to go out into industry. At the very least apply to a bunch of jobs and see if you get some interviews before you go off and spend 4-6 more years in school.
I know of several people who have Ph.Ds in math and applied math without a B.S. in CS who went into industry. Many of the jobs they took said Ph.D. in CS required. Some companies just want really smart mathy people in these positions.
> 4 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, career-path, computer-science, postdocs, mathematics
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thread-15914 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15914 | For NSF proposal and grant purposes, do graduate students meet the definition of "investigator"? | 2014-01-18T05:52:52.907 | # Question
Title: For NSF proposal and grant purposes, do graduate students meet the definition of "investigator"?
I recently received an email from a department administrator that NSF rules have been changed (link here), such that *all investigators must fill out a conflict of interest (COI) form.* They then go on to list a cadre of examples which meet the definition of investigator and a statement that all investigators must fill out this form. Our university has the definition of investigator here.
My question is, are graduate students typically considered investigators by the NSF? If so, we certainly do not receive the recognition that PIs and other *listed* investigators get.
# Answer
Actually, the NSF, in its Grant Proposal Guide, does not actually define the concept of an "investigator." Instead, it chooses to define the different categories as "senior personnel" and "other personnel." Typically, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students fall under "other personnel."
Personally, in such matters, I would opt on the side of caution and just have the graduate students fill out the conflict of interest form. It doesn't take very long, and having it in place makes life easier for everyone.
> 3 votes
# Answer
PI stands for PRINCIPAL Investigator, i.e. the head investigator. Under this guideline grad students and postdocs ARE still investigators, albeit, not principal ones.
> 1 votes
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Tags: funding, nsf
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thread-15765 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15765 | How to handle not being credited for research software development in papers? | 2014-01-14T12:56:59.690 | # Question
Title: How to handle not being credited for research software development in papers?
I worked for a publicly funded body. Whilst there I designed and developed a number of epidemiological surveillance applications.
I have left the organisation but since then I have noticed that some of my ex-coworkers have started to publish papers based on the data collected by the systems that I designed without crediting myself in the publication (in at least two cases directly referring to my system in the paper).
Since the publications wouldn't be possible without the systems I developed would I have any remit to ask for credit and/or authorship? How is this viewed any different from a co-worker using someone's lab results without credit for their own publication?
# Answer
As per the comments on your question, I think this is really context specific and the role of an author can vary quite subtly from area to area. I'll try give a general answer to the general question first, and then look at the specfics of your case afterwards.
> How to handle not being credited for research software development in papers?
The first question is whether or not you *should* be credited for the software you developed in the paper. The answer is predicated on what precisely the contribution of the paper is and what the contribution of the software is.
If, for example, (part of) the core contribution of the paper is describing optimisations and techniques that you invented and applied in the software, then I think it is more than fair that you should be credited as a co-author.
If, for example, the core contribution relates to a methodology for doing X where your software was specifically designed for that methodology, then you should probably be credited as a co-author or, at the very least, mentioned in the acknowledgements.
If the core contribution of the paper is not directly related to the software itself but the software is used to some ends, then you should probably not be credited on the paper (otherwise Linus Torvalds would have millions of publications). But if the software system was described in another paper and played a significant/specialised role in the current paper, you could expect a citation.
> Since the publications wouldn't be possible without the systems I developed would I have any remit to ask for credit and/or authorship?
I think your reasoning is a little flawed here. Making a research paper *possible* does not entitle you to co-authorship (as a simple counter-example, if paper A builds upon the results of paper B such that paper A would not be possible without paper B, the authors of paper B should not expect co-authorship on paper A). Providing part of the core contribution of the paper—the reason why it was accepted in the first place—entitles you to co-authorship.
I noticed something crucial in your comments that you didn't clarify in your question:
> "Since xxxx **our system** has collated data on x cases and found that.."
**The authors should absolutely not be claiming credit for a system they did not design or build.** This is clearly wrong. (And it also indirectly suggests that part of the contribution is indeed the system and the authors are trying to claim credit for it.)
Since you know the authors, you should talk with them, show them the relevant quotes in the papers and tell them that you are not happy with them claiming the system as their own. Tell them that if they wish to continue claiming the system in future then you should be a co-author on the paper.
If you wish to escalate, you can contact the editor(s) of the journal(s) involved and tell them your story. The editor(s) might agree to let you publish a letter referring to the specific paper and outlining your case. This should be considered the "nuclear" option.
---
**EDIT:** Not in answer to the question, but this quote in the transcript of Hamming's address "You and Your Research" (well worth a read for anyone in research) reminded me of this question:
> I also did a second thing. When I loaned what little programming power we had to help in the early days of computing, I said, "We are not getting the recognition for our programmers that they deserve. When you publish a paper you will thank that programmer or you aren't getting any more help from me. That programmer is going to be thanked by name; she's worked hard." I waited a couple of years. I then went through a year of BSTJ articles and counted what fraction thanked some programmer. I took it into the boss and said, "That's the central role computing is playing in Bell Labs; if the BSTJ is important, that's how important computing is." He had to give in.
> 5 votes
# Answer
The style guidelines used for citations in the paper usually include guidelines for the citation of software. In most cases, the question is not so much who was responsible for writing the software as how can other researchers acquire the software (theoretically to reproduce the results). As others have mentioned, though, if they are discussing algorithms that you introduced into the software as if they were their own work, there may be a significant problem.
Finally, there is the question of the conditions (contractual and otherwise) under which the software was developed and whether that software is somehow unique, or just automates tasks that are otherwise tedious. The vast majority of the software I have written belongs to the people that paid for it to be written and the majority of the credit I have received has been in my salary and my resume, and the occasional thank you from a co-worker that wasn't followed up with a "...now can you change this?".
> 5 votes
# Answer
It's probably too late to deal with this after the fact, but much of the discussions that have occurred over the last few years regarding proper scholarly credit for data also apply to software. In 2012, I presented a poster at the American Astronomical Society on Recommendations for Data & Software Citation in Solar Physics that is broadly applicable to any research data or software.
The one tricky part is that many journals will consider something simply posted on a website is often considered grey literature rather than 'Published'. For this reason, it's useful to get a DOI assigned to it, as you effectively make the citation look like any other cited work. If you're not attached to an institution that can mint DOIs, a possible work-around would be to post something to FigShare and they'll assign one.
> 3 votes
# Answer
The key here is that it is a publicly funded effort. Any intellectual property belongs to the public. Just as if you developed that system for a corporation let say at work. The product is owned by the company. They paid you to develop it.
In your example you do not own the system it was developed with public dollars. Even if you were volunteering the works you created belong to the organization.
> 0 votes
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Tags: publications, computer-science, plagiarism
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thread-16050 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16050 | Why does academia.edu reserve the right to sell, modify, and "exploit" my papers if I post them there? | 2014-01-22T13:20:32.407 | # Question
Title: Why does academia.edu reserve the right to sell, modify, and "exploit" my papers if I post them there?
In academia.edu's terms of service, it says
> By making available any Member Content on or through the Site or Services, **you hereby grant to Academia.edu** a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free license, with **the right to sublicense, to use, view, copy, adapt, modify, distribute, license, sell, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, stream, broadcast and otherwise exploit** such Member Content only on, through or by means of the Site or Services.
This seems crazy, and posting anything there would clearly violate even the most lenient publisher agreement (for instance, many math publishers allow me to post the final paper on the internet, but not to sell it). Furthermore, these terms seem potentially very harmful to the users. What is their rationale for employing such terms? And why would anyone in their right mind even consider posting a paper there?
**Note (as of July 2016):** this part of the terms of service have changed and seems slightly less horrific. Though other parts seem more insane, and also in contradiction with each other, like they own all your intellectual property rights.
# Answer
> 48 votes
It's not necessarily crazy for academia.edu to ask for these things (although, as I say below, I certainly don't think users should agree to these terms). I imagine their lawyers advised them to use an agreement that covers all possible use cases as their business model evolves. For example, if they decided to charge their users membership fees, and only users who paid the fees got access to the site and could view profiles and download papers, then that would be tantamount to selling the papers and other user data (so they couldn't do it unless they had permission to sell this content). Posting ads on their web pages could be considered a form of commercial exploitation of the data, so they want to make sure they can do it. They might someday want to change file formats, such as converting PDFs into future super-PDF formats, and having permission to modify content submitted by users guarantees that they could do this. Even if they intend to take things down upon receiving requests from users, having irrevocable permission to post them means users cannot sue them for failing to take them down quickly enough. Basically, this agreement says they can do anything they want, which is obviously very convenient for them.
For comparison, Harvard's model open access policy also retains very broad rights (although not the right to sell papers for a profit). I believe the motivation is that universities can be trusted, and it's better for them to retain more rights than fewer, in case they need them someday. See the notes to line 7 in the model policy for more discussion of this point. Of course, the difference is that academia.edu is a commercial website, and even if they are trustworthy now, they might become less so in the future or be bought by someone untrustworthy.
**On the other hand, even if it's not crazy for the site to ask for these rights, it's certainly crazy for users to agree!** I'm amazed that these terms of service are being used, and I assume just about nobody using the site has actually read them and understood that they are permanently granting the right to sell arbitrarily modified versions of their papers. I hope you send them a complaint, as well as publicize this on the internet, because they need to change these terms as soon as possible. In addition to being completely unreasonable, they clearly conflict with a large majority of copyright agreements for papers, as you point out.
# Answer
> 7 votes
It's "member content", not just papers.
Data analytics is a huge thing for web sites like Academia.edu. If they wanted to, for example, add advertisements on the sidebar, they might use your user data (post history, your messages, the contents of the post you're reading) to recommend ads that are relevant and pertinent to your interests. In that situation, they're using your member content.
If they come out with an advertising campaign talking to academics about why Academia.edu is awesome, maybe they'll have someone on camera with the web site in the background. That would be using the content in promotional videos. They don't want to have to ask the commenters for explicit permission to do that, so you waive that when you sign up.
Usually, it's not worth it for the lawyers to try to separate academic papers that are posted here from everything else, so they just say "member content".
If you don't like papers being there... then don't post your papers there.
# Answer
> 3 votes
The "General Prohibitions" Section of academia.edu's Terms of Service, starts as follows:
> General Prohibitions
>
> You agree not to do any of the following:
>
> Post, upload, publish, submit or transmit any Content that: (i) infringes, misappropriates or violates a third party’s patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, moral rights or other intellectual property rights, or rights of publicity or privacy; ...
Combined with what the question points out from these Terms of Service, their business model could even "secretly hope" to directly compete with scientific journals.
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Tags: copyright, open-access, online-publication
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thread-16030 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16030 | What is the proper protocol for addressing one's title and position in an email signature? | 2014-01-22T02:16:15.463 | # Question
Title: What is the proper protocol for addressing one's title and position in an email signature?
I am creating an email signature and I am not sure what the protocol should be.
Should it say
> Dr. Locc
>
> Department of Social and Consumer Sciences.
or should my position within the dept. be referenced??
> Dr. Locc
>
> Social and Consumers Science Department Chairman
# Answer
> 5 votes
There is no formal protocol for a "signature block." You can put as much or as little as you would ike. If you know the recipient well, for instance, the block is unnecessary. For more formal occasions, however, I would include as much of your affiliation as is appropriate:
> I. M. Professor
> My Job Title
> My Department
> My University
> Other contact information
If you are chair, I'd indicate that specifically. Instead of the second and third lines, those could be combined as:
> Chair, Department of X
# Answer
> 1 votes
My signatures are usually of the form:
Name
Title
Official Department Name
University X
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Tags: communication
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thread-16075 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16075 | How do I determine if my contribution to an area of research merits publication? | 2014-01-23T01:52:21.980 | # Question
Title: How do I determine if my contribution to an area of research merits publication?
I am a new worker in real functions with little experience and few published papers but not in top journals.
I together with my two colleagues found a new characterization of a well-known class of functions (first Baire class). I am pretty sure this is new. However, we cannot decide the extent of its significance because we are unable to find a good application. But suffice it to say there are some old results in the area that admit a very straightforward proof using our characterization. For instance, functions with countable discontinuities can be shown to be of first Baire class using our characterization with a very easy proof.
My question, is this enough for publication? I am afraid to submit it and got a snobbish review. By the way, I am from a third-world country.
# Answer
> 13 votes
If you don't submit a paper, you're never going to find out it's publishable—unless someone beats you to it. Basically, if you and your colleagues believe you have a publishable advance, then write it up and submit it.
On a related note: have you solicited feedback from colleagues in the field? Has it been presented at a conference somewhere? What have you heard and done to "talk the work up" with colleagues? Has anyone told you it is (or is not) publishable?
# Answer
> 10 votes
It sounds like your work merits **submission**. Whether it merits **publication** depends on the journal. It's always good to consult with experts ahead of time, but failing that the best approach is to find a journal that seems in tune with the results (maybe it's the one where the prior work was published, or one that contains most of the relevant material that you needed for your result). Then submit it and see what happens. In the worst case your paper will be rejected, but then you'll expect to get review feedback, which is really what you're looking for.
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Tags: research-process, publications
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thread-16047 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16047 | How to acknowledge ideas/clue/discussions on StackExchange? | 2014-01-22T12:12:42.063 | # Question
Title: How to acknowledge ideas/clue/discussions on StackExchange?
Sometimes a thread on StackExchange could help your research. A technical problem, an inspiring discussion or even an idea. How can I acknowledge this kind of contribution? (considering that many users on SE do not use real name and it is very difficult to reach them privately) Has anyone done that?
# Answer
> 11 votes
**EDITED according to the PiotrMigdal's comment**
If you like to point out the SE contribution to your work I would suggest to acknowledge the community by any acknowledgement you consider suitable. For example:
> The authors would like to express their appreciation to the Stack exchange, inc. community for many useful inputs and valuable comments.
or if you like you can be more specific
> We would like to thank to community of Stack exchange, inc., especially, Cross Validated group (section?) for advices regarding the data processing and data visualization.
Or you can combine what ever you like.
If you think that only one user was the core of the contribution, you can mention only him or her.
> Special thanks goes to Piotr Migdal, who significant contributed to the quality of this answer with his valuable and well-aimed comment.
In case the person would be (or would like to stay) anonymous and you would still like to acknowledge the contribution, you can write the acknowledgement to anonymous person (as well you can citate a source with unknown author). This happens typically when you refer to web-pages:
> We would like to acknowledge the discussion regarding the deep learning algorithm at Stack exchange, inc. in Cross Validated section (Available at: https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/83092/regression-in-deep-learning, Accessed: 44rd August 2010).
However, I think that much better would be to try to contact the person/people. You can do it either by contact info or by comments. They can be willing to step out of the anonymity for you or, what is more, have some further discussion on the topic of your interest.
---
And if you would like to express your gratitude, you can always contribute to SE :)
# Answer
> 6 votes
Most citation systems (e.g., MLA, Harvard, Chicago) have a means of referencing web pages. Therefore, if there are specific discussions and conversations that you can point to, then I would simply refer to those pages.
If not, however, I would probably just leave it to a statement in the Acknowledgments section, since there isn't an actual "public record" which can be cited.
# Answer
> 6 votes
Mathoverflow, which is the SE site for research mathematics, has a cite button, hidden inside the widget that pops up when you click "share". The citations it produces have the following form:
> user1347 (https://mathoverflow.net/users/1347/user1347), Can one make Erdős's Ramsey lower bound explicit?, URL (version: 2009-11-02): https://mathoverflow.net/q/3789
```
@MISC {3789,
TITLE = {Can one make Erdős's Ramsey lower bound explicit?},
AUTHOR = {user1347 (https://mathoverflow.net/users/1347/user1347)},
HOWPUBLISHED = {MathOverflow},
NOTE = {URL:https://mathoverflow.net/q/3789 (version: 2009-11-02)},
EPRINT = {https://mathoverflow.net/q/3789},
URL = {https://mathoverflow.net/q/3789}
}
```
As you can see, the Bibtex is far from perfect (no escaping of non-latin characters and capitals, no `\url` command for links), but this could give you an idea.
More importantly, this still uses the username as "author", so it doesn't really answer your question. This is an issue that has also been discussed in several places on mathoverflow and math.stackexchange; see for instance the amusingly-named question how to acknowledge Bugs Bunny? and the meta.MSE thread linked there.
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Tags: publications, acknowledgement
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thread-10212 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10212 | What do you call research that has no hypothesis? | 2013-05-24T14:44:50.500 | # Question
Title: What do you call research that has no hypothesis?
**Background:** I'm just wondering - I'm writing my bachelor's "thesis" in information-systems management, which should in theory be a paper about a hypothesis I make, an experiment and an evaluation.
I have an "experiment" which is comparing reality of information-systems management to various theories of information-systems management. I have my evaluation.
But my "thesis"... is basically my assumption based on experience that says: "theory is based on assumptions that practice do not always exist". And my "experiment" neither proves nor disproves this triviality, but is supposed to show how you can tailor the management theory for it to be useful under economic constraints to a real specific problem.
**Question:** What should I call this thing, since it isn't a thesis?
# Answer
It **is** a thesis. From what you've written, your hypothesis is that
> you can tailor the \[information-systems\] management theory for it to be useful under economic constraints to a real specific problem
You might also be doing **exploratory research**, or **blue-skies research**, where you don't start with a research question, you start with a direction, subject or area, and go wandering off looking for interesting problems.
> 19 votes
# Answer
Before creating a hypothesis, it may be necessary to make experiments and discover the *laws* (Ohms law, Newtons laws and the like). Laws are not hypothesis. They do not suppose anything, just describe discovered regularities (correlation, regression, sometimes more complex curve fitting) in a way more compact than raw experimental data. If you have good experimental data without hypothesis, you may simply be in this stage of exploration.
Discovering the laws may be required before any hypothesis can be formulated. Try to propose and test your hypothesis now, maybe it is time.
> 5 votes
# Answer
It almost sounds like a *literature review* or *critique*, where you have a particular lens or perspective from which to observe and interpret other ideas.
> 4 votes
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Tags: research-process, terminology
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thread-8256 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8256 | What's the point of visiting students? | 2013-02-26T20:08:12.763 | # Question
Title: What's the point of visiting students?
I've started a PhD recently and seen a few students from other universities visit our lab for a few days or maybe few weeks. The other university pays all expenses which many times amount to thousands of dollars. Most of the time, the visiting student gets a place, brings her/his own laptop and does research the way he does it at his university.
What's the point of this? Couldn't the visiting student just stay at his university and discuss his research with our lab on Skype?
One explanation I thought of is face to face networking but the cost seems to high for that. Or it may be an excuse to travel and see the world, but that's quite ridiculous. I also asked the visiting students, but they told me they didn't know.
# Answer
The main goal, from my experience, is the facetime with many different people. Skype is nice, but it's primarily intended for conversations with very few people. A visit allows students to to talk to many professors and students face-to-face in a short timespan, get to know the place, interact with students in a lab, and get a sense for what the place is like, something which is impossible over the 'net.
Also, this gives the university a good chance to see what the *student* is like. It's easy to look good on paper and can put on a clean shirt (pants optional) for a skype interview. It's a lot harder to keep up a fake act in front of dozens of faculty and students over a one-or-two day period.
> 14 votes
# Answer
For me, one of the main goals of visiting the grad schools I was interested in was to figure out whether the location was somewhere I'd want to live for the next 5+ years. If the research is a good fit at a given school, but you'll be mugged, or miles away from civilization, or miles away from the nearest Thai restaurant, or whatever else that'd make you miserable, that's something you'll at least want to know when making your decision, and I think spending a few days at each of the places you're (seriously) considering is helpful in that regard.
Also, I think you're underestimating the value of face-to-face networking. Walking around the department, chatting with the grad students, professors, etc. you bump into is much easier than scheduling a Skype session with everyone you might conceivably talk to, and yes, there are certain non-verbal cues that you'll miss when video chatting. And the general atmosphere is something to take into account too; do the grad students seem to get along, hang out together, help one another? Does no one come to their office because the building is too depressing?
> 9 votes
# Answer
In my experience (both sides: visiting and being where other students visit), the purpose can range all the way
* from very narrowly defined purposes, such as learning a particular technique/method
(I'm chemist. You will not learn phyico- or bio-chemical lab techniques efficiently via skype sessions)
* to "exploratory" purposes like finding out whether a collaboration is feasible and brainstorming topics.
Of course this implies that it may turn out during the stay that for some reason the initial idea is not or not yet feasible.
* Or even just networking.
> Most of the time, the visiting student gets a place, brings her/his own laptop and does research the way he does it at his university.
In my experience this happens when
* collaboration as intended turns out to be impossible early during the stay: then the best option for the student may be to use the time away from the home lab to catch up with that pile of things-to-be-done. Depending on how far away the host institute is, getting an earlier flight home plus possibly the hassle of finding some place to stay because you sublet your room and the discussion whether you will be reimbursed for a room that you leave earlier but don't get refunded for that may be out of question.
* External constraints and/or bad planning lead to the visit being just in the wrong time: I once had the option to do a visit but that was possible only during holiday time at the host institution - not that I didn't meet the people I wanted to meet, but the meetings were spread over a longer time. (I did get quite some work done off the todo list in the meantime - but I certainly was a bit "homeless" at the host institution for some of the time)
* Bad planning of the type that some supervisors decide who (student) is to visit whom (student) and when, and one or both of the directly affected people don't really have the time.
Side note: Consider the cost of
* further up the career path, people travel thousands of km for a visit of few hours.
* I had a scholarship where I was expected to put in a full day's travel to have a 1 h meeting with my mentor or give a 10 min presentation. Likewise, the mentor put in almost a full day's travel in order to have a few hours visit to my lab.
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As for what the guest's institution gets out of that:
* Besides the obvious *chance* to successful collaboration or training on certain methods if the research stay is successful,
* it can be seen as part of the student's training (that applies particularly if e.g. a scholarship pays for the visit)
+ In a way, you have to learn how to do a research stay before becoming really efficient at that,
just like your home institution is probably not going to get that much out of your first conference visit, but without a fist, there will never be the efficient 5th conference visit.
+ Even just "living" in the hosting group will add experience how other groups handle their research life.
* Possibly, they wouldn't have gotten the student without: e.g. when I negotiated for the PhD student position, my prof threw into the deal that he would put me in contact to some other groups so I could do a research stay abroad (we did work, though, and I was paid by the hosting institution, not by my home institution)
> 7 votes
# Answer
The other answers cover your question from the student's and general research point of view pretty well. But if your question is why do *universities* encourage visiting students and student exchange, I can think of 2 reasons:
* Publicity and improvement of their international reputation
* Gaining a few more points in the university rankings (example: Times Higher Education has criteria named 'International Outlook')
On a less utilitarian note: international collaboration is, on the long haul, generally beneficial to research (even though there are a lot of exchanges that bring much less to science than to the local nightlife sector).
> 4 votes
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Tags: visiting
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thread-12502 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/12502 | Is a research thesis (report) with zero contribution to human knowledge acceptable? | 2013-09-06T17:46:29.130 | # Question
Title: Is a research thesis (report) with zero contribution to human knowledge acceptable?
An alternate title could be "Do we award a PhD for what the student became or for what he produced?". More precisely, if a research thesis report does not advance human knowledge, yet still shows that the student acquired the right skills of investigation, should the title of Philosophy Doctor be awarded?
* I kind of always assumed that a thesis (PhD thesis in particular) should have some positive results (where positive means "advancing the state of human knowledge"), and that part of the art of finding a good topic of research was the art of asking the right kind of question, which would yield some positive result independently of the answer. Similar views are expressed in this other stackexchange question and the corresponding answers:
> It is an expectation that the PhD would make an original contribution and/or advance knowledge in a given field. I understand this is a universal assumption for this level of study across all universities. (...) usually a PhD is measured on its contribution to expand knowledge.
* Nevertheless, Justin Zobel defends convincingly the opposite view in "Writing for Computer Science", p.154 of the Second Edition:
> even if good results are not achieved, the thesis should pass if you have shown the ability to undertake high-quality research. (...) A thesis with negative results can, if appropriately written, demonstrate the ability of the candidate just as well a a thesis with positive results. (...) it is you, not the research, that is the primary object of scrutiny
Is there an agreement across disciplines about this question?
I am not directly concerned (I reported positive results in my PhD thesis long ago, have many positive results to report in my "Habilitation" thesis, and I certainly aim for my students to report positive results in theirs), but I am curious about the real objective of the thesis: \- as an advisor, I could suggest a more risky topic if it had the potential to teach more to the student without risking the whole graduating thing; and \- as a referee or member of an evaluation committee, I have to judge students and/or their thesis...
