id
stringlengths 8
14
| url
stringlengths 40
58
| title
stringlengths 2
150
| date_created
stringdate 2008-09-06 22:17:14
2024-03-31 23:12:03
| text
stringlengths 149
7.14M
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
thread-18149 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18149 | Does ACM have a style guide for authors? | 2014-03-14T17:54:28.880 | # Question
Title: Does ACM have a style guide for authors?
I am writing a paper for an ACM transactions publication precisely using the `acmsmall` format. However, I am yet to find a comprehensive Do's and Don'ts for writers with regards to style. For example, I've seen some papers say, `"in Equation (5) ..."` while others abbreviate it to `"in Eqn. (5) ..."`. I have also seen some papers merely refer to equations by their numbers i.e. `"in (5) ..."` as is done in the IEEE. I've even seen these used interchangeably.
The first case is correct though, as it was used in a sample paper provided, however, are `Eqn. (5)` and `(5)` acceptable equivalents?
There seems to be consistency in referring to figures and tables though: figures are always referenced thus `"in Figure 5 ..."` and never abbreviated, for example as `"Fig."`.
At the moment, I'm just picking styles from already published papers which I'm not sure is the best way.
So where does one find clarification on these issues? Which is right in the above cases mentioned?
# Answer
> 2 votes
You should take a look at the format that the ACM template gives to you, but there is no straight answer for an specific format. Try to focus more on the content (like they have advise you on one comment) that in the format. Actually I have seen in some ACM published papers that they put things like (considering your example):
* In Equation 5... or
* In Eq. 5 ... or
* (put the variant you think here)
Consider that is one of your least worries, if you had some problem with the format the reviewers will point to that, but if the content is good is what really counts.
Good luck!
---
Tags: journals, acm
--- |
thread-18159 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18159 | Should I resubmit my paper to get the attention of a slow reviewer? | 2014-03-14T21:26:03.457 | # Question
Title: Should I resubmit my paper to get the attention of a slow reviewer?
I have submitted a paper to Proc. Am. Math. Soc. My advisor said to submit to this journal. It's been over 3.5 months with no response. I have made several edits to my paper, but none that essentially change the structure of a proof. The original email contained the following message:
> Submission of unrequested revisions is discouraged. If SUBSTANTIAL modifications are absolutely necessary after initial submission, the above link can be used to resubmit your article. Please limit the use of this link to one resubmission.
Based on these words I would not resubmit, but I am wondering, since it is taking so long, should I just send in the current version to perhaps get the attention of the reviewer?
# Answer
> 16 votes
This is clearly answered in the comments by @Stephan Kolassa (making community wiki here just to post an answer for the question).
Absolutely do NOT resubmit the paper! If you do, you could end up having everything rejected.
Contact the editors of the journal. 3.5 months is not such a long time for journal review in many fields (unfortunately) but it is sufficient time to warrant a quick friendly email to the editor asking what the progress is.
Though you should not pester the editor, contacting them after 3.5 months seems perfectly reasonable. But keep a friendly/deferential tone. (Don't demand or complain ... just ask for info.)
(And best of luck with the reviews. The first submission is always the most nerve-wrecking. If it works out, then great. If not, try not to sweat it too much. Rejection happens to nearly everyone.)
# Answer
> 6 votes
Please note that mathematics is on the slower side when it comes to the review process. (1) In math there are often only a handful of people who are even remotely qualified to review your paper, so it is tough to find reviewers (2) It takes a very long time in some instances to check the validity of a proof. In some fields perhaps, 3.5 months may be pushing the long end, since in these fields they often only critique big ideas, writing, statistics and experimental design, these things are rather quick to check -- in comparison to a long or highly technical proof. In addition, numerical results are often unchecked in some sciences (especially in fields where you don't submit code with your paper) so even highly technical fields can have pretty quick review turnover. A reviewer in math is going to try and go through your proof in painstaking detail, will try to figure out if there are any counterexamples, even if she believes your proof. I've known several mathematicians to wait over a year before they get a decision on their submission. This is why the arXiv is so important in math; it helps date your discovery, since the review process takes so long.
Inquiring is fine, but be very friendly. Often journals allow you to check the status of the paper. When was this paper sent to the reviewers? If you don't know the answer to this you should try to find out.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I entirely agree with the "do NOT resubmit" advice of badroit. I just wanted to add something which was not addressed and yet seems like the natural thing to do.
Ask your advisor. If he/she told you to submit there, he/she probably has some experience with the journal, either first-hand (as author or reviewer), or through colleagues. This will help you evaluate if 3.5 months really is unusually lenghty for this journal.
I would be surprised if it were. I have no experience with this particular journals, but for other journals in mathematics I have been told that it is unreasonable to expect an answer before 6 months and you can start worrying after one year.
One good reason to enquire about the state of the review process is if you are expecting to send applications soon and a few weeks difference means the world to you. Even in that case though, as badroit very well says: "Don't demand or complain".
---
Tags: publications, mathematics
--- |
thread-18167 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18167 | Who gets corresponding authorship in the biological sciences and what does it mean? | 2014-03-15T09:05:11.927 | # Question
Title: Who gets corresponding authorship in the biological sciences and what does it mean?
Let's imagine several levels.
(1) Graduate student. (2) Post-doctoral student. (3) Assistant professor.
\[Cultural context\] (I don't know if this has any impact on the question, providing the information just in case) In Japan, assistant professor(s) don't usually have their own independent lab. They work in the same lab "under" an associate or full professor. Their level of independency highly depends on the professor above them. Some of them may have a small team within the big team. Lab management and teaching grad students how to do experiments usually rely heavily on the assistant professor(s). In big labs, there may be several assistant professors.
* In which cases can (1) and (2) expect to take corresponding authorship?
* Should (2) or (3) be granted corresponding authorship if they made the research with grant money they managed to get in their name?
* What is/are the benefit(s) of having corresponding authorship? Is it a requirement to be considered for some higher level grants?
* Should the corresponding author always be the last author? Or is it OK for any other author to be corresponding author?
# Answer
> 3 votes
The corresponding author serves as the point of access for readers to inquire about a paper. This does not imply it should be any particular author, though particularly common choices seem to be first or last author.
The corresponding author should be the author that is least likely to change institutions. Changing institutions generally implies losing your contact details where you left (including email). The corresponding author should be the one that is most likely to remain a consistent point of communication.
This is often the last author because that is the common spot for the supervising PI (typically tenured). This is not always true, for example some domains like maths and theoretical computer science organise authors alphabetically.
---
Tags: authorship
--- |
thread-18123 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18123 | Dissertation proposal before admission: Is it possible? | 2014-03-14T03:29:02.230 | # Question
Title: Dissertation proposal before admission: Is it possible?
It seems that most universities in Europe require an outline of the planned dissertation at the application stage. I think even choosing the title of a dissertation needs a lot of dialogue between the student and his supervisor. It also requires a thorough investigation on the state of art in the targeted area.
Is such proposal the definite proposal or it may totally be changed after the admission? Can you provide some tips for writing such proposal draft? How much time you think I should devote for such plan (at least)?
# Answer
> 3 votes
First, to answer your titular question:
> Is it possible?
Likely yes. Otherwise, all PhD students at this university would fail, wouldn't they :) ? Let me go over the rest of your question one by one:
> It seems that most universities in Europe require an outline of the planned dissertation at the application stage.
*Most* seems a bit extreme. I know that this is how it works in some universities, but it certainly did not work like that in all places I worked in.
> I think even choosing the title of a dissertation needs a lot of dialogue between the student and his supervisor. It also requires a thorough investigation on the state of art in the targeted area.
Correct. At my current university, people hand in their proposals during their second year usually.
> Is such proposal the definite proposal or it may totally be changed after the admission?
It is almost certainly not a very definite plan, but whether it can **totally** change I am not sure. For instance, I would assume if it changed so much that it started to fall out of the area of expertise of your advisor, I would imagine things would get tricky.
> Can you provide some tips for writing such proposal draft? How much time you think I should devote for such plan (at least)?
Rsearch the state of the art in the field you are interested in. Take a few days minimum to browse over the keywords of the papers of the top conferences in the field. Find out which professor at your university publishes in these top conferences (if there is nobody, this university may be a bad match for your field of interest), and see what the typical keywords and style of his work are.
Think about ~3 coarse-grained research questions that you think are not answered yet by existing work. You probably already needed to define a research question for e.g., your master's thesis. Make sure that the scope is a bit broader now for a PhD - you don't want research questions that are basically answerable within one paper in a few months of work (Bad: "Q1: is it possible to apply algorithm A to problem B?"). On the other hand, you do not want to be too general either (Bad: "Q2: how can security be introduced in service-oriented systems?" - this one is a real-life example).
# Answer
> 6 votes
I once had to write a thesis proposal for admission to a UK university. It was explained to me that this is more of an entrance exam than an actual proposal. It is also used to gauge whether your interests lie somewhere in the vicinity of what is generally done at the department.
I don't know how other countries or universities work, but I can't imagine that anybody would hold you strictly to a proposal you wrote before becoming a graduate student. It's normal to expect that your research should be adapted along the way based on your findings, even for an experienced researcher.
The proposal I wrote (which was successful) had to be short, so I went with the following format:
* Theory so and so implies that A is true
* But this other theory suggests that the converse, B, would be true
* These could be pitted against each other in an experiment involving so-and-so (details details details)
The time you need entirely depends on your knowledge of the field. It is good to invest quite some time in these things though, as they can really improve a lot the more you think about them. I'd say that it's best to try to finish it a good month before the deadline, and then take a look at it at biweekly intervals to make improvements.
# Answer
> 6 votes
> Is such proposal the definite proposal or it may totally be changed after the admission?
I had to do a similar task to get into PhD program here in Australia. It is mostly a formality and people's actual topic can vary widely. Actually it would be strange if you did not change your topic slightly. After 6 months - 1 year we are expected to give a seminar and a much more detailed proposal, this was the real one. Although again your topic can still change after that.
> Can you provide some tips for writing such a proposal draft?
I would ask your supervisor for tips. Maybe they can provide you with a copy of one from a previous student. Usually the university provides a general outline of what you should discuss.
# Answer
> 5 votes
At least at the European university where I work, we do not require such a proposal.
However, in general, the thesis proposal is a *planning* document, and therefore its contents are not considered binding. Especially given the nature of research, committing someone to a particular course of action before it even begins seems counterproductive.
The proposal should be allowed to evolve over time, and possibly be changed completely if found to be unworkable or unmanageable.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I had to write a proposal as part of the admission process in a university in Ireland for a MLitt in History. Here are some thoughts based on what you have asked and my experience.
> I think even choosing the title of a dissertation needs a lot of dialogue between the student and his supervisor.
I had 2 meeting with my supervisor before the proposal was handed in. These meetings did not just entail discussion on the title, but they formed a part of it in so far as was this professor the best person in the department to supervise the masters. We had a working title quite early though.
> Is such proposal the definite proposal or it may totally be changed after the admission?
I have found in my case that the title may be refined after admission. It has not being the case where we have made a major chance but rather refined the project as the research is completed while keeping it within the overall framework of the original idea.
> Can you provide some tips for writing such proposal draft? How much time you think I should devote for such plan (at least)?
In my case the proposal did not have to be a long document. I think instructions were to keep it under 1,500 words. I used the following heading for my proposal.
* What I'm going to research
* Research Methodology
* What has been researched about topic already
* What will this thesis add to existing knowledge.
Finally I also put together a draft reading list of publications that I thought would form part of my research. This was not required but I felt it was a good exercise for myself and my supervisor appreciated a copy of it as well.
Thinking back I believe I had my proposal document completed in about 2-3 weeks(this includes drafting and amending).
---
Tags: phd, thesis, graduate-admissions, europe
--- |
thread-18146 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18146 | What tense to use in arts and humanities papers? | 2014-03-14T16:27:51.657 | # Question
Title: What tense to use in arts and humanities papers?
*How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper* advises writers to use the past tense when they write about unpublished research (including the research their paper reports), and to use the present tense to write about research previously published in a primary journal. So, presumably, writers should use the past tense to refer within their paper.
However, in a reply to this question, a user commented that he uses the present tense when he references within his paper.
1. What tense should writers use when they refer within their paper?
2. Do arts and humanities papers use tense differently than science papers do?
# Answer
Verb tense often distinguishes a paper in the humanities from one in the natural and social sciences.
Generally you would write in the present tense in the humanities (e.g. John Doe explains) and you would use the past tense in a humanities paper only for reporting historical events.
The UNC Writing Centre have a good webpage with examples that explain the three types of verb tenses (present simple, past simple, and present perfect) that they say account for approximately 80% of the verb tense use in academic writing.
> 4 votes
---
Tags: writing, humanities
--- |
thread-17555 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17555 | Can the graduate school administration change graduation dates? | 2014-02-28T17:02:43.170 | # Question
Title: Can the graduate school administration change graduation dates?
(Breakdown of a larger issue - full story here)
Following the deliberate delay my thesis paperwork by my professor, and after my department ignored my thesis revision requests for over 6 months, I finally got my graduation paperwork completed (with a $200 late fee) just after the start of the 3rd semester after my thesis defense. My official graduation was therefore graduated *a full year after my defense*. Due to the concurrent program I was in, this meant my undergraduate degree also did not post until that date - *2.5 years after I finished my undergraduate classes*. As my profession requires 4 years of *post-degree* training for licensing, this has significantly delayed my professional career. If not for delays beyond my control by school personnel, I would have had time to complete the graduation paperwork and finish my degree a full year earlier.
I went the the director of my program and was kicked out before I could do more than state my problem - "I don't believe the department could have held you up; students just don't know how to be responsible." I finally got issues escalated to the dean of the college, and he agreed that the department had grossly mishandled things. He contacted the dean of the graduate school, who refused to even hear the case - all that he or I ever got back from the graduate school was blanket statements about 'policy', which I presume meant their own and not some oversight body. Even when I (repeatedly) went to the graduate office in person, the (brand new) graduate dean refused meet with me. I suspect that the program director (a very aggressive personality) had preemptively contacted him to ask him to ignore me; the dean of my college was retiring that semester and presumably carried very little weight in department politics. However that is purely conjecture.
1. Why would the graduate dean refuse to talk to me? Liability concerns? Or just pure pomp and disregard for the woes of a lowly student?
2. Is there a valid reason the graduate school would be unable to back-date my degree to the semester I had completed all my coursework and successfully defended my thesis?
# Answer
> 6 votes
John Nauhaus' extensive comments in response to your related question apply here as well. However, there is a direct question that needs a direct answer and an emotional core to your posts that deserves more direct attention as well:
> **\[Could\] the graduate school administration change \[my\] graduation dates?**
>
> Is there a valid reason the graduate school would be unable to back-date my degree?
Your graduate school's administration cannot and will not change your graduate date if your request does not come with the support of your advisor and your department. The graduate school and the university may be "higher ups" in terms of a traditional administrative hierarchy, but in academic and curricular matters your department has absolute primacy. Any effort by the administration to "force" a graduation date on your department would be seen as an encroachment on their academic freedom, and *that* would get the attention of outside faculty and peer institutions in a tremendously negative way.
This may be unrelated to the harm that has occurred to you, but it is a valid reason for the graduate school to deny your specific request. If you still have any credibility within your university's administration, you could get more traction seeking other forms of redress.
> **Subtext: Does the department get away scot free?**
You will not get what you decided to ask for. This does not mean that your efforts have had no impact. They have cost your department in at least two ways: First, to the extent that you still have the sympathy of anyone in the administration the dispute has cost your department credibility and administrative reputation. As you press the matter in increasingly intrusive ways, this cost will decline and eventually flip into sympathy. No program wants to be pitied, but it's better than being disliked. Second, if you've reached the point where a dean refuses to meet with you then you've earned the "problem child" achievement regardless of the merit of your complaint. Your graduate program admitted you, and will therefore be seen as bringing a "problem" (that would be you) to the university's doorstep. The administration—even the sympathetic administration—will call your department's judgement into question because they vouched for you.
Your department has paid and will continue to pay for what you went through.
*None* of this will be visible to you. That is what professionalism looks like from the outside: calm seas and a gentle wind, nothing happening here.
> **More subtext: Why should the department's error cost *me*?**
This is the most important part of your question. As a student and teacher (can't and won't speak to this as an administrator), I have seen graduate students throw away their professional futures over pride and pocket change. It may not *look* like pocket change from the perspective of a graduate student's meager income, but you need to review your relative costs in terms of a tenured professor's *considerable* income.
Based on what you have written here, it looks like you are burning your professional future to ash over four years of lost pay. That "problem child" tag you've earned is sticky, and it will follow you. No faculty wants to hire a colleague that brings trouble, and *no* faculty wants to hire a colleague that *escalates* trouble.
Here are two ways to overcome this tag that I am aware of:
1. Be at the very top of your field. If your scholarly stature outweighs your immaturity, some good university will accept the latter's cost. This is emotionally easy—everyone would happily be the best at what they do—but it is intellectually difficult. Are you capable of being that good? What would achieving this cost you elsewhere? (It will cost you a lot. For example: Ever looked at the divorce rate for professors?)
2. Demonstrate a "newfound" maturity. If it *looks like* you learned from the experience, this will slowly offset the negative reputation you've acquired and allow faculty search committees to review your applications on scholarly merit. This is easier intellectually, you just need to be an employably strong scholar. This is very difficult emotionally because it requires an extraordinary humility. That's uncommon in academia; it can work against the strength of will and self-confidence needed to succeed as a professional scholar.
Deans, directors, and other professors may sometimes look like colonoscopy bags full of "pomp and disregard," but the attitudes that give you this impression are the same ones that got them through a dissertation, tenure probation, and other indignities of the profession. You seem to have that attitude in larval form, and it seems to be acting out. These "dismissive" deans and directors have learned to channel their attitudes into socially acceptable forms, and search committees will be looking to hire only those professional scholars who have learned to do the same.
John Nauhaus' comments elsewhere are going to be more valuable overall. The answer to your question about what the graduate school can do is little more than a footnote to his discussion of what you can do, and of what you *need* to do to recover personally.
# Answer
> 3 votes
I sympathize with your plight. I'm lucky to have not had such a long-lasting and impactful academic misfortune, but have been in some similar situations.
1. It's more likely ignorance/miscommunication, but it is very probable that the graduate dean doesn't know the truth. Observation bias alone would make it easy to assume you shared the burden somewhat, and you can be sure your issue was trivialized and persistence cast negatively if they spoke at all.
2. Accreditation may play a role in the college's ability to back-date a degree. I can see how that could be a very slippery slope. That said, "a matter of policy" is a rather dismissive reason and sounds more like he simply was trying to avoid the problem. You should investigate both graduate college and institution-wide policies on changing degree dates to rule out a high-level ban.
I've offered some suggestions on actions you can still take in your question here. If it's impossible to change the degree dates, then his reason for not talking to you is moot at this point. However, it could still be relevant if you go down the legal path.
---
Tags: ethics, administration, graduation
--- |
thread-18179 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18179 | ECTS time validity and expiration | 2014-03-15T18:04:14.700 | # Question
Title: ECTS time validity and expiration
Hope this is the right place to ask this. I'm currently enrolled in a Master's Computer Science degree in Europe. I've completed most of my classes with the exception of 2 + my thesis (which would mean I'm missing about 30 ECTS from the required total of 120 ECTS for a 2 year Master program).
Due to various reasons, I was forced to keep a full time job for the past 2 years which prevented (and is still preventing me) from finishing my classes but I stayed officially enrolled in the hopes that I would find the time to finish. Next year I won't be able to re enroll with my current faculty once more due to their rules preventing students from staying too long in the same school year.
My question is: what happens to the ECTS I've accumulated thus far if I don't finish this year? I was taking into consideration further postponing school until my current job is less hectic especially since it's possible to be switching jobs at the end of the year with one in the US. This of course in the hopes that I won't be losing the 90 ECTS I have accumulated thus far.
Thank you for any information you might have on the matter.
# Answer
> 6 votes
I'm pretty sure that this depends less on the ECTS system, and much more on your specific university. That is to say, **I assume there is no general answer to your question**. You will need to get in touch with the university.
That being said, it sounds like you want to transfer to a university in the US ("it's possible to be switching jobs at the end of the year with one in the US"). In that case the **much** larger problem will be transferring your european credits to the US institution, even if they are not expired.
---
Tags: europe, graduation
--- |
thread-18180 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18180 | Is there a website for academic computer science jobs in the US like mathjobs.org? | 2014-03-15T18:17:40.050 | # Question
Title: Is there a website for academic computer science jobs in the US like mathjobs.org?
I know there is a mathjobs website in the US called mathjobs.org, which is the main website for posting math jobs in the US universities. But is there a similar one for the computer science jobs? I'm asking because I searched for csjobs.org and computersciencejobs.org, but I couldn't find a relevant match.
Thanks in advance!
# Answer
The best source for CS jobs in the US is the Computing Research Association (CRA). They maintain a jobs site that AFAIK most departments post to.
> 7 votes
---
Tags: job, job-search, postdocs, computer-science
--- |
thread-16013 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16013 | what is the best way to take missing courses before applying to MS? | 2014-01-21T16:23:29.417 | # Question
Title: what is the best way to take missing courses before applying to MS?
I am holding bachelor degree in applied math and physics, which I received in Moscow State University. I have rather normal grades (average 4.3 out of 5). My BS thesis ("Weight optimization of monospar composite wing of russian unmanned aircraft) was recommended for publishing in scientific journal.
Everything seems to be ok, unless I have a passion for programming. I have implemented several mobile applications which are available in the AppStore and which are my main income now. Once I started to get enough money, I started to think about my MS degree in computer science field. However, I do not have enough minimum background for graduate program, hence I decided to take the missing core courses. The way of applying to undergraduate program and spend 5 years again seems to me time-wasteful (i am 23 now), so I come up with decision to become special/visiting student and get the necessary transcripts and become more competitive while applying to MS program. However, some universities do not provide engineering courses, some of them are too expensive (~50k per semester, I am able to spend ~18k); in some universities to become special student I must be invited by faculty member.. In other words, it is not as easy as I expected to take undergraduate courses. I kindly ask you to give me some tips how to enter to computer science field.
# Answer
I'm not sure that this applies to Russian Universities as my experience stems from the situation in Germany, but I'd recommend talking to the key people at your target University - academic counseling for CS, student representative, dean of students. See what you can find out about the admission process and whether they can give you any pointers.
I myself have a Bachelor in Applied Math and a Master in CS. Before applying for the MS, I visited the University I wanted to get into and met with the faculty member who was responsible for the academic counseling for CS students. I talked him through my undergrad courses and other experience from internships and he encouraged me to apply right away although I technically did not have enough undergrad CS courses according to the admission guidelines. He also gave me a few pointers on how to write the application in such a way that the admission committee would recognize my practical experience.
His advice: He gave me the list of mandatory undergrad courses and told me that I should match each course with something from my previous studies or my practical experience, to show that even if I had no formal education in some areas, I at least knew the gist of the subject.
I was admitted conditionally and had to complete the two undergrad CS courses in which my prior experience was lacking the most within the first year on top of my regular studies.
In my second year I became the student representative to the admission committee and had a few applicants approach me on the same subject. I gave the same advice, because I noticed early on that the committee would often just hold the list of requirements up to the applicants undergrad transcripts and tick of the boxes. Even such stupid things as differently named courses could throw the committee off, so I made it my job to go through all the applications and check the matching with the requirements.
In one particular case, a student was very enthusiastic and even ran his own IT-startup business, but the gap between his undergrad studies in a different subject and a CS undergrad was just too big. We had to refuse him the first time he applied. For legal reasons, we couldn't do more than send the standard letter, but luckily he did the smart thing and approached us and between everybody in the admission committee and academic counseling we figured out a way to have him do undergrad courses for a semester and then delay the decision about his follow-up application until the exam results were out and we could make a case for him to be admitted on conditions, like I was.
Your second question, which classes to take, will only be answered when you know what classes they look for in an applicant from another subject.
The people in the application committee at my university really looked for theoretical background. Do we think this applicant knows what P vs NP is? Do we think he can analyze the runtime of an algorithm? Do we think he knows the difference between a proof and an experiment/example? Percieved knowledge gaps in other subjects like electrical engineering or computer networks or operation systems where often seen as less of a problem if the applicants motivation letter stated that he wanted to specialize in an area where he likely wouldn't need that knowledge. When in doubt, the committee would often say that the funding depended in part on how successful the students were (i.e. it was better not to admit one than to admit him and have him fail) so they would discuss: Do we think that this applicant will complete his studies in a successful and timely manner?
So one more point of advice, which worked well during my time on the committee: Show in your cover letter that you have a clear idea of what you want to do in your masters, why you want to do it, and why you think you have the necessary background and motivation to be successful at it.
> 3 votes
---
Tags: masters, computer-science
--- |
thread-17419 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17419 | Data Set Definition , Where to Place (Introduction, Material and Methods)? | 2014-02-25T23:43:28.513 | # Question
Title: Data Set Definition , Where to Place (Introduction, Material and Methods)?
Machine Learning , Data Mining studies uses various data sets. If used data sets are not well known data sets, following points of these data sets should be explained. More can be added but these points comes to my mind immediately.
1. features/attributes (number, data type, domain definition)
2. How many instances exists in this data set?
3. Test / Training data (Random Sampling, All data used..)
4. Feature Reduction techniques
5. Any preprocessing/post processing
Thus my question is: Where should I put this data set explanation in article sections?
* Introduction
* Methods (Experiments)
* Or entirely new section under Data Set heading?
# Answer
There is no universally-agreed way to do it. I usually place the information about the datasets under the experiments section, before reporting the results. Also, I prefer to present parameters about the datasets (e.g., number of features, number of samples) in a table. If many datasets are used, and there are some points that needs to be clarified, I would create a subsection for the datasets under the experiments section.
> 2 votes
---
Tags: writing
--- |
thread-18212 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18212 | What is the purpose of chairmen at conferences? | 2014-03-16T14:00:50.467 | # Question
Title: What is the purpose of chairmen at conferences?
I often struggle when explaining people not familiar with academics or new to academics the concept of a chairmen at conferences or talks. At some point I have to say that this is somehow an academic tradition or a way to give small honour to people with reputation in some field.
Beside this and some obvious things (Someone has to make sure that the speaker is not running out of time, etc. -- Why not the organizer for example?): **What is the purpose/what are the arguments of having a chairman?**
# Answer
> 17 votes
Depending on how the conference is organized, the duties of a chair **before** the session can include:
* Selecting the abstracts that will be presented within a given session.
* Organizing the abstracts in the order of presentation.
* Transferring unused abstracts to other sessions (where possible).
* Advertising to solicit contributions.
During the session, the goals of the chair can include:
* To introduce the speaker
* To ensure time constraints are being adhered to
* To moderate a question-and-answer session following the talk
* If other questions have not been asked, to offer questions of her own.
The organizer of a session may or may not be the chair of the session. In larger conferences, in which you have many parallel sessions (some have 50 to 60 or more run simultaneously), it is entirely impractical to have a meeting organizer chair every session. For smaller conferences, however, this *is* done. In such cases, though, the organizer of the session is still called the "chair" of the session.
It is also possible, at some conferences, that the organizer is unable to attend the session, as a result of illness or conflicts, for instance. In such cases, an "emergency" chair is appointed to run the session. (I had to serve in such a capacity at the most recent conference I attended.)
---
Tags: conference, presentation
--- |
thread-18210 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18210 | Writing a research proposal in mathematics for graduate school | 2014-03-16T12:47:55.523 | # Question
Title: Writing a research proposal in mathematics for graduate school
My question is about research proposal, I want to apply for a PhD program which requires writing a research proposal.
What exactly should I write for the methodology section of a research proposal in the area of mathematics? I have several ideas about my project, but I have not proved anything yet, so how can I know its methodology?
# Answer
My recommendation is to try to ask some current students if you can see their proposals. Obviously, what they did can't be all that terrible.
More generally, I would agree that methodology is not a extremely well defined concept in mathematics, but you can write something intelligent about it anyways. How are you going to approach the problem? Are there special cases that might be illuminating? Stepping stone lemmata you might get to before the whole proof? What areas of mathematics do you hope to use? Unfortunately, I can't speak for the system in Italy, but certainly in the US with such research proposals, the main point is to see if the candidate can write about and analyze mathematics in a cogent way, not the details of the problem.
> 10 votes
---
Tags: phd, research-process, graduate-admissions
--- |
thread-18184 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18184 | Is it possible for a high school student with no academic qualifications to publish a research paper? | 2014-03-15T18:42:55.470 | # Question
Title: Is it possible for a high school student with no academic qualifications to publish a research paper?
I am a bachelor student at the second year of studies (Physics), but I'm an independent programmer since many more years.
Now, I have some data about an algorithm I've done and I would like to present the results on a research paper - I have a high level of understanding of the theory behind, and some background of theoretical computer science. Is it "reasonable" to write a paper with no titles at all (high school) and without the name of my university maybe? I don't know whether include it or not, since the topic is not related to what I study there.
# Answer
> 8 votes
You should definitely write it up. There are plenty of good reasons for doing so and no downside. Writing a paper is a good exercise for future paper and report writing, and while you are doing it you are likely to think of new ideas about your research. You will also have to search for similar work that might be suitable for references and you may find something useful there too.
You should also put the paper online somewhere so that it is preserved and available to others who may find it useful. If there is data and/or code that goes with the paper you can use figshare for example. It does not matter if there is not much response to your work, that is common when authors have no background and does not mean it is not good. Someone may pick up on it later when you don't expect it.
You might also want to try to publish in a peer-review journal if you think it is sufficiently original and useful. That might require you to write it up in a specific format such at LaTeX. Again that is all good experience. You will have a much better chance of acceptance in a journal if you can use your university affiliation but you will have to make it clear that you are an undergraduate there to avoid problems and it might be best to check with your tutor. If you search around you may find a suitable journal that is specifically set up to accept work from undergraduates. If you can get it accepted it would look good on your CV whatever you plan to do in the future.
The only circumstance that would make it unwise to publish your work would be if the algorithm is original and of high commercial value and/or patentable in which case you would have to follow a different route to protect your intellectual property. However that is a rare situation.
# Answer
> 5 votes
My academic advisor certainly seems to think that this would be possible! I have researched and written about several subjects that are outside my major, and though none have (Yet!) been published, none of my professors or advisors seem to think it strange that I might have knowledge and interests outside my major, nor do they doubt that I am capable of producing quality work in those areas.
However, you may wish to find a professor in CS, and ask them to read and critique your paper. You will benefit from their academic experience, and their input makes it more likely that you can succeed in publishing a paper in an area outside your major.
Edit: Seek your advisor's input on this. If you plan to sink a large number of hours into a project outside your main research focus, s/he may not be altogether happy about that. This caveat may not apply in your case, since you are still in the undergraduate phase, but may be more of an issue later.
# Answer
> 1 votes
yes. I've had experience with grant reviewers noting things like a modest publication history all in all if the paper is good, the work is sound and you meet the editors guidelines and format the paper correctly for the journal...it should and will be published. Be extra cautious to acknowledge everyone especially those who loaned you or allowed you resources. I've seen personalities "smirk" at non-traditional success. You will be under more scrutiny most likely but I'm the end the end good science will prevail.
---
Tags: research-process, computer-science, affiliation
--- |
thread-18171 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18171 | Citing my own thesis in the extracted paper | 2014-03-15T14:33:57.743 | # Question
Title: Citing my own thesis in the extracted paper
I am going to extract a paper from my MSc thesis. But I am not sure how to point out that this paper is the synopsis of my thesis. What is your suggestion? In which section should I refer to the thesis, in introduction or related works? Is it allowed to insert some part of my thesis to my paper without modification?
# Answer
> 4 votes
This would be an excellent question to ask your advisor, who will be familiar with the norms of your field.
If your thesis is already finished by the time you submit your paper, treat it as you would any other reference. In particular, you may want to cite it if you wish to refer the reader there for more details on certain points.
In my opinion, it's not necessary to explicitly state that the paper is extracted from your thesis, though you could if you want. (If it's your first major paper, people will probably assume it's from a thesis anyway.) Normally the place to mention this would be either at the end of the introduction, or at the end of the paper.
# Answer
> 3 votes
If you only wish to point out that you have a thesis that may contain additional material, you could add a sentence in the acknowledgement to the effect that the work was largely "funded" by your master's project resulting in your named thesis. It is, at least in my field, not uncommon that people cite their own thesis for details that usually are not included in a regular paper. Typically theses contain much more detailed descriptions of experiments (or their equivalents), including error discussions, as well as contain more data (results) than is possible to fit in a paper. There must, of course, be a clear purpose for quoting your own thesis for information that cannot be included in a paper and I would state that you cannot cite a thesis for any critical points since those must be included in the paper.
