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thread-26251
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26251
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Should references part of CV only include names of the people who wrote recommendation letter to where the CV is going to be sent?
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2014-07-22T17:06:24.290
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# Question
Title: Should references part of CV only include names of the people who wrote recommendation letter to where the CV is going to be sent?
Can one list all the people who have written letters of recommendations for him in his reference part of his CV regardless to where those recommendations are written? Or he should specially prepare his CV for the company/university including only the reference people who have written letters of recommendation for him to that company not all of the people from whom he has recommendations?
# Answer
> 6 votes
Edited for clarity, since the question in the title is somewhat opposite to that in the body: do *not* list all your references on your CV. Only the ones who have written or will write to that particular potential employer. To list *everyone* might give several unfortunate impressions. First, that the potential employer can contact any one of those references directly. Second, if the prospective employer has received letters from some, but not all, they may think something's wrong... and one form of this is to consider your application "incomplete", but not inform you, and you miss the opportunity.
# Answer
> 5 votes
I have never included references as part of my CV and rarely seen them in CVs that I've reviewed for admissions, hiring, promotion, and tenure decisions.
CVs are a public record of your intellectual accomplishments. They are public, they are shared. They should not be tailored for jobs. See F.N.
References should be in an addendum to the cover letter or a separate file. Including them is much more of a resume practice in my experience.
F.N. some grant agencies, notably NSF, require abbreviated CVs with particular specifications. Also, some jobs such as at conservative religious institutions might warrant some straightening up of the CV, that is if you would want the position. Otherwise, in principle your CV is not a tailored document.
# Answer
> 1 votes
There is certainly no reason that you should *every person who has ever written you a letter of recommendation on your CV!*
I have seen people who are on the job market list letter writers for *their in-process job search* on their CV. This seems harmless, but also unnecessary. The people who need to know who your letter writers will outline ways for you to communicate this to you (e.g., through a web form, through a list of letter writers, in the cover letter, or simply by seeing who sends in letters). It is normal to list your letter writers in your cover letter or, as requested in many job searches, in a document which contains the list of letter writers and their contact information. It simply does not need to be in the CV.
Letters of recommendations, like other letters, are from the recommender to another person. They are *about you*, but they are not *for you*, and their mere existence is not something that belongs on your CV.
You touch on the reason why in your question. The fact that somebody was willing to write a letter (which might have been glowing, luke-warm, or even critical!) does not mean that they would write a letter again today, or that they would write the letter same letter for a different position. If I have not talked to the student in 10 years, I would not write a letter for a start undergraduate who has since graduated with a PhD and is applying for tenure track jobs. The student may be great but my ability to sing their praises is not longer relevant.
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Tags: cv, recommendation-letter
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thread-25949
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/25949
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What books, biographies, or survival guides are helpful for men in education in academia?
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2014-07-15T18:31:45.920
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# Question
Title: What books, biographies, or survival guides are helpful for men in education in academia?
Men make up the minority of students who receive undergraduate and graduate degrees. As a group men also tend to dropout of school at a greater rate than women. Men are even more in minority status as students in fields like psychology and education.
So, what books, biographies, survival guides, or other resources exist for men who say want to become educators?
# Answer
Given that non-academic careers are off-topic here, and StrongBad has already offered an answer for academic careers, I will answer the question of *resources for men who want to pursue graduate degrees in female-majority fields*.
I would offer the same advice to anyone of any gender who wants to know what it is like to be a member of a gender minority in graduate school: Learn what it's *really* like by reading about the personal experiences (both positive and negative) of others who have been in that position.
As such, here are a few resources that I believe may be helpful:
> 9 votes
# Answer
I would suggest reading survival guides (or anything that will prepare you and give you an advantage) since academia is a difficult road. I would not worry so much about finding gender specific or field specific reading, especially if you are a male. The reason I say this is, while I am sure there are some factors that make males less likely than females to succeed in academia and some of these factors may be unique to "female dominated" fields, by limiting yourself to those factors, you are missing the critical fact that the vast majority of people fail to succeed in academia, regardless of gender or field.
For the purposes of this answer, I am going to define succeeding in academia as becoming a full professor. This is not demean those who choose to aspire to different goals (e.g., making a valuable contribution, having a well balanced life, or being happy), but it is merely a byproduct of the available data. For the same reason of the availability of data, I am also going to limit the analysis to STEM fields, for which Psychology is a member, but Education is not.
The reason I suggest reading survival guides is that over 99% of people fail (i.e., do not become a full professor) in academia regardless of gender or field. The Royal Society did a study which found that less than 0.5% of the people who enter academia do not succeed:
This is a huge problem, and if you are not prepared, and even if you are, you are likely to fail.
There is also a lot of research on gender differences. HESA has a study, which I can only find summary data of, which shows a "leaky pipeline" for women in STEM fields. For example, in the male dominated field of Physics:
at the GCSE level there are essentially equal numbers of men and women, but less than 6% of women are Professors. The same leaky pipeline exists in the so called female dominated field of Psychology:
At the undergraduate stage, the numbers are essentially the opposite of Physics with more women than men, but by the time you get to level of full Professor, the female domination is lost. The existence of this leaky pipeline means a lot of effort has gone into determining why women do not "succeed" in academia. The fact that both male and female dominate fields show the same trends means that most of the research into gender issues, in particular why women are less likely to succeed, are field (at least within STEM) independent.
In summary, men are doing better than women in "female dominated" fields, but no one is doing particularly well. Therefore, limiting yourself to small effects, while ignoring huge effects, is generally not efficient and you should read in a field and gender invariant manner.
> 11 votes
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Tags: gender
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thread-24516
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24516
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Are there any undergraduate research programs available online?
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2014-07-08T12:25:55.523
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# Question
Title: Are there any undergraduate research programs available online?
Is there something like an undergraduate research programme (given by a good institution) in mathematics/theoretical physics which provides a research opportunity in which I can collaborate online and leads to a publication?
# Answer
I think you should check The Open University's site.
Under the Studying for a Research Degree section in the Faculty of Mathematics, Computing and Technology site I found this:
> Part-time research students pursue their projects at a distance, under individual guidance from expert supervisors.
So maybe it is a possibility if you actually would like to earn a degree from that university, but since this institute is famous for the excellent quality online and distance education I think you should write them a message and ask for information. I guess they would have good suggestions about your question.
PS. I've taken an online course from this University on the FutureLearn site, and the material's quality was very good.
> -1 votes
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Tags: research-process, university, research-undergraduate, online-resource, online-learning
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thread-24264
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24264
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To what extent should a professor give students freedom to do independent research?
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2014-07-02T06:32:39.613
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# Question
Title: To what extent should a professor give students freedom to do independent research?
During the discussion How/when to become independent in research as a graduate student?, there were one or two professors who not only agreed with the idea of independent research, but also said that they encourage their PhD students to conduct independent research as long as this helps the students to be more mature and successful researchers in their future academic career. I decided to bring this question to the main topic that if you are a professor and allow your students to do independent research:
* What do you mean by independent research?
* Should your students conduct independent research and publication in the field of their PhD/MSc research topic or it can be in any other field of their major and interest?
* If their independent research is not in the field near to their PhD research, should they inform you about their other research projects or not?
# Answer
> 12 votes
I'll answer, not from the perspective of a professor (I'm not one) but as a student who had advisors who were very generous in that regard:
> * What do you mean by independent research?
When people say this, they usually mean research that is outside a clear plan of action. For example, in the biomedical sciences, it's somewhat common to turn a particular specific aim of an R01 grant into a PhD student's dissertation. That's a plan. But along the way, the student may be interested in a methodological musing, a side project, a short data analysis task on something interesting that's come up, etc. So basically, I'd take it to mean anything that's outside what you've been tasked to do, or come up with tasking yourself to do, as part of your degree program.
> * Should your students conduct independent research and publication in the field of their PhD/MSc research topic or it can be in any other field of their major and interest?
It probably shouldn't *detract* from their research topic, but I've never seen any reason why more general topics are a problem. Indeed, if the student is restricting it to their research topic, than why isn't this part of their thesis/dissertation in the first place?
> * If their independent research is not in the field near to their PhD research, should they inform you about their other research projects or not?
It's good for them to inform you of what they're working on regardless. They may be able to provide support, put in a kind word to an editor, etc. And these people will be writing your letters of recommendation - they should be able to talk about the exciting stuff you do even if it's not directly their project. And they should be informed so they can tell if you're potentially overburdening yourself.
# Answer
> 22 votes
* At the end of a PhD a student should be able to conduct their own research. To reach this goal it is helpful to reduce the amount of direction given during the course of a PhD. When the student starts, some defined goals and guidance can allow the student to make rapid progress.
* Students should make unique contributions and understand a broad range of concepts. For example, producing a PhD thesis just on one tiny component of an analysis is a bad idea. Students should be allowed to make mistakes, but be prevented from loosing a large amount of time on bad choices.
* Within highly competitive research environments one might have to defend a students work with additional members of staff, since students are typically slower than experienced post-docs.
* All students are different. Therefore, the level of guidance needed should be balanced accordingly.
* The final mark for the PhD should reflect the ability of the student.
---
> What do you mean by independent research?
Completely independent research implies that one has to define the project and direction, using knowledge of the field of study. One needs to read journals and join workshops/conferences to determine what has not been studied and can be studied within a reasonable time frame. Given this, one then writes software/develops an experiment to measure the chosen parameter(s). (There are many holes that a student can fall into along the way). It is a lot easier to carry out independent research as a post-doc or professor, since one builds up knowledge.
> Should your students conduct independent research and publication in the field of their PhD/MSc research topic or it can be in any other field of their major and interest?
Their PhD is typically on one topic e.g. particle physics. The independent research should happen within the discipline that is being assessed.
> If their independent research is not in the field near to their PhD research, should they inform you about their other research projects or not?
PhD theses contain a fraction of a student's work. They do not contain all of the work of a student. *For example*, one might build a silicon detector for two years and then spend 1.5 years performing a data analysis. The silicon detector work (even if performed independently) may not end up in the thesis. It is very hard for examiners to assess work that is not in the thesis.
(From ~13 yrs of supervising particle physics PhD students.)
# Answer
> 20 votes
> What do you mean by independent research?
Research that leads to a publication without the advisor's name on it, following the standard rules of co-authorship in the student's field. In other words, precisely the same kind of research they should be doing five years after their PhD.
> Should your students conduct independent research and publication in the field of their PhD/MSc research topic or it can be in any other field of their major and interest?
As a general rule, *every* researcher should limit their research to fields where they have sufficient background, experience, intuition, resources, and maturity to make a real contribution. Students are no exception.
Research by PhD students is *usually* closely related to their thesis topic, if not directly part of their thesis, but I know of several successful exceptions.
> If their independent research is not in the field near to their PhD research, should they inform you about their other research projects or not?
Yes, please. My job as an advisor is to help students become mature, successful, independent researchers. That's what a PhD **is**. It is significantly easier to do my job when I have all the data.
# Answer
> 7 votes
> What do you mean by independent research?
In the context of a PhD student, independent research involves formulating, researching, and suggesting preliminary solutions to a problem independently of the advisor.
I expect the crowning component of any PhD thesis to be this type of "independent research".
> Should your students conduct independent research and publication in the field of their PhD/MSc research topic or it can be in any other field of their major and interest?
The expectation is only within the broadly-interpreted PhD research topic, although I think it's great if students do research outside of their area (in their free time).
> If their independent research is not in the field near to their PhD research, should they inform you about their other research projects or not?
If this work is happening while getting paid as a research assistant and during time that should be rightfully devoted to that assistantship, then I expect to know about the project. Otherwise, I would like to know about the project or at least that there *is* another project (and this is the proper etiquette), insomuch as it can affect or stall the student's progress.
Ultimately, however, it all comes down to **progress**. A student who is progressing normally towards a degree has much more latitude than a student who is not.
# Answer
> 5 votes
I'm not a professor neither, but a previous grad student who had very loose/inexistent supervision. Here are my thoughts on the subject. I know that loose supervision of PhD students is popular on this site (see the frequently upvoted comment here), but I think caution is necessary. PhD students start grad school with various degrees of maturity and supervision should be tailored to every individual.
Dear professors, PhD students are your Padawans. That is, they should certainly not have to live in your shadow, but they probably do not fully know how to invest their efforts appropriately. Kindly telling them that, if they wish to pursue an academic career **focusing the efforts** on a subject is the way to go, is going to be valuable. Let them be free to follow your advice or not, but they'll know what to expect.
It also depends on the field I guess, but in mine (metrology/biomechanics), the chances of achieving good research worthy of publication in a good journal on your own are *practically nonexistent*. Even if they do manage to publish, if it's in several different fields, people will wonder what is their primary field of research, see the discussion on this thread.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying students have to be babysat, they should have to show that they can conduct research independently, that is the point (in my opinion) of pursuing a PhD degree. But if they do so with guidance, they will hopefully be independent *and* attractive for hiring committees.
> What do you mean by independent research?
To me it means being able to do the following without the supervisor having to give instructions:
* see a gap or a boundary in the current knowledge
* come up with a plan to try to answer/expand it
* ask for/marshal the necessary resources
* do the experiments appropriately
* know where and how to publish the results.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I am not a professor but I would like to offer my views since my PhD was purely research (ie no teaching) and I only attended a 2-day research methodology class during my study.
> What do you mean by independent research?
From my view, it refers to whether the individual has the capacity to make independent contribution to knowledge through original research. The quality of the independent research depends on depth and width of reading and querying relevant publications and experts on a critical level. Although there are times when knowledge is clear, there are also moments of confusion. Both moments should be given equal priority towards developing original research because they teach, unteach and re-teach us.
> Should your students conduct independent research and publication in the field of their PhD/MSc research topic or it can be in any other field of their major and interest?
From my view, the choice of field does not matter. Amabile and Kramer (2011) suggest that if individuals have interest in their work, they are likely to develop the capacity to persevere. Both choice of field requires the implementation of learning and questioning effort until it makes sense. Though, I find that diving into an outside field will require more time and effort.
> If their independent research is not in the field near to their PhD research, should they inform you about their other research projects or not?
Yes. There should be open communication on student's research load between the student and supervisor so that they can succeed in their jobs. For example, an experienced mentor is able to advise the student on how to better manage the student's research load, if he or she is informed. Louis and Sutton (1991) suggest that attention and cognitive thinking could suffer when individuals engage in switching activities such as in multitasking.
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Tags: phd, research-process, advisor, independent-researcher
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thread-24466
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24466
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Do universities hire graduates from lesser universities?
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2014-07-07T03:10:16.893
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# Question
Title: Do universities hire graduates from lesser universities?
Recently, someone analyzed computer science professors at top universities and found that over half of the professors at the top 51 universities graduated from a top 10 university. Others have also brought this up. From my personal observations, most schools do hire graduates from better-ranked schools.
1. Is this because of the competitive job market? *We have so many good applicants, we have to narrow it down some how!*
2. Or is it simply that these schools produce the most PhDs?
3. Has this always been the case?
4. How rare are exceptions to this? I know of a few people who graduated from a top 75 school and got hired at a top 50 school. But what about bigger gaps? The top 10 schools seem to just swap graduates, do they ever hire from a 50+ ranked school?
**Update 2018:** I have accepted a tenure-track position at a top 75 department at an R1 university immediately after graduating from an unranked department at an R2 university. It does happen!
<sub>This may or may not generalize to other fields and countries.</sub>
# Answer
People are occasionally hired by far more prestigious universities than the ones they studied at. For example, there's a tenured professor in the Princeton math department (unambiguously among the top 5 departments in the U.S.) who received his Ph.D. in 1999 from Kansas State (which wouldn't necessarily make the top 75). Where your degree is from is a negligible factor in hiring decisions compared with how outstanding your research is.
On the other hand, research excellence is highly correlated with which doctoral program you attend. The top programs tend to get the students with the most talent, determination, and preparation, and they usually provide the most support for these students to succeed. Of course this is just a statistical assertion, not an absolute law. However, in mathematics in the U.S., the number of students graduating each year from rank 50-75 universities whose job applications are as impressive in research as those of the average top-5 graduate is tiny. If you're hiring based on research promise, then even the most unbiased search should lead to hiring mainly people from higher-end schools. Of course there's presumably some prejudice as well, but I don't think it's a substantial factor at research universities. (I have no first-hand experience with hiring at teaching-oriented schools. In particular, I don't know how overrepresented graduates of prestigious universities are or which factors are responsible for it.)
> 55 votes
# Answer
The top ranked doctoral programs get the cream of each year's incoming graduate application pool because they can offer access to the top professors, top research libraries, and have tons of money to spend on tuition waivers, stipends, summer research money, etc. They can effectively outbid other programs and choose the people who seem to have the most promise (or are advantaged in having Famous People write for them, etc. etc.).
Graduate students at top ranked programs don't have to spend as much time doing non-research activities such as teaching and waitressing to pay the bills as they're getting most of their living expenses covered. They instead can focus on their research and publications, resulting in a flush CV by the time they graduate.
This leads grant agencies and hiring departments to assume that the graduating students at the top ranked programs are indeed the best of the best. They certainly have the imprimatur of the Best Programs® and Famous People® are writing them letters of support.
This is almost certainly a flawed assumption, but when faced with 200 grant or job applications, it's a shortcut many search committees make. Ideally they should just look at the candidate's qualifications without considering the school or the Famous People® who wrote for them.
But even if we redacted program names in applications, the very fact that having gone to a top-ranked place gives people a huge material difference/advantage in resources available while they are in the program, and this is evident in their CVs which are long with lots of publications and talks in the Right Places®.
In a totally fair world, we'd do what google does and throw away (or at the very least redact) CVs and letters and instead interview people one by one. But try to convince a provost and a search committee to go along with that. It would take too long and cost too much.
Interestingly, as fewer and fewer people get jobs straight out of graduate school and everyone now has to have a post-doc or visiting position, this has served as a slightly equalizing factor as hiring schools can look at performance there as a better indication of inherent ability.
<sub>Note 1: People can and do move from lower ranked to higher ranked schools, but usually they don't do it in their first job. Rather, from a low-ranked they get hired at a mid-ranked school, then through publishing and publishing and publishing, they get hired away into a top-ranked (perhaps going through one or two job hops along the way). </sub>
<sub>Note 2: Top ranked universities (as well as everyone else) have overproduced so many PhDs in pretty much every field that there is market saturation. Even graduates at top-ranked programs are having trouble finding jobs -- even as adjuncts and NTT faculty. In a true market economy, the suppliers would be forced to lower production in the face of oversupply, but academia is not a market economy and having doctoral students is seen as a source of prestige for both faculty and institutions alike. Unless we can increase demand (by forcing schools to hire TT faculty instead of contingents, or other means) or reduce supply, we're all screwed but the folks graduating from mid- and lower-tier schools are screwed the most.</sub>
> 24 votes
# Answer
Here's a numerical perspective on this. Let's take the position that students graduating from highly-ranked schools have competitive advantage against other students (i.e. they are "better", and will generally be hired when their applications are compared with students of less prestigious schools). Now, consider how many positions are available at each level:
* Undergraduate: Typically, a college will have hundreds if not thousands of students in each year, of varying majors. In my major (math), let's say 5% of the class has it. At my school there were 1000 students graduating, so let's say 50 math majors (actually, it was more like 80).
* Graduate: Typically, a graduate school department will have tens of students per year. A small number of tens; at my undergraduate institution (Chicago), the corresponding graduate school has about 100 *total* students, for about 20 per year. So, with similar figures at other schools, only 0.4 of math majors can go to graduate school. Fortunately, not everyone wants to.
* Post-doctoral: Most math departments only have a handful of postdoc positions; let's say 10 (which is actually on the high end). So only 0.5 of graduating students can get postdocs. Of course, there are teaching jobs available at schools that don't produce PhDs, but those are "lesser universities".
* Tenure-track: In any year, any department might have three of these. Or one, or none. That means that 0.3 of postdocs will go on to a more permanent position.
At each stage the number of people accepted to the next level is a small fraction of the total number of applicants, and so the schools can pick and choose whom they take; of course, they will take the "best" applicants, which (according to my conventions) will generally come from the highly-ranked universities. The alumni of just the top 10 universities are sufficient to fill all positions at all universities that are at all desirable (to researchers, that is).
> 13 votes
# Answer
Val Burris addressed this issue for sociology back in 2004 in the American Sociological Review and the article has now became quite a well-known piece of scholarly work within the discipline.
http://asr.sagepub.com/content/69/2/239.short
He basically argues that while departmental prestige is quite loosely correlated with the scholarly productivity of its graduates, being high-prestige school graduate gives one the necessary social and network capital to be placed within the institutionalised system of prestige sustained through the accumulated and "closed" interlinkages between top departments. Although the bulk of his analysis examines sociology placement records, he also provides some comparative data on the hiring of history and political science faculty, and finds that the relationship is quite robust while those latter disciplines tend to reinforce status hierarchies more so than sociology.
> 11 votes
# Answer
Look at:
From its abstract:
> We find that career movements are not only temporally and spatially localized, but also characterized by a high degree of stratification in institutional ranking. When cross-group movement occurs, we find that while going from elite to lower-rank institutions on average associates with modest decrease in scientific performance, transitioning into elite institutions does not result in subsequent performance gain.
Inside, there are plots quantifying transition from institutions of different rank.
> 5 votes
# Answer
Universities typically hire the best people they can. And sometimes they can be found as graduates of lesser universities.
One of my favorite professors, who went from Yale to Ohio State, indicated how this could happen. His opinion was that a top 10 percent student at Ohio State was just as good as a top 10 percent student at Yale. So a top 10 percent student from Ohio State who applied to a high level university could be very competitive with a top 10 percent student from Yale, provided that research, letters of recommendation, and other aspects of the application were competitive.
Where the professor saw value in a Yale degree was that an average Yale graduate would be accepted in many places that an average Ohio State graduate would not be.
> 4 votes
# Answer
Another statistic: according to Wikipedia the 62 institutions of the Association of American Universities (AAU) issue 52% of doctoral degrees in the U.S. So, in the U.S. system, even if we discount any effect of institutional ranking, these schools should still account for half of the hiring of doctoral recipients. Of course, there is also an effect of university quality, so the AAU schools should account for more than half of hires. On the other hand, of course there are exceptional faculty who did not attend top-ranked schools. But the statistics suggest we shouldn't be surprised to find many faculty from a relatively small number of schools.
> 2 votes
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Tags: professorship, job-search, ranking
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thread-26310
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26310
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Should I write a peer-review in third person?
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2014-07-23T23:11:12.320
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# Question
Title: Should I write a peer-review in third person?
While it is generally accepted to write papers using the collective we, what is a common practice for writing peer-reviews: I, this reviewer, or something else?
For example,
> This reviewer has a minor concern with how pink elephants are defined in this paper. It would have been helpful if authors defined an elephant first, and then added the color pink.
> I have a minor concern with how pink elephants are described in this paper. My recommendation is to define an elephant first, and then add the color pink.