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## Extreme Fictional Example
A student and advisor do the entire research work following the most rigorous scientific process for several years, only to find their efforts ruined near the end of the process either by a budget cut, the disappearance of the species they were studying, or the discovery that the problem is the consequence of an obscure results from year ago in another research community.
The student has followed and learned the scientific process, but did not contribute to human knowledge (apart from maybe improving the index of its bibliography). If the student has showed the qualities required from a good researcher, should(n't) he/she be awarded the title of "Doctor in Philosophy", independently of the contribution made to human knowledge?
This is truly a rhetorical question, and I doubt this kind of situation happens often. Yet the idea is new to me and I kind of like it, albeit I doubt the whole community would agree...
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## Opposite Extreme Example
Imagine that a student, stroke by luck, makes an amazing scientific discovery which deeply impact human knowledge, and can be understood by all even though the student poorly redacts it. It seems clear to me that the society would not benefit from awarding a PhD to such a student, who has not learned how to do research even though contributing to human knowledge.
On the other hand, setting two conditions for the awarding of a PhD, having learned how to do proper research AND having advanced human knowledge by using it, introduces trade-offs and compromises (which again do not serve society).
# Answer
> 23 votes
The question as currently asked is: **Is a research thesis (report) with zero contribution to human knowledge acceptable?**
And the answer to that question is **no**.
A thesis or portfolio submitted for a PhD or higher doctorate must make a **novel contribution to human knowledge**. It **must also** demonstrate that the applicant has acquired the appropriate level of research skills.
Some negative results do advance human knowledge. So a thesis with negative results and no positive results may make a novel contribution to human knowledge. e.g. demonstration of **absence** of an effect is a negative result, but can be a distinct and significant contribution to new knowledge (particularly if the effect was previously believed to exist).
However, just spending the time, putting in the effort, and churning out the right quantity of work, is not in and of itself sufficient.
### Basis for this
This is based on a combination of my employer's guidelines, my experiences as a PhD supervisor, and advice from my colleagues. I hear that there are other (less well-respected) institutions that award doctorates just for putting in the effort and churning out the right quantity of work, regardless of novelty of contribution, or of demonstration of research skill
### A quote from some official guidelines.
Here's a quote from the relevant part of the academic regulations for PhD examinations from UCL, University College London (pdf):
> A thesis for the awards of EngD or PhD degree shall be examined in accordance with the criteria prescribed by UCL and the thesis shall demonstrate that it: ...
>
> shows a student's capacity to pursue original research in the field of study based on a good understanding of the research techniques and concepts appropriate to the discipline; ...
>
> represents a distinct and significant contribution to the subject, whether through the discovery of new knowledge, the connection of previously unrelated facts, the development of new theory, or the revision of older views;
# Answer
> 30 votes
I assume that by negative results, you mean non-significant results.
"It is an expectation that the PhD would make an original contribution and/or advance knowledge in a given field." Yes, this is true. And "X doesn't work" is a contribution to the field.
(To use an example from my area). Health practitioners are constantly dreaming up things that might work to treat various ailments (illnessess), and using them. The job of health researchers is to find out which ones work - and most of them don't work.
We used to joke that our role as health care researchers was to say no. "Nope. That doesn't work. Don't do it. No, that one's not effective either. No, don't use that. No. No. No."
Pressure for positive results just means you tweak models and data until you find them - using 'researcher degrees of freedom' (see http://pss.sagepub.com/content/22/11/1359). Your results are therefore significant, but worthless.
My PhD thesis was trying to demonstrate the nature of the relationship between stress and psoriasis symptoms (many people say "stress worsens psoriasis" - it's taken as a given truth, but it's never been empirically demonstrated). I was trying to answer things like what kind of stress, how long does it take, does it differ between people? I never found any evidence that stress did worsen psoriasis. Nor that psoriasis worsened stress (or any other psychological symptom).
A PhD is an educational process. One should demonstrate that one has learned. The most important thing about a PhD is showing what you know, what you have learned, and what you understand. If anyone gets to the end of a PhD and says "Well, those results were all positive, just as I expected", they've learned little. At the end of your PhD (or any research project) you should want to start again, and this time do it properly.
# Answer
> 10 votes
This is a tough question. Just to abstain from the discussion of different standards in different fields, I'll talk of mathematics only. Also, I'll assume that it is a question about a PhD thesis, not about anything of lower level like Masters, etc.
The main thing is that the gap between "advancing human knowledge" and "mastering the subject" is huge and there is a lot of grades in-between. IMHO, the works that advance human knowledge are rare, be it PhD theses or papers in refereed journals. Most of us live off "doing what hasn't been done before", which is much less demanding. What I mean is that each work introducing a new idea is followed by 1000 ones applying this idea combined with already known stuff to all setups where it works. Each of those 1000 papers does what hasn't been done before but does not advance human knowledge because, once the new idea appears, every sufficiently high level professional can figure out how it may be applied elsewhere, though getting all details right may require patience and even some effort. I certainly would accept "doing what hasn't been done before" (a successful application of a well-known idea in a fairly straightforward way to a new setup) as a tolerable (but not brilliant) PhD thesis.
How much below that would I consider acceptable? Four out of every five projects I try end up in a miserable failure, when I cannot even claim that I have proved some partial result in the desired direction. I have never tried to write a detailed account of "mein kampf" for any of those (dead end moves with counterexamples at the end, chains of implications that never meet the goal, associations and studies of seemingly relevant things that failed to relate to the question at hand for some fundamental but hard to discern reason, etc.) but I would let a report like that pass as a PhD thesis if it really shows 3 years worth of high quality effort.
What I find not acceptable is a "literature survey" (understanding what is written elsewhere and relating things in a superficial way without deriving any new result or introducing any new twist into the story). In other words, my idea is that you should get your PhD after you show that you can "fight a mathematical battle on your own", not only study the battles fought by other people. The victory in a decent battle is sufficient, but not necessary. Sometimes you can be made a "general" even if you lose but show good fighting skills.
All this is my humble opinion only. As to the official point of view, in Russia we had the central committee that had to confirm every degree award before it became valid and there were written guidelines. In the USA it is way more relaxed, so 4-5 professors conspiring together can pass anyone (to the credit of them I should say that I cannot give an example of such conspiracy). Canada requires an external review to be positive (which, by the way, makes perfect sense as a simple safeguard against "local standard relaxation" to me), and so on.
As to "risky topics", the best ambitious projects are such where "something" can be done right away (not something that is worth talking about as "defendable" or "publishable", but something that shows that the student has the general grasp of the subject and decent problem-solving skills). If that something (or something equivalent) is not done within the first half a year, it is a sign of trouble and the ambitious project is better abandoned and replaced with an "apply a known idea in a straightforward way to a new setup" one. If it is, you have a chance and may consider taking the risk. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can guide you then except your gut feelings and your knowledge of the student. You and your student are in an uncharted territory all on your own, and no general advice can be given except "play by ear" and "act by circumstances".
# Answer
> 8 votes
Well, this negative result got a fair amount of press, this negative result is generally considered a big deal, and my guess is that a negative result about this problem would probably be considered an acceptable thesis. :-) So the trivial answer to the original question is: "Yes." On the other hand, it's easy to think of negative results that wouldn't pass muster for a thesis. So perhaps the underlying question is: "How can we tell whether a negative result qualifies for a thesis?"
A thesis is expected to make an intellectual contribution. If I prove a bunch of trivial negative results that surprise no one, then I don't make any intellectual contribution. On the other hand, if a lot of good researchers believe X, and I show that X doesn't hold, then that changes the state of knowledge in the field and therefore is a contribution. (In many cases, the real contribution from such negative results is the analysis explaining *why* X doesn't hold --- i.e., why the scientific intuitions of a bunch of good researchers are incorrect.)
So the questions I would ask would be: are the negative results unexpected? Do they give us new insights into, or a better understanding of, the phenomena being studied? If these questions can be answered positively then I think the negative results qualify for a thesis; if not, then IMHO they do not. The bottom line is, simply: "Do the results (positive or negative) teach us anything?"
# Answer
> 4 votes
In fast moving fields one can get scooped fairly easily. For example a biology PhD thesis may be based around determining the structure of a protein. If someone else publishes the structure before the thesis is reviewed then there is not a contribution to human knowledge since the structure is already known. I think in these fast moving fields the student would be expected to do more. In my "slow" moving field I am aware of two theses (one PhD and one MSc) where the results where the key findings were published by someone else in the weeks before the thesis was finished.
# Answer
> 1 votes
An historical example: Alan Turing was named a fellow at Cambridge on the basis of work that Lindeberg published over a decade prior. Admittedly, this was not a PhD thesis, but I am under the impression the import is comparable. Keynes, for example, had no PhD but was named a fellow prior to becoming a professor. There is no evidence to suggest that Turing was aware of Lindeberg's work, but I am under the impression that they're approaches were quite similar.
I have heard similar stories on a less grand scale. No doubt the results of many theses have been previously published. Should it matter whether this connection is discovered before or after the thesis is submitted, assuming the new results did not draw on the old?
# Answer
> 0 votes
For a research project to be successful, you need more than just
* a good student
You also need
* a good concept and
* a good advisor
Of course these points are not independent: up to a certain point a good student will be able to make sure the concept is good. At least the good advisor will do that. But what if the advisor isn't that good, and in consequence the project concept is flawed and the student gets bad advise and that is the reason for only negative results?
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IMHO, **having only negative results likely hamper the project success in an indirect way**:
* do not underestimate the psychological effect on the student: not succeeding in something that the advisor told you to do can have serious effects on the student's self-esteem and that can in turn lead to giving up or anyways loose the "psychological bonus" that you can only get if you are convinced of your work.
* Depending on what kind of negative results, and how the project was specified, "it doesn't work" could be either due to the student's inability/laziness or due to the fact that things just don't work that way. Therefore "it doesn't work" always has a danger of falling back onto the student, even if it was not the student's fault.
* It is hard for the student to prove that it wasn't his fault in that case, which may mean wasting lots of effort just to make sure that noone can come and blame the student for the bad results.
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All together, I'd be extremely cautious with
> I could suggest a more risky topic if it had the potential to teach more to the student without risking the whole graduating thing
Whether I'd at all consider this would also depend on other circumstances. Maybe it is because I've seen bad advisors putting students into risky projects and leaving them in the resulting difficulties.
So at the very least I think that entering a project that the advisor already before it ever began perceives as more risky, should be entered
* by a clear understanding between advisor and student that this is risky (but much may come out of it)
* only if the advisor knows the student well enough to be able to judge whether the student could stand this
* only with a clear risk-management strategy: the risk the student takes must be made up by something else.
How about treating such risky projects as normal job and paying a full wage if you cannot guarantee that even a good student will be able to get a thesis out of the results?
Here's an example (heard of it by rumour only) of how such things go wrong:
project involves growing some plants over 2 years. If all goes well, student can finish thesis in 3 years.
Student is hired for the project on a fixed 3 year contract, and is told that the project really shouldn't take longer. (Apparently, there is no money for more than 3 years). In the 2nd year a minor flooding kills the experiment. Floods are in no way an unheard of occurrence in the region.
IMHO in this project the student was left not only with a project that had the inherent risk that the work of 2 years may be lost just before it was "ripe". The really bad thing is that it was combined with no plan B (e.g. extending the project), and occured in a country where a failed thesis is a serious thing: it wouldn't work to say in the beginning: "let's try this, and if it fails after 3 years, why, then you can just go on and try another project".
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Tags: phd, thesis, negative-results
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thread-16096 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16096 | Undergraduate international computer science student [Can i go to grad school?] | 2014-01-23T18:05:11.153 | # Question
Title: Undergraduate international computer science student [Can i go to grad school?]
I am Computer science major at University of Wisconsin Madison. I just want to ask you if i can get into graduate school with such a low GPA. My current GPA is 2.9 and i have 20 more credit which makes me possible to go over 3.0 But I have finished my freshman year with 2.0 GPA and took 2 years of ESL program.(English as a second language). I have done 2~3 internships in korea and plan to do 2 years of more working experience after i graduate from college this summer.
I am worried about my GPA because it is quite low and my CS GPA is only about 3.4 DO you guys think i have chance of getting into any top 30 or 40 graduate school out there in computer science field?
Thank you
# Answer
In my experience, most graduate programs that have competitive admissions (as would probably be the case with "top 30-40" programs, whatever that means concretely) require a minimum GPA to be considered for admission (see for instance UC Berkeley).
The first thing you can do is look up some of the programs that interest you to see if they have a minimum GPA requirement. If they do and your GPA is lower than what they're asking for, then the answer to your question is almost certainly no.
Now, suppose that you were to satisfy the minimal GPA requirement of some "top 30-40" programs. Provided you satisfy their other minimal requirements, it is possible that you could be accepted. However, a low GPA will be seen as a weakness in your application. The admission to "top 30-40" programs are most likely going to be very competitive, and you will be competing against candidates who will have a high undergraduate GPA together with a strong application overall. Consequently, you would need to compensate for this. This could be done, for example, by managing to get well-known faculty write amazing letters of recommendation for you, or by demonstrating an exceptional aptitude for research.
> 2 votes
# Answer
It depends on what you mean by graduate school. If you mean a masters program, then you can definitely get in, even at a top 30-40 school, assuming you have some sort of explanation for your grades and good letters of recommendation/evidence of work to ameliorate your application.
If you're referring to a PhD program, may I suggest that you instead apply to masters programs first. This allows you to get a new GPA to associate with your name, research experience and recommendations. Then, you can apply to PhD programs and not only have a much better shot of getting in, but you will also be more prepared and have a much better idea of what you want to do.
> 1 votes
# Answer
Anything is possible. In your cover letter highlight your strengths, perhaps mention that you have managed to have a BLAH GPA while at the same time learning English as a Second Language. If you word this properly, you can show that this is a strength, i.e. you had to properly manage workload balance while at the same time earning your degree. Highlight your internship experience. Make it known that you have a firm understanding of what is being done in industry and the type of problems one would regularly come across.
All in all, you have just as much of a shot as anyone. The worse that can happen is that you won't get in anywhere. I highly suggest you apply to as many schools as you can as this increases your odds of being accepted, at least somewhere.
> 0 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, computer-science, gpa
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thread-15586 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15586 | How to get a mentor or supervisor for PhD studies in Computer Science? | 2014-01-10T00:40:19.873 | # Question
Title: How to get a mentor or supervisor for PhD studies in Computer Science?
If I have already completed a master's degree, but no longer belong or have contact to the institution in which I followed my master's degree; how to approach one professor to see if he or she wants to supervise me? Actually I see lots of different areas that I would like, but I feel afraid of not having the enough background (I can only contact the potential professors by email because well I am actually in the North America area, and I would like to aim for an European university)
I know that some times there are some published open positions, but in those cases mostly the competition is really fierce.
Any advice, mostly based on experience, will be very useful.
Thanks
# Answer
1. Apply to PhD programs in your area of interest.
2. Visit the schools that accept you into their programs.
3. During your visits, talk to professors about (a) whether they're taking students and (b) whether you share mutual interests.
You can also try emailing professors before you apply, to get a sense of whether their school/department/research group is a good fit. But be warned that many will ignore your email unless you've already been admitted to their program. (Expert tip: pay close attention to the warnings and admonitions posted on their personal home page!)
A much better way to make first contact is to attend conferences or workshops in your area of interest (and make a paper/poster presentation, if possible). These events let you meet many potential advisors all in one place. Plus, you get to hear about their work, and get a sense of their personality, hygiene, etc.
> I feel afraid of not having enough background.
You and me both, pal. It's called impostor syndrome, and *everyone** in academia has it.
Good luck!
\*…except for the real jerk-Os.
> 7 votes
# Answer
While @Dnuorg Spu's answer is correct for the US (and Asia, afaik), it is not all that applicable for Europe. Around here, US-style PhD programmes are still more the exception than the rule. In many european universities, one applies **directly with the professor** before getting admitted into any sort of formal programme.
Essentially, what most professors do when they have openings for PhD students is the following:
1. Talk to their own (good) master students (sidenote: a master is a minimum requirement for PhD admission in most places here)
2. Failing that, contact friends and ask them for good master students interested in doing a PhD
3. Failing that, write a job announcement to DBWorld or a similar mailing list
Step 3 usually brings in plenty of candidates. However, weeding out the bad from the good is time-consuming and error-prone, hence, most professors are not happy at all if they have to fall back to step 3.
**Blind applications** are usually ignored, simply because the chance that a given professor that you have applied to blindly currently has open funding *and* is looking specifically for somebody with your skill set is not very large.
> I know that some times there are some published open positions, but in those cases mostly the competition is really fierce. Any advice, mostly based on experience, will be very useful.
My advice: give applying for some posted positions a try. Competition is fierce in numbers, but not necessarily in quality. We have had cases where we received 50+ applications, and decided to not hire anybody. Your chance is certainly better than villy-nilly mailing (or even worse, *calling*) professors out of the blue.
> 6 votes
# Answer
In Europe, usually you have to apply directly in a PhD program.
EPFL (in Lausanne) has a special PhD admission procedure that can be good in your case. They can take you for 1+3 years:
* In the 1st year, your goal is to find a PhD advisor and a lab. You have to do two 6-month research projects, take some courses, and you're expected to find a lab for the PhD that way;
* At the end of the 1st year, you pass a candidacy exam where your topic and advisor get accepted, and you have 3 years to complete your research program.
Note that you get paid during the 4 years of the program.
> 2 votes
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Tags: phd, advisor
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thread-16101 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16101 | communication after job offer and acceptance | 2014-01-23T20:10:50.847 | # Question
Title: communication after job offer and acceptance
I am a US-based researcher and was offered a position as a postdoctoral researcher at a Swedish institute. The offer came in December, and I have negotiated some terms, which the school accepted. All of this happened via email and very quick. As the school accepted the various terms exactly as I wanted, I decided to accept the offer and wrote back saying that I will be joining the team.
Now, this is where the issue comes in. I know I need to file some paper work to proceed, which exact steps I am not yet sure about. I have sent two emails inquiring about the issue to the professor in charge, but I have not gotten any response back.
I find it strange that my emails are being ignored and this is making me worried. Some acquaintances over in Stockholm has suggested that because many people take time off during the holidays, things can slow down considerably in December-January (I haven't been there and I have no idea how things work there), but it is almost end of January and I do need to get the paper work done soon to be able to relocate on time. What should I do?
# Answer
> 3 votes
It's time to get the phone!
If you know some people working in your future institute, try to catch them by Skype. You can also look for some assistant or secretary telephone number in the institute. As long as you don't call by midnight, nobody will be annoyed by your call.
Yes, in Europe, things usually slow down in December / January, and mails accumulate or get trapped in spam filters. So, when in doubt, try and make a phone call.
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Tags: job, email, sweden
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thread-15966 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15966 | Can I put my accepted-but-not-yet-on-IEEEXplore paper online? | 2014-01-19T19:53:32.807 | # Question
Title: Can I put my accepted-but-not-yet-on-IEEEXplore paper online?
I am currently hunting for research internships and going to apply for several positions. To make the admission officers accessible to my stories and experiences in further detail, I have created a personal Google Site showing those details and added the link into my CV.
Now it comes to my research part. I have one paper that is just informed to be accepted by a conference. However, since the conference is not held yet, the paper isn't available online.
I wish to make the paper accessible to the admission committee. How should I do that without harming my and my co-authors' interest?
Can I upload it to arXiv? Can I upload it to my own Google Site? Should I inform my co-authors of this? Does it really matter to them?
# Answer
I would not urge as much caution as the other answer/comment. Of course, checking with your co-authors and publishing agreement won't do any harm but ...
... I would **strongly urge you to put the pre-print of the paper online and add a link in the CV** since the folks handling your application may want to see the paper but may not be bothered to email you for it ... they will have a long list of CVs to get through, esp. in the initial phases where a *confirmed* publication could really make you stand out.
I emphasise this because I've seen lots of CVs for research internships and they often try to conncoct publications, mentioning "*paper communicated to XYZ*", or mentioning internal technical reports, etc. Having a link to a full-text will show them that it is not a vapour-paper and will let them get an idea of the quality of the work. Better still if you can add a link to the list of accepted papers for the conference with your paper in it.
As for contravening a publishing agreement ... any decent CS/EE publisher will, at the very least, allow you to put the pre-print -- the version you submit to them -- online on a personal homepage. If for some reason they don't, you shouldn't publish your work with them. Putting papers on homepages is a common practice that should be **strongly encouraged**.
If the publisher is IEEE themselves, then it's for sure no problem.
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**Risk of putting your paper online on your personal page**: a 0.000001% chance of getting a cease and desist letter from your publisher asking you to take it offline, in which case you take the paper offline and never submit to that publisher ever again.
**Risk of not putting your paper online on your personal page**: a small but significantly greater than 0.000001% chance of the folks handling your application not taking the publication into account and you not getting a job offer as a result.
> 3 votes
# Answer
As the comment from Nate Eldredge said: read your copyright agreement and ask co-authors.
You can definitely list the paper in your publications if you mark it as "accepted for...". If the admission committee is interested in reading it (often it is just interested in the title, unless this is the summary of your previous work), they can ask for it.
> 3 votes
# Answer
From my own submissions at IEEE conferences and journals, I remember the following points:
* you are allowed to put a pre-print online if it is mandatory in your institution. I believe the sentence did also mention that it should happen on your institution pre-print server, so the extension of this notion to Arxiv needs to be worked out (though it is common practice, as far as I have seen);
* you are not allowed to publish online the final version of a paper. The final version is the one with the manuscript number, journal issue and so on;
* be careful when it comes to anonymous submissions (like some IEEE conferences). You have to wait until the official publication of the acceptance list.
> 0 votes
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Tags: publications, paper-submission
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thread-16111 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16111 | Can I get into grad school with a low GPA? | 2014-01-23T23:39:53.243 | # Question
Title: Can I get into grad school with a low GPA?
So here's my situation: I'm a senior electrical-engineering major student in a decent-ranked university (60-80), and I've been working in a lab in our department and published 2 papers as the second author (conference paper, IEEE) and currently I'm in charge of two projects so I may publish more before I graduate. The thing is: I have a low GPA (2.9), but there is a reason: I've been an athlete of the fencing team in our university, and for two years I've been the vice captain of it. I have to go to practice every night, Monday to Thursday, so I don't have a lot of time to study. My boss, who got her PHD degree from CalTech, trusts me a lot so I will have a kickass recommendation. She refers me as a student who's "not very good at theoretical learning, but always creative and can solve practical problems very well." She also granted me the fellowship. I want to go to those well-ranked engineering schools, like UIUC or Berkeley, and pursue a master's degree (and even a PHD, if possible). Although I do have a good research background, I'm worrying about my gpa. Most schools do have a gpa threshold, but is it possible for me to get into these schools? Thank you.
# Answer
> 0 votes
You can file for academic petition where university will initially reject your application but an academic committee will review it and may give you conditional admit. What happens in these cases is if you get more than 3.0 GPA in first sem , you are in the program permanently otherwise you are out.It may be better to speak with the department or program coordinator to get better understanding of this and they may have prior knowledge about these cases and may let you know if there is a good chance of your getting petition getting passed or not.
Alternately you can go to industry and work for couple of years before applying. An Industry experience definitely will add more value to your application and will show the committee that you are a serious candidate.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Grades are a factor but not the sole one. There is always a possibility. An option is to apply for a M.S. program first. If you are able to get in and maintain good grades, you should be admitted into a Ph.D. program.
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Tags: publications, graduate-school, engineering, gpa
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thread-15168 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15168 | Designing Tests for Industry | 2013-12-28T19:42:40.390 | # Question
Title: Designing Tests for Industry
I'm currently designing tests for people working in technology support. I am the current subject matter expert (SME) in my group for these topics.
The exam is essentially open-book multiple choice, 25 questions. I'm trying to design it so that they are instructed as they take the test, as they will have to take it multiple times if they do not pass the first time.
We have documentation, in fact I've written much of it, even if it does not get the attention it should.
I want to ensure I cover all bases for my questions.
As I write the exam, I am finding I want to ask questions about issues I have not yet documented, so I'll need to add those things to the documentation.
What is the best advice we have for constructing these sorts of exams?
# Answer
> 4 votes
In the comments you state that the exam is used for certifying competency. This means that it should be extremely difficult for incompetent individuals to pass at the possible expense of failing competent individuals. Given the constraints of multiple choice, 25 questions, open book, and the ability to resit the exam, the definition of competency is important. You are going to need a very different type of test if competency means the ability look up information in a book versus the ability to know the information without using a book.
