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thread-17755 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17755 | How to properly add "scientific reading" as personal interest in CV? | 2014-03-05T10:48:52.743 | # Question
Title: How to properly add "scientific reading" as personal interest in CV?
I'm applying to a Ph.D. program (in the field of robotics) and I have a hard time to fill the personal interests. I initially was going to avoid that section but then I got convinced that it's not a bad idea to have it. But I digress...
One of my hobbies is reading\* about science, mostly in mathematics, \[astro\]physics and science in general. The problem is, I don't know how to write this in a clear, honest and concise fashion. I don't want to simply write *"reading"* because I don't want to be that generic applicant! Also I want it to be clear that this reading is not related to my professional field. And last but not least, I don't want it to sound fake!
---
\*also watching or listening. Sometimes I also code for fun, generally speaking I *fool around* the science.
# Answer
Just don't.
As an applicant to a scientific PhD program, if you *weren't* doing a lot of scientific reading, that would just be weird.
Thinking it's something special to be reading scientific literature every day, is a small warning sign in itself.
And the interests section is there to indicate some kind of balanced personality and the existence of a life away from narrow study.
> 20 votes
# Answer
I believe mentioning that is irrelevant to the contents of a resume. But if you *really* want to mention it, do so in the hobbies section:
* *reading science digests every morning*
* *used to reading scientific papers*
* *used to reading peer-reviewed publications*
> 2 votes
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Tags: application, cv
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thread-5354 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5354 | How to begin a class with humor | 2012-11-20T15:38:06.083 | # Question
Title: How to begin a class with humor
I am a PhD student from central Europe and I am teaching an introductory class on programming at my university.
I know that in the US, humour or a joke is often used at the beginning of a presentation. My first 2-3 sentences are right to the point, but I would like to include also a small joke or humour at the beginning.
But what would be a good joke in this situation? A friend of mine suggested to start with "welcome to bird watching 101", just some ridiculous wrong title, or starting with a fun fact about myself.
Any suggestions on how to start with humour?
Background info: Last semester my class received a nice award as among the top 5 classes of my rather big university. To some part it was due to the tips I got at stackexchange.com :-) But I would like to constantly improve my teaching.
# Answer
> 13 votes
I use humor extensively in class. I do not try to get off topic though. I think it is important that the students see the teacher as 'serious.' I do believe that a teacher can use humor but still be serious.
I don't think I ever *start* a class with a joke. I'm much more likely to start quite directly, giving an overview and stating the importance of the course.
Remember to target your choices to your audience. For example, if your audience is 18-21 then relating something to dating is usually fun for them. For example, if you're discussing for-loops, then you might want to talk about what happens when trying to get someone to go on a date with you.
```
For counter = 1 to 100 (or if you are a girl, perhaps just 1 to 3)
if prospect(counter).AcceptsDate then
exit for
Loop
```
Keeping on topic is important but there is no reason why you can't keep it fun.
# Answer
> 20 votes
This question seems long answered but here are two things I've done:
1) I've given out an impossible syllabus, requiring students to be fluent in at least two languages, adding deliberately indecipherable requirements, etc., etc. When invariably someone protests "This is not at all what we were expecting!" I say "Well then what were you expecting?" When they answer I say, "Oh! Well then I guess I'll just teach that instead!" and then tear up the syllabus with a flourish.
2) I started teaching at graduate level when I was 28 (can't really get away with it any more) and I would sit in the back of the class on the first day. Students would come in and do their usual first day things. I'd wait until I was maybe five or ten minutes late and let some comments drop along the line of "Where IS this teacher?!" rolling my eyes. Finally I would jump and say "Screw this, I'll teach the class myself!" before launching into the lecture.
In both cases the goal was to let the students know that I'm on their side, one of them, approachable, and not to take things *too* seriously. Got pretty good results every time.
# Answer
> 13 votes
Memes are funny, and popular, and students these days tend to identify with them. You can easily create course-related memes and stick them in your lecture slides, or on a handout or the syllabus, etc.
Here is a good place to go make a meme and then download it. Like this:
# Answer
> 4 votes
Think about what's the purpose of starting with humor: a useful rule in teaching is that you need to pick up students where they are now. You have to engage them by attaching to something that is already on their mind or that they already know about, and then you can gently lead them towards what you want to teach. Also, if you manage to create emotions in students during a lecture, they are more likely to remember also the academic content.
So humor in a class can serve two ways: To link the content of your lecture to students' everyday lives, and to engage them emotionally. To achieve this, you should pick jokes that in fact link everyday things to the content of your lecture. For example, in a class on research methods I once taught, I started each lecture with a strip of PhD comics that fitted to the topic of the lecture. Also earthling's answer has a nice example how to relate students' everyday live to a programming topic.
Also, if you can't come up with a suitable joke, don't worry: there are a lot of other ways to achieve the same purpose. For example, you could link to a recent story in the news, local events on campus, or in fact anything that most students are aware of and that you can somehow link to the content of your class. For example, already some years ago, Mercedes had problems with cars falling over in zigzag driving tests. That would make a nice start for a lecture about vehicle dynamics: "Today we are going to learn how to avoid this..."
Concerning the emotions, humor creates fun, which is a good emotion to help remember things. Think of other emotions, and how you could create them in a class.
# Answer
> 3 votes
## Two tricks
A couple of years ago I attended the PhD defense of a fellow student. That was in the overly stern math department of a fairly stern university. Therefore, any venture into making jokes had to be carefully pondered.
Although his defense talk was projected as attendees were entering the room, the PDF viewer’s window *wasn’t maximized* so that one could openly see other elements from his desktop.
I thought to myself: “Weird, why would he go through the trouble of plugging his computer and beaming his screen but not having his talk fill the screen?”
As I and many others had arrived early to get a good spot, I started exploring his screen that he had skillfully filled with many small **Easter eggs**, key among which was the PDF file name that you could read in the window title bar. It read something like:
> Rocky\_VI\_the\_Return\_of\_the\_golden\_Uppercut.pdf
When time came for him to get started, he just maximized the window and gave his talk. I hardly remember any other talk I attended but this one struck me.
---
Another one, which I did myself when giving a seminar talk, was the introduction a blue slide in the middle of my talk. I just knew that my talk would be boring as hell to those uninitiated attendees (\> 99 %) and I hated it when, as a speaker, you see the audience’s attention drifting away. So I carefully reproduced the blue image shown when the projector has no input signal. When I hit the slide, I could see everyone happy at the idea that the talk would be shortened. Yet the next slide said (still on a blue background):
> This is the projector speaking:
>
> Your talk is easily the most boring one I’ve ever projected, please wrap it up soon.
Of course everyone laughed and bore with me until the end.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I'm not particularly funny, so I don't try to push jokes that I know are not going to come across as witty or well done, and instead will just make an awkward situation.
Instead, I just tell stories that try to relate a disengaged audience with the topic I have at hand.
For example, if you are going to talk about -for- loops, you might try and start talking about the necessity of having a guy doing the same work over and over, but with the capability of counting up or down.
If you are introducing pointers (man I hate pointers), you might try giving a real life example of how a pointer would work in a city for example.
I've learned that if you try and be funny the results can be bad, but these short stories will allow your students to have a better idea of why the topic is relevant.
# Answer
> 1 votes
(to an extent, this echoing one of the advice by silvado)
What I always liked on those better ones of my teacher and what I found myself doing as well (though not preparing for it really) was to cast examples connecting the discussed matter to real world and then twist it in a humorous way. This definitely doesn't mean opening with a joke. I do not find it necessary to capturing the audience with a joke already at the beginning. I need their focus and attention later on, when the discourse becomes rather dense. I am sure in any field it is possible to come up with examples for discussed matter which relate by a metaphor, or in a hyperbole to everyday situations in family, among friends, or in recent news.
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Tags: teaching
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thread-19874 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19874 | publishing papers vs. receiving Masters/PhD | 2014-04-27T10:49:11.707 | # Question
Title: publishing papers vs. receiving Masters/PhD
I'm a software engineer with several years of industry experience.
If I got involved part-time in a research team and collaborate with them to publish several papers. Practically speaking what's the difference between that and actually receiving Masters/PhD ?
Mainly, What is the difference between somebody who got a PhD by publishing several papers and somebody who published several papers without even pursuing PhD ?
( Excuse my ignorance about these matters )
# Answer
What's the point of any qualification? Well, ideally, it's a standard: a quick, easy and reliable way to assess a candidate's ability.
A PhD is, ideally, a standard that indicates a student is capable of independent research that results in a novel contribution to knowledge, at significant depth.
The publishing of papers can also indicate that someone is capable of independent research that results in a novel contribution to knowledge, at significant depth. Though - at least in the sciences - sole-author papers are relatively rare.
Not all papers are of equal standard: the quality can vary hugely. Not all PhDs are of equal standard, but once we exclude degrees-for-cash and other disreputable institutions, there is broadly (but not perfectly reliably) a certain standard required.
And for most people, the work and talent required to do the research to produce several quality papers, is broadly about the same as that required to attain a PhD. So the PhD provides a better route for many, because it will be more portable, and more easily recognised as a qualification of ability. The PhD course also (typically) comes with institutional support to learn the required research skills.
Additionally, some research grants require a PhD or equivalent degree, in order to be eligible to apply.
The academic posts that I've seen typically require a PhD *or equivalent research background*: but it's harder to make the case through the latter route. Nevertheless, there are many researchers, quite a few professors, and some heads of department without doctorates, at heavyweight institutions. And there's one department head that I know of who doesn't have *any* degree - and he really is exceptional.
> 6 votes
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Tags: phd, research-process, masters
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thread-19822 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19822 | Motivating myself to study? | 2014-04-25T15:19:21.210 | # Question
Title: Motivating myself to study?
I'm a CS master student working on my thesis. I'm 25 years old and still until now when I wake up in the morning to start studying I wake up stressed and my stomach hurts. I also feel a very bad headache. When I had courses I used to wake up in this situation everyday because I had to. Now I started my thesis and I don't have a deadline for it. So now when I try to wake up very early in the morning (7am) I end up surrendering to stay in bed because I don't want to have that ugly feeling in the morning. I noticed that now I wake up at 9 or 10 am. This is making me waste a lot of time. I'm not working as hard as I used to be.
My questions are:
* does everyone has this feeling in the morning? and how to overcome this feeling?
* how do you motivate yourself to work?
# Answer
> 15 votes
This (lack of motivation) is common in graduate school. Without delving into the way you personally like to work (whether you are intrinsically or extrinsically motivated, whether your advisor is involved or uninvolved, whether you are motivated by reward or punishment, etc.), it's difficult to give specific advice.
These are some general motivational strategies:
* Get up and start something small. Doesn't matter what it is. As long as you are working on your project (even formatting your thesis), you are okay. This is not to say you should be working on it all the time, just that even the small things are helpful. Small tasks get you into the groove and ready to tackle larger problems.
* Leave things unfinished from the day before. If you reach the end of the day and are in the middle of a task, leave it, don't stay up to finish it. This way you have to get up in the morning to keep doing what you were doing, rather than waking up and saying "I don't know where to start."
Finally, if you think you may be depressed (if you are constantly saying "I have no reason to get out of bed"), please talk to someone or see a doctor. It gets better.
# Answer
> 7 votes
> Now I started my thesis and *I don't have a deadline for it*
This stands out in the description of your problem. I perform best when on a deadline. As counter intuitive as it sounds, it has been shown true as much for coursework assignments/papers as for research. When I did my MSc thesis, the university regulation allowed a maximum of 24 weeks. That's key, it said *weeks*, not ~ 6 months. And late submissions would not be accepted. That seemed strange given the research aspect of the task but the key learning was the iterative process of **getting to the point and refining later**.
I then experienced open-ended research during my doctoral studies at another university and found that the apparent upside of not being under time pressure was actually very, very counterproductive. Not only was that a trap for perfectionists who'd find themselves stuck in *eternal beta*, it would also give the illusion that you have time to think about other considerations. Many of which would be destructive thoughts like *Do I really like what I'm doing?*, *Where's all this headed?*, *This is junk, and will never work!*
**My take is**: Look beyond your thesis and set some nonnegotiable milestones/deadlines. And stick to them like your a religious fanatic. Your *post-thesis* self will be most grateful to you for it.
# Answer
> 6 votes
You may need to pace yourself with your studies. Which may include taking breaks. Have you given your body and mind enough rest to recuperate from the previous day?
Motivation comes from self-will and is a mental state. When you wake up in the morning, what do you plan to accomplish? It's a good idea to break down what your goals are. If you have a paper to write, what are the first steps that should be taken? Complete those steps first then move onto the next ones.
Here is some material on motivation:
http://www.amazon.com/100-Ways-Motivate-Yourself-Third/dp/1601632444/ref=sr\_1\_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398475489&sr=1-2&keywords=Motivate
As a CS student close to your age it's quiet understandable. Try talking to those who are in support of you as well too. A word of encouragement never hurts. :)
# Answer
> 3 votes
Postgraduate study is a long term commitment, and part of the key to success is a healthy and sustainable attitude. Spending 90% of your waking hours either studying, trying to study, or feeling guilty for not studying is neither fun nor productive.
When you're mentally tired, you need a break to keep on working. So take a well deserved break. *But don't feel guilty about it*. If you feel like you're procrastinating, that just compounds itself into a cycle of guilt and low productivity.
Also, give yourself at least one day a week where you *do not* work. Catch up with friends, do your housework, and only study if you genuinely want to. And don't feel guilty about this either!
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Tags: masters, thesis, motivation, academic-life
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thread-19863 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19863 | Applying for a post-graduate degree with an Italian three-year bachelor's degree | 2014-04-26T17:31:46.737 | # Question
Title: Applying for a post-graduate degree with an Italian three-year bachelor's degree
I will get an information science under graduate degree this July in an Italian university. I want to apply for a computer science degree at an American university. Here in Italy the high school lasts five years instead of four, and the undergraduate degree (*laurea triennale*) lasts three years instead of four.
So my concerns are:
1. Is there a way to get a list of all American universities that accept an Italian *laurea triennale* as an undergraduate degreee?
2. Since I will graduate in July and in most universities the next semester begins in September, I think that I should start applying from now. So the question is: do they allow students to apply even before they got the graduate degree and TOEFL?
# Answer
It is standard practice in the US for students to apply for graduate programs before they have received a degree, and the TOEFL exam is normally taken as part of the admissions process.
However, you should also be aware of the fact that you have largely missed the admissions "window" for this coming fall: at most American graduate schools, you need to apply during the **previous** fall. So, for instance, to apply for admission in September 2014, you should have applied during the period (roughly) September 2013 to January 2014.
It is unlikely you will be able to secure admission to any American graduate school starting this September. At best you will be able to apply for admission in the fall of 2015. The only exception will be schools with "rolling admissions," which accept applications at any time.
As for the acceptance of the "triennale" degree, you will need to ask the individual schools you're interested in; I'm not aware of any such master list (because the number of recipients of such degrees who enroll in any particular program probably isn't big enough to support such a list).
> 5 votes
# Answer
I was admitted to a graduate program at UCSD based, in part, on a 3-year bachelor's degree from London University. There did not seem to be any issue at all with the duration or number of course units. I don't know whether it would have been different if that had been my only qualification - I also had a master's degree and very substantial work experience.
Many of my fellow students had bachelor's degrees earned outside the US, and the admissions process seemed to be designed to handle that smoothly.
I do think you have left applying far too late for starting in Fall 2014. You probably need to reset to Fall 2015, plan what to do for the next year, and collect the critical dates for applying to each university you would like to attend.
> 2 votes
# Answer
The italian laurea triennale should be the equivalent of an US bachelor degree. I think that professor from your Italian university can help you to understand better the situation.
You should not encounter any problems. As long you respect the deadline
> 2 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, united-states
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thread-19846 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19846 | Differences in student load at liberal arts colleges vs. research universities | 2014-04-26T05:01:38.267 | # Question
Title: Differences in student load at liberal arts colleges vs. research universities
Do students at liberal arts universities have 'harder' courses than students at research universities?
Computer Science curricula at large research universities have 5 to 6 courses per semester. The Liberal Arts model dictates roughly 4 courses per semester. If the load on the student is considered to be equivalent, there must be something special to the teaching in the Liberal Arts model.
How is it that a 4 course Liberal Arts semester is as intensive as a 6 course research university semester?
UPDATE: Many of the comments below say the course load I mention above is inaccurate. I have obtained the figures as follows.
* The Liberal Arts Computer Science Consortium (LACS) has released 3 LACS curricula in response to ACM/IEEE CS curriculum recommendations. The first in 1986 in response to the 1978 recommendation, next in 1996 in response to the 1991 recommendation and the most recent in 2007 in response to the 2001 recommendation. The 4 year course breakdown in all the LACS recommendations is roughly the same:
+ 4 courses per semester
+ 30-35% CS courses, 10% math, 5% science, and the rest, i.e. 50% or more courses on arts, humanities and social sciences.
* A typical graduation requirement at a research university is at least 120 credits, which comes to 5 3-credit courses per semester. Many require more than 120 so 6 course semesters are not uncommon.
# Answer
> 7 votes
You are making several unfounded assumptions:
* That courses are always 3 credits, so that "4 courses per semester" means 12 credits. I have taken courses that were worth 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 credits. Many of the science courses I've taken, including math and computer science courses, have been worth 4 credits. Basic sciences that involve a lecture, lab, and recitation have sometimes been 5 credits.
* That most liberal arts colleges follow the LACS recommendations to the letter.
* That the LACS recommendations somehow suggest that less than 120 credits are required for graduation. Here is an example of a liberal arts college following the LACS recommendations for CS and requiring 120 credits.
I did half of my undergraduate degree at a liberal arts college and then transferred to a large research university for the other half. There was virtually no difference in my courseload between the two - I took exactly one credit more in my two years in the research university. I just pulled up my transcripts, and this is what I took each semester:
Part 0
I transferred in 30 credits in humanities, etc. from college courses taken while in high school.
Part 1 - Liberal Arts College
1. 16 credits, 4 classes (4, 3, 4, 5)
2. 13 credits, 3 classes (4, 4, 5)
3. (Summer) 3 credits, 1 class (3)
4. 19 credits, 5 classes (3, 4, 5, 4, 3)
5. 12 credits, 4 classes (3, 3, 4, 2)
Part 2 - Research University
1. 16 credits, 4 classes (4, 4, 4, 4)
2. 19 credits, 5 classes (4, 3, 4, 4, 4)
3. 16 credits, 6 classes (3, 4, 1, 3, 3, 2)
4. 13 credits, 4 classes (4, 3, 3, 3)
(My undergraduate degree was in Electrical Engineering, with a minor in Computer Science.)
# Answer
> 11 votes
As with other commenters, I think the premise here is flawed.
I teach at a public liberal arts college which is typical of many. (Certainly our curriculum and requirements are in line with other schools in the COPLAC Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges.)
Our students are required to complete 120 credits to graduate, which over four years averages to 15 credits a semester, or five 3-credit courses. I don't believe there is any serious difference in student course load when compared to large research universities (but maybe someone will prove me wrong).
The main distinction about teaching at a liberal arts college is that the overall curriculum is broader, and students do not focus on specialization as much as integration of diverse subject areas. Instead of taking 70 or 80 credits of (say) computer science, our students take only 40-45, with the other two-thirds of their degree consisting of courses in other areas. In this way, students build a broad, integrated perspective which incorporates their major into a study of the world at large. The focus at liberal arts colleges is to help students become better critical thinkers, decision makers, and problem solvers, rather than becoming subject matter experts in a narrow discipline.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Teaching at a Liberal Arts school (in the United States), there is a lot more "teaching" expected. Largely, you do not have TAs for your classes, meaning you not only do all the lecturing, but also the grading and lab work associated with the course. Furthermore, Teachers at Liberal Arts Schools are expected to take a serious interest in the undergraduate body since there usually are no graduate students (hence few TAs).
I am not sure if they are equivalent, and certainly my advisor my research university only teaches 4 classes a year as well. I'd say his teaching load is far less than my professors at the Small Liberal Arts school I attended for undergraduate. That being said, he also has 4 graduate students he advises, which I think end up being a lot more work.
So from a class prospective, teachers at Liberal Arts schools tend to spend more time teaching. But from an advisement perspective, research universities tend to be more intensive. It probably evens out, though I have no first hand experience.
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Tags: teaching
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thread-10727 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10727 | Trying to switch fields from PhD in computational biology to postdoc in machine learning/stats, how to increase likelihood of success? | 2013-06-23T13:40:54.423 | # Question
Title: Trying to switch fields from PhD in computational biology to postdoc in machine learning/stats, how to increase likelihood of success?
All of the following takes place in a UK university.
I have a BSc in Physics and an MSc in Computer Science. My thesis was on applying various machine learning/statistical techniques to biological datasets. I wanted to do something similar for my PhD, however my supervisor left the university.
I am now in the first year of my PhD in Computer Science, specifically Computational Biology. My work focuses on comparing different techniques (physical/statistical/machine learning) in single cell simulations. I am finding it hard to incorporate machine learning techniques into my work as there aren't many datasets for the kind of thing my supervisor wants me to do and so the machine learning approach is proving tricky.
I desperately want a job/postdoc in a machine learning/stats environment.
1. Lots of post docs I know switched field after their PhD e.g. Astro-physics to machine learning, dependable systems to machine learning, Biophysics to compiler design. In my case would anyone in the ML community take me seriously? (I thought my Msc would help me out...)
2. I have taught myself a fair bit of ML and stats, is there anything else I should do to increase the likelihood of getting an ML/stats postdoc?
3. Would anyone in a stats department take me seriously as I have no maths degree?
4. Do people that change career areas have successful careers or is this normally a red flag?
# Answer
> 7 votes
My answer is based more on experience from computational biology, but I think it is relevant for other fields:
* Changing fields is very common in academia, especially at the PhD/postdoc transition. In many cases it is actually considered an advantage, since you can import your skills, expertise and a certain thought-process into a field in which many people do not have those skills. For example, many physicists, computer scientists and mathematicians have migrated to biology and have made significant contributions. In fact, there are even postdoctoral fellowships that specifically fund this type of field-change.
* Regarding your "will they take me seriously" questions: Since you are aiming mostly at applied ML/stats, I don't think you should be too concerned if the ML/stats theoretical community take you seriously. Many theorists tend to look down on applied science - don't worry about it, you can still have a significant impact without advancing any theory. It sounds like in the future you will either belong to the department in which you want to apply the techniques (e.g. a biology department) or will work very closely with people in those departments. In this case, you will usually be considered the ML/stats expert.
* Having said all that, of course it is your job to become an expert. Teaching yourself the theory is important, but if you are going for applied science, especially applied ML/stats, it would be a big advantage to get actual experience in using them. There is a huge difference between learning about these methods and actually implementing and using them. You will see that during your PhD you can often expand your research in directions you are more interested in. It shouldn't be too difficult to use some ML/stats creatively in some sub-projects (which could later be expanded).
# Answer
> 2 votes
Some thoughts on your questions (please don't take any of this as gospel, I am in the final stages of my PhD and are looking for a Postdoc also).
Your ML MSc would more than likely benefit you in any postdoc application (to what extent would depend on the institution). Something to consider, is it possible to build/include ML principles in your current research?
One major way to get noticed in the fields that you are interested in is to get published in peer-reviewed journals and present at relevant conferences. Speak to academics involved in your field of interest, speak to your supervisor/advisor - perhaps inquire if there would be a chance of collaborative papers/conference presentations.
As for changing career paths, this is increasingly the norm - my own example is a switch from economic geology, through teaching to atmospheric physics. One major thing about this aspect is to focus on the skills that you have developed, particularly in research.
I hope this helps.
# Answer
> 0 votes
It depends strongly on what you want to do after pursing a PhD degree. More precisely, if you want to work as a technical staff then yes. It affects your career chances because it doesn't help a company that you are an expert, and therefore they have to pay you more than the average, in a different area and you don't have a *proven* solid background in the area where they want to be hired.
However, if you decided for working as a manager, sale, marketing or administration (e.g. signing applications) then it doesn't matter in which field do you have your PhD. In some positions, it is required to have a PhD title, no more.
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Tags: phd, career-path, postdocs, biology, changing-fields
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thread-19867 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19867 | Will the admission committee actually read a student's paper mentioned in resume? | 2014-04-27T03:20:06.153 | # Question
Title: Will the admission committee actually read a student's paper mentioned in resume?
*(This question is set up under the EECS context, but any generic answer is much welcomed)*
It is said that publications during one's undergraduate time will be an advantage in his/her PhD application. Usually, an undergraduate only starts publishing papers in his/her junior (3rd) year, and the application deadline usually comes at the end of his/her junior year. Hence, it is very likely that although the paper has been accepted by or even already presented in a certain conference, yet it has not been included into IEEE Xplore.
If the student has not uploaded the paper to some preprint database, such as arXiv or ResearchGate, then the admission committee will have no access to the paper. Of course, they may still be able to find some information about the paper, e.g., a tittle and an abstract appearing in the conference schedule, but after all they cannot go deeper into the paper content.
# Questions
* Does the admission committee even bother to go through the paper to assess the work quality? (Sometimes, you can have a rough quality assessment by looking at which journal/conference the paper is accepted by)
* If the answer is positive, is it a good idea for the applicant to upload the papers to arXiv and provide the committee with the links so that the committee can read the papers as they wish?
# Answer
> 9 votes
While it's a single N experience from my graduate school application process:
> Does the admission committee even bother to go through the paper to assess the work quality? (Sometimes, you can have a rough quality assessment by looking at which journal/conference the paper is accepted by)
Yes. *Several* interviews I had mentioned content within the paper, at at least one of them had a good 10 or 15 minute discussion about the research that didn't start with the phrase "So, tell me what your paper was about..."
> If the answer is positive, is it a good idea for the applicant to upload the papers to arXiv and provide the committee with the links so that the committee can read the papers as they wish?
Yes. If your field is arXiv friendly, put it there. If your field isn't particularly arXiv friendly (like mine) and your paper is in press, consider providing the PDF as a supplement to your admissions packet.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Committee members will absolutely want to see it. The best way to ensure that they can easily do so is to submit a copy of the paper with the application (either on hard copy if the application is hard copy, or more commonly electronically). My own experience has been that most schools *require* submission of a writing sample as part of the application (although I'm not in engineering). Even if you've already published something, it's not enough to just give the reference; they want you to provide the actual paper.
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Tags: publications, graduate-admissions, preprint
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thread-19889 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19889 | PhD opportunities in Spring in US universities | 2014-04-27T17:14:47.013 | # Question
Title: PhD opportunities in Spring in US universities
I am facing a dilemma regarding whether or not to apply for Spring for PhD programs at some universities in US. What are the pros and cons of applying for PhD or MS programs in Spring?
# Answer
> 5 votes
Most PhD programs, and many master's programs, in the US only offer one admissions cycle per year, with programs starting in the fall. This is in part because of the PhD program encompassing classwork as well as research.
The main issue that speaks against spring admissions is that in most programs, the coursework begins in the fall semester, and any "sequences" (where course Y depends on course X) will often begin in the fall semester. Thus, starting in the spring semester may mean that your coursework phase will need to extend longer, so there's no real advantage between starting in the spring and waiting until the following fall.
Where there might be an advantage is if you are able to use some of the time for finding a research group (if that is necessary for a research thesis for the master's degree); in some cases, you could even get a head start on the thesis work, which could allow you to finish somewhat faster.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I started grad school in the spring of 1998, immediately after I finished my undergrad the previous fall. I happened to be continuing at the same university with an advisor that I had worked with some during undergrad. Aeismail is probably right, but it can be done. I spent the time starting to do a little research and taking a few interesting classes that were outside the standard new-graduate student sequence. You probably won't shorten your time in grad school with a spring start, but you might enjoy it more with a warm-up semester. If you can make $50k+ by waiting til the fall, that might be worth it.
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions, graduate-school
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thread-19885 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19885 | Will people think negatively of owning a nice car in grad school? | 2014-04-27T16:22:51.733 | # Question
Title: Will people think negatively of owning a nice car in grad school?
I graduated from college 5 years ago, and I was very fortunate to graduate with no debt. For the 3 years after graduating I worked hard, had solid employment, and saved very carefully. This afforded me the opportunity to use a portion of those savings to buy a used car that people comment on while I am driving down the street which I have owned for 2 years. It looks a lot nicer than the cost because I bought it after a large portion of the value depreciated. I love the car, it is very reliable, and I very much want to keep it.
I know I am supposed to be a "poor graduate student", and my offer included funding plus a stipend, so I consider myself very fortunate.
I was very adamantly told by someone that owning such a car would make me look bad, and that if funding became tight I would get the short end of the stick because my car was too nice. He said the exact same thing happened to a fellow graduate student when he was in a PhD program at the same school 30 years ago.
If it really would reflect poorly on me to have a certain car I'm willing to take a step down, but I wanted to hear from others. Is this perception accurate?
# Answer
\[This answer is based on my experiences in the U.S., specifically in math grad school but I think many fields would be similar.\]
Your fellow graduate students will initially take your car as evidence that you're rich. They'll probably wonder whether you'll be a snob, but personal interaction should allay those fears. Once they get to know you, there will still be comments and jokes about your car for the entire time you're in grad school, but I don't think it will be a real problem. In the program I was in, most grad students didn't have cars, and the ones who did gained a little popularity if they took their fellow students on road trips (or even trips to get groceries or see movies), so your reputation may even benefit from having a fancy car.
Faculty don't necessarily know whether a student even has a car, let alone what sort of car, but this sounds like a car that will lead to rumors going around the department. You may get similar reactions from faculty as from students, but they are less likely to care about social interaction with you (for example, whether you're a snob). Your apparent wealth could theoretically play a role behind the scenes in allocation of funding, but I don't think this is likely, and it would be inappropriate for it to be a factor in most decisions. The most plausible scenario might be if money were tight and you requested extended funding beyond the years you were promised. If the department head is deciding which requests to approve, there's not enough money to approve everyone, and your car leads to a reputation of being rich, then the car could work against you. However, I don't think this is likely enough to be worth worrying about, and you can always address any rumors about your wealth with your advisor early on in grad school if you think they might be a problem.
The main disadvantage I see is that your fancy car might be your most salient, defining characteristic, forcing you to work a little harder to establish yourself in people's minds for your research rather than your car. Once again, I don't think this is a big deal, but it might make you feel a little uncomfortable knowing that half the department thinks of you primarily as a person with a car. (On the other hand, this is far from the worst thing you could end up being known for.)
> 26 votes
# Answer
My honest feeling is that this is a trick question: it's not anybody else's business what kind of car you drive. If you didn't already have the car then there would be the question of whether buying an unusually nice car is a wise allocation of your (perhaps scarce) financial resources. Since you already have the car: great, you like it; keep it.
Will some people judge you differently because you drive a nice car? Sure; people will judge you differently depending upon how much hair you have and how you style it, depending upon how often you go to the gym, depending upon your regional accent....You are who you are.
The idea that driving a nice car could make you less competitive for academic funding seems almost offensive to me. Most graduate academic funding is not "need-based". If it is, then presumably you need to submit more comprehensive financial information than just the car you drive, and presumably you're not willing to give away or hide substantial amounts of income in order to qualify for more need-based funding.
In summary: What do you care what other people think? The fact that something bad allegedly happened to someone else 30 years ago is not nearly a good enough reason for you to stop doing something that gives you pleasure and that in no way interferes with your professional life. (FYI: most academic programs have changed significantly in the last 30 years. Stories from 30 years ago are still interesting; it is much less clear whether they are still relevant.) Live your life for yourself and the others that you care about; do not optimize for the perceptions of others.
> 15 votes
# Answer
Don't change your life just so you can conform to the expectations of people who know nothing about you and will judge you for such superficial and idiotic things. It really shouldn't even matter whether you worked hard and bought a used car that looks nice, or just won the lottery and bought a brand-new Ferrari. It's your life and it has absolutely nothing to do with how good of a graduate student you will be.
> 4 votes
# Answer
It depends; TA stipends seem to be roughly the same across the country, but $1700/month goes a lot further in Manhattan, KS than it does in Manhattan.
It also depends on the car. Here in LA, it takes a lot more than a BMW or Mercedes to draw attention.
> 2 votes
# Answer
My graduate experience on a social level seemed to have a lot to do with appearances and judgments thereof. It took a lot of time to bust some barriers that people unfairly made about my certain identities. That being said, no one that interacted with me for any amount of time judged me unfairly for long. That being said, driving a nice car is nowhere near the type of difficulty that other people may have due to their gender identity, sexual identity, race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status.
That being said, I had an issue close to yours where I wanted to be a TA trainer in my department. A year after I was passed over for this opportunity, I came to find out that the reason was because I had an external stipend and they wanted to "spread the funding" around instead of give the opportunity to me.
This is a bit troubling and there was some pushback on the deciding committee, but in the end they did not give me that opportunity because I "did not need the extra money." I believe this had to do with my current funding package instead of how much money it looked like I had, but this is something to consider.
A year later, the university itself had no problem giving me the university-wide equivalent job analogous to the department one which was a better experience and paid better, so in the end it worked out for the best.
> 2 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, funding, work-life-balance
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thread-19881 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19881 | Should teachers be entertainers? | 2014-04-27T14:58:31.293 | # Question
Title: Should teachers be entertainers?
I keep coming across general wisdom of the type, "A teacher has to be a clown". This attitude is gaining traction, e.g. as in this TED talk.
This leaves me quite baffled. Thinking back to my own teachers, the ones I admire most and feel I learnt the most from were all serious and single-mindedly focused. Maybe it is for that reason that I have become a similar teacher, though not by a conscious decision on my part. My students find me a tough teacher but I receive emails several semesters later thanking me.
I have discussed this with colleagues around me and while they agree with me, they argue that the current iPhone generation has so many resources available to them, working hard to grab their attention should also be the teacher's task. Afterall, the argument goes, they may just receive better instruction online through a world leader in the subject.
I am just wondering what others feel about this.
# Answer
> 55 votes
Teachers and professors don't need to be clowns. However, they do need to **engage** their students.
The old mode of a teacher standing at the front of the lecture hall talking "at" students for an hour or ninety minutes at a time is a cultural relic, rather than necessarily the best way to educate students, as learning in a lecture is usually at best passive.
There are many ways to get around this problem—including engaging in class discussions, demonstrations, group learning, and, yes, sometimes humor can be used to make the point. But just as teaching should not be a stale recitation of facts, neither is it open mic night at your local comedy club. Learning is serious business, but it doesn't have to be boring, either.