# Answer
I recommend the first person. Like most good linguistic constructions, the reader passes over it without explicitly noticing it, whereas your first construction with "this reviewer" holds up the entire mental process for a split second.
The idea of using the third person to "soften" the criticism: well, Paul Garrett knows how much I esteem him, and we usually see eye-to-eye on things. But this time I simply disagree. The reviewer is empowered -- nay, enjoined -- to supply an opinion on the work. If you want to shade your opinion, explain very carefully and explicitly why you are doing that. Switching to the third person should not convey that you are less sure of yourself, and it does not convey that to my ear.
\[Imagine my answer began with "This academic". Wouldn't that have been more distracting?\]
> 37 votes
# Answer
I have a third take on the issue: this is not about the reviewer nor the author, is about the work and as such, I think that it should be the subject of the sentence:
> The paper could benefit from a redefinition of pink elephants, possibly defining elephants in general at first and then by adding the color pink
In my opinion this has the benefit of making the review less personal and make it come through as more objective.
> 11 votes
# Answer
If you're writing a review that will be read only by the editor, you can use "I", but if you want to simplify the editor's life by giving them something to cut-and-paste, or forward, to the author:
In English, in mathematics at least, the contemporary style for publicly-consumed reviews seems to be to refer to oneself, the reviewer, as "this reviewer". Thus, "in the opinion of this reviewer...", "this reviewer cannot understand why the author is so dense..." :)
There are some observable exceptions, where a reviewer is enough of a big-shot to not merely "suggest" that the author has erred, but to be snarky about it, and in either first person, or an exaggerated third-person. My own opinion is that it is not nice to do this. That is, a forthright voice is best, and choice of voice not depending on status is tasteful.
> 2 votes
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Tags: peer-review
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thread-26273
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26273
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To choose which Masters program to attend, should I favor institution or specialization?
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2014-07-23T09:02:52.260
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# Question
Title: To choose which Masters program to attend, should I favor institution or specialization?
I am an Electronics & Communication Engineer and I want to pursue a masters degree. After completing the degree, I would like to work in industry with zero inclination towards a PhD.
I am considering two institutions and two possible specializations (e.g., VLSI vs. Signal Processing). I prefer one institution over the other because of its general reputation, faculty, placements, and lab facilities. I prefer one specialization over the other because of personal preference, prior knowledge in the specialization field, type of possible jobs, and placements in the specialization field.
Suppose I am offered acceptance into the more-preferred specialization at my less-preferred university, and the less-preferred specialization at my more-preferred university.
Which option will better position me for my eventual goal, of completing the masters degree and getting a job in industry? Which criteria is more important in choosing a masters program, the institution or the specialization?
# Answer
If your interest is in "industry," I'd choose a school based on the institution. Most employers look at that as the "headline," and often "gloss over" the actual content of the degree.
If your interest was in research, I'd go the other way and emphasize "specialization." Because that is what research is basically about.
> 3 votes
# Answer
i would recommend specialization primarily because better knowledge of the subject and personal preference will most likely yield better results and though the institution name is a factor for job applications, being the best at what you do will always tramp the good reputation of an institution (this is my opinion IF the job supply in both areas of expertise is pretty much the same)
> 0 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, masters, engineering
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thread-26288
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26288
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Do non-English papers/publications have value in a CV which is going to be sent to an English company/university?
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2014-07-23T14:43:38.997
|
# Question
Title: Do non-English papers/publications have value in a CV which is going to be sent to an English company/university?
Some of the students are doing research in another language than English because they are living and studying in a non-English speaking country; they may be doing research in their mother-tongue language because they are studying in their own country or they are studying in another country in which the language is not English.
If these students have non-English language publications which are published or sent to a non-English conference/journal; Do these publications still have the same value in their CV when they are going to send it to an English speaking university/company? Or only publications in English are of value in those institutions.
PS: I think the situation is easier for the students having English publications in their CVs and want to send it to a non-English speaking university/company as they welcome and accept those publications.
# Answer
Of course they have value. If the journal or conference is not widely known in the country of the person reading the CV, then that person might find it hard to tell *how much* value to place on the publication. But you have two options: either you leave the publication off your CV and you're guaranteed to get no value from it, or you put it on your CV and get at least some value from it.
> 5 votes
# Answer
In an academic mathematics context: it's not a question of English itself, neither of the paper itself nor of the journal, but of the reputation of the journal. At the very least, French, German, English, and Russian are languages in which there is a very well established mathematics literature. I think all the better mathematics journals accept submissions in English, French, and German, at least.
It is true that perhaps one's paper will have the widest readership these days if it is in English, although 40 years ago anyone learning mathematics had to learn to read French and German, perhaps more than English, because the previous 150 years' mathematics was written primarily in those languages.
It is nevertheless possible that a very provincial situation or person would have a prejudice about non-English (or non-whatever) research papers or journals, and there is little one can do to guard against this.
It may also be the case that there simply are very few high-reputation journals published in "minor" languages, and this may be tangled up with the difficulty of readership. I do regret that I never learned Russian well enough to read mathematics in it. Similarly, there are many important mathematical papers published in Japanese in Japan, and I cannot read them. I would not be surprised to learn that the same is true in China, but I cannot personally certify this.
But any reasonable scholar would certainly recognize the *possibility* that a good paper can be written in a language other than English. The question of its inaccessibility if written in a language not widely used in the subject at hand is different. Perhaps one could wonder about the *wisdom* of writing in a not-widely-read language, but, again, that's different from the science itself.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Non-English publications will have significantly lower value in terms of reputation. This is because their target audience is usually very limited (often to a single country), while the target audience for English publications is usually the whole world. Thus, the reviewers of an non-English publication are likely to not be as good as for a typical English publication (since they were chosen from a far smaller pool of experts), and thus your publication may not have been evaluated as thoroughly. It also means that the number of rivals for acceptance was far lower than for international English papers, suggesting an overall lower quality of your publication.
Note that these points hold even if the audience of your CV actually speaks the language the publications were written in.
If - additionally - your CV audience does not even understand the language the publication was written in, then the value of these publications is even lower, as your audience cannot directly evaluate the quality of your contributions. In this case they may opt to use numerical metrics to evaluate either you (e.g. based on the `h-index`) or the journal/conference you published at (e.g. based on the `impact factor`), or they may decide to ignore non-English publications entirely. In my opinion, the latter is far more likely.
> 1 votes
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Tags: publications, conference, cv, language
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thread-26329
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26329
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Networking in a symposium as a "non-specialist"
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2014-07-24T13:04:27.760
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# Question
Title: Networking in a symposium as a "non-specialist"
I am going to participate to a symposium (or workshop or conference) for the second time. I am a PhD student and I'm not going to present anything there.
I know that networking is very important but I'm so bad at it! The first time I spent my time mostly with people of my group or directly involved in my project, and occasionally speaking with people I had met before once or twice (but almost exclusively when they were talking with the people of my group/project). In both cases the conversation was just small talk (I like this buffet, the weather is nice, there is a seminar next week at our institute) or was led by the other people, and I would intervene if directly involved or if I knew the technical topic well (e.g., I am using the same library, I had the same problem...)
I would like to try this so much praised networking, but I fear I will do just the same as before. I've seen the poster abstracts and there is only one directly related to my project, so I am afraid I will not be able to talk anything technical about other issues. I have a master in Engineering as do most of the other PhD students there, but we have different backgrounds and we have focused on different stuff in our research, so I don't feel talking about problems I have studied five years ago to people who have practiced on them until today. Is it expected to network as a "non-specialist"? I feel like that if I want to talk something to a fellow PhD student (not directly in a project similar to mine), it would be small talk and maybe the daily problems of a PhD student, but this seems like a poor alternative to me.
# Answer
> 10 votes
Let me tell you first that I can sympathise - networking also does not at all come natural to me. However, like most things, networking can be trained. The best opportunity to train is while doing it (or at least trying to), so your symposium should give you ample opportunity to improve.
First, if possible, do as JeffE says - have your advisor or some other (maybe more senior) person introduce you to people. Don't be embarrassed to talk about your ideas or your papers, or just about what you have learned during the symposium. That you come from a slightly different field may actually be an advantage here - the most interesting conversations I had at conferences often started with somebody saying "I, as an XY, find many of the presentations here really interesting, but why is there so much focus on A and so little work on B?".
Second, don't discard "small talk". Networking is mostly about connecting on a personal level anyway - it really does not matter so much *what* you talk about with people, as long as you talk to them. Talk to them about whatever comes naturally. It does not *have* to be about their research, even if this clearly is a natural conversation starter among researchers. Other standard conference convo topics (especially among PhD students) are: (1) life as a grad student, (2) difficulty with course work, (3) estimated time to graduation, (4) the ups and downs of the student's relationship with their advisor (although the last two bullets may be a bit loaded on occasion).
Third, try to not fall into the trap of seeing networking as "work", i.e., something that you'd rather avoid, but you know you need to do. This will make it automatically appear unpleasant, and you may end up just going through the motions so that you can say to yourself that you "networked", without achieving much.
Fourth, talk to people that you like talking to, and avoid like the plague people whose company you do not enjoy (for whatever reason). This sounds like a given, but I have seen many people classify conference participants into "important" and "unimportant", and then make a point to always talk to the "important" ones despite not actually enjoying it. This is a bad idea on multiple levels, including the fact that the PhD students from today are the professors and grant co-authors from tomorrow, so there really are no unimportant people in a conference.
Fifth, don't be too hard on yourself. You don't need to spend every minute of a conference networking. Many people, myself included, need a considerable amount of *quiet time* to function. Give it to yourself. It is ok to spend a few hours per conference day alone in front of your work, or on your hotel room if you feel tired of networking.
In the end, networking is the part of your work where the most important part is really to enjoy yourself. If you find one friend in the symposium, who you stay in touch with over the years, and who you write a grant proposal with in a few years, you networked successfully even if you talked to literally nobody else all week.
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Tags: networking
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thread-26337
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26337
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Publishing at a venue without ACM/IEEE brand?
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2014-07-24T16:56:28.657
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# Question
Title: Publishing at a venue without ACM/IEEE brand?
My PhD Supervisor asked me to submit one of my work at an upcoming International Conference. He is amongst the program committee members. I was having a look at its committee members, the Advisory committee etc. It boasts of researchers from reputed Universities- with some of them quite well established (I know some of them personally). Further, the conference is happening for the 6th time.
However I found it quite strange that they are organizing the conference without any branding of IEEE/ACM etc. behind them. The proceedings of the conference will be compiled on a CD-ROM. This obviously means that if my paper gets accepted there, it is not going to be archived with IEEE-xplore or ACM digital library. Google may index it because they *may* put the PDFs on the conference's website, but that PDF exists only as long as the website for the conference exists.
The question in my mind: Is such a publication *bad* for a PhD student? If I put this work on my CV, nobody can find it on the Internet (except on my personal website or archived on arXiv). Then where is the **credibility** that work was actually peer-reviewed and published at an International Conference?
And what about **copyright** issues? The website says nothing of it. These are a group of researchers from different parts of the world coming together to organize a conference. There is no organization like ACM or IEEE behind them. So I am assuming that the issue of copyright transfers may never arise. Does that mean I can submit this work to other venues as well (since exclusive copyright are never transferred)?
Truly speaking, the only reasons I am going for it is because (1) my Supervisor wants me to, and (2) selected high-quality papers will get the opportunity to submit extended versions to special issue of a SCI journal (which is great for me!).
p.s.: In case it matters: until the past year, it was being organized as a 'workshop'. This is the first time they are calling it a conference and have a Journal extension.
p.p.s: My field is Computer Science.
# Answer
Not being affiliated with an organization such as the IEEE or ACM is not, on its own, a bad sign. For example, what is currently the IEEE Conference on Computational Complexity has decided to end its affiliation with the IEEE and go solo; the Symposium on Computational Geometry likewise just left ACM. STACS is also unaffiliated.
It's not great if the proceedings are *only* distributed on CD. On the other hand, if you're already going to be preparing a journal version (and you should!), that will completely supersede any conference version, anyway. I would never read a conference version ("extended abstract") of a paper if a full version was available: in my area (theoretical CS), the conference version generally has the proofs missing and the peer review isn't very rigorous.
STACS publishes proceedings through Dagstuhl, which is basically a computer science conference centre in Germany and has close links to DBLP. In this case, copyright is retained by the authors. Note that, regardless of who owns the copyright, most CS conferences won't accept papers which have either appeared at another conference with published proceedings or have been submitted to such a conference. You don't get to double-dip your papers.
> 16 votes
# Answer
I think that is very field-dependent. In my field there are two conferences that are not affiliated with IEEE. They are both small, highly-specialized, and very prestigious to get your papers in. One of them does publish the proceedings in a book with a highly-reputable publisher, the other one publishes the papers online only. Still, they are well-known and well-regarded in the field.
The bottom line is that you need to know your field. It certainly might be a red-flag, but not necessarily. The conference is as strong as its PC and its acceptance criteria.
> 6 votes
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Tags: phd, conference, ieee, acm
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thread-17528
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17528
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Getting into math ten years after a BA in English
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2014-02-28T02:49:25.320
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# Question
Title: Getting into math ten years after a BA in English
I got a BA in English at a pretty good school, spent the next 10 years in a fruitless pursuit of screenwriting with a day job in a legal department, and now that I'm sick of all that, I'd like to do something mathy. And it seems pretty clear that that's going to require going back to school.
Since this is a HUGE redirection -- a ridiculous one, really -- I assume I should get a second BA/BS before even considering a masters, right? I did well in math in school, but I left off at single variable calc. (I'm currently studying linear algebra on my own and loving it.) But what, really, are my chances for even getting into a decent second bachelor's program?? I'm thinking of taking college extension classes to get more experience and recommendation letters for that purpose. If I get some online bachelors degree (EDIT: or a post-bac), are any (reputable) masters programs even going to consider me??
You may well ask what my eventual goal is, but I'm at such a basic level that I'm not sure that that question is all that relevant. If I were to pick a goal just for the sake of aiming for something, getting a job in statistics sounds interesting, but who knows what I'd want to do after getting a second bachelors. I'd like to try my hand at research, but that sounds way too pie-in-the-sky given my background.
Thanks for any advice or feedback.
# Answer
> 3 votes
You are not prepared for a Master's program right now, which I think you recognize. That said, it may not take too long to prepare yourself. I would recommend looking at requirements for continuing education and graduate programs at nearby regional universities. Many of them have programs designed to accommodate a student with your needs. For example, here are the requirements at CSU East Bay, a regional school near Oakland. Note in particular the Post-baccalaureate unclassified status. You might not expect it, but many such programs are quite strong and have a solid record in placing students in PhD programs. Don't discount them.
# Answer
> 5 votes
**If you want to go into math, should you get a BSc?**
I'd say "yes". It often is quite doable to pick up a new subject on your own if you have academic experience, but English and Mathematics are so far apart that I'd doubt there would be a lot of synergy. Mathematics has its own way of thinking, which is probably picked up best by going through an undergrad degree.
**Should you go into math?**
Enrolling for a degree is of course a rather strong decision. In my experience quite a few of those who start anew later in their lifes drop out rather early. Maybe taking an online course first could both be a good preparation if you go through with it, and helpful to figure out if you really want to it.
**Can you get in somewhere?**
I don't know about your country, but both the UK and Germany often have places reserved for mature students, which have fewer formal requirements. So in those countries, getting into a decent program would be quite doable.
**A final comment**
For me at least mathematics is great fun. If you believe you'd like it, and you are willing to put in the effort, give it a try.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Well, I commend the OP on having the heart to contemplate such a step. I'd like to mention a factor that has not yet been mentioned in the other answers - your age, and more specifically, the responsibilities that you have to shoulder while attempting such a career switch. If you do decide to apply for a undergrad program in maths, and happen to be accepted in a reasonably good one, you'd be starting from scratch in a field governed by abstract concepts that take a good deal of focused work to wrap ones head around! This is a lot easier if all you have to worry about is yourself, and don't have the weight of other responsibilities (family obligations, relationships etc) to bog you down. Even if you don't have such responsibilities, you'd have the inescapable feeling of being a generation behind your peers, and unless you have a very determined and strong force of mind, you would be having to fend off doubts regarding your decisions/capabilities at regular intervals - which could hinder your focus significantly, and make your mental faculties less acute than they ought to be!
(This is a personal opinion of mine - I've seen many later-career grad students struggle with these issues, and hence I thought it was wise to know about the possibility of such a train of events before committing to such a momentous decision!)
# Answer
> 1 votes
I'm answering from an American point of view, on the supposition that is your background also. I'm not sure how applicable this advice is to a non-American.
You already have a bachelor's degree, so you shouldn't need to take a second full BS. There are two ways that I can see you going. Either way, you should be taking the equivalent of a major, or at least a minor in math before you pursue graduate studies.
Enroll as a full time second, or third year "transfers" student in a math-science oriented BS program, using your BA credits surrounding your English major for your non math credits. You should be taking something like two to three math courses (and one or two courses in physics and/or computer science) a semester, until you have completed a math major.
Enroll as a "special student" somewhere part time, taking one to two math classes a semester, until you have 10-12 math courses that constitute the equivalent of a math major, or at least 6-8 courses for a math minor.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, mathematics, degree
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thread-17913
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17913
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How many graduate-level courses should one take to maximize chances of getting into graduate school? (PhD)
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2014-03-08T06:26:32.590
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# Question
Title: How many graduate-level courses should one take to maximize chances of getting into graduate school? (PhD)
This is somewhat similar in broad topic to an earlier question I've asked, but not the same. I intend on applying to interdisciplinary mathematical/computational science/engineering programs like this: https://icme.stanford.edu/ . As a result of the interdisciplinary nature, there are a lot of junior-and-senior-level courses that are relevant, and I want to take as many of these as possible so I have a good grounding for whatever more specific path I follow, within the field of computational science. However, I also know that graduate classes are looked upon favorably by many admission committees; so, should I drop some of the undergrad courses (that may be more relevant in subject matter) and take some grad ones? Because of scheduling and prerequisite issues, I would otherwise not take any graduate-level courses (or take at most one) until my senior year, by when it may not even matter in terms of admissions because some graduate programs don't look at your senior grades)
\[As a follow up to this, would it be considered a bad thing to take a undergraduate course that may be considered important or even "crucial" in the final semester of senior year - when admissions decisions are already coming out - because of taking graduate classes earlier on instead?\]
# Answer
> 7 votes
Graduate-level courses are helpful, but there isn't any magic formula that "X courses with a grade of A or A- will guarantee admission." Every case is different, and good grades are by no means sufficient for admission, if your letters of recommendation are weak.
If you're applying for a terminal master's program that is primarily coursework, then the rules are different, but for anything relying on research, your research experience and letters of recommendation will carry significant more weight than your classwork and test scores. What doing well in the graduate courses does is signify that you will be able to handle the coursework in your program, but it does not shed light on the rest of your abilities.
So my recommendation is to take graduate classes because you're interested in the subject and want to learn more about it, rather than just to impress an admissions committee.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I just received an acceptance to a very computational cognitive science program. I had a single grad-level AI course, and I doubt very seriously if they even noticed it. I don't regret taking it, it was probably my favorite course because it was very loosely structured and allowed me to develop research experience, but it was also harder than a typical undergrad class.
Basically, from my (admittedly limited) experience, I would say take as many as you can earn A's in if you want to challenge yourself, but don't do it solely for the grad apps.
# Answer
> 2 votes
You should be thinking about taking the "best" Masters courses, not the "most" courses.
So how does one define "best" courses: 1) They are courses closest your current areas of interest. 2) They are the courses most relevant to your future (projected) areas of interest 3) they are courses in which you can get the best grades.
And I'd certainly take the "crucial" undergraduate course in preference to the graduate course if "timing" is an issue.
Don't take masters courses that are "irrelevant" just for the sake of taking master's course. Take a master's course because it fits your long term needs better than equivalent bachelor's courses. Tim's experience, from another answer, "only" one master's course, just because it was of interest to him, is relevant.
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Tags: graduate-school, graduate-admissions, computer-science, mathematics, engineering
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thread-14699
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14699
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Does experience at a startup for a couple of years increase the chances of getting into a good Ph.D programme in a US university?
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2013-12-11T17:48:02.243
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# Question
Title: Does experience at a startup for a couple of years increase the chances of getting into a good Ph.D programme in a US university?
**Background:**
I'm a non-US undergrad majoring in Computer Science. I will have published a couple of research papers in a few months before I graduate, have worked on a couple of research-based academic projects, made some significant contributions to a big FOSS project, have done an internship from a small US startup, and a project in a big company (the size of Microsoft, Yahoo) - kind of a university-company mentorship. I intend to pursue my Ph.D from a US university.
**3 questions:**
1. If I join a US startup after relocating to US, work there (coding work - PHP, Python, iOS development) for a year or two before taking the GRE test and applying to MS/Ph.D programmes, will it increase my chances? I really want to work at a startup and want to found my own.
2. What if the work at the startup is based on data analysis and machine learning (along the lines of which I intend to pursue my Ph.D)?
3. Also, does having already founded a small startup (supposing I've got an investor or two too) help my chances in gaining admission? Considering I will co-found my own startup anyway someday, for sure.
# Answer
> 2 votes
The answer to all of these questions and more is going to be: Maybe.
Experience will help, but testimonial in the form of reference letters will be better. If you work at this company and it gets you a dynamite reference letter, testifying to your skill, it may help you. On the flip side, for a PhD, skill may not be sufficient--- for a PhD your research background (what you already *have*) may be much more important than the work experience.
# Answer
> 0 votes
In answer to your three questions:
1) Working at a startup shouldn't hurt, and may help your application if it supports the part about "wanting to found my own."
2) Sure, the more relevant your work is to your proposed course of study, the better (all other things equal). Just don't get trapped in a lot of "mickey mouse" work in data processing.
3) Most universities pride themselves on training "leaders" in the field, and "tech founder" (to some fundraisers) sounds like "future large alumni donor."
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Tags: phd, research-process, graduate-school, graduate-admissions, career-path
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thread-1034
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1034
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Maximizing opportunities to be admitted in top schools
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2012-04-06T13:18:20.610
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# Question
Title: Maximizing opportunities to be admitted in top schools
I did a modest undergraduate in Information Systems (3/4) and good master's in CS (3.4/4). I've PhD acceptance from a good school in Canada. However, I still need to go to top school , or at least a well-known school, in US.
I am planning to apply to top schools in CS next year (since deadlines already passed). I have done some research and got some papers accepted at good conferences. Beside getting good scores in GRE, what should I do to be well-prepared for the next year?
I am fully sponsored student by my government, how will this affect the admit decision?