If the exam is testing the ability to look up information, then what you need to protect against is people memorizing the answers (i.e., abacda ...). Having a larger bank of questions, randomizing the order, and randomizing the answer order will decrease the ability to memorize the test. You also want to prevent people from taking the test home with them and probably want to impose a minimum wait between retests.
If competency means knowledge about the subject, your constraints are going to make it difficult. At a minimum you probably want to impose a time limit, but better would be to make the exam closed book. You should also test each concept with multiple questions and choose new question on each exam.
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Tags: writing, exams, assessment
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thread-16107 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16107 | Does copying the book's figure for my dissertation fit the copyright? | 2014-01-23T22:02:55.760 | # Question
Title: Does copying the book's figure for my dissertation fit the copyright?
I'm writing my dissertation and I have drawn a diagram explaining how a algorithm works. Recently, I've found an ebook, legally obtained, illustrating the same algorithm, but with more details and better drawing.
Is it ok to use their figure instead of mine if I properly give the source?
Here is the copyright rules (highlight is mine):
> The Author(s) 2014
> This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. **Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.** Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.
I'm asking because of the highlighted excerpt:
> Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.
I think my dissertation fits the "reviews or scholarly analysis" rule, so is it ok? This juridical part is very delicate.
**Update**
I have contacted the book's author; he was really nice and said that there are no problems of using his illustration. But, he advised me to contact the publisher (he even pointed me a page to do that). As the page was not working well, I sent an email to the publisher's staff to which they answered asking me some information:
> * your name, address, and email address;
> * ISBN of the book requested or journal title, volume and issue number, author/editor, year of publication of book or journal;
> * which material you would like to use indicating page numbers and figures numbers;
> * will your publication be open access?
> * purpose of using Springer-Verlag's material;
> * number of copies of your publication to be printed;
> * name of your publisher or the company/institute.
Now, I'm just waiting for their answer.
**Update 2**
The publisher gave me permission and I added the image to my dissertation. Here are the conditions that I had to follow:
> Thank you for getting back to me. With reference to your request to reuse material in which Springer Science+Business Media controls the copyright, our permission is granted free of charge under the following conditions:
>
> Springer material
>
> * represents original material which does not carry references to other sources (if material in question refers with a credit to another source, authorization from that source is required as well);
> * requires full credit (book title, year of publication, page, chapter title, name(s) of author(s), original copyright notice) is given to the publication in which the material was originally published by adding: "With kind permission of Springer Science+Business Media";
> * may not be altered in any manner. Any other abbreviations, additions, deletions and/or any other alterations shall be made only with prior written authorization of the author and/or Springer Science+Business Media.
>
> This permission
>
> * is non-exclusive;
> * is valid for one-time use only for the purpose of defending your thesis and with a maximum of 100 extra copies in paper.
> * includes use in an electronic form, provided it is an author-created version of the thesis on his/her own website and his/her university’s repository, including UMI (according to the definition on the Sherpa website: http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/);
> * is subject to courtesy information to the corresponding author;
> * is personal to you and may not be sublicensed, assigned, or transferred by you to any other person without Springer's written permission;
> * is valid only when the conditions noted above are met.
>
> Permission free of charge does not prejudice any rights we might have to charge for reproduction of our copyrighted material in the future.
# Answer
In fact, I think that your proposed use would *not* fall under "fair use", in the sense that you are not addressing the other authors' work, but merely (!) using some of their stuff. The fruits of their labors... which is what various reasonable notions of intellectual property are meant to protect.
Of course, if you write the copyright owners and they say "go ahead", you are legally fine...
However, legal correctness and moral/ethical correctness are not the same.
Might be better to take the trouble to make your own graphic that is good enough. At the very least, in addition to investigating literal copyright issues, you might contact the people who made the graphic and ask their permission. If everyone says "go ahead", out of generosity or whatever, then you are *truly* fine.
> 10 votes
# Answer
If you are critiquing the image or expanding on what was said then technically you are in the clear. In the real world it comes down to what Springer decides and the country that you are in. The exemption there is not really an exemption in the US. That is copyright law, the part called fair use. How the courts see it if you were sued is a different issue and Springer has the deep pockets here and could make your suffer no matter what. Whether it is worth it to Springer depends on the circulation of your thesis. If you can reproduce the graphic yourself you will obviously be better off.
> 4 votes
# Answer
I think the more relevant part of the rules is this:
> Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer.
If you use the figure, you are duplicating a part of the text. The relevant copyright law is that of where the publisher is located, not your country. Finally, regardless of this, they say "permission for use must always be obtained from Springer", which seems pretty clear. This doesn't necessarily mean you will need to pay to use the figure, but you do need the publisher's permission.
"Brief excerpts" in your bolded text probably refers to a short quotation, which of course would need to be indicated as a quotation and referenced.
> 1 votes
# Answer
No one seems to have mentioned this: of course legally you should contact the publisher, which in most probability is the copyright holder, but surely you should also ask the author how he or she feels about it. I would not like seeing my work being used without having been contacted.
> 1 votes
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Tags: plagiarism, graphics
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thread-16139 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16139 | Better to do PhD program for Marine Science in Australia or US? | 2014-01-24T14:18:42.827 | # Question
Title: Better to do PhD program for Marine Science in Australia or US?
I have a dilemma about doing a marine science research degree in Queensland Australia vs in the USA (california or florida). I have been accepted to schools in both countries and offered scholarships to pay for my studies. I have personally spoken with advisors that I would work with from both countries and both have great projects that I am interested.
I am just wondering if anyone has insight into the quality of life and research at either location?
I am also concerned about the strength of a PhD from Australia if I wanted to go back to the US to do a postdoc?
Thanks for your input!
# Answer
> 1 votes
Quality of life is very subjective. If you like nature, you will struggle to find the same quality of life in the U.S. as you do in Australia. If you like big bustling cities, then your quality of life will be better in the U.S. than in Queensland (Brisbane is lovely, but hardly bustling).
People care more about the strength of the school in the Ph.D. subject than they do about the university overall. If you intend to stay in marine science, it doesn't really matter whether you get a Ph.D. from e.g. James Cook in Australia or many places in the U.S.. If you're not sure marine science is where your heart is, a university with a bigger name overall will help you. Australian universities are competitive internationally; it really depends what your choices are. (U.Q. is not, say, Stanford, but I don't think there's anything in Florida that would really give you a big edge over U.Q.)
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Tags: phd
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thread-16108 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16108 | Are professional body certificates any helpful in getting into academia (if I don't have any undergraduate education)? | 2014-01-23T22:26:08.517 | # Question
Title: Are professional body certificates any helpful in getting into academia (if I don't have any undergraduate education)?
Sometimes professional bodies issue diplomas and postgraduate diplomas which, for example in the UK, are recognized at a very high training level.
What I am not sure about is whether these, even though not issued by universities, can help enter university at academia or research level?
# Answer
> 3 votes
Usually, these topics are discussed on a case-by-case basis. For example, the professional institute can have some kind of agreement or understanding with some universities, but not with others. The best you can do is to choose a research program that you want to join, prepare your record (including professional diplomas) and ask the faculty that rules the program.
Some universities may accept you without conditions, but I guess the most common case will be that you will have to take some extra courses in their program and get the corresponding credit in order to fit your profile and knowledge to their exact expectation.
# Answer
> 2 votes
In addition to sansuiso's very good answer: In some countries there are legal pre-requisits which are required for a certain position. E.g. if you want to have "Dr." in Germany (~about PhD), you are required to have a masters degree (there are some rare exceptions, but this is the normal process). Therefore you can have as many certificates and be as skilled as you want, you won't get in without taking this step.
So check whether there are formal requiremnts in the country you are interested in.
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Tags: university, career-path
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thread-16076 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16076 | Potential Post-Doc supervisor visit: should I give a talk or just have a meeting? | 2014-01-23T02:03:46.787 | # Question
Title: Potential Post-Doc supervisor visit: should I give a talk or just have a meeting?
I am a PhD candidate in computer engineering. I saw an announcement for a post-doctoral position on the internet.
I wrote to the professor having that open position asking him if I could come to visit him and his lab, and talk about the position. He replied yes. We agreed on the date and I asked him if he wanted me to prepare a talk with slides to give during the visit.
He answered:
> You are welcome to give a talk or we may just have a meeting. It's fully up to you.
So, **what should I do? Talk or just a visit?**
A meeting would be more relaxing and confortable, and provide no stress and no extra work.The talk would need time to work on it, and would be more stressful, but may explain better my previous research projects..
What do you suggest to me?
# Answer
> 25 votes
Unless told you shouldn't, you should **always** opt to give a talk under such circumstances. It makes discussions with your potential future advisor and group members much more meaningful, because your interviewers now have a much better sense of what you do.
Moreover, a solid presentation of technically sound research shows that you have achieved one of the most important skills needed for a researcher: the ability to effectively communicate your work! As a postdoc, your advisor is going to expect you to have most of the research skills needed to complete your work with minimal supervision. Giving a good presentation will clearly demonstrate most of your credentials in a way that a face-to-face talk will not.
Finally, giving a talk to a (mostly) friendly audience is always good practice for your future career. (People get better at giving presentations by giving presentations!)
# Answer
> 8 votes
I would come prepared with a talk. Depending on how many people are in his lab, or if you are going when his lab is having a meeting, you may want to give a talk then.
Sometimes it's nice not to give a talk and to just have a meeting more generally. But, it may be better for your potential colleagues to know the kind of research you have done before and what you are interested in if there is any overlap.
At the end of the day, it's up to you.
# Answer
> 1 votes
No matter how you decide: Bring some slides and be prepared for short presentations. It might be good to meet several people, sit around a laptop and discuss some ideas. This could be more fruitful then a presentation to a wider audience.
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Tags: postdocs, visiting
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thread-16145 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16145 | Do Machine Learning and Vision Labs outside the USA hire non-student,non-postdoc Research Assistants? | 2014-01-24T17:45:27.367 | # Question
Title: Do Machine Learning and Vision Labs outside the USA hire non-student,non-postdoc Research Assistants?
I am currently on a visiting research assistant position at a US university for a year. My visa will not allow me to start a similar position in the US after this stint is over, and I am looking for another yearlong research position before I start a Masters/PhD program from Fall 2015.
My current research involves Vision with Graphical Models. I am interested in pursuing research in Vision, or Computational Biology involving Graphical Models and Machine Learning methods.
So is it possible to work as a Research Assistant in this field, outside the USA, without a doctorate, and without being a student?
# Answer
Short answer to the question "is it possible?": yes, it is. E.g. in Germany, we can employ a person having some academic degree. The more important question is: What would you be willing to earn because at least in Germany, academic position usually are not the best paid ones.
If you just want to earn money and get experience, I would recommend a job in industry. If you really want to learn and develop yourself, and you don't have to earn much, look around in Europe. If you bring your own money (e.g. DAAD scholarship), you could start in my lab ;o).
> 1 votes
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Tags: research-process, computer-science, research-assistantship
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thread-16163 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16163 | Is it appropriate to compare students to other successful students in a letter of recomendation? | 2014-01-25T04:55:38.377 | # Question
Title: Is it appropriate to compare students to other successful students in a letter of recomendation?
Say you are writing a letter of recommendation for a freshman student of yours who is applying for an undergraduate research position in a field very different from yours. You can of course say some things about how well she did in your class. However, you had a student that this person reminds you of who went on to do great undergraduate research in the exact specialized field that she is applying for, getting two first author publications. Would it be inappropriate to spend a paragraph comparing the two students and how that in your class they shared all of these great qualities that you think were the driving force for the previous student doing well as a researcher. This seems like it may be a bit unorthodox, is it advantageous or perhaps utterly inappropriate to compare students like this? I'm split, ideally I should just be focused on her but the fact that she reminds me of this student is really the most compelling argument I think I can make.
# Answer
> 8 votes
This makes the letter of recommendation more personal and shows, you really want to support her. It makes a difference to all the other "this student has good grades and is always on time"-letters. So go ahead!
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Tags: recommendation-letter
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thread-16161 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16161 | Is it a good idea to go to a university just because of its high international ranking? | 2014-01-25T03:13:05.377 | # Question
Title: Is it a good idea to go to a university just because of its high international ranking?
I'm an international student and I'm currently studying pure mathematics in undergraduate level with a relatively low GPA (~3.5/4.0). I've recently read so many positive reviews about the universities in Singapore. I checked the "National University of Singapore (NUS)" on the internet for its international ranking and it was ranked 9th in mathematics!
How much do you think the ranking of a university positively affects my future career? For example, one of my dreams is that I can study in some Ivy-league university in the USA or some grand ecole university in France like Paris Sud 11 in the future, but because of my low GPA I'm afraid that that will never happen for me. Do you think that going to the NUS can help me to get accepted into world top universities in the future?
# Answer
> Is it a good idea to go to “National University of Singapore”
It may be. I have recently visited NUS, and talked to a lot of smart faculty and some truly outstanding students. Personally, I can only recommend both NUS and NTU Singapore. Singaporean universities are well-funded and offer a reasonable research environment. Singapore itself is also a nice place to live, with a quite interesting mixture of different cultures, lots of food, high standard of living, etc.
> just because of its high international ranking?
**Oh god no.**
If you want to go to NUS, then because of the reasons stated above. It think convincing the world that university-level rankings are a good thing is the largest disservice that the US has done to research. Let me make this clear - if you graduate from NUS and do uninteresting research, *nobody will hire you*. If you graduate from another reasonable university and do good research, *you will find a post*.
> Do you think that going to the NUS can help me to get accepted into world top universities in the future?
Only for the reasons stated above - NUS has an environment that certainly enables you to do world-class research. For this reason, NUS may certainly help you get into a top university, but it does not make you accepted. The hard part (being a good researcher) will still be required from you.
> 16 votes
# Answer
Rank is not an absolute index, it's relative. University X may have rank 9 this year, 15 next year. University Y may be ranked 16 this year and then rises to 10 next year. Different ranking agencies have different ways to rank universities.
I see those rankings as references. It's a factor. I would put more attention on the programs/faculty when selecting a school I want to attend.
I will not choose a school just because I want to increase my chance getting into Ivy-league universities. One reason for that is, I might have even lower GPA in a high ranking school. Of course, we can argue that better schools may have better professors so I can learn more. The bottom line is still, how hard do you study? In particular, you don't need expensive labs in order to study math. So, ranking may be important, but not a decisive one.
> 12 votes
# Answer
In my opinion, it is more important who you will be working with, than what university you will be at. There exist productive scientists who are great at supervising PhDs, while working at medium-ranked universities. Likewise, there exist tenured scientists at highly ranked universities, who are far past the peak of their career and lukewarm about PhD students.
After your PhD, what matters most, is your publications and possibly reference letters. If you have great publications and superb reference letters from famous scientists in the field, I don't think you will miss out on this or that post-doc because whoever reads your letter doesn't immediately know the university where you got your PhD.
This is my opinion, based on quite limited experience — having recently finished my PhD at a university that is not top-ranked, proceeding to do a post-doc at a university that is. I don't think the name of the university where I did my PhD is a handicap. In fact, I've always been better at doing research than at writing exams, so if the place where I'll be going for my post-doc would accept PhD candidates purely based on GPA, I'd never have gotten in.
> 3 votes
# Answer
It might be enlightening for you to carefully study how these rankings were formulated. Some of them are based entirely on reputation and subjective opinions. Some of them are based on a suite of detailed metrics – factors which may or may not be of much interest to the typical graduate student. Seldom, if ever, are they formulated by a team that visits university classrooms to evaluate lecturers, or interviews graduate students to accurately determine overall satisfaction with their programs. These rankings don't come close to telling the whole story.
Some schools have meteoric rises in the rankings just because their institutional research department is able to collect all the right data and send it back to the organization doing the rankings.
I'm not saying that most of the highly-ranked schools are not good schools, or that they are undeserving of their good reputations and high rankings. However, you can get a very good education an unranked school, and you can get a below-average education at a very highly-ranked school. There are several factors that determine how well someone does in graduate school and beyond, and school ranking is probably **not** a very big factor in the overall scheme of things.
> 2 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, ranking, singapore
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thread-16184 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16184 | Is there a convention for referring to a scholar's academic status? | 2014-01-25T20:45:41.200 | # Question
Title: Is there a convention for referring to a scholar's academic status?
I'm currently preparing an online tool for scholars, and part of that work involves creating a database with different categories for students at different stages of their college/university education (i.e. freshmen, second-semester juniors, first-year graduate students, etc). I'm struggling to find a standard classification system to use that would allow distinction between all of the stages in an undergraduate and graduate education. I could just use "first-semester senior" and the like, but if there's an existing standard - particularly one that even allows for students that don't use semester classifications - I don't want to complicate things with my own classification scheme.
Is there a convention, especially an international convention, that distinguishes between all or most of these stages in educational progress?
# Answer
> 3 votes
There is no international standard. You will at best find national standards. The problem is that an undergraduate degree can range from 3 years (there may even be shorter ones but I have not heard any examples) to 4 or 5. In some countries a masters degree is a graduate degree in some it is an undergraduate degree. moving to graduate school, Phds range from fixed three years through fixed four years to "individual length. A masters is not necessary to do to move from an true undergraduate studies to PhD, which means it will be an optional step in an education for some.
This means you will have problems defining a solid difference between undergraduate and graduate with the masters belonging to both. You can of course call students by the year they are at at each level but it would probably be beneficial to then know if it is m'th year out of n years to be possible to evaluate. The terminology for undergraduate students at different levels common in, for example the US, which you mentioned in your question is certainly not used internationally.
Based on this "mess" you should probably try to find a system that is as simple as possible and, for example, in the case of the masters simply define it for the site as undergraduate or graduate. Referencing to the year into an education will probably be understood by everyone. There are attempts, for example, within the European Union to synch levels and educational systems but so far there is much left to do to reach such goals if it ever will happen.
# Answer
> 3 votes
E.g. in europe, we collect "ECTS"-points (ECTS = European Credit point Transfer System) which sum up the time (successfully) spent for courses, in addition to semesters. So a student can have 50 ECTS and be in his/her third semester. Usually one does 30 ECTS in one semester (at least in Germany). Each ECTS should be an overall workload of 30h.
This seems to be a bit more objective than just taking the semester into account, but in most cases it just confuses people ;).
In your specific case I would recommend going back to the system's specification and clarify what the information is used for and what the consequences are. Checking this might make it easier to come up with a good solution (or might end with removing the requirement).
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Tags: degree, methodology
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thread-16157 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16157 | What are some examples of "service activities" for the inexperienced/up-and-coming academic? | 2014-01-25T00:32:47.233 | # Question
Title: What are some examples of "service activities" for the inexperienced/up-and-coming academic?
I am looking for an assistant professor job in engineering. While working on my Ph.D., I had the chance to mentor graduate students in my research group (suggesting experiments, helping them analyze results, etc.), and I also mentored an independent studies student for a summer. Would these types of activities even loosely be considered as "service activities" by a search committee, or, if the question comes up during an interview, just say that I don't have any such activities to mention? If the latter, what are some good ways to respond?
# Answer
> 5 votes
As for the question in the title, some common examples would be organising a seminar, helping to organise a conference or workshop, or serving on a committee.
I don't think that the activities you mention are generally considered 'service'. They are definitely activities worth mentioning in other contexts, though.
If you really don't have any experience in 'service activities', then perhaps a good way to respond to questions about service would be to admit that you don't have such experience so far, but express interest in gaining such experience (with specific details of the kinds of service you are especially interested in). I have no idea whether this is good advice, though, as I'm only a postdoc myself and have never been on a search committee.
# Answer
> 4 votes
As a grad student, you're not expected to devote much time to professional service. Even assistant professors are usually intentionally spared time-intensive service roles. Expectations increase as you become more senior. I was never asked about service in an interview for a post-doc position, and your postdoctoral supervisor would probably rather hear that you don't have time for service because you spend all your time on research.
I think the only service activity you should naturally expect to be involved in is that of refereeing papers, but that generally won't happen until you have one or more accepted publications.
You might also organize a minisymposium at a conference -- that's considered service and is a great excuse to get to know researchers in your subfield.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I'm not sure if this is specific to the US, but on many graduate school admissions, search, or internal program related committees, there will be a graduate student representative serving alongside professors. I have seen people put this as service.
You can also volunteer to preside at conferences, organize sessions, or serve on journal editorial boards, review as an ad-hoc reviewer if you have opportunities to do so.
Another way of showing general commitment to the field and scholarship, at least in the humanities and social sciences, is contributing book reviews for journals (or other publications with book review sections). This will not go under the "service" section of your CV, but under a separate "book review" heading and will be a nice way of showing commitment to the field.
However, I have also heard warnings against overdoing these things, especially when you do not have a good enough publication record. It can be seen as proof of inefficient time management, and not having one's priorities straight. As book reviews are not peer reviewed, and easy to get, they can be seen as "fluff" to your CV, if you have too many with not much else going on.
# Answer
> 2 votes
As a current graduate student there are 3 primary ways in which I provide service to the academic community and mention them on my cv.
1. Reviewing articles in journals and conferences. I regularly review for a top journal in information science and a couple of the top conferences in HCI (Human Computer Interaction)
2. I am the student member on our department's PhD admissions committee. My responsibilities include evaluating prospective applicants with the rest of the committee, matching applicants with interviewers and organizing the PhD visit day.
3. I have been a student volunteer for top conferences in my area. Some of my other colleagues have been student volunteer chairs for said conferences or they have been in the organizing committee for such conferences.
These are only my personal services to the academic field and my department recognizes and honors these services as an integral part of being a scholar (teaching-research-service).
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Tags: job-search, service-activities
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thread-16113 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16113 | Which part of the GRE is more important to admissions committees? | 2014-01-24T00:25:25.983 | # Question
Title: Which part of the GRE is more important to admissions committees?
I graduated from the University of Michigan with Psychology and Communication Studies degree. I am planning to apply to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) master's degree and Information Science master's degree.
For those of who do not know, HCI is an interdisciplinary field, combining mainly computer science, cognitive psychology, and design.
I have two GRE scores and I have trouble deciding which one to send for my application.
Score 1: Verbal: 158 (78%) / Quantitative: 165 (91%) / Writing: 4.0 (58%)
Score 2: Verbal: 162 (89%) / Quantitative: 161 (81%) / Writing: 4.5 (78%)
The second set of scores has higher verbal and writing values, but the first has a higher quantitative value. Which should I send?
# Answer
First I will say that in *some* departments, GRE scores are a very important component of your application. For instance, I work in a department where each year we get applicants from hundreds of different universities in 70 or more different countries. Comparing GPAs between all the different educational systems is very difficult (we do it, but place relatively less weight on it due to uncertainties). Meanwhile, the GRE is a single standard. Also, whereas some departments in the USA can rely primarily on GRE subject tests, it's quite rare for international students to take those. The bottom line: good GRE scores will never get you admitted by themselves. But in some places at least, poor GRE scores will eliminate you.
Now, as to whether the verbal/writing or quantitative scores matter more, I think this depends heavily on the field. If you were applying to a math/science/engineering program, the quantitative score would be by far most important. It's generally thought that good writing can be taught to you later (and technical writing is different from the persuasive writing the GRE tests you on, anyway).
I assume that if you were applying to an English or fine arts program, the verbal/writing scores would be more important. The fields you're applying to are somewhere in between, and I don't know them well enough to say for certain.
\[**Edit**: see @shion's answer for the opinion of someone who knows more about your particular field.\]
> 10 votes
# Answer
I doubt it really matters which of these scores you send, for two reasons:
1. I don't think GRE general test scores are particularly important in the first place. How they are used may vary between institutions or fields, but in my experience admissions committees do not pay any attention to them. Maybe there are other committees that do pay attention, but I'd be surprised if anyone relies on them as a major component of the evaluation process. \[EDIT: As David Ketcheson's answer demonstrates, there's more diversity in how these scores are used than I had realized.\]
2. Small, random fluctuations are normal if you take the exam several times. This is widely known among people on admissions committees, and it's reinforced by seeing the applications that include multiple scores. This means no sensible admissions committee member will attach great importance to small distinctions.
So I believe you are overthinking this, and either set of scores will be fine.
> 5 votes
# Answer
In my department (HCI/Information Science), the popular notion is that having a very good score on your GRE **will not get you in** but having a poor score (relative to the rest of the applicant pool) **can keep you out**.