---
Tags: citations, writing, thesis, paper-submission
--- |
thread-18219 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18219 | Should I justify the organization of chapters and sections in the research paper? | 2014-03-16T20:26:11.720 | # Question
Title: Should I justify the organization of chapters and sections in the research paper?
I am using a research handbook written by Creswell to guide me in writing my Bachelor's Thesis.
Specifically, I followed his research design model.
Should I justify why I structured my Methods Chapter the way I did by saying that such structure was recommended by Creswell?
For example, I may say that Creswell suggested that this section should be included in the research design.
I live in a developing country. My institution has no specific style guide. They underestimate undergraduate research, but I cannot wait for my supervisor to tell me what to do as long as my sources are authoritative.
Here is a link of a summary of the book.
I cannot consult my supervisor at the moment nor wait or state why here.
Thank you
# Answer
If I take your question correctly, it sounds as if you don't know whether to refer to the styleguide that informed you to structure your thesis in a certain way. So, in your introduction, you have a section such as:
> The next chapter of this thesis describes the background literature. Chapter 3 outlines the methodology and so on. Chapter 4 presents the experimental design, whatever … Finally, chapter 7 concludes and provides further possibilities for research. **This structure is suggested by Cresswell (19xx)**
If that's what you're thinking, then I would say no; don't reference the styleguide that you based your thesis structure on. Just like you wouldn't cite, for instance, the AP styleguide for your spelling conventions.
> 2 votes
# Answer
A style guide isn't really an authority for this, even if you're following its advice. Structure should be designed help the reader understand your overall argument, the paths you took through the literature etc. So your explanation of why the work is structured in a particular way should be aimed at that set of decisions (constructing clarity to serve their reading) being made explicit to the reader.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: citations, thesis, methodology
--- |
thread-18235 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18235 | What costs should be covered when inviting a university professor from another country to attend your university? | 2014-03-17T10:40:53.223 | # Question
Title: What costs should be covered when inviting a university professor from another country to attend your university?
What costs should be covered when inviting a university professor from another country to visit your university?
For example, imagine you wanted to invite a university professor from Harvard to a European university.
# Answer
> 26 votes
I don't think this question has any absolute answer. This depends on the professor (a "famous" speaker for a large public event will be a different issue than a "regular" professor that comes to give a talk for the students and faculty of the university), the host institution (a professor might be happy to go and give a talk at ETH Zurich, and maybe less so to travel to an unknown university), how long the trip is, and whether there are some pre-existing relations (i.e., whether the inviting professor is already friends with or at least an academic acquaintance of the speaker).
Minimally, it is standard that **all costs of the speaker are covered**, including (sometimes) business class airfare and a nice hotel for the duration of the trip. If the invited talk happens as part of a conference, the conference fee or entry should be waived for the speaker. Further, it is customary at least in my field to give the speaker a small (local) present, such as a bottle of good regional wine, as a sign of appreciation directly after the talk.
Whether the speaker asks for money on top of this depends on all the things above, but this seems to be relatively unusual in my field. The only persons that actually get paid in money to come and give a talk are well-known public figures, like Tim Berners-Lee. I have recently had the honour to listen to a talk of Don Knuth, and rumor has it that not even Knuth was asking for direct payment.
---
Tags: professorship
--- |
thread-18234 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18234 | mentioning my country situation in motivation letter to demonstrate dedication for learning | 2014-03-17T10:22:38.910 | # Question
Title: mentioning my country situation in motivation letter to demonstrate dedication for learning
I'm located in Syria and I'm writing a motivation letter to be used in applications for master of computer science scholarships. Would it be useful to mention how I managed to succeed with my studies despite all the awful things that happened in my country and my city ?
# Answer
Yes, you should mention these issues. Your situation is unusual, and it's helpful if the application puts everything in context for the admissions committee. I don't know whether it will help your chances of admission, but if there are deficiencies in your application it might explain why you could not fix them, and in any case it certainly won't hurt your chances.
> 14 votes
---
Tags: application, funding, motivation
--- |
thread-18221 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18221 | Submitting paper to arXiv as an undergrad | 2014-03-16T21:12:32.603 | # Question
Title: Submitting paper to arXiv as an undergrad
I wrote a rather extensive research project for one of my courses, and would like to submit it to arXiv. But, I am not entirely sure about the copyright/other issues behind it. Is it acceptable for a student to submit their term papers online, and in doing so can I, as an undergrad, claim affiliation to my university?
# Answer
I will leave the question of whether or not you *should* submit the paper to arXiv versus another venue for discussion elsewhere. However, I do agree with the comment that you should talk with the professor who gave you the assignment about your plans, as he or she may have constructive criticism for you.
In general, if your work represents an original contribution, and you feel comfortable with sharing it with the public, then yes, you can go ahead and submit it to arXiv. You should note, however, that in a number of fields, papers cannot be submitted until you have been *endorsed*—that is, recognized as a valid submitter by someone who has already themselves submitted a number of papers in that area. If the professor of the course is someone who can endorse you, then that should be sufficient.
> 1 votes
# Answer
It is acceptable for an undergraduate student to publish. However, please consult it with someone in the field (to make it a decent publication - both in terms of its content and form).
Copyright/authorship - it should be not an issue (unless it contains notes from the course or something). In case of doubt - ask your lecturer/TA.
Affiliation is a bit more tricky (especially if your program is not directly linked to a research department, or - is linked to many). Two typical choices are: one related to your program or one directly related to this course.
In many cases, the university will be happy to have one more publication with their affiliation (or won't care). In some, there are some strict rules when you can add their affiliation (e.g. you need approval of a prof.).
> 0 votes
---
Tags: research-process, research-undergraduate, arxiv
--- |
thread-18236 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18236 | what steps to take when research result is patentable | 2014-03-17T11:19:23.047 | # Question
Title: what steps to take when research result is patentable
I'm working on a nearly completed paper in CS. It deals with a memory module design, which, apart from being a novel idea, turned out to be of potentially commercial value. Now I was thinking of patenting it, of course, I doubt I will be able to make its commercial development a priority of mine until at least I finish my PhD (relatively soon) and find some "solid ground" in academia (I have some job offers, but can't specify any amount of time). However, I am under the impression that this should not prevent me from protecting my work. As I am quite inexperienced with it, I must also ask if I'm having the right conception and approach to patenting here? What is the procedure of patenting an idea that is to be published in a journal? Are there any consequences?
# Answer
> 1 votes
I was recently speaking with a colleague of mine who had done a lot of work in the IP area. The comment I received was that it took a *lot* of time from initial idea to the awarding of a patent—typically about three years and potentially lots of money (thousands of dollars or euros, depending on the filing location).
Depending on your local laws, you may be able to use your manuscript as part of the *provisional* patent application (an initial filing to the relevant patent office saying "we're going to file a real application soon"). However, as EnergyNumbers has suggested in a comment—you **must** contact someone with knowledge of **local** patent laws, as the rules vary greatly between countries. If your university has such an office (check with their grants and funding office for suggestions about whom you should talk to), this will save you the expense of hiring a patent attorney.
# Answer
> 2 votes
If what you have is potentially patentable **do not publish any critical element before filing the patent application** or you risk losing eligibility due to existence of prior art (even if it is yours!).
Be aware that your university may claim ownership of the IP since it concerns ideas that you got in the context of a project while they were paying you (my university would claim partial ownership). This need not be a problem, as this also means they get to pay the piper. This is not necessarily an issue since, if your name is on the patent, you are entitled to a slice of the cake.
You should really talk to patent experts. Your university probably has them. Most universities have a dedicated tech transfer office (TTO) which handles patents, spin-offs and industrial collaboration. They have the expertise to guide you in such endeavours.
---
Tags: journals, computer-science, patents
--- |
thread-18251 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18251 | Should the editor share the names / institution information of authors with the reviewers | 2014-03-17T18:53:53.180 | # Question
Title: Should the editor share the names / institution information of authors with the reviewers
For most journals, the reviewer is aware of the names and the institution that the paper is coming from. IMO, if the paper is from a top institution, the reviewer might judge it differently than the same quality of paper coming from a low tier institute (not always the case, but there is a chance). Also, a reviewer might not be fully non biased if the paper is from one of the groups that he / she thinks is a competing group.
The simple way to get around this bias is to anonymize the source of the paper before its sent for peer review.
Why don't editors do that. Why isn't this model widely used?
# Answer
> 8 votes
This is called double-blind review. It is common in some fields, though I seem to see it more in conferences than journals.
There are a bunch of issues with *double-blind* review, next to the obvious overhead:
* It prevents uploading preprints, since authors risk revealing their identity. This can be a problem in fields with long review times like maths since results would be kept silent longer.
* If a paper is accompanied by software, how can it be licensed?
* It doesn't always work, particularly when working in niches with few active researchers. Sometimes you can guess the author with reasonable accuracy based on the content and style of a paper. Some people even manage to guess the reviewer based on feedback.
Some take it even one step further to go for *triple-blind* review, in which:
1. The authors do not know the reviewers' identities.
2. The reviewers do not know the authors' identities.
3. The person that selects reviewers does not know the identities of the authors.
<sub>I would like to take this opportunity to suggest *quadruple-blind* review, which is triple-blind review in which the reviewers do not get to see the manuscript. To ensure anonymity, of course. You heard it here first!</sub>
# Answer
> 3 votes
One word: tradition. Both ways have both advantages and disadvantages. anonymity carries with it the possibility to pass social barriers for what is objective scrutiny of a paper. This has become obvious in some journals that allow open anonymous discussion of submitted papers. Being known (both as author and reviewer) adds social control. On the other hand, anonymity allows a reviewer to express criticism that he/she would not dare to do openly because of, for example, hierarchical reasons. In some (smaller) fields anonymity is easily seen through. The lists can e made much longer.
In your question, the role of the editor as a mediator and evaluator is not touched upon. An editor knows both names of authors and reviewers and should make sure that the review process is fair from both sides. Anonymity does not contribute in this sense.
As a reviewer, one also has the possibility to decline a review if one has qualms about the job. If you feel you need to withhold criticism because of the name of the author, then maybe you are not well suited for the review. In the traditional system you have the possibility of remaining anonymous although my personal opinion is that openness is better. I always feel I can take comments better if I know who they come from. I can evaluate if they are due to issues with language or a resear group with conflicting views etc.
---
Tags: journals, peer-review, editors, anonymity
--- |
thread-18258 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18258 | Should we translate non-english university names? | 2014-03-17T22:32:35.570 | # Question
Title: Should we translate non-english university names?
In my country, several universities are prefixed by "Universidade Federal", which can be translated to "Federal University" (e.g., "Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro" to "Federal University of Rio de Janeiro"). When publishing a paper, should we translate this part of the name?
This is a obscure topic; I have some teachers that use "Federal University" and others that use "Universidade Federal". Once I heard that it is better to keep the original name of the university because it helps to keep its identity. However, even translated, it still is very easy to find. If you Google for both names, they will come up in the first positions of the ranking.
Should we translate or keep unstranslated?
# Answer
> 32 votes
The first thing to do is to check if the university has any recommendations about this. If none exist, then the second aspect is to consider if the university is well known under one or another form of the name. The purpose of providing an affiliation and proper address is for the sake of communication. Before e-mail and Internet, most correspondence went by post so a proper address was very important. Now e-mail is used, which means the affiliation is mostly to identify the author and the author's affiliation. Web sites are usually bilingual so finding the university or department is possible in both English and the native language. Most will probably use the English translation because it makes most sense if the remainder of the paper is in English. A point to make is that if one uses the native language for affiliation etc. then problems will arise for those not familiar with, for example, Cyrillic, Chinese or Japanese. So it seems the best way to communicate affiliation/address is to use English translations that are hopefully officially accepted by the university.
# Answer
> 21 votes
I think that most English speakers will recognise that `"Universidade"` means `"University"`, especially in an academic context, so there's no need to translate the term. On the other hand, if you were referring to something less obvious to English-speakers, like `고려대학교`, I'd add `"(Korea University)"`.
---
Tags: university, affiliation, translations
--- |
thread-18127 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18127 | What citation style is this? It has numeric reference, title in quotes, "Last, F.F." name style | 2014-03-14T05:40:09.133 | # Question
Title: What citation style is this? It has numeric reference, title in quotes, "Last, F.F." name style
A style I'm required to follow, unfortunately unnamed:
> \[1\] Last, G.L., Loo, B.F., Mooo, C.C., “My wonderful title” Int. J. Heat Mass Transf., 32(19-21), pp. 234-245, (2001).
>
> \[2\] Moobar, A.D. and Been, D., Book about pink ponies, New York: Wonderful publisher, pp. 34–41, (2003).
Features....
* numeric numbering in \[\]s
* *First, L.L.* name style
* article title in quotes
* year in braces at the end
The closest I could find is MLA Seventh edition, but it never does numeric references.
---
To answer some suggestions below: I didn't find a style file with the publisher. And no clear style description exists, other than the examples provided. (There is a few more, but the features I listed are the main thing in common.)
---
Again more information: http://spie.org/x14101.xml#Word is the instructions to follow. They provide an example MS Word file with manually typed citations. While I can use the LATEX file, I already have the paper in .DOC and need a citation style for that. So this is a question of its name.
# Answer
> 2 votes
The system of referencing using numbers is called the Vancouver system. As alluded to by aeismail in his comment, each journal has some form of style based on this format. Hence, you need to know how the specific journal style works in terms of ordering the different bibliographic fields, for example, author, title, publishing year, journal, volume number, page numbers, doi etc. If no clear style description exists you can try to adhere to the specific style by looking at other published articles that use the same style.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Try looking at: http://editor.citationstyles.org/searchByExample/. This website lets you search for a citation style by example, will provide details of styles that are a close match, and let you know how close they are. Hopefully you'll find the csl style you need. Then you can pop the style into Zotero or another referencing package that supports csl styles.
---
Tags: publications, writing, citations
--- |
thread-18245 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18245 | How to reply to reviewers on an unintentional wrong proof in my research paper? | 2014-03-17T14:49:56.610 | # Question
Title: How to reply to reviewers on an unintentional wrong proof in my research paper?
I submitted a research paper and the reply has come back. The reviewers are positive overall, but one of them pointed out a flaw in one of my proofs. This happened because I made a wrong assumption regarding the proof. Now I have found a way to get around this and have a better proof. How do I present that my previous proof was wrong, the reviewer was right in saying so, and that now I have a better one?
# Answer
If the reviewers and subsequently the editor does not consider the error enough to warrant rejection, you should simply make the changes necessary and submit the revised manuscript according to instructions. Since the reviewers spotted the errors you should acknowledge their helpful comments (unless this is not the custom in the field for some reason).
It seems to me that you may be lucky to get the chance to revise the manuscript since the type of error you describe, I would think, would likely lead to rejection. But, with a favourable verdict you just revise the manuscript and return it as per instructions.
> 24 votes
# Answer
Just fix the proof. Especially if you feel that the reviewer gave helpful suggestions about *how* to fix the proof (beyond just pointing out that the original version was wrong), you could consider adding an Acknowledgments section thanking the anonymous referee for pointing out the error in the original proof of Theorem X and/or their suggestions of how to fix it.
You don't need to apologize for your mistakes, either in the paper or your reply to the referees' comments. In your reply, you should of course acknowledge the error, thank the referee for pointing it out and say that you've fixed the problem.
> 10 votes
---
Tags: publications, peer-review
--- |
thread-17228 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17228 | How to find case studies for your dissertation | 2014-02-21T02:37:07.690 | # Question
Title: How to find case studies for your dissertation
I just wanted to know possible methods of finding some good case studies for a dissertation. I was asked to keep my question generic. I am doing a 1 year MA in Development Studies, specifically I want to look at Social Entrepreneurship. However, if one can tell how to find case studies on any topic, that would be helpful, Thanks.
# Answer
The Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship(CASE), research and education center based at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, has a number of case studies here
This article also was the first result in google scholar when searched.
Finally this book *Case Studies in Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability* might be an option.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: thesis
--- |
thread-18271 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18271 | Where can I find referral for my post-graduate application? | 2014-03-18T09:28:04.170 | # Question
Title: Where can I find referral for my post-graduate application?
I'm currently in the midst applying to do my Master's degree in a university in UK. It is a distance learning course and I am a full-time working professional. The application requires me to name 2 referee and they should be someone who knows me in an academic or professional role.
I am feeling a wee bit uncomfortable to let my supervisor and boss know that I am intending to pursue Master's degree due to the fact that they value productivity more than academic qualification.
Furthermore, I was somewhat an 'inactive' student while doing Bachelor's degree. I've never participated in any organization or published any publications.
As such, is there any avenue where I can find professional referee who will be willing to look at my application and endorse my application?
# Answer
> As such, is there any avenue where I can find professional referee who will be willing to look at my application and endorse my application?
It can't just be based on the application, since the purpose is to provide additional information and personal impressions. It's possible in principle to hire someone, but it's a bad idea in practice. I see it on rare occasions in the U.S., maybe once a year or so. Someone will have a letter of recommendation from an "educational counselor" or the like, who was hired to advise them on their graduate school applications. These letters are almost entirely useless. There's only so much information they could provide in principle (since the letter writer has no special expertise in the subject area and doesn't know the applicant particularly well), and the little they could say isn't particularly trustworthy due to the financial conflict of interest (they are hired to get people into graduate school, not to provide an unbiased evaluation).
As ff524 pointed out in a comment, you can ask colleagues other than your supervisor. This is not quite as good as your supervisor, since they are not in as good a position to evaluate your work (and the admissions committee will assume that you asked your friends), but it's better than nothing and might be good enough.
Another possibility for getting an academic letter is to take a single class now, as a special student rather than enrolling in a degree program, and to ask the professor for a letter once you have impressed them with your class performance. However, this could be time-consuming or expensive, and there might not be any suitable classes available to you.
> 3 votes
---
Tags: graduate-admissions, application
--- |
thread-17879 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17879 | What are the major informal obstacles students face when they go abroad for a research degree? | 2014-03-07T06:51:28.393 | # Question
Title: What are the major informal obstacles students face when they go abroad for a research degree?
I have a completely introverted personality. I am seriously struggling with interpersonal relationships with my colleagues, to a point that I am actually at the brink of quitting my job. If I go abroad for a research degree, would there be any problem that may jeopardize my endeavor? My family is constantly warning me against leaving the current job and going abroad for a higher degree; they say that I will surely return without completing my course as soon as I face any rudeness, animosity, or harshness, be it from the adviser or the environment.
A relative of mine in the USA has told me that she has been experiencing harsh behaviors from her PhD adviser due to her religion. One of my cousins in France has complained that he can never get any attention from his instructors because of his ethnicity. He is in service with UN.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I looked at your other questions, which were quite enlightening. Given that you had already publicly revealed other relevant facts about yourself, e.g. How will a "local" master's in CSE look when I apply for a Graduate funding in the USA?, I don't know why you didn't include them in your question. Any such details are highly pertinent, and would help people give better and more "customized" answers.
To summarize from your previous question, you are 32, live in Bangladesh, have an IT background, work in a bank, and are afraid your job is taking you nowhere.
I'm Indian, and left India to study in both the UK and the US, at different times. So my background is not so dissimilar, and I can relate to some extent. However, the fact remains that your question is so broad that it is difficult to give useful information without knowing you.
Given that you are from Bangladesh, I'm guessing that part of your interest in further studies abroad is to get away from Bangladesh. Also, there are presumably not that many routes out of Bangladesh besides being a student. If so, I sympathize. However, from your previous question it sounds like you were planning to get a degree locally before going abroad. If so, it sounds like your question might be premature. If you aren't currently associated with a university or do not already have a relevant higher degree, then going abroad as a student would be very difficult. Are you still planning to enroll in a local Master's program? Or have you decided to go for a Master's degree abroad?
The answer by shane, I think, covers some of the issues you will probably run into as an Asian student in the West. How good or bad a situation you find it depends on a complex set of factors including:
1. Your area of study
2. Your university and location
3. The local community from your area/country. (Assuming you get on well with people from your background)
4. How successful you are at your subject
5. What kind of advisor you end up with
6. How much you dislike your native country. If you really dislike it, you may have an easier time adjusting to a foreign culture.
If you happen to be from a very "sheltered" background, which is not uncommon in traditional Asian cultures, then living away from your family and culture could be good for you. In many ways the West (which it seems you are contemplating) is much more open culturally then a place like Bangladesh. However, how you respond will be up to you. You may find it frightening rather than empowering.
In my case, I was from a sheltered background, and had a difficult time. Grad education is a rough business, and study abroad is not for the faint-hearted. However, I can say that I do not regret it at all. It was (I think) very good for me. I learned to be much more confident and independent. I am now quite a different person than the person I would have been if I never left India.
Having said that, as shane says, grad school isn't the ideal way to go about self-improvement, if you have a choice. Of course, as I have observed above, you may not have a choice.
# Answer
> 5 votes
It is not going to magically solve your problems. You will undoubtedly face similar issues. People outside often think that Academia is the life of the mind and the ivory tower. It is not. A successful career, including tenure, often depends on how well you interact with your fellow academicians never mind your students.
Being an introvert can be very difficult. You can take this opportunity to re-invent yourself. You'll never not be an introvert but you can work on skills to minimize its impact on your life and career. Search out some books on the subject (there have been some popular ones published recently like Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking).
Very carefully consider who your advisor will be. You don't need the prima donna, but someone with whom you can work with successfully.
Join Toastmasters or a similar organization where you are now or where you end up. Look for social, cultural, or technical organizations for your interests--and get involved. That may help you find connections and friends who can help you when the going gets tough.
You might also look into counseling, not to become extroverted, but to learn techniques to mitigate your introversion.
On a personal note: go for it! I'm introvert who's fine with friends. I'm a SME (subject matter expert) so knowing my stuff makes it much easier for me to speak up in a meeting, raise my hand in class (when I was in class), and so on. Don't let imposter syndrome get you either.
# Answer
> 5 votes
I am an american who studied in europe for several years. Here are some things I think you might want to consider.
* It is always difficult to move to a new cultural environment. If you already find social situations difficult, then these difficulties are likely to intensify in a new setting. You will have to communicate primarily in a foreign language, you will have to learn a new set of customs and manners, and you will have to make all new friends in your host country. This can be hard, depending on the country. In my experience Americans are usually quicker to befriend foreigners than Europeans.
* Think about where you want to live. If you want to live in america, then maybe doing a Ph.D. in American isn't a bad idea. In general though it is hard for people who do their degree in one country to get a job in another country, unless the degree is from somewhere really famous like Harvard or Oxford. (See my post here for an explanation why.
* Dealing with academic advisors is really difficult, even for people with excellent social skills. This is a subject that deserves its own separate consideration. Your advisor will have a lot of control over your future career and this fact can sometimes make one be overly deferential. Some advisors use their power over their students in bad ways. It is very common for advisors simply not to do their jobs. It is also possible for your advisor to steal your research, although this is less common. The proper way to deal with your advisor is as a senior colleague who is paid to help you. You want to approach him or her with reasonable questions, and you want to insist on frequent meetings to discuss your work. You need to be comfortable making these kind of demands, even if you aren't the person in charge, otherwise you run the risk of a bad advisor taking advantage of you. This is true outside the academy too, but it remains a real factor even in universities.
* Do not go into debt to do a graduate degree. It's almost always a horrible return on investment.
* Scrutinize your motives. Why do you really want to do this? Do you really have a burning research question that you want to answer? It doesn't sound like it. It sounds like you are in a bad situation and want a lifeboat to take you somewhere else and try something new. If that is your mindset, I strongly encourage you to reconsider graduate education. Graduate school is a very difficult environment, and when you get to the point of academic hiring it becomes absolutely viciously competitive. Graduate school isn't a good way to find yourself, or explore and adventure in a foreign country--it's professional training for a very difficult, very stressful job that doesn't tend to pay very well. If you don't love the material itself, you probably won't last.
I wish you the very best!
# Answer
> 0 votes
It is just not true that your problems always return back to you wherever you go. I have seen people who feel lots better after they have changed the position. For instance, if the laboratory used to focus on exhausted topic or gets much less funding than before, unable to continue existing projects, or the new supervisor is trying to push some weird concepts, it may be very difficult climate that is not your fault at all.
From the question looks at least you are self-critical enough. Try to be careful at the new job, remember lessons you think you have learned and do not repeat the mistakes. Take this into consideration and **go**.
---
Tags: international-students
--- |
thread-18286 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18286 | Should sections of a chapter have introductions and conclusions? | 2014-03-18T18:09:05.013 | # Question
Title: Should sections of a chapter have introductions and conclusions?
Consider the following situation: The review of the literature chapter has seven sections: the first one is for the introduction, the five medial are for different themes, the last one for the conclusion.
In writing the five medial sections, should I write an introduction and conclusion for each or just paragraphs discussing certain points?
# Answer
Everything that you write should be justified by the goals of the document. Introductions, conclusions and "linking" material between sections are written in order to support your overall argument (for example, by summarizing higher-level ideas) or to assist the reader (for example, by letting them know something about what they are about to read). So you need to think about the needs of each part of your document, and how the whole thing fits together, to discover where introductions and conclusions ought to be placed.
Introductory material does not need to be very long, and it does not need to occupy its own section. Within a chapter, it's perfectly fine to have a short introductory passage before the first numbered section. For smaller divisions of your document, it's likely that you don't need to say very much in the way of introduction. When you find yourself writing an introductory sentence that doesn't add anything to the section heading, you are better off just omitting that sentence.
Readers can be served by short "hints" at the beginning or end of a section, that explain how the topics are linked together. This sort of thing lets you move more smoothly from one topic to another, and makes your overall argument more coherent. Without using many words, you can let readers know whether the new topic is:
* A later counterargument to the material in the previous section.
* A supporting argument from a different perspective.
* An additional example of the same thing we have just seen.
* Superficially different, but actually the same underneath.
* etc.
This is much better than having a template introductory sentence that just says "This section is about ..." without giving any indication how the section fits in to the overall structure.
Conclusions are the same: for a short section, there's no need to sum up what's just been said. That doesn't add anything. In particular, for a literature review chapter, you are likely to be better off having a general conclusion to the chapter (if there is a conclusion at all), rather than a separate conclusion in each section.
> 8 votes
---
Tags: writing, thesis, research-undergraduate
--- |
thread-18278 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18278 | lecturing one subject with other lecturer's material | 2014-03-18T14:38:14.423 | # Question
Title: lecturing one subject with other lecturer's material
I have been appointed to teach one course in Artificial Intelligence in one university. The reason was that the main lecturer is involved in other duties and for that reason he could not teach one group (there are two groups actually). The thing is that this lecturer has given me all the material: slides, exercises, exams, practices, final project and so on; and he told me explicitly to follow that material.
I have been always a big fan of the freedom of teaching. I mean I believe that if two different lecturers teach course X; then it would be better if they can get two different approaches for the same topics. The Faculty academic coordinator has told me that I must follow the material exactly, because the examinations would be the same for both groups.
I wonder what to do in this situation? I am keen to take published material as a reference for a course, but not to follow all the material exactly from the other lecturer like if I were some sort of "academic monkey" (that only mimics what the other has made). I really feel frustrated about this situation and I do not know what to do.
Usually when I have gotten into this situation, in which I had to drop one group and that group has been assigned to another lecturer. I have given him/her full freedom, and only we gather around for making the practices and exams together. I really believe that is the correct way to do this things.
Any advice?
PD Some clarification points:
* The other lecturer and myself be both have the same rank, I mean we both are lecturers, only difference is that the other lecturer has taught the course before and that is why he was appointed coordinator of only that course.
* In academic ranks, I got more academic background in CS (two master's already done); in the other hand he is a die hard programmer programmer that has participated in programming contests, but that's it. He has only a bachelor in Information Systems.
* The material handed to me is simple, but it gets to my nerves that I must stick completely to it. I mean if a student is well prepared and every teacher follows the syllabic contents; then at the end it does not matter who made the final examinations. The student should be prepare for everything (except that the course is about, for example a Java certification, and I do not teach Java, but C). The point is that is a CS related course, and for that it should relies more in the algorithmic part that on some tricky-twisty programming stuff that tough programmers know.
# Answer
In Academia there is always a lot of egos involved. Do not take it personal and let your ego get in the way. As you admit, you are not the main lecturer. He is. He prepared the slides, exercises, exams, practices, final project and so on. Excellent. Less work / stress for you. It is not your time to shine. In any job (academia or not) you must learn how to play "second fiddle" if needed. And this is one of these times.
On the other hand, teaching is much more than the slides, exercises, final project or exams. It is the teacher's personality, how he is in sync with the classroom needs, how to make the students participate in the course and how to make the lesson an unforgettable experience. You can and must try to do all these, regardless of the slides you use. So you can still make all the students want to watch your lecture (instead of his) if that is what it takes to boost your ego. Although it clearly is not a competition. It is just a job. So, do it as best as you can with the tools you are given. It is really that simple.
**Update**.
From the comments I see, there is too much focus on "No-one should tell how to teach...". But this is not really the point. If professor B was supposed to teach both lectures and due to a newly assigned duty he cannot, would not that be impolite / inconsiderate for the new professor (Layla) not to give her (at least) the materials and slides he uses? If someone steps in for me, I would most certainly do all the necessary work for my coleague to have the most seamless transition by alleviating some of the stress /work for preparing lectures / slides, exercises. And if I was the subsitute I would appreciate this offer. Why must egos be involved in such a process and why should anyone not accept the offer given? If this situation continues for the next semester - year, Layla should have a saying on how the lecture should be done. But for this year I do not see the point in making too much fuss over it.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Honestly, I think your role in this situation is precisely to be an "academic monkey". The other lecturer presumably wanted to teach both groups so that both would have access to his particular teaching style, including his expertise regarding what topics are most important and how to explain them. But he could not do so because he was too busy. So he does the next best thing: he brings in another lecturer, i.e. you, with the expectation that you will give the students a similar experience to what he would have given them. Make no mistake, emulating another lecturer's style is not an easy task, and the fact that he wants you to stick to his prepared materials does not reflect a lack of faith in your abilities (just in case you were thinking that).
In general, when there are different lecturers teaching different, disjoint sets of students, I think the benefit of having different lecturing styles is largely negated. After all, the main reason to have different styles of teaching is that different styles appeal to different people, and a concept that an individual student misses from one style, they may pick up from another. That only works if the students attend multiple lectures with different instructors. (Or if you manage to sort students by their learning styles and match up each one with the instructor that best suits them, but that is very difficult.) And in this case, if the main lecturer will be preparing the exam(s), it seems natural that he will do so according to his own teaching style, which means students who were not exposed to his style will be at a disadvantage. So it's really in the best interest of your students for you to emulate his style as closely as possible, which means using his materials and structure.
---
To be clear, this answer and my first paragraph in particular is intended for the situation where the other lecturer is in charge of the course and, in your capacity as a lecturer of the course, you are acting as his direct subordinate. If that's not the case, my answer doesn't apply.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: teaching, lecturer
--- |
thread-18261 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18261 | How to tell a faculty member that I don't need him on my thesis committee anymore? | 2014-03-17T22:49:06.330 | # Question
Title: How to tell a faculty member that I don't need him on my thesis committee anymore?
Out of five needed members for my doctoral thesis committee, four are fixed. For the fifth member, I approached Mr.A. He has no real connection to my research or topic but I contacted him because he was just as good a fit as anybody else in the department to be the fifth member. I have never worked with him or taken any classes but we did talk a lot in the first few years where he would just ask about my progress by the copy machine, etc. We don't even have a "rapport". The relationship is absolutely neutral, nothing positive/friendly, and nothing negative. I asked him to be on my committee and he said yes. I said I'll get back to you with dates, etc. He is a senior tenured professor.
Then about a month later, I was looking at the CV of some of the new hired (junior) faculty in the department Mr.B (this is his first year) and I see that we have a collaborator in common. Mr.B has published multiple papers with him and Mr.B is working with the same code and the code managing team that we are working with. He is definitely a good person to have on my committee. I finally see Mr.B after a few more months (because of busy schedule/travel/etc.) and he agrees to be on my committee.
The question is, how can I tell Mr.A, as tactfully as possible, after about four months of being quiet that he is basically rejected from my committee because I didn't know about Mr.B but now that I know, Mr.B is a much better match than he is? That I don't need him but I do appreciate his offer? I don't want to antagonize Mr.A or burn any bridges. Should this be in email or in person? Should I explain or just keep it terse? Should I keep it vague that I don't need him and thanks for his time? Or should I tell him about Mr.B and why he is a better match?
FYI, this was before anything official/paperwork was done so there is no problem with that.
# Answer
I think you're making a bigger deal about this than necessary. You enlisted Professor A to serve on your committee because you needed a fifth man, not because of any close research connection. More recently, but still before signing any paperwork, you found Professor B, who does have a close research connection.