# Answer
Your approach is wrong and will be a hindrance in maximizing your chances for acceptance. No school wants to accept someone who only wants to go to their school because of its ranking. You need to tailor your application to demonstrate why you want to go to the particular school. Once you have identified some schools/supervisors, ideally one of your recommendation writers can introduce you. You then need to build on that relationship. Talk to them about how your work fits in with their past and current work. As your relationship with the potential supervisors builds, figure out how they fit into the department. They will likely have the inside knowledge needed for writing a really good application.
> 11 votes
# Answer
Let's take inventory. To respond to your order of presentation, your grades are so-so, not bad enough to keep you "out," but by themselves, not good enough to be a strong recommendation.
The next thing is: "I've done some research and got some papers accepted at good conferences." That puts you "ahead of the class" and probably got you into the good Canadian university. That will probably get you into many a good American university. As an American, I'd like to see you come stateside.
Perhaps the most interesting thing you said was that you are a fully sponsored (paid) student by your government. That suggests "scholarship student" to me, perhaps the equivalent of America's "National Merit Scholar."
In your applications, to universities, talk about how their programs meet the needs of your government, and why you'd be an ideal research bridge between the two. Many American universities are looking to add geographical and cultural diversity to their mix of students. The fact that your government chose you as an "ambassador" is a factor in your favor.
> 0 votes
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions
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thread-10086
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10086
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Is there other way to get into more advanced study of math, with a low GPA?
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2013-05-20T07:57:17.947
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# Question
Title: Is there other way to get into more advanced study of math, with a low GPA?
I am a second-year undergraduate majoring in mathematics. In my first year of studies, I didn't do really well on my exams and therefore my results were not good, with a GPA at around 2. I didn't really put time into it, but when I started learning advanced probability, I found that I am interested in it and want to study more and am even thinking of doing research. Also I think I have found my way to study math as I didn't quite do before. In that semester, I got 2 A+. In my school, I heard that people who apply for a master's degree normally have a first-class honors degree. Is there another way to get into more advanced study of math, even with a low GPA?
# Answer
> 4 votes
Admissions committees (at least in the US) are generally forgiving of low grades in your first year, especially if you (and your recommendation letters) tell a compelling story about hitting your groove/finding your passion for the material in your second year. Keep your grades up, **get some undergraduate research experience**, and you'll be fine.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Basically, you have to compete with people that have a "first class honors degree."
Don't worry about the fact that you started with low grades and they (mostly) didn't. What you need to show is the fact that you are just as capable as them of making high math grades going forward.
Your two A-pluses are a good start. This may be a case of "he just found himself in his sophomore yea.r" That will at least get people to "sit up and take notice" (me, for one). The question people will ask, is something like, "is this a fluke, or can he keep it up over a whole program of study in math?
What you need is "several" more courses with As over the rest of your undergraduate program. You might take an extra course or two so that you get more As to replace your bad freshman grades. If you get to the point where people are thinking, he made "mostly As in his last ten math courses," it will do a lot to dispel concerns about your early grades.
Good luck.
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Tags: graduate-school, graduate-admissions, undergraduate, research-undergraduate
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thread-26319
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26319
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Same literature survey in first and final reports, Is it ok?
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2014-07-24T07:52:53.203
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# Question
Title: Same literature survey in first and final reports, Is it ok?
Is it considered bad to copy literature survey from 1st/initial report of the dissertation to the final report?
Does it count as self plagiarism?
Generally speaking one should include more recent researches, if any, related to the topic in the final report but what if there is only a 2-3 months period between two reports that happens for masters students in some countries (and in my case too).
# Answer
> 2 votes
In some institutions, one of the goals of the provisional report is to get the student to write something that will eventually be included in their dissertation/thesis. In this way the student feels that he or she has already made a start on the (dreaded) writing up process and therefore feels confident that - in further small, incremental steps - the rest of the document can be created.
In such cases, it would be unreasonable to consider the re-use of the literature review appearing in the provisional report in the final work as being plagiarism.
Matters may be a little different if the initial report was published in some manner, and released outside of the institution. As per one of the comments to your question so far, get your advisor's input.
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Tags: plagiarism, literature-review, self-plagiarism
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thread-26355
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26355
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How to choose a topic for a PhD in organisational behaviour?
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2014-07-25T00:39:45.133
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# Question
Title: How to choose a topic for a PhD in organisational behaviour?
I want to do phd in organisational behaviour. However, I am confused about how to chose a topic.
Beyond general strategies for choosing a topic discussed here are there any specific strategies for choosing a PhD topic in organisational behaviour?
# Answer
## Find a supervisor
A supervisor will typically help you refine your PhD topic. So the first step is to identify researchers in organisational behaviour in universities you are able to attend. It of course helps if you have an understanding of the area that you want to work in so that the supervisor can see the alignment with their research interests.
In general, organisational behaviour researchers go by a range of names and appear in a range of different departments. Look beyond organisational behaviour to also examine areas like human resource management, management, and industrial/organisational psychology. You may find such people in management departments, business schools, I/O psychology programs, as well as a range other areas.
## Get to know the literature
Read journal articles in the field to get a feel for what is current. Some of the highest impact journals related to organizational behaviour include:
1. Journal of Applied Psychology
2. Personnel Psychology
3. Academy of Management Journal
4. Academy of Management Review
5. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
6. Administrative Science Quarterly
7. Journal of Management
8. Journal of Organizational Behavior
9. Organizational Research Methods
10. Journal of Vocational Behavior
Attend major conferences to network and get to know what are the current issues. Some of the biggest conferences are SIOP and Academy of Management in the United States. However, there are many other conferences depending on your specific interests and where you are in the world. For example, Australia has an I/O psychology conference every two years.
## Learn about practical problems
Organisational behaviour is an applied field. It aims to improve the performance and well-being of workers and organisations. So, it helps to learn about the practical problems that people in organisations are experiencing.
You can gain this experience in a range of ways. But in general its helpful to actually work or consult related to your area of interest. Talk to practitioners such as consultants, managers, and so on.
> 4 votes
# Answer
The ideas suggested in your link assumes that professors have the time, are willing and are interested to refine your topic. In my view, this assumption does not hold, 99% of the time. Even if they are willing, they will try to convince you to shew towards their area of research. Before coming to that point, you need to present your argument for your area of interest and try to convince the other person. I recommend that you explore journal articles until you find a research gap in the literature reviews, findings and limitations sections. In my case, none of the professors I approached were in my field of interest. And they did not have time to talk to me nor were willing take on additional students.
Also, get to know more academics in the field by engaging with them through forums, emails, university open days, etc. They could also be useful contacts or references during the course of your study. With dedication, you are bound to achieve a breakthrough. Although a title is important, be prepared to revise it during the study period. Its findings, publication of a similar study, etc may influence the change of title.
> 0 votes
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Tags: phd
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thread-26339
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26339
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Is it acceptable to ask a professor who is not your supervisor to provide comments on your thesis draft?
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2014-07-24T18:49:32.263
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# Question
Title: Is it acceptable to ask a professor who is not your supervisor to provide comments on your thesis draft?
I want my thesis to be the best it possibly can be. My supervisor is away for one month right before my thesis submission. Is it inappropriate or poor etiquette to ask another professor in the field who has shown interest in the topic to read the paper and offer any suggestions? This other professor teaches at a different institution, and will not be part of the panel or defence process.
# Answer
If you have an existing relationship with this professor, you could ask, but be prepared to hear "sorry, I don't have time".
If this professor is a stranger to you, this is probably an unreasonable request.
> 21 votes
# Answer
I would ask the other professor, but I would phrase it in a way that makes it clear that I'm not expecting them to proofread the entire thesis. Perhaps you could say something like "You expressed an interest in my research, so I wanted to give you a draft of my thesis. Perhaps it might be of interest to you or one of your students. And of course, If you have any comments or suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them." They probably will read it and give you some comments, but they won't feel under pressure to do so.
> 9 votes
# Answer
If the other professor has expressed his interest in reading your thesis and is willing to do it, I don't see why not. It is better to have someone read your work out of interest rather than obligation. But it is also a good idea to let your supervisor know about it.
> 4 votes
# Answer
I depends what that "lack of knowledge" means:
* is it an attempt to hide the fact? Then it is fishy
* or just "I will not bother my supervisor with this".
I have been on all the sides of this situation.
As a student I did not tell my supervisor that I was showing my thesis to someone else because I knew he would not care to know and would have encouraged me to do so (to get comments, ideas, ...). He was an excellent supervisor: present and active when I needed him and siding away when I was moving full speed ahead, sometimes against his recommendations. When one of these "without his recommendation" ("against" is maybe too strong a word) turned out to be a good idea he wrote himself off the paper I was publishing (he was second author) because he said he was not convinced at the time and that I should get all the praise. I am glad I met him.
I was also asked several times to have a look at a thesis. To be frank I never thought of asking the student whether his supervisor was OK or not with that because I did not think about the possibility of being against (and the associated reason).
> 1 votes
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Tags: thesis, masters
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thread-26376
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26376
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Can I enroll in just the second year of a master's degree program in Germany?
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2014-07-25T12:10:37.083
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# Question
Title: Can I enroll in just the second year of a master's degree program in Germany?
In the french academic system, master's programs last for 2 years and one can start from the second year (if he/she fulfills the academic requirements, such as having already studied the first year or has already another master's degree in the same specialization). From what I saw in some german universities websites, master's degrees in germany last 2 years, but they don't precise whether one has the possibility to apply for an entry from the second year (if for example one has already a master's degree in the same field). Is it possible to join from the second year?
# Answer
The best way to answer your question is to explain that it's a two-step process:
1. First, you need to be admitted to the master's program. If you're coming in as an international student, this can be in and of itself very difficult, particularly if you are applying to what is known as a "consecutive" master's degree program, for which the usual prerequisite is a bachelor's degree **in the same field from a German university**. If you are coming from a different field, or from outside Germany, you need to have the university recognize and accept your credentials as substantially equivalent to the bachelor's degree in question.
2. After you have gained admission, you can then proceed to establish that courses you have taken are equivalent to the master's courses offered in the degree program of interest. Normally this has to be approved by the instructor of **each** course you're interested in getting "transfer credit" for.
Thus, you won't be admitted into the "second year" or "semester *n*" of a given master's program, but you can get the equivalent credit, which will thus shorten your overall time-to-degree accordingly.
> 7 votes
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Tags: masters, university, academic-life, germany
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thread-25988
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/25988
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What does it mean by "Follow-up Masters"?
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2014-07-16T15:08:10.580
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# Question
Title: What does it mean by "Follow-up Masters"?
I see various universities in Czech Republic and Netherlands offer a type of Masters degree called "Follow-up Masters".
What does "Follow-up Masters" actually mean?
# Answer
> 4 votes
I can't speak for the Czech system, but in the Netherlands a follow-up master is a master program specifically designed for students who completed a certain bachelor program.
All students who graduated from that bachelor program (and selected similar programs at other Dutch universities) are accepted into the master automatically. If you did not graduate from one of these bachelor programs (for example, because you studied abroad), you have to apply to the university for a certificate of admission *(bewijs van toelating)*. In that case, the university decides whether you can be admitted anyway, can be admitted after following a so-called homologation program<sup>1</sup>, or cannot be admitted.
One reason these programs exist is that the introduction of the bachelor-master system in the Netherlands is quite recent (2002). Before, universities offered longer (~5-year) programs that resulted in a degree comparable to a Masters. With the introduction of the new system, many universities simply split their existing programs into a bachelor program (typically 3 years) and a "follow-up" master program (1-2 years).
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<sup>1</sup> The University of Twente describes homologation courses as:
> Homologation courses (bridging courses) are advanced bachelor courses that you will have to follow if they contain essential knowledge for your master’s programme. \[...\] The courses depend on the chosen specialization and they have been selected by the Admission Committee.
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Tags: masters
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thread-26396
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26396
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Cambridge Dress Code
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2014-07-25T18:53:25.837
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# Question
Title: Cambridge Dress Code
I've got an admission to Cambridge University and have been asked to attend an afternoon tea event at my future college, it is a matriculation event. In contrast to all other invitations there has been no reference towards the expected dress code.
Are there any implicit/explicit expectations on what to wear as a female attendant? In many pictures I saw people wearing hats to such an occasion. Is it compulsory?
Thank you for any answers and your help.
# Answer
I think a hat would be overdoing it. Men will typically wear chinos, a collared shirt and a jacket to such things. Ladies have somewhat more choice: perhaps a dress, or smart trousers and a nice jumper. Colleges vary; some are smarter than others!
Ultimately, the most important thing is to be comfortable - the point of the reception is to meet people and make new friends, so you want to feel as relaxed as possible! So don't feel you have to dress up unduly if that's not your style.
> 6 votes
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Tags: university, etiquette, outward-appearance
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thread-26370
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26370
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Exact results found, but not reported
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2014-07-25T10:46:16.657
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# Question
Title: Exact results found, but not reported
I am writing a physics paper, and I have decided not to write down explicit equations I have found since they are incredibly long. Instead I just report plots showing the behaviour resulting from these equations.
Is it deprecable to say something like the following?
> We have found analytic results, but we do not report them here for sake of brevity.
# Answer
> 21 votes
Idealistically, a paper should aspire to contain all the information required for reproducing its empirical results and verifying its deductive results with reasonable effort. Just writing the suggested sentence, however, does not allow for this, as someone would have to redo your work on finding those equations from scratch.
This may drastically reduce the usefulness of your paper, as it unnecessarliy increases the amount of work other people have to put in using your results and decreases their perceived soundness (see Fermat’s Last Theorem for an extreme example). This may also be harmful from an egoistical point of view as it does not improve your popularity amongst others in your field and you may receive less citations.
Depending on how exactly your equations were derived and look like, the following ways to include or not include them may be appropriate:
* > From \[equations derived in the paper\] we can obtain closed solutions for \[variables\] using \[standard technique or computer algebra system\], which we use in the following.
* > From \[equations derived in the paper\], we obtain closed solutions for \[variables\] (see Appendix X).
* If the target journal does not allow for appendices and has a content limit (in which case it will usually be a letter journal), the following may be acceptable:
> From \[equations derived in the paper\] we derived analytical results for \[variables\]. For brevity’s sake, these results are not given here and will be published elsewhere.
Something similar may also be appropriate if you are publishing in a journal of another discipline, e.g., you are publishing in a medical journal as your equations are relevant for an imaging technique.
Either way, it should go without saying that publishing the results elsewhere should be a realistic endeavour and actually be intended. Also, if you are not giving too much away, it would be better in terms of soundness and acceptance to actually publish your analytical work first.
As always, you will likely get a better answer from someone familiar with your work and field, such as your supervisor.
# Answer
> 5 votes
You might want to consider attaching a Mathematica notebook to the arxiv submission, which is something I've been seeing relatively often lately.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Can you add an appendix to the paper? If not, I think whether it is reasonable to add the statement you proposed depends on how central the analytical results are to the findings in your paper.
If the result isn't important, I think what you propose is fine.
If the analytical result is crucial, then you need to think very carefully about making the result available to a reader -- maybe an extended version of the manuscript on arxiv? Or on your website?
# Answer
> 1 votes
I was in a somewhat similar position some time ago and decided against publishing the analytical results, since they were too long. Essentially, I was solving a linear system of equations with Mathematica, which can produce horribly long equations, which are hard to analyze any further. Also, computers might actually be faster in solving the initial linear system numerically, then evaluating long arithmetic equations. For these reasons, I did not stress that I could have written down the solution in analytical terms in the paper. I just gave the linear system and said that we produced the plot from its solutions.
In summary, I doubt that the result is crucial, when the analytical equations are several pages long. That being said, if you can make the equations available (preferably in some electronic version, since nobody is gonna type them into a computer), that is certainly a good solution.
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Tags: publications, writing, paper-submission
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thread-778
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/778
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Should I stay in school?
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2012-03-17T00:03:00.400
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# Question
Title: Should I stay in school?
I am most of the way through my freshman year at Washington State University, pursuing a BS in Computer Science. Going away to school has been rough, and I have been pretty depressed for most of the time there. Right now, I am leaning towards not wanting to continue my education, but my parents are strongly opposed.
## Why I don't think I need college
One of the main factors that is pushing me away from school is the fact that I already spend plenty of time working on my own software projects. On my own, I have gained extensive knowledge and experience with web application development, using platforms that are far too new to have a undergraduate class that teaches them. These are platforms used in real workplaces and production software, and I would not gain these skills in school.
Second, I have lost a lot of faith in my school after seeing so much incompetency from people who are meant to be educating me. The professors outsource a majority of their work to their TA's, who I feel I know more than. My Computer Science class is really just an entourage of TA's parroting the words of the professor, with embarrassingly little of their own understanding.
Another big reason is that for 10 weeks this summer, I will be travelling to Silicon Valley to take part in a 'startup accelerator program'. This is a program where already-established tech entrepreneurs and investors help people who are new to the game with building their product and starting their company. At the end of the 10 weeks, investors decide how much they want to put into each company, in exchange for some equity. Of the companies that go through these kinds of programs, a very high amount succeed. I feel that if the developers I am working with and I do well here (no, it is not guaranteed that we will make money), college is pointless for me.
## What college is like for me now
College has been hard for me. Not because I am not capable of understanding the material, and not because I don't have enough time to get all my work done. I have been suffering in my classes because instead of going to class or finishing assignments, I work on my own projects.
Of course, if I forced myself to put time and effort into this work, I would achieve satisfactorily. However, that is much easier said than done.
In order to start caring about school, I would need to drop all my other software side-projects (or at least greatly limit the time I spend on them). Essentially, this is a choice, and right now I will always pick my own projects over school.
## Do I really need school?
After all that I have seen about the limited job market (even for degree-holders) and all that I have experienced in school, I am really questioning whether I need to stay in school. Convince me whether or not I really need a BS, or any other advice you can give about the subject.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and answer this. I normally feel bad taking time away from other people for my own benefit, but this is a major life-decision, and I cannot properly come to consensus on my own.
# Answer
I know from all too personal experience that it the easiest thing in the world to say "I could totally ace these assignments if I tried, but I can't be bothered to try." Talk is cheap. You may be different, but when I said stuff like that I was completely deluding myself.
You may be being too hard on your profs and TAs. CS departments generally don't cover specific development platforms in their classes because platforms come and go, sometimes in a shockingly short period of time. A good CS department is going to try to educate you in the foundations of CS and software engineering. Stuff that is not in the tech headlines now, but is more likely to still be relevant 10 years from now. Still, it may be that they aren't very good, in which case the solution is not necessarily to drop out, but to find a better department.
That said, if you aren't applying yourself in school, and aren't getting much out of it, then you probably should't be in school. However, if you are not going to be in school, you still have to move forward with your life. You can't just hop on the bus back home and let your parents support you. The accelerator sounds great, but it's a roll of the dice, so you need a backup plan. The obvious choices are joining the military and finding a job. I've never been in the military so I can't advise you about that. If you find a job that pays all your expenses, then your parents may be upset, but they can't really stop you. They probably will be less upset with you if you have a job in hand as you announce that you are leaving school. If you can't find a job that will support you, then that's a pretty critical piece of information, and it means you've either got to suck it up in school or join the military.
My suggestion would be to completely put aside your personal projects for the rest of the year. Focus on your schoolwork, and prove you aren't just blowing smoke, when you say you could excel at it. Prove it. At the end of the school year, start looking for a job. If you find a job that will pay all your living expenses, or if your accelerator works out, then take a leave of absence. If you prosper in your job or startup, great. If it doesn't work out or seems like a dead end you can go back to school. If you really want to pursue your projects as an entrepreneur, then live on Ramen, save every penny, and bankroll yourself for a couple of years.
> 55 votes
# Answer
> I am most of the way through my freshman year.... Going away to school has been rough, and I have been pretty depressed for most of the time there.
This strikes me as the most important part of your question. I strongly encourage you to find help with your depression before you make a decision. Talk with your faculty mentors, with friends, and with family. Take advantage of your university's student counseling services. Transitioning into adulthood is *hard*, whether you do it in school or out; you don't have do it alone.
> 34 votes
# Answer
I worked as a software engineer for a number of years before I decided to pursue a full-time BS in CS. Getting a degree is one of the best decisions I ever made.
Given that it sounds like you already have a fair grasp on the principles of programming, it's not surprising that you haven't learned much in your first year. But that will quickly change! More advanced classes like Artificial Intelligence, Formal Language Theory, and Datastructures & Algorithms are very interesting. In retrospect, the things I learned in those classes would have been immensely useful in both my side projects and my previous professional work as a software engineer. They're also the types of things that would be incredibly hard to teach one's self outside of a classroom setting.
Also, remember that your professors are experts in very deep and specific areas in their sub-disciplines. They're about as interested in teaching intro.-level CS classes as you are in taking them. But once you start taking more advanced classes, you'll notice a much greater interest from the professors because they're teaching the state-of-the-art on the area in which they're specifically interested and expert.
As others have already noted, it also depends on what type of job you ultimately want. If you want to start your own company and you already have all of the skills you need to do that, then a degree might be a waste of time. If your dream is to work at a company like Google or Facebook, though, that will definitely not be the case. I interviewed at a number of companies—including Google—after I graduated, and I can tell you that I would have never passed the technical interviews without what I learned at University.
Therefore, I'd say give it at least another year. Talk to your academic advisors first and explain your situation. Talk to some professors who are teaching more advanced classes and see if you can get them to waive the prerequisites so you can take them earlier. Alternatively, universities often let you audit classes (*i.e.*, sit in on the lectures for little or no credit without having to do the homework or take the exams). I'd recommend sitting in on some of the more advanced classes to get a taste of the light at the end of the tunnel.
> 29 votes
# Answer
(From my iPhone, please excuse typos)
It appears from my position that getting a BS is becoming more important as time goes on. Many large/midsized companies won't even look at candidates without a degree. (I have been around over 30 years working in startups to multinationals.)
It could be that you aren't mature enough yet for college. Maturity can manifest itself in many ways. One in particular is the idea that something long and difficult is not needed. This kind of rationalization needs to be studied long and hard before acting on it.
I would suggest staying in school and getting that degree. If you decide otherwise, then get a leave of absence from school for one year. This saves your place without having to reapply. You should also check a number of companies to determine their entrance criteria. You will see that the industry is maturing and that your competition is jumping through the hoops in order to sustain their careers.
Finally, do as others have suggested, put the side projects away and start getting a good deal of As on tests/homework to be sure that you aren't just competent in CS.
Good luck and keep the faith.
> 20 votes
# Answer
> Should I stay in school?
# No
You're a big boy now and can make your own decisions. As condescending as that sounds, it's the simple truth. If you get a job and find a place to live, you will be just like the majority of people in the world who don't have a college degree, but are self sufficient.
American high schools tend to bully students into applying to college because it's The Right Thing To Do™, whether or not you have any interest in learning something that can actually be taught at college. We have a serious lack of skilled labor, and learning to weld is better done as an internship/apprenticeship than as an Associates where you only focus on the *theory* of welders.
Programming can be the same; having a mentor instead of a professor can get you on track to making money sooner, without the large bills associated with a 4-year program. Long term, however, your salary will probably be lower than someone who has a college degree.