This is especially true for PhD applications and somewhat true for MS applications. For the latter, the pure numbers (GRE/GPA) matter more while for the former, your statement of purpose, research experience and letters of recommendation are what tips the balance in your favor.
In sum, generally for most HCI/IS programs, all parts of the GRE matter equally.
Logistically, it also does not matter which score you send because ETS will send all your GRE scores in the last 5 years i.e. admissions committees will see everything.
> 5 votes
# Answer
Score 2 Writing: 4.5 (**78%**) is significantly better than Score 1 Writing: 4.0 (**58%**). This is one of the indicators that you may have better chance to succeed. Your presentation skills will be very much needed in graduate school.
Score 1 Quantitative: 165 (**91%**) is better than Score 2 Quantitative: 161 (**81%**) but not that much. They are both fine. If the graduate school program you are applying to concentrates heavily on math/stats, Score 1 looks better.
I just learned info from the comment the OP made, the student has the option to send single score or multiple scores. (This is why I like this site so much. We exchange info.)
My suggestion is, send Score 2 if applying to a design oriented HCI program (your presentation skills will be important in this case). Send Score 1 if the graduate school program is math/stats oriented. Send both scores if you are not sure.
Also, please note that not all schools require GRE. Good Luck !
> 4 votes
# Answer
I want to supplement Anonymous Mathematician's answer.
I would lean towards the second set of scores. Writing skills are often overlooked in academia, but since you will be writing a (hopefully great) thesis, I would put the most emphasis on the writing.
Your other scores are basically the same.
> 1 votes
# Answer
In my heavily quantitative social science program, I have heard some professors saying that GRE quant score is a good predictor for 1st year GPA of grad students. I do not know how seriously they consider GRE math score into admissions, but I am sure they give it more of a passing notice. That said, I think both your scores look fine and they do not really differ much. If I can, I would just send both.
> 0 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, gre
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thread-16119 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16119 | Are there usually interviews for postdoc positions? | 2014-01-24T00:02:54.937 | # Question
Title: Are there usually interviews for postdoc positions?
I applied for postdoc positions and I received a few interview offers. I thought not many institution have interview process for postdoc positions and they give offer only based on application material. Do I have false information?
# Answer
> 8 votes
Assuming that you're a mathematician (seeing as how your question migrated from math.SE), I believe that you get interview if you applied for:
* European institutions
* tenure-track level positions at liberal arts colleges
* lower-level research universities who want to gauge the applicant's interest (was the applicant applying to this position as a safety, or is he/she genuinely interested?)
* (only sometimes true) positions where research and teaching are equally valued, or where teaching is valued more highly
* (only sometimes true) if a particular researcher is hiring postdocs out of his/her own grant
# Answer
> 7 votes
I personally would never employ anyone (even grad students) without an interview, and at least in Germany and and my field (CS), I'd say that most professors do interviews for post-docs since this is really a trust-relationship. On the other hand, the German system differs a bit from the US-sytem (our post-doc positions can often be compared to an assistand professor in the US).
# Answer
> 3 votes
Honestly, I think it depends on the situation. Being on the market myself (math) and also applying for postdocs, I was under the impression that there would not be many interviews. However, I did get two post-doc interviews, so far.
My take is that this depends on the situation. Many times if they are departmental postdocs, there wouldn't be an interview (or so I gathered). However, if you are applying for a postdoc that is tied to a specific PI, then there would be an interview.
Finally, the climate may be changing in such a way where departments are conducting more interviews now.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I'm in the social sciences and most department postdocs search committees seem to interview before their final selection. I had a few Skype/phone interviews for positions I was shortlisted for.
There are other postdoc fellowships, like national competitions by grant making foundations, which make decisions without interviews though. One I was a finalist for, only asked for a full 10 page proposal and a budget narrative for the final round.
Like the other person said, I think this should really depend on the field, country, and type of postdoc.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I guess it depends on the search committee in math major. I know one case that one institute sends out offer without interview this year but it interviewed the applicants last year.
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Tags: postdocs, interview
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thread-16190 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16190 | Should I stay in my uni for four years even though I already have 50 credits? | 2014-01-26T03:46:15.177 | # Question
Title: Should I stay in my uni for four years even though I already have 50 credits?
Since University of Alabama offers me full-ride scholarship, I will probably go to this school rather than more competitive schools, not because I'm poor but because it seems silly to me to pay $200,000 for merely an undergrad education, even though I can buy a house by that money. I'm going to get PhD, and the name of undergrad school doesn't matter in my career. I'm worried about research opportunity in the school since I want to excel in admission of PhD program, but I think I can make up for it with my enthusiasm and knowledge. I'm going to major in Biology, and I want to study about regenerative medicine and stem cell in grad school.
Until I will graduate from my high school, I will certainly have about 12 AP scores (mostly 5's) and be able to get about 50 credits, even though the school's graduation requirement is 120. It seems easy to graduate within 3 years (or even possible to do within 2 years), but graduating early seems to put me in a disadvantageous position in grad school admission. I can probably get 70 credits in two years, and then what should I do for the next two years? Can I concentrate on research for this period, or should I take classes to get about 30 credits per year? Should I apply for grad program in the third year and try again in the next year if the admission won't be successful?
If you have some opinion not only related to the topics about college credit but also my choice of school, please tell me that, since I still can change my choice of university. Other schools of my choice are such as Reed, Carleton, U of Michigan, U of Wisconsin, and U of Manchester. I'm an international student.
# Answer
> 4 votes
For an academically talented student likely to complete a Ph.D., the most important life decision will be where you go to graduate school. An undergraduate degree from Alabama, whether in 4 years or 2, is unlikely to lead to a good graduate school for you. I don't know your field, but in mathematics (my field) Alabama is among the worst places.
You should go to Michigan, which is the best choice academically of the ones you've listed. And wherever you are, you need to:
1. Get high grades, and take some graduate classes.
2. Get to know several faculty in your area very well.
3. Engage in research, and publish if possible.
4. Find some way to distinguish yourself, such as teaching experience or academic clubs.
A second major can be an insurance policy, and can open doors to graduate programs straddling the two areas, so is a good idea.
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Followup: You should go to a Tier I institution, such as what Carnegie classifies as "very high research activity" RU/VH. Alabama is not on that list.
# Answer
> 5 votes
First of all, I know nothing about Biology at all. I can't comment on specifics. Instead, I rather say something about the comment:
> Do you think double-majoring using the available time gives me a significant advantage in my admission? Or should I just concentrate on the area which I will study in grad school?
You are far away from grad school yet. Undergrad education is for you to build the foundation of your academic career. You need to use it to broaden your knowledge base. Many courses can be benefit for you. You should consider taking the courses about humanities, fine arts, other sciences (math, chemstry, physics, computer science, etc.) and writing, etc.etc. Just don't limit yourself to a specific field. You won't know you're interested in something until you learn it.
The above is from the bottom of my heart. I wish someone would have told me this when I was an undergrad student.
# Answer
> 3 votes
As a friend of mine once said: "Why you want to finish college early, man? The sooner you finish college, the sooner you face life!" (And he lived this philosophy, spending four years at the community college followed by two at a university.)
Don't worry about grad school just as you begin your undergraduate education. Take classes in things that interest you or that you think might interest you. If you have units from AP classes, great; treat that as opportunity to take a broader range of things that strike your fancy, instead of intro classes that you might have otherwise had to take for general ed requirements.
If by your third year you find you still want to go to grad school doing the same thing you mentioned, you can explore undergraduate research opportunities, etc.
Basically, my advice would be, if you have extra units coming in, use that flexibility to *improve* your undergradate education, not shorten it. If you decide you want to shorten it when the time comes, okay, but don't lock yourself into that plan now.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I think, for admissions purposes, unless you are a prodigy, staying 4 years will be beneficial. Of course, you could get in somewhere after 2 years but the competition for jobs is such that you want to be able to compete with other people in your situation (they do exist, I had a somewhat similar situation in that I came into my undergrad with almost a year of credits). You could take the opportunity to (when you are confident you are ready) take many graduate level courses in and around your field. I think a lot of people are overblown about anti-specialization. I took my upper division math and lower division math at the same time, often taking 3 math courses at the same time and I loved it, miss it now. I think you should pursue your current goal wholeheartedly but take 1, maybe 2 courses a semester outside of it (if your APs don't satisfy all your GENED or your department has weird requirements, this will happen accidentally) at least in the early going. If you decide to switch plans at some point, you will have engrossed yourself in hard material (coursework, labs), the skills of which will transfer to WHATEVER OTHER ACADEMIC PLAN. Of course, because you are in biology not math, your field is not self-contained but this can be adjusted for in course selection to that end. Also, you might consider taking only 4 classes a semester early on (or forever) but make sure they are hard-hitting, if you might have problems with time management incongruous with your intellectual aptitude (depending on financial aid requirements!).
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Tags: research-process, graduate-admissions, united-states, funding
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thread-16207 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16207 | Need help distinguishing between a primary and secondary source | 2014-01-26T18:56:29.577 | # Question
Title: Need help distinguishing between a primary and secondary source
I am trying to figure out if the following article is a primary or secondary source.
http://genome.cshlp.org/content/20/5/547.full.pdf
I'm leaning towards secondary but here are my cases for both.
Primary: Published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Secondary: It seems to be mostly a summary of other works so it might not be original research. Can anyone confirm this for me? Thank you!
# Answer
**Primary** source material is "direct evidence." This can include published reports of original research, but also journals, diaries, direct interviews, government records, and other types of "produced" work. (It need not be a research or scholarly work to be a direct source; thus the claim that it's primary because it's published in a peer-reviewed journal carries no weight in this argument.)
On the other hand, a **secondary** source is a source which reports on the work of others, whether it is published or not. Citing a secondary work does **not** make it a primary work; it's the relationship of the cited work *to the original subject* that determines if it's primary or secondary.
In this case, a "Perspective" column that summarizes ongoing work in the field is a *secondary* source, as it is analyzing the original work of others.
> 3 votes
# Answer
In case of review articles, the original sources which were used to create the text are the primary literature. But, if the author draws own conclusions, creates statistics, etc., this would be considered a primary source.
I'm not deep enough in the field to judge that for the article in question.
> 1 votes
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Tags: publications, undergraduate, citations, online-resource
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thread-16203 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16203 | Research Topic Suggestions | 2014-01-26T15:06:48.500 | # Question
Title: Research Topic Suggestions
I am applying for Postgraduate degree research but for that I need to submit a Research Proposal with the application and it is very confusing for me because I never did any kind of research before.
I have been a small business owner for the last 7-8 years and I want to do research in the same field (Entrepreneurship or small- or family-business related), but I just don't know how to narrow down and select a specific topic.
Can you suggest some guidelines to select a topic?
# Answer
> I have been a small business owner for the last 7-8 years
Have you run into issues/problems in those 7-8 years? Are those problems specific to your own business? Could other business owners have the same or similar problems?
Can you **generalize** those problems so that you can conduct research on possible solutions to those problems in **academic** approach?
Can you find the causes of those problems from **academic** perspective? How would you propose to do so? Should the government play a role or not? How could the society as a whole participate? Etc. Etc. There are hundreds of topics out there. Take your pick. Good luck!
> 3 votes
# Answer
Why do you want to work as a Postdoc in this field? The answer to this question (as long as it's a scientific answer and not reputation etc.) can lead you to a good research topic.
Nonetheless, thechniques like creative writing, brainstorming etc. can be helpful, but this is a bit out of scope for this platform.
> 0 votes
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Tags: research-process, graduate-admissions
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thread-16202 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16202 | Which is better at verifying that a conference is reliable: Scopus, IEEE Xplore or DBLP? | 2014-01-26T13:16:06.863 | # Question
Title: Which is better at verifying that a conference is reliable: Scopus, IEEE Xplore or DBLP?
In the case that I got one paper published, which of the aforementioned repositories have more relevance (so that I can determine that my work has not been published in a nobody-knows-about, fake conference)? I have read that some papers that are in IEEE Xplore belong to bogus or fake conferences and there is also the same problem with Scopus. I have also seen that in some occasions Scopus miss some citations of my articles, while for example in Google Scholar they appear.
Well the bottom line, which repository is better viewed for backing up that one publication was in a reliable conference?
# Answer
> 10 votes
Anyone who is reasonably experienced in your field (i.e., anyone who might hire you) will know which venues are "relevant". They won't base this on IEEE Xplore, Scopus, or DBLP, but on their own knowledge of the field.
Hopefully, anyone who would hire you will also know enough to evaluate your work directly to some extent, rather than relying on the reputation of the venue as a proxy for the value of the work itself.
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Tags: conference, repository, disreputable-publishers, indexing
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thread-16053 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16053 | How useful is studying MSc Computer Science in Switzerland? | 2014-01-22T14:27:20.950 | # Question
Title: How useful is studying MSc Computer Science in Switzerland?
I am an international student in Australia studying Bachelor of IT. Australian education system as the norm here is to take 4 subjects per semester and these subjects are pretty much "dumbed down". So a lot of subjects don't really teach much, for instance for Algorithms and Data Structures subject we weren't taught complexity at all, so during technical interviews for my internships, I was not able to give any answers in regarding to complexity.
Now this will be my last semester, and I feel like I still need more coursework for Computer Science and spending more money for Australian universities just sounds ridiculous at this step. Since almost all US and UK universities need honours award from Australian degrees (and that's extra $26k), I will not be applying to any US universities . I applied to one UK university that never mentioned requirement of honours and got rejection. I have applied to UBC in Canada but it will also cost me about CA$15-20k/y. So I had a look at European universities and found out that German and Swiss universities charges about 500-600 Euros per year. I found out that most German reputable universities don't really offer fully English Masters degrees in Computer Science, however that's not the case. ETH Zurich prefers students with honours as well. I found that EPFL has a good education and I would like to study Distributed Systems, which they offer quite a lot subjects on that, however what concerns me is after graduation job security. As I mentioned, my purpose of studying Computer Science is not to become an academia but to have stronger Computer Science skills.
Anyway so far it sounded like very specific, but my question is not that specific. Would it really worth studying Computer Science in Switzerland, with the consideration of graduate job prospects as well as doing internships and the fact that I don't have EU citizenship? I know that Google would accept international grads, but are there many companies like that?
# Answer
EPFL is one of the better technical universities. This has two consequences: 1) it will be hard (as @xLeitix notes, if your current school doesn't even teach complexity, you will be in for a challenging time at EPFL), and 2) you won't have a problem to get a job afterwards.
Note that differences between schools are not as pronounced in Europe as elsewhere. For instance, I am pretty sure that you will not be able to attend a German or Swiss university without exposure to algorithm complexity. Consequently, employers (both academic and industry) in Europe don't really care all that much about school quality. Grades, internships and the impression you leave at the interview are much more important.
Beware of costs of living in Zurich. Zurich compares with New York City. It's horrendous. (I used to live there.) Lausanne should be somewhat better, but Switzerland is generally an expensive place. If you seriously plan on going there, check local rents and/or supermarkets (coop.ch or migros.ch - you should be able to find this week's offers even without speaking German) and convert them from CHF to AUD to get an impression.
Note the language: Zurich is German-speaking, but Swiss German is very hard for a non-native speaker, even if you did take German classes. Lausanne is French-speaking, and the Swiss French is closer to "standard" French than Swiss German is to German. Francophones dislike speaking English, so you will get by more easily in Zurich than in Lausanne in English.
Switzerland is not in the EU (although it of course cooperates), so your EU membership is not all that important. With an ETH/EPFL diploma, you should have no problem getting a job anywhere in Switzerland or the EU.
> 11 votes
# Answer
Honestly there are really cool universities in Europe where you can learn much about Computer Science and related subjects.
If you look at the rankings of universities in the world you will see that ETHZ and EPFL are ranked among top 50 unis for CS subjects. Last time I checked ETHZ was somewhere around 7 and EPFL somewhere close to 20. However keep in mind that the rankings are important for future employers but not that important in terms of teaching. Wherever you go in Switzerland and Germany you will face the same approach to science, with top class professors.
Let me clarify some stuff for you, first of all tuition fees in Swiss are not around 500-600 euros! They are a bit higher, however the real problem with living in Swiss are the living costs. I hear it is damn expensive over there. Especially if you think about Zurich.
When it comes to Germany, the semester fees are less than 300 euros. So you will be paying at mos 600 euros per year for studies. In some federations of Germany you even get a semester ticket, which you can use for traveling for free by bus and by train withing the borders of the federation where your University is located.
It is true that all the programmes offered by universities are not *completely* in English. However the selection of courses which is provided for international students is pretty nice. Additionally, at the moment there is a lack of IT people in Germany. My professor said "The only way not to find an IT job in Germany is ***to die*** early". If you register for master studies in germany, the state requires you to have at least 8000 euro in bank for 12 months. So they have calculated that as a student you can live comfortably with that money. However, you are free to spend as much as you want. This is the minimum that I told you.
If you are interested for English studies, bear in mind that Sweden provides CS studies mostly in English (over 80% of the population is fluent in English over there).
I think the main thing that you have to consider when registering for your future studies is the difficulties that you will face due to "poor" background at the moment. Studies will be very demanding (I know it form myself, I've been in the same position), but with hardwork you can achieve everything. However, if you are not ready to invest extra time to your studies, do not bother going to ETHZ or EPFL, or top universities in Germany.
I hope I answered you question, if you have further dilemmas let me know.
Edit1: Since you are aware of your drawbacks coming from the Bachelors, analyze well the curriculum of the university where you are planning to apply, and before that make sure to watch some of the free courses (related to that curriculum) provided by top universities online: http://www.mooc-list.com/
The courses provided in Masters studies are usually a continuation of the courses from the Bachelors, so check what the students have studies during bachelors in the unis that u are planning to apply
Selam ;)
> 6 votes
# Answer
As a general comment: I feel there is a lot of *fluff* in this question which (as you seem to figure out yourself) makes the question seem more specific to you personally than what it actually is.
So after reading through rather unnecessary backstory (no offense :) ) I think this was your actual question?
> I found that EPFL has a good education and I would like to study Distributed Systems, which they offer quite a lot subjects on that, however what concerns me is after graduation job security. As I mentioned, my purpose of studying CompSci is not to become an academia but to have stronger Computer Science skills.
Yes, job security with a MSc in Computer Science, also, even especially, with a focus on distributed systems, is very good in Switzerland and the surrounding countries. Lausanne is considered a good to excellent university in Europe. However, if your current school is as bad as you describe it (no complexity theory??), you may find the masters in Lausanne quite challenging. Not impossible, but you will probably spend a lot (!) of time learning the fundamentals.
**EDIT: (this has been added after my original answer)**
> with the consideration of graduate job prospects and the fact that I don't have EU citizenship?
I do not know how not having an EU citizenship factors in. I am also a foreigner working in Zurich, but coming from an EU state. I have heard that things are not always easy for non-europeans around here, but I cannot offer any concrete info.
> 5 votes
# Answer
In have been recently taking Master of Advanced Studies in ETHZ, Zurich. From that I have seen, most of courses are optional. Each of them just gives some number of points and you simply need to collect enough. If it is initially not obvious which courses are good, it is not uncommon to take more than planned and drop some you find less useful. Of course, there are also mandatory courses you must take and pass they exams, but in general you most likely will not study that you see useless.
ETHZ seems quite oriented to self-dependent work and significant percent of the knowledge is acquired outside the lecture time (literature, assignments, etc).
Some courses are in German but there are also many English courses, as ETHZ hires professors from the whole world. Have never heard about somebody giving lectures in Swiss German in the university or even secondary school. Standard German is used for teaching.
> 0 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, career-path, masters, computer-science, switzerland
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thread-5454 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5454 | A LinkedIn Recommendation as compared to an Academic Recommendation | 2012-11-26T04:45:00.277 | # Question
Title: A LinkedIn Recommendation as compared to an Academic Recommendation
In what ways would a Professor's LinkedIn Recommendation differ from his Recommendation for Graduate School(Masters/PhD)?
In other words: In what was does the visibility of a Recommendation change a Professor's Recommendation?
# Answer
I believe they are totally different.
* LinkedIn recommendation is more towards the visibility of student's soft/technical skills in general while the official letter of recommendation should address the student skills in a more academic/depth way.
* Their audience is different. Recommendation Letter is intended to particular institute/committee while LinkedIn is more to the public general and industry recruiters in particular.
* LinkedIn recommendations counts nothing for the admission committees while might have good impact on industry recruiters.
In short: Academia:- Recommendation Letters. Industry: doesn't hurt to let your supervisor recommending you - if they do have account on LinkedIn :-)
> 7 votes
# Answer
Viewing LinkedIn recommendations may require to register and login. Just because you have a LinkedIn account, does not mean your employer has.
As a result, I would suggest to include the full text of the LinkedIn recommendation, not just a reference to it. But then it becomes not much different from just an ordinary recommendation that is just placed for public viewing on some website.
> 0 votes
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Tags: recommendation-letter, social-media
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thread-16220 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16220 | Is it acceptable to use mainly websites in a literature review? | 2014-01-27T10:24:56.550 | # Question
Title: Is it acceptable to use mainly websites in a literature review?
I'm writing a literature review for a project and due to the nature of the project (website and database) I haven't used any books etc. I have used a number of websites to get information on subjects such as hosting a website and a database using Azure, is it acceptable to use websites in a literature review?
# Answer
Website or not website is not the point. Printed journal articles are favored over website because i) they are peer-reviewed, carrying some degree of authority, ii) they are archived and retrievable, with payment or free of charge, and iii) once published, the contents do not change until they are formally revised, rebuked, or retracted.
So, it would mean that when citing websites, a few more steps need to be done to increase their worthiness. First, you'd need to assess the credibility of the website and be able to critically evaluate the contents. In journal articles this step is done to some degree but in websites you're on your own. Second, you may need to do most of the archiving (including downloading, dating, and archiving the data sets you may download, or printing and dating website into PDFs, etc.) or use website archiving to save a cross-section of the websites. There are free services like http://perma.cc and http://www.webcitation.org available.
Once they are archived, in your paper, it is a good practice to cite both original link and the archived link as well as the date you accessed the original link. For details, consult the project leader or editor. Some journals specialized in publishing Internet-related research such as Journal of Medical Internet Research may also provide useful format-related examples in their guide to the authors.
> 8 votes
# Answer
You can definitely put into references the official user documentation of your web server and database engine, as this software have not been just invented by you from scratch.
While websites can also be used in references, it seems to me that you may need more in depth coverage. Try to Google and find some real publications. If the topic seems too broad, it should be some reviews. If there is a Wikipedia article, check which references it uses.
> 0 votes
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Tags: literature-review
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thread-16212 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16212 | What leads to contentious tenure cases and can they be avoided? | 2014-01-26T23:17:32.067 | # Question
Title: What leads to contentious tenure cases and can they be avoided?
After hearing about an incredibly contentious tenure case at my alma mater and several other contentious ones, I'm curious to hear how such issues come to be. Some issues that seem to be at play: personal animosity between faculty, dispute about the merits of the candidate's research, scarcity of resources and discrimination based on gender, sexuality, religion and other aspects of identity. Some of these are legitimate, while others are clearly not. For those curious as to how nasty things can get, I recommend reading here. The account is both appalling and fascinating.
Do faculty see these issues coming? Are there tell-tale signs they might miss? One person I talked to was quite surprised both by the animosity one fellow faculty member had towards him and by the degree of influence this brought to bare on his tenure case.
Once such issues have been identified, how can the candidate defend against them? At what point should he/she be prepared to defend against them? From the other side, what processes exist to prevent such biases from influencing the process? Are they functional, and to what degree? Are there better practices that could be implemented to avoid such discontent?
# Answer
> 2 votes
One source of problems is a lack of communication over what are the expectations for the tenure candidate to meet before becoming "eligible" to receive tenure. But a substantial amount of the issues can lie with either someone in the decision-making chain, or the candidate himself or herself. In the latter case, this makes a tendentious situation inevitable.
For instance, there is the rather notorious case of James Sherley at MIT, who alleged multiple issues, including racism, and claimed that he believed his papers from his previous institution would "count" toward his tenure case. (Meanwhile, at MIT, his publication list in five years amounted to a total of *six* publications, three of which I believe were editorials.) He went on to hold a hunger strike to protest.
So I think that there really isn't a way to prevent things from becoming contentious unless everything is made "open": criteria are specified in advance, and everybody participating can follow along the entire process. (That is, the candidate can attend the meetings where the tenure case is being discussed.) However, I suspect this is unlikely to occur.