# Answer
> 22 votes
I think it's really easy to underestimate a student's ability to sense passion and dedication and respond to it. While cheap gimmicks might work, passion always shows if it exists, and students respect that.
Passion is a form of authenticity that can't be easily faked. Similarly, a natural comic can teach well with jokes, but someone who's forcing humor to be "entertaining" and comes off as inauthentic.
So while I don't know where you got this idea that "a teacher should be a clown", it is nevertheless true that a teacher should show that they care about their subject, their students and teaching, and this can be done in many ways.
# Answer
> 11 votes
Give me reasons to listen to your lesson, and I will be entertained. There is a reason for what I signed up for the class, anyway. Also note that, if I want a clown, I can go in the evening to a performance; way easier than getting up 7 am to go to a lesson.
As Moriarty said, you need passionate, engaging educators. You raise an interesting point with the online courses: why would I follow a local lesson, when I could be listening to a top-class eminence? Again, you need to give me a reason: interactivity, quick doubt solving, a syllabus tailored to what I specifically need in my field... or plainly better explanations (world geniuses can still be improved).
# Answer
> 8 votes
Reiterating a part of other good answers: the "real" version of the question is about "added value". Is there any reason to come to class as opposed to just reading the book/notes, or looking at things on-line? If the instructor does not, or cannot, add value beyond reading the book... etc... why in the world would a student want to show up? This is not at all about the misguided over-specific "will it be on the final?" information, but about the *content*.
I have had the good fortune to attend lectures from some very good mathematicians, and/but a certain number gave amazingly bad talks. Painstakingly copied onto a blackboard their notes... often without saying a word. Even with wonderful notes, there was no evident reason for a group of people to show up at a particular time, sit quietly in a cramped space, and copy (presumably fallibly) into their own notes what could have been photocopied...
Yes, such scenarios are a slightly extreme failure, but do highlight the issue of "adding value". The model of your copying notes (which may have been copied from some other source) onto the board, to be copied by students, ... is just silly, all the more so in modern times.
But to "be a clown"? Depends. By itself, probably this is dumb. To be *witty* about the narrative, to be *facile*, to be *aware*, surely helps keep the class alive, and these affect-oriented things are not replicated in text. Next: how to be better than videos? First, make it clear, by function, that you are reading the facial expressions and body language of the students, whether or not they overtly ask questions. Make it clear that you are \_paying\_attention\_to\_them\_. Videos don't do that (quite yet...)
Just joking around can have a nice ice-breaking effect, but is just killing time unless highly integrated into the programme.
I think a good general criterion is "added value"... some of which could be "entertainment", but then there's the question of movement toward your goals for the course.
# Answer
> 5 votes
It's largely a question of balance. In a single-teacher, tens/hundreds-of-students classroom, "one size fits all" is a necessary evil<sup>*</sup> to some extent. Practicing versatility of style and introducing variety (e.g., by having some serious, nose-to-the-grindstone days mixed with some days of light edutainment – and telling students which it's going to be at the start of class) can help ensure that your "size" fits most students at some point. If you don't mix things up haphazardly, you can at least create the impression that you're a balanced educator and not stuck in any one style. Sometimes all it takes to get students on-board with your education plan is to cater to their expectations just enough to get through to them once. Afterward, they may follow you out of their comfort zones more willingly, even if it doesn't come as naturally as they'd like.
There's an opportunity cost every time you serve one kind of student preferences that others don't share. The "evil" of a one-size-fits-all educational system is that by failing to present curricula in modes that suit several major learning styles, some nontrivial subpopulation is always served poorly. In certain manners, one can try to suit several styles all at once (e.g., by mixing audiovisual presentation with individual and group exercises), but this makes it difficult to focus attention on any one element, and costs time both in preparation and in class. You can't *literally* attend to all elements at once – multitasking is somewhat misconceived.
Humor and entertainment value in education are similar issues. As is the case with humor and entertainment outside of an academic context, you can't please every audience without considerable talent, and you can't please every audience *member* no matter how funny you are. Within an academic context, you face an even greater challenge as a comedian: contextual expectation violation. Some students may expect clowning, but probably just as many won't, and will consider you unprofessional if you cater too much to those who do.
Thus it's a question of balance and how you want to strike it in your classes. As I see it, it's a question of whether to try to (dis)please the same people throughout the academic term, or whether to give every student a more equal mixture of (dis)service.
* Do you want to choose a particular (set of) style(s) and stick to it (or them)?
+ This is somewhat necessary, because no one can cover the full range of teaching styles in any one class. It is also wise to play to your strengths and not force unnatural styles.
+ A somewhat necessary consequence is that certain students will not approve of your chosen approach, and their educational outcomes may suffer. However, those whose preferences you do serve will approve of you and thrive more for every additional moment in which your approach matches their preferences.
* Do you want to try to mix up your delivery and serve every preference some of the time?
+ Some amount of variety is inevitable, as you're human and bring a slightly different energy to every day's class. Certain topics may deserve different styles of presentation, and coverage of most will benefit from taking multiple perspectives. Arguably the fair approach is to try to give equal time to all students' preferred modalities.
+ This can be a strain, both for you and the students who recognize that you could teach the class their way more often than you do. Most people will have some weaknesses, and class time might not be the best time to work on those as a teacher. Part of the necessary evil of a one-teacher-per-class system is that students have less choice over whether a teacher suits their preferences. You can only do so much about it by playing the part of several different teachers over the course of the course.
Either way, someone will be pleased and someone else will be displeased with any given element of your class. Clowning around is no more universally acceptable than any other style.
<sub><sup>*</sup>A fairer way of describing the one-size-fits-all approach would be as a conventional compromise with efficiency concerns regarding budgetary and labor limitations. It might not be necessary to teach individual students in a several-students-per-teacher environment – home-schooling and one-on-one tutoring are counterexamples – but as a society with scarce resources for serving boundless educational demand, this status quo is at least necessary *de facto*. Maybe this is for lack of a better idea, but I haven't got one myself, and most would be difficult to implement at best.</sub>
# Answer
> 2 votes
For me a teacher shouldn't need to be a entertainers. A better teacher should understand and know how to make his topic more interesting and friendly to it's listener. To make a lesson to be more interesting is to show the relevance and its application. To make a lesson to be lively is to use some visual aids to be easily understood and to help picture the purpose of the topic in that way listeners are not bored and help there imagination guided.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I think it depends on the topic. Teachers should first and foremost be a great teacher. That person has to be ready, present material in an understandable manner, answer questions, all that fun stuff. Some more dry topics require extra showmanship on teacher's behalf. That is the only time when you have to go out of your way to "entertain" students. Other times, communicate with students like you always would.
I find that professors that talk to students like equals get more of my attention.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Teachers are teachers and clowns are clowns, should not be confused. Even so, humour, multimedia, vivid talks, are important elements to facilitate communication. Everybody loves to be taken seriously and students are not exceptions.
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Tags: teaching
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thread-19914 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19914 | Best practices for dissertation committees to review chapters? | 2014-04-28T12:16:22.093 | # Question
Title: Best practices for dissertation committees to review chapters?
From talking to colleagues in a variety of fields and different institutions, there seems to be a huge variability in the ways committees handle their responsibilities of reviewing dissertation chapters. I would like to know two things:
1. What do you consider the best practices for advisors, other committee members, and candidates in order to move the dissertation writing along efficiently?
2. Does the *Journal Review* policy (specified below) seem reasonable to you?
> **Journal Review Method**
>
> In this model, the dissertation advisor treats his or her role as the chair of the candidate's committee as if he or she were the editor of a journal and the dissertation chapters articles submitted for review. The student submits a chapter to the advisor who decides whether it is ready to send for review. If it is, then the advisor sends the chapter to committee members for review. The committee members make a brief (2-4 page) report to the advisor that either: accepts the chapter as is, accepts it pending minor revisions, rejects it pending major revisions, or rejects the chapter entirely. The advisor then makes the final determination as to the status of the chapter. It will be the advisor's responsibility to make sure other committee members submit their reports in a timely fashion. The defense is held when the advisor judges all of the chapters to be "accepted".
>
> The primary benefits of this policy are that it creates a clear organizational structure which allows candidates to receive prompt, actionable feedback on their work.
# Answer
> 3 votes
The policy is straight forward but an open question is what use a complete reject means if the advisor has deemed the chapter as passable. As I see it the advisor has (should have) both the insight into the details of the problem and research as well as general knowledge of academic expectations to deem when a manuscript is in shape for passing on. If a committee member does not think this is right then the question still remains who may be right and who may be wrong? Is the decision by vote in the end since there will likely be three or five persons involved in reading the chapters? In my system it is possible for a student to defend even if the advisor or committee member advise against it. Only fools do but it is possible. It is however, still possible for committee members to disagree but usually when issues arise it is because the student-advisor communication has failed for one or the other reason.
So in my view the "journal review method" is a good start but you also need to consider what will happen if there is disagreement and how to possibly weigh the input. Do all committee members have equal weight in all aspects or are they experts in some parts and therefore carry more weight in those chapters than in others. I think the system requires some tweaking in order to accommodate the clear differences that exist between a journal publications and a thesis (*sensu* monograph) where a thesis typically contains larger quantities of more detailed information than would be possible in a published paper.
As a side point, in my system where paper based theses are the norm, it is hard to "reject" a published paper; one can disagree but something that has passed peer review (albeit a poor one) has still passed. The key pint is thus the overall quality of the work and of the emerging scientist behind it. This i snot necessarily covered by the "journal review method" alone.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Here's what I think from the point of view of mathematics in the US.
For us the usual system is that the advisor is expected to read the thesis carefully, judging its correctness, significance, and novelty, at a level of depth comparable to or higher than would be expected of a journal review (which in mathematics is already pretty deep). The other committee members are expected only to give a more cursory reading, basically to satisfy themselves that the contents of the thesis appear to be mathematics research at an appropriate level.
As such, I think your system would face the following problems:
1. Expertise. Mathematics as a field is highly specialized, and most of the members of the committee will not be experts in the same area as the candidate. They will not have the necessary background or expertise to carefully read and evaluate the dissertation at the level you propose. For a journal submission, referees can be chosen from anyone in the world, and even so there may only be a few dozen people whom an editor would consider well qualified for that particular topic. The intersection of that pool with the candidate's university is typically just the advisor.
2. Workload. Even supposing the committee members to have the necessary expertise, what you propose would require a very significant time commitment from them. An average dissertation chapter in mathematics might be 20 or 30 pages of dense computation and logical argument. To read a paper of that length, evaluate its correctness and significance, and produce a 2-4 page referee report, a mathematician might easily spend at least 10-15 hours. Multiply that by 4-6 chapters and that is a lot of work, especially considering that a single person may be on several committees.
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Tags: thesis, advisor
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thread-19649 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19649 | How to manage lot of random yet potential ideas for research and startup? | 2014-04-22T10:57:35.287 | # Question
Title: How to manage lot of random yet potential ideas for research and startup?
I am a graduate student and planning to pursue a PhD. For one year, in search for a research idea, I have been reading random research articles and papers in many dimensions of Computer Science.
Suddenly, I have been blasting my advisor with various ideas. The ideas as per my advisor are possibly a new paradigm but do have great potential. Also, he says the complete idea may or may not be doable by a single PhD student. I also see those ideas converting into good startup ideas as well. (I was an entrepreneur before pursuing research in search of some challenging work).Most of the ideas are not very much related to each other but still concentrated to my specific field of study (Computer Vision).
I am concerned that pondering of so many ideas may prolong my research without results. My questions are:
1. How can I manage so many wavy ideas in a streamlined way ?
2. How feasible is it to focus the research so that the outcome may be a startup (since making it commercially viable would require some amount of research in other areas of Computer Science such as Data Mining, Large Scale Search etc. ) ?
# Answer
For your **first question**, here is the workflow I follow:
1. Write them down (as @JeffE mentioned)
2. Organize them in order of viability/ease
3. Take the most viable idea and do a (very) quick prototype
4. If prototype is successful, develop it. If not, iterate.
From the prototype you probably have a better idea of how much work it would take to fully develop the research idea. If it seems like you won't be able to handle it in the amount of time you have, or if the outcome is not worth the effort, I usually archive that idea for later. For a prototype I usually try to do the bare minimum to produce the simplest result possible. A common trap is to start from the complex before you've mastered the simple.
The **second question** depends a lot on your personality, so don't take the following advice much too serious. Personally, I have a very hard time focusing on two things at the same time. What I would do is focus on my PhD. You'll surely get many more ideas as your work progresses. For every problem you solve, you'll generate 10 new ones. Be sure to write things down so that you don't forget them later on.
This is a very personal question and you have to see what works for **you**.
> 2 votes
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Tags: phd, research-process
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thread-19819 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19819 | How to state that you “rigorified” an existing paper without sounding arrogant or condescending? | 2014-04-25T15:05:52.670 | # Question
Title: How to state that you “rigorified” an existing paper without sounding arrogant or condescending?
I am writing a paper aimed at a physics journal which extends an old paper (not by me), which introduced a mathematical formalism for a physical problem in a rather handwaving way and without addressing most of its mathematical background. In addition to exentding this formalism, my paper elaborates on this mathematical background and relatedly introduces the formalism in a ”more rigorous” way. I consider the latter one of my paper’s key features for the following reasons:
* One might consider the formalism and the methods derived from it not to be properly substantiated in the old paper.
* Though the mathematical background has no other application so far, it is interesting for its own sake and perhaps from a philosophical point of view.
* My approach to the formalism might be more accessible to some people and make them give a better understanding of what they are doing when applying the formalism and related methods.
As these points are rather opinion-based, I do not intend to elaborate on them in the paper – at most I might shortly mention the didactical aspects in the conclusion. (I mainly mentioned them here to give you some idea what I am talking about.) However, I do want to briefly mention in the abstract or the introduction that I “rigorified” the formalism, where *briefly* can be anything between one word and two sentences. For example, my abstract could look like:
> \[Old paper\] introduced \[old concept\], which is useful for \[application\]. We extend this concept to \[new concept\] and also *rigorify its mathematical background.*
My problem is that *rigorify its mathematical background* is far from what I actually want to say. I am therefore looking for **a way to say this without seeming arrogant or condescending on the old paper and in particular without implying that the old paper “did not do its mathematics properly”.**
I intentionally do not give my best solutions for now, as I do not want to induce any bias on them, in case I may underestimate them.
<sup>I am also torn between *Academia* and *English Language & Usage* for posting this question.</sup>
# Answer
It sounds to me like you are viewing the older paper through the lens of the type of paper you would have written in the first place and are finding it wanting. It also sounds like you are viewing your own work as "fixing the flaws" of the older paper, almost as if you want to replace the older paper in your mind with your paper and pretend it had been written that way all along. More quantitatively you have your eye on the mark that the older paper should have hit, you are filling in the gap between the actual old paper and your eyeballed mark, and since you are measuring from the eyeballed mark you are giving the difference a minus sign. This framing seems to be behind most of your problems. Try recasting the entire thing more positively in your own mind.
1) Someone else published an inspirational paper way back when. This paper introduced some formalism and concentrated on its application to a physical problem.
2) Your paper gives much deeper attention to the mathematical aspects of the formalism, while also extending the formalism. Since 1) showed that the formalism is interesting and useful, your work has evident value.
There are no "minus signs" in the above description: 1) + 2) = your eyeball mark.
Unless there are actual mathematical errors in the older paper, you don't need to say that you are fixing or "rigorifying" (not really a word, by the way) the older paper. By the way, I don't know whether you've heard my rant about this use of the word "rigor" in mathematics and its applications. As an adult mathematician I have become increasingly skeptical of mathematical "rigor": the other paper either made mistakes (which you will need to correct), made claims which were unjustified or insufficiently justified (in which case you make clear that what you are contributing is the justification and not the claims themselves) or they weren't doing mathematics at all (which is fine: that's what you're adding). Adding rigor must mean one of the things above, right? It is not some generic ingredient that you can sprinkle more or less liberally over a piece of "unrigorous mathematics" and make it rigorous.
In summary: unless there are some clear mistakes, you don't need to bill your work as fixing their mathematics. You can bill it either as adding the math or adding more math. Both of these are good things added to other good things: no problem.
> 16 votes
# Answer
How about something like this:
> WeakMath et al \[foo\] introduced a formalism for the problem we study. Their framework conveys valuable intuition\* about \[the problem\] but is not precise enough for further development of the mathematical structures introduced. In this work, we elaborate on their ideas, placing them in a formal mathematical \[something\] that allows us to \[do awesome things\]
* if it does
You get the general idea: give them credit for intuiting the right ideas which will lessen the blow when you drop the hammer on them :)
> 15 votes
# Answer
You are taking a problem from another paper and providing additional perspective which will allow future research to solve or add to solving the problem. This does not make the original paper any less worthy.
To get into the mindset for writing in a non-dismissive fashion, you might adopt the following scenario: "Their paper is the greatest thing since sliced bread! My model and formalization will allow others to handle this and similar problems with a more formal perspective. How can it possibly be any more win-win?" . This may exaggerate the current situation, but it is not a lie when framed properly. With such an attitude, you can write glowingly about the inspiration provided by their paper, and the anticipated benefits your perspective and formalization will give. I don't see any need to "drop a hammer" on anyone. Putting myself in such a mindset, and making things general, I come up with:
"We take inspiration from Their paper \[1\], and provide additional mathematical perspective. Our model of the problem reflects the intuition in Their paper, and has among its benefits a framework which we feel can be carried to other situations. In particular, we believe it furthers formal and rigorous treatment of the problem."
Take reasonable precautions: whatever you write, have your mentor or colleagues review it. If someone in your department who is politically adept approves, you can try sending an advance copy to the authors of the inspiring article, to see what suggestions they may provide. DO NOT send them a copy without such outside wisdom and approval.
> 5 votes
# Answer
> In this paper, we re-examine the results of \[OriginalReference\], extending its ideas to \[X and Y and Z\], providing a new approach via \[method\] to the original which may better illuminate \[aspect W\].
Essentially, "okay, the original work was pretty cool but we can do more with it, so we're going to run with that to get to this new stuff, specifically by doing this thing here because it makes a point or points more accessible and obvious".
> 1 votes
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Tags: writing, language
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thread-19930 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19930 | can I use instagram pictures for an academic work | 2014-04-28T17:43:31.457 | # Question
Title: can I use instagram pictures for an academic work
The question is pretty easy and fit in the title.
So: can I use instagram pictures for an academic work?
I think I have to ask people who posted them if they agree but I'm not sure. I don't want any trouble with plagiarism and copyright.
# Answer
In a a word no, users of Instagram retain copyright of their own images, and grant Instagram a licence to reproduce them on Instagram's website. No licence is granted to other users of the website, so you would need to approach each user individually to gain permission, unless your usage comes under a fair-use right. This differs between countries, so it depends on where the user is located that posted the image, and where you are located as to what rights you may have under this. These fair-use rights are very restricted, and have no relationship to academic work in particular.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Contra Chris Thompson, I'd say, in a word, 'maybe'. E.g., in the US, if the purpose of the work is to criticize or critique the picture, then you probably have a fair-use right to reproduce the image in your academic work. Whether or not the journal or conference you intend to publish in will accept your paper without an explicit license is another story.
> 2 votes
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Tags: copyright
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thread-19348 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19348 | When should you publish code on GitHub? Work-in-progress or after publication? | 2014-04-15T12:13:04.033 | # Question
Title: When should you publish code on GitHub? Work-in-progress or after publication?
What is policy are you following about publishing data analysis code on GitHub? Do you do it after publishing or as a work-in-progress?
I developed a number of Python algorithms to analyse a large dataset, and I would like to make my work visible.
# Answer
There is a movement gathering strength lately to encourage publishing the code:
Nature-Publish your computer code: it is good enough
Or, more vehement: If there is no code, there is no paper
The reasons outlied on the article are very reasonable. If you are expected to publish detailed derivations, experimental methods, and proofs of theorems, why would you be allowed to keep the code? No one will accept a theorem if you claim: "the proof is too messy to show, but hey, here are three cases where it works".
I think the best way is to publish the code used as supplementary material, and include a link to the repository, so people can get the improved versions. If you are concerned about people using too bleeding edge versions, make releases, but leave the development public. This will also help you get bugfixes and contributions.
Thank you for wanting to release your code. I really believe this attitude will help make research better.
**Edit:**
After some time, I have something to add. Most of the code in an application is there for "administrative purposes": load and write data, massage, check conditions... For publishing, that part can be as hackish as one needs it to be. The real "research" is usually in a small part. That is where one should dedicate one or two hours of adding a few comments and clearing the code.
For the rest, a docstring in the functions or a paragraph explaining the aim, should be fine.
> 20 votes
# Answer
Styles and technologies come and go. Git and Github are the flavor of the moment. Tomorrow it will be something else.
What is more fundamental is that scientific results are normally expected to be reproducible. If the code has secret details in it that are crucial for producing the result, then the result is not reproducible. If the code is simply the embodiment of the methods described in the paper, then there is no problem with not publishing the code.
As an example, there is a device called the Bodybugg that people buy and strap onto their arms in order to measure (or attempt to measure) how many calories they're burning each day. There is publicly available information on what sensors the device has built into it, but the algorithms used for putting the sensor readings together to get an estimate of energy consumption are proprietary. That means that any scientific research that uses a Bodybugg is basically worthless.
On the other hand, there can be perfectly legitimate reasons for not wanting to release one's code. For example, there could be a concern that people who lack the relevant expertise will play with it and use it to publish their own half-baked "gee-whiz" papers that turn out to be wrong. That then harms the reputation of the original author. The author may also not want to be in the business of answering questions from lots of people using their code, or they may want the freedom to make major changes that would upset users who were counting on the code to remain stable and backward-compatible. Science is not software development. Scientists want to focus on doing science, not on software distribution, licensing, making regular releases, and supporting a user community.
It may not even be legally possible to release a working version of the code. E.g., it may have some old FORTRAN routines in it that calculate Clebsch–Gordan coefficients, and if the author of those routines is dead, then it may not be legally possible to publish them.
I'm also skeptical about the long-term value of releasing code in most cases. Github will be gone in five or ten years, and the vast majority of the software it hosts will then cease to exist, since the vast majority of coders will not bother to migrate their code.
> 2 votes
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Tags: publications, code
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thread-19912 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19912 | Lodging an objection to a decision to reject my Master application | 2014-04-28T11:38:23.853 | # Question
Title: Lodging an objection to a decision to reject my Master application
I'm currently writing an objection to a decision to reject my Master application.
The decision is made by Admission office, not by Admission Board or Committee. All members of the Admission office are not members of the academic staff, so there is no at least one professor from the programme who participated in making this decision to reject my application. I checked this because in the email I received, there are the names of the members.
As they use the word "reject" it might lead someone to think that my application was not complete, but this was not true. According to this decision, my application was carefully examined and, in addition, I was not informed that there is some document missing as it is stated in the FAQ on there website, i.e. they will inform me in the case of missing document or delay caused by more time they need to check my educational background.
In the email that I received there is no a reason why my application is rejected. Now I have to state clearly the grounds on which I object there decision.
I applied with not only BSc that meets the requirements but also with two year Master degree in the same field, successfully finished without redoubling the year, high marks. Before applying I informed the admission office for this and I did not have any remarks for my previous educational beckground as I saw that all requirements are referring to previous Bsc. I was even waved out from GRE/GMAT requirements.
I need the help especially from those who have expericence in the European (EU) Education Law or Dutch Higer Education and Research Act (WHW) to clearly state the Articles that are violated concerning:
1. The composition of the Admission office (I know that it is a practice everywhere in the world to have at least one professor, but I need an official document, I cannot only refer to the ethics)
2. The right of a student to have at least some information to know why the application was rejected as it has to state clearly the grounds of his objection
3. Is there any convention or document that clearly defines what is non-selected and rejected document (this document must be official)
4. Regarding the level of my previous education which fully satisfies the requirement, is there any ground for discrimination based on the fact that maybe I'm overqualified or overeducated, taking into considereation also the fact they told me previously that I can apply?
Thank you for your understanding
# Answer
In my (central European) university, candidates for admission to a master's program who are coming from an outside university go through either an "admissions committee" (*Zulassungsausschuss*) or an "examination committee" (*Prüfungsausschuss*). Although the decisions are in fact made by those committees, the decisions are usually reported through assistants to those committees, who would constitute the "admissions office." It would represent a huge time commitment for the chair of the committee to individually respond to the different applications, and therefore that work is passed on to the intermediaries.
Thus, I wouldn't read too much into the fact the letter came from the "admissions office" instead of the "admissions committee."
However, if you were in fact rejected on the basis of having an "incomplete" application, even though you were explicitly told that you would be notified of missing documents, that would give you the right to request a review, since they didn't follow their explicit policies.
> 5 votes
# Answer
As the bachelor-master subdivision in the Netherlands is fairly recent, most master's programs are so-called "Connecting Master's". These are designed for students graduating from one specific bachelor's program at that same university. All students who graduated from that bachelor's program (and sometimes hand-picked similar programs at other Dutch universities) are accepted into the Masters automatically. If by a *"BSc that meets the requirements"*, you mean that you completed one of these bachelor's program that should qualify you for automatic admission, you should be able to build a much stronger case than worrying about who was on the committe.
On the other hand, students who did not graduate from one of these selected bachelor's programs have to apply to the university for a certificate of admission *(bewijs van toelating)*. The application procedure is left up to the individual universities to define and implement. The conditions for acceptance will depend on the specific program you applied for. This means that (assuming you fall into this category) you should base your appeal on the university policies for the application procedure, and the program's requirements.
The admission requirements should be detailed in the *"onderwijs- en examenregeling"* of the program you're applying for, and should match the education goals of the preceding bachelor's program.
Source: Wet op het hoger onderwijs en wetenschappelijk onderzoek, Artikel 7.30a.
> 4 votes
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Tags: masters, application, graduate-admissions, rejection
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thread-19916 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19916 | How hard is to get a post-doc in the area of HEP-Theory? | 2014-04-28T12:39:15.540 | # Question
Title: How hard is to get a post-doc in the area of HEP-Theory?
At the moment I'm a high school student, who is passionate about the High Energy Physics areas, especially Phenomenology, String Theory, QFT and so on. I would like to pursue a B.Sc. degree in Mathematical Physics in the future in my country (central European country with a lot of famous string theorists ;) ). After that I would like to move to the USA to get a PhD in the one of the areas show above, but I heard that getting a post-doc and then a permanent job is quite hard.
Is it true? Would I have better success if I wouldn't limit myself only to the US, but include here, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Currently, yes, it is quite hard. Assuming you go on to get your PhD in some field of HEP theory, you'll graduate with a very specific skill set that qualifies you for maybe about 10 available postdoc positions in the entire world, of which perhaps 3 or 4 will be in the US. (Obviously these numbers vary by perhaps a factor of 2 year to year and from one specific subfield to another; take them only as rough estimates.) But there are typically hundreds of people applying to each of these positions, so in the absence of other information your chances of getting one are not good. If you do get a postdoc, then your chances of getting a tenure-track faculty job are lower by perhaps another order of magnitude.
That being said, high school is *way* too early to be planning your future based on the chances of getting a postdoc. In particular, the difficulty of getting a postdoc should not dissuade you from getting a PhD in high energy physics, if you decide that's what you want to do when you finish college. There are plenty of other things you can do with a PhD in physics, especially if you have supplementary skills like computer programming. And by the time you approach the end of graduate school, you'll have a better idea of whether you are more qualified for a postdoc than the average applicant.
# Answer
> 1 votes
In many respects any career in academia will be quite hard. Positions are very dependent on funding so there is often little choice in location and wages are often quite low compared to similarly skilled people in industry.
However, I wouldn't let these things put you off. If its what you enjoy and you are half decent there will be jobs out there. Also I wouldn't worry too much about post-docs at your stage. After 7-10 years of undergrad and PhD you might conclude you don't really enjoy HEP so much, you enjoy something else more, or even that you just aren't good enough - theory type subjects at high school/undergraduate/research level are all very different (my view is slightly biased here, I did a masters level QFT module and then realised it definitely wasn't for me).
I would focus on doing well at your undergrad studies and preferably getting some research experience, for example via summer placements. Work out want you enjoy. If you find something try and do a PhD in that. Then you can worry about post-docs.
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Tags: job, postdocs, job-search, physics
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thread-19929 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19929 | What is your university's policy on course reductions for service on dissertation committees? | 2014-04-28T16:52:53.753 | # Question
Title: What is your university's policy on course reductions for service on dissertation committees?
This is a question branching off of this one. I would like to judge how common it is for universities to give course reductions for service on dissertation committees.
Two questions:
1. Does your university offer such reductions for the advisor, readers, examiners?
2. How generous is the reduction? (1/3 of a course, 1/4 of a course, etc.)
Please include your discipline and location in the reply so we can get a more robust picture.
For instance: USA, Philosophy, 1/2 course for the dissertation advisor, 1/3 course for the readers, 0 for the examiners.
# Answer
In mathematics in Minnesota, the advisor gets a half-course reduction, and committee members no reduction.
Thus, some years ago, when I taught a crypto class and a coding class that were popular with some engineering dept grad students, and I found myself being asked to be on about 250 Master's and PhD committees within a few years, it was a task that was not literally directly compensated-for, despite consuming significant time. But I figured it was part of my service duty. I allocated an hour or two prior to the actual presentation to review the document, and the presentation itself would take an hour or two.
(My chief benefit was amusement with some of my "colleagues" who apparently thought I was grossly exaggerating, since "obviously no one would agree to being on so many committees"...)
> 5 votes
# Answer
> Does your university offer such reductions for the advisor, readers, examiners?
**NO.** Advising students and serving on dissertation committees is a normal and expected duty of all faculty members at my university.
> 4 votes
# Answer
In Sweden, main advisors may get symbolic compensation, in my department 3% time, co-advisors receive 1%. If you serve on an examination committee you do not receive any compensation by either your own department or the department where the defending PhD student resides. At a public defence there is an official examiner, referred to as "opponent". this person typically receives about USD 1000 for the task which includes a 1 + hour public discussion of the work.
In short, none of very little compensation is given to anyone involved with the study and defence of a PhD student. For the PhD defence, all costs involved for travel and housing is of course covered.
> 3 votes
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Tags: thesis, thesis-committee, service-activities
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thread-19946 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19946 | How to deal with violence in the classroom (UK)? | 2014-04-28T22:23:50.447 | # Question
Title: How to deal with violence in the classroom (UK)?
After the recent death of 61 year old Spanish teacher Anne Maguire in Leeds today, what is the best way to deal with violence in schools in the UK as it happens?
Most schools in the UK do not have a lockdown / violence procedure as it is very rare.
However can we deal with this as it happens effectively in the UK?
# Answer
In the US, a college student's risks of being robbed, assaulted, or raped on campus are each roughly 3x10<sup>-3</sup> per year. This is higher than we'd like it to be -- well, we'd like the rate to be zero. One's chances of being victimized can probably be reduced by taking commonsense precautions such as calling Campus Safety to ask for an officer to walk along if one has to cross a college campus in the dark. I don't know how much of this violent crime is alcohol-related, but certainly alcohol is involved in many off-campus incidents.
As a teacher, there are some common-sense things you can do if there is a violent incident, such as a shoving match or scuffle. Identify yourself as a teacher to the student who has been violent. If the person is your student, tell him/her to leave class until the next meeting. Call 911 and report the incident to Campus Safety.
> Most schools in the UK do not have a lockdown / violence procedure as it is very rare.
The reason we do have lockdown procedures and lockdown drills here in the US is not because school shootings are common in the US. In the US, a college student's annual risk of dying in a school shooting is something like 3x10<sup>-6</sup> per year. Since the risk of being raped is roughly 1000 times higher than the risk of being a victim of a school shooting, this idea of a lockdown drill is clearly disproportionate. It's based on cultural and emotional responses, not a realistic assessment of risks. Although events like the Kennedy assassination, 9/11, and the Newtown shooting are culturally powerful, they should not be allowed to take over our lives or evoke a dysfunctional response.
There is no intellectually rigorous evidence for any particular lockdown procedure, drill, training, etc. For example, my school wanted us to show our students a video advocating a "run, hide or fight" strategy, but there is no clear evidence to support this strategy.
Furthermore, drills detract from instruction and may violate students' rights by locking them up in a classroom and telling them that they can't leave.
> 8 votes
# Answer
The best solution to violence is, generally speaking, prevention. As have been pointed out, school shootings are rather rare occurrences. I will herein detail a number of steps for an educational institution to work to lower crime rates.
**1. Educate your students and teachers.**
The inclusion of this point may seem trivial, but there are simple steps individuals can take that will protect them from crime. Most noticeably is the importance of not being alone - a single person is a much easier target for crime than someone in a group. Sticking to brightly lit, well-traveled areas will also decrease the likelihood of being targeted. There are many more tips on a number of websites.
**2. Invest in infrastructure.**
A clean, open, well-lit space is much less likely to be the site of crime. Janitorial and groundskeeping staff are especially important to this effort. Paving common walking paths will encourage more people to use them, benefiting them of safety in numbers. Trim trees and install outdoor lights. If a casual observer can notice something is wrong, it's less likely for a crime to be committed there.
**3. Invest in direct security.**
Have security cameras installed so as to cover major public spaces. Make their presence visible, but not obtrusively so. The presence of cameras both act as a deterrent and can help after a crime. Note on visibility: A potential criminal will look for cameras, so simple visibility is all that is necessary; Obtrusive cameras will make users feel their privacy is violated.
Get either local police or a security service to routinely make circuits of campus. "Complete" coverage should mean that anyone standing in a public space should see police/security once every 15-30 minutes, even if they just drive slowly by. If an effort is made by officers to be helpful and not oppressive, this can even become an attractive feature to potential students and teachers.
**4. Purely reactive measures.**
While the steps above are either preventative or act as a deterrent, there are a few more measures that can be taken with a focus to respond to crimes after they happen.
Security call boxes can help a victim alert police or security to a crime and secure emergency services if necessary. Even in the age of cell phones, it is probable that a victim does not have other means to alert security. Dialing on a cell phone might be difficult, or their phone may have been stolen or lost in a scuffle.
Have a therapist on staff and give security training to facilitate an air of reassurance - this is especially important when dealing with victims of rape or sexual assault. There is much more information on this in security circles. Having this training will also make others more comfortable with the idea of going to security with their problems by assuaging their fears of a security investigation disturbing their life.
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Ultimately, there must be an effort to both make the campus physically safer and to make the local culture more resistant to crime. These measures are not only focused on making crime harder but also making crime less accepted as "a reality of the community". Criminals ultimately pick on the lowest hanging fruit, and we have the possibility to move it out of reach.