# But don't quit either
If your parents are encouraging you to continue college, and are helping you through it financially they should be receptive to the idea of you taking a moment to step back from academia to reassess your abilities, life goals, and options. If they're *not* helping you through it financially, then they don't have the right to decide how you spend your money (beyond paying for rent if you're living with them).
To most graduating highschoolers, I recommend taking some time off from learning. One year flipping burgers turns out to be a really strong motivator to get back into academia, and also gives a sense of perspective that most college freshman tend to lack.
If you decide *yes, I need a degree* you should then focus on finding a college that suits your personality. Don't just go for the big college because they have expensive new equipment; if you can connect with an experienced professor early on in your academic career, you will find yourself on stronger footing. If you don't like your classes, professors and TAs, continuing your college education at that particular school only serves to give away free money.
# Unless you want to
If you decide *no, I don't need a degree* you should then focus on building up your skill set while you still have a strong family safety-net. Join a company that's working on stuff that you find interesting. You might need to start as a part-time unpaid intern working 60 hours a week between a job that pays and a job that teaches. Either way, success isn't easy.
If it costs `$20,000/year` for `4` years to earn a BS, you're spending `$80,000`, assuming you complete the degree in 4 years. If you've got the drive, you could start a small business with a small portion of those funds.
And remember that failure is always an option. It's ok to fail. You don't learn from getting things right, you learn from getting them wrong.
> 14 votes
# Answer
TL;DR:
```
If you want to learn things you would never be exposed to otherwise
and actually have some grokness without strings attached:
Stay in school, but deliberately seek difficult courses on old-fashioned
topics such as compiler design, operating systems, electrical engineering
media fabrication (actually way cool), graph theory, set theory, etc.
Elif you just want a paycheck for the next few years working in some cool
framework or other flavor-of-the-week:
Drop out *in good standing* and get a job in some startup company with
the prior knowledge that it will fail, and if it doesn't a little
success will transform the place you liked into a place you don't, and
if not then you will eventually go from solving trivial problems you do
know how to solve to solving non-trivial problems you lack the grokpower
to tackle because you neglected to pay your intellectual dues.
Else:
Change major, because this stuff just isn't for you, and I can't bear to
knowingly recommend that someone of obvious intelligence relegate
themselves to being another member in the Mole Man Army.
```
There are some interesting responses here; I can only tell you what I have experienced myself. What follows is a huge digression, but one that will hopefully illustrate the fact that you can't know the future, opportunity is entirely random, and old-fashioned hard work (often academic in nature) is the only way to satisfy the "preparedness" part of the luck/genius equation.
I got involved in phreaking and computers when I was quite young, wrote quite a bit of useful software as a kid, never did homework but aced all my tests in school, did well in sports by hiding my inner geek from the rest of the team, etc. I was (and still am) obsessed with the idea of eventually starting my own computing services (hardware, software, everything) company. I studied a lot on my own on subjects not taught in my school and my grades (ironically) sometimes suffered from it. An emotional/social rift opened between me and the idea of school, me viewing it as worthless, the system viewing me as a misfit. Probably not entirely different from you, though the threads of the tapestry no doubt differ.
Recognizing this wasn't a sustainable situation I requested that my father send me to a military school so I could be forced into a regimented program. I wound up attending a great military high school where the high school classes were taught by the same faculty as the college classes and learned a great deal about myself, the world, and the nature of opportunity. I also learned just how amazing great educators can be -- a lesson that didn't stick until a decade of reflection had passed. I also decided to not attend college against the advice of my mentors and advisers. My parents, however, let me do whatever I thought best.
My family is a bit plain: if I fail they won't help me because I've proven that I was a bad egg; if I succeed, however, I will be celebrated and given responsibility. I thought this terribly cold when I was younger, but have come to realize this is how the successful parts of the world work, except in the real world there is a strong chance nobody will subsidize your food or shelter (and if someone does it is usually a sign of an impending systemic failure). Though this has seen me in a few tight situations I have to say it has taught me a lot, and if my siblings and our general family relationship are any indication, it seems to work amazingly well.
I didn't land an awesome programming job after turning down university acceptance letters. I got interested in the larger world and spent almost the next two decades traveling, teaching (yeah, weird), or in this or that military (most recently involved in the whole GWOT thing, first in the Army, then in a few different contract organizations). My ultimate goal of running a computing company was always in the back of my mind, but the time was never right and I was so involved in other things it just seemed like a different world.
Until I got out. Now I have started that company, things are finally beginning to pick up (after a long dry stretch, survivable mostly because of the community surrounding my ex-military relationships), and I can see a tiny bit of light at the end of this long, extremely difficult, *lonely* tunnel.
Which brings me back to school and my not having been exposed to much of it. Because I didn't go to school I didn't even know there were canonical references to a huge set of problem spaces. I didn't know how freaking important it was to learn the precise differences between analog and digital data before trying to solve a really expensive customer problem that requires a customized hardware solution (and before you think that is a simple difference, go study up on it). I didn't really understand that the hyped frameworks are basically giant cake-sacks of leaky abstractions which fail the moment a new real-world requirement is thrown at them (usually something innocuous, like a customer saying "in the next version, we *really* need screen X to show Y" -- and of course you, not realizing how scary a statement that is, simply say "sure!"). I had no idea how prolific operating systems are, or how fleeting their lives in the market. I didn't understand exactly how software is the thing that lets us emulate different machines within other hardware machines, and why that nugget of esoteric knowledge is so incredibly central to everything I will likely be doing for the next few decades of my life (and I say "life", not "career", deliberately). I hadn't even matured enough as a programmer to develop a healthy baseline disdain for all programming languages.
But I also realize now, after having interviewed and hired people, that most schools simply do not teach the things that need to be taught, and most people are simply too dull to grok the things I need them to grok and would have failed out of the courses I wish they had attended. And that sucks.
So looking at it from the other side of the table, I would urge you to *not* go on a 20-year action adventure as I did (unless that's your thing; I have no regrets) but not simply "stay in school" for the sake of getting some worthless paper that conveys nothing about your actual potential to a prospective employer such as myself. Instead I would urge you to seek out the hardest, most difficult low-level *and* high-level courses you can find that deal with computing. This may require that you achieve decent grades in some courses now to be eligible for the interesting stuff later, which may simply be the universe giving you a lesson in humility and due-paying (hint: it is easier to control your own expectations about life than to control the outcome of each phase of it).
You'll never "finish" in this field, so what you should seek is a strong foundation in leading concepts and underlying principles. You'll do a lot of learning/discovery by composing new ideas from seemingly unrelated concepts you've picked up by way of association with stellar people in your studies, but long after the base ideas were acquired. Being in a good comp-sci or engineering department is one of a very few ways of guaranteeing that you will constantly be exposed to such people. I view this as one of the most important elements of official schooling, and something online education will probably never be able to replicate (and hence I view resumes full of online degrees with suspicion; actually, I have my minions black out those lines before I get the resume if they think the rest of it is worthy).
But all of this is dependent on your goals, of course, which is why I wrote the if-elif-else clause above. I might be misjudging you, but I can easily imagine myself writing a very similar question two decades ago on Usenet, and wish someone would have written this sort of post out then (come to think of it, I may have had just such a conversation back then, and disregarded the advice as I was so wont to do).
> 9 votes
# Answer
There are many answers already but I'll add one more for future generations looking for an answer to a very important question.
I've worked with a lot of people who either dropped out of university or never went so they could focus on working writing software. In general, they've done pretty well. Some have difficulties recently because they were bad at managing their money but they made A LOT because they were following their dream and worked 80 hours per week on their dream. This accumulated effort built into a very solid skill-set which was in very high demand from employers. Some started software companies, some just consulted. All ended up making a lot of money (not all of them kept it).
I think programming for the business world is a bit different from other academic pursuits. In my experience (having consulted to the very large, the very small, and everything in between), businesses really care about one thing: How can you make me money. Academics care about much more. So, if you want to write software for the business world and you don't see the benefit in university, then forget it. You can always go back.
All that said, an education is always a good idea. Of course, you don't have to get your education formally, it can be on your own, but a formal education is cared about by some...but in business, people generally care more about your ability to make them money.
If you want to be conservative/safe, then you should stick it out in school. However, since you're young, roll the dice and prepare to pick up the pieces in case it doesn't work out. Don't give up on your dreams. Dreams drive us to put in more effort and to learn more and that is where the fun is.
> 8 votes
# Answer
My 2cts, do note that I have a number of degrees, so I might be biased towards getting degrees :).
Getting a degree shows that;
* You have acquired some technical skills (algorithms, software design, data structures), and skills how to learn new things. Ofcourse, you can get these outside an official school, but a degree shows that after a few years a (relatively) objective source (the school) says that you have these skills. Unless you have developed some groundbreaking piece of software that everyone knows, it is hard to convince a potential employer that you really can do what you say.
* you can finish something you started. Getting a degree takes three years of work and perseverance, more if you go for an MSc or PhD.
> 4 votes
# Answer
Exactly I had the same feeling like you except in a 3rd world country. The school was bad, professors were not teaching properly and I also had a good income by doing freelance jobs. But when time passes and when you reach upper division courses you will want to stick to school. At least this was how it happened to me and now I want to continue with grad school to further get involved with the field.
> 3 votes
# Answer
Formal education is more and more overrated in the current fast-paced world.
And especially in IT, were they are less traditional and more meritocratic than virtually anywhere else. They care more for you experience that your academic degree (or lack of it). And more years doing coursework means less years gaining real experience (unless the courses are really great *and* you can benefit from them).
Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg may be only a few stellar examples. There are many programmers at any levels who dropped out because of their start-ups... or even regular jobs.
However, there are good and bad reasons for leaving studies (there was a list somewhere but someone clearly more competent than me). Good when you see that the university is stealing your valuable time from your job/start-up. When you currently have no, then it may be not the best idea.
Some random links:
> 2 votes
# Answer
In spite of the large monetary and time cost of getting a college degree in CS, I believe that it is still a good idea to get your degree. The main reason (to me) that a college degree is valuable is that in order to get a degree, you must learn the critical skill of **self-regulation**. Regardless of your future employment, there will be times when your work is going to be boring, but nevertheless the boring work needs to be completed for you to move forward in your life. Are you able to discipline yourself in order to do what needs to be done rather than what you want to do?
Another useful workplace skill that you can develop during college is how to organize your time, how to work in teams, and how to juggle multiple classes + projects + assignments.
Finally, another way to look at this decision is in terms of maximizing your minimum level of achievement.
* If you achieve good grades at school or quit school now, it may hurt your chances of getting a job at Google or Facebook in the future. So you may regret this decision if your future desires/circumstances change.
* Conversely, if you go to school, you would find yourself slightly more qualified (by being certified as having a degree) than you would be without a degree. Your worst job offer with a good degree is probably at least as good as your worst job offer if you drop out of school now.
In the language of optimization, getting a good degree is a more "robust" strategy.
> 2 votes
# Answer
You should stay in school if you enjoy being in an academic environment. College isn't just a path for a career. It's about engaging with others, collaborating in projects, making connections.
> 0 votes
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Tags: undergraduate, education
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thread-17658
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17658
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Is it ethical to apply different criteria for graduate admissions based on country of undergraduate study?
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2014-03-03T04:31:12.380
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# Question
Title: Is it ethical to apply different criteria for graduate admissions based on country of undergraduate study?
We have undertaken a small statistical study of M.S. students in our department, including their application information and their eventual performance in our program. The goal is to develop criteria for making admissions decisions for new applicants based on their likelihood of success in our program (as predicted by the performance of recent, similar students). I won't get into the details of the methodology.
One outcome of this study was that different attributes predict success for students with undergrad degrees from different countries. For example, for applicants to the program from schools in country X, but not schools in country Y, undergrad GPA is correlated with the students' GPA in our program; for schools in country Y, but not X, GRE scores are correlated with the student's GPA in our program. (I'm simplifying a lot here.) A "toy" example I just *completely made up* to illustrate is shown below:
(of course, for real applicants the criteria and the relationships are more complicated)
There are many possible reasons for this: for example, we could think that the grading system is more consistent in X so undergrad GPA is a better predictor there, and in X students study "for the exam" so the GRE becomes virtually meaningless as a measure of knowledge. I could speculate, but I don't think it would be helpful. The bottom line is, we find that different factors predict student success among different populations.
Therefore, if we wanted to admit students based on their likelihood of achieving a certain GPA in our program, we would apply an undergrad GPA cutoff for students from X, and a GRE threshold for students from Y. (Again, this is vastly simplified from the criteria our study actually suggested.)
**Is it fair to apply different criteria to students with undergrad degrees from different countries in admissions decisions?**
Does the answer change if this would significantly skew the admissions decisions in favor of a particular country of undergrad study (because statistically, applicants to our program whose undergrad degrees are from X have done much better than those with undergrad degrees from Y).
My concern is that we're effectively saying, "Students with undergrad degrees from Y with a GRE score \< T will be rejected, but students with undergrad degrees from X with GRE \< T may still be considered for admission (pending other criteria)."
On the other hand, if we ignore these statistics and reject students with undergrad degrees from X with low GRE scores, we are rejecting applicants even though we have no valid reason to believe that they won't do well in our program.
**To those who doubt the results of the study:**
* When I say the study is "small" I don't mean it isn't statistically significant - just that it was not designed to be generalizable beyond our applicant pool. (This is the same reason why I won't give too many details about the study - I don't want anybody to read it and try to generalize from our results.)
* As we know, the sample size is not the only factor that determines whether a given effect is significant. We found that the results are significant, given the sample size.
* The results also seem "sane" (which of course is subjective). It's not unexpected that undergraduate grading standards (and the standard-ness of grading standards) differ by country; or that different educational systems and cultures prepare students differently for standardized exams like the GRE and TOEFL; etc. The specifics of the results (i.e., which criteria are good predictors for which undergrad country) are consistent with what students who studied in those countries have told us about grading standards, student culture, and exam prep. So, we really have no reason to doubt them.
# Answer
> 12 votes
You asked an ethical question and got a lot of scientific, legal, and political answers.
Ethically, you should:
1. Do your best to admit people based on merit.
2. Be open about your policies.
3. Make a serious and competent effort to ensure that your statistical methods are valid logically and empirically, and that they can withstand scrutiny from people who are experts in the field.
4. Carefully consider the historical legacy of racism, colonialism, and nationalism, and work hard to make sure that you aren't inadvertently reinforcing this legacy.
Your behavior so far is probably far more ethical than that of most people in your position, since most such people are probably secretive about their practices (you publicly asked for advice) and probably apply various heuristics without carefully considering whether those heuristics could withstand professional scrutiny.
You might want to expand this small, informal, unpublished, nonprofessional study into something more serious and systematic, done by people who have expertise in psychometrics and the (very difficult) methodological issues of the social sciences.
You are unfortunately operating within real-world constraints imposed by (1) the existence of countries where GRE scores are fraudulent, and (2) the existence of countries with such poor undergraduate education that undergraduate GPAs don't mean much.
# Answer
> 15 votes
I'm going to advise against.
* You say your sample size is small. And honestly, unless you hired a professional statistician, I have doubt the analysis was carried out properly or shows exactly what you think it shows. Good statistics are hard to do.
* Assuming my google results are truthful, National Origin is a Protected Class in the US. You can't discriminate against people because of it. I assume this is an american institution as you talk about GRE, but similar applies in other places. **EDIT: OP has since clarified a misunderstanding of mine - the judgement is based not on the student's country of origin, but the country of the school they attended, which makes me less certain this point still applies.**
* You're department is actually, seriously proposing to say to people "Sorry, while you have the same official qualifications as another candidate we accepted, we're rejecting you because of your country of origin"? I mean, really? Whoa. Just stop and play back how this kind of justification would sound in almost any other circumstance. Think about how the *press* will make it sound when they (inevitably) get wind of it.
**SUBSEQUENT EDIT**
So, this question interested me, and I've bounced it off a couple of other people in my lab. Their main concern seemed to be that grouping by country was just to coarse a measurement, as every country has its own mix of good and bad schools. The basic idea, though, didn't seem to elicit the same gut reaction as it did from me.
Moreover, I've googled and found at least two examples of courses that vary their requirements based on country of origin, so there is precedent:
https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/for/international-students/is-entry-requirements/is-minimum-overseas-entry-requirements.html
http://sydney.edu.au/business/futurestudents/postgraduate\_study/pg\_coursework\_studies#app\_req
So maybe I've got this wrong, and should just be ignored. At any rate I'm no longer sure it's quite so clear cut.
# Answer
> 11 votes
I was waiting and hoping that @JeffE would expand his comment, since I share the opinion he expressed there, and moreover I think he is far more qualified to give advice on the subject. (Quite possibly, if he decides to expand his comment to an answer that has better facts and arguments than what I am about to offer, I will delete my answer).
*DISCLAIMER: I do not know either where you are, what the laws are like there, or if your final decision can have any legal repercussions. I advise seeking legal counsel for any questions of that sort.*
I think **it if fine to have different criteria for students that obtained their undergrads in different countries** (and/or in different institutions), as long **as you can ensure the criteria are fair**.
Now, how to approach ensuring that the criteria are fair, I have no idea, but I definitely know that if in some countries the GPA is indicative of a person who has potential as a researcher, in some countries it is simply not (I for example did my Masters in Croatia, and I know both people with around 3/5 GPA that made excellent PhD candidates and people with a perfect 5/5 GPA that I do not think would be capable of much independent thinking that were happy to take jobs where they have strictly defined output they have to produce and no research to speak of).
I have two different examples of using "different" criteria in the admission process, but unfortunately both of them are for the wrong level of study:
* First one is about undergrad admissions to my former Computer Science Faculty\* in Croatia. While the big majority of the candidates take a standardized test and are admitted based on that, a small amount of students (maybe 1%, maybe even much less) are *invited*.
These invitations work as such: the Faculty regularly does a continuous performance study on the previous invitees according to their High schools, as well as (I assume), overall performance of students from different High schools. Each year, a number of invites is extended to High schools, who can then "award" their students with those invites.
Based on the performance study and possibly High school size, some schools get a larger number of invites (up to 5, I think), while some get only 1 invite or even none.
And, actually, I think it's fair. E.g. the strong mathematical High schools will get the most invites (those are the schools "prepping" their students for technical studies after all), strong general schools would get some, and weak schools would get none. And still everything would be re-evaluated year after year. Also, additionally, nobody still loses their fair chance to enroll: this "invited" students make less than 1% of the enrolled students, while everybody can still take the standardized test.
* The second example is about the interview for a PhD position / pre-PhD internship.
Recently, a permanent professor from my lab started looking for a person to hire for an internship with a strong chance of offering them a PhD upon the completion of the internship. I mentioned that my ex supervisor used to supervise people with a similar profile to what was required, and that I could ask him weather he has somebody interested (and good enough) to apply.
When he received the preliminary application documentation, he asked me to comment on the profile because he was not familiar with the Croatian University system at all. I said that good grades were *usually* indication of a good student, but bad grades do not have to be an indication of a *bad* student.
There was also some other points in the CV adding value to his application, not directly obvious to somebody non-Croatian. After talking to an ex post-doc of his (who worked a bit with the applicant), the professor decided to interview with the student.
A few days later, he told me that based on the interview, he offered the applicant a position. He also told me that *he would most probably not interview a person with that profile*, if not for what me and his Croatian ex-post doc said about the "interpretation" of the profile.
I agree with both these cases. The ("absolute") criteria is indeed not the same for everybody. But still, in both these cases, the goal was to be fair, to base the decision on the applicants abilities, and finally **to judge the applicants abilities and potential "on the same scale" for all applicants**, just based on different information that was available, finally causing different "absolute" criteria.
<sup>\*In Croatia, the Universities are not wholesome entities, and all the administrative decisions are made on the level of the Faculty. There is no identification of students with the Uni in Croatia; if you ask a Croatian studying "at home" where he is studying, he is going to provide the information about his Faculty.</sup>
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**ADDITION**. I wanted to add that, despite what any statistical research might show, **if students from different countries have the *same, internationally standardized tests*, then I think making a different criterion would be wrong.**
Maybe, for the country X, those tests are not good indicator because students get prepped exactly for those types of exams, but there just might be a few students who learned the material in the "proper way" (as do the majority of students from the country Y), who might get rejected for no real reason.
So, bottom line, I think
* **studying, and then declaring your own criteria to interpret *different* (non-standardized) national grading schemes is fine** (*even* if they use the same scale "on the outside" -- e.g. two countries which both have a national standard grading schemes on a scale 1 to 5)
* but, **if a criterion is based on an internationally standardized exam, that same criterion should be used with everybody where applicable** (e.g. everybody who took that standardized exam).
As a compromise-suggestion, I think it would be fine to say that you accept all students from everywhere if their score is *extremely high* (e.g. \>95%), and all the students with *medium-to-high* scores (e.g. between 75% and 95%) will be considered based on additional criteria (where you can introduce personal interviews, standardized test from your institution, personal research statement + recommendation letters)...
*Edit2:* ***This opinion was supported*** *when I talked to* ***a person with a background in law*** *(not in academia thou).*:
The final verdict was: interpreting criteria that are initially different (e.g. GPA) differently is OK, but if something is standardized on an international level, it would only be OK to either take it in to account equally for everybody, or not at all. (purposefully using OK instead of "allowed" or "lawful" since I don't know the laws at your place). With a note that, unfortunately, *What is lawful and what is just and fair is sadly not always the same.*
# Answer
> 10 votes
I don't think it has to be bad. GRE is a measurement of how good you are at doing exams, and not necessarily the most relevant kind to your graduate work. Some universities and education systems are very good at making people excel at set fixed format exams; but they don't teach them how to think by themselves and be creative.
In my opinion, GRE is a very biased measurement in itself, and it is not very well designed (just look at the ridiculous maths part). Also, it is based on a lot of fairly simple exercises, whereas in some universities, we are used to completely different kind of exam: a few long and complicated exercises, and perhaps don't have the ability to work fast enough in simple and repetitive tasks.
# Answer
> 7 votes
I think the underlying questions are (ought to be) first, whether it is fair to reject a student because you cannot accurately measure their potential to do well in the program; and second, if you can perform equally accurate measurements on two groups as long as you use different criteria, is it okay to do so?
Answering the second question first: I think the answer is "yes". The reason is made apparent by advocating the alternate view: should you take students who are likely to do poorly simply because you fail to apply a more sophisticated measurement? That seems pretty boneheaded, and not very fair to the best students. You should leave the analysis up to computers, as they are good at this sort of thing and impartial, but it's a good idea if you can implement it. Don't forget, though, that data on whether a score distinguishes students within your program does not tell you about whether it helped you reject students that didn't make it in! So you should be skeptical but open to the idea if that's where the data leads.
The first question could be rephrased as: "if I know I'm not getting a good sense of some students, can I just ignore them all?". And that guides my advice there: no, that is not fair. Find a way to do your job better--to get more information so that you can get a good sense of these students, or just accept that you would rather make mistakes in acceptance than find a way to do better on your predictions.