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Tags: tenure-track, communication, politics
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thread-13466 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/13466 | Is including an own paper in the literature review a bad practice? | 2013-10-17T12:13:01.420 | # Question
Title: Is including an own paper in the literature review a bad practice?
I am writing an article on a rarely researched topic in my field - 4-5 articles exist, as far as I know. I recently published a related article, still making this topic a rarely researched one.
Would it be a bad practice to include my own published article in the literature review?
# Answer
No, not at all. You should cover all publications which fall within the scope of the review, and if one of them happens to be a paper of yourself, then of course you still have to cover that in your review. Just make sure that you try to be **objective** in the way you discuss it. Best practice would be to review your paper as you would review a paper by any other author.
Maybe you have a coauthor in the review who was not coauthor on the research paper? Ask him/her to do the review section about that research paper.
Also note the positive aspect of this situation: having published a research paper in the area you are reviewing gives you more credibility as an author of a review in that area.
> 27 votes
# Answer
No, I don't think its particularly bad practice at all, assuming that the paper is indeed relevant to the topic, rather than being a stretch.
1. The reader is reading a review paper to get a picture of the field as a whole - by not including your own papers, especially in a small field, you are in effect denying them an understanding of a significant percentage of the topic.
2. Many fields have review papers invited (or proposed as "Would you like to invite...") by people who could be considered experts in that field. I think there's a pretty clear expectation that the people best qualified to write a review work in the field, and may end up mentioning their own papers.
3. In meta-analysis, failing to include your own papers (or including your own unpublished work) has the potential to bias your findings. While your paper might not be a meta-analysis, the principle still holds - the paper should be an in-depth review of the available literature.
That being said, treat your own work with an even hand and, as has been suggested, possibly have someone else read it over to make sure no "Clearly the right answer is (Me, 2013) whose staggering genius is beyond the scope of this paper" has slipped in.
> 10 votes
# Answer
It is common to cite own works in science, and this is not considered a bad tone.
> 1 votes
# Answer
I just received a referee report a few weeks ago where my referee told me I needed to cite more of my own papers in the literature review section. So it definitely doesn't seem like it is bad practice, especially in mathematics.
> 1 votes
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Tags: publications, ethics, literature-review
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thread-16237 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16237 | Advisor's bad decision results in co-authored mediocre publication. How to prevent this from ruining my career? | 2014-01-28T00:58:38.217 | # Question
Title: Advisor's bad decision results in co-authored mediocre publication. How to prevent this from ruining my career?
I happen to be involved in this project in which my advisor has made such a bad decision that the result turned out to be mediocre/uninteresting. While I am not the lead author, I will be one of the co-author for this. In that case, why should I endorse for my advisor's bad decision, when I don't have any means to change the course of this project? I know I won't look as bad as the first author, but still this will be one of my publication. I doubt my advisor will say something like this in the rec: "Oh yes, the bad publication was my idea, my student just followed my direction." **How can I prevent this from ruining my future career?**
# Answer
Personally, I can't imagine that being coauthor on an uninteresting paper could "ruin your future career" or even damage it significantly; a paper is a paper, so I think at worst it has a very small positive value. To actually be a negative, the paper would have to be horrifically wrong or plagiarized or something.
Also, not to question your judgment, but you do probably have a lot less experience in the field than your advisor. It's just possible that the project is more interesting to the community than it seems to you; when you're deep in a project, it's often hard to see the context that it fits in to. Consider discussing the project with other researchers in the field (check with your advisor first to make sure you're not giving away too many details too soon), and see what they think.
Even if the project is really worthless, as I said, I don't see it actively damaging your career. Just wrap it up, get it out the door, and start working on something more interesting!
> 15 votes
# Answer
As Nate Eldredge wrote in his final sentence, stop worrying about the past project and start thinking about your next project.
You will be judged much more strongly based on your more recent work so just make sure that your upcoming work is more interesting. You cannot change the past so don't spend time worrying about it. You should spend your time on your future.
One uninteresting publication is not going to sink you unless the science is bad. If it shows you do not know how to do research that might hurt you. If the science is really bad, you might consider removing your name from the paper but since you only complain about the results being uninteresting, let it be and move on to something better.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Judging by your past five questions (in fact, every question that you asked on here), you clearly have issues with your advisor.
I doubt that your advisor is actually that bad. No one can be that bad, and survive academia. It is most likely the product of your not actually caring about your advisor's interests (and vice versa), and the lack of communication between the two of you.
If there is still some time left, I recommend that you seek out another advisor instead of ranting about your advisor on academia.SE, which doesn't actually solve your problems in real-life.
If you are close to graduating, I suggest that you "pay your dues" to your advisor; he let you use his lab and equipment, not to mention granting you access to his expertise, for the past 5+ years. The least you can do is to "suck it up" and pretend to care about your advisor's interests (and put some work into it). After all, you'll need your advisor's letter to stay in academia!
> 5 votes
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Tags: advisor
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thread-16232 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16232 | Can I include under-review content in my PhD Thesis? | 2014-01-27T17:22:04.670 | # Question
Title: Can I include under-review content in my PhD Thesis?
In the verge of writing up a PhD thesis, is it fine to include the content of the work which is submitted to a conference and is "under review" at the time of writing up. More specifically if the conference has 'double-blind' review process.Or is it advisable to wait till the review decision on publication is out.
Please suggest.
Thanks, KR
# Answer
I am sure this may vary but this is standard procedure for our theses since they are based on papers. A student will typically have about four papers/manuscripts in their thesis ranging from published through all stages of revision in a journal to not yet submitted manuscripts.
You will need to check with your local guidelines what is expected from a thesis to figure out the details but it would seem difficult to demand all published papers unless the period to complete a PhD is open ended.
> 10 votes
# Answer
You can do it, but you should clearly label it as "submitted to xyz" to make clear it is not accepted, yet. You should update the status ("accepted for xyz", no additional remarks) according to the progress.
Nonetheless, you can (and should) write about the topics in your thesis since it is your work you are describing. The only difference is that the statments you are making are not peer-reviewed, yet.
In general, it is a good idea to ask your supervisor about it since some can have different opinions on this topic.
> 3 votes
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Tags: phd, journals, conference, thesis
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thread-16269 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16269 | how could I mention sequence of figures in a research paper? | 2014-01-28T18:48:21.227 | # Question
Title: how could I mention sequence of figures in a research paper?
I want to say that:
Figure 1, 2, 3 and 4 illustrate ....
how could I mention them? is the above sentence correct? or I should say figure 1 to figure 4
# Answer
The exact format should be determined by the publication in which you publish your work (assuming this is what you do). You should be able to write Figures 1-4 or alternatively Figures 1 to 4 (although the former is what I am used to seeing). If the format uses abbreviated forms then Figs 1-4 would be the format. There is no need to repeat the word figure before both numbers in a sequence.
> 3 votes
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Tags: research-process, writing, graphics, cross-referencing
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thread-16260 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16260 | Should I choose a postdoc with greater potential for collaboration over a higher ranked institution? | 2014-01-28T13:10:56.980 | # Question
Title: Should I choose a postdoc with greater potential for collaboration over a higher ranked institution?
I'm in the market for math postdocs and was just offered some positions. Essentially my situation is as follows. I have two offers from AMS Group I universities. One has higher "ranking" and is in the top 15, and the other in the 30s. However, the lower ranked university has a great group and there is a greater potential for collaboration.
I'm concerned that if I go to a lower ranked place, faculty positions at a good institution will not be easy to find. How important is it to go to a famous university for you postdoc? I'd also like to hear about the experiences of mathematicians who didn't go to a top 10 university for the their postdoc, but worked their way up.
# Answer
I would suggest going where you think you'll be happiest and do the most productive and visible research, taking into account whatever factors of these places are relevant to you. Ultimately your chances at a faculty position will depend on the strength of your results and on your letters.
The advantages of going to a more prestigious place is that, in general, such places have a higher concentration of good mentors and collaborators. Such factors make it easier for most people to get good results and high visibility. But in your specific field, for your specific needs, a lower ranked department might be the better fit.
If you were saying you were considering department #100 over #5 (via some standard ranking), I might suggest you consider such a choice very carefully. However, a "30s" department might easily be a better choice than a "top 15".
> 1 votes
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Tags: postdocs, mathematics
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thread-16273 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16273 | Any way to prevent my advisor from destroying my publication? | 2014-01-28T20:32:28.547 | # Question
Title: Any way to prevent my advisor from destroying my publication?
My advisor said he will edit and submit my manuscript for me but the version he submit to the journal was full of mistakes that was not original in the manuscript that I send to him. Is there anyway that I can also be a corresponding author so I can monitor what he send to the journal? Just to clarify, I'm the first author on this.
# Answer
Sorry, my answer is a bit off-topic, but maybe still a good advice:
When I take a look at your recent postings, I would suggest you either
1. Talk to your advisor about *all* your concerns, in an undisturbed setting, maybe together with a third person both of you can trust.
2. Talk to his/her boss / dean of faculty, ... but be as objective as possible!
3. Look for an other advisor. When you opt for 3., you should reflect the whole situation and check, where you could have behaved differently in order to avoid similar situations in the future.
4. Quit academia.
The reason why I'm that off-topic is, under normal circumstances a paper submission by any co-author should be no problem and all authors have to agree on the submitted version of the paper. What you can do is retract the paper by contacting the editor of the journal. I would not do that if you opt for 1. (then your supervisor should contact the editor and tell he sent the wrong version of the paper and send a good one), but if you opt for 2.-3. you could do it.
> 8 votes
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Tags: advisor
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thread-16235 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16235 | Feasibility of Study in Cuba for U.S. Undergraduates | 2014-01-27T21:15:04.577 | # Question
Title: Feasibility of Study in Cuba for U.S. Undergraduates
I'm assisting an undergraduate student with developing plans for summer 2014, and I'm considering the viability of study in Cuba.
Are there any U.S. users who have traveled to and studied in Cuba and can recommend a robust, reputable Cuba study program, ideally run by a U.S.-Cuba university partnership? Fields of interest to the student are political science, civil society, and history.
Of course, a Google search returns several options, but I'd still appreciate input or advice from fellow academia.SX users
# Answer
Ignoring the issue with obtaining a license to visit Cuba, I would say the feasibility of a US undergrad being able to study in Cuba is quite low. International study in a third world country is difficult and Cuba presents even more problems for US citizens. US credit and debit cards do not work in Cuba. You cannot wire money to Cuba, and you cannot legally exchange US dollars for Cuban currency. Staying in approved hotels and eating at approved restaurants is very expensive. Using the black market and finding less official housing and food is difficult and I think would be beyond a typical undergrad. I think anything related to political science would be a touchy subject. Finally, Cuba is very very hot in the summer, making getting anything done difficult.
> 3 votes
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Tags: research-undergraduate, international, abroad
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thread-16243 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16243 | What "Applicant Confidential Data Form" has to do with tenure-track positions? | 2014-01-28T05:41:17.510 | # Question
Title: What "Applicant Confidential Data Form" has to do with tenure-track positions?
The data collected using "*Applicant Confidential Data Form*" will be used by US-based universities to monitor University’s Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity Programs as required by the US government.
I have seen that in (some) cases, faculty job applicant seeking academic job in US-based universities are asked to submit this form *after* they successfully submitted their initial application. The point is that, typically there is no instruction in "call for faculty member note" to fill this form and submit along with application. But the faculty search committee asks after while.
So it raises a question:
Do the faculty search committee sends this form to **ALL** the applicants or particular applicants who are allegedly suitable for the job. Is receiving this notification from the committee can be considered a positive sign in recruitment process?
# Answer
> 8 votes
I've received this form from hundreds of employers that later rejected me. I think schools that use it will send it to every applicant. So it doesn't mean anything except that your application was received.
I believe the reason for it being a separate form, rather than part of the application, is that it's meant to be for statistical purposes only, and should not affect the hiring procedure. The best way to achieve this is to ensure that the hiring committee never sees it. So they send a separate form, to be returned to a separate office within the institution, which holds it confidential.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I would not read anything into such a form as this. In many cases, the university may require it, but the department doesn't mention it, or only sends it out afterwards. However, the nature of the form is not one that it should only be given out to "suitable" candidates; it's something that everybody who applies could be asked to fill out. So it is unlikely that this means anything, either positive or negative.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Having received these cards from many of the same institutions at Nate I speak from a lot of the same experience. There is a point I want to amplify from his answer though. In the US it is actually illegal for this information to influence the hiring process officially (there is lots of reason to suspect that unofficial ways of using this information still have an effect). But this means that the information, if collected, must not go to the hiring committee or anywhere near it. Some electronic application systems can handle keeping this information separate, but those that can't have to be supplemented with physical cards. Institutions that still allow paper applications also must be supplemented.
The offices which send out and handle these cards are charged with making sure that the institution as a whole is being a Equal Opportunity Employer and complying whatever Affirmative Action requirements they are under. Once you start considering why paperwork related to legal compliance is the way it is the question gets much larger and won't always have a satisfying answer.
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Tags: job-search, united-states, tenure-track, faculty-application
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thread-16272 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16272 | Should I declare a minor if it is not required? | 2014-01-28T20:21:20.730 | # Question
Title: Should I declare a minor if it is not required?
With my current major (Medical Lab Science) I am not required to declare a minor at my university. However, the program's supervisor informed me that through taking all of the required courses to complete the program, I will only be one credit in chemistry away from being able to declare a chemistry minor.
Is it worth it? Is there any real positive prospect in declaring a minor if it's not necessary, given my major?
# Answer
Why not? What's the disadvantage? An afternoon of paperwork? One extra class you have to take?
Compare that to the advantages: Let's say you are looking for work, can't find any in your chosen field (medicine), and so begin looking to work in a chem lab. Being a "medical lab science" major doesn't necessarily mean you know how to do a lot of chemistry, it may just mean you know things about handling biohazards like blood carefully. A hiring manager who doesn't know your school or that program doesn't know how much or little chem is required for such a major. You can't prove you know any chem unless they ask for a transcript or you have relevant work experience. But having "Minor in Chemistry" on your résumé would show that. So you could potentially land a low-level chem lab job easier that way.
> 5 votes
# Answer
Go for the minor if that one extra class is a class you think you will enjoy taking or are interested in. If there is a different class or academic extra curricular activity (research, internship, etc.) that you'd rather do, you should do that instead.
Double majors and minors are usually not that meaningful to employers and graduate schools as most people think, unless they are in a very unrelated field. You can always make your resume highlight the classes you took in the field most applicable for their job. Very few companies or graduate schools will care that you have a minor, especially in a field as related to medical science as chemistry. Even if taking this chemistry class prevents you from taking a different chemistry class you'd prefer to take, take the more interesting one, and then highlight the things you learned on resumes and interviews. If you'd take the class required for you minor (after reading the course description) even if this minor wasn't offered, definitely do it. However, I suppose you wouldn't have asked the question if this is true.
Personally, I really regret taking the one extra class I did to complete my minor. It blocked me from taking a really interesting project based class in the same field. People came out of that project class with great experiences an exciting line on their resume like "built ...." or "Developed a new theory of ..."
As for when to declare the minor, I really see no advantage or disadvantage for doing it later vs. now. You might as well declare it now, so you don't forget, I guess. Usually no university privileges (like priority registration) are associated with having a declared minor.
> 2 votes
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Tags: undergraduate, medicine, chemistry, major
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thread-16188 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16188 | How to choose between multiple math postdocs offers? | 2014-01-26T00:16:47.273 | # Question
Title: How to choose between multiple math postdocs offers?
I am trying to decide between some math postdoc offers, and I can't decide what is important for a postdoc position. I have talked to several senior mathematicians including my advisor, but they all seem to have different opinions. I just want to hear some more opinions on the following:
* How important is prestige? Suppose that I have an offer from school X, which is fairly prestigious (something like top 10, which isn't a well-defined notion). Also suppose that I have an offer from school Y, which is not as prestigious but a better match research-wise. Suppose that the ranking of school Y is approximately n (again, not a well-defined notion). For which values of n should I choose school X over school Y? My goal is to become a tenure-track professor in a PhD-granting institution.
* What makes a good postdoc supervisor? I can think of the following criteria: compatible research interests, being well-known in one's field, compatible personalities, generous with time, etc. Am I missing anything else?
# Answer
> 5 votes
nagniemerg is absolutely right that at the end of the day, your results will be much more important than a name on your CV. I think being at a prestigious institution is very useful for getting a first look at your application (which is a f\***ing valuable thing, as Rod Blagojevich would say); if the rest of what's there doesn't stand up, getting that look won't help much.
That said, I would think carefully about how sure you are that institution Y really will provide a better research environment. Prestige tends to correlate (far from perfectly) with having an active department with a lot of seminars and visitors, which can often be more valuable than day-to-day contact with a single advisor. Having higher-quality students and colleagues can make you a better researcher.
I also think there's a lot to be said for the uncertainty of life. Maybe you'll go somewhere and whoever you were going to work with will get a job somewhere else, or have a baby, or go on sabbatical. Maybe you'll start a collaboration with someone you don't even know exists yet. It's all very hard to predict, and on some level you have to go with your gut. You could do a lot worse than just going with the most prestigious option, but if other factors seem to point another direction, I don't think you should just ignore them.
**EDIT:** I wrote this is a bit of hurry last night, and I realize it might be a bit unhelpful. However, it's honestly quite difficult to say anything general, and you indicate that senior mathematicians who know you and know what your options are cannot come to a consensus. To me this indicates that probably you will not be able to conclusively figure out where is the better choice. This is not to say it doesn't matter, but once the uncertainties are sufficiently large, one might as well flip a coin (or at least flip a coin until you get the answer you want).
# Answer
> 1 votes
At the end of the day, the quality of your research is more important than prestige. I would go with the university that is a better research match.
As for what makes a good postdoc supervisor. I think this depends completely on the individual and how one conducts research. The two extremes are: hands off -- I have plenty of ideas and give me something to work on.
The best is a combination of the two. This shows you are able to work independently and work well with others.
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Tags: mathematics
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thread-12721 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/12721 | Should an undergraduate writing an article for a semi-academic magazine list a university affiliation? | 2013-09-15T23:53:04.757 | # Question
Title: Should an undergraduate writing an article for a semi-academic magazine list a university affiliation?
I'm an *undergraduate* student at the University of Waterloo. I'm writing a paper potentially for IEEE Security and Privacy, which is a semi-academic magazine. Basically, papers follow the abstract, body, lots of references format, and read like research papers, but apparently generally exposit some random software gadget produced by the author's research etc, so not a super-academic journal.
My question is, how should I put my name on the paper? Should I just write "Yuhao Dong" or "Yuhao Dong, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Waterloo" or something else? I don't want to be misunderstood to be a faculty member.
# Answer
Grad students often write "PhD candidate" on their websites, etc., so you might consider "Yuhao Dong, BSc candidate, School of Computer Science (or whatever your department is), University of Waterloo".
Edited to add: I was curious, so I checked the author guidelines. They don't indicate how to specify your affiliation, so I would either ask the editor or look at some articles from the most recent issue and copy their style.
> 4 votes
# Answer
The answer to this and all such similar questions is in two stages:
1. first, check the journal's guidelines for authors. The answer's probably there.
2. If the answer isn't there, ask your editorial contact at the journal.
> 4 votes
# Answer
You should put your name, your university, and (if appropriate) your department. Sometimes it can be difficult to figure out which department to put. When I was in undergrad, I listed the departments that were paying me, or in which my concentration (i.e. major) I was. If when you were working on the project, you were employed by some professor or received an award (say NSERC) through your department, then that is the easiest affiliation. In your case, this means that you would go further than "Faculty of Mathematics" and say something like "Department of Combinatorics & Optimization, University of Waterloo" (I am just randomly guessing a department in the faculty, replace appropriately). Sometimes, it might make sense to instead of placing a department to place the name of the lab on which you worked, but for that ask your professor.
Further, if you plan to stay in academia (or go to grad school) then you should decide at this point (I am assuming this is your first publication) what your academic name will be. Search Google Scholar for your name, and see if somebody in your field is already using it. If it is a common name then it might be worthwhile to add an initial to disambiguate.
> 2 votes
# Answer
To answer the title question:
**Yes, you should include your university affiliation.** (Particularly important if you plan to stay in academia or go to grad school--and at this point I would advise at least keeping those options open.)
Consider something like this:
> > "Yuhao Dong, Student, Department of Mathematics, University of Waterloo."
> >
> > OR
> >
> > "Yuhao Dong, Candidate for BSc, Department of Mathematics, University of Waterloo."
This clearly indicates *where* you have done the work, as well as specifying that you are a student rather than a faculty member.
> 0 votes
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Tags: undergraduate, ieee, affiliation
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thread-16247 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16247 | Which one of these is more appropriate for academic email | 2014-01-28T07:33:30.707 | # Question
Title: Which one of these is more appropriate for academic email
I have a membership from an organization e.g. ieee.org and I have some options for my email ID which I want to use in academy and professional work. I'm not a native English and I'm not familiar with the culture involved. I have these three options:
*(consider my name as Serim Doe, which Serim is my first name and pretty rare, I didn't want make example of John Doe which is very common name).*
Serim@ieee.org
Doe@ieee.org
S.Doe@ieee.org
I personally prefer Serim@ieee.org since it is more concise and shorter, but I want to know if making ID of only the first name is appropriate or not.
# Answer
> 8 votes
In the US, everthing said in the comments applies (in short: everything goes, it's up to you).
In Europe (and especially in German speaking countries), it is very unsusual to call other people by ther first name, therefore serim@ would be considered inappropriate and people might be confused and think of it as your last name.
Therefore, if you think international, I'd propose s.doe@... or, serim.doe@... . Most companies and universities in Germany use the last version since it helps in avoiding name collisions (of course it's no guarantee).
# Answer
> 0 votes
Using the firstname sends a signal of casualness. If you want to signal professionalism it's not a good strategy.
It's a bit like wearing a suit and a tie. You are sending a signal by wearing those clothes. There are professional contexts where you have to wear a suit and a tie. If you move mainly in those contexts, firstname@ieee.org might appear for people to be too casual. But it's not strong and I doubt that it will offend anyone.
The fact that you have an email address @ieee already signals some professionalism.
If you however move in areas where people don't wear suits and ties, firstname@ieee.org might be entirely okay.
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Tags: publications, ethics, email, academic-life
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thread-16312 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16312 | Removing some citations between initial and final submission of paper | 2014-01-29T16:55:17.083 | # Question
Title: Removing some citations between initial and final submission of paper
Is it considered bad practice or unethical to remove some references/citations between the initial paper submission and the final one? I submitted an 8-page conference paper, it got peer-reviewed, it got accepted, and now I have to submit the final **6-page** version. In order to cut down on length, I'm thinking of removing some less important/relevant references that I included in the initial submission.
Are there any general "rules" against that? It's an IEEE paper btw.
# Answer
> 5 votes
You are of course entitled to add or remove parts of your paper to adhere to length and content guidelines of a conference or journal. If such changes lead to a change in the references being cited, then that is reasonable. Of course, it is also reasonable for the journal or conference to determine if the changes that you've made affect the overall quality of the paper. So it cuts both ways.
# Answer
> 2 votes
In general no major changes should be made to a paper after acceptance unless either requested by the editor or, if suggested by you, approved by the editor. There are of course trivial changes and there are major changes that can result from making removing materials in a paper. When a paper becomes accepted, it is considered ready for publication by the editor. If you then make changes to the paper (apart from correcting spelling or grammar) you need to communicate these to the editor and make a good case for why you need to make them and how you can ensure they do not alter the content and more importantly the basis for your conclusions. The reviewers have reviewed the paper with all the information included and in the worst case your paper may not have been accepted were not all of it there.
So making significant changes after acceptance is not to be toyed with and consulting the editor is necessary.
The problem in your case lies, as pointed out by dgraziotin, in that you need to shorten the paper after acceptance which is normally considered too late. On the other hand, if the editor asks you to do so, then I would assume the editor will see to it that the reduction does not significantly influence any vital parts of the logic and reasoning leading to your conclusions. In such a case you will need to follow instructions, the responsibility for accepting the paper with the final revisions still lie with the editor and you have not done anything unethical or wrong. I will, however, say that the order of matters seems jumbled within the organisation of the conference peer review system.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Every paper is written with one thing in mind: making a contribution to your field. If, by removing a citation you are impacting the quality of your contribution, then it needs to be left in.