> 2 votes
# Answer
### Emergency notification systems
It's important to have systems in place which enable timely (read: not help up in red tape) warnings of immediate and pressing danger.
Following the 2007 incident in which more than 30 people were killed by a student gunman at Virginia Tech, officials at VT were criticized for a perceived failure to warn students in a timely manner:
> When an emergency occurs at Virginia Tech, its emergency plan dictates that a Policy Group consisting of senior administrators (at that time not including the chief of campus police) be convened by the president to oversee the university’s response. On the morning of April 16, the Policy Group, anxious to avoid a panicked reaction, acted slowly to alert the campus to a dangerous situation. In the emergency message it sent out almost two hours after the first shootings at West Ambler Johnston Hall, the group said there had been a shooting but did not state explicitly that two people had been killed and that the killer had not been apprehended.
(Source)
In the aftermath of this incident, many universities indicated that they were taking steps to improve their emergency notification systems, including:
* Implementing a system with the ability to broadcast notifications to students by text message or personal email address
* Creating a written protocol for determining when to issue a broadcast emergency alert
Of course, these systems are far more likely to be used for non-violent but immediate, pressing dangers such as a fire, earthquake affecting structural integrity, etc. Regardless of the nature of the emergency, it's important to have these systems in place.
> 1 votes
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Tags: teaching
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thread-19855 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19855 | Should I write a paper on open-source software I've built? | 2014-04-26T10:44:04.967 | # Question
Title: Should I write a paper on open-source software I've built?
I have been fairly active in the open-source software community with a few projects that have gotten some attention. However, my reputation in the academic/publications world is a little bit low and I'd like to improve that.
I've seen papers written for all kinds of things ranging from simple summaries of a given project, up to discovering new ideas.
I'd like to write a paper about a specific open-source software project that I've built but I'm puzzled whether it would be appropriate to write a paper about it. After all, not many important software projects were published in the form of a publication.
**Edit:** as a concrete example, this is one project I've built: http://lmatteis.github.io/void-graph/ \- it can visualize RDF structures as a dynamic graph which can be saved in SVG and used in presentations or slides. Would you find this appropriate as the subject of a publication?
# Answer
> I'd like to write a paper about a specific open-source software project that I've built but I'm puzzled whether it would be appropriate to write a paper about it. After all, not many important software projects were published in the form of a publication.
>
> Edit: as a concrete example, this is one project I've built: http://lmatteis.github.io/void-graph/ \- it can visualize RDF structures as a dynamic graph which can be saved in SVG and used in presentations or slides. Would you find this appropriate as the subject of a publication?
I can help with specific suggestions for suitable venues in your area (that accept system papers) in order of decreasing impact for improving your research rep:
* Semantic Web Journal accepts Tools and Systems papers. You need to be able to demonstrate real-world impact of the tool/system. Effectively, this track is for paving the cow-paths: publishing about tools/systems that are already well-known in the community but don't have sufficient scientific contribution for a research track (and incentivising the developement of tools/systems that are useful for the community). First step is to get your tool/system to be well-known.
* WWW Demo Track: Write a short 2-page paper on your idea, pack it with as much academically-restrained ehthusiasm and technical detail as you can and hopefully you'll get to present it at the WWW conference. These 2-page papers will be published in the supplementary proceedings and will be indexed in DBLP. The criteria for demo papers as WWW is (in my opinion) often fickle ... a lot of demo papers are borderline/rejected full papers. Otherwise reviewers follow their own whims.
* ISWC|ESWC Demo/Poster/Challenge tracks: Probably you want to aim for a demo track. Submit a four or five page (LNCS) paper to ISWC or ESWC describing your demo. Main emphasis for reviewing is on the novelty of the system itself, technical soundness, and how nice a conversation-piece it will make at the poster/demo session. Demo papers are sometimes (not always) published as a CEUR proceedings, which will sometimes end up in DBLP.
The first option is essentially free (money wise) for you.
The latter two options will incur the cost of attending the conference to present a demo. If you are an independent researcher, that might not be an option: it might be a high cost for little reputation gain. But it depends on your long term goals.
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Another option is to find your inner scientific contribution and go for a research track submission.
The most important aspect is that an expert in the area will *learn* something about the area that they didn't already know and couldn't find out about elsewhere (without doing the research themselves). As a reviewer in a research track, after reading a paper I will always ask myself: did I learn something? What did I learn? What is its nature (theoretical, experimental, analytical, synthesis, etc.)? Where else could I have learned that?
As an author, I apply the same principle in reverse: what is the reader going to learn from this paper and how can I highlight it and frame it in the proper "research-speak"? (This may appear cynical, and perhaps it is a little, but being able to identify, highlight and sell your core contributions is a delicate art that does lead to better papers ... as well as higher success in peer review.)
Ultimately, with experience on your side, it sometimes doesn't require much effort to find an angle from which something can be turned into a scientific contribution.
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Also, take encouragement from the fact that many of the most highly cited papers/references in the Semantic Area refer to software projects or systems of various types (Google Scholar citations): Jena (856), Sesame (1346), Protege (1060), DBpedia (1344), OWL API (265), and so forth.
Being system papers, all of these papers were (arguably) arguable in terms of scientific contribution.
Likewise, many authors in the area have made their names through works that are inherently practical while being based in industry (e.g., HP Labs, Talis, Bell Labs). Looking through the author list of some of the papers above will throw up some such names.
> 8 votes
# Answer
I had faced this exact situations a few years ago. I had developed an open source project, which went pretty popular and started being used by many corporations across the globe. Since, I was looking for strengthening my presence in academia, I planned to write a paper on it and sent to a decent journal. The result was rejection with a plethora of useful comments and suggestions. It took me almost an year to publish that paper in a reputable conference.
So, the lessons learnt were (and possibly applicable to you as well)
* The expectations of research tracks is not only that your thing just works, but you need to justify how and why it works
* There should be results (mostly analytical), to demonstrate that your technique works and hence can be used by other people referring/reading it.
* You need to answer why your work is important and what it contributes to the field
* Moreover, most conferences have or accept papers from industrial or application tracks, where you can describe your work in an implementation centric way (possibly giving you some leverage from nuances of research papers as mentioned above)
> 40 votes
# Answer
Yes, you should. But on the other hand, do not necessarily assume it will be accepted easily. Some advices:
* Your best bet is a demo track in a CS conference (as Peter suggested). For CS demo apps maximum number of pages is usually four, so use them wisely.
* Check all major CS conferences (VLDB, SIGMOD, EDBT and those focusing on Linked Data - RDF). Check their demo track. Read the papers from years past. How is your tool compared to these efforts?
* You must understand that academic criteria is different than industry criteria for what is good or not. The easier way to reject a paper (even a demo paper) is the "infamous" question: "What is the scientific contribution of the paper?" To be published and accepted, you must prove that your work has multiple scientific test-cases and usages. It is not about what is the most excellent work of CS engineering. Otherwise, excellent apps like Photoshop, Worpdpress would get best paper awards.
* Another main question you need to answer on your paper is: Why is your tool better than every one's else (you must provide such a comparison =\> you must be familiar with what similar tools are available). There are multiple RDF tools or graph tools that may handle thousands / million of nodes. Can your tool support such sizes? (I have worked with SVG many - many years ago and at that time, SVG was not scalable for those sizes. So, also keep that in mind).
* You must describe your tool completely: Tool Architecture (frameworks used, server architecture), what it can do (screenshots, mini-tutorial), where the tool may be downloaded / demoed, what calculations may be done with your tool etc...
Of course this is not an exhaustive list. They are just hints to show you what you should aim for. Note, there are many CS researchers who would like to work with proficient open-source engineers (like yourself) on various ideas, so if you want to expand yourself into academic publishing, you will find your way. Good luck!!
> 21 votes
# Answer
Yes - for example, in my field, there is one fairly good journal that allows a type of short journal article on new "tools", and I've read more than one PLOS paper on an open-source application. As others have mentioned, there still needs to be some research content - likely a worked motivating example comparing your package to other means of analyzing the same information, preferably an example whose scientific importance is pretty clear to begin with.
But you should absolutely consider it - it's easier to give you credit for using your software if it's linked to a paper.
> 4 votes
# Answer
Depending on the area, some journals and conferences accept "application notes", a specific kind of paper that puts much more weight on that significant open source software has been written. Researchers that use such software must normally cite this publication so may also be high impact journals and articles. Search for the journal with this profile. You still must show in the introduction why your work is important and better than some known, older alternatives.
The alternative "classic" approach is to look if some scientifically new results and conclusions have been obtained, or maybe some new algorithm have been proposed and evaluated, with less care if the newly written code is popular or even usable in practice.
> 3 votes
# Answer
As a user of open source software, I would appreciate the authors of said software producing a paper about it.
Then when I use the software I can cite the paper. Sure I can cite the software itself, or its manual, or a book about it.
But citing a academic paper looks better, and assuming there is free/easy access to the paper, anyone who doesn't know what the software is, or doesn't feel it is suitable for academical use.
I'm writing a project proposal presently, I cited papers for SciPy, IPython, and several others. However I had nothing good to cite for Subversion. I may end up citing the software itself, as I did for Python.
> 1 votes
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Tags: publications, writing, software, open-science
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thread-18206 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18206 | Is there any information about the trend of journals preferences regarding Word over LaTeX? | 2014-03-16T08:14:40.503 | # Question
Title: Is there any information about the trend of journals preferences regarding Word over LaTeX?
Is there any information about the trend of journals' preferences regarding LaTeX and MS Word?
My main concern is computer engineering and linguistics fields of study.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Both ACM and IEEE accept LaTeX publication format, which represents computer engineering to a large extent.<sup>1</sup>
Based on this list which categorizes publications in various fields by their 'friendliness' to LaTeX (primarily linguistics-related), many linguistics publications accept LaTeX (especially those related to computational linguistics / natural language processing).<sup>2</sup>
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<sub><sup>1</sup> Cf. http://acm.org/publications/latex\_style/ and http://ieee.org/conferences\_events/conferences/publishing/templates.html. </sub>
<sub><sup>2</sup> The list was last updated in January 2010.</sub>
# Answer
> 1 votes
I suppose you want to know the general acceptance of LaTeX to decide whether to invest effort in learning LaTeX. I feel LaTeX is the safe choice as, especially in Computer Engineering, LaTeX is widely used - ACM and IEEE have their own LaTeX submission templates. If, in the unlikely case that your publication venue requires Word only, there are LaTeX to Word converters available, e.g. `latex2rtf` and `pandoc`. The Tex Users Group (TUG) also maintains a list of converters. This thread and this one discuss conversion from LaTeX to Word.
# Answer
> 0 votes
There are numerous journals and conferences that only accept manuscripts in MS Word format. On the one hand, the journals and conferences that only accept LaTeX are rare.
Indeed, I don't remember any journal or conference that require LaTeX format exclusively.
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thread-19907 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19907 | Is it true that corporations influence the conclusions of research studies or papers? | 2014-04-28T07:34:35.693 | # Question
Title: Is it true that corporations influence the conclusions of research studies or papers?
I observe media uses health studies or research and come up with conclusions to influence the consumers today with headlines suitable for few corporations
New study says caffeine can help strengthen memory function
Research shows beer can be good for you
* Is it true that some research today are manipulated to suit corporate agenda particularly private funded?
* Is there a way to identify commercial research?
# Answer
> 13 votes
There is always a possibility that an Industry funded project (meaning a company is funding it vs. the government) is influenced. However, in academia, the idea is that peer reviewed work looks at the methodology and results to decide if it makes sense. There are also different types of 'research'.
1. In the media 'A new study...' does not necessarily mean academic publication (in the case of your link, it was). Anything is possible, and if an upcoming researcher who needs funding tries to find meaning that benefits a company to get more funding later, than yes, it is possible for research to be 'manipulated'. In the case that it was a company producing the research themselves, such as a coffee company posting its own research, most likely it is biased. An example is the bing challenge, which says that research shows people choose bing over google, but that was Microsoft's research.
2. A company can fund academic research that leads to a publication. In this situation, there is an acknowledgement of who funded the research. There are often conflict of interest statements that are included in the publication.
# Answer
> 8 votes
Industry funded research is a common phenomenon, and honestly I don't see much problem with it, as long as it's clearly stated that the project is designed, funded and/or carried out by a profit-driven company, held privately or publicly.
Many journals I follow, mostly within medical and biomedical research) specifically ask for the *funding information*, as well as declaration of any *conflict of interest*. While the use of these sections are not limited to corporate funding cases, it is also a good place to denote involvement.
I believe the important part of your question is how corporate funded research is framed/presented towards general public. That is more of a discussion on media ethics and protocol than academia, I would say. Practically all respectable journals have peer-review (often blind), obvious cases of undeclared conflict of interest are relatively easy to pick up.
# Answer
> 5 votes
The first thing to point out here is that you are referring to media directed at the general public, not scientific publications. "Science" article in newspapers and magazines are rarely objective and most of the time fail to convey the actual conclusion of the paper they cite.
This can be harmful to the public's perception of research results in many ways and I get upset by it quite often. Scientists themselves almost never write to the newspaper to correct false conclusions made from their work, not even when their own words are misinterpreted, taken out of context, or simply made up.
> Is it true that some research today are manipulated to suit corporate agenda particularly private funded?
It has been shown that, even with rigorous methodology, researchers will have a tendency to make companies that pays them happy. Note that **this is not restricted to privately-funded research.** Government agencies that fund research obviously **also have agendas** and are generally far more powerful than the average commercial company (the US Department of Defense comes to mind). There is also a 'scientifically correct' among public funding agencies and scientist throughout history have struggled when their findings conflicted with popular political opinions.
In general, what diminishes this effect is when a lot of people from various places and with competing or opposite interests are researching on the same topic. One can expect the biases to level themselves out.
> Is there a way to identify commercial research?
Yes. First, read actual scientific literature and not lay articles in men's health or gossip magazines. Second, *reputable journals* always ask authors to state every source of funding, and possible conflicts of interest. Third, switch your brain on when you read and use your judgment. If one lone article by Smith J. et al. states that products manufactured by Smith J. LLC are the next big thing, use extra scrutiny.
# Answer
> 4 votes
The existing answers address the fact that industries do sponsor research. However, you should note that the wording of a given headline is entirely chosen by either the marketing department in a company, or by some journalist aiming to maximize click-through to his article. It's very common for a fairly mundane paper to generate sensationalist headlines, through no fault of the researcher.
# Answer
> 0 votes
There are many "studies" funded by interest groups with agendas where the "researchers" know what the outcome is supposed to be based on that agenda.
Most such however are not funded by private industry (at least directly) but by political pressure groups, government agencies, and yes, sometimes industry groups (like a group set up to promote the drinking of beer might fund a "study" to show that beer is healthy).
This has been going on for centuries, possibly thousands of years, it's nothing new.
"Peer review" can help undermine such things, but sadly that too is all too easily corrupted. Just fund a "scientific journal" and have the review staff filled with more "scientists" who know where their paycheck is coming from and what they're supposed to agree with if they want funding for their own next "study".
Science is expensive, people need to eat, and as long as there's people with an agenda to push and enough money to push it through shady (pseudo)scientific "studies" there's going to be "scientists" eager to take that money.
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thread-19976 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19976 | Should I number all formulas in published documents for citations? | 2014-04-29T10:01:14.333 | # Question
Title: Should I number all formulas in published documents for citations?
When I write something that contains formulas, I only number the ones that I refer to myself. However, I found that some books or papers just number ever single formula. And that makes it really easy to cite individual formulas.
Is there some general rule to this?
# Answer
> 5 votes
The guideline for this is to use whatever method the journal to which you are submitting asks you to use.
As you indicate, many journals do this automatically, for exactly the reasons you suggest—to make it easier for others to cite and follow along your work. However, not all journals do this, and as a result, it's better to follow their guidelines instead of improvising.
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thread-19966 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19966 | What can I do if I am constantly invited as a reviewer, but don't have the time? | 2014-04-29T05:56:37.260 | # Question
Title: What can I do if I am constantly invited as a reviewer, but don't have the time?
I've recently started as a PhD student, but had previous publications in forms of conference papers and various talks, so I consider myself very experienced with my particular field of research. One of my supervisors had once assigned me for a review task for a journal because she did not have time to complete it. This was fine with the editor of the journal, too.
Starting from that date, I began receiving invitations to review manuscripts every few months. Of course, I took that opportunity and completed the reviews – which naturally takes a lot of time.
Now, I cannot really invest the time anymore. I've previously rejected two review invitations with "I do not have the time to complete this review" (or similar), but I keep receiving invitations.
What could I do to politely ask the editor not to consider me for review?
Is there anything I'm about to do that could be considered inappropriate? I understand that reviewing activities are positive contributions to my academic career, but I don't think I can take it *now*.
# Answer
As far as I know, there is no *official* please-do-not-bother-me-ever-again button that removes you from the reviewer list in a journal's submission system. That being said, I assume just writing the editor a polite email should do the trick. Other than that, you can always continue to refuse reviewer invitations, and I am pretty sure editors will relatively quickly stop sending you invites (they hate wasting their time, too).
That being said, I would personally urge you to reconsider your stance on this. Reviews are an important community service that are essential to the functioning of science, and one review every few months really is not an over-the-top amount. For instance, I review at the very least one journal submission every month, plus proceedings papers for conferences and workshops where I am in the Technical Program Committee. That you recently started your PhD studies should actually only be *more* of a motivation to keep reviewing, as this is actually a pretty good way to stay on top of your field.
> 22 votes
# Answer
Your problem is that you get a review request every few months? As in, three or four a year? Seriously, dude, get over it. Writing a polite "Sorry, I'm too busy – why don't you ask Dr X and Prof Y?" a few times a year is hardly a significant drain on your time so just keep doing that.
You say that the issue is that you don't have time to do reviews *now* (your emphasis). This is a temporary situation so trying to set up a permanent "don't call me" isn't a good solution. It's also not a practical solution. If you're only getting a few requests per year, what's the probability that you'll ever, in your whole life, see two requests from the same journal editor or conference programme committee member. (OK, the events aren't independent but you see my point.)
Also, you should try to do some reviews; as has been pointed out in the other answers, reviewing as many papers as you submit is a reasonable rule of thumb. And if a paper comes along for which you're the "perfect" reviewer (for example, it extends your own work and makes detailed use of your technical material), you ought to at least try to make the time to review that.
> 15 votes
# Answer
The answer already given all have very good points; I will just add my editors perspective. The system of peer review relies on everyone doing a share (I refrain from saying "their share"). People who agree to make reviews are often remembered by editors as "nice" and will receive additional offers. It is difficult to say how many no answers there is to a yes answer in general when it comes to agreeing to review but it sure is not balanced. Therefore, a no is not a great surprise. If the no is accompanied by a nice explanation and suggestions of other potential good reviewers then the no and the request is productive in the view of an editor. Many electronic systems usually have links to agree or decline reviews so it is only a matter of clicking once. With the decline you may receive a request for suggesting additional reviewers but even that can just be ignored.
If you think you are requested too often by a journal for which you do not want to do reviews or as you state, you do not have the time, a short note to the fact to the editor may be sufficient. But, remember that an editor handled quite a few papers and even more review requests so even that request may not be entirely heard. In addition, many automatic systems have data bases over reviewers so that one editor may find your name and use it although another editor was the one asking you earlier on. In ScholarOne Manuscripts, which is used by "my" journal, you as a reviewer can yourself assign periods for which you are unavailable. So depending on your situation, you may be able to at least partially fix the problem yourself.
In the end, declining a review is not a dramatic issue and should not take very long. If you are inclined to continue in academia, you will be asked to review again. How often will usually depend on the usefulness of your reviews so the fact that you are being asked repeatedly probably says your reviews were useful or your expertise is in demand.
> 12 votes
# Answer
You can suggest names of potential reviewers to the journal editor, if you have not done so. He/she might not know who else are specialists in the area; hence you keep being invited. It also helps to be more precise in specifying the period window you won't be available for reviewing, because the editor does not know if you will be available the next time he/she invites you to do a review.
> 8 votes
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thread-19970 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19970 | At the age of 27 is it worth changing graduate schools and starting again? | 2014-04-29T07:24:32.080 | # Question
Title: At the age of 27 is it worth changing graduate schools and starting again?
I am interested in areas of theoretical physics/mathematics which simply don't exist in my institute. I tried 2 or 3 different groups here which were not in my interest (but I felt I had some transferable skills) and it didn't work out.
# Answer
> 6 votes
There is no age limit for graduate studies. People are free to apply at whatever stage of life they choose, if they feel it's the right move for them.
As an example of this, a very good friend of mine was a social sciences major as an undergraduate, and worked in Washington, D.C., for a number of years before leaving politics and starting a PhD program in medical physics—and he did this in his mid-thirties. I've worked in the same department as other postdocs who made the career choice even later—they were in their early fifties!
So I would not look at your case as hopeless at all. If you find something else that inspires you, go for it.
# Answer
> 3 votes
As your question stands, the only honest answer is *it depends* but probably *yes, it does.*
Your question is lacking in essential information for a definite answer. Are you currently doing a masters or a phd? What is your background? Do you want to make a career in academia, ie. research oriented, or in the industry? Are you self-motivated? etc...
I would not rule out changing grad schools based on your age alone as there's no age limit to right a wrong. However, use common sense: be *pragmatic* and take time to analyze your options. Perhaps your advisor would allow you to collaborate with groups from other universities? Or maybe you could even do an exchange program? Is wrapping up what you have and moving on to something you're more interested in an option? If your project has been given a grant, ponder carefully the implications of leaving your current grad school.
If you feel that changing grad schools is your only option, then unless what is hidden behind *starting again* is that 400 lb gorilla, I see no obvious reason why you should not live a more fulfilling academic life.
Final note: if I were to review your application to a new grad school, I'd like to understand the reasons that brought you to your current grad school if no group was seemingly doing something that you're interested in.
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thread-19982 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19982 | Is it possible to submit a conference paper without results? | 2014-04-29T11:13:12.857 | # Question
Title: Is it possible to submit a conference paper without results?
I am writing a paper for my first conference which is actually about my MSc dissertation. In my dissertation I designed a system and tested it with a number of users however, I don't want to include the testing/results in the conference paper because I believe it needs more testing (on a larger number of users).
I'm not sure though if I can submit the paper without results or will it be rejected because of that?
# Answer
(as you are talking about a *system* that needs to be evaluated on a number of *users*, I have the impression that you may be in a field related to software engineering, so that's what I am working with in the rest of the answer - but other fields will likely not be much different, just the examples I provide below may be of less relevance)
The answer to this question largely depends on **what** conference you plan to submit to, and **how preliminary** your results are. Different conferences value different things, and differently ranked conferences need results on different levels of maturity.
Some examples from the wider field of systems and software engineering:
* ICSE is the major conference in software engineering. You will need a solid idea and a strong, convincing evaluation. Testing on a significant number of real users will be required (what this means exactly depends a bit on the type of system, of course). Generally, reviewers at ICSE are not so interested in the concrete software you built, more in the processes, concepts and methodologies underlying your system.
* USENIX Middleware is another major conference, but with a completely separate focus. Here, the actual system implementation is what counts. Few Middleware papers have user studies etc., but all of them provide detailed performance analysis and comparisons with existing tools and systems. Providing your system in a useable (!) way for download is almost mandatory.
* The World Wide Web Conference is the premier conference for Web engineering. What really counts here is the data you have. Access to real-life data (e.g., usage data, search logs, social network data sets, etc.) is really important, more so than testing with real users. Papers that provide a new publicly available set of real-life data with some interesting characteristics are often valued highly. Implementation generally counts less than algorithms.
* ICSOC is an example of a smaller, more subfield-oriented conference. Here, you need a good idea and some preliminary or intermediary results, but most papers are not evaluated very strictly. Most papers submitted here are still, at least to some extend, work-in-progress.
Basically all sub-fields have their own smaller conferences similar to ICSOC (last example). While they are usually at least one tier below the more general conferences, they are usually a good first outlet for publication, as they are often less competitive and do not require a fully evaluated and finished research project. However, do not think that smaller conferences accept *everything*. ICSOC still sports an acceptance rate between 15% and 20%.
What I am trying to say is that different conferences work completely differently, and submitting the same paper to two (even equally good) conferences can easily end in a Strong Reject followed by Strong Accept. It is important to know how papers in a given conference typically look like, how they are presented, and how they are evaluated. Going against the *mainstream* in a conference is usually not the best idea, especially not in the beginning. This is were you need the advise of a senior person, who should have experience in writing papers for the relevant conferences in your field. If that is not available, you can also try to carefully survey previous proceedings, and see if you can find patterns and overall styles yourself. However, be prepared that you may miss nuances if you do this yourself. For instance, if your target conference typically does not have many applied papers, it is difficult to tell without knowing an experienced insider whether this is because applied papers are not often submitted there, or because the TPC always rejects almost all applied papers.
**Edit:**
I noticed that I rambled on without ever really answering your questions ...
> I'm not sure though if I can submit the paper without results or will it be rejected because of that?
Without any results may be difficult, although you can still try to submit to a workshop or work-in-progress track. However, if you already have some preliminary results, it sounds like a smaller, more specialized conference may be a good choice for you. Of course the validity of this depends a bit on how small your evaluation was...
> 2 votes
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thread-19990 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19990 | Construct a network of citations | 2014-04-29T15:35:00.193 | # Question
Title: Construct a network of citations
I had the thought that I should run a computation on my document to see things like: How many times I cite each source, how many times I cite each author etc. Then I thought that isn't enough. What if I cite A\_foo, B\_foo and C\_foo, but both A\_foo and B\_foo cite C\_foo. That is worth knowing. A graph of citations between the texts that I am citing will revel interesting information. For example nodes with out any parent, will generally indicate new and original ideas. While they may draw on other things, those things are distant enough from my work that I am not citing them. Nodes that have no links to any others, show that I am bringing in an idea from another subfield, perhaps.
This graph should be computable, I know google scholar maintains a list of almost everything I've cited, and for each thing lists who has cited them.
Has this been experimented with? Are there existing tools for the job? If there isn't I might mess around with some python and put something together.
My references are all in bibtex.
I would like to construct a graph of the citations.
# Answer
> 6 votes
Strangely enough, this question was asked on SO a while back with no real good answers. There was a link to this question, which links to PaperScope, which looks promising, although there hasn't been activity on the project since April 2013. I've never used it that tool.
Microsoft's Visual Explorerisn't exactly what you're looking for, but it's related. Hubmed used to have a graph view but I can't find it now, maybe you can.
The problem will be that even going just two nodes out - your citations, and your citations' citations - will include thousands of papers from hundreds of authors. As discussed in the aforelinked SO and SU questions, simply choosing an appropriate way to display the data will be a non-trivial challenge, and making useful inferences from the results will probably be even more difficult. Still, it may be interesting. Good luck!
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thread-1621 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1621 | Is there any disadvantage to having open-access publications? | 2012-05-20T17:36:07.457 | # Question
Title: Is there any disadvantage to having open-access publications?
Is there any compulsory rule for researchers to have publications in restricted access publication platforms? What if one has majority of his publications in open access journals?
# Answer
> 33 votes
No. The important point is whether the journals are *good* (= publish good papers) rather whether the access is open or restricted. This being said, in many fields AFAIK the better journals are access-restricted.
# Answer
> 11 votes
I see this question is old and has been answered, but I would like to add that the accepted answer by Alexander is really just an opinion, and in my opinion, there can be disadvantages for publishing in open access journals. I'm not arguing against open access, but the disadvantages should be mentioned and taken into consideration.
The biggest disadvantage, in my opinion, is that *some* people consider open access journals to be a dumping ground for mediocre or crap science. These may or may not be the same people who are reviewing your CV or tenure. This may or may not be more true at older, more prestigious institutions, and/or older, stuck-in-their-ways scientists/academics. Some people even consider publishing in open access as career suicide.
With all that being said, I am a fan of open access, and think science should be accessible to everyone. **"What if one has majority of his publications on open access journals?"** I plan to publish my next manuscript in open access, but I will limit it to just one for awhile. Having the majority of publications in open access may throw up a red flag to some people. Of course, others may appreciate more open access publications. I am PhD student, and need more 1st author publications, but I don't want too many open access journals on my CV (for now).
Other things you might want to consider when choosing a journal:
* Cost is a major concern, and is one of the biggest reasons why I will go open access with the next paper.
* Impact factor is another reason. Many open access journals have a large readership and high impact factor, which is good. However, impact factor should not be your main goal.
* Citations should be your biggest concern. It's not enough for people to read your papers, you need them to cite you. And for that to happen, you need to have quality science and writing. Although a high impact factor may help with that.
# Answer
> 8 votes
Some funding agencies require to publish in open-access journals, or at least strongly encourage it. For example, I am funded by a funding agency that strongly encourages to do so. Unfortunately, in many fields, there simply aren't any high-quality open-access journals around.
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thread-19985 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19985 | Standard style when citing different authors from the same group | 2014-04-29T13:21:43.863 | # Question
Title: Standard style when citing different authors from the same group
I want to cite a series of three papers (condensed-matter physics, if it matters) where the first author is a different person in each case, say authors A, B and C, but all the papers come from the same group led by author D. That is, the list of authors in each paper is "A, ..., and D", "B, ..., and D", and "C, ..., and D".
Cited independently, I would refer to these papers as "A et al.", "B et al." and "C et al.". However, I want to cite them as the most correct variant of "a series of papers by D's group".
My question is whether this is acceptable as above or it would undermine the work done by A, B and C, considering boss D was paying them but probably was too busy to work out the details of the paper, and most of the work was presumably done by A, B and C.
Is there a standard styling for these cases I can rely on?
Edit:
I finally just opted by
```
... as pointed out by the same group of authors on a series of papers [1-3], ...
```
which I think strengthens the idea that A, B, and C did not reach their conclusions separately but as part of a wider collaboration.
# Answer
> 5 votes
This is most likely a field-culture thing, but I find it very odd that you would treat the three papers as anything but independent pieces of work. If you want to indicate that the three papers are part of a series, you could always say something like
> a series of papers \[1,2,3\] presented blah blah
On the one hand, you want to give the "group leader" prominence, and on the other hand you clearly recognize the potential unfairness. I can imagine some of my students being rightly upset if their dissertation work was referred to as "work from the lab of Prof. Venkat".
I realize that many lab-driven disciplines are top-down in this way, but since there's a perfectly reasonable way to cite the work, I'd avoid highlighting the "lab leader" any more than merely by their presence on the author list.
# Answer
> 1 votes
This really depends on what you are doing. I think it is fine to do
> D and colleagues have written about X (A et al., XXXX; B et al., XXYY; C et al., XXZZ).
buy you need to ask yourself what, beyond avoiding the passive voice, it adds over
> X has been written about (A et al., XXXX; B et al., XXYY; C et al., XXZZ).
One case where it might be useful is if you are pointing out a potential bias or criticizing a technique.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Where are you sending the work? It might be such that the citation style is numeric, and then you can write whatever words you like:
> D and colleagues A, B, and C developed the state of the art in this area over the last several years \[1-3\].
Etc.
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thread-19971 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19971 | How can I move from chemical engineering into drug discovery? | 2014-04-29T08:14:01.467 | # Question
Title: How can I move from chemical engineering into drug discovery?
My situation is as follows:
I have already obtained a master in chemical engineering and my thesis is about drug delivery. I would like to continue my graduate study for a PhD, but as time goes by, I find myself begin interested in the field of drug discovery especially drug design. Since my high school I am actually more interested in chemistry and I think I should do something to try to engage in drug design in my PhD before it is too late. I have thought of some options:
1. Try to approach some research groups to see if they allow me to work as a research assistant first, then after a year or so with some drug design experiences, apply PhD about drug design.
2. Purse another master program for drug design, work crazily hard to get good grades and apply PhD about drug design. (But some of them is quite expensive, this may be a financial issue but just want to make sure it is worth)
3. Directly apply some PhD about drug design. I am not sure anybody will accept someone with no background.
Something more about me:
1. My grade average in UG is really bad. Quite rebellious in my UG.
2. I do have some publications and patents but they are totally not related to drug design.
3. I actually did not take any course in my UG and PG related to drug, or pharmaceutical science.
4. My current professional connection is limited to my master supervisor. Here I mean really close communication and will support me.
I am sure I have the determination to start my research in drug design. It is not an impulse. Is there any advice on my situation? Any comment is welcome particular harsh comments.
# Answer
> 1 votes
As I mentioned above, drug design is not really a "major" field, in the sense that it's rare to be able to get a diploma which lists "drug design" as the field of study. It's a dissertation topic or a focus area.
The relative advantage of this is that very few people come in with experience in the field, because it's so specialized. That means it's harder to be "picky" in selecting students—if everybody has to have lots of experience, you may not end up with enough qualified candidates.
Given your past experience with drug delivery, you probably have a fairly good idea of some of what is involved in drug design, so it's not as if you're coming from a completely unrelated discipline.
So, I don't think you have much to lose by applying to PhD positions **while** you look for alternate opportunities to work in the field. (Sometimes you need to apply more than once before you get accepted!)
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thread-20022 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20022 | Saying "After doing this work we learned..." in a paper | 2014-04-30T08:24:33.367 | # Question
Title: Saying "After doing this work we learned..." in a paper
I have seen several math papers which end with a statement like "After completing the research in this paper, we learned that all the results are already known." I wonder what are the situations in which such a comment is appropriate.
Such statements usually sound lazy to me, as though the author opted not to do a literature search at the outset, and after learning of previous work the author opted not to edit the paper (or withdraw it from submission for publication) beyond adding one sentence. Putting the comment at the end of the paper seems especially questionable, in that the beginning of the paper gives the reader the impression that the results are new. But I realize that mine is an extreme perspective which does not apply to all situations, and I would be interested to hear other perspectives.
# Answer
In part, I agree with you: if one finds out the result one has proven is in fact "trivial" (for various definitions of trivial), the "right" thing to do is to not bother submitting it for publication. (Though leaving it up on arXiv, for example, may be useful.)
But, here are some possible defenses:
* In mathematics it is not always the result that matters: the journey getting you there is a big part of it. This sentiment is very well-expressed by Thurston in his essay "On Proof and Progress". Just because one has re-proven a well-known result doesn't necessarily mean that the paper is trivial! If the approach is new this can lead to better understanding. But in this case I, at least, would advertise this fact in the introduction beyond a single sentence.