Putting these two together: if you have equal statistical power across groups when subdividing one population, then great! Use the information. But if you end up with one group better-measured than the other, you should only apply different criteria if you can show that students who are great and do all the right things in their less-measured context still have a shot at being admitted.
(Also, simple thresholds for individual scores, e.g. "We only take people with GREs above X" are rarely a smart way to run admissions unless those thresholds are set amazingly low. You should be thresholding an overall score to get the top N students, so you'd be applying different weights for GRE in one context vs. another.)
# Answer
> 3 votes
I would argue that you are interpreting your data incorrectly and using the results in an unethical and discriminatory way. Your model is not identifying groups of individuals who should not be accepted, but rather groups of individuals that require additional support so that they can reach the full potential predicted by their past performance.
Consider the following example: For a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with ability or commitment, women have historically been less likely to become full professors in STEM fields than men. To reject female applicants base on a model that captures this historical effect is completely unethical. What the model would show is that female applicants need additional support to maximize their potential (e.g., flexible working hours and mentoring).
# Answer
> 1 votes
> Does the answer change if this would significantly skew the admissions decisions in favor of a particular country of undergrad study (because statistically, applicants to our program whose undergrad degrees are from X have done much better than those with undergrad degrees from Y).
>
> My concern is that we're effectively saying, "Students with undergrad degrees from Y with a GRE score \< T will be rejected, but students with undergrad degrees from X with GRE \< T may still be considered for admission (pending other criteria)."
To my ears this sounds analogous (with certain exaggeration) to: "*we only want rich, white men from successful parents that could afford to send them to good schools through out their childhoods.*"
I realise that this is not what you intend but you got to realise that having different criteria based on the country of undergrad studies is unethical, biased and I can't see how you could implement something like that without having major headaches. You can, by all means, have different criteria for an *individual* (for instance by having an interview) but if you clump up an entire population based on some statistics, which you can't elaborate on for some reason, I call that discrimination.
Bottom line is, you cannot evaluate the chances of an *individual* being successful or not, without giving that person a **fair** chance. If you deem a particular GPA/GRE score to be "good enough" for your graduate program, all applicants that satisfy that criteria should be considered good enough, regardless where they come from. Any additional selection criteria could be justified only if it warrants additional information, such as TOEFL score for those who don't have English as a mother tongue.
One other option would be to calculate "success rate coefficients", something like a multiplicative factor for the GPA/GRE score for applicants from different undergrad institutions, which *could* in theory be a fair assessment, but practically unfeasible considering the number of possible institutions involved.
Another alternative would be to devise a test for your institution, that you consider to be more fair than using GPA or GRE score. But even that, judging by your comments, is not an acceptable solution. Honestly it sounds a bit like you just want confirmation of some sort.
# Answer
> 0 votes
I would "massage" this problem by including a dummy statistical variable for the country. E.g. 0 for the country where grades are more important, and 1 for the country where GREs are more important. You could almost separate the applications into two piles this way, and tackle one pile at a time.
If asked about it, I would answer that neither grades nor GREs alone are dispositive, and they both have have greater explanatory power when you introduce the third (country) variable into the equation.
As far as I'm concerned, it is ethical to use any combination of statistical variables that satisfactorily explain performance, and to strive for "best fit" (statistically).
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Tags: graduate-admissions, ethics
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thread-26423
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26423
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"Electronics and Communications Engineering" equivalent in the U.S.A
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2014-07-26T13:24:20.950
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# Question
Title: "Electronics and Communications Engineering" equivalent in the U.S.A
I graduated from a European University with a Bachelor of Science Degree (Engineering Degree) and I'm about to move in the United States. My specialization/ major would be Telecommunications Engineering.
What is the US equivalent of this ? I've noticed US colleges usually have EE(Electrical Engineering programs), which is the closest I've found.
# Answer
Electrical engineering and (when it exists) electronics engineering usually cover telecommunications, as well as many other topics. Undergraduate degrees in NA are usually broader in scope than those in Europe.
But it wouldn't try to change the terminology of your own major: keep it as telecommunications engineering if that's what it is, and everyone will understand.
> 1 votes
# Answer
The closest you're going to get is Computer Engineering. Most universities will have classes on networking, but you'll have to look for those with telecom. Otherwise, if you want to specialize in telecommunications, your best bet is probably a trade school.
> 0 votes
# Answer
Electrical and Electronic Engineering usually refers to building electrical devices like computers, or cellphone networks.
Computer Science usually refers to using computers, especially programming.
I hope this helps clarify some terminology.
> -1 votes
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Tags: undergraduate, terminology, major
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thread-26440
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26440
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Is it generally allowed to send a published paper to another conference but in a different format?
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2014-07-27T06:12:26.957
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# Question
Title: Is it generally allowed to send a published paper to another conference but in a different format?
My paper is accepted for poster presentation for a conference. Is it allowed sent it again to other conferences without withdrawing it from first conference? I am looking for oral presentation.
# Answer
> 6 votes
Most computer science conferences do not allow this, look for the conferences' dual submission policy.
# Answer
> 5 votes
Marc Claesen's answer is correct **for computer science**.
In most non-CS fields, there is much greater tolerance for "cross-listing" of talks, because the conferences are not the primary "publication venue" for papers. Therefore it is considered entirely appropriate to give a poster presentation at one conference, and an oral talk at another venue, particularly if the audiences are "non-overlapping." It would be expected, though, that unless the conferences are very close to one another in time, that you would update the presentation somewhat between conferences.
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Tags: conference, poster
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thread-26439
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26439
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Quitting PhD upon advisor's suggestion
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2014-07-27T04:30:58.490
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# Question
Title: Quitting PhD upon advisor's suggestion
I am a 2nd-year (starting 3rd year) international PhD student at a top-10 electrical engineering program in the US. I've started this program right after BS without giving it much thought because I was very successful in my class and I though I was going to get an MS anyway (and I want to do it abroad), why don't do it as part of a PhD program? In this way, I'd be funded and if I liked it I'd go on, otherwise quit. I should also mention that I hadn't decided whether to pursue an academic career or industry back then. (Although I decided on industry during my first year seeing what kind of a life the professors have.)
So, at the beginning I chose a well-explored research topic in mixed-signal circuit design thinking it would increase my options in the industry. Ever since I started, things got harder and harder. Last year, I was able to spend some off-time (working out regularly etc) but this year I can't even do that. I don't think I ever really loved research, I was rather okay with it. Although I've had times when I felt really down and questioned the purpose of doing a PhD (especially after having a bad meeting with my advisors), I was fairly optimistic and hard-working for my PhD until recently when one of my advisors suggested that I could leave with MS (if I wanted to). He told me that although I was hard-working, he wasn't able to see the PhD motivation in me so far and maybe quitting with an MS would be a good option. At first, I though it might have been a weird way to test my motivation or even motivate me, but a few weeks later he asked what I think about what he had said before. He said he wasn't playing any games about what he had said, and we had another talk about my options of leaving. In a way, it was just like this: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1652
Ever since then, my motivation towards PhD dropped and I started to care less. In fact, I also relieved a great deal. I feel closer to quitting than staying as quitting seems much much easier and relieving. But I fear it might be just a case of "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence". And as I have no real work experience in the industry (except for a summer internship where I wasn't given any real responsibilities), I can't make a fair comparison. Right now, I realize I focus on the bad things about PhD such as the following:
* Treatment of the professors: Feel no real respect from them. They are usually condescending and mocking.
* The fact that virtually no collaboration or team work happens in my research. I am kind of the only one doing my stuff in my group and there is usually no one to help. When I am stuck at understanding something, the response of my advisors is usually "Go, figure it out!"
* The fact that you can never not think about research. You can't ever turn the switch off. Constant thought of research at the back of your head, and the guilt when not working. I assume this wouldn't be the case in industry (99% of the time). I've started to value work/life balance more and more recently.
* As my self confidence dropped drastically since I started here (thanks to occasional statements of my advisors about their lack of confidence with me taking quals), I've started to fear the quals I need to take in the next semester. Even taking the quals started to seem like a huge barrier I need to overcome.
I've talked to my friends about my situation. Some supported, some discouraged. Some suggested changing advisors or go to another university. Changing advisors do not seem like a feasible option as there are only a few other professors working in circuits at my university. So changing advisors would probably pull me back 1-2 years. Going to another university would cost even more time as I could only start in Fall 2015.
So, considering all of the above, what do you recommend? Those who quit or went through similar situations, how did you decide what to do? If I'm going to work in the industry anyways, does it really worth another 4 miserable years I'd spent in PhD program?
Thanks in advance for reading and all your comments
# Answer
> 21 votes
So, let me sum up your questions / information:
* You are not motivated to do research.
* You hate doing a PhD.
* Your advisor thinks you are not motivated to do research.
* You do not want to stay in academia.
And the question is: Should I quit?
To me (and Zach Gershkoff ) it looks like you are not looking for an answer but a confirmation.
So, here you go: **Yes, you probably should quit (after your Master's degree).**
In many fields a PhD is a waste of time if you want to go into the industry after it and it is actually a good thing that you realize that now and not after your PhD.
After that out of the way let me just clear some things up here:
A professor asking if you want to stay or want to leave after your Master's degree: I think he has done a great thing and you are probably going to be thankful for doing in some years. He sees that you are not motivated, tells you that you are qualified to do a PhD but that there is no point in doing it without motivation.
> \[...\] I've had times when I felt really down and questioned the purpose of doing a PhD \[...\]
and
> \[...\] my self confidence dropped drastically since I started here \[...\]
That is completely normal for a PhD student. I think about 90% have that quite often. Research is very frustrating, especially if you are not used to failure.
> Treatment of the professors: Feel no real respect from them. They are usually condescending and mocking.
That is very strange, but I have no idea about your university, your field or your perception.
> The fact that you can never not think about research. You can't ever turn the switch off. Constant thought of research at the back of your head, and the guilt when not working. I assume this wouldn't be the case in industry (99% of the time). I've started to value work/life balance more and more recently.
As far as I have seen, that really depends on the job in the industry, in some you have the same (or even higher) pressure as in academia, in some you have lower pressure. But even if you are taking a job with a better work/life balance there will still be times (and not only 1% of the time) when there is a problem at work and even in your "free" time you will think about it non stop.
> So changing advisors would probably pull me back 1-2 years. Going to another university would cost even more time as I could only start in Fall 2015.
If you want to stay in academia that should not stop you.
However, have considered this option: Quit after your Master's degree, while still trying to get as good grades as possible, talk to your advisor about quitting and the reasons why you want to quit. Find a job and after a number of years in the industry reevaluate your choices. If you have left on good terms with your advisor and good grades, it should be no problem at all to find another PhD position (at another university) and if you really decide to try again, you would be motivated this time.
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Tags: phd, masters, electrical-engineering
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thread-26434
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26434
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Can we get a PhD in mathematics without publishing?
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2014-07-27T02:38:07.250
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# Question
Title: Can we get a PhD in mathematics without publishing?
Do many universities allow students to get a PhD in mathematics without publishing a paper?
# Answer
> 28 votes
It is typical in the U.S. that mathematics Ph.D. students do not publish anything at all prior to earning a Ph.D., I think even at the elite places. Publication per se is not such a high priority, nor over-literal gauge of accomplishment, as it seems to be in some CompSci and Engineering disciplines (at least in the minds of some people).
That is, to be clear, especially for people who've thought, or been indoctrinated to think, that the measure of the value of something is the prestige of the conference or journal or ... in which it was published, the idea in mathematics still does seem to be that the thesis advisor and thesis committee decide whether the candidate has done sufficient work to earn the degree.
Seems a sane system to me, especially given the acceleration of freneticism elsewhere.
# Answer
> 17 votes
Yes, it is very common for students to earn a PhD in mathematics without publishing any papers before graduating. Here are a few pieces of context:
* I have read a couple research articles that analyzed the Mathematical Review database, which is a very thorough listing of mathematics publications. One such article is "Patterns of Collaboration in Mathematical Research". It states that 42.7% of authors in the database have only one article (likely taken from their thesis) and another 14.6% have only two. I recommend that paper highly for more information on mathematics publishing.
* Publication rates in mathematics vary significantly by subfield, because the threshold for the amount of progress needed for a new paper also varies by field. In some subfields, it is common for researchers to publish many (smaller) papers. In others, it can take years to write a single paper. Publication rates also vary by author: some prestigious faculty rarely publish, others are prodigious writers.
* My general sense is that publication rates are increasing: mathematicians in general publish more than they used to.
* I see much more emphasis on graduate student publication than I did in the past. While the majority of students publish nothing before their PhD, I think the number who do publish is going up. Similarly, there is more emphasis on undergraduate research, and this translates into more publications by undergraduates. In the 1970s, say, publications by undergraduates were much more rare.
* The increase in publication is especially true at mid-level schools, e.g. non-elite state schools and some larger non-elite private colleges, which want to raise their research profile and so expect more research than in the past. Historically, say 30 years ago, one might have been able to get tenure with only one or two papers, and teaching was the most important criterion. Now, research is the primary criterion and many of these "aspiring" schools. On the other hand, I had a job interview once with a school that explicitly emphasized they did not expect research - this trend toward more publication is not universal.
* There is also a distinction between *top* students (e.g. those who are competitive for prestigious postdocs and for job offers from R-1 schools) versus *typical* students (who may be perfectly qualified for academic jobs, but are not competitive for R-1 positions). In my experience, top students often have research collaborations outside their thesis topic before graduation, and often have other publications before graduation. But these students make up a small percentage of PhD recipients overall. Even at prestigious schools, not all PhD students are on track to be competitive for R-1 positions. And publication rates again vary by research subfield.
* Mathematics in particular is sometimes used for a "vocational" PhD, because it has always been possible for some to find work in industry (e.g. software or R&D) and government (e.g. the U.S. National Security Agency) with a PhD in mathematics. My colleagues and I often talk about bright researchers who we "lost" to non-academic jobs. For students who do not plan to continue in academia, I think there is a smaller incentive to publish extra papers beyond the PhD before graduating.
# Answer
> 11 votes
I think the answer will depend on the country, so let me answer for France.
From what I see, I would say that one is generally allowed to defend one's PhD without having published a paper, but only if the thesis contains the material for at least one international publication. This is judged by the two or three PhD referees and then confirmed by the PhD committee.
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Tags: phd, publications, mathematics
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thread-26277
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26277
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Are TED presentations academically credible?
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2014-07-23T11:47:39.283
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# Question
Title: Are TED presentations academically credible?
Many people, including myself, are fascinated by TED speakers. They provide us a new perspective. For example, see the TED talk *The best stats you've ever seen* by Hans Rosling.
However, when I talked about this to an anthropologist, he said that the statistics in this TED talk are unverifiable. He suggested that the speaker doesn't give us his sources, so therefore the talk is no longer a scientific talk. As a result, he suggested, real scientists are clever enough to stay away from these presentations.
Do TED talks have the necessary rigor and foundation to be citable in papers and other "scholarly" publications?
# Answer
> 125 votes
I think you are asking two slightly different questions at the same time:
1. “Are TED speakers and their ideas credible? (as in "likely to be correct")” I'd say yes, since TED's process for inviting speakers is at least as strict as that of many scientific publications. Most TED speakers are invited to speak at TED because they've become renowned scientists through their peer-reviewed publications.
2. “Are TED talks scientific (as in "usable to base your own science on")?” Here the answer is definitely "no", for the reasons you mentioned: they lack the information needed to be independently verifiable.
Note that this does not mean that their content is wrong or unscientific; it just means that the talks are incomplete from a scientific point of view, and thus not by themselves verifiable. But most TED presenters will previously have published the findings they present at TED in a regular peer-review scientific publication in a scientific format.
The bottom line is: you should treat TED talks like you should treat Wikipedia: use it to quickly understand new and interesting concepts. But before you actually apply one of these concepts, verify them using scientific literature.
# Answer
> 25 votes
TED talks are for popularizing ideas in science, technology and arts, as emphasized in their tagline:
> Ideas worth spreading.
Very often they are a nice starting point to get interested into a certain idea and they serve as a general food for thought.
However, don't treat them as revelations, since:
* they are not comprehensive (in 5-20 min you can't give a comprehensive introduction to anything (some things require hours to explain, others - years of studies); moreover, if a talk is for the popular audience (as in case for TED talks), many crucial details need to be simplified or dropped),
* it is not rare that the presented idea is not considered mainstream (they do value originality; sometimes minority ideas can turn out to be a gold seam, which needs audience, in other cases it may turn out to be incorrect or inconclusive).
So, if you want to use the content of TED talks for anything beyond discussions over a beer, do consult other sources (e.g. scientific papers by the authors and check if the they are recognized in their field).
Also, very often checking out a relevant Wikipedia page gives insight into the status of a given view (is it present at all? is it disputed? is it this year's discovery or does it date back to ancient times?).
Or, as you did, asking experts (sure, they can be wrong too, but at least can be more objective than in a 15 min pitch).
# Answer
> 19 votes
Not exactly an answer to the question, but I'd just like to correct a factual error in the question.
> The speaker doesn't give us his sources, therefore the talk is no longer be a scientific talk.
The time limit on TED talk probably prevents the speakers from disclosing all sources. I cannot speak for all of them, but at least for Hans Rosling (the one featured in your question), all the data source he uses are listed here.
> he said that these statistics are unverifiable
This, I agree. Even sources are disclosed, we may not know if the sampling is well designed and executed, or if the measurement techniques are the most accurate. Some more exploration on our own in the data providers' site is perhaps necessary.
> And the real scientists are clever enough to stay away these bullshit presentations.
To be honest, I feel that your anthropologist seems no better. It takes only a few clicks to verify the data source, and yet instead of doing that, he/she decided to call the talk "bullshit." I'd recommend you to be more careful about what he/she has to say on all other "scientific matters." Better to verify them yourself.
# Answer
> 17 votes
I can only speak to my area of expertise (chemistry). That being said, some of the few TED talks on chemistry are "far-out," to put it politely.
For example, in this talk (from 2011), the speaker proposes creating artificial (by that I mean inorganic-based, not the Craig Venter sort of thing) life (an idea that has been pursued for decades) in two years (skip to 14:00 for the Q/A). Needless to say, we still don't have artificial life (which is probably a good thing).
Even optimistic experts agree we are many decades from approaching an understanding of how life emerges from a network of chemical reactions.
In this context, I feel that TED talks offer anything from fantasy to reproducible scientific "fact" (or the closest thing to it), depending largely on the speaker (what their goals are) and what's "marketable" to the TED audience.
# Answer
> 11 votes
TED is Technology, Entertainment, and Design. While speakers may use science to illustrate their topic, and may be presenting some or all of a scientific presentation, this is not a venue intended to disseminate scientific information.
Like Wikipedia, TED might be a place to provide pointers to the people, papers, and research that is ongoing in a specific area, but you should rarely find that the talk itself is a good source of scientific information. Generally such talks are snippets from experts, and what you really want is the expert or paper being discussed, not the discussion itself.
# Answer
> 3 votes
So for a concrete case to consider, the first statistics Rosling presents are about relative child mortality rate in 5 selected pairs of countries. The second are the result of a small informal test of his own students' knowledge of the first.
I don't think it takes an anthropologist to analyse whether Rosling's numbers are verifiable or not. He certainly does not provide evidence in the TED talk that they are correct, in that sense they clearly are not verifiable from the talk. If that's what your friend means then fair enough. A TED talk is *not* an academic publication.
I'm not aware that the field of anthropology rejects *in principle* the notion of child mortality being a real thing. So Rosling's comparisons could be checked against other sources. It would not be appropriate to cite Rosling in a paper if you needed a source for the relative child mortality rates of those pairs of countries. You would go to WHO and/or national medical reporting, and pay close attention to their methodologies. In that sense they can be checked, and either verified or falsified. Will your friend give you long odds that Rosling has those pairs of countries in the right order according to WHO or his preferred source? Thought not ;-)
Rosling also hasn't really demonstrated anything about the state of knowledge of Swedish students, although the insinuation is that he has. He (serious-jokingly) says that there's a role for him to teach them something. His small trial is sufficient to support his small claim. His methodology is simple and obvious enough that the test is repeatable with other groups. There's no problem of fundamental science here. I don't know (and I don't think it matters) whether he's ever published on that particular result, but it's probably never appropriate to cite *because it's such a limited and specific claim of no general interest*. And might be cherry-picked.
Next he shows off his visualization software. The important thing to note here is that this is not an attempt to publish academic conclusions on fertility or life expectancy. He's using UN data (about which a great deal has been written elsewhere), to motivate the use of a particular tool, to combat what he believes are out-of-date general intuitions about that data. His hurried narration makes no scientific claims beyond the fact that a large group of what would be called "developing" countries used to have high fertility and low life expectancy, and now don't. And that AIDS reduced life expectancy in Africa. Neither of those is really controversial enough to really warrant further justification in this context: like the comparisons between pairs of countries it just provides something for you to go away and look up if you want serious corroboration.
There is nothing really to verify or falsify beyond his claim that anyone holds this intuition about developing countries in the first place. That is substantial, it's presented as novel and, even worse than his informal student study, he doesn't quantify it, let alone support it. He's not properly publishing a scientific conclusion, but then I'm not persuaded that he's pretending to.
And so on. In the next comparison US vs. Vietnam, I think he says "by the end of the year" when he means "by the end of the decade". Slip of the tongue, should *never* be allowed to stand in a carefully produced, copy-edited, reviewed scientific publication, but there it is. So in a sense, no, public speaking is not credible *at all* since such errors are far more common. In another sense, does this mean there's something wrong with public speaking?
One cannot cite (or even trust) the content of a TED talk as if it were the content of a peer-reviewed journal. TED doesn't do that. Neither is there AFAIK any fact-checking other than what the speaker does or arranges. You can treat the content of TED talks the same way as you'd treat the content of any public address by that speaker. So if you were writing a paper that for some reason needed to know what Rosling specifically says in public, then using his TED talk as a source might be reasonable. Otherwise, not so much, but then why would you want to?
> the talk is no longer a scientific talk, and the real scientists are clever enough to stay away from these presentations
I think that's akin to saying that TV documentaries are not scientific talks and real scientists are clever enough to stay away from them. It's true that TV documentaries are not journal articles. It's true that there can be fakery and stupidity in their vicinity. However I don't think it's true that *no* real, clever scientist can get involved. They must distinguish the activities of "publishing research" and "popular education", and avoid claiming that one is the other, or applying the standards of one to the other.
TED talks are as credible as the individual speaker. The fact that TED has "chosen" them should lend no authority at all but probably, unfortunately, does. As for the credibility of TED as a forum, I don't recall what wit here in the UK observed that the country has very many people who would turn down an honour in principle, but tragically are never offered one. I suspect the same may be true of TED -- there are various reasons you might not want to do it, among them that the content of the talks tends to be over-trusted by people who enjoy TED and its speakers. These reasons are not universally applicable, and in any case apply most strongly to those who won't be invited.