Just tell Professor A that! Problem solved. You don't have to dither about how to present this information: send it in an email or send it in person. The information of the previous paragraph is sufficient: you don't need to dwell on your connection with Professor A as much as you did in your question. (But by the way: asking about your progress at the copy machine is what I would call "friendly". At least he knows who you are and something about your progress in the program, and he cares enough to ask about it sometimes. That puts him ahead of the curve in many academic departments at many universities.)
What you do not seem to realize is that if Professor A has no close connection with your work, it is overwhelmingly likely that he was being friendly indeed by volunteering to serve on your committee anyway, and he'll be equally happy or, more probably, a little happier not to serve. Since he is a senior tenured professor he has lots of stuff to do. Serving as the fifth man on a student's committee is not nearly such a prestige job that his layoff needs to be sugarcoated. He'll understand, and he'll be especially happy that someone with more relevant expertise will be taking his place.
> 31 votes
# Answer
You can present it as a positive development that effectively does him a favor. For example, "I'm writing to keep you up to date on my thesis committee. I've recently discovered that one of the new junior faculty, Dr. B, is an ideal fit for my research interests, and I was hoping to add him to the committee. I realize you are very busy, so I thought it could make sense to replace you with him before filing the official paperwork. Does that sound reasonable to you? Thanks again for your willingness to serve on the committee."
I can't imagine he'll object to being replaced. If for some reason he really wants to be on the committee, you could always try to set up a six-person committee.
> 16 votes
# Answer
I did this about a year ago when I changed research tracks and advisers.
I explained the situation to Mr. C, who was on my committee and a relatively good fit about Mrs. D, who was a much better fit with my changed research trajectory. It was no problem at all.
Usually, it will not be much of a problem.
> 5 votes
# Answer
There is usually no maximum number of committee members. Rather than removing the extra committee member, I would suggest informing him that he is welcome to continue serving on your committee, but that if he wishes to quit he may do so without causing you any problems.
> 4 votes
---
Tags: phd, professorship, advisor, email
--- |
thread-16885 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16885 | How to prepare for a meeting regarding a Ph.D. program I'm wait listed on? | 2014-02-12T22:28:56.387 | # Question
Title: How to prepare for a meeting regarding a Ph.D. program I'm wait listed on?
I am on the waiting list for a Ph.D. program I applied to. I sent an email indicating that the program in question is my top choice and that I am interested in discussing my qualifications.
In reply I received an email asking whom I see as potential advisors.
The reply also indicated that the department is looking in to some of the issues I discussed in my application, and that there are multiple things to consider including how well research interests match, funding and time constraints.
I've set up a meeting with the person to discuss these topics. I've already updated my list of potential advisors, but there was not sufficient time to contact them.
**How should I prepare for this meeting?**
# Answer
> 4 votes
For each faculty member you would be willing to accept as an advisor, know at the abstract level what their recent papers are about. Search for grants they just received to determine what areas they may be hiring in.
In the meeting, express enthusiasm for all of these subjects and describe how your background prepares you to work on them.
It sounds like this department has space in only one or a few research groups. You have no way of knowing which group(s) that is. If you want to get in, you should market yourself as suitable for as many groups as you can. It is normal for the openings available to vary by chance and for you to have no information about it; much is left to chance in graduate admissions.
---
Tags: phd, graduate-school, graduate-admissions, application, preparation
--- |
thread-18312 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18312 | Invited paper: who has to be the first author? | 2014-03-19T10:22:12.353 | # Question
Title: Invited paper: who has to be the first author?
My supervisor received an invitation to submit a paper to a special issue of a prestigious journal. Naturally, I have done most of the writing (80%) and all the results in the manuscript are my work.
In this case, who has to be the first author? Is it him, for he is the one invited to submit the paper? Or is it me for doing most of the work?
# Answer
If a person receives an invitation, the responsibility to deliver will be with that person. That does not necessarily mean that person will be first author although I suspect it will most frequently be the case. There are many posts on academia.se that deal with first authorships so I do not think I need to replicate many good answers here. Suffice it to say that you need to discuss the authorship with your advisor. Unfortunately, this should have been done early on because lack of an agreement on authorship ordering early on is what usually leads to conflicts in the end. I am not saying this applies in your case but the fact that you ask seems to go in that direction.
For authorship and contributorship discussions I can point you to two posts in Council of Science Editors and BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal). There are many other sources but they provide the core ideas on author/contributorship. It is easy to agree with these ideas, more difficult to live by them, particularly in a student-advisor relationship.
> 6 votes
---
Tags: publications, paper-submission, authorship, invited-paper
--- |
thread-18273 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18273 | When there are multiple ISBNs, which should be reported in a reference list? | 2014-03-18T12:25:27.577 | # Question
Title: When there are multiple ISBNs, which should be reported in a reference list?
Which ISBN number should I use in my literature list?
I have for example used a book about Design Patterns for my thesis. But I found that books have two ISBN numbers. Which is prefered to use?
This is an example from a book I used as reference:
```
Print ISBN:978-0-596-00712-6 | ISBN 10:0-596-00712-4
```
# Answer
> 4 votes
ISBN numbers for a specific book vary between countries/regions and is thus not altogether very useful in international publications. When referencing a book, it is not customary to list ISBN-numbers, partly for the reason just stated. Instead you should be able to find a doi (digital object identifier) number, at least if the book is relatively new. There is otherwise no general rules about including such numbers in reference lists. With books the fields that must (or at least should be included are author(s)/editor(s), year of publication, title, publisher and place for the publisher (City).
# Answer
> 2 votes
Many books have two ISBN numbers for each edition, and that's what's happening in the case you've cited. There are now two formats of ISBN, one with 13 digits and one with 10 digits. ISBN 10 is the older format. Since 2007, books have had both. The last digit in each case is the check(sum) digit, calculated from a hash of the previous digits.
The ISBN 13 is created from:
* the digits 978
* the first 9 digits of the ISBN 10 code
* the recalculated check digit
That's what's going on in your case, and you can cite either the ISBN-13 or the ISBN-10.
It's also the case that different editions of a book have different ISBNs. That's not what's going on in your case. But when that is the case, you use the ISBN of the exact edition you've been using: that way, the content and page numbers should tally up, for anyone who follows up your ISBN and page number citation to see the original in context.
---
Tags: research-process, thesis, citations
--- |
thread-18269 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18269 | It's been one month since the graduate advisor (also the POI) said will get back to me regarding my grad application, should I send a follow up email? | 2014-03-18T02:42:44.607 | # Question
Title: It's been one month since the graduate advisor (also the POI) said will get back to me regarding my grad application, should I send a follow up email?
It's been one month since the graduate advisor (also the POI) said will get back to me regarding my grad application, should I send a follow up email or should I just wait? He said in the last email that he is checking something for me and will get back to me as soon as possible, but it's towards the end of March, I am little nervous and worried. I don't want to sound too pushy and impatient since he already said he'll get back to me asap...should I still follow up? if yes, any advice to ask him about the status very politely?
# Answer
> 5 votes
> It's been one month since the graduate advisor (also the POI) said will get back to me regarding my grad application, should I send a follow up email?
Yes. They have probably forgotten about the correspondence.
> I don't want to sound too pushy and impatient since he already said he'll get back to me asap...should I still follow up? if yes, any advice to ask him about the status very politely?
Reply to his last mail with the same subject line (and correspondence below) and say something simple like:
```
Hi X,
I was wondering if there were any updates since we last spoke?
Thanks,
Y
```
# Answer
> 1 votes
He might have forgotten that, or the task is lagging in a big queue. The trick here and similar situations is to have something under development which you share with that person and each time you announce some progress in that, so in this way you remind him indirectly about your case. This can be a proposal, a statement of purpose, a paper, .... So you send an email announcing some small improvements in that shared thing.
If you do not have any such thing then think of something like a conference, a ... and send an email asking "Does this help for my graduate studies?" this is an indirect way of asking about your grad application.
---
Tags: graduate-school, graduate-admissions
--- |
thread-18300 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18300 | Are there any research careers except professorship for a person holding PhD in pure mathematics? | 2014-03-19T00:03:56.183 | # Question
Title: Are there any research careers except professorship for a person holding PhD in pure mathematics?
I'm interested in mathematical research, but want to know if there are good jobs besides being a professor. Are there any lucrative research-centric careers out there for someone with a PhD in pure mathematics?
# Answer
I can speak from personal experience. I have a math Ph.D. on a topic with absolutely no real world applications, I work in industry, and my job title is actually "Senior Research Expert". So yes, there are research careers in industry. And while I won't get rich off it, I can't complain about the remuneration.
*However*, (almost) nobody in industry will pay you for thinking about stuff, going to conferences and writing papers. My research is extremely applied, and I am very much constrained by a) what customers will pay for and b) what is feasible given our code base and software architecture. I simply can't go off on a tangent and argue that a particular algorithm is very elegant, if it is not implementable in a reasonable amount of time or nobody will buy it.
Depending on your Ph.D. topic, be prepared to change fields. I used to do something like discrete optimization - now I do statistics and time series analysis.
While I personally don't code (which the developers are very happy about), I work closely with the developers that actually turn what I thought up into software. Interpersonal skills and the ability to fit into a team and a software development process (Scrum) are much more important here than in academia.
Research mathematicians are rare, and few people understand what I do and why I'm paid. It took a long time and some very fortuitous circumstances for me to demonstrate that I do add value to the company, and I was lucky to keep my research job when my company was acquired - my new employer really doesn't have research positions as such, so I had to justify why I should keep my niche.
Finally, there are about five other originally pure mathematicians in the team I work with, two of them with Ph.D.s. None of them do anything that could be called "research". They develop software or do analytics.
Summarizing: yes, there are math research careers in industry. They are few and far between. Be prepared for an uphill battle, to change fields, to do what needs to be done.
> 35 votes
# Answer
I can speak from personal experience from my job market experience this year. This year I'm graduating with a PhD in math. I mainly applied in academia, but I sent out a feeler for some industry to see if I found things I liked and in case I didn't get a job (maybe 2-3 applications). I am in algebraic geometry, and nowhere near direct applications to applied math or at least the definition that the USA has for applied math.
I got an on-site interview for a really great research job in the Defense industry. There was a lot of activity in my department with people interviewing with quant jobs on or near Wall Street. One student in my class took a startup job in the Bay Area. I got a job early on in the market in academe that I fell in love with, so I took myself out of the running and withdrew all my applications from industry and academia alike at the end of January.
A month later, Google headhunted me.
If you do good work and learn how to communicate quantitative ideas, then a PhD in math can really help you achieve industry goals. I think it is important to keep in mind that not everyone will get an academic job and a lot has to do with luck. I would not do a PhD in math if earning potential is your plan. A lot of these opportunities prefer a computer science background and will pay better for it.
That being said, to answer your second question, no one really speaks to you regarding salary until you get the offer, but in my interactions, the floor for starting salary for industry seems to be somewhere around 75-80k for these moderately prestigious industry jobs, and the ceiling seems to be around 150k. Results may vary depending on location and how valuable they believe you to be.
> 14 votes
# Answer
If you're interested in the job market for mathematics Ph.D. in the United States, a good start would be to take a look at the "Data on the Profession" section on the AMS website (see here). The annual survey features data on the salary of recent Ph.D. graduates depending on their area of expertise and the kind of work they're doing.
One potential shortcoming of the data mentioned above is that the statistics do not mention anything specific about what "kinds" of jobs the recent Ph.D. holders have in industry. To find out more about this, I suspect a good Idea would be to visit the websites of math departments, find their recent Ph.D. graduates and figure out where they work now. Of course, the majority of them will probably have research/teaching jobs in Universities, but I suspect a fair amount will be working in the Industry.
If you have a lot of time on your hands, you can always look up people on the list containing every (or probably almost every) Ph.D graduate in math in the US from 1999 to 2011 (see here) and hope that some of them maintain a LinkedIn profile where they report where they work.
> 7 votes
---
Tags: phd, research-process, career-path, mathematics
--- |
thread-18321 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18321 | A PhD student without an adviser | 2014-03-19T15:38:13.363 | # Question
Title: A PhD student without an adviser
I joined "X" university (US) for my PhD to work with a specific adviser (Y). For 3 years, I prepared my background to work in Y's area (through education and research exp.). But now Y says that, "I am not sure if we can work together. I am not saying no but I can not say yes too."
During my admission process, Y told me that we can work together. And I made my decision based on this promise. Since everything worked out well, I did not feel the need to approach other faculty members from the department. But as a result, now, I am without an adviser. And Currently, my department is trying to patch me up in areas that are completely new to me.
This situation has forced me to start thinking about my options and I came across following queries,
a) should I graduate with a 2nd masters degree?
b) since I want to gain my PhD, do I need to explain my 2nd masters in my statement of purpose?
c) is 2nd masters going to raise red flags while being considered for the PhD admission in new university?
Any advice on (a), (b) & (c) will be really helpful. Thanks in advance.
# Answer
> 6 votes
> if Y had not intention of working with me then why did they accept me?
There are many ways to unpack this:
* maybe Y did want to work with you, and then things didn't work out: funding, or mutual incompatibility, or interest changes. Stuff happens
* Y could recommend you for admission as a competent student without feeling there was an implied guarantee that you'd work together. Maybe there are others in the department with similar interests.
As has been said on this forum many times, an advisor-advisee relationship is more two-way than one might think. There has to be a mutual fit otherwise even two perfectly reasonable people with mutual interests might not click.
---
Tags: phd, graduate-admissions, career-path, advisor
--- |
thread-18328 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18328 | How can I assess the quality of a paper outside my field? | 2014-03-19T19:02:38.550 | # Question
Title: How can I assess the quality of a paper outside my field?
As per the title, I would like to determine whether a paper cited by a student comes from a reputable source or not, **given that the paper's content lies outside my field**. My first thought was to check the journal's website, as well as doing a Google Scholar search to see whether papers in other reputable journals cite papers from this one.
The particular case I am concerned with is a Psychology paper, appearing in *AllPsych Journal* \[sic\]. All the journal's webpage says is that:
> The educational articles and papers published in AllPsych Journal are written by mental health professionals, psychology students, psychology instructors, and other authors outside the field of psychology. * They represent problems, solutions, and suggestions about everyday life and its relation to psychology. For submission consideration, please contact us via our feedback form.
This seems dubious to me, but nonetheless, a Google Scholar search suggests that some reputable looking publications have cited works appearing in this journal.
I suppose I have two questions then:
1. Are there any other techniques I can use to assess the quality of journals outside my field for this purpose. Ideally these should take relatively little time.
2. Is this specific journal considered reputable in psychology?
# Answer
> 17 votes
> This question concerns assessing the quality of papers *outside* one's field.
The question seems to be more leaning towards the quality of *journals* outside of one's field. Here's a brief list of pointers (some of which also appear in this question):
The last point is particularly important. Though it is easy to discover if a journal is excellent or terrible, in between those extremes, there's a lot of grey. For example, new journals may be much-needed and drawing quality work from quality people, but they won't have a high h-index or an impact factor, etc.
For those grey areas, talking to an expert who knows the field is important.
> AllPsych Journal
This doesn't seem to be a formal journal, but rather an informal way for authors to publish educational articles online. All papers are published on the web-site, there's no mention of an editorial board, a publisher, a means of submission, etc.
Of course, this says nothing of the quality/utility of the papers published there: just that it would probably not count in academic circles as a "traditional journal".
For the quality of a paper itself independent of the venue, check how many citations it has in Scholar versus it's age, check the nature of those citations, check the h-index and background of the authors, etc. (Of course these methods are only an approximation for reading it and making up your own mind as to its quality, but since it is outside your area ...)
# Answer
> 5 votes
@badroit already gave a very good answer on the general question.
As to the specific question about AllPsych: this is not a journal per se, it is only a website with submissions from different people run by one person, apparently without any peer review, see here. I would rate this as only marginally better than Wikipedia. Whether it is admissible as a source in a student paper could be treated the way you treat Wikipedia entries.
---
Tags: citations, disreputable-publishers, psychology
--- |
thread-18337 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18337 | Are Undergraduates allowed to collaborate with other students for their dissertation research? | 2014-03-20T01:36:43.223 | # Question
Title: Are Undergraduates allowed to collaborate with other students for their dissertation research?
I'm not sure if this is common practice or not, but much like how we see co-authorship in research papers, I was wondering if an undergrad would be allowed to collaborate with other students (possibly from other institutions) for their research project?
# Answer
> 4 votes
**Yes !**
Undergraduates are definitely allowed to collaborate with other students (undergraduate/graduate) for their senior thesis/research project/dissertation etc.
Of course, the degree to which they can successfully collaborate depends on many things including their faculty adviser.
For instance, as an undergraduate I collaborated with students from Civil Engineering/Construction Management and used some of the results we obtained in my undergraduate thesis.
Currently, I am a doctoral candidate and I have worked with undergraduates in the past whose thesis has sprouted from the results of our active collaboration in a project.
---
Tags: research-process, undergraduate, collaboration
--- |
thread-3232 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/3232 | How do I use/add first name (or forename) in citation? | 2012-09-16T18:03:27.140 | # Question
Title: How do I use/add first name (or forename) in citation?
I like to use first names (or forename) to cite the work of others. It has become even more relevent when I found that somebody working in my field shares my initial and surname.
However, this is not the most common practice and in many cases, I do not know the forenames of the people I would like to cite.
Do you know of any pratical way to find these information ?
I usually resort to Google and Google Scholar search but that does not always solve the issue and can be time consuming (considering it is a detail).
# Answer
I also prefer to cite people by their full professional name whenever possible. Unfortunately, the only reliable way to find that information is to look for papers that they've written under their full name (whether first, or middle, or second-of-four, or what have you), while being *very* careful not to confuse authors with the same initial and last name.
In some fields, there are reasonably reliable review/citation databases like *Mathematical Reviews* or DBLP that disambiguate authors by full name, affiliation, and so on. (For example, DBLP successfully disambiguates me from another computer scientist that shares my first and last name.) A slightly less reliable method is to find the author's web page, or at least a web page at the author's department with their name on it, such as a faculty roster or a class syllabus.
But always remember that someone's *full professional name* may not be the same as their *full legal name* or their *full given name*. As Anonymous Mathematician points out, some authors consistently and deliberately publish under their initials to protect against sexism and other biases. The full professional names of these authors do not contain first names, only initials. A smaller number of authors (and groups of authors) publish under pseudonyms. Finally, authors from outside the US and Europe sometimes follow naming conventions that differ significantly from the modern European standard. (For example, one of my department colleagues publishes under what *appears* to be his last initial and first name; the reality is a bit more subtle. He doesn't go by either of those names in person.)
> 5 votes
# Answer
It's a little tricky trying to expand someone's name, since you might inadvertently arrive at a form they never use (for example, some people have never been called by their first names, but have always used their middle names instead, and may prefer to be cited as "F. Middle Last" rather than "First Last", "First M. Last", or "First Middle Last"). Some people also prefer to use initials when publishing, for example out of fear of prejudice or bias.
So if the published paper uses initials, then it is safest to retain them when citing it, unless you are really confident that your expanded version of the name won't confuse readers or offend the author.
On the other hand, if the published paper gives a first name, then you have your answer. Other databases may also give first names (for example, MathSciNet or the Mathematics Genealogy Project), but which databases are relevant depends on the field.
> 10 votes
# Answer
How about citing them in the standard way, but in order to disambiguate use marks by the names, such as superscript \*, or '. And on the first appearance of such, put the explanation of the markings, as well as reasons for doing this into a footnote.
> 1 votes
# Answer
In addition to other excellent answers, I would like to make a suggestion for you,
Find the author's e-mail address and then send an e-mail to ask the author's full name.
If the author replies, you get the answer. If the author never replies in a reasonable time period, find the author's professional name as suggested by others or use the name that appears in the paper you are citing.
> 0 votes
---
Tags: citations, bibliometrics
--- |
thread-18115 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18115 | Negotiating startup package given differences in institutional norms | 2014-03-13T21:50:51.557 | # Question
Title: Negotiating startup package given differences in institutional norms
There is a story on Inside Higher Ed (based on this blog post) about a candidate who received a tenure-track offer from a U.S. philosophy department.
She emailed the search committee with some requests related to: salary, maternity leave, sabbatical, teaching load, and start date. Her email ended with "I know that some of these might be easier to grant than others. Let me know what you think." In response, the institution withdrew the offer, saying that her requests revealed that she wasn't a good fit for a teaching institution.
Many of the comments on the IHE story or blog post are in support of the school, saying such things as:
* The candidate asked for too much and came across as "entitled"
* The candidate shouldn't have requested a light teaching load initially, when the school in question is a teaching institution
* The candidate shouldn't have asked about a pre-tenure sabbatical, which is apparently unheard of at teaching institutions
In particular, one comment says this:
> indicates how important it is to do your best to understand the culture and needs of the hiring institution, both before and during negotiations
and another that it is
> an example of knowing the difference between negotiating with a research school and with a small teaching school
There have been quite a few questions on this site about negotiating a startup package, but these mostly describe the various things you can ask for, and which are likely to have more "wiggle room." Most of the U.S. faculty who answered those are at research institutions, and they suggest that
> It's perfectly reasonable to ask for anything
and
> Definitely ask for all that you need, and let them whittle you down.
Apparently, that advice may be more or less applicable depending on the type and culture of the institution. My questions are:
**Are there really different norms with respect to negotiation in a teaching vs. research institution? What are they?**
and, more generally,
**What can I do pre-offer to get a sense for what the institution's culture is, and what I can reasonably ask for?**
Possibly, the candidate in the story came from a research institution, got advice from her advisor there on negotiation, and never realized that her requests would be perceived poorly at a teaching institution. What could she have done differently?
I am especially interested in a response from anyone who's been on a search committee at both kinds of institutions (though I don't know if we have anyone like that on this site).
# Answer
> 24 votes
In the time between asking this question and getting some answers here, I read many comments on the original stories and blog posts dissecting the situation, many of which offered useful answers. I am compiling some of them here for the sake of others. As with most information found on the Internet, YMMV.
First, a question I didn't ask but will answer anyways (since xLeitix expressed some doubt in a comment):
## Does this really happen?!?!?!?
Unfortunately, though rare, it does happen. Here are a few examples I found on Academic Job Wiki:
> * When I told them I needed some time to think about the unofficial offer (and also noted how early in the hiring season the offer was coming), the interviewing professor emailed me back that it was clear I was only considering them as a "last resort" and that they were therefore rescinding the offer.
> * They thought my request for a revised offer letter that included the new terms agreed upon throughout negotiation was demonstrative of a "lack of faith" which they seemed to take personally. They rescinded the offer and then blamed it on my need for this letter, and suggested that I be more careful in asking for this in future negotiations with other institutions (they claimed this advice was a show of "mentorship" on their part).
> * The dean rescinded the offer. By email. And then refused to take my calls. This is exactly what she wrote: "After having read your stated requests, specifically the number of years to tenure and the MWF teaching schedule, I am sorry to say that we are not able to sustain our job offer to you. At this time I am rescinding the job offer."
> * Two weeks after the job talk, I was offered the position and given five days to consider it... Upon sending my questions and considerations two days later, about 90 minutes passed when I received an email wishing me well in my further job pursuits.
Yikes. Of course, given these stories you could argue that these candidates probably dodged a bullet. But let's assume you aren't necessarily afraid of a rescinded offer, but want to avoid making a bad impression. In that case, on to my *actual* questions:
## Are there really different norms with respect to negotiation in a teaching vs. research institution? What are they?
Yes. Also, per various sources, there are differences in negotiation culture between elite institutions and not-so-elite institutions, community colleges and four-year colleges, public and private institutions, those with current or former religious affiliations and those without, locations where a union is involved and locations where it isn't, locations with large adjunct pools and locations without, etc.
Here's one thing I hadn't thought of: institutions that are seen as "less desirable" places to work for some reason are said to be more sensitive to aggressive negotiation. In these cases,
> Negotiating demands can come across as "I’ll only agree to work at a lowly school like yours if you give me all this extra stuff." (The Professor is In)
However, there were also comments that said things like:
> I was a candidate *just like* W, I asked for very much of the same things (more, in fact), and still go the job. (PhilosophySmoker)
The candidate in question herself said
> that her request for a starting salary of $65,000 equaled a less than 20 percent increase in proposed pay -- a request she says another college offering her a job had met. (InsideHigherEd)
So, it seems like finding out the culture of a particular institution (rather than generalizing based on institution "type") is more effective. Which brings us to:
## What can I do pre-offer to get a sense for what the institution's culture is, and what I can reasonably ask for?
### Start by asking: is it negotiable?
> A good strategy for starting a negotiation is to simply ask whether there is any flexibility in the terms of the offer... If you get a firm "no", you don't have to risk upsetting anyone with specific requests. (PhilosophySmoker)
and this can even have some nice side effects! The same comment continues,
> At my institution... I began by asking this very general question, and the chair immediately responded with a better offer-without my mentioning any specifics and without consulting the dean.
### Pre-negotiate by phone
Both Amatya and Samantha Kady pointed out here how difficult it is to read a situation by email, and dozens of commenters out there said the same. For example:
> You negotiate over the phone (aiming for the sweet spot between being enthusiastic about the job - you want them to still want you - and asserting your own needs). Then when that's done, you get the agreement in writing. That lets you feel out some things and get feedback on what's doable or not, and on how the requests are being taken. (PhilosophySmoker)
But, know yourself. As The Professor is In puts it:
> I NEVER want to see inexperienced candidates negotiate on the phone. Particularly women. People panic and get codependent and agree to all kinds of things too quickly on the phone.
I don't really know what "codependent" means in this context, but I can definitely see how some people might *not* be able to negotiate as well over the phone. Those people might be better served using a phone conversation as a "feeler" and then proceeding to negotiate over email.
### Listen for subtle differences in responses to your requests
One commenter said:
> The chair indicated that this was the ceiling for the starting salary... but since he didn't make the same claim regarding the startup, I detected further flexibility, and was able to get it bumped up to 200% of the original offer, by providing an explanation of how I would use the additional funds. (PhilosophySmoker)
### Identify and use your ally
If you get an offer, there's a good chance *someone* really likes you and wants you to be there. Identify that person, and ask them for advice on what to negotiate. They may even tell you about things you hadn't even *thought* to negotiate for! Specifically, several commenters said that the department chair is often an ally. As one commenter said:
> I had a really great Chair. She told me that I was very unlikely to get a salary increase but that there was room to move the start-up. I asked for both anyway, and sure enough, was denied a salary increase but got significantly higher start-up (which I can use for summer salary). The kicker? The Chair spotted something I never would have thought of, which qualified me for thousands of dollars extra. (PhilosophySmoker)
Your ally in the department knows much more than you, and much more than any mentor you might have, what requests can be granted easily and what should not be mentioned at all. Use this!
### Ask about "perks" at the interview stage
Many commenters agree that asking straightforwardly about the "perks" (non-salary) at the interview stage helps you gauge supply and demand at the institution in question. Otherwise, you run the risk of
> telling somebody who's put in a full 7 or 8 years for a sabbatical that you want one in your first 2 or 3 years? (PhilosophySmoker)
Yeah, that does sound bad! Same goes for things like teaching load and lab space - you can find out during the interview stage what is in especially short supply at the particular institution.
### Place requests in the context of the institution's specific mission
This is a valuable piece of advice. As a commenter said,
> For example, if the reasoning behind fewer teaching preps was to do a better job teaching or to have an appropriate research program (whatever that may be), then frame it that way. (FemaleScienceProfessor)
### Visit the library
Here's an interesting one that I hadn't heard before (though it only applies to a subset of institutions):
> I’m betting that W or other candidates often get their data from the CHE’s salary survey, which is near useless for this purpose because it is such an aggregate number... If you’re interviewing at a public school, ask for about an hour to yourself in the library. When you get it, go straight to the Reference desk and ask to see the salaries in the department that’s hiring (it’s usually public). Write these down, and when you get the initial offer you’ll know if there’s room to negotiate on this point. (The Professor is In)
While public salary information is also available online in most cases, unlike the internal data this is usually
> total annual compensation, a figure that includes summer school, stipends for additional administrative duties, and the like, rendering the number useless (if not damaging) to such negotiations. (The Professor is In)
Some commenters pointed out another, more-complete-than-CHE (though not department-specific), source of salary data: IPEDS
# Answer
> 12 votes
I have only been a member of hiring committees at my present institution, a state research university. However I have watched people go on the job market at liberal arts colleges and one of my oldest friends is the department chair at a liberal arts college. I will try to ask him about this when I get the chance.
My impression is that the difference between quality and wealth of the university is playing more of a role here than the difference between research and liberal arts college. I know someone who got a job at a top liberal arts college right out of her PhD. Nevertheless she still did a one year postdoc before taking the position. And getting eased into the new job in a way which affords her all the opportunities to keep her successful research program, um, successful is definitely a big part of the mutual understanding between her and her department and college.
In the story at hand, it seems that Nazareth College felt like the person it had offered the job to was making a slew of demands that could not be met by an institution of their caliber. I am very eager to discuss the specifics of that strange situation, but that was not the question, so I'll just restrict to one thing: the applicant mentioned that she wanted a higher salary that was closer to the going rate. The salary that she wanted -- $65K -- is the going rate in her field at some places (and probably less than the going rate in others; in STEM fields $65K would not be competitive at a reasonably research-intensive university) but is not the going rate at small, less than wealthy institutions. If you want the salary that some other place is going to offer you, you really need an offer from some other place which has that salary. That was the big outlier of a negotiation mistake that I saw (it does not justify rescinding the offer, though! to me, that is a truly bush-league way to do business) in the story. By asking for a benchmark salary you are calling attention to the fact that the institution under consideration is not as good as some others, to which a fitting response be might be to have them call attention to the fact that you are not as good as some others.
There was a time when a top fifty liberal arts college really didn't need or want the majority of its faculty to do significant research, especially if it took time away from their teaching and meeting with students. That time has passed: my friend at the liberal arts college publishes at least a paper a year. That is a higher publication rate than some of my senior colleagues who are full professors at my top fifty research university. And I care about teaching more than the stereotypical "research mathematician" but not particularly more than the average in my department: almost all of us care about teaching, and are at least solid teachers across a wide range of levels and courses; more so than I would have expected, in fact. When I visit a liberal arts college it is a very enlightening experience because the amount of emphasis and priority given to the basic academic goals are palpably different, even upon arrival. But it's also enlightening because the basic academic goals are recognizably the same, just weighted somewhat differently. I think that the difference between a good liberal arts college and a good research university should not be exaggerated...and I certainly think that the things that desirable job candidates are looking to secure in order to take jobs a these institutions are very similar. Nothing that is reasonable to ask for in negotiations at a research university ought to get your offer rescinded at a good liberal arts college, that's for sure!
# Answer
> 12 votes
Although I agree that you should seek some specific information on the expectations of a research vs. teaching environment, I would suggest that this negotiation was doomed for a different reason...
I know Linda Babcock (the gender/negotiations researcher who is interviewed in the story) personally, and she said that the story is true. Remember that one key issue is that the negotiation was attempted via email. Women are already disadvantaged in negotiation (see enormous research in this area) so they need to use specific tactics to moderate gender-effects of outcomes. These tactics are quite difficult via email.
In fact, I know several researchers who have excelled at doing research at "teaching schools" because they're the only ones bringing in the publications and research grants. Although interest in research may not be valued at Nazareth specifically, it is not a universal axiom for teaching-focused schools.
The research doesn't support the position that negotiation is inappropriate for "rookies" or "non-stars". New faculty get idiosyncratic deals (from lab space to maternity leave) all the time.
# Answer
> 3 votes
This is based on my experience as a student on the job market and on the experience of my cohort,on what faculty told us and the stories we heard from the junior faculty that our school hired. My school is a research school.
In our field, rookies generally do not negotiate.
Only the star rookies do. If you're a rising star that is being simultaneously pursued by Harvard, Princeton, Chicago etc and you're tipped to win the MacArthur Grant or something then you have *Market Power*. You get to negotiate and universities will throw money and perks at you to be able to hire you.
Our school hired a rookie faculty where two universities got into a bidding war over her and she got a sweet deal eventually. From what I recall, a good 30K above the standard contract.
For the rest of us mere mortals, with no market power, there are no negotiations. The schools make it absolutely clear up front what they can do for you. The contracts are standard for a given university: a research fund, base pay and performance pay, teaching loads, preps, administrative burden, possibility of sabbatical, maternity leave etc. These features are usually identical for all junior faculty in a given department in that University. They're also usually trying to do the best they can and have no interest in short-changing anyone.
Research schools usually try to encourage rookies and give them a light teaching and administrative load for the first few years but after that as the low man(person) on the totem pole, it is understood that you have to have some flexibility in terms of helping the department when some unforeseen need arises.