* As indicated in the comments, most of the time when I saw such a sentence it refers to fairly recent (perhaps even simultaneous) publications. Given that sometimes mathematics research takes time to complete, it is not entirely impossible that the authors genuinely started working on an open problem only to have the result solved in the mean time. And if the problem is somewhat obscure, I think the authors can be forgiven for only doing a detailed literature search *before* they start their research and not repeatedly doing it once every few months. In this case the language you quoted seems rather appropriate.
* It could honestly be a case of ignorance! Suppose the same essential problem manifests in two distinct field of mathematics which have their own lingo. Then it is quite possible that even most experts in either field would not have recognized easily that the two results are the same. (The "two-way" relation above can also be a "one-way" relation, where researchers in field A generally don't know about result B in field C, while for researchers in field C the applicability of result B to problem D seems obvious.) In this case having the duplicate paper published will (a) help raise awareness that the problem has been solved and (b) perhaps even help the two fields become aware of each others' results.
* Similarly, one may have discovered a simplified proof for a special case of a very powerful general result. While the result may be well-known, having this simplified proof in the special case maybe worthwhile, if only for pedagogy.
* In the modern day of electronic communications this should happen less, but one should remember that in the history of mathematics there are many results which have been discovered, forgotten, and then rediscovered. And even with the advent of MathSciNet, sometimes very technical results are hard to search for: you have to know exactly the right string of keywords to discover it in the literature.
> 16 votes
# Answer
In life sciences this is quite common, although the cause may be different. Authors will typically use this sentence if after their paper was reviewed/accepted but before publication, a relevant paper was published. This can happen because many groups often work on similar subjects ("competing"). A lot of times it can be something that the reviewer/editor asks the authors to add.
In this scenario I think it is more justified, because the authors really could not have known about the other paper since it was not published yet. Also, revising the whole paper after it has gone through review may be a problem.
> 1 votes
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Tags: publications, writing
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thread-20008 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20008 | Authorship of PI and/or other advisor on independent work? | 2014-04-29T23:45:50.443 | # Question
Title: Authorship of PI and/or other advisor on independent work?
I'm a graduate student in a biological sciences lab. About 6 months ago I started an after-hours (does such a thing exist?) project with a fellow graduate student in a different lab doing computational physics. We principally work on the weekends and late at night, and I like to think that the time we use would otherwise have been spent playing video games, drinking, etc (not doing lab work), but who really knows?
Our collaboration has been extraordinarily fruitful and we have one paper ~90% written, and a follow up ~50% written. Both are highly theoretical, and have no direct relation to our respective theses work. Also, both our PIs know and are supportive of us pursuing this project, and neither has so much as even hinted at wanting authorship. And neither is an expert (or even an amateur..) in physics.
1) Should we include our PIs? They could potentially contribute to editing and big picture, but are not able to even assess the validity of what we've accomplished. As an "experienced" graduate student I know they shouldn't be authors, but they are also making it possible for us spend our time thinking, and they've supported our endeavor at least in spirit.
2) Suppose our PIs are not included. We're just two graduate students. Is it even possible to get a fair review with neither of us having the requisite degrees? How do we pay for publication ($1000-5000)? I'm interested in the "meta" discussion as much, or more, than the ethical discussion. For example, there is a third faculty member in this area who we've had some discussion of the science with, and who is a computational physicist. Should we include him on the manuscript as a signature of credibility? Should he be last author or a middle author, if so? If there are any physicists perusing, I'd be particularly interested in your thoughts, as my experience in publishing has been solely in the biomedical journals so far.
Thanks for considering my dilemma.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Although these questions have been discussed before on this site, I think this is a slightly different case.
If you indeed work on this project outside of work hours and do not use university resources in any way, than this project is essentially a "hobby". In this case I would make an effort actually NOT to involve your advisors in any way, the same way you would not involve them in a manuscript you prepared about antique toys in your spare time. I think it would be good to keep a clear separation between work and non-work. Even in terms of technicalities like intellectual property this makes a big difference - if this research is associated with work, the university will usually own it, not you.
However, if you need actual relevant advice on the paper from an expert, I would ask an actual relevant expert rather than your advisors. Then, depending on his contribution and on the field, he may be added as an author or acknowledged.
Regarding publication fees, you could first try to look for a journal where the fee is not that high. Also, many journals are able to give a seriously discount or even waive charges for a good reason. You can ask prior to submission and explain the situation.
# Answer
> 17 votes
There have been a number of discussions on this site about authorship, and looking at the tag will reveal them.
Ultimately, the conclusion of all those discussions has been that conventions on authorship are field-dependent and define "contribution" in different ways for different areas. In your case, it sounds like your advisors have both encouraged you to work together and have not requested authorship. Since the usual response to questions like yours would be 'ask your advisor', it sounds like they've answered, by saying that you **don't** need to include them. But I'd check with them anyway.
The remaining part of your question deals with purely tactical considerations: to whit,
> Can augmenting the author list increase chances of the paper being accepted for publication ?
I think the consensus on this site, and in general, is that misrepresenting or exaggerating contributions for any reason would be considered **quite unethical** (where again contributions must be evaluated in a field-specific manner).
The work must stand or fall on its own merit, and be reviewed accordingly. It might be rare in your community for graduate students to author papers without PIs, but there's always a first time (and in my community it's quite common).
On the more mundane issue of paying for publication (I assume you're thinking of one of the open access journals that charge such an amount), that's a discussion for you to have with your advisor(s) before submission. They might suggest alternate journals, or even be willing to pay the fees (again, the equivalent would be a PI in my field paying for a student to attend a conference and present a paper not co-authored by the PI: this is also quite common)
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thread-20016 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20016 | Contact reviewers/authors after the end of the review cycle for follow up | 2014-04-30T03:37:56.593 | # Question
Title: Contact reviewers/authors after the end of the review cycle for follow up
I recently submitted a paper to a conference and was just blown away by the quality of the reviews (double-blind). Not only were they very detailed, but they were also very informative and insightful. They really helped me move the work forward. I wanted to thank the reviewers (which I got a chance to do in the rebuttal stage) but also to perhaps even contact them for a follow up on their comments. I thought that I could perhaps add them as co-authors or even offer collaborations.
I was wondering if people thought whether or not it would be appropriate for journal editors or program committees to allow reviewers to connect with the author following the end of the review cycle should it be requested by either side. What would the down-side of such a follow-up system be?
# Answer
> 3 votes
As has been stated in the comments to your question, contact between author and reviewer once the review process is complete is no issue. In a double-blind system this hinges on establishing the contact and in that case, as stated by Nate Eldridge, it will have to be a contact from the reviewer. In other cases where authors are known to the reviewers it depends on the willingness of reviewers to reveal their name.
The editors obviously sits on the information that could connect the two under any circumstance and you can of course always ask an editor to forward a request to an anonymous reviewer. As an editor myself, I am not sure I would be altogether happy with such a development since it would mean a lot of communication back and forth concerning matters with which I have nothing to do. I will add that many if not most editors do this on their spare time or time they take from their own research and are not salaried to do the work. This is why I would think twice about making the request and make sure the reason is very good and of such interest that an editor will see benefits to science to make the effort. As you probably realize, doing this once is no big deal but if it becomes routine it will occupy much time for an editor. I would then clearly opt for changing the review system to not be anonymous and try to convince the community that such changes has benefits worth considering. Another option is to keep the review process double blind but then provide all information to both parties once a decision (accept or reject) has been reached.
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Tags: peer-review
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thread-20014 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20014 | How to cite an aside article in a bible MLA format | 2014-04-30T03:07:20.127 | # Question
Title: How to cite an aside article in a bible MLA format
I have an a NIV Arcaeological Study Bible and am taking an Old Testament studies course. This bible has a lot of articles about archaeology and history alongside scripture. None of the articles have the author listed. There is a list of contributors, but there is no way to determine which author wrote which article.
So if I wanted to cite a specific article in this bible using MLA how would I do it? Would it be like citing an encyclopedia?
If the article is titled "The Bible and Pseudepigraphical Literature", is this correct?
> "The Bible and Pseudepigraphical Literature." *NIV Archaeological Study Bible*. 2006. Print.
Or would it be done like a collection with the editors?
> Kaiser, Walter and Duane Garrett, eds. "The Bible and Pseudepigraphical Literature." *NIV Archaeological Study Bible*. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006. 2041. Print.
Or some other way?
I've been looking here for help: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/06/
# Answer
It is possible that your department at your university could provide some further guidance on this as they would possibly have a stylesheet developed that would deal with this type of publication.
That said, after reviewing the book at the link you provided and as per your question said it is impossible to cite the individual contributors to the book.
Because of these circumstances I believe the most appropriate way of citing this work would be as follows. Citation below is for International edition so you may need to amend based on what edition you are using.
> Kaiser, Walter C. Jr., and Duane Garrett. NIV archaeological study Bible: an illustrated walk through biblical history and culture: New International Version.. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2005. Print.
This is similar to your second suggestion but drops the article title. This should be appropriate as the articles in this book appear to be half page further information pop-outs rather than full scale academic articles.
A useful site as well as the one you linked to in your question for creating citations is Citation Machine
> 1 votes
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Tags: citations, citation-style, formatting
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thread-20027 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20027 | Am I obliged to share my most promising data? | 2014-04-30T10:48:36.257 | # Question
Title: Am I obliged to share my most promising data?
I have just started a PhD along with another candidate. We are each looking at different aspects of the same subject. His data provide context for mine, while my data simply add value to his. As I will be asking him for some of his data, he has decided that he wants some of my data. However, he is interested in using a particular part of my data which I think will be the most fruitful part of my PhD.
His data are quicker to prepare than mine, and he will undoubtedly write up his chapters/ publications before I get a chance. I am worried that this will have a negative impact on my ability to publish my papers.
Do I have to give him my most promising data? Is there any way around doing this? I would prefer to rely on older data from Honours students looking at this subject and not ask for his data, if this allows me to keep my own data.
# Answer
What does your supervisor say about this?
I've seen situations where someone not sharing data not only prevented papers being written, but completely obliterated the collaboration.
One possibility is handing the data over, but helping with its analysis and the subsequent writing of the paper (with co-authorship). You could offer the same to the other candidate.
In any case, as you have only just started, I wouldn't worry about the negative impact. There's plenty of time to build.
> 23 votes
# Answer
*Am I obliged to share my most promising data?*
From my personal experience, it depends on the way your advisor runs the group. For example, if you are in a group where co-authorship with other students is encouraged, then opening up your data vault to other students (and them doing likewise) can benefit everyone involved. I've seen other groups at my university (and other schools I've attended) run this way and it seems to work well for all parties involved.
However, if your group is not such as that described above, you need to be very clear (to your advisor and collaborators) what you expect to gain out of the collaboration/data sharing. In this case, *don't assume* that someone will look out for you and give you the credit you feel you deserve.
I encountered a situation early on in my studies where I shared data with a fellow student. Everything they did with my data was kept secret from me, i.e. it was obvious to everyone that this student had no intention to include me in any of their scholarly works (yes, I *did* deserve co-authorship). It was only due to the fact that they couldn't get anything to work that their chances of getting anything published fell to zero, and I wasn't screwed over.
> 10 votes
# Answer
If both of you are working in similar fields, you should likely co-author papers (and share results). Very rarely have I run into profs that didn't encourage (or almost mandate) cross collaboration among their students, and the profs I did run into like this were nearly impossible to work with.
A couple of tips
1) Be sure to make it clear you want co-authored papers - you did some of the work, you deserve some of the credit. Also figure out who will be first author BEFORE you go any further.
2) With the other student, discuss your paper ideas, and see if you can carve out a piece of research that will be mainly yours, and another piece that is mainly his. Make him a co-author if appropriate.
3) Try to work out an understanding without involving your prof first. Go to him/her after you've made a good effort come to a mutual agreement and failed.
3) Remember that your graduate program is a small group of people who all know each other. This situation sounds like it could blow back on you (for not sharing all the data), or the other guy (for not giving credit where its due) in a big way. If you've promised him data, give it to him. If he decides to be a jerk and bogart his research, then don't work with him again. You have other great research projects you can keep for yourself.
> 5 votes
# Answer
Why this urge of researchers to keep things secret...
Why don't you talk to your college about this and see if he is open to having you as a coauthor (you write the section on the data for instance) = double win. Or could you publish your draft as a report from your university that he could cite? Or another option...
It will depend on your supervisor in the end, but you can subtly make him aware of the problem.
> 1 votes
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Tags: collaboration, colleagues
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thread-19926 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19926 | How large is the effect of one's appearance on the recognition among scientific peers? | 2014-04-28T16:27:48.743 | # Question
Title: How large is the effect of one's appearance on the recognition among scientific peers?
I just found the paper by Halford and Hsu, that describes the effect that the appearance of companies' CEOs have on the stock value of said company after public appearances of the CEO. They were able to confirm the correlation and gave sufficient evidence to suggest causation.
Even though the scientific community tends to think it soars above the normal, human things that people do or concern themselves with, being human beings comes with its set of deficiencies. I have tried to find articles that try to analyse the impact of conference talks with respect to the appearance of the person giving the talk, but my searches came up empty.
I cannot believe that we are able to fully dissociate content and appearance (this goes for written communication as well) from each other to come to a neutral, unbiased judgement about the content.
I am interested if there are known cases of bias of the scientific community in general, and possibly your discipline in particular, which value the contributions by their peers differently, depending on how they look.
Basically, since the question in the title is rather broad, it boils down to this: **Is there correlation between beauty and citation count?** If someone can dig up a paper that describes and checks this, I would be grateful.
# Answer
I doubt how a scientific study could measure "beauty", in order to conduct the study. Perhaps human labelled? A study that would like body mass index to citations perhaps is a research waiting to be done!
Yet, unlike CEOs, you don't see the authors when reading a paper. Altough, being popular at conferences might help them get initial citation count.
Go for it :)
> 2 votes
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Tags: publications, peer-review, bibliometrics
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thread-20005 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20005 | What rate of faculty turnover is healthy? | 2014-04-29T21:38:02.430 | # Question
Title: What rate of faculty turnover is healthy?
What is considered a reasonable rate for faculty turnover in a "healthy" department? How much turnover is too much/little? Presumably the rates might depend on seniority. Does departmental turnover tell you anything about your colleagues?
# Answer
Reasons for faculty turnover are more important than numbers. For example, in the late 90s, CS professors were leaving their positions to start companies. I also know of professors who left otherwise ideal positions to solve a two-body problem (move near their spouse).
One important component of faculty turnover is tenure denials. If you are a serious candidate, you should ask why your opening exists and the outcome of recent tenure cases.
Another component is faculty taking advantage of early retirement offers. If a school is offering sweet deals for retirement, it may not be at its most financially secure. (On the other hand, if they're doing a tenure-track search, that's a positive sign.)
If you can contact faculty who have left through your social network (e.g., if one of your committee members knew them socially), you might be able to get the dirt on the department.
It also doesn't hurt to look at the student newspaper, now usually available online. At one school at which I interviewed, my host stopped me from picking up a copy. I did so later and read about major problems between the faculty and administration that involved a lawsuit, the AAUP, etc.
> 13 votes
# Answer
When I was actively in the job market, I noticed a small number of schools that seemed to have multiple openings every year. It made me wonder what was going on at these places, but I had no way of knowing. At my current school, we have several retirements coming over the next two to three years. Multiple hires for several years in a row. Now, I know the reason behind the situation, but will prospective hires? Is this a healthy situation? There are various scenarios that could be playing out. Espertus has given you several good ones. My example is another. Try your best to find out what the cause is, but it is likely to be difficult to get a definitive answer. The best advice is to keep your eyes and ears open (which you seem to be doing) and try to read between the lines in conversations. Use what sources you can to get information that will help you.
> 4 votes
# Answer
Not a complete answer, but a possibly instructive example (at least ground for discussion). The math department at Ecole Normale Supérieure has a somewhat radical approach to this question. Two rules for the teachers and researchers there:
1. No one stays longer than ten years
2. No one teaches the same class more than three years in a row.
The idea of course is to keep the department members "fresh", on the cutting edge of research and to vary the topics that are represented. Such a strict rule is clearly not practical in any but this very specific environment, but I think the idea that there should be a minimal turnover is a sensible one.
> 4 votes
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Tags: colleagues
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thread-20056 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20056 | At what point should I stop caring about writing papers after leaving academia? | 2014-04-30T20:37:03.557 | # Question
Title: At what point should I stop caring about writing papers after leaving academia?
Some background: I'm near 40, I have a PhD, I work as a computer scientist at a Very Large Company's R&D Lab, and I have about 35 reasonably non-embarassing publications to my name.
Writing papers is "encouraged" by my company, but it's not core to my job. My main job duties are managing projects and transferring R&D ideas into products, and I get paid a very nice 6-figure salary for this. Frankly, I'm one of only a few people here who care about writing papers, and recently I've only had enough time to submit to workshops and mid-tier conferences.
At what point should I just stop caring?
I keep saying to myself that once I reach 40 papers, I can stop.
# Answer
> 15 votes
You shouldn't feel any obligation to write papers if you don't want to and you aren't required to for your job. At this point, you've written 35 papers, which more than repays any investment the research community put into training and mentoring you. (This shouldn't be a concern in any case, but with so many papers you're extra safe on this count.)
It will be a loss for the community if you decide not to continue, but you shouldn't decide on that basis unless you anticipate world-changing outcomes from your future papers. Think of it from the perspective of someone reading one of those papers. How would they feel if they knew you had forced yourself to write it at the cost of personal unhappiness? If the paper leads to a cure for cancer, then they'd think you made the right decision, but for most papers they would probably feel sorry and wish you had chosen otherwise. If the potential audience for your papers would feel sympathetic, then you shouldn't hold yourself to a stricter standard of community service than they would. (I wouldn't assert the converse: you can legitimately quit even if the potential audience wouldn't feel sympathetic. However, they probably would, and that may make your decision feel easier.)
Of course, quitting research may close off future opportunities. If you'd like to move to a research university someday, or a more publication-focused industrial lab, then you'll need to maintain an active research program. (Having done compelling research in the past doesn't count for much if you haven't published recently, since potential employers will assume that your knowledge and skills are rusty and that your not publishing recently reflects a lack of ideas or enthusiasm.) Maybe research would be more fun in a supportive environment with coworkers who are also actively engaged in research. If that's the path you'd like to take, then you should keep doing research while you figure out what sorts of jobs might be feasible.
However, if you don't want to write papers now and you don't anticipate wanting to do so in the future, then it's perfectly fine to stop. You can quit with a clear conscience and be proud of the work you've done, without feeling any need to continue.
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Tags: research-process, publications, career-path
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thread-20074 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20074 | Will a dropped class hurt PhD application? | 2014-05-01T02:03:33.677 | # Question
Title: Will a dropped class hurt PhD application?
I'm currently in a Master's program for mathematics and I want to apply for a PhD.
I'm thinking of dropping one of my classes because it requires a final project which will be very time consuming. (I would have very little time to complete obligations for my other classes.) If I drop it, this class will appear with a grade of 'W' on my transcript which stands for "withdrawn". I'm worried how much this will blemish my transcript in the eyes of PhD programs.
I'm thinking this won't matter so much because this is the only class out of 11 classes that will have been dropped. Also, this is a physics class, not a mathematics class.
# Answer
If you have an otherwise excellent application, then withdrawing from a single course is unlikely to make much of a difference, especially a course in another field. For example, if you get A's in four graduate math classes and drop a physics class in the same semester, I doubt any math graduate school will care.
It could look a little strange if the dropped course were on your proposed specialty (so people would think you'd be particularly enthusiastic about it), but even that wouldn't be a disaster. If you aren't taking many courses and are getting worrisome grades in the others, then a W may look like you're narrowly avoiding an even worse grade, but in that case your application already has problems aside from the W. Overall, the way I'd look at it is that the W might intensify other weaknesses in your application, but isn't likely to be a big obstacle in isolation.
> 7 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, grades, transcript-of-records
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thread-20072 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20072 | Can I change my academic affiliation after a conference paper is accepted but before submitting the camera ready version? | 2014-05-01T01:53:13.420 | # Question
Title: Can I change my academic affiliation after a conference paper is accepted but before submitting the camera ready version?
My case is the following; I was doing independent research while I was working in a university, which, by the way I did not use any resource from that place of work at all. During the time I was at this university, a conference came up where I saw the possibility to submit my research, and because they asked for an academic affiliation to be put in the paper; I put the one of my then current work-place.
While I was waiting for a decision from the conference on whether my paper would be accepted, I got a part time job in another university. The good thing about this new place is that they have offered me that they would pay any expenses related to research publication. I know that they have not said that straightforward, but I suppose that they want me to put them as my academic affiliation.
Now the paper has got accepted, and I have to make the final version of it, so I was wondering if it would be possible that I can change my academic affiliation to the new place which has offered to pay the expenses for me?
Can I do that?
# Answer
According to your comment, you are asking whether the conference will allow you to change your listed affiliation between acceptance and submission of the camera-ready version.
In my experience, the answer is **yes**. I have done this several times without issue. If there's no way to do this by yourself in the paper submission site, you can email the chair and ask him/her to update your information.
Whether you *should* use your new institution as your affiliation just to get them to pay for your expenses is another issue entirely, which you have already asked about in another question.
> 9 votes
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Tags: publications, affiliation
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thread-16996 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16996 | An invitation from Frontiers (Frontiers Research Topics) | 2014-02-15T14:04:41.863 | # Question
Title: An invitation from Frontiers (Frontiers Research Topics)
On 13th August 2013 I received the following email. I have cut and pasted it below. I haven't bothered to insert back any of the links, but can do so if anyone is interested. I would not normally post private email to a public forum, but this is obviously a form letter, one step up from spam.
At the time I dismissed it as one more attempt by a journal to get me to do something for nothing as usual, but then I got a followup from the same person on 12th February 2014. It is in my experience fairly unusual to get a followup to this kind of invitation.
I thought it would do no harm to ask people here what they thought. I haven't changed my mind on it. I don't see any advantage to the proposed work. They aren't offering any money of course. It is not a publication. It isn't an opportunity to get involved in a collaborative project. It looks like a opportunity to become some kind of unpaid new-fangled Web 2.0 type editor for some kind of new-fangled web research platform. It would probably be lots of work. So, I don't see anything in it for me. I'm not sure what is in it for the journal either.
So, to summarize my questions in a convenient fashion.
1. Is there any reason anyone one can think of that I might want to be involved in something like this? Note - I'm by no stretch of the imagination a senior researcher. Such an invitation *might* make sense for a senior researcher, but I don't see why such a person could not simply create his own web site to showcase his research.
2. Why is the journal trying to organize something like this? I don't quite see what is in it for them either. Perhaps just the opportunity to make money off submissions to an ersatz journal?
> I came across\[LINK\]\[LINK\] your “SNPpy--database management for SNP data from genome wide association studies.” published in “PloS one” and thought that it would be an excellent fit for the "Research Topics" initiative in Frontiers. We have recently partnered with the \[LINK\]Nature Publishing Group \[goo.gl\] to expand our researcher-driven Open Science platform, and I would like for you to consider suggesting a consolidated topic of the latest research and perspectives from your field in a Frontiers journal.
>
> However please note that our invitation is not restricted to the subject of this work. You are free to propose a Research Topic of your choice.
>
> This \[LINK\]\[LINK\]short video \[goo.gl\] gives you a better overview on the potential of Frontiers Research Topics.
>
> You may also want to browse on the \[LINK\]\[LINK\]Research Topics homepage \[goo.gl\] and \[LINK\]\[LINK\]here \[goo.gl\] to check the final format of a Frontiers Research Topic as an e-book.
>
> Like in the example above, Frontiers will create a dedicated homepage for your Research Topic, where you can manage contributions and maintain an ongoing dialogue with post-publication feedback from the research community.
>
> If you are interested in pursuing this project, all it takes to get started is:
>
> \- A title and a short description of your Research Topic;
>
> * A list of contributors you plan to contact.
>
> If you wanted to find detailed information on how to launch a Research Topic, please browse \[LINK\]\[LINK\]here \[goo.gl\].
>
> Please let me know if you are interested in organizing a Frontiers Research Topic, and do not hesitate to contact me by phone or email with any questions. I’m looking forward to your reply.
# Answer
> 20 votes
As far as I can tell, a "Research Topic" is a collection of papers on a specialized topic. It's basically a special issue of one of their journals, although it's presented slightly differently, and they charge publication fees for the papers.
What really turns me off is the publisher's spamming practices. I've had exactly the same experience you have: they send what's pretty obviously a form letter (populated with your name and one publication title/journal, seemingly randomly selected) and then some months later send a passive-aggressive reminder asking for a reply. Maybe this is a coincidence, but I also got a follow-up message from them on February 12, so perhaps they sent out a whole wave of them on that day. In any case, the fact that they feel they have to advertise by spamming makes me suspicious, and the reminder messages are irritating.
# Answer
> 5 votes
This topic has received some discussion recently: at least some of these invitations appear to be revenue driven, with no specific reason related to the advancement of science per se. Read reports here of followup emails that received answers indicating an indiscriminate approach that would, in my book, qualify as SPAM.
http://scholarlyoa.com/2013/11/05/i-get-complaints-about-frontiers/
I think frontiers should be taken to task about these practices, and their wikipedia page edited accordingly. I opened a Talk on this here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Frontiers\_(publisher)
# Answer
> 2 votes
I would suggest a response such as:
> Thank you for repeated offer to participate in a frontiers research topic. I decline your offer on grounds of not agreeing with this model wherein researchers are invited to produce articles seemingly with the sole purpose of publishing and get them to invite their peers to contribute as well. I am a vehement supporter of open acces publishing, but I do not support publishing ‘for the sake of publishing’, whereas I also feel that structures to stimulate collaboration between researchers should not be run primarily by commercial partners.
>
> Frankly, the practice of actively recruiting researchers to provide articles is tempering my initial enthusiasm for Frontiers.
>
> Best regards,
>
> my name
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thread-20076 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20076 | What should I do if my advisor insists on being first author, in violation of my field's conventions? | 2014-05-01T03:15:22.713 | # Question
Title: What should I do if my advisor insists on being first author, in violation of my field's conventions?
My advisor obligate me to put her name first author name in my publication. What are the possible pros and cons of this order? What should I do if my advisor insists on being first author, in violation of my field's conventions? My field is IT.
# Answer
> 21 votes
I have unfortunately seen these kinds of shenanigans before, so: know you are not alone, whatever cold comfort that may be.
This situation has no "pro," and has the following significant "con:" you are not getting the credit you deserve for your work. In fields where author lists are not ordered alphabetically, order is used to signify the author's contributions to the paper, and first-author papers are much more important for things like hiring and promotions.
I suggest the following steps.
### 1. Talk to your advisor
Maybe this is just a misunderstanding, or there are other variables in play you're not aware of (unlikely, but possible - see this question). Have a conversation with your advisor to see if you can clear this up.
Here's your opener:
> I thought that in IT, usually the student who did most of the work is the first author and the advisor is the last - this is the case in all the papers I have read. Why do you propose a different order?
### 2. Run, don't walk
This behavior is typically an indication that either
* your advisor is completely unaware of conventions in your field (charitable interpretation), or
* your advisor is aware of the authorship conventions and is deliberately violating them to your disadvantage, which is extremely unethical behavior.
In either case, this means that your advisor is simply unsuitable to be an advisor, to anyone, and you should find another one as soon as humanly possible.
### 3. If all else fails
If you are stuck with this advisor for some reason<sup>1</sup>, be prepared for a very bumpy ride. This is not likely to be the last stunt he/she pulls.
However, you can at least try to argue your case: there is some advice on the subject here, although that question does not specifically address the case where the advisor is demanding first authorship for him/herself.
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<sup>1</sup>This site is full of students who insist on staying with a completely unsuitable advisor, for one reason or another. I suspect Stockholm syndrome.
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Tags: publications, ethics, advisor, authorship
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thread-20075 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20075 | Will dismissal from one graduate school affect me applying to another? | 2014-05-01T02:51:27.683 | # Question
Title: Will dismissal from one graduate school affect me applying to another?
I was dismissed from my Masters program due to bad grades. I also have a mention in my records that say that I might have used last years homework. I did not copy and they had no proof that I copied per se. I couldn't care less about my grades at the time and I deeply regret doing what I did. Is there hope for me in applying to grad schools in the future?
Additionally, I am an international student. Can someone tell me if all this will affect my getting a VISA?
# Answer
Unfortunately, your transcripts are likely going to be required at time of application to any other program, and you can assume that you will be asked about your poor grades during the application process. That said, you're not the first person to have made bad decisions in the past, so I would definitely still apply.
One thing I would strongly advise *not* doing is attempting to hide the fact you have poor grades by simply not sending the transcript, and pretending it didn't happen. Doing so will almost guarantee career-threatening problems later on when someone finds out what you did (and it won't be hard, there will be a gap of a few years you won't be able to explain, and all the officials at the other university still know that you were there).
I have no idea about the visa.
> 7 votes
# Answer
> Is there hope for me in applying to grad schools in the future?
Yes, but you will need a convincing argument for why graduate school will go better next time than it did the first time you tried it. It's easy to say "I didn't care about grades and didn't work very hard, but I'll work harder this time," while actually working harder is much more difficult, so vague excuses may be discounted.
You could get lucky and find a school that is happy to give you another chance (perhaps a less prestigious department, which sees potential in you beyond what's typical for their students). You might also be able to give a more concrete excuse for your past grades (for example, if there were external factors in your life that troubled you last time but won't apply this time). Otherwise, the best way to demonstrate that things have changed is probably to succeed at something else. Finding a job and doing well at it can show that you are now more mature and responsible than when you were a student, and successfully taking a few classes part-time can also look good.
So I'd suggest following a two-part strategy. Try applying again with the best explanations/excuses you can offer, and see whether it works. If it doesn't, then you should start thinking about longer-term methods to demonstrate that you've changed.
> 5 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, application
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thread-17265 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17265 | Can I pursue a new Master's in another country, while I'm pursuing one? | 2014-02-21T13:14:39.173 | # Question
Title: Can I pursue a new Master's in another country, while I'm pursuing one?
I am a first year Master's degree student of computer science in Northern Europe. I am paying for my living expenses and do not have any kind of assistantship or funding. I have a full funding admission for the same subject in Canada. I would like to know if it is a good idea to accept the offer and start my studies there and also continue my current degree remotely (Since the second year is about completing the thesis, and I can do it while I'm in another place) or drop my studies completely here (since I would like to move to Canada or USA later and have money issues to continue my current studies). If I do have two MSc degrees in the same subject, would is have any negative or positive effect on applying for a phd degree later?
Thanks in advance
# Answer
The first question is whether you even have the option of working on both degrees at once. I'd assume you don't, since positions with full funding are generally based on an assumption that you will be devoting full effort to them. They may formally rule out other employment/studies, and even if they don't the department may become upset or feel tricked if they discover you are also doing something else at the same time. (And departments can sometimes react similarly even if the position has no funding: even if you are paying your own living expenses, they probably consider themselves to be at least partially subsidizing the costs of your education.)
So you shouldn't try to do both degrees at once unless both departments officially agree to it. Even in that case, I think it's a bad idea. Success in graduate school is based on quality, not quantity, and this approach can't be good for quality. You'll be writing your thesis remotely, with far less contact and advising than you would have had in person. That alone will make it harder to do your best work, but at the same time you'll also be participating in a different full-time program. You might not be able to do good work for both at once; if you can, then you ought to be able to do great work if you focus on just one (and doing great work at one program is much better than doing good work at two). The same reasoning applies no matter how talented and hard-working you are: if you can do great work in both programs at once, then you ought to be able to do amazing work by focusing on one.
> If I do have two MSc degrees in the same subject, would is have any negative or positive effect on applying for a phd degree later?
Having two MSc degrees might be a small negative, by making you look unfocused, but it probably won't make much of a difference either way. Ultimately, you'll be evaluated by your academic achievements (papers, thesis, outstanding performance in courses), judged primarily by quality rather than quantity, so you should try to maximize these achievements.
> 5 votes
# Answer
Having two MSc degrees is not unusual. And it can only be positive. However, you might find it not so useful at the end of the day.
In general it is not necessary to have two degrees in the same subject, so people would rather concentrate into getting only one, with the maximal grades, as it is sufficient either for getting a job or a PhD candidate position.
On the other hand, having another degree from another university shows that you could work succesfully in another environment, maybe with a different speciality or focus. The reason why people would take a second degree is often because of this focused extra experience, and because they can use their previous credits and/or knowledge to complete their second degree quicker ("double degrees" are common wherever there is an agreement between universities).
However, my advice would be to go for this second degree only if there is some added learning value to it, as it is not necessary for the PhD itself, and you would rather use this time for preparing specifically to your future research, which will in all cases be much narrower and require much time. On a side note, once you get your PhD, as a researcher, your MSc's will not be much value anymore, especially if they are exactly in the same field.
> 1 votes
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Tags: phd, graduate-school, masters
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thread-20098 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20098 | I found a nontrivial mistake in my currently-under-review paper. Should I send a correction to the editor? | 2014-05-01T15:44:07.473 | # Question
Title: I found a nontrivial mistake in my currently-under-review paper. Should I send a correction to the editor?
I submitted the paper to a respectable journal about five months ago. My field is mathematics, and I'm at the postdoc stage of my career.
The proof of one of my theorems is more or less completely wrong. It's not just full of small errors; the approach I use doesn't and can't work. The theorem is actually true, and I have a correct proof now. (I've checked the new proof with senior colleagues--yes, I should have done this before submitting the previous version of the paper, but that's neither here nor there.) For context, this is one of three main results of the paper, but its proof only takes up about two manuscript pages (out of 18 total).
Should I send a corrected version of the paper to the editor, or should I wait for the referee report? For those with experience serving as editors: would an incorrect but correctable proof of a main theorem cause you to reject outright a paper you would otherwise accept, or is this more likely to lead to a recommendation of major revisions? I say correctable because neither the theorem nor the (correct) proof is particularly surprising in the context of the problem, and there's a good chance a referee with experience in the subfield would, upon discovering the mistake, have a rough idea of the correct approach to take. (Which, of course, makes the mistake all the more embarrassing.)
# Answer
> 79 votes
If the mistake is important, you should send a correction now, rather than waiting for the referee report. (If it's not important in the context of the overall paper, then the right course of action is more debatable, but in your case it sounds like an important enough mistake to require notifying the referee.)