Aside from giving talks, experts in the field might choose to watch or not watch the presentation on the same basis they choose any popular presentation of their field. On the one hand they might be interested to know what outsiders are hearing. They might enjoy the speaker. On the other hand, what are they going to learn? Everything shown will be either commonplace in their field or else the specific and perhaps controversial views of the speaker, that an expert could better assess by reading their publications than by seeing the simplified popular version.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Let us work out the following analogy: TED as a journal, Talk as a published article.
When one meets a questionable article with unverified claims, they may of course doubt the conclusions. A usual thing to do then is to write back to the Journal and raise your concerns to them. The Editor may possibly come back to author inviting them to write an erratum explaining / correcting / substantiating the conclusions of the Paper. This process is known as "scientific discussion" and is a blood flood of academia.
As long as the Journal maintains and empowers such procedure, I would see it as a completely trustworthy source, despite occasional mistakes and errors in published articles, which are probably inevitable in real life.
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Tags: online-resource, citations
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thread-26430
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26430
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Lectures and labs on the same day as an exam?
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2014-07-26T20:22:42.203
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# Question
Title: Lectures and labs on the same day as an exam?
I'm taking a two day workshop at a technical institute, the instructor has said that all accredited courses must have final exams. Fair enough.
Since this is such a short course the exam will be on the same day that we are also being presented new material. This seems very strange to me, to be given an exam after approximately 5 hours of both lectures and labs throughout the day. That being said, I have a lack of academic experience, so I would like to hear from you.
Is this a common practice to have lectures and labs on the same day as an exam (of the same class)?
# Answer
> 8 votes
The university I'm at recently had a class with lecture in the morning, lab that afternoon, exam an hour after that, then a quiz the following morning in lecture, and finally a recitation that afternoon. Summer semesters tend to be like this as they are shorter in length than a fall or spring semester. No one is happy with it, but it's what needs to happen to cover all the requisite material.
What would typically happen during a regular semester is that labs can't be moved or adjusted, but usually the following lecture is either shorter of cancelled if it is the next day and the lecture the day of the exam is mostly review. But I must point out it is at the discretion of the professor.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I have not met this scheme for university (or univerity-alike) courses\*,
but I have met it for professional training courses and other crash courses that lead to an exam (e.g. intensive courses leading up to exams you're required to take by law in order to be allowed to do/handle certain things).
However, for those courses
* The curriculum is defined, definitive, and well-known
* Exams required by law often have lists of accredited questions which are available. It is sometimes even recommended to study these catalogues as preparation for the exam.
(example)
* And the course materials are usually distributed well before the course.
* Years ago I attended a summer school where I cannot remember whether there was an exam at the end or not. However, the certificate doesn't have grades, so if there was an exam, that would have been more a check for ourselves how good the understanding of the covered subjects was.
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Tags: undergraduate, exams
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thread-26466
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26466
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Where can I find results of various experiments and studies in fields such as medicine, biology, chemistry, psychology, and so on...?
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2014-07-28T03:49:22.137
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# Question
Title: Where can I find results of various experiments and studies in fields such as medicine, biology, chemistry, psychology, and so on...?
During my statistics class I have encountered some nice studies, some of them having some nice and interesting results. This brought me to this question. One example of such studies is on http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10229312 , but this is just a summary of the actual experiment.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Results of scientific studies are usually published in one of many field-specific peer-reviewed journals. A list of some of these journals, sorted by the discipline can be found on Wikipedia. Access to these published data is rarely free. You may need to obtain access through your institution's library. It is also worth being aware that most papers will only include a summary or overview of entire data collection sets, and you can often find deeper analyses and more comprehensive experimental data in the published supplementary information
There are also a number of open access journals, which, as the name implies, are open access. These may be of interest to you if you are just looking for general sets of experimental data.
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Tags: research-process
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thread-26293
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26293
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Have applied to, and been rejected from, a number of PhD positions; are they really so difficult to get?
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2014-07-23T15:44:48.293
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# Question
Title: Have applied to, and been rejected from, a number of PhD positions; are they really so difficult to get?
I am a student who graduated with a Master from a German university in April this year, ***majored in materials science***, willing to further pursue a PHD degree in a European university (or possibly a university in the USA if I can not get anything in the EU). I have already applied to a certain amount of universities´ PHD studentship programs.
I admit that there hardly are positions exactly fitting the thesis work and research activity I had in my Master study program, because materials science is a very diverse and gargantuan subject. Each different university has its own research preference and inclination. Sometimes you may say you can find between 20%-40% overlap with your past experiences, including the similarity of research content, or the techniques being used. So I tried to apply to all of them, the replies were mostly like this: "You can not fit the best of criteria.." It has been several months, there is still no slight improvement of my application.
My GPA is 3.4/4 (no publications so far), but according to the PhD advertisements I have viewed, some universities have rules about the basic grade requirement you need to have for PhD enrollment, some do not have. The universities I had finished my Master and Bachelor study have certain reputation in their own region or country. My Master degree is Master of science(M.Sc.), Master thesis is about metal-oxide nanostructures synthesis and its application (basically using different approach trying and trying again, compare the final results), on the one hand I am afraid of the simple and even boring thesis work could give people wrong impression about my research experiences that is poor and rudimentary, Professor will have some doubts about whether I am truly quantifying to do some sophisticated PhD work, on the other hand, if I stick to doing metal-oxide fabrication research or related in my PhD study, you need to have solid background in chemistry, which also is what I am lack of.
Unfortunately I do not have too much contact with my professor (thesis advisor) except having some discusses related to my Master thesis, because our group is very big one and each PhD student is responsible for supervising master students for their thesis work, so Professor could have time and energy doing other things, I only asked my professor for recommendation letter once, maybe I also need his suggestion about my applications.
After I have accepted some rejected letters, I started to think which kind of project could fit my profile, not only I can be accepted by them but I can also enjoy my project and stretch my muscle, doing some useful in materials science field.
Sometimes I am confounded by various projects and their fancy names offered in the webpages, and do not know what to do next. but I still have a dream about one day I could leave my fingerprints on the TEM machine and my thoughts on the scientific papers.***If you are a PHD student (have successful application experiences) majored in materials science or related area, I kindly ask for suggestion (any suggestion and any opinions will be useful to me).***
# Answer
> 10 votes
I am surprised there has been no mention of your Master's thesis advisor. Judging from my humble experience, your advisor's support can be *very* important for finding your next position.
This support could come from their scientific network (e.g. by establishing contact to a group you want to apply to), writing letters of recommendation, or even just looking over your CV and cover letter. They will know better what a “good” application should look like in your field.
Of course, all that is assuming that you have a good working relationship to your advisor. If not, maybe another professor / experienced researcher would be prepared to help you. You say you already graduated in April, so I do not know how much contact there has been since then …
# Answer
> 31 votes
As for the question in your title (which originally was: "Is it really that difficult finding a funded PHD position?") the answer is it depends on the field and the country. As an engineer, in countries with a well-developed industry, the job opportunities for graduates outside academia are good, thus diminishing the competition for PhD positions. This being said, a grad student is not just hired to lay bricks because there is a wall to be built. It represents a substantial investment for professors who will thus rather have no student than a not-so-good one.
To the point, previous experience in the specific field of the PhD study is almost never a requirement, so I doubt it's the limiting factor in your case. Your grades might be though, or your written english proficiency, but these are guesses.
I think your strategy might be inefficient. From your text it sounds like you sent a large number of applications and are waiting for someone to bite the bait. A personal interaction with people in the labs you are interested in would be a better approach, for example via an internship or a visit, if you can afford it.
So I would narrow it down to a few places where you really would like to work, gather the reasons why you like them, and start establishing a contact via email, say what you like about their approach or research topic and how you think you could fit in. They will then be able to let you know what is needed to be accepted in the graduate program (note that you will still have to comply to the department, university or graduate school requirements in order to be accepted).
# Answer
> 2 votes
Mostly depends on your GRE score (if below 1000, try again), and your letter of intent. Add those up with some good recommendation letters and it should not that hard to get a scholarship (unless you are aiming for top 10 schools).
The topic of your MSc is not the limiting factor, looking at your courses list, they should get an idea of your background and educational knowledge. Maybe it is good to contact the professors that you are interested in first, and afterwards let them know that you will apply. Worked for me.
# Answer
> 1 votes
You yourself know what you are falling short of! You have specified yourself about your interests, your research work till today and expectations. You would score an accept letter if you apply to a PhD position that better suits your profile and your future expectations! It is like finding a job. You cannot be a doctor if you studied history!
Yes, PhD admission is competitive. It depends on you whether to make it difficult or easy. The PhD programmes are looking for researchers who deserve to be in that place, not for random people asking for acceptance. Your graduate advisor might help with the selection and application. The PhD supervisors during your MS thesis, might also be good guides. Identify the weaknesses of your profile and improve them before you fall into the abyss of rejection into PhD!
Wish you the best!
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions, graduate-school, rejection
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thread-26470
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26470
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How to make the most of a currently unfulfilling post-doc experience
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2014-07-28T08:38:41.147
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# Question
Title: How to make the most of a currently unfulfilling post-doc experience
How to make the most of an nnfulfilling post-doc experience
Before I pose my question, I would first like to describe the circumstances and provide as much "quantitative data" relevant to this as possible.
**Background**
I am on a leave of absence from a US university for 1 year (2014-2015) and currently working at a lab in France as an Engineer II (let's face it, E2=fancy\_way\_of\_saying(post\_doc)). **I posted a question** about the merits and demerits of doing this a few months back and received some useful feedback (in hindsight obv.!)
I am at an early stage of my career. I received my PhD in Mechanical engineering in 2013. From Aug 2013-May 2014, I worked as a non-tenure track instructor at my US university. I will return to my university in May 2015 to take up a non-tenure track lecturer position. I prefer teaching track to research track. The idea was to diversify my portfolio to work and hence the leave of absence to work as an E2 in France. I am in month 3 of my E2 position.
**Gist of current position**
To introduce major modifications in a "spaghetti code" developed by my E2 supervisor some 6-7 years ago. The code itself is quite obfuscating and models certain thermal engineering physics problem.
**My perceived failings as an E2**
The code is obfuscating! No, I am not making excuses but the previous two E2 quit to go on to purportedly greener pastures.
I was given tasks to modify certain aspects of the code and in my opinion (I have no yardstick for comparison), I have not done the best job at it.
**Result (for now)**
My supervisor has hinted that "we must hurry as there is a deadline next month we must meet" (I did not know of this deadline prior to taking up this position).
I am making a sincere effort to accomplish the tasks but I am not sure if it is my ineptitude or lack of scientific maturity that I constantly see myself failing at my job.
Over the last couple of weeks, my supervisor has not asked me to do any important things with this code/project and I think I have been relegated to "just *check* the code for mistakes".
Also I find that unlike my previous department head, my current supervisor treats me like a student and is sometimes disparaging in his comments. I suppose this is normal.
Also, what is normal in my current lab is that post-docs share the office space of their supervisors and the supervisors LITERALLY are looking over their shoulders at all time. Yes, I know what LITERALLY means.
I understand that this is a character building exercise for me and I'll treat it as such.
**Future**
* Do I have a future or am I looking at a premature "pink slip"? My contract doesn't mention conditions of being fired.
* How should I make the most of this situation? I want to have a positive impact on this project which in turn will have a positive impact on my career. Although I am in a teaching track from 2015, I feel that this research experience will only enhance my teaching capabilities.
**References I have used to understand this better**
A postdoc experience
Making the most of your post doc
However, I would feel better if I got "real time advice" from the diverse membership of this forum.
# Answer
> 9 votes
> Do I have a future or am I looking at a premature "pink slip"?
This is unlikely, especially in France. The financial savings from firing a one year post doc is pretty small compared to the hassle and bad blood that will result from doing it.
> Although I am in a teaching track from 2015, I feel that this research experience will only enhance my teaching capabilities.
Is this really your goal of the post doc? It is not clear to me how a year spent disentangling spaghetti code is going to enhance your teaching capabilities. Most engineers do not take up a non-teaching post docs to enhance their teaching. I am not sure that most post docs would spend a year disentangling spaghetti code with supervisors hovering over their shoulders. Are you sure that an E2 is really the equivalent of a post doc? It is probably worth talking to your supervisor, hopefully again, to make sure you are both on the same page.
Realizing that you are unhappy with the current state of affairs does not really help you to change things. I think grad students and post docs sometimes have unfulfilling experiences because they do not know what they want. You need to figure out what it is you want to get out of the post doc and then figure out a way to work towards that goal. Often once you know what you want the road to obtaining that goal becomes clear.
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Tags: career-path, postdocs
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thread-26412
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26412
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Repeat dropper and failure at multiple colleges. Is a Master's ever possible?
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2014-07-26T07:41:47.770
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# Question
Title: Repeat dropper and failure at multiple colleges. Is a Master's ever possible?
Just found this site and did some searching around but I'm not sure anyone is as nuts as I am. Long story short I've been living with a severe anxiety surrounding school. I'm 29 years old now and am finally getting to the root of my issue, and it's making a lot of sense. Everything except how to move forward. I've always wanted to go "all the way" through a Masters Degree but I'm almost certain any competent admissions committee will reject me without question. Here's my scenario:
* Community College 1: About 9 years ago I registered for my classes, didn't show up. Dropped by the administration.
* Community College 2: About 7 years ago I registered for my classes, showed up for a week, dropped by administration.
* Community College 3: 4 years ago I registered for a fresh start. Did one semester successfully but got a D in one class because I had anxiety surrounding showing up for that class. I retook that same class 5 more times each resulting in either a self-initiated withdraw/drop, or a flat-out F because I stopped going and had too much anxiety to admit that i'm dropping again. I have 1 "ok" semester, and 3 complete failure/dropped semesters. Ending GPA is 1.75
* Went back to Community College 1. Did well and have a GPA of 3.4. Did not transfer any of the classes from any other school.
Now I'm looking to apply to a 4 year university. I know I need to give them all transcripts from all schools, but I'm really nervous about not getting in anywhere because of my rough history working through that anxiety. I'm mostly concerned about a future Master's program not giving me the time of day. I have an excellent work history because I always put that first but now that I'm learning how to focus on academics I want to go all the way. Maybe even further for a PhD., if I continue to bust my behind the way I have been.
I'm floating the idea of maybe doing a 2nd Bachelor's before a Master's if I have to do that to prove to a committee that I'm worth a shot.
What would any of you do in my shoes?
# Answer
> 9 votes
Let me come at this from a different angle (and from someone who has faced something similar in the past.)
Why do you want a masters? What is your goal in getting a masters and/or a PhD?
Is you goal "Because I always kind of wanted one"? Is it "Because it will help me with my career goals"? Is it "Because I want to show that I can"?
This is not to be a negative nelly, though it may sound that way, but Graduate course work, especially in Computer Science(an assumption based on your current work as a web-developer), can be very challenging and stressful. Depending on the program and the instructor, it is not unusual for over half a class to have, on paper, a 'failing' grade. Some teachers are great about communicating that this is OK and expected, other's will let you hang out and stress about whether your 'failing grade' is really a failing grade. Some of these courses can involved 20+ hours a week of project or coursework. Some have no 'right' or definite answers.
None of this is to say you shouldn't go for it. Recognizing and working on an anxiety issue(or any mental health issue) takes a great deal of strength and hard work. That you have persevered to complete an undergraduate degree shows that you are a hard working, intelligent, passionate individual.
What I am saying is - analyze your reasons for going to graduate school. Make sure that what you get out of graduate school will actually match those reasons and that you approach it in a doable fashion. I would recommend a multi-step process.
1. Identify the school / program you are interested in attending
2. Register at that school(or a school with similar characteristics) to take courses
3. Take high level undergraduate courses. Look at the graduate degree you are interested in - often they have prereqs that you could take. Take difficult courses that are stressful to get a feel for what graduate courses will be like.
4. If you have time - get involved in a research lab that interests you. Make some connections with professors(and incidentally the admissions council).
5. Once you've got a year(ish) of courses under your belt - go for that Masters or PhD!
Doing the above benefits you in many ways. First and foremost it gives you a safe place to fail gracefully. If you're taking a course not for your masters but as preparation then dropping it isn't a big deal. Maybe you'll find you need another prereq, maybe you want to spend some time buffing up on the material. There is a big difference in having the pressure to 'pass right now or fail forever!!!' (well, what you brain tells you is failing forever and what is, in reality, not a big deal) and 'well I could take this later once I do \____....'
Secondly this gives you a little bit of a buffer. This shows any admissions group that you can take challenging classes and pass them. That you can work through the rigors of Masters program. And you can point to this during your statement of purpose as 'proof' that you have improved your reaction to anxiety around school and have a support network/plan in place for the rigors of graduate work.
Thirdly this gives you a chance to get the admissions committee on your side. If professors and admissions officers know your name(in a positive light) it can make a real difference in how your application is received. Additionally some schools have 'backdoors', so to speak, into Graduate programs especially for non traditional students.
Finally, and I hope this goes without saying, make sure you have a support network in place. I would recommend, as someone who has been there and gotten the teeshirt, that you have a local therapist for, at least, your first few semesters. Additionally there's no shame in deciding that graduate school isn't for you(I ultimately decided that PhD papers are the bane of my existence and am not current pursuing a PhD.)
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Tags: gpa
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thread-26449
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26449
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Is it possible to do a Master's in Mathematics after a Bachelor's in Economics?
|
2014-07-27T15:43:25.570
|
# Question
Title: Is it possible to do a Master's in Mathematics after a Bachelor's in Economics?
I'm currently an Economics student in my second year (only just begun).I've come to realise that I'd like to study mathematics further (pure or applied) since I'm missing the subject ever since school ended. The maths in undergraduate Economics isn't too challenging so I'm not enjoying it too much.
There isn't too much flexibility in my university (I live in India and the education system is rigid) so I do not have an option to double major in Economics and Maths. Also, I will have two allied courses of Linear Algebra and Calculus as an add-on.
I've been a fairly good student in maths so far and I've already started to take on some of the undergraduate maths courses on my own. Would a good maths GRE score be sufficient to apply to a good university in the US? Could I also apply for an M.S. in Statistics?
# Answer
> 2 votes
If I were in your position, I would look at the requirements for admission to Master's programs at universities you're interested in and see if you can find a way to fit their requirements into your required curriculum.
For instance, here are the admission requirements at my university. I'm not sure if it's top-10, but definitely top-20. At this school a degree in math is **not required** for admission to grad school. It looks like they require up to an analysis course and some abstract algebra. This is likely only a few classes beyond your required calc+linear algebra classes for your economics degree.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, masters, mathematics, statistics
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thread-26485
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26485
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How include contributions to a manuscript of a paper in CV
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2014-07-28T15:05:15.077
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# Question
Title: How include contributions to a manuscript of a paper in CV
I'm an undergraduate submitting my Resume for a variety of internships and need advice about how (if?) I should include my contributions to a manuscript that my group intends to publish. This would be my first publication so I leave it off I feel that I would really be cutting myself short. I mention my position and the work I did, but I feel it won't carry nearly as much weight if I don't mention that it was in support of a paper.
# Answer
> 5 votes
As a student, it is entirely appropriate for you to list manuscripts "in progress." However, I would make sure that the manuscript is actually progressing before listing it on your CV.
If it's in preparation, you then list it as you would any other publication, except where it's published (journal, volume, page, year), you instead list where you plan to submit it (if you know that):
> Author List (including you). Title of manuscript. To be submitted to *Journal X*.
or, if you don't know where it's going to be submitted:
> Author List. Title of Manuscript. In preparation.
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Tags: publications, cv
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thread-26489
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26489
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What typesetters do with the submitted paper?
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2014-07-28T17:28:33.057
|
# Question
Title: What typesetters do with the submitted paper?
I am informed that submitted paper supposed to be sent to the typesetters today. I am advised to check the mails. Until now there is no acknowledgement except the first mail. I am curious about the typesetters job in this process. Do they make considerable updates? Do I have much work to do, after typesetter is done with the paper? Since, I am on holiday, I wonder if the workload will ruin my holiday?
# Answer
As stated by Massimo Ortolano, the typesetting is followed by a final check, proofreading, by the author. In many journals (I will not venture to say all) the movement of an article from the editor involves additional steps. The article is scrutinized to make sure it follows the journal format down to the smallest detail. this can be done by the editor, it can also be done by the type-setter but there may also be a step where a third person, the copy editor, is involved. The copy editor will make sure there are no grammatical errors as well as checking formal issues regarding style and formatting of journal specific issues including references.
The result of the type-setting procedure is that some changes will occur but they should not be serious enough to alter the meaning of things. However, this can happen and is usually the result of an over-zealous editor, copy editor or type-setter, or a combination of the three. It is therefore quite important to review the proof very carefully. It is also vital to adhere to the journal format already when the manuscript is submitted since the risk of later editing errors is reduced.
What system "your" journal uses may involve all or a few of the ones mentioned above. Depending on the setup the type-setter may be more or less involved with the text but in its pure form the type-setter should only place figures and format headings, text, references etc. according to journal standards. The proof should then also only involve very minor changes (all issue should have been resolved much earlier in the review/revisions process including adhering to journal format).
In most journals with which I am familiar, the time allowed for proofing is very short, perhaps, one work week. this will vary between journals somewhat and I know some may have only a few days whereas other may allow somewhat longer. In the end it is mostly you who will "suffer" from lateness since your article may be published later than originally planned by the journal. My recommendation is to be accessible on a regular basis once a manuscript has gone to type-setting and expect to spend a few hours proofing it within a few days upon receiving it. At least you now usually proof a digital copy (pdf) and not a paper proof that has to be sent via regular mail (although I suspect that still can be the case with some journals).
> 11 votes
# Answer
Typically, once a manuscript has been typeset, the editor asks the author(s) to check for errors that might have been introduced by the typesetting process. The checking process does not take too long, but I suggest you to check carefully the equations (if there are any), for their meaning is unknown to the typesetter and he or she might involuntarily introduce errors in case of reformatting.
> 11 votes
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Tags: publications, conference, paper-submission, proofreading, formatting
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thread-26496
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26496
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Is it possible for me to seek a Ph.D. position in the future?
|
2014-07-28T19:54:12.260
|
# Question
Title: Is it possible for me to seek a Ph.D. position in the future?
Currently, I am a M.S. student in Applied Mathematics division, and I will graduate in the coming Dec, 2014. But I want to apply to a PhD. program to continue my study. But I have a complicated situation:
1. I had a bachelor's degree in software engineering outside US with GPA 3.7. But I'm pursing a M.S. degree in Applied Mathematics in a US college with GPA 3.6, the reason I am doing this is because I want to improve my mathematical background, and prepare for research oriented program in the future.