Also in smaller departments, hiring a colleague is a lot like getting a family member. You are going to be with them all the time, share a lot of decision making power, and you can't get rid of them. Therefore, how well you get along with them is very very important. That's why when you have some special request about your contract, this conversation needs to happen in person or on the phone so you can gauge the other person's response and react to that. If you come across as tone deaf and difficult then that's not the sort of colleague anybody wants, especially if you're not some star researcher.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I have never been on a search committee.
A teaching institution hires people to teach. A research institution hires people to conduct research. (primarily) A teaching institution will not make negotiating concessions that prioritize research ahead of teaching. A research institution will not make negotiating concessions that prioritize teaching ahead of research. That said, many institutions that are widely viewed as teaching institutions wish to be research institutions and will negotiate accordingly.
There is no need to be secretive when making a negotiating position. I suggest you outright ask which aspects of the contract are negotiable. You should also ask junior faculty at the institution if they will give you advice based on their experiences. I also suggest asking the departmental secretary, who probably knows everything.
Union institutions may not be able to negotiate with individuals at all.
---
Tags: etiquette, job-search, job, negotiation
--- |
thread-17774 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17774 | How to handle peer evaluations in two person team assignments? | 2014-03-05T15:55:44.857 | # Question
Title: How to handle peer evaluations in two person team assignments?
I am teaching a course in which the students complete two group activities. For these activities, I require the students to submit a peer assessment. I planned to use a procedure I had experienced as an undergraduate.
The assessment requires you distribute 100 points between your team members (not yourself). Each students points are totaled and are multiplied as a percentage with the student's team grade to give an individual grade on the assignment.
This process makes sense for teams of at least 3 members. How can I generalize this method to 2 person teams? Is this evaluation fair for small teams (2 or 3 people)?
# Answer
> Is this evaluation fair for small teams (2 or 3 people)?
With peer-evaluation schemes like this, the fewer students there are in the group, the more vulnerable students are to gamesmanship and unfairly false ratings. Even if they're not actually unfair to each other, their feelings of vulnerability to one another's unfairness is deadly for your student ratings. They will blame you for putting them in this vulnerable position. Plus, if there isn't exactly the same number of students in each group, it's difficult for students to feel that the scoring is fair. More broadly, I have found that students hate "allocate points" schemes. Perhaps it seems like I'm too pandering to students with regard to their student ratings, but I believe there are good reasons to take a hit on ratings (e.g., a rigorous course) and unwise reasons to take a hit on ratings (e.g., using a peer evaluation technique that they think is unfair).
My approach to this problem has been to ...
(1) promise that peer ratings will stay completely anonymous -- which can even be accomplished in two-person teams by combining the peer rating with another scored element (e.g., class participation) when reporting their scores.
(2) gather peer ratings as responses to some 1-10 rating questions (e.g., "Attended all group meetings, 1 = Disagree Completely, 10 = Agree Completely") rather than an allocate points scheme, and
(3) delay the grief of doing peer evaluations until the end of the semester.
I realize that what I do doesn't fit with your current plan, but maybe it's something to think about.
> 4 votes
---
Tags: teaching
--- |
thread-18117 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18117 | How do Academic Journals protect against empirical results given by bugs? | 2014-03-13T22:15:10.227 | # Question
Title: How do Academic Journals protect against empirical results given by bugs?
As the title says.
My background is in Economics/Finance(mostly), many topics in those fields (and I am sure other fields) require fairly complicated programming, enough to where one can easily screw something up. How do Academic journals defend against results that are generated by bugs?
As far as I understand nobody ever sees my code, it could be hundreds or even thousands lines of garbage code without a single function in it (not to mention no unit tests) laced with bugs, and I kept "fixing" things until my results "made sense", and then happily reported them. How could a journal tell that my results are trash?
# Answer
Journals never make any guarantees regarding the validity of the content published in them, though this may seem to be implied. Ideally, errors are caught during the review process. Note that this problem is not specific to programming bugs, subtle errors can occur in all kinds of settings including physical experiments. It is important to always be critical about any results in any article, even highly cited articles in top journals (though these are less likely to be wrong, they still might be).
Letters to the editor are not uncommon in my domain when questionable results are published. In a worst case scenario, published papers can get retracted after the validity of their results has been formally rejected. Retractions for this reason seem to be fairly rare, though.
This is one of the reasons why reproducible results are so important. If several independent researchers seem to reach similar conclusions, they are likely correct.
> 31 votes
# Answer
In addition to Marc Claesen's answer:
* There exist a few journals that require the code to be submitted and where the review explicitly included that code, e.g. the Journal of Statistical Software
* In one of my last papers, one reviewer asked exactly this question. Here's our reply in the text:
> The checks include unit tests to ensure calculational correctness, which consist of ca. twice as many lines of code than the actual function definitions.
I include this because even if the journal does not have an explicit policy regarding the code, both reviewers and authors can already start with better coding and testing practices: I'm encouraged by this experience to include such statements also in future as author, and I will ask as reviewer.
> 14 votes
# Answer
This is a problem that is beginning to be recognised, and has been described by some as a "crisis of reproducibility". There have been examples of papers in prominent journals being withdrawn after bugs were found in the researchers' code. This article describes some of the problems in more detail.
In my view there are three primary paths to addressing it,
1. Teach scientific programmers good software development practice
2. Make source code and datasets available and citable, with DOIs and with confidence that they will be available and unchanged for the long term.
3. Get journals to *require* that source and data are available (although comprimises must probably be made where data is commercially confidential), and that reviewers conduct code review. This may not be straightforward since (as noted in the Post & Votta article linked above) it will not always be possible to find one reviewer who is qualified to review the code and sufficiently expert on the science involved. (and that's before we even consider how long code review might take!)
The Software Carpentry project is aimed at addressing point 1 and 2 above, and may be of interest.
> 4 votes
---
Tags: publications, journals
--- |
thread-18353 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18353 | How do I re-plot my results against existing results? | 2014-03-20T13:40:01.043 | # Question
Title: How do I re-plot my results against existing results?
I need to compare my results with other result, so I need to re-plot the other author's results against my results.
For example I want use this fig as a way of comparing results
so is there any way to do that or any software can do that?
# Answer
There are two ways to about this. The first is to contact the authors of the paper containing th graphs and ask if they can supply the data. Otherwise you can search for digitizing software on the web. I have one (open source) that comes to mind Engauge Digitizer but that is not the only one by far.
> 5 votes
---
Tags: graphics, data
--- |
thread-18358 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18358 | how to express my thought to my supervisor without being disrespectful? | 2014-03-20T14:31:16.027 | # Question
Title: how to express my thought to my supervisor without being disrespectful?
I applied to a not-so-well-recognized university for my PhD studies. The reason behind it was that one of my undergraduate professors moved to that university for some financial benefits.
I have been working in the research proposal for almost one year, and it got accepted. The problem is that I would like to continue with my studies, but I know that if I continue in that university I would not get many academic chances, and I will be obtaining my doctoral title just for the sake of getting the certificate and nothing more. Actually I would like to move forward to other more respected university with my research proposal. By the way this is my own work and is not related to any on going project from my supervisor.
How I can tell the professor that I would like to still have the professor's help in matters of getting recommendation letters? so I can move with my project to a more well-respected university? I just do not know how to mention that I feel that my academic future will be jeopardized if I decide to stay at this university. It's not a big deal for the professor, who already has a stable academic position.
How to deal with this situation? I do not want the professor to get pissed off with me or to burn any bridges.
# Answer
> 2 votes
My personal recommendation would be to say you're trying to complete your PhD with a university that specializes in your field of study/research. I would also recommend a certain level of honesty (not saying their school isn't as respected, just that you're trying to get into a school that is well known and respected for your specific pursuit.)
Most people working in education understand and respect the pursuit of knowledge, not that they aren't unhappy about losing people, but they either respect you, or they don't. Either way you must do what's best for you.
---
Tags: phd, research-process, graduate-admissions
--- |
thread-18306 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18306 | Is It a Common Practice to Contact the Reviewers? | 2014-03-19T05:04:22.147 | # Question
Title: Is It a Common Practice to Contact the Reviewers?
I am about to submit my article in a peer reviewed journal which requires the contacts of three potential reviewers of my work. I can think of a few names whose works I have cited in the paper (who, I think will be the best judge). Is it polite to contact them via email to check their availability (of course everybody is under time constraints) before I put their names in the journal website? I am concerned that it can be regarded as a conflict of interest or an attempt to bias their opinions. What should I do?
# Answer
My strong advice is a clear NO!
There are several reasons:
* The journal might contact other reviewers, not the ones you suggested.
* Possible conflict of interest, even if you don't send your paper with the review request
* The reviewing process is a business between the editor and the reviewer. It is specially designed to enhance the quality of the accepted papers (Blind, double blind reviews, etc). Once you contact the reviewers, any chance of a blind review goes up in smoke.
* If the potential reviewer that you contact, is not selected by the journal he/she might feel offended.
So, in a word:
# **NO**
> 40 votes
# Answer
I feel contacting the potential reviewers in the way you suggest would at least seem awkward. However, something that is common practice at least in some fields is to send your preprint before submission to people that might be interested. The list of potential reviewers tend to largely intersect the list of potentially interested people, so in some sense this is a way to contact them in advance.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: journals, peer-review, etiquette
--- |
thread-18376 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18376 | How does laboratory funding and money management work in grad school? | 2014-03-20T20:51:35.303 | # Question
Title: How does laboratory funding and money management work in grad school?
there's something I've been curious about regarding the funding of labs in graduate schools. I imagine it's different in different schools, but there's probably a most common scenario.
How is money managed for a lab? My most naive understanding is that the lab mostly gets money from grants. But what happens when a lab runs out of grant money? I assume the school doesn't want a major lab supporting several students and postdocs just folding, so I'm guessing they lend them money.
For example, the are several common facilities at my school that charge the lab when students use them (electron microscopes, etc). I know we're short on money right now, but I've never heard of anyone not being able to use the facilities. I would definitely make sense to me that the school internally lets a lab rack up debt to them with the expectation that it'll be paid back when they get grants in the future.
But how does it work for peoples' paychecks, and non-school payments? I know our lab also has a p-card. Does that mean we may be racking up debt externally?
# Answer
> 2 votes
Bad things happen when a research group runs out of money. If it's a short-term cash flow problem (for instance, having to meet payroll in the aftermath of the US government shutdown of 2013), the university should be able to provide short-term funds to cover the gap. But this can come at a cost:
* It may not be possible to order necessary supplies.
* Travel may be restricted.
* Normal operations (usage of expensive equipment, etc.) may have to be partially or totally curtailed.
However, if it's a long-term, structural problem—for instance, because the group has grown faster than grant funds to support the group—the consequences can be much more dire:
* New students and postdocs can't be hired.
* Support for undergraduate students (REU's, and similar programs) get cut.
* Students may have to take on teaching assignments to receive their stipends.
* Recently assigned students may be asked to switch into another research group.
---
Tags: research-process, graduate-school, funding
--- |
thread-18370 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18370 | Are there websites for hosting solely academic videos? | 2014-03-20T18:23:34.090 | # Question
Title: Are there websites for hosting solely academic videos?
I have a video from my simulation and would like to add the link to my journal article. However, I do not want to post it on YouTube since I do not want my video next to some random video. Are there websites dedicated solely for this purpose?
# Answer
Usually the journal will host the videos as supplementary material, but if you want to host it externally, there are options. For example, figshare (see also this blog post).
> 6 votes
---
Tags: website, audio-video-recording
--- |
thread-18233 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18233 | How to present the motivation for a book on mathematical research? | 2014-03-15T14:16:40.127 | # Question
Title: How to present the motivation for a book on mathematical research?
My book was rejected by a publisher saying that my research is "unmotivated". To motivate it, should I solve some long standing open problem? Or are there other ways to motivate publishers?
This is despite I have some short sections in my book which describes my idea of motivation: "1.4 Our topic and rationale" and "1.5 Earlier works".
What motivation (except of solving long standing open problems) are?
Any text online on the topic of motivation in math research?
# Answer
> 14 votes
What the publisher is looking for is a book that will attract many readers. If crowds are already clamoring for a book, then the decision to publish it is easy, but that's uncommon. Instead, the publisher generally has to try to predict whether an audience for the book will materialize when nobody knows they want to read it yet.
The "motivation" the publisher refers to is anything that makes people want to read the book. You need to demonstrate to potential readers that the material is interesting and exciting, that reading the book will be useful, that it connects to a larger scholarly conversation, etc.
Right now, it's clear that you feel the book is valuable and would like many people to read it, but you aren't giving potential readers a lot of motivation. For example, in Section 1.4 of the current draft, you write
> Somebody might ask, why to study it? My approach relates to traditional general topology like complex numbers to real numbers theory. Be sure this will find applications.
and
> This book has a deficiency: It does not properly relate my theory with previous research in general topology and does not consider deeper category theory properties. It is however OK for now, as I am going to do this study in later volumes (continuation of this book).
Basically, this amounts to saying you don't yet know how it will be useful and you aren't connecting it to the literature. The lack of applications is a serious disadvantage, but not necessarily decisive by itself (some things can be published in mathematics just because they are beautiful or seem like they should be useful). However, not explaining the relationship with previous research is a major problem. It's nearly impossible to get an academic book published under these circumstances.
I don't mean to be overly discouraging, but my impression is that writing a book on your work is premature. Instead, I'd focus on connecting your work with the rest of the field, with the goal of getting a group of other researchers building on your papers. Once you start to get more citations, you can bring them to the attention of publishers as evidence for a community that values your work and would benefit from a systematic presentation in the form of a book.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Now that you have started the field of Algebraic General Topology you may want to convince other people that it is worth their while to learn about it.
Looking through the slides I see lots of words whose definitions I do not know. I have not read your paper and I am ignorant of the terminology in the fields you are generalizing. Perhaps there are theorems in two different fields that when generalized by your techniques turn out to be the same theorem. If you are lucky no one will have previously realized that they are the same theorem. If something like this is the case. I would pick such theorems, place them at the top of each of two columns on (digital) piece of paper and then use your general proof for each of the theorems but use the language of the field from which the particular theorem comes. This way people will be able to see what you have accomplished without learning lots of new language.
---
Tags: publications, writing, mathematics
--- |
thread-18215 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18215 | Is there any way to find Donald Knuth's undergrad/master's thesis? | 2014-03-16T14:46:54.007 | # Question
Title: Is there any way to find Donald Knuth's undergrad/master's thesis?
Just what the title says. As far as I know, Knuth's undergrad thesis was so good that the faculty at his university decided to honor him with both an undergrad degree and a master's automatically.
I wonder if this thesis is available for the public to see. I suppose students at Case Western have full access to it, but I'm unfortunately not one of them. Is there a way to get access to this thesis?
# Answer
Finally, I contacted CWU's library and was told by an archivist that Knuth indeed graduated from the Case Institute of Technology with a BSc and an MSc simultaneously in 1960.
However, he didn't need to present a thesis. It was not a graduation requirement at that time.
What a shame!
> 30 votes
---
Tags: masters, thesis, undergraduate
--- |
thread-18365 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18365 | What should I put in the Introduction as opposed to the Literature Review? | 2014-03-20T16:02:00.863 | # Question
Title: What should I put in the Introduction as opposed to the Literature Review?
My question is rather short one, how much information should I include when writing the introduction, and how much should be left out for the literature review
**Note:** the reason for this question, is because my advisor told me that my introduction is to light and he raised several question that eventually will be covered in literature review. When I pointed that out, he said that the introduction should inform the reader about the theme being addressed by the thesis/paper so that the reader will have an overview of the paper from reading the introduction.
> note: my introduction contains the following:
* 1.1 Background
* 1.2 Problem Formulation
* 1.3 Purposes of study and hypotheses being tested
* 1.4 Data Sampling
* 1.5 Structure of the paper
# Answer
(In economics at least.)
Introduction (5 pages)
• start with some broader motivation or backgrund
– maybe a sentence or a paragraph at most
• quickly explain your problem/puzzle
– show not tell
– don't say your work is pathbreaking or the problem is interesting (arrogant)
• clearly, concisely explain what is novel
– crystal clear
• report key results
– no hiding the punchline!
• discuss implication
– what does it mean for public policy? for theory? etc
• Layout:
– a clear roadmap
– Section 1 does this. Section 2 does this. Section 3 etc...so they can find what they want. (This is the easiest paragraph to write)
> 4 votes
# Answer
It seems to vary among disciplines. I suggest you choose two or three papers that have been published in the journal you're targeting -- papers that attempt to do something analogous to what you're doing -- and copy those papers intensely. Of course, I ***don't*** mean plagiarize them. I don't even necessarily mean that you would copy any particular words. Instead, I mean that you would copy these papers in terms of how much info to give and where to give it, what kinds of issues you should cover and what kinds of issues you should avoid. Doing research is different than writing it up. In some sense, these papers become your mentors to show you the tone and style of the journal. You've read a metric ton of these papers in the past, so it probably feels like you already know how they go, but when you follow a mentor paper closely there are things that will become apparent that you never noticed before.
In addition, I recommend something I've done over the last few years that has helped me. I keep a clip-file called "Nicely said!" in which I keep examples of how authors deftly handled tricky issues in their write-up. I use these examples as "mini-mentors" to guide me when I must handle a tricky issue. Here again, I might not use any of the actual words they did, but having an excellent example in front of me helps a lot. I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel.
> 0 votes
# Answer
Of course, this varies a lot by discipline, type of manuscript, journal and so on. But speaking about a prototypical psychology single study paper, a common structure is: (1) introduction, (2) method, (3) results, and (4) discussion. The introduction is commonly composed of (1) an opening; (2) a literature review; and (3) a description of the current study.
By this breakdown, what I call the opening is what you call the introduction. The opening is commonly between 1 and 5 paragraphs. I previously wrote a post on how to write an introduction in psychology where to quote myself, "the opening section typically moves from showing why the research is important, to situating the research in context, and then to setting an outline of what is to follow."
In general a good strategy is to find some similar articles to that which you are writing and carefully deconstruct these. How are aims presented? How is the research motivated? How is the importance justified? How is the gap in the literature framed? Where is this content presented?
> 0 votes
---
Tags: writing, thesis, introduction
--- |
thread-18393 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18393 | Are datasets really random for Bioinformatics tools | 2014-03-20T22:38:10.290 | # Question
Title: Are datasets really random for Bioinformatics tools
For my masters thesis, I needed a to run a tool to filter out RNA sequences and then research on the filtered data. I researched online reading papers to find an appropriate tool and I found one that really fitted my needs. The tool was published by a renowned group in a good journal (IF around 7). The tool claimed to have been run on a 30 random datasets and claimed to have around 90% specificity and sensitivity. I was very happy.
When I ran it on my dataset, the tool produced so many false positives and false negetives. Its accuracy was less than 10%. I ran on other datasets too and never got an accuracy of more than 20% in any one of them. To my surprise, the tool only worked well on the dataset that was published with the tool, with a good accuracy and no other input. I cannot believe that the dataset was randomly chosen.
I spoke to my PI about this and he said that he understands. He allowed me to choose another topic for my thesis and helped me a lot to complete. In the end I could successfully defend my thesis.
My questions are:
1. Is this common for groups (esp in Bioinformatics) to select a biased dataset as input and claim it to be random?
2. Does reviewers really run the tools (or read the source code) that are accompanied by the paper in order to test it and see whether it really does what it claims or they only read the paper?
3. Can an end user later write to the editor and let him know that the tool published in their journal isn't what it was suppose to be?
# Answer
> 9 votes
What you are describing here is an *in silico* form of Cherry Picking Fallacy. Before answering your questions specifically, I would like to point out that before assuming bad intent or foul play, consider the biological variability in the datasets, and difficulties writing generalised solutions to biological problems. Take it from a 3rd year grad student and a bioinformatician in training, it's not straight-forward to develop tools for biological datasets. There are both ***biological*** and ***technical*** challenges in writing "foolproof" software in bioinformatics.
Consider for instance, that there are multiple ways to estimate error and false discovery rate (FDR). There are also varying levels of thresholds used in different labs. Any heuristic value, if hardcoded, might alter the results.
Similarly the biological diversity, as well as technical variability introduced by wetlab benchwork will likely have serious influence on the datasets. Once everything boils down to a large table of numbers, all of that variability is implicit and thus often forgotten.
That said, my answers to your question(s):
1. **No** it's not common to pick datasets just to show that your model/software works, at least not publicly. That would go against scientific rigour and ethics. At the same time, you start from what you have available. I typically start with datasets we have in the lab, when I start developing a new tool. But in order to publish your method, you should typically show that it works on data from independent sources, or alternative data types etc. All in all, your results might not be representative of all datasets out there.
2. It is impossible to answer this question, factually. I am sure there are reviewers that take a look at raw data and/or source code, but it's unlikely that any reviewer actually digs into the source code, line by line, to see if everything checks out. But I am also certain that there are some who just see if you have actually made the source code or test datasets available or not, without actually look at them.
3. You can always do that, end-user or not. But beware, before you go blowing the whistle on someone else's handiwork (which probably took them a significant amount of time and money) you better get your facts straight. Claiming that they are selling false results or simply misinterpreted their results is a very serious accusation, especially if the authors are renown and respected in the field.
Prior to writing a letter to the editor (who AFAIK have a duty of publishing scrutinising critique on something that has been published in that journal) you should check, *and double check*, your results. *Make sure* you are not misunderstanding the statements made in the original work. *Make sure* you are not misunderstanding your own results. *Make sure* what you have observed is not a side-effect of your datasets or your own use of the software, try to talk to other people who have used the software. And make sure, your supervisor (and others in the group) are behind you, get your own results investigated by your superiors and colleagues.
If everything checks out you *can*, and *should*, inform the journal that the results in the original article might not reflect a general reality, and that you could not replicate the results on independent datasets, then show your results.
---
Tags: ethics, tools, bioinformatics
--- |
thread-18395 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18395 | College Staff Taking Classes and Doing Research | 2014-03-21T14:04:28.167 | # Question
Title: College Staff Taking Classes and Doing Research
I presently work in a facilities-type role at a small Liberal Arts college.
One of the benefits of working at the college is the ability to take two classes per academic-year (not including summer or winter terms).
I have a BS in Economics from a larger university as well as a pretty broad quantitative background and I'm interested in taking classes in mathematics, statistics, and computer science (they have an MSCS program here).
What I'm wondering is this:
How likely would it be for me to become involved in research projects?
Would it be odd for a staff member taking a few classes to ask about doing research with a faculty member?
I'm hoping to pad my resume a bit for acceptance into a PhD or MS in Applied Math program down the line; but, I'm wondering if it's worth getting my hopes up about doing research even though I'm just a staff member taking classes.
# Answer
Well, your request would certainly be unusual for most faculty members, but that also doesn't mean it wouldn't be accepted!
The main challenge would be if you were looking to be paid for the work. Under such circumstances, it might be much more challenging to get involved with projects, because the funding mechanisms (such as NSF REU grants, which fund many undergraduate research projects) would not be available to fund you (since you're not an undergraduate student!).
However, if you're just looking to do it for the research experience, I think the biggest obstacle would be convincing a potential advisor that you're serious. I would recommend then that you make an in-person appointment, rather than trying to set something like this up via email.
> 4 votes
---
Tags: computer-science, mathematics, research-undergraduate
--- |
thread-18391 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18391 | How long should I wait for the response of the referee? | 2014-03-21T10:16:26.507 | # Question
Title: How long should I wait for the response of the referee?
i wrote a message to the Editor to inquire about my revision sent about 4 months ago. He informed me yesterday(March 20th, 2014) that my manuscript has already completed 1 review. However, we are still awaiting the last report. from the remaining referee. My question is How long should I wait for the response of the referee? and what do you advise me to do? n.b. the journal belongs to Springer Best regards
# Answer
> i wrote a message to the Editor to inquire about my revision sent about 4 months ago. He informed me yesterday(March 20th, 2014) that my manuscript has already completed 1 review.
Since you have contacted the editor and they looked into it (and perhaps pinged the reviewer with a reminder), I don't see that there is much else you could do at this point (other than something drastic like withdraw, which would be entirely unjustified after four months).
> However, we are still awaiting the last report. from the remaining referee. My question is How long should I wait for the response of the referee?
As long as it takes.
> and what do you advise me to do?
You've just contacted the editor and gotten a response. My advice now would simply be to be patient. Try to put it at the back of your mind and focus on other work. (And don't message the editor again for another few months; have faith in them to do their job.)
> 4 months for secondary revision is too long no??
In many fields, unfortunately, no.
> 3 votes
---
Tags: research-process, publications, thesis
--- |
thread-18402 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18402 | How to publish two sequential research papers non-chronologically? | 2014-03-21T19:03:18.190 | # Question
Title: How to publish two sequential research papers non-chronologically?
I am in an engineering field in which conferences are roughly grouped in two types: theoretical conferences with fundamental concepts and related stuff (for instance, algorithms), and application-oriented where people present practical things (e.g. a use-case). These complement each other well, and many researchers attend both.
I am finishing a part of my research which is both fundamental and practical. I have developed a theoretical research result (formulas, algorithms), and I have used it for a practical purpose developing a use-case. Although they are connected, these can be seen as separate work, and two papers can be published out of it.
My problem is that the two conferences of my preference are scheduled in an unfortunate sequence: the practical conference comes three months before the theoretical, and its deadline for submission is also roughly three months earlier.
It means that if I write the practical paper which uses the theoretical knowledge before the one that introduces it and describes it, I cannot refer to the (unpublished) theory, and the subsequent theoretical paper may lose its value. If I tone down the theory and immediately jump to the practical part, the reviewers may ask questions. It's like writing a paper about results of testing a medication, before the medication was introduced.
The field is big enough that I am not worried about a person from the audience asking "Hey, haven't you presented this three months ago on that conference?". I am focusing on how to write the papers in a proper manner.
Is there a way to write these two papers in a non-chronological way?
My current idea is to just tone down the theory in the practical paper (summarise it in one paragraph), and to cite it as unpublished work, or as work under submission (although the paper will not be submitted or even written at that point). And then to extend the story in the theoretical paper which is dedicated only to it.
# Answer
The description of your discipline sounds like something covered by the arXiv to me. In that case, the best option would be to write both papers in the "right" order and upload them to the arXiv. Include mutual citations. Now for the conference versions, there is no problem anymore: Just cite the arXiv versions.
> 18 votes
---
Tags: publications, writing, paper-submission
--- |
thread-18349 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18349 | Difference between conference paper and journal paper | 2014-03-20T10:04:16.350 | # Question
Title: Difference between conference paper and journal paper
Many times I heard about papers published in conference. But still I am not able to find the major difference between papers published in a conference and those published in a journal. What is the difference?
# Answer
Conference papers refer to articles that are written with the goal of being accepted to a conference: typically an annual (or biannual) venue with a specific scope where you can present your results to the community, usually as an oral presentation, a poster presentation, or a tabled discussion. The review process for conference papers is typically within a fixed window: everyone submits for a certain deadline, then the review committee (program committee) collaborates to review and discuss papers, then all authors are notified with accept/reject at the same time. Since the review process has a fixed schedule (to meet the schedule of the physical meeting), conference review times are quite predictable.
Conference papers are typically published in collections called "proceedings": sometimes these are printed by university presses, by professional organizations, by big-name publishers, or simply online.
Journal papers refer to an article that's published in an issue of the journal. The frequency of issues for different journals varies from one-a-month to once-a-year, or anything in between; it may not even be regular. The review process for journals often does not have a fixed deadline or schedule: though journals may promise things like "reviews in six weeks", in my experience, this rarely if ever holds true. However, instead of conferences that typically have only accept/reject decisions, journals typically have a rolling review schedule and reviewers can opt to ask the authors for revisions, meaning that there might be multiple review phases (often limited to three, at which stage the paper is rejected/accepted).
Since conference papers have a fixed schedule and provide the authors a venue for discussion and feedback, they are generally for earlier-term work or for "announcing/marking an idea", or for finding collaborators. Furthermore, conference papers tend to have fixed page-limits, which restricts the content to preliminary findings.
Journal papers tend to have generous page-limits (or none at all), but typically require the work to be more comprehensive and self-contained in return.
In general, in most fields, papers in well-recognized journals tend to have more prestige than papers in well-recognized conferences (esp. in terms of metrics). But this is a simplification.
While in some fields, conference papers are akin to talk abstracts, in areas like computer science, conference papers can be very meaty and there is a high churn of papers in conferences. Top conferences can have acceptance rates around 10%, and as such, A+ conference papers are often held in high regard within the community: these venues are far more competitive than many of the best journals. Still, even in the CS area, metric-wise (for hiring, positions, funding, etc.), journals will often still count for more than a conference following the norm in other academic fields.
> 63 votes
# Answer
It may be useful to expand on something which is implicit in Pete's answer. In pure mathematics, "conference papers" as described by badroit *don't actually exist*. Some (but by no means all, or even most) math conferences have published "proceedings", but these are not collections of the talks (or posters, or whatever) given at the conference. Likewise, in math there is no review process prior to the conference to decide which presentations will be given.
Instead, it is decided to have a conference, a bunch of people are invited, and some subset of them are asked to give talks. (How all of that happens varies a lot from case to case, but that's an answer for another question.) The point is that the speakers are chosen before anyone knows what they intend to talk about. The talks themselves may be about work in progress, work that's already submitted or published, or a synthesis. Basically, speakers give the same sort of talk they'd give in a departmental seminar which happened to have an audience full of experts. In particular, a talk frequently doesn't correspond to a single paper, or to work which is still available to be submitted for publication. Thus the phrase "present a paper", which people from many other fields use to describe what they do at a conference, sounds rather odd to mathematicians. (At least, it does to me.)
Finally, when there is a proceedings volume, all of the speakers — and possibly also the other participants who didn't give talks — are invited to submit papers. Those papers don't necessarily have anything to do with the actual talks (although hopefully both have to do with the topic of the conference). So the "proceedings" don't necessarily bear any resemblance to what actually happened at the conference, making "proceedings" rather a misnomer. Basically, a proceedings volume is like a one-issue journal (sometimes it is an issue of a regular journal) on the topic of the conference. Pete already explained some of the ways they are perceived differently from regular journals.
> 17 votes
# Answer
For many questions like this, you can get some kind of answer without including information on your own discipline, but it will be at best some kind of weighted average across different disciplines. If you indicate your discipline in the question then you may well get both general questions and questions focused to your discipline.
You ask about mathematics. We do not have a very strong tradition of conference papers at all compared to most other academic fields. The idea of a "prestigious conference paper" is almost an oxymoron to me. There are a small number of yearly conferences which regularly publish their proceedings, but that the papers are solid and interesting and sufficiently thematically connected to one another that you might actually want to own the book they get published in is close to a best case scenario. Actually I get annoyed even by this because conference proceedings that get published as books tend to be books which are very expensive, difficult to locate (by virtue of bibliographic information handled in a strange way) and often not carried by university libraries.
At the moment I have 22 published papers and half a dozen other submissions, and I have never submitted a paper to a conference. Curious as to whether this was my own idiosyncrasy, I just looked up the published papers of my two senior colleagues in my field (number theory). One of them has no conference papers. The other has three but the most recent is from 1989. I do get the sense that this was a more common phenomenon about a generation ago.
Why don't mathematicians like to publish conference papers? Here are some ideas:
1) I don't get the sense that many people are getting their submissions to conference proceedings turned away: rather, I think most often they simply ask everyone who spoke in the conference \[or in the section, or whatever\] whether they would like to contribute an article. They usually are "refereed" in some formal sense, but in my understanding it is usually nominal, and the proceedings are viewed mostly as a record of as many of the actual talks as they could persuade people to write up.
2) Because they generally do want a paper from as many people who gave a talk at the conference as possible, the shoe is really on the other foot and they often end up having to cajole busy people to get around to polishing their lecture notes. Thus unlike in other fields where I gather conference proceedings get novel work out quickly, in mathematics the proceedings can appear two years or more after the conference, which is slow even compared to journal publication.
3) There seems to be a sense that conferences (with certain obvious exceptions like the ICM) are more social occasions than serious professional events. (I mean, if I want to hear about the crackerjack theorem you proved last week, it's likely I can just download it from the arxiv or your webpage or ask you to send me a copy.) The number one reason mathematicians like to give conferences is to celebrate someone's birthday, and a popular followup is to train young people in the field: these are often called "summer schools". There is a sort of community awareness that -- again, with certain famous and not so recent exceptions like the Grothendieck Festschrift -- such conference proceedings are more likely to contain heartfelt remarks about one's revered former advisor than really cutting edge research. I have even heard some people jokingly refer to Festschrifts as dumping grounds for inferior product.