1. If you wait, you are wasting the referee's time figuring out something you already know.
2. I think it looks better to catch your own mistake than to have it pointed out by the referee.
3. If the referee doesn't notice the mistake and suggests accepting the paper, I imagine the editor will rescind the acceptance after you point out the mistake, or at least suggest further refereeing (since not noticing a completely wrong proof calls into question the reliability of the referee report). On the other hand, if you point it out, the referee may still recommend accepting the revised manuscript.
> For context, this is one of three main results of the paper, but its proof only takes up about two manuscript pages (out of 18 total).
This sounds like an ideal case for pointing out the mistake: it has real importance, but I'd bet the chances of acceptance remain reasonable.
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Tags: peer-review, mathematics, paper-submission
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thread-20089 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20089 | SCI/other credible journals for low budget authors | 2014-05-01T12:27:15.657 | # Question
Title: SCI/other credible journals for low budget authors
I have done some work and I thought of publishing it. This is my first attempt to publish. After searching a lot, I found out that SCI indexed journals are good. But I am seeing publishing price at about $1500-$3100 which is absolutely impossible for me. (Just out of question). My work is on improvement in image processing, being specific, matrix encoding algorithms.
I am putting my question here after searching too much, so any hint would help. I am almost about $100-$150 budget. I don't understand how sharing info could be so costly. Is it not done as a service by scientists/Phd students collectively at some reasonable price ?
Its a baffling experience to me, specially this listed price on journal websites. In my country this amount means fortune.
# Answer
> 14 votes
Many journals do not charge any publication fees at all. For example, subscription journals often fall into this category, and in most fields there are plenty of subscription journals. If all the journals you are finding charge fees, then I'd imagine you aren't searching broadly enough (although maybe publication fees are particularly common in your field).
Furthermore, journals that charge publication fees ought to give fee waivers to authors from developing countries. Their web sites often explain the details, and if they don't you can write to them to ask before submission. They might in principle say no, but it can't hurt to ask.
# Answer
> 3 votes
You might want to take a look at PLOS ONE. See their description of their Publication Charges. The journal has a good reputation, publishes research in all discliplines, has a reduced or waived fee for authors from low income countries, and a separate fee waiver program.
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Tags: publications, journals, authorship
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thread-18446 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18446 | What are some of the issues one should keep in mind while choosing between a fully funded offer and another with no funding? | 2014-03-23T13:16:00.697 | # Question
Title: What are some of the issues one should keep in mind while choosing between a fully funded offer and another with no funding?
I have been offered a place for a masters program in 2 places. One which is fully funded and another one where there is no aid that has been offered at the time of admission.
I guess if the everything else was the same between the two then the answer is obvious, which is to go for the funded one. But the problem in my case is this: In the fully funded case I have been offered a place in a research group I have no primary interest in (and no previous knowledge of) and something which I would not have definitely chosen if I was given a choice. So in sum, although it comes with a lot of money, the work is something I'm unsure if I will enjoy.
In the second case, there is no aid. The tuition fee + living is something which is not completely unaffordable for, I hope to manage those with loans and some family money. Aside that, I feel there is a lot of flexibility (or at least some flexibility), as I can choose my domain of work and my advisor once I have enrolled, and maybe been through a semester. Also the coursework here is a lot more closer to my preferred area of research.
**Additional info:** Comparing the two universities as such, the second one (the one without aid) is higher ranked than the other one (with full funding).
So given all this, how do you think I should make a decision and what is your opinion on the same?
**Edit:** Both programs are research-based and require a thesis.
# Answer
> 9 votes
There are four outcomes to your master's program:
1. You don't complete the program.
2. You complete the program and can't find a job dependent upon the degree.
3. You complete the program and get a job dependent upon the degree.
4. You complete the program and continue in academia.
If you take the position with support, you will be better off in case (1) and (2). Case (4) is a tie -- you can shift research groups for your Ph.D., and you will be better off financially, but you have to spend 2 years doing things you don't entirely like. Case (3) is the only case that's a clear win for the no-support degree; you'll have 2 years of chasing your joy, and a fairly small debt that you'll pay off soon in a high-paying field.
What's left is to evaluate the relative probabilities of the four cases. You need to be objective here, and use the evidence you have: the expert judgement of the graduate programs to which you've applied. Admittedly two data points is quite few; it would be helpful to know if you applied to other programs, and what those results were. However, in the opinion of the more prestigious program, you are not one of their best candidates (or else they would offer you support).
In summary, choosing the no-support program is a large gamble. You should take it if you're confident that the program made a mistake in not offering you funding -- you have tremendous talent that for some reason has not been revealed in your record. Absent such a situation you should take the support. You might change your mind and decide you like that sort of work.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I would personally choose the funded position. Most of the grad students I knew when I entered didn't graduate with the prof that initially funded them. Once you enter the program, you'll be able to find an adviser that fits your research interest more closely. Without any debt, you'll also have more choices at graduation time.
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Tags: research-process, graduate-school, masters, graduate-admissions
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thread-20121 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20121 | Is it possible for me to apply for a student and working visa to obtain a post-graduate degree? | 2014-05-01T20:26:15.607 | # Question
Title: Is it possible for me to apply for a student and working visa to obtain a post-graduate degree?
I am an HND degree holder and I want to know the chances I have to fund my tuition and my expenses if I apply for a student/working visa from Nigeria and what is the duration?
# Answer
I don't think a higher national diploma (HND) degree is recognized as the equivalent of the bachelor's degree from a regular university. Consequently, it is unlikely you would be able to use it to gain entry to a master's program in either the US or Canada.
I can't guarantee this is the way it works in Canada, but at least in the US, most students on visas have limited ability to work outside of the university, and certainly are unlikely to earn enough money to cover tuition as well as living expenses—the wages for typical student employment is on the order of $10/hour, and few students work more than about 20 hours per week. (That's approximately $10,000 per year.)
> 1 votes
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Tags: phd, visa
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thread-20111 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20111 | How reliable are QS Top Universities rankings? | 2014-05-01T18:02:10.420 | # Question
Title: How reliable are QS Top Universities rankings?
I was told that universities in USA are generally better that the ones in Italy. I will take the undergraduate degree this July, and I need to decide whether to continue my studies in Italy or to move to the USA.
This site reports the world ranking for computer science & information systems, and Politecnico di Milano is ranked 48th.
I'll not be able to afford an university with high tuitions like MIT (let's say 15,000 $ per year maximum), also since I may have not the prerequisites to join high selective universities, if I move to the USA I'd choose a university that is ranked below or almost as Politecnico di Milano. So the indecision: it is still worth to move to the USA? Do you think that the rankings are reliable?
# Answer
> 17 votes
> I was told that universities in USA are generally better that the ones in Italy.
This statement, in its given generality, is false. The US, like most places, has very good schools, ok schools, and a reasonable number of pretty bad schools. If you explicitly are looking for very cheap schools, I would not assume that the remaining selection is necessarily any good, just because it is a "school in the states".
POLIMI is a pretty good school in CS. To be honest, if I had the choice of going either to POLIMI or to a low-ranked US school, I would almost certainly choose POLIMI.
# Answer
> 10 votes
The linked QS world university rankings are a well respected international ranking. That said, using a university's rank is a really terrible way to chose a grad school. Some of the factors which drive the rankings are important for choosing a grad school, but don't just rely on the rankings.
# Answer
> 9 votes
If you are planning to pursue PhD studies in computer science, you should in general **not** have to pay tuition yourself—this is covered by either your advisor or the department as a whole (e.g., if you're a teaching assistant).
So, basically, it comes down to a question of whether or not you're able to gain admission to a school that you think is better than the one you are attending in Italy. Equally importantly, if you're looking to start *this* fall (2014), you will almost certainly not be able to do it in the United States, as the admissions "window" for fall of 2014 has already closed.
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Tags: graduate-school, computer-science, ranking
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thread-20105 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20105 | Retake the math GRE... as a grad student, preparing to transfer? | 2014-05-01T08:14:57.367 | # Question
Title: Retake the math GRE... as a grad student, preparing to transfer?
I'm currently a first year PhD student at a respectable but not top-ranked math program. I'm also confident that I am among the top three first year students in my program. As an undergrad I went to a somewhat prestigious liberal arts school and was valedictorian of my graduating class. I did a little bit of research and took a fair number of upper level classes (although no grad courses) along the way.
In hindsight I can see where the problems lay with my application. As the title of this post suggests, I got a mediocre score on the math GRE. In addition to this, I was kind of a late bloomer as a mathematics student. I didn't start taking many upper level courses until my junior year. The people who wrote my recommendations were not necessarily all that famous either.
So I got into all the programs that I thought I had a good chance of getting into but none of the programs that I thought would be more of a stretch. The one I'm currently attending gave me a good fellowship and I've been doing very well here so far (passing qualifying exams, taking lots of classes and doing well in them). But I honestly feel like I'm not being challenged quite enough.
Long story short, I screwed up on the GRE when I first took it and I want to try to transfer into a top-ranked program now. I've heard plenty of times that top programs will throw out applications with low math GRE scores. But does the same standard hold for grad students applying to transfer? Will programs throw out applications from current grad students if their GRE scores are too low? To be honest I do feel a bit silly thinking about retaking it. Of course, any advice on transferring between programs in general will be greatly appreciated.
# Answer
Among elite and maybe even top-20-or-so math grad schools, many use the math subject test GRE as an easy, automated filter... even while recognizing to some degree that it doesn't really test what we'd like... because even after applying that slightly unreasonable filter, there are still enough good candidates.
So, yes, if you have a really-mediocre score, there would be advantages in re-taking.
But/and, as in comments, letters of recommendation are far more important once you've gotten past some initial filtering. The letters should be from people who can be believed to understand what a serious grad program in math is about, e.g., by having gone through one themselves, and they should say that you'll excel.
Meanwhile, in contrast to undergrad institutions, there really is no notion of "transferring" to another grad program in math. Nothing gets easier. You will be expected to have excelled in the year you've spent already, which it seems you have. You'd not get to really compete directly with people with fresh B.S. degrees, since, in effect, "performance/showing-potential" is prorated on what chances you've had, how much time you've had, to demonstrate it. This is reasonable, in many regards.
In summary: yes, re-take the GRE, to overcome initial filters. After that, it's about letters of recommendation, and (for me) your personal statement. That is, explaining that you got a late start (which can easily happen to sensible people) can account for some things. True, some admissions committee people might be looking for people who've "always known" that they wanted to do mathematics, but that can't be helped.
> 10 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, mathematics, gre
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thread-20101 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20101 | another master's degree or just single courses? | 2014-05-01T16:40:43.610 | # Question
Title: another master's degree or just single courses?
My case is the following, I have already got a MSc in Computer Science, but my field of specialization was Theoretical Computer Science. Actually I am really interested in the field of Machine Learning, but unfortunately I did not follow any course about that topic in my previous master's degree.
At first sight, I was thinking to follow a PhD that has some relation to Machine Learning; so in that case I should really follow some Machine Learning courses by my own. I have just put this thought for a while, mainly because I have not been so lucky in my last PhD applications.
In any case, I was wondering if I should follow another Master's degree in Machine Learning; and maybe because I have already got my other MSc, the time for completing this new MSc would be only one year instead of the two years that is the common duration of these studies.
Also I was thinking that maybe I could take some single courses, for example some online courses, even though I am not really a fan of MOOC courses.
What it would be the best course of action?
* Follow another MSc degree?
* Follow some online courses in this topic? if that is so, which university offers them that the certification is recognized?
Updated info:
About my goals are the following:
* Need of learn machine learning topics for academic purposes: teaching undergraduates and independent research
* Some good PhD positions in which I am interested require that knowledge
Any advice would be great.
Thanks
# Answer
> 2 votes
Given both of those stated goals, I would not pursue additional coursework to learn the material. Your current masters degree is likely good enough for either teaching or getting into a machine learning PhD program, and no degree is necessary for independent research. I would recommend that you use other resources to learn the material.
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EDIT: Given that the question in the above link was deleted, I'm reproducing it here:
> There are many ways to learn new topics. Taking a university-level course is only one option. Other alternatives are:
>
> * read textbooks
> * online video tutorials (Khan academy, youtube)
> * online pre-recorded lectures (e.g., iTunes U, but many, many others exist)
> * talking to peers
> * reading publications (for specialized topics)
>
> Taking a non-required university course is usually not the most optimal approach, for a number of reasons:
>
> * You will spend a lot of time learning material not relevant to your problem, simply because it's part of the syllabus and the teacher found it interesting
> * The requirement to pass will require you to spend likely (disproportionately too much) time doing homework, studying for tests, etc.
> * It is very expensive
>
> This isn't to say that self-study doesn't require homework, or that learning topics not directly related to your research is a bad thing. I'm simply suggesting that by pursuing more self-directed learning opportunities you will be able to make better use of your time.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Getting the job really comes down to "what you can do" (and sometimes "who you know"..). Degrees are nice (and necessary), but you're current degree combined with working knowledge of machine learning and a couple of certificates from MOOCs could really go a long way. You would save time and money in my opinion.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Some universities like ETH in Zurich (Switzerland) offer the "Master of Advanced Studies" degree for the undergraduates that have finished a given minimal number of additional courses with success, only one or two of them mandatory (assigned by a mentor). This would give the wanted additional expertise over shorter time.
Taking the whole master degree second time is a huge effort that may not be worth it.
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Tags: masters, online-learning, online-degree, mooc
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thread-20148 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20148 | Prestige of publishing in special vs regular journal issue | 2014-05-02T13:56:10.727 | # Question
Title: Prestige of publishing in special vs regular journal issue
Some journals bundle relevant papers on a currently hot topic into special issues. As far as I know, potential manuscripts must be specifically submitted for inclusion in special issues rather than the journal itself (or get selected from conference proceedings).
In my field, special issues tend to have shorter review periods which makes them interesting venues. I have heard that special issues tend to have lower impact than regular journal issues, though I am not sure if this is factual. Do special issues usually meet the same standards as regular issues?
Is there any difference in prestige in publishing in special issues vis-à-vis publishing in regular issues? Do hiring committees make meaningful distinctions between both types?
# Answer
I have not been a journal editor. But I have dealt with many journal editors, and in my experience the kind of thing they are *most* concerned about is maintaining and elevating their journal's standards at all times. So I have to imagine that when they put together a special issue, they take pains to ensure that this does not result in any measurable lowering of their journal's standards.
In my branch of mathematics, special issues are not that common but not unheard of either. I have never noticed any difference in the quality of the papers published in these special issues. Also in my experience people may not even list on their CV that the publication has appeared in a "special issue".
I have on the other hand been on many hiring committees, and I have not heard a thing about this. Again though in my field this sort of publication is relatively uncommon and it may even escape our notice. I suppose that if a candidate had ten publications and they were *all* in "special issues" that might be curious.
All in all, in my neck of the woods there is nothing to worry about here.
> 26 votes
# Answer
In my part of CS, where like other fields of CS the conference publication is the primary delivery mechanism, a journal special issue is viewed as prestigious and is highlighted in CVs.
Typically a set of papers is accepted for publication and presentation at a conference. This conference is usually associated with a specific journal. Editors from that journal prowl the conference checking out the papers and presentations, After the conference is done they will then send out invites to selected authors inviting their paper for publication in a special issue of the journal.
This is considered prestigious because it's viewed as a 'cream of the crop' selection. It's also easy for authors because special issues normally have expedited refereeing.
> 18 votes
# Answer
My own experience of special issues in Computer Science journals is that they are typically considered the same as regular issues. There are two types of special issues: one is (as Suresh notes) invited extended versions of the best papers from a conference. Another is just based on open calls for guest editors to propose special issues. Indexing services do not typically note that the paper was part of a special issue. I have not highlighted special issues in my CV.
Whether or not the review process is expedited depends on the guest editors. From my own sample set of journal papers, the fastest turnaround for reviews was on a special issue (three months for acceptance after one minor revision, six months to publication). However the slowest was likewise a special issue (eighteen months for acceptance after one major revision, over two years until publication).
The risk with a special issue (timewise) is that all the papers of the special issue have to be accepted so as to be published on slices of the same dead tree. So one paper that lags behind will slow down the rest of the papers from being finally published and indexed.
In terms of acceptance rates, again it can be risky. If your paper is on topic for a special issue that does not receive many other submissions, your chances of acceptance may be slightly higher since the guest editors will be anxious to fill out the special issue. Likewise if your paper was solicited (e.g., from a conference) it would stand to reason that you would have better chances since the editors have already expressed interest in publishing the paper. On the other hand, the space for a special issue is more rigidly bounded than the more elastic regular call (which spans multiple issues). Hence if you submit an unsolicited paper to a special issue that receives lots of other submissions, the special issue could be a lot more competitive than the regular issue.
> 9 votes
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Tags: publications, journals, special-issue
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thread-20144 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20144 | Is there an independent oversight body of Journal Impact Factors? | 2014-05-02T11:10:56.390 | # Question
Title: Is there an independent oversight body of Journal Impact Factors?
I have read many questions on this site that relate to Journal impact factors, for example, in relation to how that may affect where to publish etc.
I am wondering is there an independent oversight body that regulates the area of impact factors?
I was thinking along the lines of something like the International Organization for Standardization that regulates the ISO standards across the world.
Specifically is there an independent body (either commercial or not for profit) that sets the standards for impact factors and audits them so as that one impact factor can be compared with another with the knowledge that they are calculated in the same way?
# Answer
> 35 votes
## No.
Academic publishing is not regulated by any oversight body. There is not even a universal standard for what constitutes a *publication*.
# Answer
> 21 votes
There's multiple questions contained within your question that have different answers.
> Is there independent oversight of Journal Impact Factors? ... Now I am wondering is there a oversight body that regulates the area?
This depends on what you mean by "independent". If you mean an official unbiased centralised not-for-profit professional organisation, then the best answer is probably **no**.
But ...
> Specifically is there a body that sets the standards for impact factors and audits them so as that one impact factor can be compared with another with the knowledge that they are calculated in the same way?
The answer to this part is definitively **yes**. The notion of an impact factor (\<- a recognised term of art) was invented by the founder of the **Institute for Scientific Information (ISI)**, Eugene Garfield. The impact factor of journals has been computed by ISI since 1975 using a prescribed methodology.
In terms of comparability, the impact factor is specifically the average number of citations per publication in the journal, over a fixed time span (the two years previous, or five years for 5 year impact). Citations are collected from the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) index.
And so if you are a journal editor and you wish to have an impact factor, you need to apply to ISI (now owned by Thompson Reuters). They oversee the computation of the official Impact Factor metrics in common use today, as publicised on various journal websites.
In fact, Thompson Reuters (through ISI) *own* the concept of Impact Factor for journals and copyright said metrics.
So for sure there is a body "*that sets the standards for impact factors and audits them so as that one impact factor can be compared with another with the knowledge that they are calculated in the same way*". But I would hesitate to call Thompson ISI an *independent* body.
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This answer is not intended to promote the idea of an Impact Factor, but merely to indicate its oversight, regulation and history as per the question.
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Tags: publications, journals, bibliometrics, impact-factor
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thread-20147 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20147 | recommended and reliable proofreading services | 2014-05-02T13:49:13.520 | # Question
Title: recommended and reliable proofreading services
I have been using some online proofreader tools for checking for grammar issues in my writing, but I have found that the solutions they give are not so good at all. For that reason I would like to know any human-proofreader service that somebody could recommend me. Some of the characteristics of the service that I am requiring are:
* Not so expensive
* Confidentiality, I do not want my article to end up published by somebody else
* Reliable
Could anybody has experience with those services and could recommend me one? I need to review an article asap
Thanks
# Answer
Have you tried getting the proofreading done within your own university? This is not made explicit in your question, but my guess is that you are not a native speaker of English and you are writing in English. If you are attending an anglophone university there will probably be places where you can just show up and get help on proofreading your paper (the humanities version of drop-in tutoring). So I'm assuming that you are not attending an anglophone university. But at (almost?) any university there should be faculty and students who are working on English writing specifically. Can you find a student who is willing to help you? Perhaps you may even be able to offer some other academic service to the student in exchange.
> 5 votes
# Answer
It is generally not worth to use a paid commercial proofreading service, as a typical translator (unless clearly specialized in this area) does not know the necessary scientific style and terminology.
Once my laboratory relied on fully translating the article into English by the paid translations service, assuming, professionals do better. The received comment from the editor sounded "do not write English text yourself, ask somebody to do this for you". Wise.
Pay attention to grammar when reading articles and try follow the style. Most likely, nothing can do much better than you yourself. Also, the idea to ask the English department of your university seems very good.
> 2 votes
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Tags: proofreading
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thread-5358 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5358 | What is the academic approach when the supervisor attacks student's religion? | 2012-11-20T23:17:42.210 | # Question
Title: What is the academic approach when the supervisor attacks student's religion?
What is the academic approach when your supervisor goes off-topic? In other words, what is the academic reaction for a PhD student when his supervisor starts attacking the student's religion?
I must say the fact that I'm an international student coming from a different culture. I looked over his publications/current students and everything seemed to be fine. He even interviewed me for admission and everything went fine.
When I started my degree and first met him, I thought we would discuss *research* oriented projects but surprisingly the meeting took another direction when he started discussing with me my religion beliefs and how do I view the world!
Discuting this was the start. In several subsequent occasions, *he started to tell me what he sees good to me and why my culture is a bad one* .
Right after the interview, I was thinking about withdrawing from the program and finding another supervisor in another school (Yes I answered him in an honest and polite way what I belief).
I have nothing against him and he is a very kind professor but I feel I'm not comfortable in his environment. Now, I'm planning to go somewhere else. If it counts, I pay my tuition fees and he pays me nothing.
The question is: **What to do when your supervisor goes off-topic and discuss your personal issues?** Not only this but also send you several emails about it.
# Answer
No matter what the advisor's beliefs are, it's not OK to discuss a student's differing beliefs **AND** criticize them. It's the criticism that takes this from honest exchange of views into a more dangerous territory: your advisor is in a power relationship with you by definition and it's impossible to have a discussion "as equals" while this relationship is active.
If you think that the relationship and his continuing advising would be beneficial to your career, then you might try to have a chat with him where you indicate that these topics need to stay out of bounds. And I'd erect a high bar for "beneficial".
But if your assessment of value does not cross that high bar, then I'd follow JeffE's advice and run.
> 37 votes
# Answer
There are different parts in your question:
* In general, I don't think it's a problem that your advisor wants to discuss "religion beliefs and how do \[you\] view the world". After all, academia is a place where you can meet people coming from different places, and a nice part of it is to exchange and discuss about cultural differences.
* If you're not comfortable discussing this topic, then you should tell directly your advisor. If he ignores it and/or attack you on it, then, as JeffE said: don't walk, run.
* On a completely different topic, if he's never available for you, and doesn't even answer your emails, then, don't walk, run. But that's unrelated to going off-topic at your first interview.
> 26 votes
# Answer
For some scientists religion is hard to mix with science. Science is based on hard facts and on rational thought. Religion on the other hand deals with beliefs which might be impossible to prove. In a scientific environment you can expect to have these kinds of discussions, try to not take remarks too personal and just calmly explain what you believe. If people are respectful the discussion will end with you and the other agreeing to disagree. If you have the feeling your prospective supervisor is not going to stop and will continue to make this a point of discussion, this could be a negative point and play a role in your choice. As an additional test to see what your potential supervisor will do after you are hired is to just confront him with your reservations. If he responds well, you can take that as a postive sign, if not, that confirms that you might not want to work there.
> 20 votes
# Answer
Try a general approach to Conflict Management called DAN.
* **Describe** the situation to your supervisor, trying to be as objective as possible. Tell him that you came to his lab to do research, and that you didn't expect him to make comments on your religion.
* **Assert** your feelings, explaining that you feel uncomfortable when he talks about your religion, and that it makes it more difficult for you to work.
* **Name** what you want him to do, telling him that you would like him to stop talking about your religion, and concentrate only on the research aspects of your work.
It is possible that your boss is testing you, to see if you are able to react in a negative situation. In any case, see this conflict as an opportunity. If you are able to solve the problem, you will become stronger, and your supervisor will learn to respect you.
So, go to your supervisor and remember the three points: Describe, Assert, and Name. Don't let him speak before you finished all of them. Good luck, and be strong :-)
> 17 votes
# Answer
I can tell you as a personal experience that if you do not feel comfortable, and feel you have no future doing research there, you go before is too late.
What is too late? You may realize you've wasted 2-3 years and achieved nothing, or you may realize the research you are doing is not really of interest to you.
Since you are just starting, I do think is intelligent to seriously assess whether staying there is worth your time.
> 12 votes
# Answer
In general I agree with the "run away" advice (the more so, as I don't really understand how the student can perceive a professor at the same time as being nice and attacking cultural/religious roots that are are deeply integrated in the personality, i.e. perceiving a personal attack), however, there are IMHO some points to consider (also to maybe avoid ending up with similar problems again)
* There is a possiblity that a particular religion conflicts with certain notions of science or creates a conflict of interest. See e.g. Fuhrmanator's comment at the question.
* Or religious notions of one person that are not even necessarily integral parts of the religion. E.g. how will someone cope with doing statistical anayses that try to judge whether an observation occured accidentatlly when (s)he personally and firmly believes everything is predestined?
* There can also be cultural difficulties. A famous one:
> Chinese students in particular often struggle to adjust to Western notions of plagiarism as deference to expert opinion is a deeply routed cultural norm in Chinese society. Indeed, referencing sources has been seen \[in Chinese society/culture\] as disrespectful to both reader and 'expert' as it presupposes that the source is not widely known and that the audience is unable to recognize source material.
source See also e.g. here (lots more papers on these topics).
I think nowadays international student's offices or international student groups know which points can be critical and can name them. This means that the student can ask himself whether these are an issue and how to deal with them. That would in turn allow the student to have a very informed position and tell the (or: a future/prospective) prof that he/she is aware of these points, considered them carefully and they are no problem because...
Or also that (s)he will e.g. not conduct animal studies for ethical reasons (I think there are usually either a) enough alternatives of doing research and b) if there aren't I think the question is why the student did apply for a position that is not compatible with his/her personal ethics in the first place).
> 7 votes
# Answer
Welcome to academia in the U.S.
What most posters here are avoiding mentioning is that what you are describing is pretty common in some departments (Philosophy, Religious Studies, Biology, Cosmology, and most others ending with -ology or "Studies"), and pretty uncommon in others (Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Mathematics, Linguistics).
Also, on some campuses it is more common than on others.
You should discuss it with other PhD candidates in your department on your campus, **just** to find out how common it is there. Only then can you know whether it's a good idea to "make it an issue." If it is common, making it an issue will almost never improve your situation, and you should either learn to tolerate and minimize it, or else find another place. If it is not common, you have a chance that making an issue of it might improve the situation, but even then, I suggest trying a gentle approach first, since if it works, the results are better.
Personally, I found that **never** responding with a judgement of my own about *their* practice or lack of practice (which certainly seemed silly to me), and as much humor as I could muster, over (a fairly short) time greatly reduced the frequency of obnoxious comments. If you are consistently "classy", *most* people will sooner or later realize they are being low-class, and at least moderate their behavior.
With humor, be very sure to avoid being even slightly nasty. Keep it in good taste. Never joke about the other person's religion, no matter how harmless the joke is. Never.
> 5 votes
# Answer
Do not talk, turn around and start working on computer or the like. Respond immediately if the supervisor changes the topic. This is normally enough. Never start a talk of this kind yourself.
> 2 votes
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Tags: phd, advisor, religious-issues
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thread-19997 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19997 | Is it appropriate to show concern for a professor's well-being? | 2014-04-29T17:38:53.300 | # Question
Title: Is it appropriate to show concern for a professor's well-being?
I am an student and in one of my college courses, the professor seems stressed or frazzled. He is always running late and unprepared, which seems odd because the Powerpoint slides are already done and he uses previous tests and quizzes. The tests, homework, and most of the quizzes are computerized and graded automatically. So, He can't be overwhelmed with grading. Which leads me to believe that he is having problems at home.
My question: would it be appropriate to ask him if he is okay, either by email or face-to-face?
I don't want to invade his privacy but I don't like seeing anyone in distress.
# Answer
He either has personal issues, or he doesn't focus on teaching.
If he is having personal problems, it is wrong to approach him like a friend and expect him to give details. You are the student and he is the professor, and his personal issues are private and he will share them with someone close if he wants to. As an adult, he probably knows how the process works.
Either way, the only thing that matters is whether he is doing his job properly. If you think he is not doing so, then you should give constructive criticizm, such as when you are in class and you don't understand, you can say that for the last classes you are having difficulties understanding and putting it all together and suggest a method so that you can benefit better from his course. Or, you can send an e-mail about how certain things can be improved without sounding very negative.
> 17 votes
# Answer
This is an incredibly bad idea. While I'm all for developing friendships between faculty and students, this does not seem to be what you're discussing. It's not clear from your question, but you make it sound as though you've never had a conversation with this professor (and if you've had some short ones about the class, that doesn't change my point). **EDIT:** I see from comments that you have had some more conversations with him. I don't think this changes my underlying point.
In general, you should move very slowly in developing a personal relationship of this sort with a professor. I might have been OK with asking such a question of my advisor by my last year of graduate school (but probably not), but I can't imagine doing it with any other professor earlier in my career. Asking someone you barely know a deeply personal question that could easily be read as an implicit indictment of their teaching (which ultimately, it seems it is) will lead nowhere good. I think the best case scenario is that they laugh it off as eccentric, but the worst case is they're hurt or insulted; you don't want that coming into their mind when they're grading or writing a recommendation later.
> 17 votes
# Answer
Professors are human beings, just like everyone else.
If you have a concern about a professor's health or emotional well-being, then there is absolutely **no** reason not to ask in private. I would recommend doing it face-to-face, as anything said should be an off-the-record issue, an I don't think a faculty member who is having issues will want to "publicize" that in an email.
However, if you are a student of the professor in question (or a subordinate), the professor may not want to reveal any personal issues, again because she might view such sharing as inappropriate. On the other hand, so long as the professor is not a sociopath, she will appreciate the concern you're showing.
> 9 votes
# Answer
Some people are just naturally frazzled. They could be having the greatest and most relaxing day ever, and show up to class 4 minutes late, hair all wild and uncombed, wearing odd socks and having forgotten to bring you your marked assignments. They may be remarkably easy to frazzle or they may not even feel frazzled, they may just look it! Asking if everything is ok, especially if you say why you are worried and point out you see a pattern, will probably offend this person.
Or perhaps something really is bothering your prof. I use "the same slides" every year (except that I read them over, tweak them, add some, rearrange others etc) and reuse some aspects of the tests and quizzes. You may not know this, but that's not the hardest part of teaching. Nor is marking. And the only profs who teach a single course are adjuncts like me who have a whole 'nother life off campus, or super distinguished researchers who've had their load lowered. So you are not the only dance this prof is dancing, and you may not be the most important one, either. Your belief that the workload for this class is easy doesn't mean that the prof's overall workload is easy, by any means.
But hey, perhaps you're a very perceptive person (I'm not, but I know some) and you've nailed it: this prof is going through hell with something personal. I have had to show up and teach while going through hell (a dying parent, for example) and about the worst thing that could have happened is some kid (everyone under 30 is a kid to me) asking me if I'm ok and if there's anything they can do to help. Some kid who doesn't even know me! I'd be so humiliated that my distress had shown through. I get my support from a variety of people, and I choose who I want support from. I would have trouble even stammering through a sentence like "I'm sorry if my performance isn't up to your standard this week, I have a lot on my plate that I would rather not discuss."
I just can't see this question leading to a good place if it was asked of me, **even if** (and it's a big if) your assumption of a personal problem is in fact accurate. And if it's inaccurate, that's even worse. There's really no upside.
Here's the furthest I think it's ok to go. You're having the usual conversation that you do after class, with questions about your field etc, and the prof either flat out says "I don't have time to discuss this now, I have to go and deal with something" or you get that perception. You could carefully say something like "Sorry, I didn't realize you had less time than usual this week. Hope things let up for you soon." Most likely the prof will just grimace, say something noncommittal, and head out. But there is a chance you'll get a reply like "I hope so, I can't take much more" or "no, I'm afraid it's going to be like this for months and then it will get worse" and those are openings for you to say something pleasantly supportive like "oh dear, I'm sorry to hear that. How can I help?" But without that opening, even if it's obvious to you what's happening, maintain the fiction that it isn't. That can actually be a form of help.
> 9 votes
# Answer
I think we forget that professors also experience a range feelings such as happiness, anxiety, sadness, frustration, etc. The fact that he runs late and is unprepared is not acceptable behavior for a professor. However, I/you can't judge him because we don't know what is happening to him personally or professionally.
Professors are under a great deal from their supervisors, the school, and even the students. There is a possibility his job is in jeopardy & so he may be spending the time searching, rather than preparing. He may be up for a promotion, award or maybe he needs to submit the last chapter of his book that he's struggling to write. Obviously, these are all speculations but my point is it may not be "problems at home" that are stressing him out.
If your relationship with this professor is close, then asking if he is ok, face-to-face only, would be acceptable. The key is express your concern and not make him feel like you're judging him. Let him share what he wants to. If you feel you can, you may offer to help him. It will be his decision whether or not he accepts.
**From my personal experience:**
I had a very good professor my freshman year, who felt comfortable confiding in me about his professional, & when I graduated his personal challenges. During this time, we have built a friendship of 15+ years.
> 2 votes
# Answer
After reading the comments and thinking, the conclusion that I have came up with is that everyone is humans and deals with personal or professional issues and that some people are just more compassionate/sympathetic then others. I think that if someone shows genuine concern without being obtrusive to a subordinate or supervisor shouldn't be a problem with the proper approach, timing, and relationship. If a person, does act poorly to a genuine concern then it just shows that the person doesn't know how properly deal with the problems and probably should be a concern to others.
> 1 votes
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Tags: professorship, etiquette
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thread-20172 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20172 | Do all versions of an arXiv paper appear in Google Scholar? | 2014-05-02T20:44:29.547 | # Question
Title: Do all versions of an arXiv paper appear in Google Scholar?
I know that new arXiv papers usually appear in Google Scholar within a few days or weeks. My question is: if someone submits a replacement of his/her arXiv paper, does the new version of the paper also appear in Google Scholar?
# Answer
Remember that the way the arxiv works, the default paper identifier goes to the most recent version that's been uploaded. So even if Google Scholar caches an older version, it's using the same URL. Now if you make changes like changing the title and/or material parts of the abstract, then it might take a while for the new title to percolate through the search indices.