Having said that, I think the section of your paper the reference is in could help you determine if it's making an impact on your contribution. If it's from the related works section, and you have plenty of related work, then no big deal - remove it. But ... if it's directly in support of your contribution, then removing it may have more impact on what your trying to accomplish, and you should find a way to keep it in.
# Answer
> 1 votes
A paper is not accepted until the editor says it is. Having a glowing referee's report is not the same as an acceptance; at best it is "provisional acceptance". In this case, the editor wants additional changes regarding length. If these changes can be made to the editor's satisfaction (which may include sending the revised version to referees again), only then the paper is accepted.
My advice is to do the best you can, and to address your changes in your cover letter. Honestly, how much space do your references really take up in an 8 page paper? Most likely you can make the cuts you need in the body.
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Tags: peer-review, citations, paper-submission, ieee
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thread-16322 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16322 | Are Honorary Degrees Awarded to Those Lacking PhDs? | 2014-01-29T20:06:30.383 | # Question
Title: Are Honorary Degrees Awarded to Those Lacking PhDs?
Have honorary degrees ever been conferred on someone lacking a PhD?
# Answer
> 10 votes
all the time. Honorary degrees have been awarded to popstars, athletes, etc. See for example wikipedia
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Tags: phd, degree
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thread-16324 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16324 | Publishing a work; not sure what should I do | 2014-01-29T20:55:34.100 | # Question
Title: Publishing a work; not sure what should I do
I did a research project for a class. It was a simple idea but I checked literature and no one had applied that method to that problem before. My method uses a bit of heuristic type stuff. If no one thought of it before is it because it is a bad method or should I publish? Having the name of my instructor is a problem; must it always be on a paper? What if I am instructed not to publish? My instructor is quite busy and has no intention to deal with the issue and does not read projects so I can't really rely on him to judge.
I want to send it to a conference as the quality of it would not be very high. Should I wait until I have improved my skills for publishing in a respected conference or try to make it published at some other place, like 1st, 2nd 3rd IEEE on foobar of foos type conferences as a starter?
# Answer
First, you should ask someone famliliar with the field whether it is
1. really unpublished
2. a good idea.
Sometimes ideas are very old and might be published in books which are not available online, and therefor harder to find. Or you might have used the wrong terms for your search.
If after that you still think it is a unique and useful idea, you should try to publish it. The "useful" is important here, sometimes people are publishing new stuff which noone applied to the problem before just because it makes little sense with regards to the big picture of the discipline.
If your instructor did contribute to the paper and the research, then it should be on the paper unless he declares it is not necessary. I would ask my student to come with a paper outline first (so you could approach your instructor with a clear plan of the publication), we improve the sketch and then the studet writes the first draft which I as a supervisor try to bring it in a form which suits the standards of the respective conference or journal. Usually, this involves some feedback rounds and includes additional scientific discussion etc. .
From your OP I got the impression your instructor might not be willing to put much effort in it, but sometimes people when they see someone is willing to go an extra mile.
If you are on your own, try to read some books about scientific writing, there are lots of formal errors which can be easily avoided.
I definitely encourage you to try to publish, it is a good experience and, if successful, is great for your CV.
> 5 votes
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Tags: research-process, conference
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thread-16327 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16327 | Explaining change in PhD project | 2014-01-29T21:43:04.583 | # Question
Title: Explaining change in PhD project
I was enrolled in a PhD program within an experimental topic (experimental physics), but 6 months in the project I had a talk with my supervisor: I was not satisfied with the lack of theoretical work (at my interview we had decided that there should/would be some).
A few meetings followed, where we concluded that it would not be realistic to do any major theoretical work at all. Together with my supervisor we decided that it was best for me to stop my PhD-program and he encouraged me to enroll for a new one in theoretical physics, such that I didn't waste 3 years of my life doing something I would regret. He wrote a recommendation letter for me and I got accepted into a theoretical program.
**Here is my problem**: I now have to write a short statement now on *why* I have discontinued my former topic and started a new one. However, I am worried that it might sound as if I stopped due to conflicts/disagreements with my supervisor, which was not the case at all. Quite the contrary, he was very helpful through the whole process.
Can it be interpreted as such if I write something along the lines of "*former project could not accomodate my theoretical ambitions*"? How should I tackle this?
# Answer
> 1 votes
Just be direct and honest: you wanted to do more theoretical work in your project and, as you said, you *mutually* decided a different project and program was in your best interests. There's no reason to try to hide the fact, and mention that your former advisor was fully aware of and supportive of your request. That should satisfy any concerns that you're doing it because you didn't get along with your advisor or because your project failed or anything like that.
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Tags: phd, graduate-school, advisor
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thread-16296 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16296 | Chances of getting into a CS PhD program from a math/engineering background? | 2014-01-29T02:48:38.630 | # Question
Title: Chances of getting into a CS PhD program from a math/engineering background?
I have an undergraduate degree (B.E.) in Biomedical Engineering. Right now, I am working on a M.S. in Applied Mathematics and Statistics and will be done pretty soon. I have very minimal research experience, and no papers published. I will be working in industry for the next year (since I didn't apply for any PhD programs this application season). However, I would like to get into a PhD program as soon as I can.
My interests are in the field of AI and Machine Learning. From the research I have done, most AI/ML research is done by Computer Science departments; so that is where I must head. What are my chances of getting into a good AI/ML program coming from a different background and no relevant research experience (although I have no direct research experience, I follow the literature and learn as much as I can on AI/ML in my free time)? What can I do to best increase my shots of getting into a top CS department known for AI (Stanford, Cornell, etc)?
Instead of working for a year, maybe I should seek a research assistantship at an AI lab (less pay, but if it can get me into a top program then so be it)?
Any advice is appreciated!
# Answer
> 5 votes
1. High GRE scores open the door (quantitative reasoning and to a lesser extent analytical writing).
2. Math / Statistics background will raise eyebrows.
3. Creating a portfolio of projects to show the department that you can in fact code, will get you assistantships.
4. Be pro-active but not a pest.
When applying to a university, you might want to peruse the various web pages of faculty to see what fields they are publishing in. If you find a field that piques your interest, or that you've done some similar work in, contact the professor directly and seek advice. Be careful though. I get emails all the time with prospective students phishing for assistantships. I can tell when it's a bulk / canned email that was sent out to a ton of faculty just looking for someone to bite.
I would start with a personal tone:
> Hello Dr. \______________ I was looking at your work on \_____________ and wanted to let you know that I am very interested in this research topic.
It probably would be even better if you could tell them that you already applied to their university, but I understand that you would go broke with all the application fee's if you applied to every university that peeked your interest.
Briefly explain what your seeking (cool research, with possible assistantship). Be patient, you might not get a fast response, if ever. These guys are busy, and probably getting a bunch of emails as well. Start early. At least a full 12 - 18 months out. This way you can narrow down your choices and not have to worry about application deadlines coming up too quickly.
Communication skills can be big. If your comfortable in front of a classroom, and your english skills are good, maybe looking for a teaching assistant position could increase your chances. This does mean you won't as much research, but at least your getting your foot in the door. This will give you more opportunity to show a particular faculty member what your worth.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Terry has a great answer, so I'll just add a bit more...
The biggest hurdles are your math, logic, and coding skills. If you can prove you have these, then you'll be in good shape. CS, on a theoretical level, is far less coding than you might think. I had professors in CS who didn't even have computers in their office, and made a point to never use/require computers in the classroom. Simply put, there's a lot of thinking, work, and research to be done on paper before you even attempt to program.
Of course, since you're into AI, that means you'll need to code quite a bit. I don't know how much you know about AI, but I would recommend Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach which, in my experience, is the de-facto entry to AI in academia. It's usually split between two courses, sometimes one of which is undergrad, and the other grad level. It has used various languages over the years, but the two most notable ones are Lisp, which deals with list comprehensions, and Java, which is a typical Object-Oriented language. Having experience in both would be very beneficial for you on your CV as well as when you actually start working/researching.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Honestly if you can prove yourself in the field then you should have no problem. I would suggest reaching out to various universities and trying to prove your knowledge. For instance my math advisor has a bachelors in engineering, a masters in economics, and a phd in math. It just depends on how much you know and how much you want it. It is most definitely possible.
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Tags: phd, computer-science
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thread-16308 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16308 | Are ethnic "minorities" given preference in PhD admissions in the US? | 2014-01-29T13:44:04.380 | # Question
Title: Are ethnic "minorities" given preference in PhD admissions in the US?
I have a question about college education, or more specifically, admittance into college education in the US.
Since as far as I remember, I've always heard that colleges or universities in the US have a sort of special preference for admitting people that are considered "minorities". I would like to know if this is true, and if so, what it entails.
For example, I myself was born elsewhere but moved to the US at an early age, and eventually became a citizen. I don't know where this places me as far as "minority" programs go, if they exist. I imagine there'd be a sort of hierarchy such as scholarships \> minority with scholarship \> minority, but I really have no clue.
This interests me because I am studying in a university outside the US, and I'm considering applying for a PhD program in the US. I'm aware that schools function differently, but if someone knows of this topic for a specific school it'd help.
# Answer
> 15 votes
There is a slight preference in the US for what are known as "underrepresented minorities"—that is, people who belong to groups who are not adequately represented in college enrollment relative to their proportion in the general population. That currently includes groups such as Hispanics, African-Americans, and Native Americans, but not groups such as Asian-Americans. So long as someone is a citizen, it does not really matter if one was naturalized or was a "born" citizen.
This does not mean that quotas are used, but it can be used as a "plus" quality in terms of admissions and hiring decisions.
# Answer
> 3 votes
> Since as far as I remember, I've always heard that colleges or universities in the US have a sort of special preference for admitting people that are considered "minorities". I would like to know if this is true, and if so, what it entails.
It's sometimes but not always true, and at schools where it is true, the definition of the preferred groups varies. For example, in 1996 Californians passed Proposition 209, which, among other things, requires public schools to have admissions policies that are blind with respect to race, sex, and ethnicity. So, for example, UC Berkeley is not supposed to give preferences for admission to an African-American applicant, but Stanford can (and probably does). It would be up to Stanford to define their preferences.
Many private schools have some admissions policies that, considered by themselves, would tend to *exclude* disadvantaged students. For example, MIT has need-blind admissions, but RPI isn't need-blind and doesn't have a policy of meeting full demonstrated need. This would tend to reduce access to RPI for students who come from working-class families. Many private schools have a practice called "legacy preferences," which means that they are more likely to admit the children of alumni; for example, George W. Bush would have benefited from such a policy when he applied to Yale. One of the original purposes of legacy preferences was to exclude Jews. Being Asian is probably a disadvantage in college admissions. A 2004 study by Espenshade et al. puts the admissions penalty for Asians at the equivalent of about -50 on a the old 1600-point SAT scale.
At places like California public universities where there is no longer affirmative action, politicians and administrators have invented a number of ways of trying to preserve "diversity." For example, a certain number of spots are reserved for students who rank high in their high school's graduating class, even if the school's academic standards and offerings are weak. Admissions officers are said to look for whether the student has taken the most challenging curriculum offered at their high school, so, e.g., a student at an elite public high school that has an IB program could be at a disadvantage if s/he didn't do IB.
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions, united-states, ethnicity
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thread-16330 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16330 | Teaching a class because advisor bought out and advisor input | 2014-01-29T22:46:55.367 | # Question
Title: Teaching a class because advisor bought out and advisor input
The situation is thus: my institution allows professors to buy out of teaching a class. This semester, my advisor has done so and as a result they needed someone to fill in. After discussion with my advisor, I applied for the position to gain teaching experience (having had none previously).
Thus far, teaching the class has gone smoothly but our department has a huge waitlist problem. When I originally applied for the position, the class had 40 spots. Later, without my input, it was increased to 60, and there were still over 50 people on the waitlist.
Prior to the class starting, my advisor attempted to get the department chair to increase the class size to 90 so that more waitlisted people could get in. However, the chair responded by saying that the department felt that it was important for graduate students, particularly in their first attempt at teaching, to have a good experience, so they didn't want to increase the class size so drastically without my approval. I responded telling them that I didn't feel comfortable taking on so many students when I hadn't taught before and the issue was dropped.
Now, in the second week of classes, my advisor is again pressuring me to admit any waitlisted students that would like to take the course, increasing the class size to 70+. I've told him several times that I am not comfortable with this and thought the issue was closed. However, one of the waitlisted students has gone directly to my advisor and now he's specifically telling me to admit this student.
As it stands, I currently have 62 students in a 60 person class and I understand that taking on one extra student is technically not a big deal. However, I feel uncomfortable for several reasons:
1. It feels like I'm rewarding bad behavior (e.g., the student going to my advisor and forcing entrance into the class)
2. If I admit this student for going to my advisor, I am concerned that every other student on the waitlist will go to my advisor and I'll get similar e-mails about all of them and suddenly my class size will be 70+ students
Technically, I don't have to admit this student, but that would be going directly against what my advisor is telling me to do.
I guess the questions are:
* In the long term, how much control should my advisor have over my class?
* In the short term, should I admit this waitlisted student?
# Answer
> 16 votes
> In the long term, how much control should my advisor have over my class
None, for the duration of this instance. The advisor bought out. You're in charge. End of story. Now you might need some help in standing up to your advisor, and you need to bring in the chair of the department (who's already shown a willingness to help) and/or other senior faculty who manage curriculum activities. Don't do it confrontationally: merely say that you're really uncomfortable expanding the class size and don't feel like it's right to selectively admit students who have access to your advisor, but that you'd feel more comfortable with a faculty intermediary to help mediate.
> In the short term, should I admit this waitlisted student?
No. you're right that this is both setting a bad precedent as well as being unfair. Again, as for how to proceed, see above. You haven't indicated exactly how the advisor is pressuring you, but I think it's fair to point out to them that this undermines your authority as the teacher, and you really need to maintain your independence because you're "only a student". Anyone with teaching experience should understand the importance of establishing authority and presence in the classroom.
# Answer
> 6 votes
You are the captain of that ship. You must never forget this, nor should you ever let anyone else forget this.
I have issues with being asked for special things like this and I generally refuse, for two reasons:
1. The school naturally wants larger class sizes because it means more revenue with less expenses (more students per teacher)
2. The larger the class, the more classroom management work there is to be done which limits the energy I can dedicate to conveying the points I'm trying to convey, which in turn lowers the quality of the experience for my students
While I not a fan of using your power just to show you have power, I do suggest, especially when you are just starting teaching, that you start small and work your way up...and that you push back when others, including your adviser, are trying to get you to do something you are uncomfortable with.
The first semester is always the hardest (my first semester showed me everything I thought about the right way to teach was wrong). You must also set the tone about who is in charge and when it comes to your classroom, you are. You should not admit anyone beyond what you think you can handle and I think a class of 60 is plenty for your first semester.
When negotiating issues like this with your adviser, you must be able to speak from experience. You will have that next semester. For now, stand strong.
Good luck!
# Answer
> 2 votes
Poor thing... Well, I am not going to teach you to say no because after all he is your adviser and you probably don't want to directly upset him over this teaching fiasco. However, I can provide some tips to be less miserable.
First, **refocus**. Don't just look at the enrollment, **look at your mode of teaching**. Some teaching methods, when passing a certain number of students, do not change dramatically even the number of students keeps increasing. For class size less than 20 there may be more group work, interactive discussion... but once it passes 60, upping to 70 should not make you revise the syllabus to any considerable extent. Doing this favor can buy you some brownie points from the department and dean, etc.
Second, once you're over that class size phobia, **use your position to negotiate**. Ask for a pay increase, if the payment is fixed, ask for a couple extra TAs, if there isn't any, ask for a copy of new software, a few books on teaching and engaging students (those suckers are expensive,) a laptop, a set of whiteboard pens, a plane ticket to an upcoming conference, parking reimbursement, publication fee, journal subscription... whatever you can think of. (I actually was in a similar situation once and I got a conference + hotel + air fare paid for.) Get the most support out of it and **don't be shy! Your department needs you and it will do fair things to keep you a happy teacher**.
Third, **stop over induction**. Just because you allowed your adviser to send k more student can never imply he can send k + 1. You're trapped in your little logic maze. **Counter offer** him sincerely. Tell him that you really appreciate the student's desire to join, and you can up the quota, but in turn make your adviser promise making no more of such exception because **the students will be very confused of who is actually in charge, and that will not go well along the semester**. He, besides being a jerk, may just be excited that people actually want to learn a subject that he loves.
Fourth, **learn to deflect**. You can often find a pivotal point to transfer the conflict between you and your supervisor to between someone else and your supervisor. For instance, tell him that you'll think about the 2 extra students, but don't inform the students yet. That way the students will not start broadcasting the trick. Respond yes to the registrar at 4:50 pm of the due date of the add/drop period. Want more in? Your supervisor will have to talk to the registrar, who already seems to be on the side of keeping the size manageable.
In conclusion, excrement like this happens in academia on an hourly base. When you are at the lower end of an intricate power ladder, try to compensate, balance, and leverage. Having taught a big class is a good experience, and judging by the popularity I think the students will be motivated. Do get the most fun out of it, and best wishes to your first course.
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**Response to comments:**
> Negotiations don't normally work once the semester has already started. You cannot reasonably expect to get extra teaching staff support after the allocations process is complete and courses are underway. That's one of the reasons for having registration limits in the first place!
I think this comment **further highlights how self-imposed rigidity can limit our options**. First, just because I said TA doesn't mean I won't take a grader, I will even just take a couple more people to move chairs and tables, why not? It depends on OP's needs and I merely provided some examples. Second, tertiary institutions operate in so many different forms and traditions that if we have seen one academic department, we probably have just seen one academic department. Perhaps in our department it won't work, perhaps in OP's it does. I have only worked in two institutions, and this negotiation mechanisms worked in both of them. Once, as I have said, sponsored a conference trip. Another allowed me to up the food budget so that I can have two nights of presentation with refreshment and gave me US$350 budget for course-related expenditure.
The key point, to me, is not if the class has started or not. It's the **OP still has power to say no**. As long as that is in effect, some form of negotiation should be able to take place.
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Tags: graduate-school, teaching, advisor
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thread-11675 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/11675 | Should I stay in my PhD? | 2013-08-05T15:00:01.430 | # Question
Title: Should I stay in my PhD?
I have been reading in different forums now and searching for the advice that can give me an answer to my dilemma of quitting or continuing my PhD. In this search I did not find any entry to why I should stay in the PhD.
**Profile**: Female, 29 years old. Undergraduate in agricutural engineering and MSc in environmental studies
**CONTEXT**
**I started my PhD** on political economy 14 months ago. At the beginning I did not like the topic at all. However **doing a PhD has always been my dream,** as I am very curious and I love learning something new everyday. So despite my lack of theoretical foundations on this discipline, I was so passionate about politics that I considered it was the gap I needed to cover on my interdisciplinary education in order to understand the state of the agriculture nowadays.
At the start, I was not convinced of the reputation of my host university so I decided to search for a second supervisor who was internationally well-known and recognised in the field. Then, I engaged in different theoretical courses in order to acquire the background I was lacking and started working with both my supervisors.
**After my preliminary fieldwork,** I came back depressed, demotivated and wanting to quit. I realised that I did not have any other alternatives, so I started job hunting while I was giving my last change to the PhD. Steadily I brought the topic to a terrain I like more and I became a bit more enthusiastic about it. However it is not (and has never been) the topic I am passionate about. On top of that it implies the need for more fieldwork (1 year) and living in harsh situations that are not appealling anymore. Furthermore I realised that jumping into a new and so abstract discipline **is representing to me a more major challenge than I initially expected and I feel that I am much slower than my other colleagues.** I realised **I am no longer the bright student that I used to be before** and maybe I am not made to deal with the construction of knowledge that academia represents. I also started questioning the power relations in the academia and how hard and competitive it may become. I start feeling a lot of stress and **lose more and more self-confidence** on what and if I can do it. And finally I questioned if I really want to do a PhD? For what? What are the reasons that hamper me to quit? Why I am staying?
**DILEMMA: TO STAY OR NOT TO STAY?**
**The reasons why I am staying** is firstly because I love research (but I hate academia). I love learning something new everyday and engaging in discussions with very interesting people. However I hate the competitiviness that academia embodies and the constant show-off it implies. It makes me feel terribly insecure and to not enjoy the learning process. I love the people I met along the way and I adore and admire my supervisors. However the topic is not the one that makes me feel super motivated in the tough moments.
**The reasons that hamper me from quitting** are the compromise I felt I have acquired with my both supervisors. The amount of money and time they have invested in me makes me feel I owe them to finish... Additionally both of them are very recognised people in the field, so in case I would decide to quit this PhD and change into another one where my passion is... I wonder what my credibility as an scholar would be if I keep changing without completing things.
So I asked constantly since a long time ago: **whether or not I want to do a PhD?** I get to the conclusion I can work in research in many other places (i.e. think tanks, international organisations) that even if, and most likely, might be also competitive and with power relations involved, I don't have to deal with the theoretical issues that are killing me now. I realised that I am more an action, hands-on person that search for solutions to problems and don't like so much revolving around a problem for so looooooong (which is one of the things why I can not find the passion in my topic). I realised that I don't need a PhD for doing so and that the labour market can not absorb so many Doctors.
So having reflected on what I would like to do in my life (which I can not now see how it will be in academia), **my fears about quitting the PhD are**:
* I don't have alternatives now. I searched for them but I see it is incompatible to be job hunting while trying to make sense of my PhD (in terms of emotions and time).
* I am scared of regretting quitting the academia and not being able to work in research in the future.
* I don't know if I can stand the disappointment of my supervisors for quitting.
* I don't want to lose contact with the wonderful people I met along the way.
And **why do I want to quit**?
I am fed up of theory. I am not good at engaging with it and I don't understand it. This is stressing me incredibly and is becoming a very painful process. I don't want to defend myself in everything I elaborate putting all my intellectual effort, because someone else may find many things in my work to criticise. I am not passionate about the topic. I don't want to go back either to the fieldwork or to my host university. I feel I have many other skills that are hidden in academia. However when I develop those skills I feel much happier (like social skills).
So what shall I do? I would appreciate any advice (apologies if I did spelling mistakes but I am not a native english speaker)
# Answer
Given how little I know about the specifics of your situation, it would be inappropriate of me to advise you on a life decision of the magnitude of whether or not to stay in your PhD program -- if at all possible, please talk to people who know you well: friends, family, colleagues, advisors, mentors.
You mentioned four reasons for not wanting to quit. It seems to me that, of those four, you should disregard (at least) the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th:
* *"I am scared of regretting quitting the academia and not being able to work in research in the future"* -- if you want to return to academia in the future, usually you can. There may be a cost, but note that there is also a cost to maintaining the status quo.
* *"I don't know if I can stand the disappointment of my supervisors for quitting."* You are not responsible for your supervisor's happiness, only your own.
* *"I don't want to lose contact with the wonderful people I met along the way."* Staying in touch with people you like is independent of earning any academic degree.
> 13 votes
# Answer
This sort of dilemmas are very common among PhD students. The reasons for this and possible solutions widely vary for different people. The best thing to do is to attend therapy. Many universities offer this service for free, and the psychologists involved with this are very familiar with this sort of problems. If this service is not offered by your university, then you may want to spend some money on this. It is an important decision and you should not take it lightly.
> 8 votes
# Answer
As a PhD quitter, I can relate to your situation. Before discussing the main topic, I’d like to state that I didn't notice you were not a native English speaker before you mentioned it. Neither am I. And I haven’t read the other answers before writing mine.
Back on topic: I was confronted to some of the same issues when I was working as a PhD student in the U.S., originally coming from France. My decisions were made easier because I believe the professor who supervised me despised me. I quit after 3 years, leaving the field of research completely. At the time the logic was:
1. There just were not enough jobs in research, even for the top tier of students.
2. I was slower than other students.
3. I was not motivated and had no support from my supervisor.
If you have a tendency towards procrastination (like I do), you can spend ages staying in a position that you don’t like.
What I suggest is giving some thought to the following questions, which I think are those that matter the most:
1. What do I want to do in the next years? Don’t limit your options yet. Think freely.
2. How do I get there? Imagine what could be the best strategy to get there.
If point 2 involves quitting your current position, think about it as a career move. No one wants to hurt feelings, but we’re talking about your life, not anyone else’s. If you explain that your decision comes from logical thinking, this should not be an issue. Offer to leave your notes in pristine condition; offer to train or work with a new student for a couple of months. You may be surprised by your supervisors being supportive with the new direction you want to take. An experienced supervisor will certainly try to step in your shoes.