> 13 votes
---
Tags: publications, conference
--- |
thread-18427 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18427 | Writer's contact information in recommendation letter | 2014-03-22T18:52:12.723 | # Question
Title: Writer's contact information in recommendation letter
Should a recommendation letter for graduate school contain the writer's contact information?
# Answer
Yes, probably. In general when you communicate with someone it is good practice to make it easy for them to get in touch with you again.
Many recommendation letters (admittedly mostly at the higher levels) end with "Please contact me if you want further information." And while doing graduate admissions in my department *I have* (occasionally) contacted a recommender for further information.
It is hard to see the downside of this. The people who read these letters are conscientious, busy professionals: they're not going to start spamming you or calling you up for frivolous reasons. The lack of including contact information might possibly be perceived negatively, but we well know that such letters are written quickly by busy people, so it is more likely to be perceived as an oversight. Furthermore, increasingly many academics have a website which tells how to reach them, so if I can google the professor's name and find out their email address that way, no problem. I would still feel free to contact them if I had a question to ask.
> 11 votes
---
Tags: recommendation-letter
--- |
thread-5696 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5696 | Journal vs conference publications when looking for a job in in computer science | 2012-12-12T18:14:31.597 | # Question
Title: Journal vs conference publications when looking for a job in in computer science
I'm currently a post doc in theoretical computer science and I have a double digit number of conference publications, about half of which are at so called "tier 1" conferences (SODA,STOC,...). Unfortunately I only have 1 journal publication so far, mainly due to coauthors dragging their feet.
Will the lack of journal publications have a great impact when applying for a faculty job in cs-theory at some point, and is it advisable to try to up this number before applying? Or is this fully compensated by having sufficiently many conference papers?
# Answer
> 14 votes
CS people know that CS conferences count for more than conferences do in other fields, and although they count a little less than journals in CS, this should not be a problem. Of course there are still rankings between the various forums.
The fact that CS rank conferences higher than other disciplines only becomes a problem if you are compared against non-CS people, which often happens when competing for funding and promotions, in my experience.
# Answer
> 6 votes
Since this was a point of discussion on my answer here, I felt this might be a good place to offer an extended analysis (since it also serves as an answer to the current question).
I had stated:
> While in some fields, conference papers are akin to talk abstracts, in areas like computer science, conference papers can be very meaty and there is a high churn of papers in conferences. Top conferences can have acceptance rates around 10%, and as such, A+ conference papers are often held in high regard within the community: these venues are far more competitive than many of the good journals. Still, even in the CS area, metric-wise (for hiring, positions, funding, etc.), journals will often still count for more than a conference following the norm in other academic fields.
To which Suresh countered:
> the last line of the answer is just not true at all.
and later:
> It's based on my experiences (at different levels) evaluating work and people, and watching how others do it, and how people talk about research work. It's not an absolute statement, but CS departments have spent many years in battles with deans convincing them that conferences count for more than journals.
And JeffE:
> "even in the CS area, metric-wise (for hiring, positions, funding, etc.), journals will often still count for more than a conference" — Speaking as the chair of the faculty recruiting committee in a top-5 CS department: This is simply incorrect. I don't recall anyone on my committee ever pointing out a CS journal paper in any junior candidate's CV. (For interdisciplinary folks, it's important for research to be published in journals in the other area: Biology research in biology journals, for example.)
This is counter to my own experience in applying for jobs, and in my current department, where journal papers are held in higher esteem. I know there are Computer Science Departments with their own by-laws and policies whereby conferences can be given as much weight as journals, but this is why I said "often", not "always". It is also my experience that such departments tend to be the more famous ones: the ones with enough clout to have their own policies. Smaller/less-well-known departments (which are by their nature more numerous) often have to abide by wider faculty/collegial policy.
In any case, to try to put some meat into the answer, I tried Googling for some tenure-track and hiring criteria in Computer Science. I'll pick out relevant quotes:
1) Department of Computer Science at the University of Vermont: Guidelines for Tenure-Track and Tenured Faculty
> Publication of refereed articles in both journals and conferences is very important; in many areas of computer science, publication in top-tier conferences is considered as prestigious as publication in top journals.
2) Department of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Minnesota: Criteria for Promotion and Tenure
> A 1994 NRC Committee on Academic Careers for Experimental Computer Science stated “The requirements for good research and engineering in experimental computer science and engineering (ECSE) are different from those of many other academic disciplines” and then added “Because conferences are the vehicle of choice in ECSE for the dissemination of research, well-refereed conference proceedings (as well as work published in refereed private journals) should be given as much weight as archival journal articles in evaluating a candidate's research portfolio for promotion and tenure”. Certain proceedings articles should be weighted equally or even more heavily than archival journal articles when evaluating the candidate's research contributions
3) Duke University, Computer Science Department, By-Laws
> \[...\] recognising the important role played by conferences, book chapters, and other non-journal research documents.
4) University of Stockholm: Tenure-Track Position, Department of Computer Science
> The quality of the research should be documented by presentations at well-established conferences and publications in high quality international journals and conferences.
5) Computer Science Department: Appalachian State University: Criteria for Promotions and Tenure
> Scholarly Activity
>
> Examples of Indicators of Excellent Performance
>
> 1. Publishes an article in a refereed journal.
> 2. Publishes a textbook. \[nothing about conferences\]
6) Wright State University, Department of Computer Science By-Laws
> Primary indications of quality normally include, but are not limited to, the following:
>
> * publication of research results and of extended scientific and engineering reviews in peer-refereed journals of acknowledge stature (particularly those of scholarly professional societies such as the ACM and IEEE);
> * ...
>
> Secondary indications of quality include, but are not limited to, the following:
>
> * refereed conference proceedings;
> * ...
The first two departments explicitly state that conferences can be considered as highly as journals, the next two state that conferences will be considered alongside journals without any explicit ranking, and the last two state that conferences count less than journals.
These are six examples, and are biased due to having "Computer Science" in the title, meaning that they are CS-specific criteria (whereas I suspect many smaller departments would fall under more generic by-laws).
Though many CS departments (esp. the more prestigious ones) have won the battle of giving conference papers their due weight, it is still my understanding that other departments have not, and must fall in-tow with faculty/collegial guidelines.
So to answer this question:
> Journal vs conference publications when looking for a job in in computer science
It depends. Though I may not have fully substantiated this here with only two anecdotes, I still hold by the position that in many CS departments (particularly smaller departments), journal articles *often* (not *always*) count for more than conference papers by merit of simply being journal articles.
(Some related discussion here.)
# Answer
> 5 votes
I don't think this will be a problem for your first faculty position. In TCS people will appreciate it if you publish journal versions of your conference proceedings. However nobody will expect, that you will do this immediately. Also, imho, having SODA/STOC and FOCS publications is what counts. Other things (teaching experience, grants, making a journal publications out of your conference contributions) are important but secondary criteria.
It is likely that many non-theory CS people are in the hiring committee. In other fields of CS journal publications count even less.
---
Tags: publications, job
--- |
thread-18429 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18429 | Will my methods chapter be less solid, if it is based on one book or the work of one scholar? | 2014-03-22T20:13:04.297 | # Question
Title: Will my methods chapter be less solid, if it is based on one book or the work of one scholar?
I'm writing a Bachelor research paper using netnography or virtual ethnography.
I've found that this new methodology was mostly advanced by two scholars: Kozinets and Christine Hine.
I managed to get Kozinets' book (2010) published by Sage, in addition to some of his papers, which I think is good in terms authority and currency. I also have authoritative sources by Christine Hine but are more theoretical and do not offer step-by-step guidance like that of Kozinets.
Will my methods chapter be less solid, if it is based on one book or the work of one scholar?
Thank you
# Answer
> 3 votes
Literature on virtual ethnography or netnography is not restricted only to these authors. A cursory Google Scholar search reveals many other authors.
Having said this, ~50% of my methodological approach in my work is through grounded theory by using semi-structured interviews. The gold standard for grounded theory is:
```
Glaser, Barney G & Strauss, Anselm L., 1967. The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research, Chicago, Aldine Publishing Company
```
... and I would wager that ~95% of papers using grounded theory cite only them in the methods sections of their papers.
This does not necessarily make your methods poorer or stronger. You should make sure that you understand the methodological process perfectly and then implement it.
Make sure that you do talk about credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability as well !
---
Tags: citations, thesis, research-undergraduate, methodology
--- |
thread-18342 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18342 | How to "dress up" a CV that has a PhD but no peer reviewed publication record? | 2014-03-20T05:15:03.387 | # Question
Title: How to "dress up" a CV that has a PhD but no peer reviewed publication record?
I have a glaring omission in my CV because I do not have any scholarly (peer reviewed) publications to my credit. However, I have good industry-based experience (more than 10 years when I have written a number of manuals and submissions), and have recently completed a Social Science PhD from a reputable university. I am after some guidance on ways in which a person in my position would address this glaring omission in a CV so as to better highlight/present his credentials for academic purposes (e.g. to apply to join a university etc).
# Answer
> 24 votes
If you have submitted manuscripts to peer-reviewed outlets, you can say so. If you have anything under second-round review, be sure to say so because that's all the better.
If you haven't submitted manuscripts, you could do so. One of my peer-reviewed publications was originally a paper I wrote for a Ph.D. seminar. I blew the dust off, firmed it up and made it stronger, and I submitted it. It was a nice little paper. My point is that you have doubtless done work that you could turn into a submission with X weeks of work.
Lots of people list their current research projects under a title such as "Current Research."
Beware that search committees know all the tricks. You're not going to fool anyone. But, I'm sure your goal is not to "fool" anyone at all. You just want to put your best foot forward, and there's nothing wrong with that.
# Answer
> 6 votes
You should definitely write up your ideas/manuscripts as publishable manuscripts if you haven't already. After reshaping the manuscripts so that they are ready for submission, I would also suggest that you post them as preprints online (if journals in your field allows this), preferably to a preprint server. Depending on your field there are e.g. arXiv, peerJ, SSRN (most relevant for you), and biorxiv. This will allow you link to the paper, so that people can evaluate by themselves if your manuscripts contain good research. This is also a way of showing that there is actually a finished well-structured manuscript, and not just a manuscript title on your CV.
In my mind, your best bet would be to fix manuscripts, submit to journal + upload to preprint server, and include on CV as *submitted manuscript* along with a preprint link. As the previous answer stated, also make sure to update the status of manuscripts when they go out for review/revision. Just be sure that you are honest in how you present the status of your manuscripts.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I am almost sure, that your university has archived your thesis. In doing this it is always a citable work. In some countries it is also a very common requirement to obtaining a Ph.D. (or any equivalent), that the thesis itself has to be published in some form. The variations tend to range from books (registered with ISBN), digital copy (pdf-A), hardcopies at differnt libraries, or also microfilm. Hence the problem is more a problem of accessibility.
As these kind of publications are not peer reviewed, and accessibility is a limiting factor, they are usually referred to as 'grey literature'.
When publishing results of your original thesis, what you should probably also do, you might want to cite your dissertation at some point in this work. The library of your university (or equivalent institution) will certainly keep track of dissertations and you can ask them about how to cite them. (Also a good starting point is trying to find this work via some search engines.)
In your CV you will also mention from which university and when you received your Ph.D. Depending on how deep you will go into this, you might mention the title, probably a short summary of the field you were working in.
There are also a lot of print-on-demand publishers that are specialized in thesis. However, this might not be the best solution, but it would be another way to make it citable.
---
Tags: job-search, cv
--- |
thread-18436 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18436 | International Student Funding for Graduate Programs outside North America | 2014-03-23T02:42:54.323 | # Question
Title: International Student Funding for Graduate Programs outside North America
I'm considering doing a masters or a PhD program outside of North America, in particular Europe or Australia. I had originally expected every graduate program to fund students the way North American universities do - as in, they (basically) fund every accepted applicant for somewhere between 12-24,000$ a year. I also was under the impression that funding covered your tuition and more. But the other day I talked to a representative from a small Australian university and she said that they did not fund international students at all unless they got a specific scholarship, which most did not.
I am curious as to which major universities in Europe and Australia fund all / most of their accepted students, and if so approximately how much. My girlfriend (who is coming with me) has EU citizenship and I do not, so I'm wondering about both cases. We are both currently in Canada and applying for mathematics/statistics.
I am particularly curious about the University of Amsterdam, ETH Zurich, the National University of Australia and the University of Melbourne, because those are the ones that I really can't find information about. However we are also considering other European countries (France, Germany, Spain, UK, Hungary, other places with good programs) and I would appreciate any information you had about institutes there too!
Thank you!!
# Answer
I'm a PhD candidate at the University of Western Australia, a Go8 university which has similar application processes to the Australian National University and the University of Melbourne.
In Australia, funding for international students comes from three separate streams.
The federal government (heretoforth referred to as the Commonwealth) funds several recurring 3 (minimum) to 4 (maximum) year scholarships each year per university depending on total research output. These scholarships are then allotted to the highest ranking applicants for PhD candidature from the respective faculties in a given university. These scholarships are referred to as IPRS (International Postgraduate Research Scholarships) and are extremely competitive.
The Commonwealth also funds scholarships for students from developing countries through the foreign aid program. These are referred to as Australia Award scholarships and Prime Ministers scholarships. The application process is run through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website (DFAT).
Individual universities offer university scholarships to applicants and these are usually part and parcel of the application process for PhD candidature. These are highly competitive and based on a ranking process through the entire university and the top (x) candidates who do not receive an IPRS are given these.
The third (and most common) funding stream is via the research funding obtained by individual academics. Depending on how keen a particular grant holding academic is to bring you into his group, he may offer to pay your scholarships out of his own research grant. Australian academics are very used to this so do not be afraid of asking for an assurance from your prospective supervisor that he is willing to pay your scholarship if you are unsuccessful at obtaining an IPRS or a university scholarship.
If you want to do a masters, you will have to pay for it yourself. Hope this was useful.
Cheers
> 4 votes
---
Tags: graduate-school, funding
--- |
thread-18466 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18466 | Remote work employment opportunities for someone with chronic health problems | 2014-03-24T07:04:08.670 | # Question
Title: Remote work employment opportunities for someone with chronic health problems
I have a PhD in physics, and my career path of choice has always been in physics. Unfortunately, I have been struck with a series of chronic health problems which have caused me to be fired and homebound much of the time. However, as physics research is mostly a mental activity, I am still able to work remotely from home, provided I am also given flexible hours. The problem is, despite my continuing ability to continue working from home despite my chronic health problems, no employer so far has been willing to hire and pay me. The resulting financial problems have forced me to leave my chosen career path for the past few years, which only makes me look worse and worse on my CV, when coupled with being fired.
Do you know of any organization or employer willing to hire researchers remotely? Thanks.
# Answer
> 3 votes
As you are asking this on academia.SE, I am assuming that you are looking for an academic job as opposed to working in industry. In that case, I am afraid your assumption
> However, as physics research is mostly a mental activity, I am still able to work remotely from home
may not be true for higher (post-graduate) academic jobs. I would say, being a postdoc or higher in physics is to a large extend a **social** activity, as much of your job will consist of teaching, training the next generation of researchers, and networking. In general, all researchers after a certain stage find that they spend preciously little of their time on actual research (which you may be able to do from home, depending on your concrete subfield). Most of the time is actually spent on activities that require physical presence, at least some percentage of the time.
That being said, many research labs are quite flexible in terms of working hours and (partial) home office. In my lab, for instance, I would not assume that anybody would take issue with an employee working about 50% of the time from home (under the assumption that one would actually **work** at home, of course). However, the remaining 50% would probably require physical presence, simply because the tasks would require it.
# Answer
> -1 votes
If you are in US, you can apply for disability. You can also get plenty of tax rebates. I am not sure, if full time employees can work remotely all the time but contractors can, for sure work. I am sure there would be companies out there hiring contractors for short projects and letting them work remotely. You can work on one short project after the other.
Also, if you know computer programming, you can work as a software freelancer. There are plenty of freelancer jobs available.
---
Tags: career-path, funding
--- |
thread-16121 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16121 | Is it possible to receive private tutoring for graduate-level courses from faculty members? | 2014-01-24T05:32:49.670 | # Question
Title: Is it possible to receive private tutoring for graduate-level courses from faculty members?
I am having a lot of trouble understanding the material in one of my courses. I feel like the professor often rushes through the material, leaving me without enough time to catch up in my busy schedule.
This professor is also really esteemed for his/her research contributions and speaking to my adviser about this (who also happens to be close to this professor) would make me feel very uncomfortable. I even spoke to my peers in the course about this and they seem to agree about the speed at which things are delivered.
Anyway, I often think about what I can do in this situation since exams are coming up. One idea that I ponder is the possibility of privately hiring a tutor within the faculty who could better explain the ideas in the course to me; after all they have relevant teaching experience.
I'm not certain if this is a good idea or not and because of this, I would really appreciate feedback relevant to this idea. If there aren't any appropriate solutions, what else can you suggest?
---
**Note:** I don't really want to give out any other details that would compromise his/her reputation. So I'll just leave it at that.
# Answer
> 15 votes
As a faculty member, I feel that most students who struggle
* don't put enough time into the course materials; most courses are designed with the expectation that you put into the course around 10 hours a week.
* don't seek out help, or don't speak up to communicate their difficulties; there are office hours by the professor, as well as the TAs, and most of these people would be very open to hearing your opinions of the course. If the course is going too fast, tell them.
* don't talk to their peers; sometimes understanding the material requires talking to others about it. You may *all* have been confused by the material, but by struggling through the assignments together, you will probably all learn (but remember to credit your friends).
If you have done all of the above and you are still struggling, then hiring a private TA may be the next step. One tip for choosing a good TA: I actually think that asking someone just a couple of years ahead of you is the best thing to do. They see from your perspective, and they often understand/remember what was hard about the material better than the faculty members. It's cheaper, and you'll learn better. As a faculty member, I would *never* agree to privately tutor a student. Teaching is only a small part of my job, and I prefer to be doing research instead of spending more of my time with an undergraduate student.
# Answer
> 6 votes
Let me give you a few thoughts (which might be slightly off-topic) from a professor's perspective:
* I usually design my courses in a way that the average student has a significant work load to keep up with the topic without frustrating them. (with 'average' I mean what I think the average student *should* be able to do after finishing the class - so this is a bit biased and independent of the actual students in my class)
* This leads to the situation that there is about 20% which keep up with (more or less) ease (I try to give them some extre assignments which are usually to hard for the rest of the course), ~50% are doing more or less fine (they have to work hard, but come along), and ~30% are having a very hard time.
* The ones which are having hard time are usully not having the required pre-requisites for the course (I talk to each of them and try to find out which problems they are having), this could be they dont have the knowledge and skills needed, but some have problems organizing their daily life etc.
Depending on the group you are in (I know, it's very rough classification and might not be helpful in your case), you can follow different strategies:
* If you are usually among the top performers in your class, you just might have some misconceptions which prevent you from putting the topics in the right part of your brain. I'd suggest talking to your adviser or your professor about this. They can help to disentangle your thoughts.
* If you are in the "average" group, you are the core audience of the class. Your professor *should* be interested in getting feedback about speed and perception of the content, but you must decide by yourself whether they are interested or not. If they seem to be open, I would suggest talking to your adviser and ask him about additional material or whether s(he) can recommend a tutor.
* If you feel you are missing some pre-requisites, you should clearly identify for your self, what you are missing. Try to get this first, even if it's not part of the course or you already *shoul* be knowing it. If you skip this opportunity kow, life will only become harder. After you know what you are missing, try to find appropriate ressources to learn thos skills (online courses, personal coaching, taking a class again, whatever). Additional tutoring will not help as long as your brain is not ready for the topic (unless the tutor helps you with getting this knowledge and skills).
In general, I assume that my studnets are working in groups. Many assingments are very hard to complete for one person, you often need discussion about the topics. One thought gives the other and having a group of peers working on the seem topics is very helpful. If you are learning alone at the moment, try to find some peers and team up with them. It is optimal if they are a bit better than you, but the most important thing is to talk about the course content and try to find different approaches to understand it. Tackle the problems from different directions and see which one is the best for you. That's the real skill you are learning when you are studying.
I personally regard taking a tutor as a last resort, but that's a bit opinion based. A good tuutor is a coach helping you with the things described above (which is great, go, get one!), a bad tutor tries to think for you and focuses only on the course topic which is at hand. You won't learn much.
And coming to the question whether it is ok to ask a faculty member: It depends! You can not ask someone who is actually involed in the course (directly or indirectly), otherwise one could argue that the course is intentionally to hard and the faculty members are doing side business by helping the studnts to succeed. This would really be unethical (end even if it is not the case, it might look like this to an outsider).
If you can find someone, who is not involved in the course, and (s)he is willing to do it, I see no problem, unless there are no rivalries between your professor and the person. Still, I would prefer someone from a different institution since teaching students should be their main job, anyway. I personally would not take any students for private tutorship.
I hope this helps a bit.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I'm going to provide a completely different perspective, mainly based on your comment
"Well, I would say in a class of 16 students, I spoke to 7 of them about this issue (at different times) and most seemed to talk about their issues (with the class) quite a bit. I'm not sure about the other remaining students though"
if you have confirmed that many people in the class are struggling (note: it's not 100% clear from this quote that you have), this is enough to warrant talking to the professor about the general pace and difficulty level of the class. In this case You may want to schedule an appointment with the professor and speak to him/her about your troubles with the class and how you have talked with other students and that these students are having similar issues. Ask the professor about what he/she imagines the average work load is for the class.
Most professors want the class to learn and are willing to teach to the ability of the class, but many of them are not so good at adapting to subtle cues from their students; they need to be explicitly told to slow down or cover more basic concepts. Find out what your professor thinks about what the course should be like and then adapt what you say based on that.
Sometimes the instructor does not modify their course (or they try to but really don't change as much as they think they are). There isn't too much you can do about this, however, many professors will change the course significantly and you may find yourself happier because of it.
However, whatever you do, do not make any accusations and try your best not to come off as entitled. Stay nice, and spend more time listening than talking. You may not end up needing a tutor
That said: for most research colleges the answer is NO to your question (graduate students would be more appropriate, perhaps someone who TAed the course before - but not currently, and possibly not while this instructor was teaching the course). For teaching colleges, there are often not enough professors in the department to even find one that would be an appropriate match to the subject matter.
# Answer
> 1 votes
From a student perspective, there are actually several things you can do:
First, you can go to the professor and/or the TA's office hours to get help with the material that you're struggling with. You didn't mension whether or not you've tried this, but often if you aren't understanding things in class then the professor or the TA would be happy to go over it again with you and to try explaining it in alternate ways or more slowly. If you're having trouble making office hours because of scheduling, the TA or the professor will often be able to schedule alternate office hours to meet with you.
Second, you can ask other students for help. You could try starting a study group or many students have mailing lists where you can ask for advice from people who have taken the class before. In addition, in a graduate level class there are likely to be graduate students who are working in/doing research on some of the topics covered in the course---these are definitely people who might be able to help.
Last, as someone mentioned, it's unlikely that other faculty will have the time to provide private tutoring. It's much more likely that a TA or another graduate student, probably one who is doing research under that professor!, would have the time and the inclination to tutor. Some ways to try to get in touch with someone like this is through student mailing lists, the professor or lab's website, or by asking other graduate students.
Most graduate students are pretty open and nice because they've been where you are in not getting a course, so don't be too nervous about approaching them.
---
Tags: graduate-school, coursework
--- |
thread-16063 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16063 | What is the best way to turn down a Postdoc offer? | 2014-01-22T19:45:50.780 | # Question
Title: What is the best way to turn down a Postdoc offer?
I've been recently offered a couple of Postdoc positions, and I was wondering how you as professors would prefer to be informed if a candidate would rather work with another institution.
I know we are professionals, and these things are to be expected, and probably the professor has another candidates to choose from, but I just want to be as respectful and professional myself as possible, so how would you turn down an offer, or would like to be turned down.
# Answer
**Keep it short and honest.**
For example,
> Dear So and So, thank you for your offer for a postdoc at Blah. It's an attractive offer, but I've decided to take a position at Foo-Bar instead. The work you're doing over at Blah is very interesting and I look forward to interacting with you in the future.
Of course if you have more than one rejection to send out PLEASE PLEASE don't do it generically. Tailor it to each place individually. It takes a little more time, but it's a fair exchange given that they took the time to give you an offer.
> 46 votes
# Answer
I agree with the previous answers: short, honest, polite. I'll add: prompt. As soon as you accept an offer, let the other institutions know immediately. That will let them move on with their search.
> 29 votes
# Answer
Just send a short but polite note telling them something like: you appreciate the offer but have decided to accept a different one. Maybe tell them (especially if it's true!) that you respect their research, hope to see them at a conference or visit their institution in the future, or something nice along those lines. Don't overthink it, just be polite.
> 23 votes
# Answer
First, I really like Suresh's answer. Short, straight, polite, and mentioning you would like to work with them in the future.
When I did my post-doc, I had the same problem: I applied for more positions than I could accept 8^)
Turning down the offers I could not accept was along Suresh's lines, but with one major point added: I did not send emails/write letters, I *called the professors and talked to them personally*.
And yes, I met all of them again during my post-doc. The world of research is very small.
> 16 votes
# Answer
one additional thought: If the offer you reject is a good one (i.e. a lab you can see yourself work in), I really believe it is important to call the PI you turn down, confirm your interest in the research done in the lab, and make clear that it was a really tough decision for you to make. Being in similar situation coming out of my PhD, I ended up choosing lab A over lab B, and after a few months, I realized PI of lab A was a nightmare, so I contacted lab B again and had a productive postdoc there.
> 10 votes
---
Tags: postdocs
--- |
thread-18476 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18476 | Reliable Rankings of US Universities? | 2014-03-24T14:43:07.967 | # Question
Title: Reliable Rankings of US Universities?
I am aware of US News which publishes the rankings for US Universities every year. But somehow I feel that they try to emphasize more on private universities than public(state) universities. Also they have recently stopped showing the rankings according to fields of study(CS, ECE, Mechanical, etc) without paying them. Google also could not help me find any reliable ranking organisation. I would like to know whether there is any respectable ranking organisation other than US News.
# Answer
Both of these organisations are International but you can search by region and study area.
Top Universities is complied by the QS Quacquarelli Symonds This page explains the methodology they use to rank institutions.
The Times Higher Education rankings are compiled by the Times Higher Education magazine in the UK with the help of Thomson Reuters. According to their site
> rankings employ 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons available, which are trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and governments.
> 4 votes
# Answer
If your goal is a general list, @gman's answer, as well as other general guides, will do.
If your goal is to select a graduate program to apply for, I recommend phds.org. You can specify which criteria are most important to you: research productivity, support for graduate students, diversity, funding, etc. Based on your choices, you will get a personalized ranking of the graduate programs in your area.
> 3 votes
---
Tags: graduate-school, graduate-admissions
--- |
thread-18431 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18431 | Non-English literature: should we check for prior work? | 2014-03-22T21:01:35.410 | # Question
Title: Non-English literature: should we check for prior work?
How far should we go when considering the possibility that a (non spectacular, bur relevant) result has already appeared in any other language different from English?
Is it safe to ignore non-English publications in some fields like computer science, chemistry or physics? That would be assuming that foreign researchers will publish in English, if they are serious about it.
# Answer
> Is it safe to ignore non-English publications in some fields like computer science, chemistry or physics?
I would try my best to not ignore. If you are citing a paper that has cited a non english journal, I would read the citation to see if its relevant to my paper. Translation tools, although not always accurate, would give you a sense what the paper is talking about. Maybe this article can answer your question to an extent.
http://www.ete-online.com/content/5/1/12
> 7 votes
# Answer
If you *know* about a previous record in another language, mention it! Strictly speaking, publishing something (even in part) that is a translation of something already published in another language without reference, is considered plagiarism.
Now in practice, I don't think that honestly omitting a previous record written in something else than English would be held against you. It also depends on when this source has been written. Most modern scientific literature has at least its abstract in English.
This being said, I think it's a good idea to check the literature in German, especially for chemistry, physics or engineering...
> 5 votes
---
Tags: research-process, literature, literature-review, literature-search
--- |
thread-18450 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18450 | How math-heavy is graduate quantitative finance? | 2014-03-23T15:10:15.207 | # Question
Title: How math-heavy is graduate quantitative finance?
This post concerns grad school options. I am an undergraduate math major and will soon complete my studies. I am considering finance/financial engineering. How math-heavy is the financial mathematics compared to pure mathematics? Is it equally as challenging and tough?
Basically, I am considering finance because pure mathematics is rather challenging for me. If you need more clarification, mention in comments.
# Answer
> 14 votes
Programs vary; it would be best to look at the specific requirements and prerequisites for the programs you have in mind.
In general, mathematical finance can involve a very considerable amount of pure mathematics. A big piece is modeling assets via stochastic processes, and to understand those properly requires a firm background in graduate-level real analysis, measure theory, probability theory, and often functional analysis and PDE. A mathematical finance course may well consist primarily of theorems and proofs, just like a pure math course would. This is typically even more true at the PhD level than masters.
Of course, I would say that just because mathematics is challenging, that doesn't mean you should avoid it!
# Answer
> 6 votes
The reason I'm writing this in the form of an answer instead of a comment is because I can't write a short enough comment to meet the character restrictions. So, don't take this as an answer, as I don't intend it to be. You've just asked a pretty broad question.
Your question is awfully familiar in content and application to the very same question that I asked myself when entering into college to study computer science. I found out that it is true that computer science is very math heavy and a good solid foundation in math greatly helps; however, it's not in the way that people normally envision mathematics being used when they hear "math heavy."
One thing I will say is that while I'm not into graduate finance work, I've seen some graduate finance work as a programmer. Sure, there's math involved -- and lots of it. It's all math, numbers, and logic; but, then again, what isn't? People have said before that construction is very math oriented, and I'd agree with that to a point. Just like I found out with computer science, yes it's math heavy, but I'm not **explicitly** solving mathematical equations every second of every day. The familiarity with mathematics and mathematical intuition developed from doing mathematics, something I call mathematical maturity, really benefits the perspective that problems are viewed from. I think that applies to everything else, too. So, I think **a familiarity with mathematics benefits all fields of study for people from all walks of life.**
# Answer
> 3 votes
Courant is one of the top places in the world to get a MS in Finance. This is what their website says:
http://math.nyu.edu/financial\_mathematics/content/05\_prospectiveStudents/02.html
Basically, you will need to have some grasp of Stochastic Calculus, Probability Theory, and Numerical Analysis. Some knowledge of Functional Analysis and Real Analysis/Measure Theory will help with the proofs but for the most part, from the point of view of writing Models, coding them up, simulating them, and calibrating them you will mostly be solving PDEs. You'll probably use MATLAB or C++ .
Your program may also have a strong econometrics basis, so you will need to develop data skills and learn how to use packages like SAS, STATA, LIMDEP etc. The theory will involve some linear algebra and probability theory.
The professors may not go very deep into Finance Theory but the type of math they use there involves Functional Analysis, Dynamic Programming, Martingales etc.
The program will be fast paced and challenging, especially Finance Theory since you won't have a base for it but you should be fine with the math part of it if you have an undergrad degree in math. Remember, you will understand things better with each iteration so try to get some working understand in your first pass and also try to have a bird's eye view of what's going on. It is easy to get lost in the details.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I'm a math major studied in Canada. I am planning to do Financial Mathematic. I have talked to some professors from the Fin/Math department. They recommend me to take some thing like probability, real analysis, PDE, Functional Analysis. I would say it's a very tough program.
---
Tags: graduate-school, mathematics, career-path, finance
--- |
thread-18499 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18499 | What is the differences between purchasing Harvard Business Review PDF and reading the article? | 2014-03-25T04:41:18.907 | # Question
Title: What is the differences between purchasing Harvard Business Review PDF and reading the article?
I was reading this Harvard Business Review article, The Making of an Expert and they were offering a PDF purchase.
Are there major differences between the content of the PDF and the free article?
# Answer
> 5 votes
Many publisher offer a teaser - an excerpt of an article - as an advert for the full article. The teaser may contain the abstract, some graphics, maybe a lay summary or press release about the article, and so on.
In the case of your Harvard Business Review article, they let you read the first eight paragraphs, which gives you an idea of the article's content and style. The full article is about five times longer than that excerpt.
If you buy the pdf, you get the full article, together with its references, and any supplementary information. (though in this particular case, there are neither references nor supplementary information).
Note that five pages of text can get turned into nine pages within a journal, thanks to graphics and other materials that appear in the PDF, but don't appear in a text-only version: for example, in the PDF of the article in question, the first page consists of a single image. The text-only version may or may not contain the side-bars that appear in the PDF ("Things to Look Out for When Judging Expertise").