> 10 votes
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Tags: arxiv, databases, google-scholar
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thread-20150 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20150 | Using grants while on unpaid leave | 2014-05-02T14:49:58.637 | # Question
Title: Using grants while on unpaid leave
When a professor goes on unpaid leave from her university, can she normally continue to use her grants to fund graduate students and postdocs? Or, do all grants "freeze" until the professor returns?
# Answer
> 12 votes
I don't see any reason that a professor wouldn't be able to continue to use grants while on leave. In fact, I'm on unpaid leave from my home institution right now, and have been able to use my grants (for travel support for myself), so that's one data point.
# Answer
> 10 votes
The answer is "yes". For instance, I was on unpaid leave this academic year, and used my grant to support a graduate student.
# Answer
> 0 votes
It depends on the breakdown of the grant. If there are students or staff who were hired to do the proposed work then I don't see any reason why they wouldn't continue being paid if they are continuing to work. The same goes for research related services and products. Sometimes sabbaticals are unpaid, but that doesn't mean that the work stops. Most grants are on a schedule, so PIs need to be making some form of progress on the project (whether or not they are getting paid from it).
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Tags: funding
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thread-20171 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20171 | Notable academics or departments ranking list? | 2014-05-02T20:36:49.360 | # Question
Title: Notable academics or departments ranking list?
Is there anything like a directory or list of notable leading living figures based on subject area or research concentration?
# Answer
I think the American Academy of Arts and Sciences might be a good place to start, at least if your focus is primarily on academics in the U.S. Two criticisms of the academy: it tends to be clique-y. Harvard is always going to have the most new fellows every year because they've already got the most fellows. Second, not everybody who deserves to be a member is one. They're really good about not giving memberships to people who *don't* deserve them (at least in my field, Philosophy), but there are some people who clearly should be members but aren't.
> 1 votes
# Answer
Another online resource (although last updated in 2008) is the list of ISI highly cited researchers at http://highlycited.com/browse/.
A google search returns also this "preliminary" list from December 2013.
> 0 votes
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Tags: research-process, university
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thread-20188 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20188 | What to do when I think a published paper displays academic misconduct? | 2014-05-03T09:48:57.313 | # Question
Title: What to do when I think a published paper displays academic misconduct?
In a paper published recently in a math journal, the main result is presented as being new, but in fact it is not new, and I'm sure that the authors knew this before submitting the paper. I have informed the journal editor who handled this paper, who told me he would forward my message to the managing editor. I have not heard anything since then. What else can (or should) I do?
For what it's worth, I am a tenured professor.
In more detail, there was a previous paper \[A\] which proved a certain result (1). The proof given in \[A\] actually proves a stronger result (2) which has a messy statement, and notes that (2) implies (1) (where (1) has a simple statement). The main result (3) of the recent paper \[B\] implies (1), but is implied by (2). Moreover, the proof in \[B\] is identical to the proof in \[A\] (and the authors of \[B\] say this in their paper), except that the proof in \[B\] uses a stronger auxiliary result at one step. So the authors of \[B\] must have been aware of the stronger result (2) proved in \[A\], but they do not mention (2) in their paper, and certainly do not mention that their main result follows immediately from (2). To me, this shows that the authors of \[B\] published their paper under false pretenses, by intentionally misrepresenting prior work. In addition, the auxiliary result mentioned above is presented as a new result in \[B\], even though it has been published several times and also the authors of \[B\] were fully aware of this fact, since they had written previous papers citing an essentially identical result from a paper \[C\]. Even beyond this, the paper \[C\] contains a result which is stronger than (1), (2), or (3), although the authors of \[B\] do not mention this.
If people think I am overreacting, I would be happy to hear this. It's possible that my views of proper academic behavior are not standard ones. I don't have a fully articulated philosophy about these things, I just feel like the authors did something wrong and should not benefit from doing it.
**Added later:** The situation has been resolved. The journal's editor informed me that, after inspecting the documentation I sent him, he has decided to require the authors to withdraw their paper from the journal. I don't know the logistics of this, but to me it seems like the appropriate outcome.
# Answer
> 39 votes
Let me congratulate you for seeing a publication practice that you suspect is fishy and taking the trouble to inquire about it. This is something that contemporary academia really needs: we are self-policing, so when we let these things slide it is as though we are sitting back and watching a robbery take place from the comfort of our squad car.
Here are my reactions to your story.
1. You make a very compelling argument that the authors of \[B\] should have known better than to try to publish their paper. The details you provided do not yet compel me to believe that the authors did so deliberately or with malicious intent. Math papers are hard to read: just because you cite one theorem from a paper does not necessarily mean that you are aware of the other theorems in the paper (you "should be", whatever that means, but that's not the same thing at all) and just because you come across an equivalent version of a theorem does not necessarily mean that you see that it's equivalent. Rather recently I got sent a draft of a paper that contained three theorems. They looked interesting, so I read more deeply. It turned out that two of the three theorems were not new. How did I find that out? By reading the papers cited in the bibliography! But one of the papers was written in a manner where it was a little puzzle to decode every single result (and the author did not shy away from stating more general theorems with more complicated statements; I can't argue with that, but it certainly does make the paper harder to read). The point of the story is that the people who sent me this paper were not bozos: the third result was very nice, and I have just written a paper with them that builds on it. Or here is an even more personal example: in my PhD thesis I combined work of Ogg with more recent work (of Ribet and others) in order to determine whether certain Shimura curves had points over Q\_p. I didn't write these results up right away, and when I looked back at them a couple of years later I had to reread the paper of Ogg to refresh myself on what he had done. I was surprised to see that one of the theorems from my thesis was already proven in Ogg's paper! My proof was not the same as Ogg's, but neither was it "better" in any clear way. This may not be that different from what you're describing. These things do happen.
2. Divining the authors' true motivations does not seem to be your job as a self-deputized academic policeman (if it is, you have an awfully hard job). What matters is that a paper got published that doesn't do anything new and that in fact cites the paper that majorizes it. That's bad no matter what the authors were thinking...but when you look at it that way, doesn't a lot of the blame rest with the journal's handling of the paper? It seems like a referee who was a true expert in the literature **or** honest and conscientious enough to track down the citation should certainly have caught this issue and prevented the publication of the paper. The journal looks bad just as the authors do. If they are really not being responsive to this, they look even worse.
It seems more likely that the journal *is* looking into this but doing so slowly (this involves a lot of delicate conversations, including with the authors of the paper), and in the meantime they are not doing a good job of assuring you that they are actually doing something. You say that the matter got referred to the managing editor. If you have waited what you think is a reasonable amount of time and not gotten any further response, by all means take it up directly with the managing editor. It would be pretty surprising if you didn't get at least an acknowledgment of the issue from him/her within a few days. If you really hear nothing back, then waiting a week or so and sending a followup email conveying the fact that a total lack of response is only going to make you have to do more yourself to deal with the situation seems in order.
That "more" would involve talking publicly about the situation: e.g. bringing it up to other mathematicians you know and, depending upon the importance, raising the issue on a site like MathOverflow, putting something about this on your own webpage, writing a letter to the editor to some other journal, and so forth.
Finally, let me say that proper police work here may require giving up your anonymity. I think you should be willing to do so if it comes to that. In your comment you say that you are "\[s\]eriously" worried about getting a mailbomb from the authors. **Seriously** seriously? You think that some ethically questionable mathematicians are likely to commit a violent felony?? I find that hard to believe, but if it's really true you need to contact the actual police.
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Tags: publications, ethics
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thread-8140 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8140 | Keeping track of all you have to do in academia | 2013-02-22T14:26:00.957 | # Question
Title: Keeping track of all you have to do in academia
Back when I was in graduate school and as a post-doc, life was fairly blissful. Only one big responsibility: research. Now as a faculty member I find *so* many things to do. Teach, supervise undergrads and grads, publish papers, perform research, participate in service/administrative activities, get funding, etc. Plus throw in family life, friends, etc.
I've looked at all sorts of productivity systems over the years (GTD, 7 Habits, etc.), and have settled on a simple todo list method, where I have a master list of tasks in a todo list that I periodically review. The problem is the list just seems to get bigger and bigger. More gets on the list than comes off, especially during busy seasons, like when teaching or when grants are due.
I realize that *busy* is part of the game, but how do you keep track of everything and not go crazy?
# Answer
> 8 votes
This is a bit similar to other answers - keep a good list - but that's not going to fix your problem. Your problem is that employers, academic or industry, will always try to get more and more out of you. That is just the nature of things.
So, yes, keep a list of what is important and what is urgent and learn to drop the other stuff. It is natural to try to do more and more things, especially when some seem really interesting, however, you have to decide what you can do and what you cannot.
The life of an academic is not one of punching the clock and working 9-5. The good news is that we do get a bit of flexibility. However, sometimes we do need to fight for that flexibility.
You might read a recent book The Four-Hour Work Week. There is a lot which does not relate to academic work (at least not to teaching) at all (like trying to work from home). However, it does include some very good reminders to simply do the important stuff and drop the unimportant stuff.
# Answer
> 9 votes
Another nice todo list system is Trello which lets you do things like add mini-check lists to items, make separate lists for each thing, add notes to items, add pictures to items, and add other people to items. The ability to add sub-items helps a lot in that it makes it feel like I'm getting somewhere on large projects that take a lot of time and hang around in my to-do list for weeks.
Trello is also really nice for sharing/collaborating/delegating work. In our lab, we have a Trello board for any projects where multiple people are collaborating so everyone is able to keep track of who's responsible for what.
Last, it lets you move your items around so that you can prioritize them. Stuff that you need to get done sooner goes on the top while less critical stuff is on the bottom. I also have a bit of a garbage cleaning policy where if it's been sitting in the low priority for a while and I still haven't gotten around to it, it goes into a theoretical "someday when I have free time" list.
# Answer
> 6 votes
I use a Todo List manager called Things on the Mac. It syncs via the cloud with my iPad, so in principle I always have my lists. Lists can be tagged and sorted and categorized and so forth, so with some discipline, it can be a really helpful too.
That said, I still have lists of major "deliverables" on my whiteboard and lists of daily activities on scraps of paper. Ideally, what I need is less work, not a better tool.
Re: not going crazy: go on vacation, go cycling, stop thinking about work.
# Answer
> 6 votes
I am a Gmail user and prefer Gmail Tasks. **Watch a short video about it.**
I have a personal email and work email, so I separate the task lists naturally on both accounts - it allows me to focus on work while I'm *at* work, without distractions about home stuff.
Google Tasks integrate into Gmail, as many tasks originate from an email. A great way to remove an email from the inbox is to create a new task with the email (if you can't take care of the task straight away). Gmail has keyboard shortcuts with tasks, so `SHIFT`-`T` makes a new task with the current email.
There is an iOS app called Go Tasks that syncs to Google Tasks, with support for multiple accounts.
There are no priorities, but I either put deadlines (which cause tasks to show on a Google calendar) or shift them up/down on the task list. Tasks can be hierarchical, so I define themes (courses I teach, articles, committees, etc.) and tasks within them.
Regarding the growing number of tasks, many items every year get closed without being done, but that's life. They're lower priority and you can't do it all. Often a task becomes OBE - overtaken by events. Some items, like course improvement tasks, stay on the list until the next time I teach the course.
# Answer
> 6 votes
First, it helps to have a list system that allows you to prioritize the important and temporarily ignore the less important. I use Omnifocus, though it's not everyone's cup of tea.
Second, as more and more gets added to the list, eventually you have to realize that there are things on the list that will never get done. Those things are only burning up your mental energy. I periodically review my lists and delete things that I don't believe will get done. After doing this for a while, you start to sense which things won't get done, even **before they get onto the list**, and you start saying no to them in advance. You have a finite amount of time, so you have to be selective in what you choose to do with it.
For example, a few years ago I wouldn't have dreamed of saying 'no' to any interesting research collaboration. But nowadays doing so is absolutely essential to my sanity.
The same advice is given in this answer.
# Answer
> 3 votes
For things that can be decomposed into tasks, I use (and recommend) Remember The Milk.
The best thing is that you can set task with everything (date due, priority, tags, ...) with their markup, e.g.
```
check references #work #writing #qft-project ^tomorrow !2
```
It works on web, and as an application for mobile devices, with which it synchronizes (the only bad thing is that in free version you can do it once 24h).
When there are larger goals (e.g. "finish a paper") they need to be split in smaller tasks.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I read somewhere that sometimes simplifying a complex problem requires a complex system - think about the automatic transmission in a car.
I use a combination of OmniFocus for task and project management, and Evernote for saving resources. There is some overlap between the two, in that OmniFocus tasks can have attachments, but if the usefulness of a resource extends beyond one task, it definitely goes into Evernote. Premium users of Evernote can search within images of documents, which comes in handy when looking for a gas receipt, for instance.
I love OmniFocus' location-based contexts, so when I drive up to my apartment, a list of tasks I can do there appears on my phone. Other contexts are more mental shifts, say from 'studying' to 'phone'.
Using these tools has given me a trusted system in which to dump all the minutiae that was clogging my brain - one of the tenets of Getting Things Done.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Use a tracking/ticketing tool, like eg. Redmine to help you organize your tasks and track their progress. This is definitely more involved than a simple to-do list but it's worth the effort many times over.
I find this especially useful when shared with other people (coworkers, students, etc...) and it's seamlessly integrating with subversion systems.
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Tags: productivity
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thread-20196 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20196 | Am I morally obliged to report what I judge as self-plagiarism? | 2014-05-03T16:26:30.887 | # Question
Title: Am I morally obliged to report what I judge as self-plagiarism?
*I tried to search in the previous Q/As, but I do not think my case falls in any of the previous entries.*
While looking for a certain topic in my field, I found two papers. The first paper was authored by authors A, B, C, and D and published in some conference proceedings. The second paper was published in a journal in a year after by authors A, E, D, and C. That is, the second paper lost one author and gained a new author.
The two papers report the same research hypotheses, the same data collected, the same data analysis, the same results. That is, the "numbers" in the papers are the same (even the table contents).
The texts differ in a subtle way. The first paper is entitled "Studying topic T in the domain D". The second paper is entitled "Using Measurement Instrument M to measure T in the domain D". The second paper somehow avoids copy/pasting of the paragraphs from the first paper-they rewrote the sentences. It is a little bit longer than the first one. The authors actually spent some more words talking about measurement instrument M, which is taken from another discipline and it takes 3 minutes of Google Scholar searching for learning more about it. There is even a Wikipedia page about the instrument.
*I think* that this is a case of self-plagiarism. The second paper does not add anything useful to the first one. Additionally, *the second paper does not cite the first one*. This ringed a bell.
Please note that in my field, conferences are archived and are often considered more important than journals. Regardless of which venues are more important, both papers are formally considered publications.
Now, am I morally obliged to contact the editor of the journal where the second paper was published? This is not precisely a double publication, nor are the authors damaging me nor anybody else. Still, *I feel* they did something wrong. Should I instead live and let die?
# Answer
This is an interesting case that you cite. I think it falls somewhere between 'standard behavior' and 'clear misconduct' (though I am sure others will disagree). Some thoughts and facts:
* In Computer Science, even though both journals and conf proceedings count as papers, it is common accepted practice to submit extended versions of proceedings papers to journals. Typically, journals expect between 30% and 50% new content for such papers.
* Realistically, many journals (especially ones that are not exactly top quality) are not super-strict with what they consider "additional content". Describing only their methodology in more detail, without providing new insights or results, is certainly very little new contribution, but I am not sure if that already qualifies as misconduct.
* That one of the original authors was missing in the journal version is curious, but there *may* be reasons for that. Presumably, something a little shady has happened along the lines, but it is impossible to tell from the outside. One realistic possibility is that first author A has submitted the conf paper while at institution (1), with help from B and C. D was the supervisor and contributed little to nothing at all, but was added due to lab policy. Now, before submitting the journal version, A moved to institution (2), and has replaced lab head D with lab head E.
* What strikes me as *very*, *very* odd is that the journal paper does not make clear that it is an extension of an earlier conference paper by citing it (and saying so explicitly in the introduction). **This is the one thing that I certainly agree has a very bad smell to it**. If I receive such a "hidden" journal extension for review, it is an auto-reject for me.
> Now, am I morally obliged to contact the editor of the journal where the second paper was published? This is not precisely a double publication, nor are the authors damaging me nor anybody else. Still, I feel they did something wrong. Should I instead live and let die?
In summary, I would say the entire case certainly does not look good. That being said, I do not think that the case is blatant enough that you need to feel required to report to the journal editor. To be honest, even if you did, I think not much would happen. Likely, it is not a paper that the journal feels overly proud of, but I do not think that the case is bad enough to warrant formally retracting the paper.
> 17 votes
# Answer
This is a grey area in my opinion. Findings were published in proceedings, and then a journal. Technically, they should have cited themselves. If this had been two journal publications of the same work, I would argue you should bring it the editors attention. However, in this case, I'm not so sure..
> 3 votes
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Tags: ethics, plagiarism, self-plagiarism
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thread-20084 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20084 | Is using the phrase "... is left as an exercise for the reader" considered good style in academic papers/theses? | 2014-05-01T09:34:59.660 | # Question
Title: Is using the phrase "... is left as an exercise for the reader" considered good style in academic papers/theses?
Possible arguments:
Pro
* For brevity for trivial deductions
Contra
* Looks like the writer could not be bothered to write an extensive explanation
* Definition of what is trivial to which reader and what not
# Answer
I believe it's only appropriate in the type of writing where you are in a position to give the reader excercises. That is, in course books or other learning material. There, I think it's fine, assuming you've already given enough information for them to be able to perform such an excercise.
In papers or theses, you're actually trying to convince the reader that you're right - the reader is in the position of power, not you, as you want something from them (to accept your ideas) and not vice versa. Therefore, I'd never write such a phrase in a paper or thesis.
It's of course a viable requirement to leave out some parts of the work, either because of space constraints or because they're trivial, long but straightforward, would derail the course of the text, or something similar. If possible, such parts can be delegated to an appendix, or left out entirely. But I would accompany this with different phrasing, something like this:
> The formula (7) can be obtained from (6) using straightforward application of \[insert appropriate math branch here\]
>
> A detailed proof of statement (4) unfortunately exceeds the scope of this paper.
>
> The derivation of (3) from (1) is too long to present here, but it can be worked out using a symbolic computation system such as Mathematica.
>
> Equation (7) follows from a straightforward application of *this-or-that theorem* to equation (5); we refer the reader to existing literature on the topic for details of this.
> 110 votes
# Answer
I will have to advise against it, and **very strongly so**.
I did applied mathematics in the uni, and some of our teachers were *very* keen on using phrases like that. Well, I can definitely see the point in leaving exercises to the student, however we did have separate exercise sessions where everything was *left as an exercise for the reader.* So I have always found it odd (at times frustrating) that the course book, or lectures, by which I was supposed to get the tools to be able to solve the exercises, left some of the necessary bits as an exercise.
There are two major problems with the phrasing, in my humble opinion:
1. It might not be as obvious or straight-forward as you (the author) might think. In some cases the *exercise* is practically calculations that have already been performed in the previous page or so, in that case it's understandable to omit the same calculations/derivations, but a reference to the last place these calculations, would do just as well:
> "... the rest of the derivations are analogous to..."
or
> "... as we have seen in Theorem/Lemma X ... "
2. That particular phrasing has a condescending/patronizing resonance in the eyes of the reader. This has been something practically all of my old classmates commented on. As a matter of fact, we *still* joke about the phrase *"... is left an exercise to the (ambitious) reader"*. I am not sure what you have to gain from **alienating your audience**.
Lastly, regarding the use of the phrase in articles, I have to admit I don't do any work in maths anymore, but in the fields I work with (computational biology, biomedicine, bioinformatics, ...) I have never seen something like this, and I am pretty sure it would not fly well.
If the "exercise" in question is important, you include it in the paper. If you lack the space to include it, you put in supplementary and refer to it. If it is not important you do not mention it.
> 40 votes
# Answer
I don't agree with any of these assessments. Often the omitted deductions are rudimentary, but not necessarily trivial. The reason they are omitted is generally due to lack of space, or the fact that the omitted proofs do not add anything to the exposition, not laziness. The final point doesn't even apply.
That said, stating that something "is left to the reader" is a little cheeky. You often find the equivalent, "an astute reader will be able fill in the details", which may come across as a little pretentious.
For a paper, it is okay to use such a statement, assuming that the author has actually done the proofs.
In a thesis, it is expected that the author does the work, not the reader, so I don't think it is acceptable.
> 15 votes
# Answer
I guess this is not the popular opinion, but I have to agree with Dave Clarke in that I do not find the phrase in the least offensive. Even in the absence of such a phrase, many papers in mathematics have terse proofs in which a lot of detail is missing, providing ample exercise in filling in the details. I don't think this is a bad thing as it forces the reader to actively engage the material (still the best way to learn it).
There is a story, doubtless embellished over the years, about G. H. Hardy saying in the middle of a lecture "It is clear that ... ," and then pausing. He went over to a corner of the board, worked for a time, and then continued with "Yes, it is clear ... ."
Having said this, I would still prefer to see something such as "The proof is a routine computation," or "The proof is straightforward." Nonetheless, we should not be too quick to protest an author's choice of language in these situations.
> 7 votes
# Answer
Leaving some of the demonstration in a paper to the reader is definitely cheeky at the very least, and I for one find it quite frustrating if, for instance, I'm reading up on something and really not in the mood to have to work through it all at that point. It may seem lazy, but how fresh are you when you've got to the seventh paper of the evening?
I'd definitely suggest referring to other places if space is at a premium - to my mind, that would be the only reason for omitting something that would be important in the paper (as if it's not important, why would you mention it?) Citations would be my first port of call for this, even if it is to an elementary text book ("... for a more complete treatment of x, see Smith & Jones (2009, pp. 37-41)."), but if there is genuinely nowhere else and not enough space but it needs to be referred to, URLs are also an option. Ideally, there should be a relatively permanent place that you can keep the text, so that someone going to look for it in several years time would still have access.
At the end of the day, if it is in a work to be published in a book or journal, I'd recommend speaking to the editorial staff, as they may have existing policies for assessing the necessity of extensive material and placing it accordingly.
> 4 votes
# Answer
The phrase about an exercise for the reader is very passé, and can only be used in textbooks.
The normal phrase in research articles is ''we omit the details''.
> 2 votes
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Tags: writing, writing-style
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thread-20202 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20202 | How to symbolize that figure is cropped? | 2014-05-03T21:00:41.927 | # Question
Title: How to symbolize that figure is cropped?
I need to add a photo with some additional data drawn over it to my thesis in computer science. But the photo is large and I want to crop bottom half of it. But then it could be misleading, that there is a part of the image missing.
I will write it to the image description, but I want it to be obvious at first sight without reading the description. Is there some standard way to display that part of the figure is cropped?
# Answer
Usually this is shown in biology/biochemistry journals by a solid border around the cropped image. This is fine to do only if, like you say, you are not removing meaningful data or hiding potential confounding results. If in doubt, ask your advisor.
> 1 votes
# Answer
What kind of a figure is that? If it is a plot, and you want to zoom in to a particular range of it, then you may want to include full plot, then a zoomed in one. For the latter, you may mention that "plot of y from x{a to b}" in the caption. Plus, it would be much better if you say a few lines about why this particular range is important to be emphasized this way, in between your text.
This is not a symbolization, but an effective one to crop something out of a drawing. Thus, I'd prefer this if I were to read your thesis.
> 2 votes
# Answer
You can show it is cropped by having a lined/**dashed border** around the edges this will show that it is cropped.
> 0 votes
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Tags: masters, thesis, graphics
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thread-19487 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19487 | How to explain to my boss where not to publish? | 2014-04-18T12:49:56.147 | # Question
Title: How to explain to my boss where not to publish?
I have some continuing misunderstandings with my advisor. For some time I am actually doing my research as a one man show, but due to my faults and a lot of work I still did not finish my PhD. I am paid by him, so I still need to have good relations with him.
However, he often gets some real and spam "invitations" to journals and conferences and he always tends to send my work there (he doesn't have more or less anything else). The problems is these journals are often fake journals like from the SCIRP publishing. I managed once persuade him not to send the payment a year ago, but now they wrote him again and he sent them the money and came to me to say that they accepted our article. I do not particularly like to have my name in these "journals".
A similar problems is with conferences. Maybe this one is not that bad– I am even not able to google this random conference about everything in Gdansk now, but they promise publications indexed by ISI or SCOPUS – but I already submitted the paper to two conferences (two disjunct parts of it) I chose and I want to publish it in a good journal from one of them or some other one. I don't know if the extended paper from that conference my boss wants to visit might spoil the better publication.
I also forgot to say he puts himself as a first author. But actually, he writes the complete article himself, but he doesn't have full access to my data, just a couple of graphs and images, so the quality of the articles is not that good, and I prefer not to waste my time to edit articles to these strange places, so it is probably better I am not the first author.
How can I persuade my advisor NOT to publish my work in these 'fake' conferences?
# Answer
> 12 votes
I've heard similar tales. The realistic side: you can fret, tell your advisor he should try for a better journal, change advisors, or bring it up as an ethics violation. Yet none of those will get your thesis finished.
You need to concentrate on finishing your thesis. & if that means you need to stop all other projects, then that's what you do. Apparently, you're sidetracking...writing other papers, in addition to your thesis? Or, is it that your advisor has a lot of paper ideas (or you get enthusiastic about new ideas and present the ideas to your advisor?) and you've been very willing to work on more projects? (This can be a double-edged sword...tempting to get involved in several papers/studies, but it keeps you away from your thesis)
You should have a list of journals that are acceptable to you (starting from the best, elite journals to good solid B journals), why are you waiting for your advisor to send YOUR work to a conference or a publication ? Based on your description of the issue, these papers are actually coauthored (with your advisor)- your advisor did the writing, with some of your data.
Now that creates a slightly different problem, -- and it is one you will have to resolve (maybe repeatedly) for your entire career. Some coauthors will send a paper anywhere..because some schools don't care where the paper is presented or published (oh, those schools will prefer elite journals, but at many schools, quantity is more important than quality).
My suggestion: finish the thesis. Don't show any other work to your advisor.
# Answer
> 0 votes
You can easily argument that you opt to publish in A1 journal papers and P1 indexed proceedings and thus only the connected conferences. If your work is good enough though, or if you are willing to invest the time to make the effort.
Take a look at the impact factor of the journal and see if they (as well as proceedings btw) are in the ISI web of knowledge/science list.
You can also use this tool: publish or perish to check the impact of journals/proceedings (it works in win, osx and with wine in linux).
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Tags: publications, journals, advisor, disreputable-publishers
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thread-20204 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20204 | Enter academia with no undergraduate degree (only professional experience) | 2014-05-03T21:57:03.507 | # Question
Title: Enter academia with no undergraduate degree (only professional experience)
I'm wondering whether there's any way to enter the academic world, do research at a university for a living, without an undergraduate degree, but instead with several years of experience in industry (the same field of the research).
This is actually my situation. After 8 years of software development in several professional environments, I want to enter the academic world. But I'm frustrated about having to go back to the basics.
# Answer
> 5 votes
I'm sure it varies by country, but in the US you would not have a good chance of getting an academic position.
However, you might find a position at an academic institution as an OPS (other personnel service), which is considered equivalent to a "contractor" position with no benefits and hourly wages.
I'm by no means a degree snob, but getting a degree is akin to getting a ticket to an event. If you don't have one, though shall not pass..
# Answer
> 3 votes
It depends on what you consider *academia*. It is very unlikely that you will be able to become a professor. However, working in an industry research lab is always an option for computer scientists, for instance at Microsoft, IBM, Intel, or SAP. I do have collaborators at these places that are working in research in reasonably high positions, and which at least do not have a PhD. Whether there are people that do not have an undergrad degree either I am less sure, but it is not entirely inconceivable.
That being said, not having any degree will be a **huge** disadvantage during your entire career. I presume the number of doors you will find closed due to your background will significantly outnumber the opportunities where people do not care.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Academia is a circle. Normally you need an outstanding work during your PhD and Post-PhD to get a university position. Without these, the possibility of getting an entry-level long-term (not tenure) position in the university is near to 0, let alone without an undergraduate degree.
But your situation won't prevent you from doing some serious research work yourself, in an UNUSUAL way. I'd suggest you give up seeking any normal recognition in the academia circle (like a long-term position or a title) until you've achieved something obviously awesome.You have to understand it's hard for people to view you as an exception unless they are surprised by what you've achieved. People would doubt, if this guy is awesome enough, then an undergraduate and PhD degree are like a snap for him, why he didn't just get the degree.
If you insist on not pursuing a degree and go for an usual way, that would be very hard. But maybe you are indeed an exception. Wish you good luck!
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Tags: undergraduate, industry
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thread-2857 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2857 | How does one issue a call for papers on military history? | 2012-08-15T16:36:47.100 | # Question
Title: How does one issue a call for papers on military history?
A non-academic group to which I belong holds military history conferences a few times a year. We've discussed seeking presentations from graduate students, but we're unsure of the process. So, I have a few questions that might be answerable here.
**Where would one publish** a "call for papers" on specific areas of military history? (Our conferences are on Operation Dragoon and the Battle of the Colmar Pocket in WWII.)
**What would be expected** to be provided for presenters who are accepted? We're a non-profit, funded only by fees for the conferences, so have never budgeted for honorariums, lodging for speakers or their expenses. Would that be so uncouth as to inhibit anyone from responding?
**Would sample presentation videos be excessive?** We've had some presenters in the past whose style has been so dry and non-interactive that the audience became disengaged. So, before we would accept a speaker, we'd want to see video or a live presentation to ensure that they will meet our needs. Is this excessive?
**How long a presentation** would be acceptable from the speaker's perspective? I expect we'd be interested in presentations of 15-20 minutes, as the topic would be rather specific (such as a presentation on the actions of a single military unit rather than on the campaign in general).
Basically, I want to know if our expectations don't meet academic expectations, so we can decide whether to modify our expectations or decide not to issue a call for papers.
# Answer
> 16 votes
Some of your expectations fall within the norms and some may not. There may be some variation by field.
Having never organized a conference, but having attended and presented as several, these seem to be the norms I have encountered:
> **Where would one publish a "call for papers" on specific areas of military history?**
Anywhere and everywhere. Send emails (or snailmail) to the history departments at nearby colleges and universities. Pass the word along to other organizations with similar interests. Are you close to a military academy? Is there a military museum nearby? Those are other good places to find speakers.Make sure that all correspondence includes the soft deadline (i.e. about a week before your real cutoff) for submission, and the process by which an individual signs up to speak. Also, you need to make clear the type of talk you are expecting based on the audience. Should this be a talk for experts, for enthusiasts, or for the general public? These announcements also serve as advertising for your event.
> **What would be expected to be provided for presenters who are accepted?**
Generally, at large conferences with hundreds of talks, the travel costs are paid by the speakers. For a small conference, you may want to offer to reimburse some costs on a first-come-first-served basis, however, very few folks should be put out by lack of financial support. I would save honoraria for their true purpose: providing an award for someone and/or attracting a really big name.
> **Would sample presentation videos be excessive?**
Yes. The situation you describe is a known danger, but it is not normal to ask for videos. Your better bet is to send people to attend other talks by your speakers and evaluate them unofficially, but you should still let them speak. If you secure a big name in the field, you will attract an audience, even if said person is a horrible speaker. If you are attracting academic speakers and you have a nearby university, asks folks in the relevant departments if they know of good speakers and try to target those individuals.
You might get away with suggesting that individuals who wish to be considered for the keynote spot send in a short clip of them presenting elsewhere, but that would still be pushing it.
> How long a presentation would be acceptable from the speaker's perspective?
Depending on the number of speakers you hope to attract and the length of the conference, block off 30 minute or 60 minute blocks. 15 minutes is a little short, and you should only exceed one hour for keynotes/plenaries. Most academics would interpret a 30 minute block of time as 20 minutes of presentation and 10 minutes of questions and answers, which sounds like what you want.
# Answer
> 4 votes
A couple additions to Ben Norris's answer:
1. Understand that, unfortunately, lots of people will regard your invitation as spam and ignore it. You can't help this, try not to worry about this too much.
2. If you can't fund the speakers' travel, say so. In my field, it is customary to pay the travel expenses of invited speakers, but if you can't then it is fine to simply say "Unfortunately, we will not be able to provide funding for your travel expenses" in your message.
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Tags: publications, conference, history
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thread-2320 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2320 | Should I worry about a referee who recommended rejection being offended if my paper is accepted? | 2012-07-06T22:57:56.420 | # Question
Title: Should I worry about a referee who recommended rejection being offended if my paper is accepted?
After submitting a paper for review, I received a letter from the editors containing a negative report and informing me that their (editors') decision was to reject the paper. Although the paper was about six months with the referee, it was clear from the report that she did not read it, just had a quick look and wrote a report, full of typos, mistakes and speculations about what the referee thought was in the paper (as she didn't read it).
I wrote a letter to the editor saying that I agree with their decision to reject the paper and would not dispute it. But I also expressed my opinion of the report, because I think it might help to increase quality of the review process. I had no intention to get the paper reconsidered, and even started to prepare a slightly revised version to submit it to another journal. However, they have responded that they would give it to another reviewer.
Now this situation is quite uncomfortable for me: I imagine how the referee will feel if the paper gets accepted and appears in this journal. On the other hand, the referee should be well aware of the (poor) quality of her work, so maybe she will not care.
The question is: should **I** care?
# Answer
No, you should not worry. Referees offer *opinions*. The actual *decision* to accept or reject a paper rests with the editor. The referee may very well be offended by the editor's decision to ignore her opinion, but that's certainly not *your* problem.
> 80 votes
# Answer
Oftentimes, the referee will not find out the editor's final decision unless she checks up on the status of your paper herself. Furthermore, the editor could have initially chosen to ask for many referees, and there is often disagreement, so it is commonplace that some referee recommendations are not followed.
Moreover, and perhaps most importantly, don't worry about a referee getting offended that your paper got in. You could have just as easily gotten offended that your own paper got rejected. We all have to learn to live with not always getting what we want, referees included.
> 41 votes
# Answer
Most journals solicit half a dozen referees hoping that two or three will respond. (I'd be worried about a journal that only uses one referee.) In any case, referees do not usually know how many or who the other referees are, so the person in your case may assume that the vote was 2:1 against them.
In either case, the editor has absolute discretion. They've been known to override even majority negative reports and go with the .... (drumroll please).... minority report.
> 5 votes
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Tags: publications, peer-review
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thread-17461 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17461 | How many PhD students does a typical STEM professor graduate during their entire career? | 2014-02-26T19:04:52.727 | # Question
Title: How many PhD students does a typical STEM professor graduate during their entire career?