2. My native language is non-English, and my English skills are not that strong. I didn't have a competitive GRE test.
3. But I had some research experiences, both in and outside US. And almost all the research is either direct with national research labs or collaborate with them. However, I have no academic publications yet.
Is it possible for me to seek PhD in the future? I would like to go for it, but it seems more and more professors and universities focus on someone with higher scores and better publication record.
# Answer
> 4 votes
> Is it possible for me to seek PhD in the future?
Yes. It is possible to seek a PhD at *any point* in one's life, although at some point you will shift over into the "unconventional student" category.
Some universities/faculty *do* tend to overlook unconventional students. However, if you keep publishing articles, learning new skills (and demonstrating them), and staying up to date on the research in your field (and demonstrating that you have), then you'll be in a good position to get accepted by the more open-minded universities whenever you decide to apply.
# Answer
> 1 votes
> I want to apply a PhD. degree to continue my study.
I am going to assume that you are seeking a PhD in applied mathematics.
In regards to your first point, seeking a masters prior to a PhD is a good way to improve your skill set. Does the program you are currently enrolled in offer research opportunities as a graduate assistant?
> My native language is non-English, and my English skill is not that strong. I didn't have a competitive GRE test.
Each school treats the GRE differently. Some schools will use low GRE scores and low grades as a filtering mechanism to weed out unqualified individuals. So, a low score on one part part of the GRE is not necessarily going to prevent you from being accepted.
If you know that writing is the weakest point of your application, there are a few steps you can take. Have friends/classmates/professors review your personal statement. Alternatively, you can acknowledge that your English skills are low but you are taking steps to remedy this.
As for publishing, I have heard differing opinions on this issue. Some people will have published when they applied and others will not. Personally, I will be trying to have at least two papers in progress when I apply for my PhD.
> Is that possible for me to seek PhD degree in the future?
The short answer is yes. Based on your research experience and academic background, I can see no reason (at least at the present) why you wouldn't be admitted.
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Tags: phd, computer-science, mathematics
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thread-26501
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26501
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Google Scholar and books
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2014-07-28T23:28:10.497
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# Question
Title: Google Scholar and books
Why does Google Scholar results categorize some books as \[BOOK\] and some as \[CITATION\] - what's the difference? In addition, why are there apparently no citations to some well-known books even though Google includes these in books.google.com? I.e. they should show up in Google Scholar search results, but they don't.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I can only muse about the inner workings and motivations of Google, but:
* Google Books is for all kind of books, not only scholarly books. And since deciding whether a book is scholarly is something that cannot be automatised just like that, it is arguably less bad to miss some scholarly books which are in Google Books than to have all of Google Books’ books in Google Scholar.
* As already indicated this answer (hinted at by mhwombat), being categorised as *citation* in Google Scholar essentially means that the only trace Google Scholar has of this work (in a scholarly context) is that it is cited by some other work. In particular, Google does not even know that this piece of work is a book and not any other type of publication (e.g., if you export such a citation to BibTeX, its type defaults to *article*).
* Google could link its databases and include all books in Google Books in Google Scholar if it manages to match them with a citation, but this might not be such a good idea either as non-scholarly publications are also cited sometimes – just look up some random, very popular pieces of fiction and see whether they got cited.
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Tags: google-scholar
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thread-26483
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26483
|
Ask how to pronounce advisor's last name?
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2014-07-28T14:40:22.780
|
# Question
Title: Ask how to pronounce advisor's last name?
I am an undergraduate working with an advisor, but I do not know how to pronounce his/her last name. I have talked with several different people who work in the department, and have heard the name pronounced several different ways.
Is there a polite way of asking an advisor how to pronounce his/her last name?
# Answer
> 41 votes
> By the way, I have heard your last name pronounced a few different ways and I want to make sure I get it right. Can you teach me the correct way to pronounce it?
# Answer
> 12 votes
I agree with the direct approach in the other answer, but if you'd like an indirect approach (that can be done before a first meeting), try calling the professor's office phone number when you know he or she is not there and listening to how the name is pronounced on voice mail.
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Tags: advisor, etiquette, undergraduate, personal-name
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thread-26493
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26493
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Where to get ACM references for MS Word?
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2014-07-28T18:50:07.950
|
# Question
Title: Where to get ACM references for MS Word?
Does someone know where to get the correctly formatted *ACM references* for submissions to ACM? Google Scholar and dl.acm.org don't seem to provide the correct formatting.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Managing references can be a tedious task, especially at the proof-reading step of a paper and the usage of software that keeps track of your paper/references library (e.g. EndNote or BiBDesk) can be strongly recommended.
With such software you can have all your references in your paper formated accordingly and automatically to the style that either you choose or the conference/journal wants.
In MS Word there is an option where you can integrate EndNote, insert references and have an automated formating and arrangement/re-arrangement. Integration is done automatically for EndNote and MS Word, just when you install both of software.
ACM style quide can be found here.
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Tags: citations, acm
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thread-17649
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17649
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Style in citing two authors in the same sentence
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2014-03-03T01:42:40.110
|
# Question
Title: Style in citing two authors in the same sentence
I have a sentence with two concepts and two quotations from two different authors. It goes like this
> Some is true because of **concept one**, that is "*quotation one*", and **concept two**, that is "*quotation two*".
**Concept one** and **two** are both from Author A while *quotation* one and *two* are from Author B.
What would be an elegant way to cite both authors at the end of the sentence making sure:
* The reader will be able to attribute each concept/citation to the write author,
* The reader will be able to understand which work (and from which page) the quotation is from
# Answer
First off, citing papers is not about giving credit to first authors, it is about making literature traceable to readers. This is a key part of scientific writing, providing sources. The format for citations is of course focussing on first authors who may, or may not, be the main contributor (remember that author order varies between disciplines). A secondary aspect is the fact that many evaluations of academic status is based on authorship and as such authors may not be credited as much as they should. This is, however, not the reason for why we reference the way we do. So, from this perspective, I do not see why you necessarily need to emphasize the name of someone other than the first or second author (I am now thinking Harvard-style references where two-author papers have both names listed in the in-text reference).
If there is a scientifically based reason for highlighting the originator, one could write
> Concepts One and Two (reference to B) were first developed by A \[then I would argue some form of explanation of why this distinction is *scientifically* important should follow or be included\]
or
> A originated the concept one and two (Reference to B) \[then I would argue some form of explanation of why this distinction is *scientifically* important should follow or be included\]
Note that this would seemingly take away the importance of B, which in many reference systems would look strange and implicate something may not be right with the articles. I therefore think it is wise to clarify why you feel the work of A is such that it requires highlighting. Clearly, I cannot judge the case since all details are unavailable. As a side point, reviewers will likely pick up on any inconsistencies and ask for clarification in a case such as this, unless the reasons for the formatting is either clear from your writing or well known in the community.
> 1 votes
# Answer
If this is suppose to be a **research paper**, one can cite both the authors in **Chronological** manner.
In your case "concept one" is from Author A and "quotation one" is from Author B and those are repeating in the same order, so citing them as \cite{A, B} will work fine.
> -1 votes
# Answer
If the reference is at the end of the sentence and you don't have any other clue in the sentence, then the only connection is the order of appearance in the citation, e.g. \[A, B\], which means that the first quotation is from A and the second from B.
I would suggest using citations in the sentence and not only at is end. E.g.
> From \[A\] the first is true because \[..\] and from \[B\] the second is \[...\]
> -1 votes
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Tags: publications, citations, writing
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thread-26518
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26518
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Is it possible to do a Masters dissertation at a different university?
|
2014-07-29T09:37:33.677
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# Question
Title: Is it possible to do a Masters dissertation at a different university?
I am currently enrolled in a masters program and am struggling to complete my dissertation as I have no real interest in what I am doing and have lost my motivation. I have completed all my coursework to allow me to gain a PGDip and would like to know if it is possible to transfer and my complete my dissertation at another university in the United kingdom?
# Answer
You need to consult your university regulations as well as your department for advice on this. My gut instinct would be that it *should* be possible, but you need to make sure you follow the appropriate rules. I can just about guarantee that you'll need to find someone at your home university who will be willing to act as the "internal" supervisor for your thesis.
However, the possibility of being able to do it and actually surmounting the obstacles and being able to do it are quite different. It can be very hard to get another research group outside of your "home" university to be willing to take you on short term as a master's student—primarily because they probably have no idea who you are, and how reliable a student you will be. Nobody really wants to take a risk on a completely unknown quantity based on a "cold call" email.
So your best bet would be to work with the faculty in your department to find somewhere else to do your research.
> 3 votes
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Tags: thesis, masters, united-kingdom
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thread-26494
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26494
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How to reduce amount of language proofreading of my revised paper?
|
2014-07-28T18:55:11.043
|
# Question
Title: How to reduce amount of language proofreading of my revised paper?
I'm a non-native author and I have a revised paper that has been edited for good English before the first review. Now I made major changes, but still a large part of my essay remained as before. What is the best way to get my revised paper edited for English and flow without having to get charged for the whole (relatively long) paper again? Was someone in a similar situation?
# Answer
> 14 votes
I am a native English speaker, this is based off my experiences proofreading papers for others in my lab who are not native speakers.
Changing even a small section of a paper can have repercussions throughout the rest of the paper in unexpected ways. Also, as important as it is that the English in the changed sections is correct it is also important that those changed sections flow appropriately with the rest of the paper.
To help with both of these issues it is best to have the entire paper proofread again. Even as a native-English speaker, I have others proofread my paper after revisions because of the above issues. It can be helpful to somehow mark the changed sections and request that the proofreader be aware that those areas were changed.
# Answer
> 6 votes
ESL here and this is how I usually deal with similar situations.
**Go back to the same editor for a reduced rate**
It will not hurt to ask. Highlight the parts that you changed, and send over with an inquiry if he/she is willing to look at it again, with heavier grammatical checks in the highlighted sections and then overall flow, at a reduced rate.
**Form a weekly writing group**
This is a pretty stressful method but it's one of the best decisions I have made. Form a writing group with 2-3 colleagues. We model after this article. All my partners are native speakers, and I often get English-related advices and even edits from them.
You may feel inadequate (I did at the beginning), but don't. Being an ESL has its appeal. If I can understand their work, it's very likely that native audience will also understand their work. In a way, I am their coal mine canary.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I agree with Nahkki that changing parts of the paper influences the remaining paper as well. The reason is that when reading / reviewing a paper you can easily spot different writing styles (especially if you have parts coming from native and non-native speakers). Having different styles within a single paper distorts reading and makes a bad impression. In your case, I would suggest to let proof read the whole paper again.
However, in general, I suggest to write papers with co-authors who are either native speakers or know how to write. Only this way, you can actually learn how to write, which is an important skill often underrated. I cannot see how you can learn writing scientific articles without having the opportunity to talk and discuss why some sentences or paragraphs are written in "native" way. So, my advise is to get people working with you and learn from them.
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Tags: copy-editing
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thread-26479
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26479
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Can I collect meta information on papers and put this online?
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2014-07-28T13:41:19.277
|
# Question
Title: Can I collect meta information on papers and put this online?
For my thesis I have had to go through many different sources to find relevant literature. I want to share my reading list with others to make it easier for people who want to study the same topic to find relevant information. I have set up a little database with meta info (title / journal / author / date / abstract). My idea is to put this online so others can freely browse this. Is there any copyright issue (or otherwise important issue) to take into account? Can I put the abstracts online as well?
Each paper links to the journal's official website and I did not put any actual paper or PDF online.
# Answer
With the hopefully obvious caveat that I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice: at least in the US, this is probably fine. Copyright law (17 USC § 102) applies to "original works of authorship," not to ideas, and I think everyone would agree the metadata of an article's publication (including journal name, author, and date) fall in the latter category, not the former. Otherwise the whole system of academic citation would be untenable!
The title and abstract, on the other hand, are content created by the articles' authors and are protected by copyright law, but I think it's quite likely that fair use (17 USC § 107) protects you from being held liable for using them in the manner you describe. With reference to the four conditions to be considered when determining fair use:
> (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
You say it's a free, noncommercial endeavor, so that works in your favor
> (2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
It's an academic article; the whole purpose of its existence is to be widely disseminated
> (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
The title and abstract are a small part of the work
> (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work
Using the title and abstract in a database like this will more likely increase the market for the original paper than decrease it (which is in fact the entire point of having an abstract)
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In fact, you would hardly be the first person to do something like this. In high energy physics, INSPIRE already aggregates abstracts and metadata from nearly all published papers.
> 5 votes
# Answer
Disclaimer: The following is not legal advice.
As the copyright laws of many countries may apply, you would have to check your projects compatibility with each of them, which you might consider a disproportional amount of work. However, there is a minimum allowance any country’s copyright laws have to make to be any reasonable (e.g., without which most journalism would be illegal). Assuming these, one can make the following thoughts:
There are only two things, to which copyright laws will apply: The title and the abstract. Everything else would at least fail to be over the threshold of originality (and probably many other criterions).
Now, a reasonable copyright law has to have some mechanism that allows for short quotations: In the U.S. this would be covered by *fair use* and maybe something else; Germany has a special paragraph for quotations, etc. However, at least in some countries, if not all, there are no clear legal limits regarding the circumstances and length of a quotation – e.g., the U.S. fair use is “only” likely to be in your favour as explained by David Z. While the title can be safely assumed to be legal to quote, the abstract is in this grey area (under the above assumptions).
Hence I would refrain from publishing the abstracts (even more so, as they are usually freely available on the Journal’s home page, which you can link).
> 2 votes
# Answer
Most publishers has a set, automatic way to get permissions to republish figures, tables, parts of text etc and also a rather elaborate copyright section. To study these I think the second best thing after taking the opinion of a lawyer. Note, they can vary publisher by publisher.
In my experience, journals are often broadcast abstracts eg in RSS feeds with a copyright tag, so I guess they consider it copyrighted but more or less sharable content.
> 1 votes
# Answer
There's generally no copyright issue. You're giving fair credit assignment. Abstracts should be considered "marketing material" -- freely publishable (with proper references), as you're helping the author(s) as much as yourself.
> -6 votes
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Tags: copyright
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thread-26526
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26526
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How does copyright work on screen captures?
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2014-07-29T15:10:59.077
|
# Question
Title: How does copyright work on screen captures?
I am writing an article comparing three pieces of software. I have taken screen shots of all of them and would like to use them in a non-open access article. Given the intended journal, there is a reasonable chance of the images being on the cover. What are the copyright issues associated with screen shots?
Specifically, one of the pieces of software is free and open source (GPL v2), and two are free as in beer, but closed source with unknown licenses and no EULAs. To further complicate matters one of the closed sourced pieces of software looks and functions very much like a proprietary piece of hardware produced by a massive company. Three years ago I contacted the developer of the software and asked about using a screen shot and he said it was fine. The software is still widely available, but the direct download from the developers site now has text indicating that the massive company has "requested" that it be taken down. I own the physical hardware and am not aware of any crazy licensing restrictions. I could use a photo of the physical hardware if that is better.
# Answer
> 12 votes
## You need legal advice. Talk to an attorney.
Perhaps your institution has one that you can take advantage of. Everything from here on out is rank speculation, and even your attorney's advice may not protect your from suit.
If you can, get permission from each source you want to take a screen capture of. There may be copyright protectable elements in those screen shots. There may also be trademarked elements.
If you cannot get permission for whatever reason, you may have to rely on fair use. Fair use is a defense to an infringement suit not a get out of jail free card. By using a copyright or trademark protected work without a license, you run the risk of lawsuit. Your institution may not be willing to rely on a fair use defense. Also, your publisher may not be willing to rely on a fair use defense (since they will be the lawsuit target).
I personally think your use is without question a classic and canonical example of fair use, but that doesn't mean that you will prevail in publishing without permission. Many venues require that your sign a form saying that you have the copyright or permission to use all your images, so be careful.
# Answer
> -8 votes
*If there's no explicit prohibition against it in a EULA* and it is publicly-available software, just mention the source of the screenshot, either in small print on the cover or in a colophon. Remember the law belongs to you at least as much as them and academics have been too passive in helping courts settle these issues. And the proof of it is shown in other\`s answers suggesting you should contact a lawyer. But in the United States, the Law is explicitly reserved for the People, not lawyers. These aren't difficult cases to think about. Academia has been dealing with the issue of fair-use for centuries. Just look at the issue as if it were your own special software, and you'll be able to figure out reasonable and "fair use".
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Tags: copyright, software, graphics
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thread-26549
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26549
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Do advisors allow their postdocs to pursue projects outside the advisor's core interests?
|
2014-07-30T01:37:56.197
|
# Question
Title: Do advisors allow their postdocs to pursue projects outside the advisor's core interests?
I would like to work with a professor in my field as a postdoc after I complete my PhD in Computer Science later this year, who has a remarkable record of supervising PhD students to become faculty at research universities. If I get hired, is he going to oversee me to pursue my most interested project, which is in a different subfield from what he is working on currently, or to carry out his projects? If the former, Why would he hire me as a postdoc then? Just train me to be an independent research even though it may not advance his projects directly?
# Answer
This is one of those questions that simply cannot be answered in generality. Sometimes, one hires a postdoc to do *exactly this one thing that needs to be done*. In that case, it will be rather difficult to spend too much time on your own projects. In other cases, one hires a postdoc simply because the funding is there, without a very specific research goal in mind. In these cases, working mostly on your own things *may* be fine with the professor.
I advise you to clarify with your potential employer. (however, be prepared that he or she might upsell the actual level of individual research that you will be able to do - maybe it is a good idea to also chat with other postdocs in the same group)
> If the former, Why would he hire me as a postdoc then? Just train me to be an independent research even though it may not advance his projects directly?
There is actually good reasons to hire postdocs that are not exactly in your field. They open up new research directions for your lab. They allow you to publish papers that you couldn't have written on your own. They strengthen the teaching portfolio of your lab, at least if postdocs routinely teach. All in all, your lab then has expertise in an area that it did not have expertise in before.
I, for instance, traditionally work on topic A. Recently I moved to a research group that is very strong in the quite different topic B. The motivation of the lab head there was simple - he participated in a project on the intersection of A and B. He knows how to do B, he needed somebody that knows how to do A. Our (informal) deal is that I am to spend some amount of time (less than 50%, realistically) on the joint project, the rest of the time I am to teach and develop my own research agenda within our lab - which conveniently is also in the intersection of A and B, although a somewhat different direction than the joint project. I *think* that this setup is actually quite beneficial, both to our lab and me personally.
**Edit:** a word of caution, though - I have also seen professors who are not in favor of independent research within their lab at all. So don't assume that because it seems to work for me, it definitely will work for you as well. People differ.
> 7 votes
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Tags: advisor, postdocs
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thread-26560
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26560
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Is it OK to contact authors of the research paper requesting an implementation?
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2014-07-29T20:43:07.247
|
# Question
Title: Is it OK to contact authors of the research paper requesting an implementation?
Given the research paper itself and having a complete understanding of the proposed system, I could implement the system on my own. If my intention is not to re-implement it myself, but rather study the original implementation(probably by the authors of the paper), I've got the following line of questions
1. Is it acceptable if I seek the original implementation of the paper?
2. Is it OK to contact the author(s), and request their implementation by giving a valid reason?
3. Are IEEE papers intellectual properties, that such a task of seeking implementation is entirely stupid?
# Answer
That is three questions, i.e. two more than the allowed quota for a post :-)
Seeking more information on a topic, within legal limits, is your privilege.
It is always OK to write to an author about any aspect of his works, as long as it remains a civilized exchange (which is sometimes not the case). It should be preferably clear that you have a technical level that justifies taking his time. This should show in the style of your request, not by listing degrees and achievements. Just be very simple, clear, and direct.
He may reply or not, or tell you what are the limits on what he can tell you if some of the work is confidential.
But you should first try to see what is available on the net from him or others who may have collaborated. People are usually friendly, but sometimes swamped with requests, and try to save time by preparing answers on their web site, or the web site of their organization.
So, writing is encouraged. Asking for more papers or implementation, or experimental results, is fine. But **always try to spare the time of the people you write to**, and avoid asking idle questions or using the exchange of mail as free tutoring.
All papers, all writings are intellectual property (IP), including this answer to you, which I happen to put under a creatve common licence, so that you do not even notice it is intellectual property.
An IEEE paper is also IP, usually owned mostly by IEEE, but there are many more detais to this (search the web for "open access" and "Berlin declaration").
But the IP concerns only the text of the papers, not the ideas you can find in it. So you are quite free to rewrite the content of a scientific paper (not a novel) in your own words and distribute it ... with due acknowledgement to the original author as the creator of the ideas, and reference to his original paper.
IEEE may own IP rights on a paper, but that implies in no way any right on the implementation of the ideas, on the experimental results or other preliminary work conducted to produce the paper, or on derived work, including the notes a teacher can write for his class on the topic of the paper.
Does this answer your questions?
> 5 votes
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Tags: code
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thread-26552
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26552
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Review asks me to demonstrate "what is the new thing done"; what should I write?
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2014-07-30T04:58:36.783
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# Question
Title: Review asks me to demonstrate "what is the new thing done"; what should I write?
The referee has asked to demonstrate ' what is the new thing done" so that the paper will be accepted. I feel, though the fundamental theory is same for the work, the experiment at various machine is carried out and result is being published. So what should i write to the journal for convincing the matter.
# Answer
> 3 votes
First, it is important to clearly arrive at a conclusion that shows how the manuscript contributes to our unerstanding of the matter at hand. The referee apparently thinks your paper is lacking in this respect.
Second, in most journals it is not up to the referee to decide if a papepr is published or not, the editor(s) decide based upon *recommendations* from the referees (usually more than one). So is there a second referee? and if so what did that person say?
You should revise your manuscript and think about the conclusions. Make them clearer *as suggested* if you think you can. Such comments froma referee usually mean that the manuscript is not as clear as you may think and it is necessary to critically view your work and see if you can improve it. If you cannot, you should provide a note to the editor to meet the criticism of the referee which should entail why the improvements cannot be made. That would make a decision on the faith of the manuscript easier and more clear to the editor (which I suspect is involved).
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Tags: publications, writing, peer-review
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thread-26538
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26538
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Can I ask for authorship/acknowledgement for writing small data analysis program for a large study?
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2014-07-29T20:48:10.513
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# Question
Title: Can I ask for authorship/acknowledgement for writing small data analysis program for a large study?
Earlier this year I entered into a high-profile molecular biology lab and started doing wet lab work (I am an undergraduate). Knowing that I have a computational background, my PI asked that I also help with a project that had been conducted over the last two years and was nearing its completion. I was told that if I made enough of a contribution that I could be listed as a coauthor. I wrote a program for the post-doc that is leading this project and used it to analyze the validity of part of his data. The most current (nearly final) version of the project's manuscript that is being passed around the lab unfortunately don't have my name anywhere on it, even though my code is listed in the supplementary information section.