# Answer
> 0 votes
EnergyNumbers' answer is quite complete. In this particular case of the HBR article, the link you provide leads to the first paragraphs of the article and not to the complete article. Notice that, after the first eight paragraphs (as well as at the beginning), the image of a key appears. This signifies that the rest (and likely most) of the article is "locked". Should you be interested to read the whole article, you are instructed to buy it - or, in the event that you are a HBR subscriber, to simply login.
---
Tags: journals, website, abstract
--- |
thread-18481 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18481 | Is it unethical to submit an older paper to a conference and then update it after acceptance? | 2014-03-24T15:56:36.767 | # Question
Title: Is it unethical to submit an older paper to a conference and then update it after acceptance?
I have had a paper accepted for a conference this summer, which presents the preliminary results of my PhD research. However, I'd like to present my final results at another conference in the fall, the deadline for which is in a few weeks, and which requires a full paper submission. My question is: would it be unethical to submit the first paper (in a re-structured form) in the hope that it will get accepted for the later conference, and then subsequently update the results before the final deadline?
# Answer
> 27 votes
> "May I submit a paper to another conference that is essentially the same as a paper that is already published or accepted for publication?"
**NO** *
> "May I substantially change the content of an accepted conference paper after peer review?"
**NO** *
<sub>* Unless it is disclosed to, and permitted by, the PC/editor.</sub>
# Answer
> 15 votes
To add to @ff524's absolutely correct answer, you can still submit to that second conference. All you need to do is cite your first paper, state that this paper only adds results A,B,C. It is possible that the modest additions to your first paper are enough to merit publication on their own; however you must be honest and let the editors/referees decide this.
In short, you may submit your updated paper, provided you are completely honest about its differences with the previously published work. If indeed those differences are trivial (as suggested by the title of the question), then obviously this is pointless.
# Answer
> 2 votes
ff524's answer is true for the general case. There are two exceptional cases where you will be allowed, or actually required, to make substantial changes to the content. Note that none of them will happen because you want to add a bit more.
First, your paper might be put into a gatekeeping process. In this case, the acceptance is conditional on making certain changes and the reviewers being happy about these changes at a later reviewing stage.
Gatekeeping only occurs when the program committee requests it; you can't trigger it (and don't want to). It only allows you to make the changes the reviewers requested from you (normally to provide better argumentation for your conclusions, or to describe your empirical methods in your detail), not to include any results you forgot about or didn't have at the beginning.
The second case is if you find an error in your research which renders your paper wrong. In this case, you should contact the program committee, inform them of the error, and offer to retract the paper. If you have the improved results, and they are not completely changing the main statement of the paper, the program committee may allow you to keep the paper in the running, but will require you to rewrite the parts based on the mistaken results.
# Answer
> 1 votes
It is completely unethical to substantially change a conference paper after acceptance, just as it would be completely unethical for a used car salesman to substitute a different car after you'd agreed to buy. The programme committee accepted the first version, based on the advice of the reviewers; they did not even see the second version. If the same thing happened in a journal version, the second version would be sent back to the referees but there is no second round of reviewing for conferences.
Honestly, I'm worried that you're even asking this. It suggests that, in your mind, the primary goal has become publication, rather than doing good research.
---
Tags: conference, ethics
--- |
thread-16642 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16642 | Gaps between PhD and employment? | 2014-02-06T21:07:28.843 | # Question
Title: Gaps between PhD and employment?
What is the longest gap of unemployment that will likely not affect your chance of getting an academic position (post-doc or faculty)?
For example if you graduate from your PhD in December or January but most post-doctoral/faculty positions in your field don't start until May-Sept, is a partial year's worth of unemployment looked down upon in future job applications? If not, what is the longest gap that won't look so negative while applying to future jobs?
# Answer
> 4 votes
I am not sure how you are using the term unemployed. Clearly someone with a paid academic position (e.g., adjunct teaching or lab tech) would not be considered unemployed. I am not sure if you consider an unpaid lab tech or a paid burger flipper as being employed. To me the real issue is being out of the field.
If you cannot get a relevant paid position and but can afford to be without income for a few months, then a year gap, and probably longer, isn't problematic. In fact many labs will hire unpaid researchers. In this case you could continue to conduct new research, publish, apply for grants, and gain new contacts. You could likely stay in an unpaid position as long as you could afford it without any affects on future job prospects. If you cannot get an unpaid research position then it really depends on how long you can milk publications from your past research and produce new research without any affiliation to a research group.
If you cannot get a relevant paid position and cannot afford to be without income for a few months you can sometimes find paid work in a related field. Working as a paid lab tech (e.g., washing test tubes) or adjunct teaching. These types of jobs won't help you publish more or get grants and in fact take time away from publishing, research, and getting grants. That said they can provide a limited set of new skills and cotnacts so are probably sustainable for a year or so.
In the absence of getting even a peripherally related job taking an unrelated job (e.g., burger flipper) even for a short period (i.e., months) gap can be problematic. Not only will it slow down publishing, research, and grants it may make you less flexible about being able to take up a new related position (e.g., how much notice would you have to give). You are also not building new skills or contacts.
A lot of the impact will depend on how important publication speed is in your field. If a few month delay in publishing will result in you being scooped, any gap is probably bad. Similarly the ability to do research without any resources will help you weather a gap. Similarly, if your field has new instigator grants with a clock that starts ticking upon graduation then gaps are bad.
# Answer
> -2 votes
Form a corporation. That can keep you employed until you get the position you want. Who knows, you might even figure out a way to make money in the process!
For example, I am a software engineer. I have had a C-Corporation for the last 20 years. Whenever I'm between contracts / jobs, I work on something I've wanted to pursue personally. It could be writing an iPhone app, or integrating a PC into my home theater system. If it takes me long enough to find another gig, I'll list my experience doing whatever it was I accomplished as an entry in my resume. It keeps me from having unusually long gaps, and occasionally, I'll even generate revenue doing it.
For another example, a friend of mine is a research chemist. Together, we designed a gas chromatograph that was accurate enough to be useful, yet inexpensive enough to be available to even high schools. This was a number of years ago and we were using a Commodore-64 to control the temperature of the oven containing the stationary phase coil, as well as collecting the detector data in real time. As we never brought this product to market, I would classify it as either an R&D effort, or a proof of concept project. Either way, it was useful from a resume perspective.
I actually thought this was a helpful and viable idea and I would not have mentioned it if I didn't.
Regardless, a little evaluation of a potential business opportunity probably wouldn't hurt most career academics.
---
Tags: job-search
--- |
thread-18498 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18498 | What is "research-based intervention program"? | 2014-03-25T04:20:00.620 | # Question
Title: What is "research-based intervention program"?
I received the following comment from a journal reviewer:
> There is a need to conduct a research-based intervention program which compare between other solutions and your solution. Such research can provide evidence and support to the importance of this solution over others.
What does he mean by "research-based intervention program"?
# Answer
> 1 votes
It sounds as though s/he is unconvinced of the validity of your conclusions, and is attempting to tell you so without actually saying it! If this is so, then addressing this comment means providing more information on *why* your solution to the problem should be prefered over other potential solutions.
Note that I am not familiar with the term in this context--research-based intervention usually refers to targeted interventions/actions in education or medicine.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Because of the phrase "*compare between other solutions and your solution*," my guess is that the reviewer suggested some intervention that has a strong research component so that on top of improving well being, you also get scientific information out of it.
Generally, it would imply many things, among which: including a proper control group or other treatments for contrast, have appropriate power/sample size, prepare a clear protocol, randomization/group randomization, implement consent, plan all analysis before, etc. There are also some more meta-level components, for instance, incorporating cost-benefit analysis, RE-AIM protocol, effectiveness/efficacy research, etc.
The way I see the difference is that "evidence-based intervention" can be carried out with or without any intention to produce generalizable conclusion. We can perform a rigorous literature review, plan a program, and work with a community center to kick it off. No scientific design, no data collection, and no manuscript but yet evidence-based because all components were borrowed from carefully chosen published statistics or analyses.
From the tone, I don't think the reviewer seriously doubt your work. Void of context, I'd suggest you to incorporate that comment in your "next step" or "recommendation." After all, if it's a pilot study paper, it's unrealistic to expect a full-blown comparison. However, if what you submit is based on a full scale program that has research-design-related flaws (e.g. no proper sampling, low sample size, no control group), then perhaps you can address it by providing effectiveness/efficacy outcomes from other intervention studies that involved similar sample participants to back up your program. You may also address those lacks in the response. This is hard to tell without knowing what you did.
---
Tags: journals, peer-review, review-articles
--- |
thread-18512 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18512 | How can I find the original article of an often-plagiarised work? | 2014-03-25T14:00:50.030 | # Question
Title: How can I find the original article of an often-plagiarised work?
I am currently trying to read an article on a particular topic. I really want to read and reference the proper original article, and attribute the work to the ones who deserve it; however, I'm finding it hard to determine just who that is.
I have found articles, all of which seem to be ripped off from the same source. It could be that one of them is the original, or none of them are. (Some of them are obviously fake.)
I'm inclined to believe a particular one is legitimate. It's the one with the earliest date, which admittedly can be faked, but it's also in the IEEE Xplore Digital Library, which I trust.
However, I'm not even sure how much I can trust any digital source now, because one of the other articles turns up in search results from my own institute's digital library! It seems they're indexing a particular journal that is not trustworthy.
So how do I determine the original authors of the work, or who can I trust to tell me?
---
As an example of what I'm talking about, here's what I'm witnessing:
The third article is the one that is returned by my library's journal index. The last one is the one I believe to be original.
# Answer
> 20 votes
Unfortunately, there's no completely reliable way to determine whether a paper is plagiarized, but I think you're right in this case.
The 2012 IJWMN paper and 2014 IJLTET paper are pretty clearly plagiarized. Of course I can't prove anything, and one of them could in principle be the original, but it would take quite a story to explain how the same text was stolen and published by someone else three to five years earlier. A one-year delay might be due to refereeing or a conference rejection, but three to five years is a very long delay for CS.
The 2013 AJER paper is a strange case. It does copy some text without attribution, both from the 2009 paper and from the Wikipedia article on software design, but it has worse problems than that: the paper seems to have virtually no content beyond mock ups of what the user interface might look like, with messages such as "Your Secret Key is: 1004". Even aside from the plagiarism, it's safe to ignore this article as having essentially no research content.
The 2009 ICNS paper looks to me like the original. There are several tests one can do to try to gauge this:
1. You can do web searches for sentence fragments, such as "vulnerable to a large spectrum of attacks" or "introducing IBC into P2P". If you do a reasonable job of guessing distinctive phrases, you'll find a short list of potential word-for-word plagiarized papers. (Annoyingly, search engines will sometimes miss matches due to not parsing PDF files well, so there's a random element to this.) In this case, searches show that the 2009 paper took some wording from a 2008 paper by other authors, such as the bit about vulnerability, but seems not to have copied the whole paper. The borrowed wording is objectionable, but it doesn't invalidate any originality in content.
2. You can investigate the prestige of the journal/conference. Plagiarists are less likely to get away with publishing in high-prestige venues, because their theft is more likely to be noticed. I don't think ICNS is particularly prestigious, though, so this criterion doesn't help. The papers from 2009 are archived by the IEEE, but the IEEE archives a lot of junk on behalf of other conference organizers, so the IEEE archiving shouldn't be viewed as indicating high quality. It's very different from journals or conferences run by the IEEE.
3. You can see whether there are a lot of citations. That wouldn't prove anything, but it would suggest that people citing the paper weren't aware of plagiarism allegations. In this case, Google Scholar finds only four citations, so we don't learn much.
So in summary, it looks likely that the 2009 paper is the original (although I've only looked briefly, so it would be worth doing a few more searches). That's a remarkable collection of plagiarism you've uncovered, and I can see how it would be unsettling, but I think this is an unusual case.
# Answer
> 13 votes
One approach is to filter by journal.
* The so-called 'American Journal of Engineering Research' (article 1)
* The 'Academy & Industry Research Collaboration Center' (AIRCC, publisher of the 'International journal of wireless & mobile networks', article 2)
* The 'Association of Computer Electronics and Electrical Engineers' (ACEEE, publisher of the 'International Journal of Latest Trends in Engineering and Technology', article 3)
are all fake journals and 'predatory publishers' as listed by Jeffrey Beall's list.
This means that no scrutiny was applied in the publishing process, in fact there was no editorial process whatsoever, and thus instances of plagiarism are to be expected. I would recommend not to cite anything found in these pseudo-journals.
The other clue is the publication date obviously. The IEEE mark does not constitute an insurance of quality in itself, as pointed out by Anonymous Math. but I would say that it is your best shot in this case.
---
Tags: plagiarism
--- |
thread-11785 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/11785 | Do Australian academic jobs have similar tenure track policies as USA? | 2013-08-10T02:25:48.767 | # Question
Title: Do Australian academic jobs have similar tenure track policies as USA?
Is the Australian academia following the same system as the US one? i.e., tenure track for a few years, and then tenured? Or it is more like the British one where there is 'probation' period?
# Answer
I don't want to contradict Samuel too much, but his account of what can happen has definitely happened to some people. But it is extremely rare and I would argue a little over-simplified.
For starters, my paycheck from a major Australian university has the word "tenured" on it. So my first point is, yes, continuing positions are "tenured" - but lets not get bogged down in semantics because tenure def means something different in Australia. Indeed I believe the union considers this to be a f(ph)urfy so let's say there is some subjectivity there.
Having tenure does not guarantee that you cannot be fired though. You can be. But as one manager said to me once, it is more expensive to fire an under performing academic than to simply retain them as long as they keep doing their teaching etc. I work with lots of unproductive academics and many have been asked to leave. They simply said no thanks and stayed. The only time I have seen academics forced out, they left with large redundancies and, simply put, wanted to leave. When you read about retrenchments at Australian unis in the newspaper, often more want to leave than are given packages.
Gross incompetence or dangerous behaviour? Yes you can be sacked. But as far as I have seen you cannot be fired on a "whim" as someone suggested. A business case would be made (declining enrolments, lack of research activity, lack of administrative roles)
And yes, as Samuel said, management teams will go after departments at times. But redundancy packages are often generous and often people from an eliminated department will be shifted to another department (good academics stay, crap ones move to a lower ranked uni).
I also don't want to make this a peeing contest, but I have worked in the US system too and the Australian system is more protectionist of staff than the US system. But indeed tenure is probably harder to lose than in Australia.
I am tenured at a Australian uni. I say this to people regularly and no one corrects me. But yes, I know union types that tell me my tenure is not tenure. I heard this a lot 5 years ago, but not recently
In short, to answer the initial question, the Australian system, broadly speaking, is the British system. Tenure with probation (3 years, recently raised to 5 I think)
> 16 votes
# Answer
Australia does not have a US-like tenure system. Academics at all levels are occasionally scrutinized, and advancement is not automatic.
> 14 votes
# Answer
Australian Academics do not have tenure. They are either appointed on an on-going basis ("Permanent" staff) or on contract (year-to-year, three-year to three-year) or casual (hour to hour) bases. All three categories of staff can effectively be dismissed at whim by management.
Appointment to permanent positions in Australia is on the basis of:
* Merit selection to externally advertised positions (with a probationary period)
* Corrupt selection to unadvertised strategic appointments (with a probationary period and the possibility of "non-conversion")
* Absence of selection or merit selection to contract or casual positions followed by a lengthy union fought conversion process
While the conditions of appointment to ongoing positions vary from field to field, you should expect that the conditions of appointment for a Level B "Lecturer" are broadly similar to the requirements for either entry to a tenure-track position or achievement of tenure in a tenure track position. (Varies by field and labour supply). Appointment to Level C "Senior Lecturer" often occurs 3 to 6 years after first appointment on the basis of another unit of research output equivalent to the unit of research output required for initial appointment.
Academics may be dismissed at will by forced or "voluntary" redundancy processes covered by weak industrial provisions in Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (site specific industrial instruments). These dismissals need a fig leaf of reduced student numbers or institutional renewal; but are effectively managerial dismissals. Individual academics are constructively dismissed through bullying processes, change fatigue, and general managerialism. Management has the power to entirely defund teaching streams and then claim that positions are no longer required due to the lack of teaching. Australian University management is adept at manufacturing both immediate and long-term funding crises to achieve fundamentally political ends in terms of attacking specific work-cultures or disciplinary research programmes. In addition, freedom of research has been significantly eroded by quantity and quality audits of research output which often involve politicised sub-disciplines indicating their preferences (Consider the Business Dean's journal quality list, for example).
The only defence Australian academics have against management is unity in the National Tertiary Education Union.
Sources: Industry experience, NTEU membership, 40 years of union journal back-issues.
> 8 votes
---
Tags: professorship, tenure-track
--- |
thread-18522 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18522 | Are frustrations with lack of fairness and transparency on PhD qualifying exam warranted? | 2014-03-25T16:38:54.450 | # Question
Title: Are frustrations with lack of fairness and transparency on PhD qualifying exam warranted?
I apologize for the length of this post but I feel it is necessary to accurately convey the severity of the situation. I greatly appreciate those who take the time to offer advice.
I am a prospective PhD student in a major research institution and am writing on behalf of numerous students frustrated with our department's qualifying exam (QE). Things have been getting progressively worse over the past few years such that my fellow students have decided to petitioned our department(dept.) head for a procedural change. Unfortunately, several students refused to sign the petition for fear of malicious treatment by the faculty. The response to our petition from the dept. head and other faculty was unfavorable to the point that we are considering filing a formal complaint with the University. I would like to gauge the objective opinions of unbiased parties as to whether our reasons for complaint are justifiable.
I will describe the QE procedure and summarize our complaints below:
The formal reasoning given by our dept. for having a qualifying exam is "To determine whether the student has the knowledge, skills, and ability to conduct independent thinking and creative research." The QE is composed of 4 consecutive one hour written examinations, a research assessment paper on a pre-selected journal article specific to our research field, and an oral examination where we present the contents of our research assessment paper and then answer questions from 3 faculty members until they are satisfied. Students may retake any sections which they fail the following year. If after the second attempt, all parts have not been passed, the student must petition for a third attempt. If the petition is not accepted, the student must defect to the master's program. If that student already has a M.S. from the department (as is my case) then the student is forced to leave the program and 3 years of tuition is wasted.
* Students are not allowed to see their graded exams or know their exam score. This privilege was removed without warning two years ago despite being present in our universities' student bill of rights. We are notified via letter of pass/fail status only. Also, no statistics are provided regarding the range of scores, number of students who passed, etc.
* The dept. never reveals what score constitutes passing or failing. We have heard via word of mouth from certain faculty who sympathize with out situation, that passing can range from 30% to 80% depending on the exam category and changes from year to year. This, however, is not administrable evidence and would most likely be denied by the faculty who told us if ever questioned.
* Exam content consistently strays outside the provided list of topics. The provided topic list appears to be lazily assembled by copy/pasting from course syllabi. The 4 exams are technically supposed to be covered by the 3 courses which the department requires all graduate students to take (they do not offer a graduate class covering the fourth topic). However, questioned are routinely posed from material covered in non-required classes, some of which are only offered every few years.
* Exams are written by professors who's field of research is entirely unrelated to the exam topic and/or professors who have never taught the class which the exam covers. This leads to major inconsistencies in the materials covered and puts students who took the class from a different professor at a disadvantage Again, the dept. refuses to reveal who writes the exams. However, we generally figure it out in hindsight from off-the-record discussions.
* The passing rate of these exams is very low. Less than 20% of students pass all exams their first attempt. Again, we cannot prove it, but it is suspected that the decision to pass a student is biased based on whether it is the students second attempt. Also, many students who get A's in the covered classes are failing these exams.
* After our meeting with the dept. head regarding our petition, it was announced that the subjective third attempt to pass all sections was no longer going to be allowed. This is unfair as many students have required this third attempt in the past. Also, students taking these exams for the second time (which were in February), did so under the impression that, based on past history, they would get a third attempt if needed. This new policy will effectively force them to leave without a degree.
This list of complaints could go on for pages but I will leave it at that. I understand that a PhD QE should not be easy; however, are our frustrations warranted? I welcome both advice and constructive criticism.
# Answer
The basic reality of qualifying exams is that they can act as an "outlet valve" or "quality check" for various departments, allowing them to pick out the best students (if they admit more incoming students than they can accommodate in RA and TA positions) or to double-check their decisions (to make sure everyone is qualified). Of course, this only works if they are free to make the decisions however they so choose. This means that it doesn't make sense for them to post publicly exact scores, nor to publicize what a "passing grade" is. So you're probably not going to meet with a lot of support for public announcement of scores and distributions
However, most of your other points **are** valid concerns. You can't change the rules *ex post facto*—if you tell somebody before their second attempt that they have up to three attempts to pass, then you can't later change your mind and say "sorry, you only have two attempts." This is completely unfair. Similarly, asking questions on subjects that lie well outside the domain of what the exam should cover is also completely unreasonable. Passing should not be contingent on taking a class you haven't been able to take because it wasn't offered!
Most importantly, though, is that it sounds that like the bigger problem is that the faculty in your department aren't taking their duties with respect to the qualifying exam very seriously. If this is in fact the case, then they should change the exam into something they can live with. Otherwise, they're wasting their time and yours, and possibly needlessly ruining people's graduate careers and professional aspirations. This is simply **inexcusable**. Unfortunately, short of raising a ruckus with the university administration (or being willing to file a lawsuit), I don't see much hope of things changing.
> 23 votes
# Answer
First of all, your concerns sound reasonable and valid, if the facts are as you've stated.
It sounds as if your department has decided to use a quota-based filter to limit admission to a Ph.D (only some X fraction of students will be allowed to go on). That would explain the general mystery surrounding the process and their unwillingness to post standards for passing/failing. While they're within their rights to do things this way, they're trying to have their cake and eat it too. Because if they were required to state this explicitly, no one would want to come to the department to play this version of Hunger Games.
Unfortunately, it's not clear what you can do. Some things are possible:
* can you document the instances of questions deviating from prescribed material ? While this wouldn't be a smoking gun ("You should know this already" - say the professors), it would at least force them to be more specific about what's contained on the exams.
* can you document the inconsistencies between material taught and material asked on the exams ? for the same reason as above.
* changing rules midstream is a big NO NO. This is your strongest complaint if you have to take the matter up further. At the very least, students have to be grandfathered in.
Beyond that, you should remember one source of power you do have. Professors need grad students, if for nothing else than to do the work professors have promised their grant agencies they will do. Deans need professors to spend research money on students so they can say that they're using grant money effectively. None of this works without students. Obviously you can't take collective action without numbers, but a protest where you submit blank exams could make an interesting statement.
But that should be a last resort.
> 15 votes
# Answer
You have implied two basic options: staying without fussing or trying to lobby for changes, or staying with some attempted hostile influence. But both cases are graduate students with low status dealing with tenured and like-minded-to-tenured professors. Someone who understood law could tell you legal strengths and someone who understood university policies could advise you on means of redress within the university. I can't do either, but I want to give another option.
There is also the option of entering another program. There would be losses, but what is written between the lines in your detailed "Here are the details as objectively as I can give them; how do things stack up?" original post is a question of "Can I from my present position obtain an appropriate position within my university, or not?" that does not consider seeking a more appropriate department and university. I know there are things you would lose by transferring out, and you might have to take some things again. But in terms of a hostile departmental administration, there are much better options than what you can work out within a university that does these things, even if you can improve some of them by academic grievance procedure (a point on which I do not offer informed opinion).
I did a second master's and was dropped on suspicious grounds (passing was 60 points, minimum for entering Ph.D. placement was 63 points, I had 61 points... after I decided that the one area I really wanted to impress the department was my thesis, and the department made me change my thesis topic, which I declared at the beginning of the year, so completely that I retained none of my earlier study--two thirds of the way through the year; the 61 was a 61 for half the time I spent during the academic year and no credit or recognition earlier). I'm looking for a more appropriate place, even though it pains me I was not able to complete my studies there.
I wish you the best, and a boss in or outside of academia who will be more humane in dealing with humans.
> 2 votes
---
Tags: phd, qualifying-exam
--- |
thread-18532 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18532 | Issues in self-publishing old work. Recommendations for Necromancy? | 2014-03-25T20:02:19.183 | # Question
Title: Issues in self-publishing old work. Recommendations for Necromancy?
Main Issue: What credit should be given (and how should it be given) to the alma mater in publicizing old work?
Background: I entered and left a Ph.D. program in another millenium. During this time I produced some results, one group of which was to become my dissertation. (At one point, my advisor said the equivalent of "you have enough to graduate; write it up".) However, all that I did distribute during my time as a graduate student was a couple of preprints, one of which later got cited in work of others. I did not finish the dissertation and did not get the degree (although I did get to attend commencement and walk across the stage). If it matters, during the time I produced results I got one TA (teaching) grant, and no other funding.
I am considering self-publishing material related to the work I did in grad school. I have already given presentations on some of the work; I now plan to submit to ArXiv some of my work done while I was in graduate school; later I may follow up with results based on this work.
Question 1. What kind of issues might I encounter in doing so? Would the University have some recourse to discourage me?
Question 2. If there are no intellectual property issues involved, what is an acceptable format? (I was thinking: write a wrapper giving a brief history and introduction, insert my preprint verbatim, and close with acknowledgments and some follow up. The preprint I distributed does not contain my dissertation, but is a key piece of it. What would the acknowledgment section look like?)
Question 3. If I decide I also want to go back and finish my degree at that program, (ideally by finishing the remaining requirement of submitting the finished and approved dissertation, however unlikely that may be), would doing this self-publishing be contraindicated? If so, why?
# Answer
> 3 votes
This is in response to Question 1:
The university only cares if some portion of your work is monetizable, i.e. leads to a product that people pay money for. If not, they would prefer you to publish rather than not; it can only help them.
The real issue is your advisor and collaborators, if any. They may have a claim on that work. Before publication you should contact them and discuss possible coauthorship. Resolve this issue before investing any more of your time; see other posts here for what happens when authorship is not clearly agreed among all participants.
# Answer
> 1 votes
The real question in my mind would be the timeliness of the result. "In another millenium" covers a lot of ground. PhD research is supposed to make a new contribution to the field, but if your results have been overtaken by other work, then they may no longer be the kind of thing that your old school would be willing to give a PhD for. In any case, you should be discussing this with people at that school, such as your adviser (if that person still works there) or someone else such as the faculty member who currently handles advising for graduate students.
If your work *is* timely enough to be worth a PhD today, then I don't understand why you wouldn't submit it to a journal rather than just putting it on arxiv, which makes it extremely unlikely that anyone will read it.
---
Tags: etiquette, intellectual-property, online-publication
--- |
thread-5990 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5990 | Do I have any potential in the academic field? | 2013-01-01T01:29:04.713 | # Question
Title: Do I have any potential in the academic field?
I live in a third-world country. Although I have a second-class degree in IT, I work in the general banking section in a private banking organization. This is possible because, in our country, private banks recruit engineering students (among others) as Management Trainees. They are rotated among various sections in the bank and are trained up for two years. After two years, they are promoted as Executives.
After joining the organization I found that there is huge amount of study involved to get confirmation and to get promotion. Moreover, I don't know Accounting.
Now I am thinking, since I have to study anyway, why not take the GRE and TOEFL, then study apply for a MSc in IT or computer science and then a PhD degree from USA.
I have already been away from academia for almost four years. And, since I am doing a full-time job, I think it will take 2 years more to prepare myself applying for higher education in the USA. At that point I will be 32 years old.
Is a PhD degree from USA enough to find a job at that age?
# Answer
> 14 votes
*since I have to study anyway, why not go for GRE+TOEFL, MS in IT or Computer Science and then a PhD degree from USA*
Maybe you're aware of this, but "studying" has little to do with getting a Ph.D. It might suffice for an MS, but a good MS involves more than just "studying" as well.
In other words, if (as stated) your idea is that instead of "study" to get a promotion, you want to study to get an advanced degree, you're in for some disappointment. A graduate degree (especially a Ph.D) involves a lot more "doing" and independent creative thinking.
# Answer
> 8 votes
This is not how it works. A degree doesn't mean you will get a job. Actually, a degree only proves you passed a certain education course and wrote your dissertation.
In order to get a job, you must be proficient / or at least well-familiar with specific requirements of your chosen job posting. Whatever the job requires, you need to know it before applying and have some experience with it.
The degree contents is not enough to please your potential employer. You must study also around the curriculum from day 1 to match the real job requirements \[as you have found them in job postings\]
Further, a PhD is a highly specialized research degree focused on a very tiny, narrowed-down area, in which you will most likely never find a job in your lifetime \[unless you are very clever or lucky and research something that companies or universities dream of\].
Master's degree is already an advanced degree. Chances are, you won't even find a position in your Master's specialization because it is too specialized. For example, what you say about your company that makes you a trainee manager, that already means you didn't find a job matching your Bachelor's.
Regarding positions in Academia, there are very few, if any, and the number of PhDs competing for one such position might be around 500. This is one thing to consider. There are many extremely bright PhDs who really want to teach and cannot find any university to go. There is also something called "tenure". When you get it, you can stay at your post for the rest of your life. Professors rarely leave their posts, and when they do, the role may be filled by the associate professor, in some cases. So that you would eventually wait 10 years as a postdoc before becoming the professor that you want to be. During that time, there is often a very low pay as these postdocs are cheap labor working ~55h / week.
The supply of PhDs is so much exceeding the demand, that I would recommend to re-evaluate the situation and make more realistic goals, such as look at available positions and their requirements before studying. If you study, pay for access to extra contents relevant to your desired profession and learn from these resources as a part of your advanced degree to bridge the gap between real job requirements and the academic curriculum.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I am having a feeling that you want to go for academia or at least r & d of some company, after PhD. If you really really have 'the calling', then and only then take such a risk. I know only few student who actually took such a risk. Do not come in academia with a very romantic thought and be prepared for hardship, toil and trouble. These things increases, if you can not manage to get in one of the the top places. Also consider the financial matters as well.
If you can sponsor yourself, then perhaps you can go to some reasonably good university in USA, without any recommendation (your job experience can help you in certain ways). Since I have never been there, someone else can answer it better. Otherwise, go to the best institute available in your country for getting a MSc(Engg), MSc (by research), MTech or similar degree. Make sure, the the faculties of that place are active in research and (better) have some contact in USA. In this way, even if you do not want to go for PhD after 2 years, you still have some placement options from the institute, you are studying.
I myself never appeared for GRE etc. So some others can tell the procedure better. All the best for your future.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I did a PhD and then went into the software industry followed by banking. I did the PhD because I love science rather than for career enhancement so I never regretted doing it. In the software industry the PhD is not well valued. Three years of work experience would be much better. In banking the right PhD is useful for certain roles such as quants, hedge managers, analysts etc. In general a suitable PhD helps in some roles, has no benefit in others and may make you overqualified elsewhere.
My advice would be to do a PhD only if you are inspired by research, not as a career move. Only continue into a postdoc academic career if you are really sure it is your lifetime calling.
However, it is possible that coming from a third world country the PhD may open more doors for you. My own experience does not address that.
---
Tags: degree
--- |
thread-18559 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18559 | Are TOEFL requirements waived for foreigners with US bachelors degrees? | 2014-03-26T14:00:17.023 | # Question
Title: Are TOEFL requirements waived for foreigners with US bachelors degrees?
I notice that perhaps most US graduate programs require non-native English speakers to get a certain mark on the TOEFL. Is this requirement typically waived for students who completed their bachelors degree in the US before applying to a masters program in another school also in the US?
# Answer
> 5 votes
I was in this position - as an international student applying to US graduate programs after being a US undergraduate. I contacted the graduate programs I was applying to to ask if they would waive the TOEFL requirement, and they all did (i.e. I didn't have to retake it). I heard recently that the requirement for a waiver (for my current university at least) is for an applicant to have been at a US university for four years.
My backup plan if the graduate programs had seemed unsure about a waiver was to call someone on the phone and essentially demonstrate that I am fluent in English.
(The TOEFL is expensive!)
---
Tags: graduate-admissions, united-states, international-students, language-exams, toefl
--- |
thread-18565 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18565 | Aligning my Master's degree with prospective PhD's | 2014-03-26T20:13:37.160 | # Question
Title: Aligning my Master's degree with prospective PhD's
I'm at the cusp of selecting a MSc programme in Europe before re-applying to American PhD's and I'm at a loss how to decide which MSc position I should take.
I'm strongly convinced I want to do a PhD with a person at Columbia U., UT Texas and some elite schools. All of these people have a shared interest (narrowly defined field of research) and I'm wondering how I can improve my chances down the road to study with them.
First off, a PI's at one of the schools I've been accepted to is working in the same field; goes to the same conferences, visits the PhD PI's and, is probably on quite good terms with them. I could not verify this any further without asking too obvious questions. So to me it seems like an advantage, however this MSc programme is not well established and hence doesn't have the 'prestige' like the other programmes I applied to.