The discussion on this infogram made me wonder about the number of PhD students that a full research professor successfully graduates in their entire career. By professor, I mean a full professor, not an associate or exclusively teaching professor or other positions referred to as professor depending on field and location. Of course, the answer is not a single number, but rather a probability density function that is a function of field, place, time, university, and probably other factors. To narrow the scope, I formulate the question as:
*For selected fields and countries, what are recent figures on the mean and standard deviation (alternatively median and median absolute deviation, in case the distribution is non-Gaussian) for the number of PhD students successfully graduated per professor throughout their entire career?*
# Answer
> 3 votes
It depends on the size and staffing needs of their lab. For example, theoretical computer science and mathematics professors may need no lab support at all. Thus, they are under no pressure to take grad students or post-docs and can choose just the ones that they want.
However, if you are doing work on stem cells, you may need a great deal of lab support. You would want a team of doctoral students and a couple of post-docs at any one time. In order to maintain continuity, you would want to accept at least one doctoral student each year. So if you had a 20 year career, you would have at least 20 students (or 20 - 7 = 13 given that it takes students 7 years to graduate and you don't want to leave students hanging at the end).
You'll need to narrow down what you mean by a "STEM" field in order to get a more precise answer.
# Answer
> 0 votes
My guess is that it probably varies hugely, by field, by department and then again by professor.
The fields might vary because of the different expectations about having co-advisors, the size of dissertation committees and so on.
Departments might vary based on their teaching needs. A department (Department A) that the university needs to cover lots of intro classes might be funded primarily by teaching, and so such a department is going to have a lot of graduate students. On the other hand, Department B that brings in tons of grant money might have more labs, but less teaching responsibilities, and therefore have a higher proportion of post-docs and lab assistants than grad students. Hence, profs at Dept B might have fewer students than profs at dept A, but that won't speak to the relative quality of the faculty at either institution obviously.
Finally, it might also vary just from faculty member to faculty member. Some people are jerks and nobody will want to work with them.
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Tags: phd, statistics
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thread-19004 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19004 | What happens to the application materials sent/submitted with graduate school applications in US after admissions decisions are made? | 2014-04-07T01:33:20.273 | # Question
Title: What happens to the application materials sent/submitted with graduate school applications in US after admissions decisions are made?
After the admission decisions are announced, accepted students made their decision, and the list of next year's graduate class is determined, what do graduate schools and respective departments in US universities typically do with the application materials (electronic or paper), including recommendation letters, transcripts and score reports, that they received from each individual applicant, in particular, rejected applications?
Do they keep them, in their entirety, for future reference or statistics? For how long, typically? Or, do they keep a summary of each application and the reasons for rejection and discard the rest?
# Answer
At our school, we never keep written reasons for acceptance or rejection. These are made in a final faculty meeting with voice votes of yays and nays for each candidate that made it to the semi-finalist list. Only the finalist list is recorded.
As to materials, they were shredded sometime after admissions season is over. It's a moot point now that everything is electronic.
> 2 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions
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thread-20214 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20214 | How to make academic life bearable under stressing circumstances? | 2014-05-04T00:56:29.150 | # Question
Title: How to make academic life bearable under stressing circumstances?
I have been teaching a humanities course at a higher education institution for about more than three years now. I am expected to get full tenure this year. Perhaps it is the only chair dedicated to my field in my country; it is certainly the only one in the subfield I teach. In other words, yes, I am the only professor who teaches that subject in the whole country, and the only professor totally dedicated to teaching and researching in the broader field of study. However, before I took the position, I was not specialized in the subfield I teach now. At the moment, my research and publications in field A are split between subfields A1 (in which I pursued research for my MA and PhD) and A2 (my new teaching position). To complicate things, I am in a multidisciplinary department in *another* field.
There is no available teaching position in my whole field (A) in the whole country in the foreseeable future (say, 10-15 years, unless a miracle happens). I could teach in related fields, and that is what I am doing (and plan to do in better conditions in the not-so-distant future).
The conditions under which I work might be described as both appalling and depressive. I know there are worse conditions in my country; and I know that I earn just as much as anyone else, but that is not the issue. The issue is having no perspective of future research; virtually no intellectual life; almost no contact with other faculty. There is only one room for more than 18 professors in the department; in it there are some 5 computers, 3 of which do not function. The library does not have the books I need for my basic, mandatory course -- in fact, it only has *one* textbook I use in class! I have to make do with articles and books from the Internet, when and if available. Grants and funding are virtually non-existent. I am in debt because of a conference in which a paper of mine was accepted. After that, I could not attend 3 international conferences because there was no funding.
So, in the end, my question is this: is there any way (attitudes, habits) to make academic life more bearable under these circumstances? Should I give up research and focus on teaching basic subjects, at the risk of fading into oblivion for not publishing?
A note: I cannot just "run away", because, as I said before, there is no way I can find a similar job anywhere. I have been trying to busy my mind with other part-time activities, so as not to worry or stress too much, but that also leaves the feeling that my "real" job is useless, or worse: a fake.
# Answer
> 17 votes
Since you seem to have decided that you must accept the situation where you work, let me make some suggestions to make it less depressive. Some of these might not be good ones for you, so pick and choose those that appeal.
* the room. One room for 18 people? They don't seriously expect you to use it. What can you use instead? Do you meet students there, or write conference papers, or prepare coursework? Can you do those things somewhere more pleasant? Your own living room, a coffee shop, a park bench, a table in the library, a classroom that's empty more often than not? Do you have to sit in a crowded place jammed with broken things, or can you go somewhere nicer and get more done?
* no funding for conferences. Good for you managing to get a paper accepted and managing to get yourself there. That's probably one more conference than many of your peers. If there is someone who goes to more conferences than you, go and ask them how they do it. They will probably be happy to show you the tricks. In the same spirit, if you can get your own computer you won't care that the department can't provide decent ones.
* intellectual connection. The people in the depressing room are half of your peer set - the other half is the A1 and A2 people around the world. Find them! Follow them on Twitter, read their blogs, download their conference sessions and papers, email them with questions about something they published. Use the internet to forge ties with these people - you aren't a moonstruck teenager, you're their peer and they will be happy to hear from you. Who knows, this activity might even lead you out of your current situation some day, but more importantly it will help you grow and solve a pain point for you.
* the rest of your life. It's common to push everything else aside while chasing tenure. Do you have any hobbies or habits? Even just following a sports team? Try to ramp up that side of your existence, make some friends who don't work at the university, spend some time cooking or hiking or reading the latest celebrity gossip or watching that tv show everyone watches. Do some fun stuff, whatever fun is for you. Meet some people who can bring you joy.
* find a way to be more connected to the university as a whole, not just your department. Join a club or team that has profs from all faculties, or even better has faculty, staff and students from all faculties. Attend (if appropriate) religious activities that happen on campus. Go to the "our university day at X" events. Help with fundraising or political activities that will let you meet people from all over the campus. You're going to be here a long time right? Get to know the place and the people and weave it into your life.
* if the tenure you're expecting comes with a raise, start working out now what the consequences of that are. Will you be able to move to a nicer place? Get specific about looking for that place now. Imagine being able to have a lovely view, or a spare bedroom you can use as an office, or quieter, safer nights. The hard work you have put in will be bringing you benefits soon, start to think about those now.
Your department would be amazing if they handed you a bright sunny office, a delightful collection of peers who you enjoy talking to, plenty of important work, a steady stream of bright students, a fully-equipped working environment and a library that's the envy of everyone in your field. But very few places are really like that. So roll up your sleeves and get yourself what you need to excel, and fill your days with work and not-work that make you happy. Your department is never going to do that for you, but you can do it for yourself.
# Answer
> 2 votes
This question is very specific to your circumstances so it is hard to respond with solid advice.
Your problem is not unique. By the time most faculty get tenure, they are extremely specialized in a single field or have huge sunk costs that make it very hard to move geographically or topically.
There is also the issue of post-tenure blues (or in your case, pre-post-tenure blues) which you should explore.
In any case, you should remember that your university is just one part of your intellectual and personal life. If you don't find your university stimulating, then you could be more active in your academic association's activities -- or be more active in your local community, etc.
Getting tenure is a perfect time to withdraw a little bit and discover new things. People generally expect the post-tenure blues so they won't be surprised to see less of you for a while.
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Tags: career-path, academic-life
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thread-20243 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20243 | I am a secondary school student and I think I have proven an open result, how do I get it out? | 2014-05-04T16:09:21.490 | # Question
Title: I am a secondary school student and I think I have proven an open result, how do I get it out?
I am pretty firmly convinced that I have proven the non-existence of odd perfect numbers and now I am wanting to write it up (Qi: What is the best way or writing maths on a computers?). I also desire to know the general standards of publishing small results such as this so being pointed in the direction of any of the literature to give me idea what I need to write up would be much appreciated. Finally, I need to know where I can submit the result for review and (hopefully) publication. thanks in advance!
# Answer
> 5 votes
Well, as I always say, the academia is a circle with its own established convention to follow. In terms of paper publication, you have to learn how to describe things using the terminology and way of expression accepted by the academia. Normally you need several years of regular university education to master these.
But in your particular case, I think it would be easier if you could find a mentor in the university (e.g. a professor or a research) who really understands and recognize your research result and has your trust. He could teach you what is a logic and sound research and how to speak in the language used in the academic community.
Another solution is just publish your result on your personal blog (I mean a well-known blog system like google+ or wordpress, so that the timestamp of your post will tell the world you're the original holder of the idea) and try to make your result get noticed by the academic people.
If you really want to challenge people's stereotype about academic paper author, you could also try to publish paper yourself. But it is definitely extremely hard.
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Tags: research-process, publications, mathematics
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thread-20222 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20222 | Should I send my mediocre test scores if it's not compulsory to do so? | 2014-05-04T06:00:57.423 | # Question
Title: Should I send my mediocre test scores if it's not compulsory to do so?
I want to apply for a scholarship, but my TOEFL score is 81 and I think it is not good enough. Sending language proficiency scores is not compulsory for scholarship application but it is encouraged. I am indecisive to send it. What is your idea?
# Answer
> 3 votes
In general, test scores are only used as the minimum requirement for the scholarship. High scores don't help but a score much below median would likely hurt you. If your application statement was well-written and your other materials (letters, grades) were good, I wouldn't worry. If the accompanying materials were weak, then you have much bigger things to worry about than your TOEFL.
# Answer
> 2 votes
If you are not satisfied, take the test again to improve your score.
If not, a score of 81 is good enough to get you into many schools. However, some schools require higher scores. Is there a minimum TOEFL score for the school you're applying to?
# Answer
> 0 votes
Presumably winning the scholarship requires evidence of your fluency in English. If your test scores do not provide that evidence, you should *not* send them. (But then the rest of your application still has to provide that evidence.)
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Tags: application, funding
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thread-20245 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20245 | Does applying for a patent first make it more difficult to publish (or vice versa)? | 2014-05-04T16:45:16.573 | # Question
Title: Does applying for a patent first make it more difficult to publish (or vice versa)?
After working on a project some times, some results are obtained and we decide to publish it. I know publishing a paper and applying a patent can actually happen in the same time, but is there any difference for their priority?
For example, if I obtain a patent first for my results, will it make it more difficult to publish the same results in academic paper, or vice versa?
If I do it together, will there be any conflict between them?
# Answer
In the U.S., you may file a patent application up to one year after the invention is described in a publication, in public use, or on sale. So if you publish something on your invention and also wish to patent it, you only have one year from the date of publication to apply for the patent. Similar rules may apply in other countries; it's a good idea to consult a lawyer.
There is no conflict the other way around; you can publish after the patent application (or at the same time) without issues.
> 11 votes
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Tags: publications, patents
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thread-20250 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20250 | There are any website to review my non native english? | 2014-05-04T17:50:03.017 | # Question
Title: There are any website to review my non native english?
as you can guess I'm a non-native english. When I write an scientific paper, my major trouble is the language and I'm worried about the review of my english. There are any website or community, where I can post my full paper or part of it, and receive a peer review for my english? Thanks a lot.
# Answer
You're asking people to do difficult, specialized work for free. So, generally... no.
Your university may have a graduate writing center where they can help you.
You could ask a peer in your program to help you, in exchange for cooking lessons, baby sitting, or help with their *_*.
You could hire a professional editor. These can be cheaper than you expect, given the economy, but you also get what you pay for.
> 1 votes
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Tags: writing, peer-review
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thread-20246 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20246 | How many times is OK to register for a PhD program? | 2014-05-04T16:50:28.317 | # Question
Title: How many times is OK to register for a PhD program?
I started a PhD program few years ago. My first PhD supervisor decided he wanted to quit university and stopped supervising PhDs (he was 70 years old). I lost about a year trying to convince this supervisor to continue, and another year trying to find another supervisor when he quit (he pretty much left all his PhD students in the air).
I transferred to another university, but nobody counts the missing years and I should finish in few months. The condition put by my new supervisor in order to be allowed to present my thesis was to come up with at least 2 new contributions in addition to my previous contributions (I have published some papers with some contributions, but many of them were group research and this supervisor said that only 2 or 3 of them really count as mine).
Now the problem is that during the last year I have worked a lot both at the university and at the PhD, but only during last weeks I started to have some ideas about what these new potential contributions could be. Considering the lack of time, there is a high chance that I won't finish on time (due to the regulations from this country you have to finish in 5 years, nobody takes into account the fact that you lost several years with other problems like replacing your PhD supervisor).
I'm not a lazy person, but first time I really had no luck, and with the second supervisor it took me a lot of time to play in the league he wanted ... Basically all articles discussed with him about Machine Learning were from MIT, Carnegie-Mellon, etc. Essentially I had to spend about a year and a half to get my knowledge to the level where I can design new algorithms or create new things that would get accepted to top journals reviewed by people from these institutions.
Of course, I can register again for the PhD, take the exams again, and present my contributions in a new thesis. The problem is when I will add all these years it will result a large interval for Europe: 7-8 years, instead of 4-5 years. My question is this: how will a potential future employer from both Academia or Private Company look at this time interval? Is it ok to try 2-3 times to finish your PhD? Will the fact that it took to long finish the PhD affect my career?
# Answer
The fundamental issue here is that your first advisor left academia altogether—by retiring before his students were done. This is an awful thing to do to the people one is supervising—leaving them completely in the lurch in such a manner is **unacceptable behavior.** The advisor should not have taken on new students if he was planning on retiring.
As a result of this, it is obvious that some allowances for this will need to be made. The way to signal this is through your CV: list *both* advisors, including the dates for which you worked with them. If your first advisor is well-known enough, then this will automatically clue in others about what happened.
Overall, though, so long as the time required isn't too unreasonable for your discipline, an extended stay in graduate school isn't problematic. However, if you have mitigating circumstances such as these, it makes such problems a lot easier to overlook.
> 13 votes
# Answer
What country are you in? I'm also from Europe (France) and with a letter of motivation, special circumstances, and proof that you will be funded, it's possible to do more years, although I'm not sure what the limit is (may depend on the institution).
I'm in Japan right now, and here it's possible to present your thesis at a later time, even though officially you may be on leave from the University (this allows you to skip paying tuition for many more years, which can be helpful, as tuition is several times more expensive than in Europe).
It may depend not only on the country but also on the specific University you are enrolled at. I don't recommend asking the administration yourself, as they may or may not be very receptive to your specific case. I suggest your advisor inquires for you, and if that's not possible, you can try asking for an appointment with the head of your department or doctoral school.
\[edit\] To answer the OP's final question, I think you can list both advisors on your resume, with the word "retired" next to the first one. I know quite a few people with successful careers in academia who took 5+ years to complete their PhD, and being 30+ years old upon graduation is not unheard of, even in the hard sciences. The race starts after you complete your degree.
PS/ saying that your first advisor unexpectedly retired in the middle of your degree would be enough to get the message through, even during an interview. You could even try throwing in some positive comments, something like, sure it took you longer but how it was actually an opportunity to gain high-level working knowledge of algorithms. :)
> 6 votes
# Answer
At least twice is absolutely for sure normal, but probably also more is normal, even if there are no any obvious reasons. And in your case the reasons are.
> 4 votes
# Answer
I am from Europe. Here 5-7 years for finishing a PhD is quite normal if you are working under a full-time work contract with your professor. I don't think it's a problem.
> 4 votes
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Tags: phd, thesis, career-path, cv
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thread-19816 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19816 | Life as a master student vs PhD student | 2014-04-25T14:55:36.833 | # Question
Title: Life as a master student vs PhD student
There's something I am not able to understand. I'm a CS master student in Germany. Now I'm doing my master thesis. Before starting my thesis I had an image about PhD students which turned out to be wrong. Always thought that PhD student work much much harder than us and have too much stress. Or that they wake up at 5 am and keep working all day and night! But then when I started working on my thesis, my supervisor was so nice that he gave me a place in his office. Since then I always see the PhD student coming to their offices at 9 or 10 am and leave at 5 pm. I also see them waste a lot of time by hanging around or going for smoking every 45 minutes or so. They even spend almost one complete hour having lunch and then having coffee and desert!!!
Is this the normal life for PhDs or is there something wrong here?!!
# Answer
> 20 votes
There's no single "correct" answer in the life of a graduate student—the culture varies from university to university, department to department, and even group to group. It's also a function of the PhD student as well.
One thing to note is that, as a CS student, you're working in a field where it is *very* easy for students to do their work in environments outside of the laboratory. (Compare that to, say, experimental biology or chemistry, and the freedom in work environment is pretty stark.) Consequently, you don't really have a good feel for how many hours the students are working in aggregate—they may be spending a lot of time working from home, or in the evenings or on weekends.
At the other end of the scale, I have known advisors who expected their students to put in **a minimum** of 70 to 80 hours per week in the laboratory. (Of course, since this is lab work, there's no way to do much of it "from home"—other than reading and writing.) And in my own experience, there are weeks where I barely worked 40 hours, and others where I put in close to 90 (usually right before conferences and when I was racing to finish my thesis).
In the long run, there are very few absolutes when it comes to the career of a graduate student, and you really do need to find your own "path."
# Answer
> 18 votes
In addition to what others have said,
1. Do not assume that "hours looking productive in the office" == "hours working".
2. Do not assume that "hours working" is proportional to "amount achieved".
# Answer
> 6 votes
First of all, master and PhD are two different kinds of life. For PhD time is usually flexible and they would like to work this way because progress in their work to some extent relies on inspiration. So it's understandable that they need enough sleep hours. Unlike master students, who just attend courses and learn things written in the textbook, PhD students have to invent things that has been written no where. For master students, hardworking (hours in your opinion) is enough. However, for PhD students, inspiration, insight are the key.
Second, it's also a matter of personal habit difference and labs management difference. Some people would like to sleep from 1am to 8am, some like 11pm to 6am. It's different from people to people. And some professor pushes more, while some pushes less.
Third, many PhD has to work at home in the night and doesn't have the summer/winter vacation. But as master students, you don't have any study tasks during the same period.
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Tags: phd, masters, academic-life
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thread-20274 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20274 | Can I ask a postdoc who has closely supervised my research to write me a letter of recommendation? | 2014-05-05T07:40:59.143 | # Question
Title: Can I ask a postdoc who has closely supervised my research to write me a letter of recommendation?
When I apply to a PhD program, may I ask a postdoc who closely supervised me to write a recommendation letter? My supervisor also has written one for me, but I believe the postdoc can comment on my research skills in a more detailed and precise way. Does a postdoc have enough authority to convince admission committee?
# Answer
> 25 votes
While it's possible that a postdoc letter (in the absence of further context) might carry less weight, there are good reasons to ask them anyway:
* the letter is a testimonial about your ability to do research. A postdoc who's worked with you is in a much better position to say something nontrivial about this. Lines like "I closely worked with so and so" carry weight.
* the postdoc might know faculty at the university you're applying to. In that case the letter carries even more weight (I'm likely to pay more attention to letters from people that I know)
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Tags: graduate-admissions, postdocs, recommendation-letter
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thread-20275 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20275 | Importance of grades when applying to Master's degree program? | 2014-05-05T07:56:36.207 | # Question
Title: Importance of grades when applying to Master's degree program?
I am planning on applying to a Master's degree program (in Canada, if it matters) and I've noticed that there seems to be quite a few grade cut-offs for applications. I've read elsewhere that these are not set in stone, however, how important are they compared to other criteria such as references and research?
In my opinion, which I have no proof for, it seems almost absurd to put an emphasis on grades without knowing a class average or having a detailed knowledge of the course when examining a grade. However, this is my personal biased opinion, so I would like to see the rationale behind the opposite view. One argument I have heard is that school build up a database of GPAs from a certain school and classes (from the comments to this question), so I can see how this might be considered mildly accurate.
This is similar to this question, consequently if the response is similar, I will not be surprised. I'm applying to a researched focused engineering program, but a developed answer with respect to multiple faculties and multiple types of programs would be ideal.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Actually, admissions to master's degree programs are quite different than PhD admissions. Doctoral programs are research programs, and therefore promise as a researcher is perhaps the most important criterion of all to satisfy.
However, at the master's level, this may or may not be the case—many master's programs feature no research (purely coursework), or only a small amount of research (for instance, a one-semester research project, or a lab course, or something similar). In such cases, research is not emphasized nearly as much, and undergraduate track record takes on greater significance. Similarly, "terminal master's" programs—ones that represent "end degrees" in their own right—will likely have less of a research background focus than degrees that are intended to prepare a student for doctoral studies.
The other issue is the style of admissions: for "US-style" admissions, research will likely be more important than it is in "European-style" admissions, where research plays essentially no role at all in admissions to master's programs (although research is a prerequisite for PhD studies!).
# Answer
> 1 votes
Grades are important, but not the only thing taken into consideration. It varies from school to school and field to field. Three things to take into consideration (IMO).
* Field:
In engineering, grades might have more weight or importance. In other fields, they may not be as important, but still taken into consideration.
* Competitiveness:
It may depend more on how competitive the school or department is. If the school/department is hurting for students, then they may take anyone. If they have a surplus of applications, they may be very selective. I think it's fair to say that if you have a D average you will not be as competitive as someone with an A average in a highly competitive program.
* Supporting material:
Typically, you will need to write a SOP (statement of purpose), have 3 letters of support from undergraduate supervisors/mentors/instructors, and include a resume or CV. In my opinion, having a strong letter of support from 3 professors and a solid resume and/or CV is more important than grades, at least in my field. Now if you have crap grades, that won't look good and you will likely have a hard time finding professors to vouch for you.
If you're grades are in doubt, I suggest you write a really strong SOP (have someone (career resource center or a professor) look it over, and create a really nice looking resume. Find advisers who will write strong letters of recommendation.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, graduate-school
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thread-20276 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20276 | Is there anything I can do if a professor agreed to supervise me but I was rejected by the admission committee? | 2014-05-05T08:10:54.037 | # Question
Title: Is there anything I can do if a professor agreed to supervise me but I was rejected by the admission committee?
Some time ago I contacted a professor at another university and, after some discussions, he agreed to supervise me and told me to make a formal application to the department. Unfortunately, the admission committee rejected my application. I asked that professor why, and he said he had no idea and I don't know if he tried to follow my application.
I am sure I meet the program's minimum requirements, submitted all necessary documents and even indicated that professor as a supervisor in a dedicated field. I would like to ask if I can do something, like making an appeal (although the department has no such thing), or keeping on sending email to the professor? Is this situation common?
# Answer
> 26 votes
No PhD program that I am aware of guarantees admission to every candidate who meets the minimum requirements for admission. Moreover, an agreement to supervise you is not a guarantee of admission, either.
Most likely what happened is the usual in such circumstances—there were enough other qualified candidates that the admissions committee did not choose to extend you an offer. I'm afraid that there's not really much you can do here. Writing the professor will be a waste of your time, and filing an appeal isn't likely to get you anywhere, either.
# Answer
> 5 votes
## Try again next time
Technically, you can try various things right now. In practice, most of those things will simply harm your chances of admission in the next session, so IMHO you shouldn't do anything about this particular rejection.
Instead, work on making sure that your application is more attractive next time, keep in touch with that professor, work on research in your spare time, look for relevant seminars/workshops/etc there that are open to general public and not only to students, perhaps study some relevant topics in MOOCs like Coursera.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Selection can sometimes be very political. I sat in on a board meeting recently while selection was being discussed. I was really surprised at the "selection process". The selection committee is not allowed to use a quantitative assessment, it has to be qualitative, which seemed absurd to me, especially considering grades and GRE scores are quantitative measures. Additionally, although my department is comprised of a majority of international students, none of them count as minorities, because they're not US citizens. Taking that into consideration, we have a very low minority student body (in this case, minority is anyone that is not a white male). Therefore, our department has received less funding from the college (which also seemed absurd, if not discrimination)... to increase funding from the college, we need more minority students. So I was not surprised when the minority students were accepted into the program.
I don't believe you have many options. I would at least follow up with the professor, he may know of other opportunities.
# Answer
> 1 votes
One of the possibility is that the professor is not that keen on having you on board. Otherwise, as far as I know, professors have some influence on the selection process if he really needs you to carry out his project and you meet the minimal requirements.
In this case, it makes no difference you send an SOS to the professor.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, rejection
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thread-20269 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20269 | How long should a book proposal review be? | 2014-05-05T02:54:50.753 | # Question
Title: How long should a book proposal review be?
What are the expectations, primarily in terms of length but also along other relevant dimensions, for a review of a book proposal? The book itself will be as long as 5-10 papers but the proposal itself usually only includes a sample chapter and some overview material. What will editors at academic presses expect back from proposal reviewers?
# Answer
The editor of the press should have given you guidelines -- or even a response form to fill out. If they didn't, it'd be simple enough to e-mail the editor back and ask him/her how detailed of a response is required.
I personally vary the response length depending on how promising the book proposal is. If the proposal has a lot of merit but is undercooked in some areas, I may spend a considerable amount of time discussing what needs to be done. If the book is stellar and ready to leap onto the presses, then not much needs to be said.
If the book is terrible because of severe methodological or analytical flaws, my review might be less than a page. If the ms is in severe need of proofreading or editing, I may respond with a just a paragraph noting this and suggesting that I'll re-read when the ms is actually ready to be reviewed.
> 5 votes
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Tags: publications, books, peer-review
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thread-20295 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20295 | failure in research | 2014-05-05T16:38:05.857 | # Question
Title: failure in research
I failed to complete my research project (undergraduate) in the time I said I would, because of overconfidence. It seemed like a quite simple project to both me and my advisor initially considering that it was very similar to a project another student of his had worked on, however for some reason (much of the blame is my own) I ran into countless difficulties and now I will not finish in time. How do I get past something like this? I do not know how to continue after such disappointment.
As an addendum: How does one develop an "aptitude" for research? I would like to go to graduate school, but a lot of the advice hinges on whether one not only enjoys but has an "aptitude" for research. Based on my minimal accomplishments this year, it seems clear that I do not currently have an aptitude for research. Can I ever develop such an aptitude?
Edit: I do not feel that this question is a duplicate. This is about UNDERGRADUATE research. Undergraduates have a very different situation - I cannot simply take another week and work on it as the semester will end soon, after which I will undertake an internship, and I have commitments to my courses and other things.
Also, this is not a case of me getting data that don't support my hypothesis - I do not have any data. Or rather, I have data, but it is meaningless until I finish my current project. Which I was supposed to do today.
# Answer
> 13 votes
I think one of the most important things you learn as a PhD student (or Master's) is to deal with research that doesn't quite pan out as you'd expected. Because guess what, that's not the exception. That almost always happens. If research always conformed to our expectations, we wouldn't need to do it.
The trick is to learn to look at it with fresh eyes. **The main problem is not that the research did not conclude as you had hoped, the main problem is that you're letting it affect your confidence**. Find a new perspective. It may not have yielded what you thought it did, but you did the work and you found stuff out. Now figure out how to present it:
* Forget about the original expectations. Those tend to make for bad science. Look at your research so far, and pick out what's interesting, and why it's interesting. Let go of the original story.
* The fact that it was more difficult than it looked is a good indicator that you may have found out interesting things. Don't think of them as difficulties you created for yourself, think of them as results.
* What would you tell someone starting this research tomorrow?
* What's the shortest route to a publishable result? You may have learned many interesting things, but you need to find a single compelling result that you can explain in an abstract. Once you have that, you can fit all the stuff you learned into the story of that result.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Regarding your first question: undergraduate research projects are a great way to experience some aspects of doing research, but deadlines are one way in which they differ from research in graduate school or beyond. So you shouldn't worry about the mere fact of not meeting your deadline. I can tell you that I set deadlines for myself all the time, and they always seem easily achievable, but then I often don't actually achieve them. Also I often think I should be able to prove some result in a certain amount of time, but then for whatever reason I'm not able to. So I turn that around and decide that my intuition must have been wrong, and in fact the result is more difficult than I expected; and I see this as progress since I've advanced my understanding, and I further try to identify what was the specific reason why my intuition was wrong.
Also, one great feature of the long-term research that is done in graduate school or beyond is that there is lots of flexibility to change the direction of a project mid-stream, or to pause the work on a project and finish a side project, or to split a large project into several papers, or to decide at a certain moment that the work has reached a stage where it's natural to publish what you've done so far, even though you'll keep working on it further. This type of flexibility is missing in a short-term project like one typically does in undergraduate research.
Regarding your second question about developing an aptitude for research: keep in mind that there are many different types of research projects, which rely on different types of talents. For instance, some people are great at big-picture thinking, some people are great at clever solutions to tricky questions, some people have the patience to do enormous amounts of seemingly routine things which put together can yield great results, and so on. The main thing you should strive for is to find some area of your subject, and some way of working on that area, which you love to do and which matches your particular talents. Don't get discouraged about not having great success in one particular project -- maybe that project just wasn't the right fit for your particular skills. I can tell you that one of the keys to "aptitude for research" is to have a kind of psychological toughness that enables you to keep working on a problem for a long time, despite setbacks. If you love what you do, and you have that type of resolve, then good things will happen.
# Answer
> 1 votes
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ― Winston Churchill
You should not let one failure hold you back. I would also like to add that there is a difference between having a general interest or liking in something (i.e. research) and being passionate about it. In grad school (especially at the PhD level) you need to be passionate about your work to be successful. You have to look in the mirror and ask yourself if you truly enjoy doing research. If the answer is yes, then pursue it with vigor.
Let this set back be a learning experience, and grow from it. Just remember, "if you're not failing, you're not trying."
I could go on and on...
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Tags: research-process, undergraduate, research-undergraduate
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thread-20279 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20279 | Technique for teaching "unlearning"? | 2014-05-05T09:26:58.150 | # Question
Title: Technique for teaching "unlearning"?
How should one go about trying to teach students to "unlearn" a previous skill/principle they believe is correct but is actually wrong?
Hypothetically speaking as a really basic situation, if your student was adamant that the formula for the area of a rectangle is 2\*l + 2\*w, even though you tried to explain that is instead the formula for the perimeter, and explained to them the definition of area vs. perimeter, but they are overly confident that they are right, how can you gently guide them to the right direction? What is best practice?
# Answer
I've tracked down a research paper on this very mathematical issue, which apparently has been stumping people since Plato:
De Bock, D., Van Dooren, W., Janssens, D., & Verschaffel, L. (2002). Improper use of linear reasoning: An in-depth study of the nature and the irresistibility of secondary school students' errors. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 50(3), 311-334. and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meno%27s\_slave
To generalize, it is advantageous to try the following in order to create "cognitive conflict" in the student's own mind:
1. Recognize that students' "fast thinking" (in a Kahneman sense) will be their first response. Requiring them to slow down and justify their answer will be frustrating and painful for them.
2. Create an environment where the student is comfortable changing their answer. No attacks in front of an audience of their peers, etc.
3. Give examples of "what other students answered," perhaps in the form of a table that shows many people chose the linear response, while others recognized area increases as the cube of length. This reduces shame at their own answer and may increase interest about why another answer was so often chosen.
4. Give examples of the reasoning of correct students, and ask the incorrect student to justify their disagreement.
5. I would recommend giving the student time to think, and then asking them to discuss it again another day.
> 6 votes
# Answer
I these cases the direct approach is seldom constructive. It's tempting to start constructing logical examples that show they must be wrong, but this is much more a matter of psychology than of logic.
Basically, the stronger you argue, the harder they will dig their heels in. With your example you may actually force a situation where they have no other way out than to admit that they're wrong, but in most scenarios they'll find a way to stick to their guns, and the more you push the issue, the harder it becomes to admit they were wrong all along.
So the trick here is **small commitments**. Don't ask them to accept the whole thing in one go, but get them to accept a small part of it, something they can agree on without admitting defeat. Then just stand back and let them come round on their own.
My favourite example of this principle is trying to convince a rabid anti-Apple consumer to buy an apple laptop instead of a regular PC. If you argue on quality of hardware, or value for money, or user experience, it won't do you any good (regardless of whether those are valid arguments). What you should do is buy them something very cheap and tiny, like an iPod nano, for their birthday. Once they commit to that, the anti-Apple stance is no longer a point of principle, but they're somewhere in the grey area, free to move around.
It's all about breaking down the principled stance and the ties to their pride. Only once you've got rid of that should you come in with the logical arguments.
> 5 votes
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Tags: teaching, methodology
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thread-20309 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20309 | How long is too long to wait for a rejection because of a lack of reviewers? | 2014-05-05T20:46:39.440 | # Question
Title: How long is too long to wait for a rejection because of a lack of reviewers?
I am posing this question here because of a mini-controversy that arose on another list on which I participate.
One poster suggested that the poster's "rights were trampled on," because a journal spent two months trying (but failing) to find reviewers for a particular paper. However, the journal did not notify the poster during that time that anything was amiss with the process.
At the end of the two months, the journal sent back a rejection notice, because they could not find peer reviewers. While I believe that the journal could have done a better job in notifying the author that the review was experiencing delays, I didn't find the length of time spent in the review process at all unreasonable—particularly if the journal submission process allows potential reviewers to see the manuscript before electing to accept or decline the invitation to review.
The poster believed that it the journal should have sent the rejection much earlier—but I figured it might take six weeks or more in some cases to find reviewers (particularly given that the paper was somewhat outside the "core" themes of the journal).
So what is a reasonable amount of time for a journal to spend before returning the paper because of the inability to find peer reviewers?
# Answer
> 24 votes
If anything, my reaction is that two months is too soon to absolutely give up on trying to find an appropriate referee. Generally (at least in my discipline) people are given a week or two to accept or decline a referee request, so two months probably means that not more than ten or so people were asked.