Where I currently work, we've had 4 directors (the top guy in the company) in two years, each one quitting after 3 months or less. They are supposed to care the most about the company, but they have no problem moving along if there’s something wrong.
A PhD was a childhood dream for me too. Now I don’t care. In my field a PhD means going from one postdoc position to another until the age of 35 or more. Sixteen years have passed since I quit. I’ve been working for years as an independent contractor in IT. I was recently hired by my main client, but I’m not sure if I’ll stay. (If 4 directors can resign, I can too!)
About learning every day, be sure that you can still do it at any age, whatever your job is. I never gave up doing “research” on a personal level. So many books are written on everything. The internet is a blessing. YouTube is a great source of knowledge with lectures, documentaries, video blogs.
Addressing some of the specific issues you mention:
* There is a world outside academia. Academia is like a box, but it is only after you get out of the box that you realize this. The academic ways of thinking are very formatted. Being successful in academia requires diplomatic and political skills that are not involved in research.
* About regretting academia: just think about the miserable times you had. This should cure you.
* About your supervisors disappointment: don’t worry too much about them. Your mother is going to be a lot more disappointed ;-) No, just joking. When I told my father I was quitting my PhD, I was expecting he would be upset. He just said, “Oh, I see. Okay.”
* About losing contact with the wonderful people: you will lose some contacts whether you get a PhD or not. Even if you stay around, some won’t. But you’ll stay in touch with the best.
I’m not pretending to offer a turnkey solution, only a few ideas to think about. Obviously my answer is biased in one direction: this is from my personal experience, but you really look like you have had enough of this.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Since no answers are supposed to be opinion base on this site, this answer comes with a warning: the following is my opinion. Take it for whatever you will.
A lot of the above answers seem to be aimed towards quitting, either because they think that's what you should do or they've decided that's what you're going to do (it seems this way to me anyway).
A word of advice from a fellow PhD student: **Do not quit**. Irrespective of how much you're enjoying your PhD, it's a qualification of your ability to research and approach a problem. Not the specific subject matter. Yes it shows you have a depth of knowledge in the specific subject of your PhD, but it's also used as a proof of your capacity for research. I'm a lowly PhD student as yourself, so this advice isn't coming from me. I've spoken to a few lecturers at different university before starting my PhD (and since) and this was the consensus. A final reason to stick with it is the human factor. As other answers have said, you *shouldn't* be turned down for future research positions just because you left this one - you shouldn't, but you may be. The Lecturer who's managing the future PhD is going to want to fill the position with someone who will fulfil the job. They may not say they'll turn you down because you've left a PhD before but it will be part of the consideration.
> 5 votes
# Answer
**You**
The dilemma here is more of what you feel in class than what your life should entail. I'm going to sound vague but I beg that you pick points from it. First, about feeling incapable, you should never let anything or anyone make you feel inferior. You have a life and your academia should not dictate much of it. The people you've met and those who you will meet will be in touch with you because they like you personality and not your PhD. As for your supervisor, lecturer etc, they are doing their work and you are liable to their happiness or disappointment.
**Job Market**
I see that you're looking at the job market while making the decisions about what you want to do; on this, kindly know that the job market is ever changing and you should therefore do what you like. The labor market may require specialist in political economy now and by the time you complete your PhD, the political economy labor market becomes saturated and less rewarding. Doing what you like has an advantage in that you can always do something with it no matter the situation in the labor market. There is this discussion among HRs that always sound vague and shallow but it is important. It is about the zeroth and first degree. These two degrees are more important than the rest (other degrees). You will most likely get a job based on your first degree (undergraduate degree) than with the PhD or Masters degree. Just in case you intend to be a lecturer in political economy, the question is; What do you intend to lecture yet you lack most of the foundation around the subject of political economy. Most foundation are found in undergraduate level. I suggest you do a PhD that will built up to what you did in undergraduate and masters level. The lack of foundation is what is making PhD more harder for you but remember that there is no easy subject in this world.
**Money**
I understand how you feel after spending your time and money for this long. You're young (Only 29 years. Sorry if I sound rude) and can still start a new. I suggest that instead wasting time and money on a subject, that makes you loose what you've built for the last 29 years, you should change to a PhD that relates or is more relevant to your undergraduate and masters degrees. You will learn to love the other subject with time (Example: individual's ambitions and targets change over time after interacting with several things i.e you may find that at 10 years, you wanted to be a doctor but at 18 years you want to be an engineer). Don't base most of your decision on the money because you will end up missing the point.
You are better place for the future by studying a PhD that is more related to your undergraduate and masters degree than by studying other PhD subjects. The future is about specialization and not diversity. I can give so many reasons but think this is enough for now.
> 2 votes
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Tags: phd, research-process, career-path, thesis
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thread-16304 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16304 | How do people get simultaneous offers? | 2014-01-29T12:18:54.397 | # Question
Title: How do people get simultaneous offers?
Several questions on this site relate to a situation where someone gets several offers simultaneously: for example, see *How to choose between multiple math postdocs offers?*. But how does this situation arise? In my (limited) experience, offers do not come simultaneously, and need to be replied to almost immediately (within a week or so). For example, position A could have the application deadline 1 February, have interviews mid-February and announcements mid-March, while position B could have everything one month later. To have two open offers at the same time seems very unlikely in a specialised field where positions are not open on a weekly basis. Then how does this happen?
# Answer
> 18 votes
In mathematics, the answer is easy: most American math postdocs are selected on about the same schedule. There are some variations of 4 to 6 weeks, but that still leaves plenty of room for second round offers from an early school to coincide with first round offers from schools that run later.
Further, there's been a tendency for schools that tend to compete over people to try to race each other to making offers, so the number of simultaneous offers ends up being higher than the number of schools would suggest.
(Also, a one week deadline to respond seems a bit short. What I've seen is more like two, with the ability to ask for an extra week or so which is usually granted if there's a chance of another offer.)
(Just for clarity, by most I mean more than half; there's a big early cluster and then additional positions being considered for months.)
# Answer
> 6 votes
In faculty hiring, it's not uncommon for the following sequence of events to happen.
1. Candidate interviews at University A and University B
2. Sometime later, University A starts making noises about making an offer (usually over email and on phone)
3. Candidate puts out feelers to University B, hinting that if they were thinking of making an offer, now might be a good time.
4. University B makes offer (email/phone) to candidate
5. Much negotiating merriment ensues.
6. .....
7. Profit (for candidate at least)
Sometimes, there might even be more than two players involved in the bidding.
In short, the candidate can trigger multiple offers if they play their cards right. Or it can happen by fortuitous timing. But the approach described above is quite common.
# Answer
> 2 votes
In American sociology, hiring usually happens during the fall and winter months (although the 2nd tier market goes on to the Spring, which is a bit different from the fall/winter markets).
During these months, candidates (PhD Candidates, postdocs, VAPs, lecturers) send out applications for academic positions, usually in large numbers due to the high level of uncertainty and cut throat nature of the market-- Most positions get around 200+ applications (one postdoc competition I applied to last year was interdisciplinary social science and received 780 applications!).
I applied to about 30 jobs this season, which number is actually considered pretty low (I am in a pretty niche field) and I personally know other people who have applied to nearly 100 positions. The fact is, candidates have limited information regarding the hiring (what the department is "actually" looking for- because many things are not noted in the vague job descriptions), and it is believed that, getting an interview, is not only the workings of credentials and qualifications, but also largely due to "fluke." To up the chance, many people apply widely and in large numbers.
Anyways, many candidates do not get anything after months of putting in applications, and a few lucky ones can get multiple interviews, offers, and so forth (interestingly, I find that probability of getting interviews does not correlate too much with publication records either, except for the absolutely top tier market). It is completely possible to have multiple offers and when you do, it definitely gives you more bargaining power in negotiating.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I would think they happen mostly by having a relationship with the person doing the hiring. That means that the offer isn't made through a tight bureaucratic process but can be more flexible.
Many positions are never publically announced and the only way to access them is through networking. Some position will even be created to be able to hire a specific person.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Do you believe in the "element of luck?" Many people say that if you have this, you'll be able to achieve your life's goals in easier means as compared to others. And relating this to your question, those who receive simultaneous offers are probably "lucky" at that particular point in time. Unfortunate are those who really work hard but are not given such opportunity. Anyway, according to successful people especially those involved in real estate business, "persistence pays" - so never stop chasing what you truly deserve!
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Tags: postdocs, career-path, job
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thread-16339 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16339 | Is job experience more valuable than taking more courses? | 2014-01-30T01:08:19.633 | # Question
Title: Is job experience more valuable than taking more courses?
So I've been offered a job at a company specializing in my field of study. However, one of the things they ask is that I take one less course, so that I can spend more time working for them. This makes me hesitate, as I feel someone looking at my transcripts may take my less full schedule to be a product of laziness. In your experience (as I am sure my situation is not unique), does this come across the wrong way? It seems like academic institutions in general seem to prefer that you take as many classes as possible. **Is real work experience more valuable (to admissions officers, in my case) than just taking more classes?**
# Answer
> 1 votes
If the "job experience provider" would write a good recommendation for you afterwards (surely you must also deserve it), this may matter more.
Unless you skip some very basic course that your future company sees as very useful for your work. For example, if the future company focuses on C++ development, a course with good marks in C++ programming may matter more than work in some company that required HTML/CSS only.
I would say, take that job but think well which course deserves dropping most of all.
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Tags: university, career-path
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thread-1806 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1806 | Why don't professors start companies? | 2012-05-29T20:15:12.960 | # Question
Title: Why don't professors start companies?
Why don't more professors attempt to use the knowledge gained during the course of their research work by starting a company and commercializing their findings?
I'm asking this question per this comment.
# Answer
This question seems to be based on a misconception, namely that professors start companies substantially less frequently than they could or should.
The vast majority of professors, even in fairly applied areas like computer science (compared with literature, say), are simply not in a position to start companies based on their research. You need a viable business plan, and they don't grow on trees. Specifically, even really profound research with many practical applications usually just doesn't have obvious commercial potential as a stand-alone business, since it won't be clear how to monetize it. Of course, there are exceptions, and plenty of important businesses were started by faculty, but only a small fraction of professors could do this successfully.
Here's another way of looking at it. There's no reason why a business based on a professor's research needs to be founded by the professor. If you see someone with great ideas, you can buy the rights to the ideas and found your own company. If professors were missing a lot of wonderful opportunities to found companies, then you'd expect entrepreneurs to step in and do it, but that doesn't happen very often either.
Ultimately, this is why we have academic research. The stuff that leads to obvious business plans could easily be funded by industry. By contrast, one of the reasons why academia includes research is to make sure work that can't easily be sold doesn't get neglected.
> 41 votes
# Answer
Because we're having too much fun doing research to waste our time making mere money.
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Lots of professors *do* start companies based on their research. Especially in engineering, entrepreneurship is one of the signs of a healthy department. But starting and running a company is a tremendous amount of work, requiring a *very* different set of skills than being a successful academic researcher. Brilliant and novel ideas, even the tiny minority that are marketable *in principle*, are neither necessary nor sufficient to maintain a successful business. Business plans are just the beginning.
Also, the metrics for success are very different. Put baldly, academic research is successful if and only if your peers like it; a business is successful if and only if it makes money. Academics tend to be more narcissistic than greedy. As evidence: most faculty in science and engineering could easily double their annual salaries simply by leaving academia for industry. If money were our primary motivation, we wouldn't be academics in the first place.
There's also a closely related issue of openness. Academic research is (in principle) entirely public; academic researchers publish their ideas for other people to use, adapt, modify, and apply in ways that are completely out of their control. Businesses, on the other hand, keep tighter control of their best ideas, either hiding them behind non-disclosure agreements or locking their use behind patents, lest some competitor use them to gain an advantage. If you're an academic researcher, someone else using your ideas (usually) helps you; if you're a business, someone else using your ideas (usually) hurts you. For academic researchers used to the unfettered exchange of ideas, the secrecy required for a successful business can be incredibly stifling, if not offensive.
Or maybe that's just me.
> 37 votes
# Answer
I did that in the past (now it's my brother turn ;)), and trust me, you don't start a company for the money, you do it because you think it will be fun, and that maybe you will provide something that will change the world (or at least something). Sometimes it's work, sometimes not. In fact, most of the time you will work a tremendous number of hours, for a salary (if you are lucky) that will be just the average salary of an average guy. And at the end you can end up totally broke.
Almost 10 years after this experience, I don't regret it, but this is a completely different work than research, and for me this is less fun than research. However, being in the shareholders of a company, and just be there for giving advice is both interesting and fun, because all the "boring" work is done by others.
> 18 votes
# Answer
There's more to life than making money... teaching students, grading exams, obtaining funding, being away from your family to present papers at conferences, correcting appallingly written research papers, reviewing similarly appalling papers, trying to get promoted.... It's a laugh a minute and we wouldn't change it for the world.
And it puts bread on the table.
> 12 votes
# Answer
One thing that I haven't seen mentioned yet is intellectual property rights. As an academic, you generally share intellectual property rights with the institution you are affiliated with, at least insofar as royalties must be shared. See How do academics make money from applying their research? for a related question with some more information on this and related subjects.
> 2 votes
# Answer
For any given concept or niche, there is often a huge gap between the time when it's interesting to research that topic, and when it's mature enough to commercialize.
No matter if we're talking about new hardware, new chemical processes or new AI algorithms, there tends to be a decade or two between the point where there are major unresearched and novel parts of the problem, and where it's profitable to scale it as a business; and the problems you need to solve in order to demonstrate a proof of concept are very different from the type of problems you need to solve to make it cheap, predictable and attractive to consumers.
Most researchers are (and should be) working on areas that are far too bleeding edge to be commercialized yet. Most new product development is working on technologies that are already too mature and 'boring' to generate significant publishable research.
In essence, if you see a new 'bleeding edge technology' product in any area, there probably is a 10-20 year old academic paper describing the concept with an implementation that sort-of works if the stars are right, takes impractical effort to make, and practical use requires complementary things that aren't available yet. After some time... the prerequisites have commoditized, someone else has driven the costs down, and you can implement a lot of time in polishing the concept in order to build and sell it - but most researchers would rather research new things than polish the 'old' ones for consumption.
> 1 votes
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Tags: industry, patents
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thread-1767 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1767 | How to start a startup based on university research? | 2012-05-28T04:47:00.500 | # Question
Title: How to start a startup based on university research?
This is a follow-up to How good are entrepreneurial opportunities for faculty members?. Say, a few researchers, professors and their students, at a university would like to start a company to exploit and commercialize their research.
Who owns the copyright/patent of their research? Will the university claim ownership of the startup company? What is the general procedure?
# Answer
> 3 votes
This will heavily depend on the specific country you are talking about. We have a so-called Innovation Lab that aims at encouraging "entrepreneurship and innovation by identifying, supporting and providing guidance for potential high-tech startups and spin-off companies originating at TU/e." Specifically, they guide researchers along the entire process: from checking whether the idea can be patented to actually establishing a startup / spin-off company.
With respect to copyright: lion's share of our research is being published so there can be no problems for companies to use the ideas presented in scientific papers. Using *unpublished* results might be more tricky but I can imagine that the university will agree to formally keep copyright and allow the company to benefit from it under some restricted conditions.
# Answer
> 1 votes
The university cannot claim ownership of the company as such, however, they can claim ownership of some intellectual property without which the company is worthless.
The only way how it could gain ownership of company shares is if you make a copyright/patent licencing deal which would include those shares as part of the compensation.
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Tags: research-process, application
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thread-16373 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16373 | Non-EU PhD title in Germany | 2014-01-30T21:14:32.500 | # Question
Title: Non-EU PhD title in Germany
I am a German PhD student in South America and am worried about whether my PhD title will be accepted in Germany (as Dr.) and internationally in general.
If you successfully complete a PhD in the EU, you are allowed to carry the title "Dr.", as any PhD in Germany does.
I am working in a faculty with a professor with international experience, who, for research reasons, left a reasonably strong department in Europe for the position in South America, which is incidentally one of the strongest two departments in South America.
I am attending international conferences every now and then, have two papers published in international journals (one jointly, one alone) and two more papers in preparation.
For all I know, I can reasonably expect that my research performance (and eventually, my PhD thesis) is not below the European standard.
The default format for PhDs from a non-EU country is something like "Hans Wurst (Doutorado, Universidade de Ipanema)", which looks like I should just use my self-confidence instead and not mention that I did a PhD unless someone asks.
I don't know if it's off-topic, because this might just be "too localized", but of course I am wondering if it is possible to have my PhD accredited to use my PhD title in Germany like any "normal" PhD.
I'm also wondering, whether the international community is as strict as German law, or whether I should just call myself "Hans Wurst, PhD" on job applications, my professional webpage, etc. (where the place will be listed somewhere), and hope nobody tells me it should be "Hans Wurst (Doutorado, Universidade de Ipanema)" instead.
Did I make a mistake in my career planning in that the only title that is worth carrying (until full tenure, I guess) I can't carry without a large number of not-so-fancy accessories?
# Answer
How your PhD is counted depends a lot on from which country you obtained it. Currently, degrees from Australia, Canada, Japan, Israel, and most doctoral-granting American universities are recognized as fully equivalent to "Dr." Beyond that, however, the PhD is listed as a PhD, so long as it's been granted by an institution accredited to give out doctoral degrees. (It has to be legitimately "earned.") You just would not technically be allowed to call yourself "Herr Dr. Hans Wurst"; you'd be "Herr Hans Wurst, Ph.D." (or whatever the formal name of your degree is).
Unfortunately, the classification of the degree *does* matter in Germany. Someone who holds a *Dr. rer. nat.* (sciences), for instance, will have a harder time getting a position in an engineering faculty than someone who holds a *Dr.-Ing.* (engineering). PhD's may or may not count as being equivalent to either degree, unless the specific regulations of the universities allow for this. (This can make a difference in setting up thesis committees, depending upon the regulations of the faculty in question. Yes, it's really annoying, but that's the way the system is set up.)
Fortunately, as Nate says in his answer, the rest of the world is nowhere near as strict as German law (even the modified version now in effect).
Also, you can apply to the Zentralstelle für ausländisches Bildungswesen (Central Authority for Foreign Education) for recognition of a foreign-obtained degree as equivalent to the corresponding German degree.
> 22 votes
# Answer
> Did I make a mistake in my career planning in that the only title that is worth carrying (until full tenure, I guess) I can’t carry without a large number of not-so-fancy accessories?
No. You make the good old German mistake of thinking that ‘carrying’ the title has any relevance whatsoever. You will have the equivalent of a doctoral degree from a respectable university (presumably) backed with a reasonable publication record. This is what’s going to matter. Whether it will be called a doctorate or a PhD does not matter to any employer (that you would actually want to work for). Also, for practical purposes, the people that care about such things *will* be calling you Dr. Hans Wurst anyway, even if you technically have a slightly different title. It’s close enough.
> The default format for PhDs from a non-EU country is something like “Hans Wurst (Doutorado, Universidade de Ipanema)”, which looks like I should just use my self-confidence instead and not mention that I did a PhD unless someone asks.
I don’t quite understand. You don’t want to mention your PhD because of ... what exactly?
> I’m also wondering whether the international community is as strict as German law, or whether I should just call myself “Hans Wurst, PhD” on job applications, my professional webpage, etc. (where the place will be listed somewhere), and hope nobody tells me it should be “Hans Wurst (Doutorado, Universidade de Ipanema)” instead.
Practically, on anything but the most formal documents, I have seen people in similar situations call themselves anything out of: Dr. Hans Wurst; Hans Wurst, PhD; or Hans Wurst, PhD (Universidade de Ipanema). All of those mean essentially the same thing to the pragmatic observer.
## Clarifications
First off, I am not German myself, but Austrian with strong ties to Germany (and Austria is *the place that Germans make fun of because we are presumably so fond of our academic titles*), so I do think I am able to comment on this issue.
Second, I think it is required to distinguish a few things which are somewhat mangled up in my above response as well as the questions:
### Will the OP formally be allowed to carry the title Dr. Hans Wurst?
No, not without going through nostrification, as indicated in other answers.
### Will people informally still refer to him as they would to the holder of a European PhD? (e.g., put a Dr. Hans Wurst on his door in the office?). Basically, would people in their day-to-day life consider the difference to be a technicality?
Yes, I am convinced that would be the case in most places. If non-EU people were treated as “not really doctors at all”, we would not have any foreign faculty or postdocs. In Vienna, while I did my postdoc there, we had people who had received PhDs from Austria, Germany, the US, and China, and they all were uniformly referred to as “Drs.” by peers and university administration alike. It may not be formally correct, but people are also not stupid (in general).
### Will it make a difference in his professional life?
Assuming the university is indeed excellent (I have personally never heard of it, but my knowledge of African universities is very limited), it should really not make a difference. I guess the main problem is that if the university is not very well-known, a hiring committee might not go through the trouble of actually finding out whether or not the university is good. However, at least in academic posts, I would not assume that the OP will have any disadvantage in comparison to a holder of a German PhD. International experience is usually considered a big plus. The examples provided by aeismail and Nate Eldredge are completely opposed to every personal experience I’ve ever had.
> 15 votes
# Answer
To address your last question: the international community is *not* as strict as Germany. Here in the US, there are no formal regulations on the use of the title. If you hold an earned doctorate from a reasonable university somewhere in the world, nobody is going to complain about your use of "Dr." or "Ph.D." or both. Even holders of honorary doctorates, or those from non-accredited universities, usually get away with it. On the other hand, we typically don't use those titles as universally as Germans do.
> 7 votes
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Tags: phd, germany, titles, accreditation
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thread-16352 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16352 | Licence that converts to GPL after publication but is copyrighted prior to publication | 2014-01-30T06:47:44.173 | # Question
Title: Licence that converts to GPL after publication but is copyrighted prior to publication
I would like to post an repository on github that includes data and analysis code in R. The analysis and data forms part of a journal article submission. I'm happy for people to view the code and data prior to publication (in particular, it might be an easy way for reviewers to examine the code). However, I do not want anyone publishing analyses of the data prior to acceptance and publication of the journal article. After publication, I want to encourage people to re-analyse, re-use, re-publish (e.g., with a GPL licence with an encouragement to attribute).
Obviously, I could just keep the data and analysis code a secret until after publication, but I thought an appropriately worded licence might be more appropriate. I thought about just writing in plain English that the work is copyrighted at this time, and will be converted to GPL at a later date following publication.
* **Is there a standard way of licensing data and code so that people cannot republish the data and code until the corresponding publication has been published?**
* **Or is it better just to keep the data and code secret until after publication?**
**UPDATE:** I suppose there is a legal perspective to this, but I know that academia has its own norms and conventions regarding attribution and respecting the wishes of authors. So I'd be particularly interested in answers framed in that context. I.e., My broader aim is to be the first to publish my own research, generally get attribution, but also allow others to build on that work. So I'd be interested also in what is considered good practice when you are in the situation of wanting to share data and code while an article is being peer reviewed, but not wanting to lose your right of first publication.
# Answer
> 11 votes
Honestly, I doubt that copyright protection is of any use. The copyright on the code itself does not<sup>*</sup> extend to data produced using the code. Similarly, the copyright you would hold on the paper submission covers<sup>*</sup> that particular presentation of the data, but not the data itself. So as long as someone is physically able to view your data, I believe there is no *legal* avenue to prohibit them from doing their own analysis on their data.
However, for another researcher to take the output of your code and perform their own analysis in an attempt to scoop you, when they know you have your own paper doing the same analysis pending, is ethically very questionable. If it came to light that something like this happened, I think the academic community would strongly frown on it. That's a very strong incentive for any other researcher not to do this, and so I personally wouldn't worry about it.
Besides, if it does happen, the other researcher will have to cite your code anyway so you still get credit. This can actually be a good thing. I would recommend including in your code a notice of the form
> Please cite the following reference if you use the results of this code in a publication:
>
> *\[reference to paper or code\]*
(see this example from my own publication history) If you're worried about someone else abandoning all pretense of ethics and just using your results without citing them, rest assured that it is *very* difficult to pull that off, and it constitutes academic fraud, which is a career-ender if it's discovered.
And finally, as a practical matter, you have a very large head start on anyone else who might want to publish an analysis of the outcome of your code. Don't underestimate the time and effort it takes for someone else to go through your code in enough detail to learn what it does and figure out how to use it enough to generate original results, and then to write and submit a paper and have it reviewed, typeset, and published.
One more point worth mentioning:
> So I'd be interested also in what is considered good practice when you are in the situation of wanting to share data and code while an article is being peer reviewed, but not wanting to lose your right of first publication.