I'm tempted, perhaps because of my upbringing, to contact the PhD PI's I'm interested in and straight-up asking them if they'd recommend any of the MSc programmes. Would this seem overbearing? I can't really tell and the cultural differences make it more ambiguous.
# Answer
There are a number of major issues here:
* In the US, you normally do not need a master's degree to be admitted. Keep in mind that in the US, the PhD program normally begins with a coursework phase, which roughly corresponds to the European master's degree, *before* the research phase.
* Additionally, in the US, admissions are normally done at the departmental level, rather than at the level of an individual PI. The PI might have some say in admissions—particularly if she serves on the admissions committee—but there is no guarantee that you'll get admission to the school of your choice.
* Moreover, in many schools and programs, particularly those where the advisor-graduate student "matching process" takes place after enrollment, advisors are normally **not** allowed to make commitments to particular students prior to enrollment. Additionally, the advisors generally have to show the ability to pay for the graduate students they take into their group, but also have the freedom to select any of the graduate students in the class.
So, you may be spending two or more years pursuing a master's degree that may not be needed, so that you can take a chance on whether or not a particular advisor has both funding and open positions, and also wants you over the other students interested in joining the research group. There are a lot of places where things can go wrong here.
So, my recommendation would be to talk to the programs, find out if you need a master's degree before applying (or if they'll exempt you from the coursework you've already had). You should also note that tailoring your application too narrowly to the interests of a single advisor is *not* always advantageous in a US graduate application, because if the advisor who you're trying to appeal to isn't interested, the other faculty will probably pass as well, and you'll end up without an offer of admission.
> 3 votes
---
Tags: phd, masters
--- |
thread-18573 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18573 | Do any schools maintain records of when instructors arrive and depart the classroom? | 2014-03-26T23:37:42.593 | # Question
Title: Do any schools maintain records of when instructors arrive and depart the classroom?
Recently, my college began placing staff around the school to record when instructors arrive. The record is to the second. A school announcement also warned against arriving late and ending lessons early by even fraction of a minute. I am somewhat surprised to find this in a tertiary institution. How common is this?
# Answer
> 1 votes
I thinks it depends if the instructor is Tenured, part time or a contract instructor. For the later two, I would believe that the school would have some time sheet system for payroll purposes. Its becoming common. Temple university has a template for time sheet for instructors http://www.temple.edu/cjtp/pdfs/Instructor%20Timesheet.pdf
Also, check out this link
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/02/kean\_university\_now\_requires\_f.html
---
Tags: working-time
--- |
thread-18524 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18524 | Doctoral Consortiums: When, How Many and Are they actually useful? | 2014-03-25T16:49:13.547 | # Question
Title: Doctoral Consortiums: When, How Many and Are they actually useful?
I am a fourth year graduate student of information science. Broadly, I work in a rather interdisciplinary area at the intersection of location based social networks, usable privacy and surveillance studies.
I am post A exam \- which in my university refers to a combination of qualifiers, orals and dissertation proposal/prospectus confirmation. I am regarded as ABD/doctoral candidate in my university. I go on the job market in another 6-12 months (depending on certain criteria such as in progress journal articles being published on time etc.)
In my specific field, folks publish in a combination of journals and conferences tending more towards the latter although my committee prefers the former.
My adviser and I have been discussing the possibility of my presenting a general overview of my doctoral dissertation work in doctoral consortiums in various conferences to get feedback and exposure to the community as a whole. Some of the sample conferences where my work is a good fit are here, here and here. I am looking to go into academia primarily (looking for both calls for tenure track positions as well as post doctoral positions)
My questions to the academia.stackexchange community are as follows:
1. **How useful are doctoral consortiums for feedback and presentation of your dissertation in-progress to the broader academic community?**
2. **When is a good time to start attending doctoral consortiums?**
3. **How many doctoral consortiums are "enough"?** (assuming funding to attend multiple ones)
Thank you for reading this question.
# Answer
> 8 votes
Having attended one of the doctoral consortiums you linked to as well as one you haven't, here's my perspective (as a student) on what doctoral consortiums provide a venue for:
A) Networking with peers and senior researchers in your field in a very targeted way. A prolonged period of time ranging from 1-2 days is usually provided where you'll be closeted with other consortium students and senior researchers. This gives you a set amount of time where not only will you have a bunch of students with you who are also interested in networking, but where senior people in the field who may not generally be approachable during a conference will be available and open to talking to you. In addition, it also gives you a subset of people that you know will be at the conference that you can continue to network with during breaks and meals.
B) Getting an outside opinion on your research. Doctoral consortiums will usually give you time to present your research so that the senior people in your field can give you feedback. As a PhD student, sometimes it's difficult to get a perspective outside of what your advisor's agenda is. Feedback during consortiums can help to provide new insights into how your work will be received in the larger research community, what people in the community perceive to be the strengths and weaknesses in your topic area, and how they think about what you're doing.
C) It gives you a place to practice presenting your research to a wider audience than just your advisor or your lab. Even in a specific research area like human-computer interaction, which you linked to, there is a wide spread of topics that people will be doing research in. Presenting at a doctoral consortium gives you a chance to really try to explain your research to a receptive audience that may have no background in what you're doing. It's sort of like having a low stakes first shot at what you'll have to do when you eventually give job talks.
D) Depending on the conference, doctoral consortiums are arguably really nice for your CV because some of them are very selective and difficult to get into.
Not all doctoral consortiums are the same, but generally they are targeted for the point in your graduate career when you've picked your topic, done preliminary work or published a paper or two in that area, but before you're really entrenched in your planned research and can still change direction.
The idea is that by getting that outside feedback from senior researchers in the field, they'll be able to give you a nudge in the right direction if they foresee real problems with your topic/work in time for you to make corrections.
The general opinion that I've heard/witnessed has been that going to more than 2 is overkill and that at that point you won't be getting much out of them. However, it's really good to get into at least one as a student.
A last point, since you mention funding, many doctoral consortiums provide some level of funding for students that have been accepted to ensure that they can attend. In addition, they will often cover the registration fee for the conference that they're attached to.
# Answer
> 5 votes
Here are some answers based on subjective experience in computer science.
> How useful are doctoral consortiums for feedback and presentation of your dissertation in-progress to the broader academic community?
As you frame it, they are of little use. Most such events are collocated with better (top-tier) conferences in an area and those and their collocated workshops are actually much more useful forum for presentation of your on-going research.
Doctoral consortia are primarily a vehicle for networking in the community. The benefits of attending an event like that include 1) getting to know better your peers in your "academic generation" (if you remain in academia, this might become useful later in your career: think of them as future collaborators); and 2) getting an opportunity to have one to one interactions with senior members of the community (think of them as future supervisors/employers).
> When is a good time to start attending doctoral consortiums?
In the last third of your doctoral studies. Given the purpose of doctoral consortia I mention above, often the participants will be specifically selected to only include those in the later stages of their studies when your thesis is outlined, your main thesis-relevant contributions to the state of the art are already set and when you are supposed to start to look for a post-doc gig.
> How many doctoral consortiums are "enough"?
I don't know, but for most people I know *one* was the right amount.
---
Tags: phd
--- |
thread-18567 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18567 | Are there "uninteresting" publications in high profile journals? | 2014-03-26T22:00:30.453 | # Question
Title: Are there "uninteresting" publications in high profile journals?
I always want to read a high profile publication papers. It is true that they are in general hard to understand but they have very important results (in general).
It happens to me sometimes. Sometimes when I read a high profile paper, I found that the contribution is not very interesting, not worth to publish the work in this kind of high profile journal. Maybe I am the one who do not understand the paper but it is only me?
Do high profile publication contain "uninteresting" (i.e., not very important or novel) publications? If it is the case, why they accept it?
# Answer
If a paper is published in a very good journal (one that is sufficiently good that it doesn't need to accept boring papers to fill issues), that means *somebody* (reviewer, editor) thought its contributions would be interesting, novel, and/or useful to a nontrivial subset of the journal's audience.
But, this doesn't mean that the paper is interesting to everyone. (Very few papers are!)
For example, I usually find papers that say "We applied a known technique to optimize problem X for some metric Y" very boring, but others in my field appreciate these contributions.
In some cases, you may find the paper uninteresting because you either understood *less* than the reviewer or *more* than the reviewer.
* It often takes some knowledge of the field to really appreciate the contribution a paper is making. In most journals, the authors are allowed to assume that the reader already has some field-specific knowledge. If you read the paper without understanding this context, it will probably seem boring or not useful to you.
* It works the other way as well. Sometimes, a reviewer reads a paper and thinks, "This is an important contribution," but those with more knowledge understand that it isn't. For really good journals, the editor can usually find a reviewer who understands the field well, so this (ideally) doesn't happen as often.
<sub>I am sure somebody can think of a paper that was accepted only for e.g., political reasons, and is genuinely, objectively unimportant. These are rare enough that I don't think these are the papers you are asking about.</sub>
> 17 votes
# Answer
Each journal has his own policy as for what kind of articles it is going to select, that is it will have a set of criteria weighted by different degrees of importance.
Among those criteria you will find:
* relevance to the journal
* significance of the studied problem
* originality and novelty of the work
* achievement of the objectives
* writing quality
* technical quality
* replicability if the paper describes an experiment
Those will be drastically different for example between a subscription type of journal and an open-access one, mostly for financial reasons. The peer-reviewing is also executed in different ways, with different methods and emphases. One has to pay attention to that.
At the end of the day, you will also find certain papers more "interesting" than others. The only way to find what you are looking for is to know what you are looking for exactly. Is it a journal focusing on novel content? Or just accepting the most methodologically correct ones? Ideally, to know how much you can trust different aspects of a paper, you need to know the details of its origin, that is who reviewed and selected it for you. Journals are a great tools for science, but they sure are not absolute.
> 4 votes
# Answer
You can take an other measure than subjective importance and this is the citation rate.
There are statistics which indicate that even in high-ranked journals there is only a relatively small number of articles which are heavily cited - and those create the high impact factor. All others are cited once or twice (and therefore "unimportant" if you accept citation rate as an indicator for "importance").
> 3 votes
---
Tags: publications, paper-submission
--- |
thread-18553 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18553 | Gift to a supportive professor? | 2014-03-26T10:29:45.510 | # Question
Title: Gift to a supportive professor?
As you might have seen from my history I had a very bad advisor who deliberately underpaid me, stole my research work and undermined my career at multiple phases.
Now I am done with my university and leaving next month. A professor in my department had been very supportive of me during these times, giving me advice on how to handle this situation, gave me recommendation letters to apply for PhD programs at other universities and also got me a internship. I just want to thank her for her help. I usually would have got a champagne or something but I know she doesn't drink alcohol. Any advice?
# Answer
> 11 votes
It's nice that you want to do this for your professor. Thinking over what I would like (and have received in the past), the following comes to mind:
* a note (email, letter, whatever you prefer) saying essentially a longer version of what you said above. A heartfelt note of this kind is the best kind of thanks.
* if you'd like to get something more tangible for the professor, a little token that they can place on their desk (like what Pete L. Clark mentions) is always nice. It doesn't even have to cost lots of money. I have students who made paper models for me (I teach geometry) and I have them all over my desk :).
---
Tags: phd, advisor, etiquette, professorship, gifts
--- |
thread-18581 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18581 | What happens to equipment purchased using a startup package after an academic leaves the university? | 2014-03-27T03:45:46.407 | # Question
Title: What happens to equipment purchased using a startup package after an academic leaves the university?
I am on the faculty of a large American university, and I have bought a lot of equipment (laptops, tablets, batteries, etc.) for research purposes using a startup package. I will be leaving for a new university in September, and I am wondering what, *in practice*, will happen to this equipment. Obviously, it is the property of the university and I'm going to leave it all there, but is someone going to come through with a clipboard and make sure it's all there? Do these kinds of things usually just get sent off to surplus sales? How about the students of mine who will still be at the old university?
# Answer
What happens to your stuff depends on how your university classifies it. *Inventoried* material—more expensive items that a university keeps track of—will almost certainly need to be accounted for. So that probably includes laptops and tablets, unless they're so old they've been removed from inventory (as not having any significant value anymore). Major laboratory equipment and furniture also fall into this category. Such materials will probably be held as "surplus," and made available to other groups or departments.
In contrast, small-ticket items—such as stationery and miscellaneous office supplies—are not normally tracked. You won't be asked to reimburse the university for a missing stapler.
> 14 votes
# Answer
In my alma mater, a public university in Spain, all expensive material is inventoried, and as it belongs to a public entity, cannot be sold when used up. Also, to get rid of an old computer (to get an idea: some are using floppy disks) requires a lot of bureaucracy. You need to prove that it is not useful anymore, and blah blah blah.
So, what they do is just drop the material in a given corridor, and wait for it to be stolen. If anyone -ever- comes asking for it, they will just check the corridor "ah, it got stolen". Lots of trees saved.
For other equipment not suitable for this scheme, well, we have a wide terrace with lots of space.
> 13 votes
# Answer
In my old group, what we did was that every lab member could, when (s)he is leaving the group, "buy" their own hardware for a symbolic price if it was older than 3 years (3 years, because after this time span the hardware was considered without significant worth by the university). So basically, everybody usually kept all their equipment after e.g., graduation. Our lab head considered this as sort of his "graduation gift" to the student / ex-lab member - I am not convinced that the entire process was entirely legal, but apparently (as the equipment is formally without worth to the university) nobody ever actually complained (so far). In the rare cases where this was not possible (e.g., a laptop younger than 3 years), we simply kept the equipment back for emergencies (such as when the laptop of one of the lab members breaks and he needs a replacement while it is being repaired).
In my new group, hardware is simply returned, put onto a big pile, and in most cases, forgotten. Every now and then the big pile of old hardware gets thrown away. I am sort of assuming that this is how most universities handle old hardware, as silly / wasteful as it is.
> 8 votes
---
Tags: job-search, funding
--- |
thread-18588 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18588 | How to teach programming to first timers at a college level? | 2014-03-27T09:50:03.187 | # Question
Title: How to teach programming to first timers at a college level?
I am currently teaching at a local college an Introduction to programming using C#. Most of these students have never had any programming experience. The only prerequisite is an ICT course that teaches basics of computing.
I am finding that the students are facing issues with comprehending the concept of program structure and execution. I tried explaining with flow charts however they still face issues linking the flow of the code to the flow of the solution of to the problem being solved.
Those who are more experienced probably know of techniques or ways to structure the lesson or even curriculum to teach programming in a much better way (I am even guessing there might have even been studies about teaching programming).
What known techniques are there for teaching students at a college level programming? Especially those who have had no prior experience before?
# Answer
> 4 votes
We've had pretty good success through the Software Carpentry initiative.
There are software carpentry bootcamps happening around the world: I'd advise going on one yourself, before hosting them.
They offer a well-rehearsed pattern of training, with lots of hands-on exercises, using open-source training materials.
You can mix and match bits of the syllabus to suit: databases, particular languages, using the shell command line, source-code version control, OOP, and so on.
Once you've put one cohort through a Software Carpentry bootcamp, get them to be the helpers on the next software carpentry bootcamp, for the next cohort of students. That way, they get to copy the successful "see one, do one, teach one" method used in medical training: they learn at least as much again when they're teaching the material, as they did when being taught it.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I am inexperienced in teaching people with no prior knowledge to coding, though the subjects I have taught were relatively new to most of them. (Reactive Programming/Asynchronous). I usually start off by telling them the importance of the lesson, in your case you could say. "The concept we are handling today is the basis of Object-Oriented programming, this is widely used and so important, the windows kernel even got a complete rewrite to accommodate this.")
Furthermore, it's important to note that not every student comprehends this as quickly as others, programming is a different way of thinking about a problem than they are used to. Just like they probably had trouble understanding mathematics when they first got that in primary school. You have to keep in mind that because a part of the class understands it, that's no assurance everyone will.
Programming in general should be thought in a "New way to think" manner, you don't teach them literal code, but rather you should teach them "How can I explain to this stupid machine, what it has to do?"
I'd start off with teaching them about the primitives, then the arrays. Maybe as an assignment, let them figure out how to code 10 numbers of the fibonacci sequence? Just make sure they get enough coding done, books and lectures help, but eventually they'll need the experience in writing the code.
Only once they understand how they can explain to a computer what they want it to do, you can start teaching them about object-oriented programming and patterns, but they first have to understand algorithms.
I do look forward to answers of people whom have experience teaching the inexperienced, as I might end up doing so one day myself :)
Anyway, I hope this helped a bit :)
# Answer
> 0 votes
I agree with much of what's already been said. What I would add is that you have to make it matter to the student. Teaching programming as an abstraction -- which is the way many of us learned -- makes it harder to learn. I will often give a good sized project to first semester students where I'll say, "Solve a problem that interests you!" Even if I don't always get the best results that will always be the project the students enjoy the most and put the most work into.
---
Tags: teaching, code
--- |
thread-18587 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18587 | Do grad schools need an official transcript from universities where I was an exchange student for only one semester? | 2014-03-27T09:30:58.593 | # Question
Title: Do grad schools need an official transcript from universities where I was an exchange student for only one semester?
I am a European non-EU student that went on an Erasmus exchange for one semester in the UK during my third year. Now, two and a half years later, I am applying to grad schools in the US, and the official transcript in my home university lists the courses taken in my exchange.
However, I was wondering if I need an official transcript from the Erasmus university as well. Getting this would be a big problem, since they only give them in person, and I have no way of getting one. Is it enough that the courses I took on my exchange are listed on my home university transcript, or will I have to do the impossible and get one from the Erasmus university too?
# Answer
> 3 votes
This is likely to be specific to a particular graduate school, but I studied in the UK for a year during my US undergraduate education. The courses and grades were listed on my transcript. The graduate school that I applied to (and to which I was accepted) did not require a separate transcript from the UK university.
---
Tags: graduate-admissions, student-exchange, transcript-of-records
--- |
thread-18622 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18622 | Introduction to Programming with Pseudocode | 2014-03-27T20:38:36.083 | # Question
Title: Introduction to Programming with Pseudocode
In the University in which I will start teaching the course sequence for Programming goes in this way:
* Algorithms and Data Structures
* Structured Programming Languages
* Object-Oriented Programming Languages
So as you see, the first contact of the students with Programming is the "Algorithms and Data Structures" course in which several programming fundamentals topics are covered (variables, data types, if/else, loops) and also some data structures and basic algorithms. The weird part -at least for me- is that in this first course there no actual programming: all the topics are covered with Pseudocode and Flowcharts written in the Blackboard.
This seems kind of strange for me, and as a new teacher I have little power to change this (Senior teachers said that coding is for latter courses). So, I want to know if any of you is familiar with that teaching approach and if you can suggest me some textbooks that are using that teaching methodology.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
# Answer
> 6 votes
This is exactly the approach taken by the Introduction to Algorithms course at MIT—or at least it was the case back in the early 2000's. The book by Cormen et al. takes a decidedly agnostic approach to programming, and presents everything in terms of pseudocode, rather than adopting any particular programming language.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I think it is a bad idea. The paper supports everything, and if you make a mistake, it takes skill and time to realise. On the other hand, if you write and run a program, bugs appear because the output is incorrect and you know it. Just think how difficult is to debug a broken program, imagine how much it would be if you don't even know if there is a bug.
It is reasonable for a book to be language agnostic, so the reader can adapt it to their favourite one. But it doesn't mean one can just draw it.
Another lesson to be learned is that there are algorithms out there that look beautiful on paper, but they can become a hell to implement in actual code.
And finally, designing on paper is a good practice, but it is only valid if you consider all possible inputs. And again, this takes skill and experience, that firstly introduced cannot have. On the contrary, if you have the code, you can throw in anything you can imagine and see what happens.
---
Tags: teaching, code
--- |
thread-18468 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18468 | Fastest way to browse journal papers (from Web of Science)? | 2014-03-24T07:47:01.330 | # Question
Title: Fastest way to browse journal papers (from Web of Science)?
The search engine which I typically use to browse journal papers is WebofScience. It allows me to sort by times cited, and check out who cited what.
The problem is that to get to the actual article once I have found one I am interested in takes many clicks and loading time: 1. Click FindIt button, 2. Click a link from my library access, 3. Click view full text. 4. Maybe save the article too, and import it into my reference manager.
i.e.
Step 1)
Step 2)
Step 3)
**Other options...**
Previously, my fastest process was to import the a list of selected references from WebofScience that I want to check out into EndNote by clicking the 'send to EndNote button', and then clicking find full text in EndNote to batch find the texts (works about 90% of the time, otherwise I had to manually click view PDF, save to my PC and then import).
Now I have discovered that Zotero can download a reference and the PDF with a single click from my browser, but only when I am searching on Elsevier or Scitation websites directly (but cannot select multiple articles for import at once, and means that I will usually have WebofScience open in a separate window to do the searching and then ctrl-c/v the article names across).
Is there an even faster way?
# Answer
> 1 votes
**Use Google scholar instead**
Advantages over Web of Science:
* Less clicks to access full text, or to save a citation
* More literature (including books) is available
Advanced search options (e.g. filter by Journal) can be accessed by clicking the arrow at the right hand side of the search box
---
Tags: research-process, software, reference-managers, library
--- |
thread-11625 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/11625 | Can a university claim patent rights for inventions performed on my own time? | 2013-08-03T18:53:01.950 | # Question
Title: Can a university claim patent rights for inventions performed on my own time?
I'm working for a university as a **research programmer** (prof staff, exempt) on an external grant ("soft money"), and there is a clear understanding between me and my immediate supervisor/PI, and at least one other PI, that I can use a certain non-trivial amount of my time each week to work on my own projects (the so-called **"20% time"**).
I've tried investigating what the university would officially think of any such endeavour, and I found the IP policy (IU) that seems to suggest that patentable inventions unconditionally belong to the university, whereas general copyrightable work does belong to its authors (unless they perform such work specifically for university use, e.g. course materials).
Apparently, the policy even says that it covers even non-paid individuals, part-time individuals and students (which are not even just "non-paid" for their activities, but are actually required to support the university by paying tuition and various other fees).
Supposedly, it basically applies to everyone who uses **University resources**, however, the term *University resources* itself is not defined amongst all the other terms that are, in fact, defined very specifically for this exact IP policy directly within the policy.
* Does a public university in the US really have such powers to implement a policy like that, and to claim patent rights to inventions which are not performed in the official line of duty and even oftentimes outside of the work clock?
* Have such policies ever been reaffirmed through courts? Especially when applied to non-compensated employees, or the various slave labour?
* What do I do to avoid being covered by such policy?
+ Must I never perform any parts of my own research on any equipment purchased through university, even on grant money?
+ Cannot use the monitors owned by the university together with my personally-owned laptop?
+ Cannot use university's internet connection to connect to my externally hosted personal servers, where the use of university's internet connection is merely coincidental to my own research on my own computing resources, and could easily be replaced by an off-the-shelf 30$/mo service from elsewhere without any significant side effects? (I'm just using ssh, basically.)
+ Cannot use my non-trivial work time that was allowed for my own research by my supervisors to do my own research? Do I have to request to be re-classified from being a full-time employee (1.00) to being a part-time employee (e.g. 0.80) to have my 20% time unencumbered?
+ Cannot sit in my office space doing my own search?
+ Cannot sit in a university building whilst doing any such research of my own?
+ Cannot be anywhere on campus doing any of my own research?
# Answer
> 20 votes
Note that a detailed response to your question, as well as any answer tailored to your specific case, will need to be given to you by a lawyer. And, if you think of doing anything that could even remotely be considered borderline or controversial… **just ask a lawyer**. And even if you don't do anything borderline, **better safe than sorry!**
Now, I want to explain some of the background of that answer: I have acquired some experience of my own, though not in the US, on dealing with being employed as a full-time researcher and professor, yet maintaining a certain level of activity outside of my employer. I actually produce intellectual property on my leisure time (both copyrightable materials and patent rights), and have consulted with law professionals on how to effectively keep control of my own IP (as opposed to that which I create for my employer).
The main conclusion is: **you actually have to be very careful to be able to fend off any potential claim of your employer on the IP created**. Of course, it's a risk of the “if it comes to that” variety. If your university is not interested in pursuing any claim to such IP, you may never have a problem, even if you did not clearly separate your own IP from that created for your employer. But… you never know what may happen in the future (e.g., your current understanding with the dean may not hold in a few years), so you should take maximal precautions.
In short, you should assume the following:
1. **Everything you do on company time is owned by the company**. I'm pretty sure that this includes your “20% time”: if it's 20% of the time the company pays you, it may mean that they leave you free to do research in a direction you choose for yourself, but it is still research you performed as their employee.
You certainly can't expect to be paid 40 hours a week, work 32 hours for your employer and then spend the remaining 8 hours for someone else, can you?! (in this case, the “someone else” is yourself as a freelancer)
2. **Don't use resources from your university**. This is also very typical of contracts and, at least the few European countries I know, the legal *status quo*: use of company resources means the company has rights on your production. This includes *every resource* you list, even smaller things you may not think of, like email account, FTP/web/ssh hosting, internet connection, …
3. **Everything you create while inside the company** is not yours. Walls, internet connection, desktop, electricity… are company resources. While courts in some jurisdictions have recognized that certain limited activities done inside the company, such as reading email during lunch break, may fall within the personal sphere (and not the professional sphere), it is not likely to be the case for any larger activity.
4. Finally, if you think of doing on your spare time anything that is thematically closed to your day job, take care: it becomes hard to claim that your own activities are not linked to your university position and resources, and do not in any way interfere with it, if you are a computer science researcher by day and patent new sorting algorithms by night :)
And, did I mention? Get help from a professional, aka lawyer.
# Answer
> -1 votes
Some people are paid to be innovators. How much they pay you for your billion dollar work can be as low as peanuts. If an employer wants to employ you in such a fashion it should clearly be stated in your employment contract. Some people would refuse such positions or not bother with working hard when away from work and instead spend the time relaxing. Generally if your employer asks you to work on something then that should belong to them. Higher level mangers are employed to innovate in their respective sectors whilst certain conglomerates work in all sectors. It’s the University researchers such as your self that are paid peanuts and expected to hand over all billion dollar inventions. In short, if an employer wants outside work inventions then it should be clearly stated in the contract! Some people are smart enough to create enterprises for themselves!
---
Tags: computer-science, united-states, intellectual-property, patents
--- |
thread-18552 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18552 | What is the likelihood of a PhD-holder from the USA remaining unemployed? | 2014-03-26T09:12:34.657 | # Question
Title: What is the likelihood of a PhD-holder from the USA remaining unemployed?
In our country (Bangladesh), a PhD from the US is considered as a pinnacle of achievement in one's life. But, in some of my discussions in one of my previous questions I learnt that even a PhD from a US university is not enough to secure a job.
My question is: are there any statistics on the rate of employment amongst PhD graduates trained in the US?
# Answer
> What is the likelihood of a PhD-holder remaining unemployed?
>
> ... I learnt that even a PhD from a US university is not enough to secure a job.
The US National Science Foundation (NSF) provides a bunch of statistics on where doctoral graduates in STEM areas (Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics) end up working.
This spreadsheet refers to a sampled survey done in 2008, wherein the NSF provide statistics on the employment status of all PhD graduates from STEM areas trained in the U.S.
Across all of their fields, they count 752,000 relevant graduates, of which they estimate that 651,200 were employed at that time (578,700 full-time, 72,400 part-time), 11,400 were unemployed and seeking work, 75,900 were retired, and 13,500 were not seeking work.
An unemployment rate is calculated as:
`UR` = `UE` / `LF`
(`UR` is Unemployment Rate, `UE` is number of people UnEmployed, `LF` is the number of people in the Labour Force \[working or seeking work\].)
**So for the 752,000 U.S. trained PhD graduates considered, the NSF estimated an unemployment rate of 1.7205% in 2008.**
**This is compared with a U.S. unemployment rate of ~6% in mid-2008.**
So to return to your question ...
> What is the likelihood of a PhD-holder remaining unemployed?
More than three times lower than the general population (for US-trained STEM PhD holders).
Furthermore, a small percentage of unemployment is inevitable as some percentage of people will always be between jobs for a short time. (Someone more in tune with economics may be able to comment on whether or not 1.72% is close to "full employment", but being unemployed for \>1.72% of your career while taking a break between jobs doesn't seem unreasonable.)
A more detailed break-down of the total size of the labour force and the unemployment rate per field follows, so if you're in a STEM area, you can pick whichever field is closest to yours.
```
#Field #LF #UR
All fields 662,600 1.7205%
Science 515,200 1.7275%
Biological/agricultural/environmental life sciences 167,200 1.9139%
- Agricultural/food sciences 17,300 1.7341%
- Biochemistry/biophysics 25,700 2.3346%
- Cell/molecular biology 19,700 1.0152%
- Environmental life sciences 6,500 1.5385%
- Microbiology 12,300 2.4390%
- Zoology 9,800 3.0612%
- Other biological sciences 76,000 1.9737%
Computer/information sciences 16,400 1.2195%
Mathematics/statistics 30,300 0.9901%
Physical sciences 118,200 2.3689%
- Astronomy/astrophysics >5,000 [Supp.]
- Chemistry, except biochemistry 59,600 3.0201%
- Earth/atmospheric/ocean sciences/other phy. sci. 18,500 1.0811%
- Physics 35,600 2.2472%
Psychology 100,500 1.2935%
Social sciences 82,700 1.3301%
Economics 22,300 0.4484%
Political sciences 19,500 1.0256%
Sociology 14,900 1.3423%
Other social sciences 26,000 2.3077%
Engineering 118,100 1.7782%
- Aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical engineering >5,200 [Supp.]
- Chemical engineering 14,700 2.7211%
- Civil engineering 10,500 0.9524%
- Electrical/computer engineering 33,800 1.1834%
- Materials/metallurgical engineering 12,300 2.4390%
- Mechanical engineering 16,400 1.2195%
- Other engineering 25,200 2.3810%
Health 29,200 1.0274%
[Supp.] means suppressed: numbers are too low to preserve anonymity.
```
---
**Caveats:**
* The context is 2008, US-trained STEM PhDs. Unemployment started increasing in 2008 with the onset of the subprime morgage crisis.
* A PhD is just paperwork. What you *do* for your PhD is far more important than the degree itself.
* Of course simply being *employed* is not necessarily the same as having the great job that you always wanted, and certainly we cannot infer from these data that doing a PhD is always the best path for everyone to follow their dreams.
> 19 votes
---
Tags: phd
--- |
thread-18425 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18425 | Tools for remotely updating the advisor? | 2014-03-22T18:22:31.893 | # Question
Title: Tools for remotely updating the advisor?
I am a research student. Though me and my advisor used to meet regularly, nowadays due to workload, I usually remain outstation and not able to meet him personally.
I do work continuously and meet him at least once a month but am not able to take as much input from my advisor as I would like. (limitations of my physical availability).He doesn't prefer video chatting and pretty hesitant in replying to emails in depth.
Putting in crux, how to track research progress myself and update my advisor simultaneously. I would have preferred a wiki like page, whose URL(private) I can share with my advisor, where he could look at my progress and comment. It could also assist organizing my own research.
What tools would be recommended in such scenario ?
# Answer
I am in this exact situation right now since I'm on sabbatical and (some of) my students are back in my home institution. Unlike your advisor though, I'm quite comfortable with skype/G+ and use them regularly.
But to keep track of progress, I use a flavor of `github` that people in my department run (I also use `github` and `bitbucket` directly). As long as your advisor is comfortable using version control systems, and can set up their account for automatic emails when you commit something, it's easy for you to keep them updated and for them to see updates you've made.
I also make sure to have an `agenda` file in reverse chronological order to keep track of what we've been working on and what progress has been made since our last meeting.
One of the advantage of version control systems like git/svn/hg is that it's relatively easy to see what has changed since the last commit, or since 5 commits ago, which will help your advisor. Although if they don't like video chatting or replying to email, I do wonder if they're technically savvy enough to use git :)
> 6 votes
# Answer
For wiki documentation, documents, RSS feeds and source code I would recommend a tool like redmine, which also has version control integration. This can be a local installation in some university server, in case you do not what project publicly available. But for progress, bugs I would recommend something like trello (https://trello.com/) for several reasons: a) it is a web based tool b) it is free c) you can add private projects and add additional users per project d) has automatic user notifications (e-mail) in case someone adds something to its dedicated trello blog.
So, a combination of redmine (for wiki, src code, documents and version control) and trello (for user notifications, blog bugs etc..) I think it is pretty much what you need.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Please note that this was my dissertation project, and I co-founded the organization that currently maintains and develops it, but take a look at the Open Science Framework:
http://osf.io
It's a completely free service for documenting, sharing, collaborating, archiving, and registering materials across the scientific process. You can use the site privately or choose to make pieces of your workflow public.