My understanding of what it means to be an editor is that they should in principle be working harder to find a suitable referee. However, if the editor is having an especially bad time of it, it may be worth letting the author know: maybe they will *choose* to resubmit to a different journal or to switch to a different editor at the same journal. The latter happened to me years ago: the editor that I submitted to asked one person to referee, got referred to a second, and so forth. He reported failure to me after the loop closed up. But the failure was conditional failure, and he gave me the option of switching to a different editor at the same journal, which I did. (Unfortunately after that the paper still was not treated well, but that's not part of the present story.)
Academia is specialized, but it's not *that* specialized: probably most journal submissions have at least 100 suitable referees in the world, right? If so, then two months is way too soon to say definitively that a suitable referee could not be found. In my experience, editors often "sugarcoat" the things that they tell authors -- probably because they didn't like the hate mail they got from their earlier, more forthright approach -- to the extent that if you take literally the reasons given for objection, they often sound rather silly. In this case I might suspect that "I spent two months and I couldn't find a suitable referee" is meant to be code for "I asked enough people whose opinions I trusted, and while they were not willing to formally referee the paper, they told me that it did not interest them and thus probably did not merit publication." If the editor is himself making a judgment call about the suitability of the submission, in my opinion that's fine but they should be upfront about it.
Unfortunately the current culture of academic journals makes extracting "the real story" from the editor almost prohibitively difficult. In practice it is probably in your poster's best interest just to try again at a different journal.
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Tags: peer-review
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thread-20174 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20174 | Should I emphasize certain traits in my CV for master's application? | 2014-05-02T20:58:09.210 | # Question
Title: Should I emphasize certain traits in my CV for master's application?
Should I modify my CV to emphasize certain traits before including it in my application for a master's degree or just include my usual professional CV?
# Answer
> 3 votes
An academic CV typically contains items you wouldn't want to list in a professional resume, such as a complete publishing history. Your resume may list as a bullet point that you are published, but they don't want 20 pages listing each publication, for instance. So, yes, your academic CV should be different.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Yes, it's a good idea.
It's a good idea to tailor your CV and/or resume to each position you apply for. Keep two copies of your CV:
* comprehensive (academic) version that has everything you've accomplished in academia and your profession, and
* short version that only contains pertinent information.
Some applications require you to submit a short (2 page or less CV). You might consider submitting both a long and short CV to your program.
# Answer
> 1 votes
A CV is very different from a professional resume. Your CV should emphasize those elements that pertain to the Master's program that you are applying to. For example, if you've been working in a biotech lab and are applying to a bio MS, then filter that up to the top.
Academic publications should also rank very highly -- but deprecate most non-academic publications such as novels, unless you are applying to an arts or literature related MA\>
# Answer
> 1 votes
You should always modify your CV to emphasize certain traits. If a decision maker is sorting CVs, you want yours to be noticed. Citing specific and credible experience directly related to the program (or company for a general CV) to which you are applying, gives you a much better chance of getting noticed.
I personally re-work my CV for each opportunity I ever applying for. It takes 15 minutes, and can make a huge difference between where you will spend the next few years of your life.
Take the 15 minutes to rework your CV and make it specific to the desired opportunity.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, masters, cv
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thread-20314 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20314 | What is or should be the meaning of a "grade"? | 2014-05-06T04:17:56.633 | # Question
Title: What is or should be the meaning of a "grade"?
## What is or should be the purpose of a "*grade*"?
I am going to be entering into TAing and grading students and this is a concept that I still can't wrap my head around. It still amazes me that this concept seems to be taken for granted, considering how many questions there are about grades, and yet the purpose is not clearly defined.
There seems to be a huge amount of arbitrariness in how grades are currently evaluated.
> Is the purpose:
>
> To evaluate the overall performance of a student in the course?
This seems to be how most teachers grade courses. I don't know that this is necessarily the best way.
Consider a student who completely understands the material, but refuses to or does not value doing homework. Should this student receive a lower "grade" in the course simply because she or he did not desire to put the time/value into your course, even though they already knew all the material?
> To evaluate the final performance of the student?
Some teachers will treate courses this way, but it rarely seems to be explicitely stated.
Consider a student who fails every midterm, but she or he gets the highest grade on the final exam. You, the teacher, feel that the final accurately assesses someone's complete understanding of the material. Should this student not receive an "A" even though they seem to be able to complete your final exam better than any of the other students?
> To say what the student is dedicated to?
Many teachers seem to put this as a value into grades.
Consider a student who attends every lecture, and office hours, but can't seem to completely grasp the material. He or she continually scores lower than other students (getting B's or B+'s on exams, while other students achieve A's). Should this person be bumped up to an A because he or she seems to care and be dedicated to the material, while someone else might have the same grade? You, the teacher, probably wouldn't have consider bumping up the less dedicated student without having heard from the other less dedicated student, and felt a sense of "fairness".
In reality the way I look at this situation, is that there is no way the more dedicated student should be bumped up. Consider that they spent so much more time and still aren't capable of grasping the material, while someone else was able to spend less time and grasp it to a better extent.
> To show what the student will be capable of?
Consider that many students take very difficult conceptual courses and quickly forget the material. They would receive an *A*, and then quickly forget most of the importance of the course if they don't use it on a regular basis. On the other hand, some math courses are taught such that the student just has to be able to do the material, and they will be expected to understand the material later only if it is needed. This person would not receive an *A* in the prior, but would receive an *A* in the latter.
Most people would look at this question and say to just evaluate the course itself and leave the remembering to the student. Then the question is, what's the purpose of the *A*, if you don't care that the student actually be able to retain the information.
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Others have stated that a clear objective leads to better grading.
By giving a rubric of what material will be graded on, you fix the issue of what's expected to be known.
However, this doesn't fix the issues of:
* Should there be homework? If so, how should it be weighted?
* Should someone be able to completely change their grade with the final?
* Should a student's dedication be taken into consideration?
* Should the students be graded on pragmatic knowledge, or knowledge they may quickly forget?
* Should the course be difficult so the grade the student receives feels earned, simply to keep the student humble?
* Should students be allowed to retake exams if they understand the material after reviewing their mistakes on the midterm? These students would understand the material better now and should be able to receive a higher grade.
And many other important questions that don't come to mind at this present point in time.
Please tell my I'm just crazy, and everyone sees something I don't.
# Answer
Is the purpose:
> To evaluate the overall performance of a student in the course?
Yes. This is how people reading a transcript will interpret the grade. When there is a single letter next to the name of a course, clearly it is meant to represent overall performance in this course. However, this doesn't really answer the question, because "overall performance" is not a precise term.
There is no single right answer to the question "what should be the meaning of a grade," but neither does it follow that your grades should incorporate every single feature that anyone has ever proposed. I think you are making the question too hard for yourself. However, I will share my thoughts on some of the points that you raise.
Is the purpose:
> To evaluate the final performance of the student?
No, this is what the final exam (or final project) is for. It is possible to make the final exam be worth 100% of the grade, but the problems with this are (1) it makes it harder to motivate the students to do other work earlier in the term, (2) it may be more stressful for the student to have so much riding on a single exam, and (3) the effect of a grading mistake on the final exam would be magnified. Ideas like "let the final exam grade replace a lower midterm exam grade" are similar (to a first-order approximation) to making the final exam grade count for a larger percentage of the course, so they share these disadvantages.
> To say what the student is dedicated to?
No. While dedication and hard work are admirable, they should only be reflected indirectly in the course grade (all else being equal, a hard-working student would tend to write a better paper, turn in more of the homework, and be better-prepared for an exam.) Attempting to short-circuit this process by measuring dedication directly is probably a bad idea. One reason is that it is a very difficult thing to measure objectively. Another is that it would be unfair to penalize a student who can do well without working hard; if the course wasn't hard enough, that's not the student's fault. So I agree with your assessment on this point.
> To show what the student will be capable of?
No one can predict this. It would be silly even to try. Moreover, how could you defend such grades? You may be able to imagine saying "I gave you a relatively good grade, even though you scored poorly on the coursework, because I know that you will be capable of great things," can you really imagine saying "I gave you a relatively bad grade, even though you scored well on the coursework, because I predict that you will never amount to much of anything"? The ultimate worth of a grade is relative, so you can't say one without the other. (On second thought, maybe I am misunderstanding the meaning of this question; it is unclear to me.)
The answers to some of your other questions will depend on the course. But I think I can answer the following ones:
> Should the course be difficult so the grade the student receives feels earned, simply to keep the student humble?
No, the course should be difficult only because the material is difficult to learn. Humility may be a desired side-effect of learning, but it's not what you should aim to produce.
> Should students be allowed to retake exams if they understand the material after reviewing their mistakes on the midterm?
No, not the same exam; this would simply reward memorization. Learning from mistakes on the midterm exam will be rewarded on the final exam, assuming that it is cumulative.
> 5 votes
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Tags: university, grades
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thread-20315 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20315 | Trying other PhD opportunities while accepting an offer from my master supervisor? | 2014-05-06T05:31:17.340 | # Question
Title: Trying other PhD opportunities while accepting an offer from my master supervisor?
I will finish my master study soon, and my master supervisor is happy about my work and would like to give me an offer of PhD. I am also happy on this, but I really want to try other opportunities. Should I give up the current opportunity, and try to apply other universities? By doing this, I have a risk I will have nothing if all my application fail. Is it ethical or appropriate to accept the current offer first, then keep on applying other universities? Is there any way I can balance the risk?
# Answer
> 9 votes
> Should I give up the current opportunity, and try to apply other universities?
Why do you have to give up this opportunity to apply to other universities? Find out when your advisor needs your decision by; apply to other universities in the meantime; and when the time comes to give your advisor your decision, evaluate that offer as well as any other offers you have in hand at the time.
> Is it ethical or appropriate to accept the current offer first, then keep on applying other universities?
Not unless you tell your advisor that's what you're doing.
> Another worry is that will he writes a good reference for me if he wants to keep me in his group?
If your advisor is a reasonably competent advisor, then he will want what's best for you. If that means looking into other opportunities, then he should be supportive. If he isn't supportive, then either
* he will make a terrible advisor. Consider yourself lucky that you found out now, and get away fast. Or,
* he thinks you'll do best staying where you are. If this is the case, ask him why he thinks so. Consider his answer carefully, then make your own decision.
> The selection results of other universities span across a large time range, if I wait until all selection results are available, it would be too late to accept my current offer. Is there any way I can balance the risk?
Obviously, you'll have to commit to a choice at some point. But this is highly situation-dependent. The best person to advise you on this matter is your advisor. He can tell you when he needs your decision by, estimate your chances of getting into the programs you're interested in, and weigh the risks of each approach with your **specific** goals in mind.
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions, advisor
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thread-20320 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20320 | How to number courses in an undergraduate Computer Science curriculum? | 2014-05-06T07:53:21.753 | # Question
Title: How to number courses in an undergraduate Computer Science curriculum?
I am looking to assign numbers to courses in an undergraduate Computer Science curriculum. Are there any formal guidelines?
The "3 vs. 4 numbers" debate has been institutionally settled - we are using 3. I know the convention of numbering the absolute beginner courses as 101. And that the left-most number indicates the relative difficulty of the course. I would like the other 2 numbers to be meaningful as well.
At the moment, we have courses as follows:
* 100 level - 3 courses
* 200 level - 1 group of 3 courses and 2 groups of 2 courses each
* 300 level - 5 courses
* 400 level - 4 courses
For the higher level courses, the decision is somewhat easy as the courses belong to distinct areas (parallel computing, artificial intelligence etc.) and can be numbered accordingly. But the lower level courses intentionally span multiple areas and cannot be numbered so.
So, what guides or suggestions can I follow?
# Answer
> 5 votes
The general rules that I've seen (but have not been written down) typically work as follows:
* Sequences of related courses should have, as much as possible, consecutive course numbers.
* Courses that are prerequisites of other courses should have *lower* numbers than the courses that depend upon them.
* Courses that are closely related to one another should have closely spaced numbers.
* Within a century, introductory, general, and required courses should have lower numbers than the elective courses.
Since you have a three digit number to work with, you can use the middle digit to relate courses according to thematic areas (x0y and x1y numbers could correspond to basic or interdisciplinary subjects; x2y could be algorithms, and so on).
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Tags: undergraduate
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thread-20324 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20324 | How to filter data obtained with practical measurements and simulations to be concisely put into a paper? | 2014-05-06T10:53:47.763 | # Question
Title: How to filter data obtained with practical measurements and simulations to be concisely put into a paper?
I'm a PhD candidate in Computer Science and I'm working on my first paper that should be published in a peer-reviewed journal (until now, I published only papers in conferences). My project is a FPGA memory module, which uses a specific approach (the main idea) to obtain better performance in terms of access philosophy and capacity.
Now, the mentioned idea is naturally the bulk of the paper, with the math, proofs, algorithms, etc. behind it. But, since the module was synthesized and tested, I feel obliged to address its obtained "measures".
The process generated quite a lot data which become even more after the simulations were done. So, I'm not sure what charts/tables are appropriate to analyze and publish in a paper? (e.g. input-\>output delay for a range of inputs; parameters like max clock, number of logic elements; perhaps even (parts) of the schema; etc.)
As this seems a bit specific, I would like to broaden the scope of the question. Namely, the general issue here is how to filter data which does not directly contribute to the understanding of the main idea, but is the result of a finished project and can be used to reinforce the researched concept with practical measurements and simulations. This obtained data is large, so I'm asking for guidelines what could be considered concise enough to put into a paper.
# Answer
> 6 votes
Read a couple of dozen papers that are similar in nature (that is, in terms of the method and how the research question is addresssed) to yours and are in your target journal. Look at how they've supplied the sort of detailed information you're talking about.
As a rule-of-thumb, put it all into supplementary information. And then follow the advice of your edit and peer-reviewers, if they advise moving things. If there are particular numbers that contribute to your main narrative, put those numbers in the body of the paper, too.
# Answer
> 2 votes
## Use the Internet
Put the raw dataset in an easily accessible format (and it's description) on a public online repository, preferably in one actively maintained by your institution - most of them seem to have such resources.
If it "does not directly contribute to the understanding of the main idea", then simply refer to the relevant URL in your paper - the data is still useful in verification, replication, and further analysis by others.
Do make sure that the repository and URL is one that would stick around for decades, not only a couple of years.
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Tags: journals, computer-science
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thread-20322 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20322 | Surface plots vs. colour maps | 2014-05-06T08:37:54.487 | # Question
Title: Surface plots vs. colour maps
There are essentially two ways for plotting three-dimensional data:
* Colour maps (or heat maps)¹:
* Surface plots:
While surface plots are quite nice to visualise data if you can interactively move the perspective, they often obfuscate aspects of the data if you only have one perspective at hand – as it is mostly the case in papers or presentations. And even if the data is benign for surface plots, I have not yet met an example where it adds anything to the colour map, at least in my opinion. This holds for the case where the two are combined, i.e., the surface is coloured (as in the above example).
As surface plots are still used, even by people who are otherwise making very good plots, I wonder whether I am missing something here. Thus my question is: Given that I have evenly sampled, three-dimensional data and that I can only show one image to visualise it², **is there any argument or situation due to which I should use a surface plot instead of a colour map?** In both cases, assume optimally chosen plotting parameters, such as the colour scheme or the viewing angle. Also, you can assume that the plot is being used in an academic context, e.g., a paper, presentation or poster. In particular, the audience can be expected to be able to read such a plot and things like fanciness should not be an argument.
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<sup>¹ This example is just to illustrate the types of plot. I am not asking about how they specifically should be presented. ² And thus, showing a video or multiple perspectives is not an option.</sup>
# Answer
> 13 votes
As everything, it depends. Here is a 3d plot of a mass-spectroscopic peak in time and mass to charge:
You can get a pretty good idea of its shape and how important noise is. Also, as it is a wireframe, you can see what is behind. If you want to see several of them I can show you too:
Now the thickness is not so obvious, but still, you get a nice idea of the whole thing. You can immediately see the relative intensities, and patterns like the uppermost corner, where there are several peaks parallel to each other (which is an important feature of my data), with falling intensities.
For the show off, I generated a bigger slice with Blender, that gives a nice feeling of how the data looks like, including the long "ridges", parallel peaks, noise, and profiles:
In this case, I don't care some peaks are covering each other because the exact positioning is quite random. If I do a heatmap I get this:
I can overlay more information, like the red lines on top, but now we have lost track of the relative intensities, actual shapes, and level of noise.
In my case, the 3D works because the position of the peaks is quite random, and the exact shape varies from experiment to experiment. Also, intensities and noise are important, and one needs to keep them in mind. But if you want to plot a function (say, a kernel density), where the exact shape is important, and relative values are not so much, a heatmap or a contour plot are usually a better choice.
# Answer
> 7 votes
There are four questions, in the order as below:
* what you want to show or put the emphasis on?
* which visualization makes the data as clear as possible to read and interpret?
* what is typical way of showing data in your field (to reduce confusion)?
* (optional) does it make sense in black and white? (some people print papers; sometimes displays have poor color display)
In the case you have shown, **heat map** looks much more clear; **surface plot** may have some visual appeal (arguably), but obfuscates the data (some places are hidden, it is harder to read numerical values and see symmetries). Also, it may be good to consider **contour plot** with values on contours as it is printable in black and white.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I think the choice here is mainly a question of taste. Personally, I always prefer the the colour map type plots but I know some people who strongly prefer surface plots. The brief arguments for each are as follows:
Colour map:
Pros:
* Less possibility of hiding or misleading data by obstruction.
* More accurate representation of the data (no perspective effects).
Cons:
* Can be hard to plot selected areas and similar things (although not impossible).
Surface plot:
Pros:
* Look nicer (I strongly disagree)
* Can be useful if you want to show multiple things on one plot, e.g. height with one area selected (you colour the selected area but put the height surface)
Cons:
* Very easy to hide some data behind something or make it unclear.
* I find it sometimes difficult to "unwrap" the image to get back to the height.
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Tags: graphics, data
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thread-20332 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20332 | Finding research papers for undergraduate research | 2014-05-06T13:31:08.787 | # Question
Title: Finding research papers for undergraduate research
I am seeking some help to find research papers (preferably in the area of Markov chains) for my undergraduate research for reference. Any guidance on how to find research papers in general for undergraduate level research will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance
# Answer
> 5 votes
Academic knowledge is connected through a web of citations and references. Once you have a piece of that web, you can follow the threads towards other papers.
Start at the Wikipedia Page, specifically the Notes and References sections.
See if any of the links there take you to a PDF... look for DOI numbers, or PDF in the link. If not, use Google to try to find a paper. Start reading it.
Look for a word or phrase you recognize, and want to know more about, or something seems about the direction you want to go. Likely, this will be cited... look in the references section of that paper, then google that paper (or follow the kindly provided links).
You're traversing a web of references, so you'll come back to the same papers sometimes. If I were you, I'd keep notes about each of the papers I look into.
* Title
* Authors
* Link to PDF
* Single sentence summary.
Once you've been doing this for a day or so, you'll notice that there are some authors who have a good connection to the topic you're interested in. Look up their university web page; Often they'll have a list of their papers.
Essentially, you are crawling the web of references yourself. Keep following the links, keep track of where you've been, where you want to go.
---
Oh, one other thing: Google Scholar is a decent choice for getting an overview of a topic because it will sort papers by reference count: Highly cited papers often contain important information; Be it an excellent summary or a novel insight.
# Answer
> 2 votes
The most useful advice I've ever gotten about finding research papers: Book an appointment with a research librarian.
Get in touch with your university's library and see if you can make an hour or so appointment, or if they offer workshops or classes on searching the literature. There job is, quite literally, to know how to find information, and generally they're more than happy to share their expertise. Even as an experienced graduate student, I got things out of my visits with them.
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Tags: research-undergraduate, literature-search
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thread-20325 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20325 | Citing an instrument manual | 2014-05-06T11:01:57.677 | # Question
Title: Citing an instrument manual
I am analysing data from a commercial instrument. I need to set a threshold that has to do with the precision of the instrument, so I looked up the value from the manufacturer's online specifications. How do I cite it?
The university does not have any official policy, and other papers in the field either don't mention it explicitly, or give the value without citation, but I believe this is actually a quite relevant number, and thus should be specified and quoted.
# Answer
Basically, you can cite this user's manual just as you would any book-like publication. The only difference is that you don't cite the name of an author:
> *User's Manual for Foo Instrument, Model Bar*. Random City: XYZ Corporation (Year).
or whatever is the appropriate reference style for your work.
> 15 votes
# Answer
Adding to the existing answer, in some cases citing documents that are not accessible to the research community is discouraged (e.g. a manual that is delivered with the equipment). In this case you could also say: 'We used the Foo Instrument (Manufacturer, City, Country) and set the threshold to 0.86 according to the manufacturer's manual'.
If the manual is accessible online, which seems to be the case here, you should cite the url with the date and time you accessed it.
> 4 votes
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Tags: citations
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thread-20340 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20340 | Can I present a conference paper if I am not a researcher? | 2014-05-06T16:01:13.720 | # Question
Title: Can I present a conference paper if I am not a researcher?
My graduate program is a non-research based. However, I am interested in writing and presenting a conference paper. Is it possible for me to do this even as I am not into research work?
# Answer
> 14 votes
Of course you can submit any paper you want. There are a lot of people, for example in the industry field, that submit papers to conferences.
But as they have stated in one comment, as soon as you start preparing a paper, that per se converts you into a researcher.
Good luck!
# Answer
> 8 votes
Yes - I've attended several research presentations by people who are not "academic" researchers, and who just wanted to present the results of an interesting project. Several companies encourage workers to submit papers as this
1) Increases the prestige of the company
2) Even if you do not patent, by publishing you have made your idea un-patentable by creating prior art. So you've also protected your IP. (NOTE: I'm not a lawyer)
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Tags: conference
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thread-20343 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20343 | What is a Chartered Scientist/Engineer & how do you become one? | 2014-05-06T17:12:38.433 | # Question
Title: What is a Chartered Scientist/Engineer & how do you become one?
British societies (and commonwealth countries) offer the title of `chartered scientist/engineer`.
1. Is it based on my education only or work experiences (and research outcome such as publications)? How do they judge an application?
2. Do they need a final degree for the process: do they just contact my university to verify the degree or must I have obtained the degree from specific universities (e.g., accredited programs)?
3. Is this British professional qualification useful outside the commonwealth countries? For instance if applying for a job in US or Germany?
# Answer
I'm basing my answer on Ireland, where my Brother became a Chartered Engineer.
In relation to the points of your question.
1. Normally in Ireland you obtain a Bachelors (Hon) degree (up to 2012 now a masters degree) and can become an Associate member of the Engineer Institute. After a period of time, or either further study or in the workplace you may apply to become a Chartered Engineer Regulations here. I know in my brothers case for his application he had to write up any course he took after becoming a member and also any details of any project that he worked on.
2. It appears a masters degree is needed now but a Bachelors (Hon) degree awarded up to 2012 will be accepted up to 2020. Page 7 of the regulations linked above have details of progression routes available.
3. There are a number of accords that ensure cross-border recognition of the qualification. Again as an example, my Brother was able to secure a Engineering Job with a European multinational Engineering firm in the UAE within about 6-8 weeks of moving there.
It is possible that the Irish and British systems are similar due to the historical link between the two countries. Unfortunately as per your question I have no information on the term Chartered Scientist.
> 4 votes
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Tags: titles, career-path, professional-association
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thread-20387 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20387 | World map with academic works graded by relevance? | 2014-05-06T20:55:57.550 | # Question
Title: World map with academic works graded by relevance?
I remember of some article that was published in which the author showed a world map with circles that represented the number of articles published by country and their frequency in which a groundbreaking academic work was released in each country(One of them was represented by the size of the circle, the other by the color of the circle). But I can't find it now, could someone help me find it? I've googled some things but was unable to find it - my native languange is not english, so I ran out of permutations of words to find the article.
# Answer
Perhaps you're thinking of the map below? It's Figure 1 of the paper Global Multi-Level Analysis of the \`Scientific Food Web'.
<sub>(source: nature.com)</sub>
The caption is "Figure 1: World map of knowledge production and consumption in 6 major geographic areas of the world (North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa)." An additional note: "Circle size reflects the number of papers $P\_i$ produced by the corresponding entities $i$. The inner circle is for 2000–2002, the outer one for 2007–2009. The size of the pies represents (A) the relative proportion of citations $C\_i$ that the entities earned in the 6 geographic areas, (B) similar for references $R\_i$ recorded in the Thomson Reuters Web of Science database. The number of papers and citations have increased over time in all geographic areas, but their shares of references and citations have changed. For example, Asia reaches higher shares recently, characterizing it as an emergent scientific power, which has become almost comparable to North America or Europe. Note that, in the three leading knowledge producing areas, the majority of references cites papers published in the same geographic area, i.e., proximity matters."
> 5 votes
# Answer
I can picture the image you are talking about, but I'm having trouble finding it as well. There is however an interactive world map here, which is broken down by institution, rather than country: http://academic.research.microsoft.com/AcademicMap?TopDomainId=2
> 3 votes
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Tags: citations, reference-request
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thread-20397 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20397 | How to explain why I want to go to a summer school? | 2014-05-07T03:23:28.793 | # Question
Title: How to explain why I want to go to a summer school?
I want to go to a summer school in biomathematics for undergraduate level, and they ask to give some sort of explanatory of why do I want to attend. I've never done this before, so I have no idea what to write, first I wanted to write that the relationship between biology and mathematics is very interesting, and that stimulates my curiosity, however I feel this sounds extremely immature. How do you write this things?
Also, I've seen that in general for other events that usually involve (short) courses, they ask the applicant to write their reasons to attend, why is that?
# Answer
> 7 votes
To answer both questions of "what to write" and "why they ask for this," I will quote an answer from @badroit to a related question (which deals with writing a research statement):
> You're trying to demonstrate why you and your background are a good fit for a summer school and that you will benefit greatly from that school.
The general idea is the same for writing a "why I want to attend" statement: you want to show the organizers of the summer school that they won't be wasting their time and other resources on you.
So, the two things you'll want to make sure your answer conveys are:
1. That you are genuinely enthusiastic about the topic. Explaining (as you suggest) that the relationship between biology and mathematics is something you are very curious about/interested in is a perfectly reasonable thing to write. You could also mention related coursework or projects you have undertaken, to further demonstrate your interest in this area.
2. That you will benefit from the summer school. Discuss relevant goals that you think this school will help you achieve; for example, your intent to take graduate-level courses in the subject as a senior, to pursue independent study/research in this area, to go on to graduate studies in biomathematics, etc.
Finally, if there is a professor in a related area with whom you have some relationship (e.g., you took his/her class), you can ask them to review your summer school application before you send it in. This has the double benefit of (1) getting expert help with your application, and (2) cultivating a relationship with faculty in your field of interest.
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Tags: application, undergraduate, summer-school
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thread-20402 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20402 | Signature for Doctor of Information Technology prefix and suffix | 2014-05-05T20:30:28.997 | # Question
Title: Signature for Doctor of Information Technology prefix and suffix
How can I sign my name with the degree of "Doctor of Information Technology"?
Is this all correct?
**Dr. Full Name**
**Full Name D.I.T**
**Dr Full Name (Doctor of Information Technology)**
**Dr. Last Name**
Can I use these kind of signatures in my emails and/or letters? Is there a standard way of doing this?
Note: This question was also asked on English Language & usage
# Answer
> 2 votes
According to both the University of Calgary Style Guide and the NYU Langone Office of Communications and Marketing as two examples, your signature would be
* John M. Doe, DIT
A "Doctor of Information Technology" degree is offered by a very limited number of Universities. I could not find any style guides referring to DIT directly, but given the choices as the OP lists, the two style guides to which I refer state that one should not use periods within the acronym, so it would not be number 2, but would be John M. Doe, DIT.
They go on to state that one should not use the honorific Dr. at the same time as listing the degrees. So Dr. John M. Doe, DIT would not be recommended.
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Tags: writing-style, formatting, email
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thread-20417 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20417 | How much background detail should go in the introduction section in a paper? | 2014-05-07T12:25:00.713 | # Question
Title: How much background detail should go in the introduction section in a paper?
I have been trying to write a paper. Reading the introduction part I am getting different behaviours from different papers.
Some papers cover themselves more than 50% with introduction content as if they are the only source of information present anywhere while some give it very briefly expecting user to be well aware.
As a reader I never expected to learn the concept from paper intro part itself but from books and then read papers. I rather think that introduction section shall be used to provide very brief intro and references for further understanding. Repeating an algorithm that's present in 500 books makes no sense.
I need some tips on writing introduction part that its just about enough or is it mandatory to repeat info to make it somewhat complete in itself ?
# Answer
How much detail to provide in the introduction depends on the circumstances. The minimum requirement is to give enough context and references that a diligent reader could fill in any missing background, at the cost of some extra work. However, that's a pretty undemanding requirement; a few papers fail to do this, but they generally fail by not even trying. It's often valuable to do more to make life easier for the reader. How much more depends on who you expect will read the paper, and on what you believe they want or need from the introduction. (Some papers are read only by impatient experts, while others attract a broad audience.) What's considered appropriate may vary between fields or even subfields, but here are a few general principles:
1. Targeting an audience for your papers can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you aim at a very specialized audience, it becomes much less likely that anyone else will read your papers. Attracting a broader audience is on the whole a good thing, both for scientific progress and for your own career, so it's best not to limit your audience unnecessarily. If modest changes will make your writing much more accessible, then they are probably a good idea.
2. It's easy to overestimate how much readers really know. In an ideal world, every researcher would remember all the details of everything they ever studied, but life doesn't work that way. Of course you can't re-teach things from scratch (and shouldn't even try), but sometimes a brief reminder can be really helpful. This is particularly true when the details matter: if the reader really needs to know exactly how a certain algorithm works to understand your paper, then restating the algorithm can be worthwhile even if you suspect most readers will already be somewhat familiar with it. Those who already know the details can easily skim just enough to convince themselves that their version is the same as yours, while those who don't can read more carefully.
3. The introduction plays a crucial role in describing the context and explaining why you did these things and what the consequences are. It may not be the part of the paper that most excites you, but it will almost certainly be the most-read section (not counting the abstract). The purpose of your paper is to communicate your discoveries, and making the introduction more accessible is sometimes the best way to achieve this.
> 14 votes
# Answer
The general guideline is "just enough." However, the "enough" differs audience to audience, even the article is on the same topic.
Knowing who are going to read it would decide how broad and deep the introduction should be. Say we are writing about Olestra. In a more general publication like a magazine or a blog the introduction may need to include what it is, how it is being used, its chemical properties, its impacts on health, and perhaps some controversies surrounding the compound. In public health or nutrition journals, it may just merit a parenthetical explanation. However, in a food industry journal, the name itself is sufficient.
When in doubt, err on telling more. A well-structured but slightly longer introduction is far less offensive than a cluster of very well selected but illogically laid out arguments.
Another point worth mentioning is that length is perhaps a proxy of the breadth and depth of the introduction, but I think the overall structure of the arguments surpasses length. Generally, I'd focus on an engaging *opening* that summarizes what is known. Use proper languages here to hint the level of the article. Then, discuss the *problems or challenges*. Afterwards, how would your work *act* to address the aforementioned problems and challenges. And lastly, how would your work *resolve* the suggested problems.
As a reviewer, I'd look for the interconnections between all these components rather than focusing on the length.
> 4 votes
# Answer
As Grace Fleming wrote on about.com:
> The introductory paragraph of any paper, long or short, should start with a sentence that piques the interest of your readers.
>
> ...that first sentence will lead into three or four sentences that provide details about the subject or your process you will address in the body of your essay. These sentences should also set the stage for your thesis statement.
>
> The thesis statement is the subject of much instruction and training. The entirety of your paper hangs on that sentence, which is generally the last sentence of your introductory paragraph.
>
> In summary, your introductory paragraph should contain the following:
>
> * an attention-grabbing first sentence
> * informative sentences that build to your thesis
> * the thesis statement, which makes a claim or states a view that you will support or build upon.
You can check this link for more about each section of the paper. http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWsections.html#introduction
> -3 votes
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Tags: publications, writing
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thread-20410 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20410 | What should a good theoretical Physics project for an MSc. Physics student look like? | 2014-05-07T09:43:11.150 | # Question
Title: What should a good theoretical Physics project for an MSc. Physics student look like?
I am currently pursuing my post-graduation in Physics. I would like to do my project work on chaos theory and non-linear dynamics. The problem is that I am not entirely sure how to go about it and what area I should choose within that subject due to its complexity.
Moreover, I am utterly confused as to what my project must require and above all what it should look like?
Unfortunately, my guide has been held up with a few personal commitments.
# Answer
> 1 votes
A good way to pick a specific project within a broader area of interest is to find some potential supervisors whose groups are within your desired field, look through their recent publications in the area and their group homepages and see what takes your fancy.
For example, say I am interested in doing an MSc in inorganic catalysis, but don't really know what specifically there is that I could study in that area.
First I go onto my alma mater's homepage (or another desired destination) and see if there are any groups in the Chemistry Department who are interested in inorganic catalysts.
Next I see specifically what particular aspect of the catalysts they are involved in, be it synthesis, computational design, toxicity, etc. I look at their recent publications, if one title catches my eye, or particular paper is really cool, I add that group to my 'possible projects' list. Do this until you have 2-4 possible supervisors/projects. You might even get an idea for a project on reading one of these papers, which you can say you wish to discuss when you contact them.
Then I contact the heads of the groups directly, detailing briefly who I am, something along the lines of:
'I am writing to you to ask if you are currently accepting graduate students because I wish to pursue my interest in inorganic catalysis by applying to the University of blah to undertake a MSc in your group.
I am a recent graduate of blah with a 1st/2.1/2.2/rubber duck/etc. I attach my CV but briefly --short list of most notable and relevant achievements if any--
I recently read your group's paper on blahblah --something that indicates you actually read the paper and thought about it-- and have some ideas for a project I would be interested in discussing with you.
Grateful for the opportunity to explore further possibility of working in your group --propose contact options, indicate if possible that you would be willing to visit, this being the best way to sell yourself and find out a bit more about the group to see if you think it would be a good fit: interviews are a two-way process
Yours Sincerely
yaddayadda'
With respect to what your project will look like, that doesn't need to be much more than a rough proposal until you actually have a place, after which you will need to write (possibly with your supervisor's help) what essentially amounts to a mission statement for what you are setting out to do, why you want to do it/what you think could be gained. More specific guidelines will probably be available on the Department or University homepages.
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Tags: graduate-school, physics
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