You *don't* have a right of first publication. Not legally, anyway. If you want to ensure that you are the first one to have an opportunity to publish a paper based on some result, the standard practice is to keep the result private until you are close to publishing the paper yourself. But keep in mind that "publishing" in this context doesn't have to be peer reviewed. For instance, in physics it's very common to put a paper on arXiv before submitting it to a journal. That establishes the authors' claim to the result before it enters the peer review process.
<sup>\*informed layperson speculation; see a lawyer for a definitive statement</sup>
# Answer
> 6 votes
A1 : The legal department at your university or company should be able to help you out with this type of request.
A2 : This depends on the journal to which you are submitting. Read their rules on copyright of submitted software and publication beforehand.
Other comments / ideas :
I have software freely available that I have submitted to a journal before publication (although, this may not have been the best idea) and software that is also ready and that I use that I could make freely available, but have not as of yet.
An alternative would be to say that interested parties may email you for access to the code before publication happens.
You could always publish the data (or paper explaining the data) on a pre-print server so that you cannot be scooped and then also publish the corresponding code. This will outline clear dates as to who published the research first.
# Answer
> 6 votes
You write that you
> do not want anyone publishing analyses of the data prior to acceptance and publication of the journal article.
I am not a lawyer, but I don't think there's any license to enforce that. Once you publish data, other people are free to work with that data, and publish their analyses (although they might not be able to republish the original data, at least not in the same format as you did). As Wikipedia writes, copyright does not cover information itself, it just protects the way that it is presented, or the verbatim description. If you want to prevent others from publishing analyses of your data, I think the safest way is to keep the data confidential until you publish your paper.
On the other hand, if you don't put a license on the data, you have whatever copyright protects there, so others will not be allowed to re-publish the data in the same format. Therefore, I think the risk that others publish an ernest journal based on your data is not that high, unless it's really spectacular data.
The code is a different issue of course. You hold copyright on that, and if you don't put a license on it, others won't be allowed to republish it.
# Answer
> 3 votes
To address your revised question:
> My broader aim is to be the first to publish my own research, generally get attribution, but also allow others to build on that work. So I'd be interested also in what is considered good practice when you are in the situation of wanting to share data and code while an article is being peer reviewed, but not wanting to lose your right of first publication.
The usual practice in my field (mathematics) is that when the project is finished, you submit it to a journal, and simultaneously post it to arXiv, a public preprint server. This establishes your priority in two ways, and lets people start building on it immediately.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Who prevents you from releasing the code under GPL only after the article has been accepted for publication?
In such case, probably you cannot add GPL header to the files in advance but unless it is very large project, this should not be a really big problem (you may write some script to add headers if it is really a lot of files).
If you setup a public repository on GitHub, by doing so you allow to view and fork it. If this seems not acceptable for you, publish on the university server instead and only publish to GitHub when you open source it. You can add any restrictions you want as long as it is your fully owned code. Just I am not sure if it will be easy to enforce these restrictions if somebody does violate.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Your right as a owner of intellectual property, allows you to release and allow reuse of that "property" in any way you feel correct. The use by a third party of your "property" is not allowed unless the party has a way to demostrate that you have somehow allowed it. The way you allow it is up to you. Obviously that creates an enormous exercise for the judge, that could be called to decide on the fact. Essentially there is a big legal hole, because I could decide for example to sell a book and to allow the purchaser to read it ONLY ON NIGHT from 8pm to 11:59pm. That means that if you use the book in other times you are penaly responsible.
So that is the reason that the legislator should take some decisions because if not a lot of problems may arise. The limitions that the author may impose, may be illegal etc. Most important is that fact that licenses may be so long and articulated that no normal person may be able to understand them and so that person shouldn't be liable for the infringement of them.
Any way my opinion is that you may impose any rule you may like. That is a one paty action and the other party should demonstrate that she is legaly using your work.
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Tags: publications, data, reproducible-research
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thread-16382 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16382 | How to choose the right institution for pursuing tenure-track? | 2014-01-31T04:28:58.410 | # Question
Title: How to choose the right institution for pursuing tenure-track?
I've got 2 offers for a tenure-track position (computer science). One at a well known "tier 1" institution and one at an institution that would be considered "tier 2", both in the US.
Most people I know in academia would immediately go for option 1, considering it a great opportunity. While I do agree that this would look great on my CV, I'm somewhat cautious due to reports that tier 1 institutions are **very** reluctant granting tenure to anyone who doesn't find the cure for cancer...
I'm well aware that getting tenure at a tier 2 institution won't be a field day either, but looking at their previous record, a high percentage of assistant professors at that institution did make the cut.
Any advice?
# Answer
Congratulations on your two offers ! As for your question, it's hard for us on this forum to gauge your choices. Tier 1 and Tier 2 are tricky categorizations (bottom of Tier 1 ? top of tier 2 ? area specializations ?). More generally though, it sounds like you're worried that getting tenure at the Tier 1 university is extremely difficult.
But this is something where some data gathering might help. It shouldn't be too hard to determine the number of cases that went up for tenure at T1 in the last (say) 5-10 years, and how many were successful. This is in fact a legitimate question to ask the chair of the department. You can ask how the process works, and you can even ask current assistant professors if they feel they're getting good guidance on the tenure process.
You should do the same for the T2 university as well. Then you'll have more specific information to work with.
No one can tell you whether you will get tenure at T1 or not, but with this data you can get a sense of whether it's "yes unless you mess up" or "no unless you cure cancer".
You can also try to determine which university offers you the best home for your research efforts for the next X years without worrying too much about what comes at the end of it. This is not to say that you should walk into a situation where no one gets tenure, of course, but your data collection should help with that.
> 5 votes
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Tags: job, tenure-track
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thread-16360 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16360 | Abbreviations (abbrv.) in journal (jrn) articles (artcs) | 2014-01-30T14:46:03.763 | # Question
Title: Abbreviations (abbrv.) in journal (jrn) articles (artcs)
As we all know, you typically abbreviate something the first time that particular term shows up in a paper. However, I've been told in the past that certain things in a paper should be written in such a way that 'it stands on its own'. One such thing would include the abstract of the paper. So, perhaps a `<STRING>` appears in the abstract that I want to abbreviate. Now one of two things can happen.
1.) If `<STRING>` appears more than once in the abstract, I could abbreviate the first instance and then just use the abbreviation from that point on.
2.) If `<STRING>` appears only ONCE in the abstract, then I shouldn't abbreviate it because then I would have defined an abbreviation that I would not have used again (given the concept of 'the abstract should be able to stand on its own).
The problem with (2) is that people will immediately think that the 'first instance' of `<STRING>` should be abbreviated and don't immediately consider the 'stand-alone' idea so I'm either having to revise or try to put up a convincing argument for what I did.
Also, I've been told by some that tables and figures should be able to 'stand on their own'. So, if the abbreviation for `<STRING>` appears in the table somewhere (or the caption), then I should explicitly spell out `<STRING>` and then define an abbreviation for it right then and there, even if I have already done so earlier on in the text of the paper.
So, my question is, what is the proper way of handling these abbreviations and is the idea of 'this piece must be able to stand on its own' valid (and if its valid, what exactly does this idea apply to)?
---
Additional Information:
I am a computational chemist so we pretty much are forced to use the alphabet-soup of acronyms. MP2 is preferred over "second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation theory" and is commonly used. CCSD(T) is preferred over "The coupled-cluster method that includes all single and double substitutions as well as a perturbative treatment of the connected triple excitations". The list can go on and on. If this wasn't abbreviated in an abstract, having to 'spell it out' even a few times would make for an incredibly long abstract, figure caption, table, etc.
# Answer
The first comment will be, do not abbreviate just because something occurs more than once. Abbreviations other than established ones (within your field) such as DNA, EDTA make reading more difficult. Of course all established abbreviation were new at some point but the message is, be restrictive. I understand your field may be in need of many abbreviations so make adjustments to these general comments accordingly.
Now as for the abstract, I would recommend to not abbreviate anything even if it occurs more than once or twice (again barring established abbreviations). The abstract should be seen as a separable part which is (hopefully read) by a wider audience than the paper itself. If you need to abbreviate something in the paper, do so in the main paper as the "first occurrence".
Tables and figures should be made to stand alone if possible (which probably is 80+% of the time). Often figures and tables may be the parts others take up when they describe your work. To have self-explanatory figures and tables is thus useful. With a table the table caption should be an integral part so I think it is reasonable to have abbreviations in the table body as long as the abbreviations are explained in the table caption. The same could apply to figures as well but I would go further and aim for making the graphics along self-explanatory even without its caption.
> 4 votes
# Answer
In my opinion the general rule is that abbreviations should be used exactly when they make reading easier; in particular, in some circumstances it will be easier to understand a sentence when a long term is abbreviated (provided the abbreviation has been defined of course). The same rule should apply in abstract and captions, except that the cost (in term of reading comfort) of having to look for the meaning of the abbreviation is usually greater.
The problem comes from the fact that we tend to use abbreviations when they make *writing* easier (or quicker), and this does not coincide with reading easiness.
> 4 votes
# Answer
* If the abbreviation is so common that people use it instead of its real meaning (e.g. I'd call EDTA EDTA, but if I'm asked for the spelled-out name I mentally reconstruct that from the structure of EDTA - as opposed to knowing ethylenediamintetraaceticacid and reconstructing the structure from that) I'd use the abbreviation in the abstract.
* If the abbreviation is really common, but not the "primary name" of the thing in question, I'd spend that one word in the abstract and give both.
* Otherwise, I'm a big fan of a table of abbreviations. That way it is much easier for a reader who is not deeply familiar with the field to find the meaning than to search through the text to where the abbreviation first occurred.
See also: Shall acronyms in scientific papers be expanded exactly once?
> 1 votes
# Answer
I would write it out in full the first time that it appears in the abstract, and again the first time that it appears in the main text. This isn't authoritative, however, it's simply what "seems right" to me. The abstract needs to stand on its own, and the introduction should also make sense to somebody who hasn't just read the abstract.
Additionally, as some have said, in some fields there may be abbreviations that are so generally accepted that there is no need to expand them. To pick something that is not field-dependant, nobody would expect an author to spell out LASER or RADAR.
> 1 votes
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Tags: publications, journals, paper-submission
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thread-16318 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16318 | Length of Supporting Statement to Faculty Position application | 2014-01-29T19:11:08.987 | # Question
Title: Length of Supporting Statement to Faculty Position application
I'm currently applying for one "entry-level" faculty position in the UK (CS). Differently from other applications I have seen, in this one they ask the applicant to address each of the items listed in a "Person Specification" section of the job description.
There are 15 points, ranging from simple yes/no questions ("Do you have a PhD?") to more elaborate ones ("Evidence of Teaching excellence"). I've addressed everything I can think of in my document so far. However it is quite long, 3.5 pages.
My question is: how long is a statement of this nature expected to be? There are no page limits that I have seen. Should I try to shorten it?
# Answer
I would not refer to what you are writing as a statement. I would say it is a response. Responses should be as long as they need to be, but not longer.
If they have given you a person specification with 15 points, and ask you address every point, then, yes, your response is going to be long. There should be no need to guess on this. They have asked you to be thorough so you should be thorough.
While it is common for companies to use person specifications to ensure they find a proper match for a position it is rare for me to see someone use it in the manner you describe. However, it does not sound crazy, just like they want to really be sure that they are getting all the information they need, and they clearly want to be thorough. In the end, the goal of the person specification is to make sure you eliminate, as early as possible, those people who are very likely to be a poor match for the position/organization. If you can respond appropriately to each point, then you are much more likely to be called for an interview. So don't leave anything out that answers their questions.
> 5 votes
# Answer
In the UK, HR departments are playing an increasing larger role in the hiring process. According to HR departments only applicants that meet all the essential requirements can be considered. If you have an applicant who meets all but one essential requirement and all the desirable requirements and another applicant who meets all the essential requirements and none of the desirable requirements, you must hire the one that meets the essential requirements. If you want to modify the essential requirements and do the search again, you must demonstrate that none of the applicants meet all the essential requirements. You can only hire non-EU applicants if there are no EU applicants that meet all the essential requirements. Further, if any applicant from the redundancy pool can meet all the essential requirements with some additional training (usually under 6 months), then they must be hired over external applicants.
With this in mind, it is absolutely critical that your letter clear address how you meet all the essential requirements and which desirable requirements you meet. You want to provide anything that could be considered evidence to support your application. I would not worry about the statement being too long, although it should not address qualities that are not explicitly mentioned in the job description.
> 4 votes
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Tags: application, statement-of-purpose
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thread-16390 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16390 | Contemplating about a second PhD in statistics/machine learning | 2014-01-31T09:47:26.573 | # Question
Title: Contemplating about a second PhD in statistics/machine learning
I have been thinking about a second PhD for the last year. I am currently a doctoral candidate in civil engineering at University of Texas at Austin (ranked 6th in my discipline) and working as a student statistical consultant at the university consulting center. I am working on spatio-temporal modeling of count data using Bayesian hierarchical models, with computationally efficient techniques for my dissertation. (I will have publications on this very soon; two of them are in review). I do have 2 publications in my area but their topic is the application of statistical models. I am also going to get a Masters in statistics next semester along with my PhD in civil engineering. I have done many courses related to Bayesian statistics including graduate level mathematical statistics, theoretical MCMC, stochastic volatility and time series models, statistical consulting, advanced econometrics (non-Bayesian), discrete choice modeling and one course on data mining (graduate level). In my field, I see massive datasets but very minimal statistical expertise, particularly on the big data side. This has motivated me to pursue something beyond my Phd and beyond my discipline.
I am very interested in handling large datasets and perhaps, machine learning applications. I would like to know whether a PhD in machine learning is going to help me realise my dreams. I do not have any formal research experience in data mining or machine learning. But, I do a lot of Bayesian hierarchical modeling on smaller datasets. Given my experience, I am not sure whether I can secure admission to a good program in the machine learning area. I appreciate any suggestions and advice on whether to pursue another PhD and the feasibility of securing admission to a good program in a PhD machine learning track. I am assuming basic financial assistance for any PhD program.
Thanks much in advance.
# Answer
> 9 votes
As other people already stated, multiple PhD's is almost certainly not a good idea. How to transition into machine learning depends on where you want to work:
* academia, you can try to get a postdoc position in machine learning, in that way you can build your career by writing publications and get up to speed with machine learning during your postdoc research. This could be problematic as you might have to compete with people that have a PhD in machine learning. But this can be overcome during the interview stage.
* industry, you can simply apply to entry level machine learning positions (look for data science positions) and take it from there. Once you convince a company that you are a worthwhile addition, you can learn the ropes on the job.
In general, I would recommend already getting up-to-speed a bit in machine learning, try some online tutorials, etc. This can really help in securing a new position in either academia or industry.
# Answer
> 6 votes
This site has had such questions come up before. Usually (as in this case), I think the correct answer is that doing a second PhD is not necessary, and not a good use of your time. In my opinion, shared by many (most?), multiple PhDs are very rarely a good idea. As people have remarked elsewhere, a big part of a PhD is learning how to do research (hopefully) under supervision and guidance. The supervision and guidance do not necessarily happen in practice, anyway. Usually much of a PhD is deadwood and bureaucracy, like required courses.
My personal opinion are that PhDs are not a necessary qualification in any case. Before they existed people did just fine. Check out the history of the PhD on Wikipedia
If you know enough statistics to write research papers, you just go ahead and write papers. Once you know enough to do so, it is not rocket science. Machine learning is just statistics done by computer scientists for some reason, maybe because the statisticians are not interested in doing it.
I think your general aims and perspective are sensible. Knowing things like Bayesian statistics and modelling is useful when working with data.
> In my field, I see massive datasets but very minimal statistical expertise, particularly on the big data side.
Yes, this sounds accurate. Statistical expertise is not very commonly available or applied by non-statisticians, but it would be useful to them if they knew how to do it correctly.
A couple of suggestions wrt things you could usefully focus on:
1. English language skills. Very important for a researcher. This is particularly important if one does not speak English natively.
2. Computational skills. This is getting to be also a truism, but people in academia don't usually know what they are doing re programming and software development. A better understanding in these areas will probably pay dividends for researchers in the applied sciences, though there are differences of opinion as to how much.
Neither of these skill sets would be usefully served by getting a second PhD.
I have a PhD in Statistics, but I don't think I need to have one to offer the preceding opinions. Mostly they are just common sense.
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Tags: phd, statistics, machine-learning
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thread-16416 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16416 | A quick question about deadline extensions | 2014-01-31T17:44:21.437 | # Question
Title: A quick question about deadline extensions
I'm applying for several summer schools, workshops, and travel funds. I've also applied for a few fellowships. Almost all of these have extended their deadlines for application submission and/or supporting material submission. I've completed (or plan to complete) all of the applications before the original deadlines.
My questions are:
1. What are the typical reasons that deadlines are extended?
2. Do you think it'll increase my chances for admittance since I submitted my application before the original deadlines?
# Answer
Possible reasons for extensions:
* Not enough applications have been received
* The applications/applicants are not up to he expected standard (Almost the previous point in th esense that more applications is hoped to raise the standard)
* Something has happened in the bureaucracy that means an extension is necessary
Sending in an application to meet a deadline is always necessary and being early may set your application apart from the others but there is no guarantee. Having an impeccable application is a better bet on getting noticed than sending it in early. By impeccable, I mean well written, clear and concise, including all the necessary materials in neat order. But early is certainly not a negative but may not really show to the persons responsible for evaluating the applications.
> 2 votes
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Tags: application, graduate-admissions, funding, summer-school
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thread-16396 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16396 | Is being publication oriented bad? | 2014-01-31T12:14:30.867 | # Question
Title: Is being publication oriented bad?
I talked with a professor for possible thesis guidance and mentioned that I aim to publish papers at top venues as soon as possible. The Professor got somewhat offended and said publication is not an aim and that I should aim to be problem oriented.
Maybe true, but I did not understand why that prof got offended and felt so bad about publishing. Do you have any ideas?
# Answer
The traditions of writing a monograph as a thesis vs. writing a thesis based on a number of papers/manuscripts and a cover paper to tie everything together vary between university systems (academic cultures). Because many aspects of academia including evaluations for positions and grants to a large extent is based on published papers, the latter system is gaining interest. In my country, Sweden, it has always (in modern times) been the norm. So in your case the reaction can be caused by one or both of tradition and local academic culture.
The professor has a good point in that the aim of writing a thesis should not primarily be to publish papers. Graduate school is about learning both practical and philosophical knowledge of how to conduct research properly with the aim to become a functioning research individual. At the same time, writing papers is a vital skill that must be included in such education so one does not preclude the other and my guess is that the response, hence, mostly is the result of tradition and culture rather than right or wrong. To be offended seems a bit over the top in terms of a reaction but I do not know the person to judge where such a reaction might originate.
I know of many who have defended a monograph but written and published papers on the material included in the thesis. A monograph allows inclusion of much more details on experiments and results than the paper format does. This can be seen as an advantage of the monograph. On the other hand, a thesis consisting of papers usually also contains a cover paper in which the same type of details can be included.
In the end the thesis you write will follow the local traditions or rules and my suggestion is to follow these but to aim to think about papers in parallel. Hopefully you will have an advisor that agrees.
> 7 votes
# Answer
There is nothing wrong with wanting to publish, and wanting to publish more and better. The fact that you are goal-driven can only be a plus, from my and many others' point of view.
**BUT** the question arises when you start thinking about the implications of wanting to publish more and better. I will be a bit crass here and give a somewhat unconventional metaphor. I guess no one can deny that having sex is a good thing, in a way like publishing. If you go around telling people (especially those who are supposed to be your seniors) that you intend to get laid **as often** and **as soon as possible** with the as hot girls/guys as possible... Well let's say they might start questioning your motives and personality.
Putting the metaphor aside, being an academic is mostly about doing research and from time to time communicating your work, primarily (but **not exclusively**) in the form of publications. Unfortunately the academic society has evolved in a way that how much you publish and where you publish often gets more attention than the quality, originality or the usefulness of the work you do. While I will not go on to claim that the two are not correlated, I personally do not believe how often and in which journals you publish your work is a *definitive* and *descriptive* indicator of *how good of a scientist* you are (anyone is of course entitled to disagree with me).
I believe the professor in question, might have gotten offended by the fact that your primary concern/ambition does not come across as doing good science, but rather solely being successful within the current norms of academic environment.
Hope that helps
> 6 votes
# Answer
> I talked with a professor for possible thesis guidance and mentioned that I aim to publish papers at top venues as soon as possible.
One can only speculate, but maybe the professor was annoyed by your usage of *as soon as possible* more than by your intention to publish (if this was indeed what you said to him in verbatim). Maybe he inferred from this wording that, to you, PhD school is an unnecessary nuissance that you expect to leave behind you quickly, so that you can go on to greater glory.
I think in general a professor **should really not** be opposed to you publishing in good venues on principle, as this would mean that his students are basically locked out of an academic career for good - and which advisor would want that?
**Edit:**
To answer your titular question *Is being publication oriented bad?*:
Yes, if it means you do only "easy" incremental research in order to minimize risk. No, if you just mean that you do not only want to do any research, but are actively looking for topics that are publishable and which will have an impact on the scientific community or, in some cases, industrial practice.
> 4 votes
# Answer
There is nothing wrong in what you said to the Professor. You stated your concrete end goals as clearly as you thought you could. However, its not in your Professors control as to whether you will be published in top journals quickly. Even if he is the best Professor in the world, he cannot make that happen for you. So, what you need to look for is a Professor who is willing to support you in your goals and help you help yourself to get there. In addition, you may want to define some other qualities you are looking for that are not strictly in line with your stated goal. A Professor is a coach and a mentor. Here are some qualities of a good coach : http://home.earthlink.net/~tfakehany/point.html and http://www.mentalgamecoach.com/articles/CoachingQualities.html The main thing is you dont want a judgmental Professor because judgment is the antithesis of research.
> 1 votes
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Tags: publications, thesis
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thread-16365 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16365 | How do I ask a professor for a summer research project? | 2014-01-30T18:39:29.023 | # Question
Title: How do I ask a professor for a summer research project?
I am a student of IT in India. I'm in my fourth semester and want to work on some project during summer. How should I write the email to the professor asking for the same?
# Answer
I get **many** letters of this kind, and I now summarily delete them without replying. Let me explain why.
1. Money: it's never clear in these letters what kind of support the student wants/expects. The default assumption is that I would pay for them, and as an academic with limited resources, I have very little incentive to pay for an undergraduate to travel from India to the US to work with me, especially when it's unlikely they'll be able to do much in three months. Which brings me to
2. Project timeline: most letters of this kind are of the form "I'm interested in BROAD TOPIC A and want to work with you because you're interested in NARROW TOPIC B". For a three month internship to work, a project has to be very focused, and set from day 1. There's no time to explore.
3. Self-interest: There's very little gain for me here, or at least none that's mentioned in the letters. If I want to hire an undergraduate, I can do it locally. I can even get financial support (sometimes) for doing that. I can't do that with a student from abroad, and I can't even vet them in advance.
So any successful letter needs to address these three issues very effectively and quickly (because I delete these emails without reading more than a few lines).
Having said that, I know of at least one example where a student came from India to work with a colleague and that summer project turned into an application to grad school. The student is now at my university.
> 14 votes
# Answer
How about something like the following.
> Dear Professor X,
>
> I enjoyed your course on letter writing and would like to learn more about it. Would it be possible to do a summer project with you?
>
> Sincerely,
> Your student of IT in India
If you didn't do a course with him, there must be something that singled him out amongst the other 50 professors at your IT institute (and I don't mean his new glasses).
Alternatives might be:
> I enjoy topic X \[your professors specialty\] and have used it to program a simple program ...
>
> I tried to read your paper "Letter writing for IT students" ...
You asked for a letter, but allow me to suggest to go and talk to him directly. Make sure you know why you want to do a project with him. From a short conversation, you should be able to tell, whether he is willing to invest time into guiding you through a summer project. (He might be away on conferences or other business.) If he seems like he might be very busy, you might consider doing a project with someone else. (If your professor is too busy to meet with you every few days, anyone, even me, can give you a research project: "Research about topic X as much as you can and let me know what you found".)
Say that you have never done a summer project before, and ask him how much time he expects you to put in (per day) and how often he might be able to meet with you.
All of this can be settled in a short conversation of 5 minutes. Via email, this all might take well over a week, or the professor might just not care to reply.
> 1 votes
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Tags: research-undergraduate
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