It should support the scenario you mentioned, and, if not, we'd be glad to use any feedback you'd be willing to provide to make adjustments. It can also connect and integrate services like Amazon S3, Fighshare, and Github, and we have a variety of other add-ons in the works (10 or so) including Dropbox, Trello, and Evernote. Some of those might be helpful extensions in managing the collaboration with your advisor.
Please do follow-up if you try it--you can email me personally at my first name at cos.io if you'd like.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: research-process
--- |
thread-18645 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18645 | Value of (multiple) master's on the path to the PhD? | 2014-03-28T16:06:59.843 | # Question
Title: Value of (multiple) master's on the path to the PhD?
I'm a PhD student in computer science. At the end of the year I will finish my coursework and be awarded a master's degree. Due to the nature of my research (machine learning) I'm considering taking additional classes to get a master's in statistics. The obvious pro is that I will gain a deeper understanding of topics that I will otherwise be generally self studying. The obvious drawback is that coursework takes time away from research. How do I weigh these pros and cons appropriately? Thanks.
# Answer
> 5 votes
You seem (at least in your question) to have skipped over a middle option: as a PHD student in computer science at an American university, it is likely that with no additional paperwork you can enroll in graduate courses in the statistics department.
(As with all things academic, it would be good to run this past your supervisor, but as long as you can explain (i) why you think it will be useful to you and (ii) why it will not significantly impede the progress on whatever else you are supposed to be doing, s/he ought to be supportive of it. If the statistics coursework is directly relevant to your thesis research, s/he ought to be enthusiastic, even.)
You can then take exactly the courses to develop the knowledge and skills you need. I don't know your situation, but it seems very unlikely that what you want to learn will coincide precisely with the set of requirements for a master's degree in statistics. And in terms of your credentials: unless you are looking for a post-PhD position specifically in statistics, given that you already have one master's degree and are going for a PhD, I don't see a second master's degree in statistics as having much value to you. (Even then, unless your career goal is to be some kind of adjunct lecturer in a statistics department, a second master's degree is not guaranteed to be directly helpful: if you have specific career goals then you should ask around as to what credentials best help you achieve these goals.)
As to the value of the coursework itself versus the time for your CS research: Suresh's comment is the best answer that I can think of to that. You're right; there are pros and cons to be weighed against each other. We can't do that for you nearly as well as you can do it for yourself. Your supervisor is the natural person to go to for some additional insight, but in my opinion the final decision is really yours.
---
Tags: phd, graduate-school, masters, computer-science, statistics
--- |
thread-18590 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18590 | How do I make a bad semester not look bad during my scholarship application? | 2014-03-27T10:35:57.693 | # Question
Title: How do I make a bad semester not look bad during my scholarship application?
I am applying to the Fulbright Foreign Student Program, and they require a transcript. Now, I have a problem with my grades, in that I had good grades until my final year, where a combination of depression and a death in the family tanked my non-major GPA. During my final year, I went from a cumulative 3.55 to a 3.07, and also failed two courses. More specifically, my first semester of my senior year was awful, with a 1.22 GPA, and in my second semester, I managed to get a respectable 3.0, where I had to take 21 credit hours so I could graduate on time. So it's not as if I am a bad student, it's just one semester of badness which has to be explained.
How do I make this not look bad? I would like to explain myself in the personal statement that I am capable of rebounding from hardship, that I can rise to the challenge when confronted with adversity, that my performance in that one semester is not indicative of my abilities.
I am upset at the moment because after looking at my transcript, it's worse than I initially thought. As for my other materials, I believe I have good letters of recommendation, good industry experience, and I can write some kick-ass essays, despite the fact that English is not my first language.
Also, the bad grades are not in my major (CS), where I managed to keep a GPA above 3.5 during my studies.
Any tips on how to deal with this? Any other tips I could use? I really appreciate it?
# Answer
> 7 votes
They require a transcript, but do they allow any kind of supplemental statements as part of the package? If so, I would try to include some kind of simply explanation – something like:
> During the fall semester of my senior year, my grades slipped due to some personal family issues.
You might even try put a positive spin on it:
> During the fall semester of my senior year, my grades slipped due to some personal family issues. Even though my grades suffered, I learned a lot about priorities and biting off more than I can chew. Though my GPA might not reflect this, I emerged a better person because of that trying experience.
# Answer
> 3 votes
If there are extenuating circumstances that precipitated this dramatic drop in grades, use the opportunity provided by your personal statement to address this, as suggested by J.R.
A second point you can emphasize that - in my experience is quite important - is that you rebounded from this very sub-par semester by doing respectably in your final semester. This provides more evidence that it was a fluke and that you are on the upswing. From speaking with admissions committee members (which is admittedly a bit different), I've been told that bad grades earlier in a record, followed by good grades are almost a non-issue (if you get passed the initial GPA screen, of course). Between this dynamic and a well-written personal statement, you should be able to mitigate the damage of a single bad semester.
---
Tags: graduate-admissions, application, funding
--- |
thread-18554 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18554 | Where should be original quotations be type-set in a translation? | 2014-03-26T12:35:06.240 | # Question
Title: Where should be original quotations be type-set in a translation?
I'm writing a scientific manuscript in German and since I want to give the German readers the opportunity to understand everything of it, I will include translations of all foreign quotes.
How would I do this? Let's assume the following hypothetical English text, where I want to include the original German quote (Es geht nicht um ein Stück vom Kuchen; es geht um die ganze Bäckerei.):
> Most politicians will happily confirm what was already pointed by Dota Kehr and million others "it's not about the cake, it's about the whole bakery." \[DK 2009\]
The question is: Where do I put the original quote in German and do I have to point out that *I* translated it?
My current solution is as follows:
> Most politicians will happily confirm what was already pointed by Dota Kehr and million others "it's not about the cake, it's about the whole bakery.¹" \[DK 2009\]
>
> ¹Original: Es geht nicht um ein Stück vom Kuchen; es geht um die ganze Bäckerei.
# Answer
Some style guides (Chicago, MLA, etc.) have rules for how to do this; if you know that you are required to follow some specific one of these, then the advice there will be authoritative. That said, there are still several different options for how the original quotation and the translation are presented: the choice is yours, and then the various manuals may give you "implementation details" about such vital matters as the placement of punctuation. (For example, the 16th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style has extensive guidance in 13.71-13.79, but stops short of presenting the One True Method of including dual-language material.) I'm afraid I do not know which style manuals might be preferred for German-language texts.
Your basic choices are:
1. Whether the original, or the translation, is the primary version.
2. Whether the secondary version appears in the body text, in a footnote, or in an endnote.
In your case, you have decided that the translated version is primary, which makes sense if most readers don't care about the specific wording of the original, but may still want it to be available. You've also chosen to place the original text in a footnote, which makes sense for a "mid-length" quotation. If you only wanted to gloss a few words, it would be more natural to do this inline. If you had a more extensive quotation, then putting it in an endnote - or even an appendix - would avoid the problem of the gigantic multi-page footnote which can be so hostile to readers. So I think your choices are perfectly defensible.
In the case where *both* the original *and* the translation are from an external source, it is clear that both should be cited. Otherwise, you would not be giving due credit to the author and translator.
Here, the translation is your own, and in principle you should note it as "my translation" in whatever way is compatible with your citation style. For example, perhaps your footnote would say:
> <sup>1</sup> My translation; original: *Es geht nicht ...*
or perhaps you would write in text:
> ... the whole bakery." \[DK 2009, my translation\]
The specifics depend on which style guide you are following, if any.
Some of these "my translation" notes could be omitted, though that really depends on the quantity and variety of sources you are translating. If you have many translated quotations, some by you and some by others, then it would be clearer to retain the notes. If there is only one source which you quote repeatedly, then you could note "my translation" the first time and then not mention it again.
Another option is an explicit note early in the document, saying that all translations are your own unless indicated otherwise.
> 7 votes
# Answer
In books where I have seen a very large number of quotations with authors supplied translations a statement was made in the introduction or preface that "except as otherwise indicated all translations are mine." These were books where there were commonly three or four translated passages per page. They were mostly books written in English about medieval literature written in Old French or Latin. Even in these cases the original or translated text would be provided in a footnote since you would expect readers to want to refer to the other.
The point being that the exact choice of style might depend on the number of translated passages you will be working with.
> 2 votes
---
Tags: translations, quotation
--- |
thread-18657 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18657 | Can we use students' class homework solution for research purpose? | 2014-03-28T22:29:57.113 | # Question
Title: Can we use students' class homework solution for research purpose?
A colleague of mine would like to compare 25+ different Java implementations of the same homework. Is it OK (ethically/legally in the US) to share my students' class homework solutions with him for his research purposes?
# Answer
You need to run this by your Institutional Review Board (IRB), as you would any time you use data from human subjects for research.
From what you describe, it has a good chance of qualifying for an IRB exemption under one of these categories (if identifying information is removed before giving the data to the researcher):
* It is using existing data
* the data comes from normal educational practices
but even then, **the IRB needs to be the one to make that determination**.
> 26 votes
# Answer
Franck doesn't say where he is. What ff524 says is true in the US. Any research with human subjects must be approved by an appropriate review process beforehand.
One horror story (allegedly true) goes like this. A graduate student in music history spent her summer touring through Appalachia, convincing people to let her record them singing traditional songs. But that research had to be thrown out, because of the advance approval process she hadn't known was required.
> 5 votes
---
Tags: ethics, data, homework, legal-issues, privacy
--- |
thread-18636 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18636 | How to address students who do not attend, yet want to keep up with the course? | 2014-03-28T11:07:35.650 | # Question
Title: How to address students who do not attend, yet want to keep up with the course?
Recently, some students skipped some lessons without note (within the drop policy limits). I post basic instructions to a course Web site where any student can check, but since these students missed classes, the instructions are insufficient, so they send me E-mails or call asking me "explain what to do". As the homework involves on-going projects, such requests is occupying much of my time. I can demonstrate aspects in the class that require extensive writing to explain in an E-mail.
* Is it acceptable practice to turn students away?
* Is it my responsibility to assist students who fall behind in this manner to catch up with the other students?
# Answer
> 14 votes
I'll look at these two points:
1) Your course is structured in a way that there is no any alternative way to acquire the materials you cover in class; attending the lecture is the only way. **AND**
2) You have never expressed, either written in syllabus or spoken to the full class, that it's the student's sole responsibility to coordinate with other students/TAs to catch up with the materials they missed when they were absent.
If either of this is yes, I'd at least help the student once, and then make sure the whole class will know of point 2 as soon as possible.
If there are a lot of them waiting for you, try:
1. Name the chapters/sections in the assigned texts that will cover a majority of what you talked about in class.
2. Have them work in group to come up with a strategy on those "what to do," and meet with them as a group to go over their questions.
3. Group them and give a blanket tutorial. You can also make this a challenging task by asking each of the absentees responsible for sorting and summarizing the texts, or have them work on a problem set together.
4. Invest in either a cheap recorder or screen/voice capturing software to archive your lecture, so that you can prevent other situations like this from happening again.
It's hard to give a "should" or "shouldn't." Analyzing the situation case by case and contrasting with our teaching philosophy along the way should be sufficient to hint what to do.
# Answer
> 9 votes
During my student years, I quite seldom attended lectures. It clashes with my preferred method of learning: I always want to stop and think things through before moving on. Hence, I always fall hopelessly behind during lectures and am much better off spending that time reading the course material. I don't know how responsible the students who skipped your class are: whether they do their best to keep up with the course, but please be aware that some people just aren't suited for learning via lectures.
I don't know what kinds of courses you teach, which country/university you're in or whether your university requires students to show up for lectures to get a passing grade, so let me just state my policy when teaching courses: All information on what is required of a student to pass the course should be made available online. So should hand-outs and instructions for assignments etc. I claim no responsibility to remind absent students of deadlines etc., but in my view, a student who skips lectures but who is responsible and willing to actively keep him/herself updated on what is going on in the course, should have access to everything required to take part in it.
# Answer
> 5 votes
These students want to have it both ways. They want to skip class, but they also don't want to deal with the consequences of skipping class. The way you've been handling this so far has indicated to your students that this is OK with you. If it's not OK with you, then you may want to send a broadcast email to the class laying out a policy on this, and incorporate such a policy into your syllabus in the future. You have broad authority to set such a policy.
---
Tags: teaching, etiquette
--- |
thread-18669 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18669 | Can I write publications if I don't have co-authors? | 2014-03-29T11:46:10.097 | # Question
Title: Can I write publications if I don't have co-authors?
I'm currently studying a BSc so I'm not fully involved in academia yet. I'd still like to write some publications and have them peer-reviewed about specific subjects. According to Does one need to be affiliated with a university to publish papers?, I can publish even without an affiliation, but do I need co-authors? If so, how to find any?
# Answer
> 9 votes
Yes it definitely can be done.
If you have an idea then do a literature review of the subject and if you have a contribution that builds on the activity in one of the journals you find then publish there. Perhaps also look into doing a conference paper first. See here for the difference between the two.
The best co-author for your case would probably be a professor or grad student at your university.
No, co-authors are not required. They can be useful though if you need their help/skills in the project.
In computer science, journal papers usually occur during one’s PhD. Bright Masters and Honours students usually start publishing conference papers, but journal papers are not unheard of.
---
Tags: publications
--- |
thread-18640 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18640 | Problem of mentioning the department affiliated with PhD degrees | 2014-03-28T14:09:36.330 | # Question
Title: Problem of mentioning the department affiliated with PhD degrees
A newbie here :)
I am currently a PhD student in a computer science program. My research interest is about quantum information science. Back then, I also got accepted into a Physics PhD program, but I decided to join my current department because the project is much more interesting.
Here is my problem: when people ask me, *"Hey, so what are you doing in grad school?"* , I feel quite uncomfortable to mention that I am doing a degree in "Computer Science". Don't get me wrong. I love computer science. But I prefer to be regarded as a Physics person rather than a CS person (actually, I am doing a lot of theoretical quantum physics for my thesis). My feeling is that, the name of the department/degree ALONE doesn't do me justice in telling other about my research interests and experiences.
Funny enough, my boyfriend is also suffering from the same problem. He is in the same CS department with me, but focusing on computational biology. His plan is to attend medical school after his PhD, so he usually shows a tremendous amount of angst when being asked the same question. People often joke about his decision, like *"So why an IT guy like you suddenly wants to go to med school?"*. The poor guy has spent quite a lot of time to do wet labs, and is drafting a thesis with 50% bio and 50% CS components, so I can tell that he really hates when people calling him an "IT guy". While I understand that doing a bio-related doctoral research is a very logical transition for him to med schools, the name of the department alone is causing the confusion that he has abruptly changed his interests into medicine, rather than planned for it ahead.
My question is, what is the best way in our cases to "market" our research focus and experiences to other people? Should it be:
1. Ms.Catwoman, PhD in Computer Science
2. Ms.Catwoman, PhD in Quantum Information, or
3. Ms.Catwoman, PhD in Computer Science with special focus on Quantum Information?
Thanks for the answers!
# Answer
> 9 votes
> My question is, what is the best way in our cases to "market" our research focus and experiences to other people?
Marketing is all about knowing your audience. And thus you may market your PhD to different audiences in different ways.
If you're talking to a person on the street, you could say "PhD in Computer Science".
If you're talking to a Computer Scientist, you could say "PhD in Quantum Information".
If you're talking to a specialist in Quantum Information, you could say "PhD in X, Y & Z" where X, Y and Z are detailed topics.
The truth of the matter is that a PhD is a PhD. Officially speaking, there's no such thing as a "PhD in ...". So for the given person in front of you, try to communicate the area of your PhD as best as you can.
And as for the "IT guy" stuff, if that's how they chose to stereotype what you are doing, then that's their problem, not yours/your boyfriends.
# Answer
> 3 votes
I am sort of in the same spot as you, even if maybe to a lesser degree. I hold a master and PhD degree in Information Systems, even though all my research is really in distributed systems and software engineering. Some people kept asking me during my PhD time whether I am not worried that my IS degree will keep me out of CS postdocs or faculty positions.
Now, after going through a few rounds of job search, I can report that **the topic has come up a grand total of 0 times during job hunting**. Realistically, people simply do not care about the name of your degree / department. If you publish in X, you are a research in X, no matter what your degree says. If at all, the entire thing is an interesting tidbit for small talk, not something that anybody should be stressing out over.
About the case of your boyfriend - maybe the reason that people keep calling him "the IT guy" is *because* he is so annoyed by it? For some people, if somebody reacts so strongly to something that seems rather trivial to others, it would be prone to make him the butt of some inappropriate jokes ...
---
Tags: graduate-school, cv, degree
--- |
thread-18678 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18678 | References for Ph.D. admission application | 2014-03-29T16:14:53.893 | # Question
Title: References for Ph.D. admission application
I completed my B.A. in 2005 and my M.Ed. in 2010. I'm now looking at going back to school to do a Ph.D., but I'm not sure what to do about the references required for my applications. I'm still able to get in contact with my advisors from both programs, but even so it's been a couple of years since I've talked to either of them. Should I focus on tracking down old professors, or would it be better to find colleagues from my professional career to attest to relevant work I've done since graduating?
# Answer
> 2 votes
You will certainly want to track down old professors. It might be helpful to get letters from professional colleagues, depending on your field. (I am in mathematics, and in pure math this would *not* be helpful. But maybe, e.g. CS would be different.)
It would be very helpful if you could get a newer recommendation from a professor in the field in which you would like to study. There are a couple of ways to do this:
* If you live near a research university, find a graduate course that looks interesting and ask the professor's permission to sit in on the course. Do all the work assigned for the course, and do it damn well. Ask the professor if he/she would be willing to give occasional feedback, and/or grade your homework. If all goes well, you can ask for a letter of recommendation.
* If this is not feasible (perhaps you live further away, or your working hours are not flexible), plan to do a lot of self-study and find some research university which is semi-close. Ask a couple of professors if you could make appointments with them, and solicit their advice on self-study and preparing for grad school.
If one is especially friendly or helpful, ask if he/she could later evaluate the results of your self-study. Go work your butt off, then return and talk to the professor, demonstrate that you've learned a lot, and let the professor teach you some more. Repeat if there's time. Eventually, ask for a letter.
Both of these depend on having the time to informally begin your studies early in a serious way -- but if you want to get a Ph.D. this is a good idea anyway. These ideas also depend on the generosity of professors -- this will likely be forthcoming if you demonstrate that you are serious, and also that you intend to be very respectful of their time.
Good luck to you!
---
Tags: graduate-admissions, recommendation-letter
--- |
thread-18651 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18651 | What is "shared governance" and how does it work in practice in academia? | 2014-03-28T19:11:27.087 | # Question
Title: What is "shared governance" and how does it work in practice in academia?
I read the Wikipedia page and this article on the subject and frankly, I am still clueless. I don't understand what shared governance means in practice, how it applies, who it is for, and how it actually works. (In most universities - I understand the details are university-specific.)
* What kind of issues are decided by shared governance?
* Who participates? (I understand this can vary by university; just asking about general trends)
* How does it work, on a practical level? (I understand what a session of the U.S. Senate looks like, I have no idea what a session of a faculty senate looks like.)
* What are the benefits and disadvantages of this approach to governance?
* What kind of hierarchy typically exists? (Who reports to who?)
A related question is What is the usual role of a faculty senate? Does it typically have any real power, or is it a rubber-stamp for the administrators?, but that only questions the extent of their power. I am trying to understand how this kind of system looks and works in practice, the way my high school Civics course taught me how the U.S. government functions in practice.
For context: I am most interested in large research universities in the U.S., though I welcome answers from other perspectives.
# Answer
> 4 votes
The term "shared governance" seems to date back to a 1966 statement by the AAUP. It was apparently a push for reform and liberalization in the management of colleges and universities, which had traditionally been run in a more top-down fashion. The legal structure of a school is usually that there is a governing board, and the trustees on the board make general policy decisions but delegate day-to-day authority to college presidents. However, there are some areas in which faculty and students should not just be treated as serfs by administrators.
Faculty are the experts in their academic subjects, and therefore they are supposed to have primary authority over curriculum and grading. This authority is not absolute. At my school, for example, the physics faculty initiated a process to delete several courses that we thought were not needed, had not been offered in a long time, and had not worked out well in practice. To get this to happen, we had to shepherd the deletion through many bureaucratic steps, and we encountered opposition from the vice president of instruction, which we had to deal with through a long process of negotiation.
The AAUP statement also says that faculty should have "primary" responsibility for decisions about "faculty status," i.e., hiring, firing, and tenure. But "primary" doesn't mean that they control it completely. The responsibility is shared with administrators. For example, when we hire tenure-track faculty at my school, a faculty committee picks three candidates, who are then interviewed by the president, and the final decision is made by the president.
There are some areas, such as budgeting, where control would traditionally have been exercised completely by management but the AAUP statement recommends that faculty have a role because of their expertise in their academic areas.
Shared governance is generally expected to cover academic and professional matters, but not workplace issues such as paychecks and working conditions. If there is a faculty union, that would be the union's bailiwick. In practice, however, faculty senates may work fist-in-glove with the union on these issues.
Shared governance is not supposed to be a process where management accepts "input" from stakeholders and then makes decisions based on that input. That would be more of a corporate model.
For students, the AAUP's statement makes some very limited recommendations, which are clearly described in the document itself as a political compromise reached during a period of upheaval in American education (the Free Speech Movement and the Vietnam War):
> The respect of students for their college or university can be enhanced if they are given at least these opportunities: (1) to be listened to in the classroom without fear of institutional reprisal for the substance of their views, (2) freedom to discuss questions of institutional policy and operation, (3) the right to academic due process when charged with serious violations of institutional regulations, and (4) the same right to hear speakers of their own choice as is enjoyed by other components of the institution.
Note that it does not, for example, advocate giving them a right to speak freely on social issues. In 1965, one of Ronald Reagan's promises in his campaign for governor of California was to "clean up the mess at Berkeley." Since then, things haven't changed very much. For example, my school does not allow people to gather signatures on a petition except by standing on one specific patch of grass, and they have to register in advance and state what the petition is about.
For public schools, some of these issues may also be regulated by state laws. For example, in California, title 5 of the state ed code requires governing boards to "consult collegially" with faculty senates and to make room for "effective participation" by faculty and students. California state law also severely limits the circumstances under which a grade assigned by a professor can be changed against the professor's wishes.
> How does it work, on a practical level? (I understand what a session of the U.S. Senate looks like, I have no idea what a session of a faculty senate looks like.)
Elected faculty representatives from various departments meet and discuss items on an agenda. For the most part they can only make recommendations on policy -- they can't set policy directly. They can form committees and decide to accept or not accept the committees' reports and decisions. There are also advisory bodies, e.g., at my school we have a President's Advisory Committee, and one of its members is the faculty senate president.
> What are the benefits and disadvantages of this approach to governance?
Compared to a more top-down decision making process, it's intended to protect against political or short-sighted interference in academic matters. For example, it's supposed to prevent administrators from firing a professor who has controversial social views. Anecdotally, the main disadvantages I've seen are (1) that the quality of the decision making in a faculty senate is often extremely low, and (2) that the faculty senate may not show sufficient independence from the union.
> What kind of hierarchy typically exists? (Who reports to who?)
It's a structure that bypasses the hierarchy defined in an org chart. Faculty senators don't report to anyone. The org chart only includes management.
*See also:*
https://chronicle.com/article/Exactly-What-Is-Shared/47065/
http://facultysenate.tamu.edu%2FQuick\_Links%2FShared\_Governance\_in\_Colleges\_and\_Universities.pdf
---
Tags: university, united-states, academic-life
--- |
thread-18665 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18665 | What makes a Bachelor's thesis different from Master's and PhD theses? | 2014-03-29T08:16:47.250 | # Question
Title: What makes a Bachelor's thesis different from Master's and PhD theses?
All the three types of research revolve around an argument, a thesis. They of course differ in terms of student level, that is complexity.
But, what makes a bachelor's thesis different from master's and PhD theses in terms of procedures of researching given that all of them may follow the same process of research, questions or hypotheses, review of the literature, methodology, results and discussion?
# Answer
The PhD thesis should be on a much higher level than the Honours/Masters thesis, offering a contribution to human knowledge that is of a sufficient level of "significance" to warrant publication in a respected journal.
Significance is highly subjective, and you also do not necessarily have to publish to be awarded the PhD (sometimes the peer-review delay means that they come out afterwards, or there may be some intellectual property issues that make it beneficial to refrain from publication). It is awarded based on your supervisors consent and a review of academics in your field. So the "significance" would probably be judged by them in terms of how much original work they see as a reasonable expectation at that stage of your development (first 3 years of serious/committed research). Unfortunately it also means that some people who probably do not deserve PhD's are awarded them anyway for fulfilling grunt work for their easy-going supervisors.
It is possible that some Honours/Masters thesis might even be more significant/higher quality than a PhD thesis. Unfortunately, this does not mean that the submission of the thesis will award the degree that they deserve. The university may have a policy to upgrade the student's enrolment if the supervisor senses that such progress is being made. However, it is impossible to upgrade to a PhD without completing Honours and I believe nearly every single university has a policy of a minimum period of enrolment before submission is allowed. A subsequent question that you may have is how to gain a PhD without enrolling in one, which is another level of achievement completely.
As for the difference between Honours/Bachelor and Masters it would depend on your university, but both have no requirement for publication quality research and are usually small tasks/ideas that are not worth the supervisors time to think about alone, or involve a lot of labor. In fact, in my school, many Honours thesis are of a higher level than the Masters, because the smart Honours students will either graduate into the work force or go straight into a PhD. The Masters students are usually those who cannot find a job and are not suited to research. However, I believe some other universities may require a mandatory Masters degree to start the PhD.
You may get a better idea by looking at some titles/abstracts of completed theses. The PhD level will be something like a new method/observation/application whereas the Masters/Honours will be an application specific set of measurements/simulations or even simply a literature review to gauge the needs of future work. The word limits are also typically different (although note that quality is NOT proportional to the number of words), with PhD at 100K, Masters at 50K and Honours at 30K at my university.
> 17 votes
# Answer
Go back to basic definitions... In history of university degrees (500 years ago)
A bachelors degree is about learning existing knowledge. Historically from the book(s) written by the univ staff.
A masters degree, after you have learnt what is already known and in books in your topic area, is about learning evolving knowledge - that is near recent and current literature in academic journals and conference presentations.
A doctorate degree is about creating new knowledge by research.
So it is now easy to understand a thesis/dissertation for each degree.
A bachelors degree should be a critique of existing knowledge, often looking for inconsistencies in view points from different sources and synthesising arguments or positions in a DISSERTATION )that is you disserting !
A masters thesis (thesis is Greek for 'I believe') can be either an assembly of new knowledge from new published research or simply a critique and integration. It might have propositions (not hypotheses) that the masters student offers as a conclusion from bringing together new knowledge from different sources.
A doctoral thesis is where the author undertakes research, usually collecting primary new data which is presented as both factual findings and conceptual findings and thus new knowledge in the form of a new model or theory. Also possible, is to challenge existing knowledge and show earlier published knowledge is invalid.
Well that's what they all should be. In practice there is some overlap and different universities and faculties have their own custom and practice. It all starts to break down about 40 years ago when a masters degree become post graduate in time rather than post graduate in level. Thus engineers with a bachelor degree might take an MBA to make them more employable and did more a less a bachelor degree in business in 18 months rather than 3 years as they were already a graduate.
But still thinking in the above categories can help students today focus on the overall agenda.
I have examined over 55 PhD theses. And several hundred masters theses and I base my approach to assessment on the above.
Prof Peter Woolliams, B.Sc(hons), B.A., PhD, Emeritus professor, Anglian Ruskin College Cambridge, U K
> 14 votes
# Answer
Roughly speaking, there are three levels of tasks:
1. Recitation
2. Application
3. Transfer
For a Bachelor's thesis, you would only expect 1 and 2, that is the student should *do* something (e.g. solve a well-defined problem) with the knowledge they have aquired during their studies.
For Master's thesis, you would want to have a non-trivial amount of 3, that is the student should transfer the competences aquired during studies to new problems. This usually includes (more) extensive literature research.
A formal difference that (imho) derives from the above is volume; Bachelor's theses typically award less credits than Master's theses and should thus take up less time and fewer pages.
> 5 votes
---
Tags: phd, research-process, masters, research-undergraduate
--- |
thread-18664 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18664 | Submitting paper when leaving academia? | 2014-03-29T08:12:31.230 | # Question
Title: Submitting paper when leaving academia?
Is it a good idea to submit a paper when you are about to leave academia, say in the next year?
In my field (Mathematics), the review progress is typically very long (At the moment I'm waiting for the first review for almost a year). I do not want to receive a review while I'm in the middle of a new job (probably without access to other academic people, articles, books, etc.). On the other hand, I've done something which is worth to published somewhere.
Should I submit it? How can I improve the length of the review (e.g., by chosing the journal?)?
Edit: Some details: I'm about to finish my PhD and I have no co-authors for the latest paper who could handle big parts of revisions.
# Answer
I would say, **yes**.
If the results are worth publishing, then the world should know about them.
That said, even if the paper is accepted, it is likely that you'll need to make minor or major revisions. If you do not expect that you will have the time to do this, then ultimately the paper will be rejected (or simply just vanish). So you need to consider whether you will, in 1, 2 or 3 years (or whatever the journal turn around time is) be in a position, mentally and otherwise, to address the review comments.
The other option is to archive the paper on arxiv.org and hope that interested people find the work – for the good of science.
> 19 votes
# Answer
If you think it's worth publishing, you should at least put it on ArXiv.
I'd also recommend submitting it to a journal. If the paper is well-written and correct, it shouldn't need a great deal of revision, so it should be possible to do that in your spare time. You could also mention when you submit the paper that you'll be leaving academia so you might need more time than usual to make revisions.
Another possibility is to bring your advisor on board as a co-author to deal with these things.
> 7 votes
---
Tags: paper-submission
--- |
thread-18385 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18385 | Pros and cons of (co-)authoring a reference book in early career? | 2014-03-21T00:26:08.270 | # Question
Title: Pros and cons of (co-)authoring a reference book in early career?
I am early in a tenure-track position. I undertook with a publisher to write a reference book a while back and with a light load to start with in my new position, I recently agreed to set a deadline of later this year.
I progressed quickly through some of the core chapters where I knew what I wanted to write.
Now I have a heavier teaching load, preparing course material from scratch week-to-week, and am struggling to cope with my work hours.
But spending all my few spare cycles in the book seems to be carrying a huge opportunity cost. Though my research profile is sufficiently strong for me not to have to worry about journal output for a while, and I'm currently in the "harvest cycle" of a couple of journal papers that are coming through from about a year ago, I feel I am missing opportunities to start collaborations with other faculty members. I want to start on some new directions and target new communities with the help of new colleagues.
Furthermore, I feel like I don't have the bandwidth to bring the quality of the book to the level I would like. Writing the book has thus become a disheartening chore, trying to balance progress and quality. Working odd hours here and there, I can't dedicate myself to it. There are more pressing things to think about while showering in the morning. Every time I go to work on it, it's a cold start.
In this rather excellent answer on an unrelated question, @Pete L. Clark mentioned the following:
> With regard to writing books: one of my most distinguished colleagues, Dino Lorenzini, wrote an excellent and rather successful book near the beginning of his career. He now tells anyone who will listen that junior faculty should not write books. Of course sometimes the heart wants what it wants, but from a strategic perspective I think this is eminently sound, and I say this as someone who may turn around and write some books now that I am solidly into my mid-career.
This prompts me to ask, is it generally the case that writing a book early in one's tenure-track career carries too much of an opportunity cost? My hope is that the book will stand in good stead for my tenure application, and may attract citations in the long term (I believe it is in a good niche), but would I be better off with two-to-three more good journal papers instead (what I estimate the opportunity cost to be)?
Essentially I'm looking for anecdotes on how writing a book helped/hindered early-career (tenure-track) researchers.
# Answer
> 6 votes
I agree with the advice Peter Clark offers in the bit you've quoted. You're further along in your career than I am. (Defending in May). However, I've had many friends in your circumstances. Here are two things that I have gleaned from their experiences:
(1) A *mediocre* book has little impact on the field, just like a mediocre journal article does, except that the book has such a higher opportunity cost.
(2) A *bad* book can actually be a kiss of death. People might laugh off a bad article, but if you put out a bad book, you might actually harm the good reputation you've built with your other publications.
(3) To write a *good* book requires so much time, and such a high level of expertise, that it's usually not worth doing for a junior person.
My sense is that these three sentences might not hold in all fields universally. Some fields are *book fields* where you are expected to publish the dissertation as a book. In those fields, I'd assume there's more reasonable expectations about book length publications. But in primarily journal based fields, I suspect (1)-(3) are true.
Can you write the publisher and ask for a long extension so as to be able to keep a more reasonable research/writing schedule?
---
Tags: publications, books, tenure-track
--- |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.