I have always heard that you should get an authorship on a paper if your work resulted in a figure or sizable part of the discussion. My contribution to this project only slightly altered one figure, ensured the figure's validity, and got about 2 sentences in the discussion. My relationship with my lab and my PI especially is very important to me (I would love to continue my work here for at least another 2 years), so is it worth asking for a co-authorship, or at least an acknowledgement? Would doing so be inappropriate given my relative contribution (a month vs. 2 years) and status as an undergraduate in the lab?
# Answer
> 11 votes
Asking whether a contribution merits acknowledgement or co-authorship is **always** appropriate, as long as it is done in a professional and non-confrontational way.
The answer may be "no," but it's certainly worthwhile to ask. (And if the answer is "no," at least you have learned something about standards for authorship and acknowledgement in your lab/field.)
# Answer
> 4 votes
To be acknowledged seem appropriate. When it comes to authorship, having your name on the paper implicitly means you should also fulfil several criteria such as outlined by the Vancouver Protocol (look at this post for details or search for posts with the tag ). It seems unlikely that you would be eligible for co-authorship.
# Answer
> 3 votes
At the very least, an acknowledgment would be appropriate. However, it very much depends on the standards in your field—and within your present lab—whether or not you'll be recognized for a small analysis tool.
Also, I would not expect that the tool would lead to multiple authorship credits—you created the tool once, and should receive "credit" for it once. (Otherwise, I'd need to cite the authors of the software I use in every paper out of my lab group!)
# Answer
> 0 votes
A month's worth of work and a small analysis tool sounds like an acknowledgement, rather than an authorship. Depending on your relationship with the rest of the lab, I wouldn't press the point too hard -- a middle-author paper is worth something (but not much), and an acknowledgement is only worth the brief glow of seeing your name on a printed page.
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Tags: publications, authorship, biology
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thread-26516
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26516
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How to run two Postdoctoral fellowships at the same time?
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2014-07-29T07:12:07.517
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# Question
Title: How to run two Postdoctoral fellowships at the same time?
I have recently applied for two different Postdoctoral fellowships in the same host group and I got both of them. My host is very happy and suggests me to run both of them at the same time. However, there are some administration details that are not clear to me at all. For example, will the fellowship foundation be happy to known that I will be running another fellowship at the same time?
My current plan is to ask one of the foundation (I) to fund a technician and I could still ask the foundation II to support my own salary. In this case, I think I will definitely need to negotiate with foundation I because the change of personnel. Question is that how should I inform foundation II? In fact nothing is changed here, I feel like I am looking for troubles if I simply inform them (foundation II) that I got another funding to support a technician.
Your ideas/experiences about how to handle this situation will be greatly appreciated.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Generally foundations "request" that you inform them if you receive extra funding for the same budget. They probably expect that you apply to several foundations simultaneously. However, if you negotiate with foundation I to change the scope of the funding (such that it doesn't go towards your salary, which is presumably already covered by foundation II), then I think you're in the clear.
Alternatively, if foundation II didn't fund your full budget, then you could accept part of the funds from foundation I to cover the remaining costs, then inform both foundations of the arrangement. That should also be uncontroversial.
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Tags: postdocs, funding
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thread-26229
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26229
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How does a committee select received manuscripts for poster presentation?
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2014-07-22T09:47:45.663
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# Question
Title: How does a committee select received manuscripts for poster presentation?
What are the differences between papers that are chosen for presentation vs those which are accepted for poster presentation? Is one less reputable than the other one? How does a committee select received manuscripts for these two categories?
# Answer
> 4 votes
*Disclaimer:* This is mostly from personal experience on the sending side of the process, and a little bit of talking to professors that have actually been on selection committees.
As far as I can tell, the two main points for selection of poster vs. presentation are completeness and impact.
By **completeness** I mean whether the work is actually finished or close to finished. If the selection committee cannot tell whether work is finished, or knows it isn't, this is grounds to select the work for a poster instead of presentation. The main reason is that a presentation about work that isn't finished will most likely be somewhat boring, because it lacks strong conclusions, whereas at a poster a discussion about the work that isn't finished might actually be much nicer than work that is completely done.
**Impact** is a bit of a vague notion, but in this context it consists of relevance to the audience of the conference and the level of innovation in the work. If work seems to be only relevant for a few people attending the conference the work will most likely be selected for a poster, because the people that are interested can then look up the poster. In case of a presentation the room would be mostly empty, because most people are not interested which is undesired. If the work is highly innovative, instead of a small step forward in a big process, this will most likely interest a lot more people, thus making the work suitable for a presentation.
**To summarize**
Finished work with high relevance to the conference audience and preferably large steps forward in the field will be selected for presentation, the opposite case will be selected for a poster or even rejected.
**Discussion**
In general you could say that a presentation is more prestigious, because it is sort of a quality stamp. However, the boundary between presentation and poster can shift substantially based on the type of conference, the number of submissions to it and the level of submissions and (I know, not fair, but they're only human) the personal preferences of the selection committee.
# Answer
> 5 votes
It might be useful to look at it from the conference organizers' perspective:
* Accepted full papers usually require the author to give an oral presentation at the conference. But the number of time slots for those presentations is usually limited by the size of the venue (number of conference rooms), and extending it either costs the organizers additional money or is not possible at all. So there is a strong motivation to limit the number of accepted full papers, and to choose only those that represent the largest impact/progress to the research field.
* Accepted posters on the other hand are usually presented at a short (~1-2h) poster session, where many posters are presented at the same time in a rather small area. Each conference room booked for the oral presentations can probably be used to present 50-100 posters in a single session, and scheduling a second poster session can cheaply double that. So there is no real motivation to limit the number of accepted posters, beyond making sure that they make sense and represent at least a minor step forward.
These perspectives also match my experience on acceptance and gained reputation in the field of computer science: You can get pretty much anything accepted as a conference poster, while getting a paper accepted is much harder. For that reason, accepted posters are largely irrelevant scientifically, and - in my experience - are usually not even actually published in the conference proceedings (sometimes the proceedings at least contain the extended abstract that was submitted for poster acceptance, sometimes not even that).
# Answer
> 1 votes
In conferences where there is a poster session (or poster sessions) usually there is the option for authors to submit a poster and not a full paper. If this is the case, then there is a page limit for poster and full papers, e.g. poster 4 to 6 pages, full paper 6 to 8 pages.
If there is not such a discrimination but the committee has the option to choose papers for poster session then the selection is based a) either on reviewers comments or b) from the judgment of the organising committee.
In a), there should be a field on the reviewer 's form asking something like: "This submission is for presentation or for poster?" along with the other reviewer form 's fields.
In b), the committee takes into account the subject of conference, its scope, areas of interest and the contribution of the submission. There are two cases: a) The paper is accepted but not, qualitatively, pass the standards of the committee for presentation and is registered for poster, b) There are many good papers but not all of them fit in the time slots of sessions and thus some have to go for poster presentation and the choice is made according to the same criteria for case a).
As for the "reputable" part of the question, if the paper is peer reviewed then is the same either it is presented as poster of presentation. In ones CV the section of conferences' publications (usually) is divided in peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed/abstract reviewed papers.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Regarding "Is one less reputable than the other one? " , in the University I studied they assign points to every contribution (and then sort us for PostDoc positions etc.) A paper chosen for presentation can give you up to 0.75 points whereas a paper chosen for poster can give you up to 0.4 points.
Of course the trick here is the "up to" part, but normally you can count on receiving more reputation from a paper chosen for presentation.
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Tags: conference, poster
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thread-26506
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26506
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Has a doctoral degree any value outside of its main area?
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2014-07-29T00:44:52.293
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# Question
Title: Has a doctoral degree any value outside of its main area?
The phd area is Computer Science and the other area can be anything - if this info makes any difference...
I am asking from the practical point of view, specially something that can be evidenced by real examples. Some career that requires/rewards the degree despite of being completely outside its scope would be a good example.
I was worried about asking something a little open, but I see it is pretty common by here, e.g. \- the opposite of other more harsh communities.
# Answer
> 5 votes
Generally, the answer is "No, the Ph.D. title hardly makes you worth more as you step far from your main area".
Typically, doctorate training prepares you to do research, and by the time you graduate, you will have accumulated research experience in your narrow area. So even in academic CS, you won't be particularly welcome if you did research in compiler theory, and the department is looking to hire somebody in Big Data. Moreover, your compiler theory research experience is hopeleslly useless if you decided to work in medieval German literature or neuropsychology or plant biology. They will hire the specialized Ph.D. in that area any day over you. They will hire a linguist who said they took a CodeAcademy class in Python over you even if the project calls for text mining for unique patterns of word use in XV vs. XVI century.
If you slip out to the big real world outside of academia, you will find that you will have surprisingly little to offer on top of a good MA graduate while wanting a higher price tag. Microsoft or Adobe or any other MakeUpNameSoftMetrics do not develop compilers, and instead they would want you to deliver good quality production code (or, worse, to oversee a team of programmers who do that). So ask yourself again.
Paul said here that Ph.D. develops "the skills to attack virtually any problem very deeply, *if given sufficient time*". I added emphasis, and I cannot stress this small print enough. My experience in industry is that the deliverable time is often yesterday, and few leaders have the patience for you to develop a perfect peer-reviewed published solution. It may not always have to be quick-and-dirty, but it is always have to be on time, so you need to have a better understanding of what the most important points and priorities in your project are which need to be addressed and accomplished first than academia can teach you.
Virmaior said here that McKinsey happily hires Ph.D.s as consultants. That, of course, is true, but it does not mean that they hire any Ph.D. in any discipline out of charity. They are looking for specific communication and business skills -- essentially for people who made the wrong choice by going to a Ph.D., or had no other pathway to continue with their traning, or in other words who have the mega brains to do really smart work, but may not find themselves happy in academia. The work environment in a consulting firm is anywhere from three to five times as intense as your Ph.D. -- not necessarily in the hours, but more in terms of responsibility. You may be well paid, but you are absolutely required to deliver. McKinsey specifically has an "up-or-out" model: at a time for the regular review, you are either so good that they promote you, or the company will be better off with you working for their competitor. Compare that to "Oh, you worked on this project for two years, and all your mice died because somebody turned the A/C off for the weekend? Ah well. Let's find you another project where I need a qualified technician but I don't want to pay the full time position benefits..." (As a side comment, McKinsey's pricing structure ends up being absolutely, over-the-top ridiculously expensive, may be because they hire so many Ph.D.s that still need to be molded into industry setting.)
To round the picture up, in government of any kind, you will find spending 25% of your time on filling compliance paperwork, be that a job in a public school, an IT support job in state capitol, you name it. This is as far as it can get from being able to come to work in shorts and sandals at noon to work through the night. As far as what Ph.D. is worth there: if you browse some jobs on usajobs.gov, you will find a scale of GS-## (government service at a given level), and the relevant level for a Ph.D. is around 12. I found these two pieces in my area:
> In addition to the Basic Requirements:
>
> For the GS-12, applicants must have either (a) one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the GS-11 in the Federal Service or (b) a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in statistics, biostatistics, computer science, mathematics, or a closely related field.
where in turn level GS-11 means
> In order to qualify for Mathematical Statistician, 1529-11/12/13, you must meet the following:
>
> Basic Qualifications
>
> Have at least a bachelor's degree that included 24 semester hours of mathematics and statistics, of which at least 12 semester hours were in mathematics and 6 semester hours were in statistics.
>
> or
>
> Have a combination of education and experience--at least 24 semester hours in mathematics and statistics, including at least 12 hours in mathematics and 6 hours in statistics, as show in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
>
> Minimum Qualification Requirements for Mathematical Statistician, GS-1529-11/12/13.
>
> Have one year of specialized experience, equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service that includes experience performing statistical analyses on biological or biomedical research problems and conducting reviews evaluating statistical methods, procedures, and concepts involved with biological or biomedical applications.
So for that line of work, Ph.D. = Bachelor + 1 year. Don't quote me on this, job requirements keep changing, and I won't even bother putting links as these jobs expire quite quickly by SE standards.
As a silver lining, there are industry jobs where Ph.D. is required. However, these would be leadership positions in research-heavy types of work, and positions would be listed as "15+ years post Ph.D.; experience overseeing 10+ direct reports" or the like. By then, you will have retrained yourself into whatever the job really requires, so the Ph.D. is really just three letters after your name at that point. If leadership role is where your ambitions are, you should start taking classes in Business Administration immediately if your program covers arbitrary credits outside your major department.
# Answer
> 16 votes
Though the topic of your dissertation may be extremely narrow and focused, the process of acquiring a PhD teaches you the skills to attack virtually any problem very deeply, if given sufficient time. Ultimately, the PhD is just a piece of paper. The real value of it is the ability to produce something of value to others (i.e. research, a product, etc...).
# Answer
> 7 votes
There are careers where PhD as a degree/piece of paper can be helpful:
* Higher education. To be a teacher at a university, by rule, you have to have this piece of paper. It doesn't need to be in the same field as your teaching, though.
* Any business dealing with academics as costumers. Be in policy, salesman for a company or a patent attorney, academics will always welcome you much more warmly if you have that three letter next to your name.
* Consulting. If you do consulting, especially as a sole entrepreneur, PhD can give a lot of credibility.
Where they will hate it:
* If you want to work in IT, many programmer seriously despise PhD people.
# Answer
> 2 votes
One way to view it as the the PhD is a signal to employers and others of a certain capacity. This signal can in many countries open doors to other work not immediately related to one's field of inquiry. McKinsey for instance hires PhDs as consultants and hires them at a higher rank than others for that.
A parallel can be said about bachelor's degrees -- at least in the US. A lot of work doesn't really take a bachelor's degree in terms of skills nor does it do anything related to that, but seeing that someone could complete a four year degree signals something about the person's task-completion abilities and willingness to slog through areas they don't like (among other things).
# Answer
> 1 votes
In some countries, there are some legal implications. For example, in the university I did my Master's thesis, you can only be hired for a maximum of six months, except if you are a student (master or PhD) or you hold a PhD, in which case there are no limits.
Also, it is easier to immigrate to the States if you have one, as it can be used as proof of "extraordinary ability" or be an "outstanding researcher" (granting you priority 1), or at least, "exceptional ability" and "advanced degree" (priority 2).
Source
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Tags: phd, degree
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thread-902
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/902
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Age and Graduate school
|
2012-03-27T06:43:55.903
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# Question
Title: Age and Graduate school
I am 33. I live in the US. I am a neither a US citizen, nor a green card holder. I have worked in various jobs as a research assistant (physics, biology, economics) usually involving programming, mathematics or statistics. As a newly minted undergraduate, I didn't really have much confidence in myself and I completely ruled out graduate school as pointless. I didn't think of myself as smart enough. I drifted into working in labs, because those are some of the easiest ones for which one can get a work permit in the US as a non-American.
Having worked in academia for a while now, I've had a chance to leap into various fields and help build solutions to complex problems. I think I have literally gone as far as I can go researching in academia with no higher degree. I work at one of the top universities in the world. (If you looked at US News rankings or the Academic Ranking of World Universities, it's in the top 5.)
Lately, I've been thinking about applying for graduate school. I do have a few papers in various fields. I'm thinking of a PhD in either pure mathematics, applied mathematics, statistics or computer science.
I see two big minuses to applying to graduate school:
1. Most people applying are more than a decade younger than I am. (Alas, more than a few gray hairs have made an appearance in recent years.)
2. Perhaps my achievements would look good for someone younger, but partially my achievements are the result of a long career rather than any special brilliance. So, I wonder how my record will be perceived. I did take GRE and I scored 800 quantitative, 800 verbal and a 5 on the essay. (I would most likely have to do a GRE subject test depending on what field I ultimately decided.)
Please advise on how accomplished, but older candidates, are viewed in the graduate school application process.
# Answer
> 33 votes
Anecdotal, but: I was 31 when I started my PhD, and it wasn't an obstacle at all. There were more than 80 applicants for two places. I have the impression that what matters a lot (at least in neuroscience, at least at my institute) is how much training the supervisor would have to invest in you. I've seen many times that the applicant who already did some similar research gets the position, even though there might have been someone else who is in principle just as good. Previous research experience carries a lot of weight.
From what you write, it seems to me that you would have a very good chance in getting into a program - publications and good GRE scores are both a big plus. Recommendation letters are also important. I would be surprised if your age would be an obstacle. But beware that it might be an obstacle for some sources of funding! I don't know if it is the case in the US, but I'd guess that's the only potential problem with your age.
...And now we wait for someone on the other side of the application process to give their answer :)
# Answer
> 27 votes
Age is something we might notice, but is rarely an issue. In fact, there are many schools where the added maturity you'd have would be a major plus, because you'd be able to articulate some clear research directions and would be able to get into research directly. If so, then you should be clear to say so in your statement.
While this is unlikely to come up in the application process, it might also be helpful to think about what your post-Ph.D career plans would be. Would you want to move into a research job (in academia or elsewhere) or is a Ph.D just something you'd like to do for the purpose of research exploration ? Because this age discrepancy issue will come up again and again in the academic line of work.
# Answer
> 17 votes
33 is not old. We had 40+ year olds in my Ph.D. program.
The biggest hurdle might actually be that your study habits are rusty. You might consider taking a single class in the field as a continuing ed student just to get back in the studying grove. A good grade and reference from your professor won't hurt either and will show you're on top of your academic game.
# Answer
> 14 votes
Again, anecdotally: age is simply not a factor in applications. That being said, you'll also be expected to do all the things grad students would do; put in the hard work, write the papers, be available for conferences and such, take courses, act as a TA, and put in the necessary hours to get the work done. Given your description above, though, you're familiar with what the requirements are, so that shouldn't be a problem; if anything, you can put it to your advantage that you're more familiar with the experience than all those inexperienced undergraduates. Good luck with the application process!
# Answer
> 11 votes
This is also anecdotal but I was 32 when I applied to graduate school and started when I was 33. My observations have been the following:
Many of the professors that I've interacted with (some of whom are inevitably going to be part of the admissions process) are very positive about accepting older students, especially if they have work experience. From what I've been able to tell, the reasoning is that having worked and been out in the real world, you probably have a better idea of what you want to do and where you're going. In addition, you are more likely to be dependable about getting the work done, will bring more experience to the table, and have more realistic expectations and strategies for coping with things. This can be really good for getting an RAship and it sounds like your research experience will make it even more applicable.
On the other hand, being a student again means that in many cases people will make assumptions about what you do and don't know and how you will act. I've had a number of people treat me like I've never worked before, making comments about, "You'll find out once you've actually worked..." and things like that. This can make a difference in how you're treated, it's disconcerting to be treated like a student again after being more of an equal with all of the people you're working with.
# Answer
> 9 votes
I do have to say that I have seen the age issue work both ways:
* I do know of programs that are biased *against* older applicants, *unless* they have remained "active" in research-related fields; these tend to be "cutting-edge technology"-type programs where out-of-date knowledge is essentially useless for research purposes. These locations have also been international, where the funding situation is quite different in the US.
* In the US, I do not know of any age-specific bias; technically, it's probably against the law in most states. On a personal level, I have known many students who have returned to academia after extensive careers outside of it, and some of them in fields quite far removed from anything of a traditional "academic" nature. The ones who returned to academia with a clear sense of purpose have thrived, and many of them have even won prestigious fellowships. On the other hand, I've also known people who have been unable to hack the rigors of a graduate education and essentially gave up within a few weeks.
In general, though, if you know what you want to do, and can convince someone to give you a shot, you have an excellent shot at getting a good PhD and having a fruitful career.
# Answer
> 5 votes
This is two years too late but someone else might find my comments useful.
A Math department would likely not care about your age. Most US University teach some baby-calc type course to most of their undergraduate students and Math departments generally are in need of bodies to teach and grade those courses. They take a lot of students in and pare them down at the comprehensive exams stage.
Unrelated to your main question about the admission process, I would like to point a few things out though:
1. Statistically, Pure Math is a young person's game. Most pure mathematicians do their best work in their teens, twenties, and thirties. You'll be 35 by the time you're done with coursework and nearing the end of that window. Still, if you're having fun and making a contribution then that's the only thing that matters. You'll find out during coursework and later while preparing for your Field Exams (or equivalent) where you stand when compared to others. To use a basketball analogy, you could always be the Kareem Abdul Jabbar and play at a high level well into your late thirties but most NBA players start slowing down past their early thirties.
2. I noticed that you're considering applying for both Pure Math and Applied Math . In general, I have seen that if you have a head for pure math, if you love topology, algebra, measure theory etc, you're generally less excited about coding, numerical methods, scientific computation type stuff and vice versa. You seem unusual in the sense that you're attracted to and have talent in very different kinds of mathematics. This is a hard process and a minimum requirement is that you should really enjoy this stuff. So I hope that your decision to apply to a pure math program stems from some real exposure to it.
3. The next 10 or so years of your life will be disproportionately devoted to your career. First to get out of school and then to publish to get tenure. Spending that type of time away from your family and kids becomes difficult for older people who usually have a different perspective on what's really important in life as compared to someone in their twenties. If you're single, you may find it harder to find the time and energy to date someone outside of grad school. If your first job is in a small town then your dating options will be even thinner, especially since you're not a native. These things may not seem important now but you may change your mind later.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I have a friend who worked in the automotive industry (all the bigwigs in the US) for about 7-8 years after his Bachelors degree. He joined a university for a PhD at 31 about 2 years and he is well on his way now having finished his qualifiers etc.
Although he isn't working in mathematics, I think it's fine to start your PhD in your 30s. You might actually have an advantage because you have several years of practical/research experience and also maturity that 20 year olds *may not* have.
Good luck!
# Answer
> 4 votes
I've been admitted to two graduate programs (finished one).
In my experience, admissions committees are generally looking for "mass," rather than "velocity," even though both are components of "momentum."
You have the "mass," with your test scores and course work. You seem to fear that older age implies less "velocity." That may be true technically, and it could factor into a few decisions, but I haven't seen much evidence of it.
At some level, admissions committees are looking more for evidence of "likely to finish" (the degree), rather than "likely to be brilliant."
# Answer
> 2 votes
It really depends on your field and the admission committee. Some fields like mature candidate with lots of industry experience as they can be productive at lab work etc.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, graduate-school, age
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thread-21095
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/21095
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"Dividing Points" among cheating students
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2014-05-18T07:32:58.070
|
# Question
Title: "Dividing Points" among cheating students
My AP Computer Science teacher has somewhat of a creative way to deal with students submitting apparently identical code. Instead of handing out lots of zeros, he divides the points by the number of cheaters, phrasing his system as "if you have the same answer, you deserve to split the credit." For example, a 5-person cheating ring on a 10-point project would yield 2 points per person (it rounds down to the best precision on odd splits).
Do you think this is ethical? Is this a wise way to deal with cheating?
On one hand, it is a lot softer than most policies. On the other, it is somewhat logical, and seems maybe fairer than the standard penalty system.
# Answer
To add to the existing arguments:
The punishment for cheating should always be higher than the direct advantage gained from it. For example, if somebody cheats at one task in an exam, the penalty should not only be failing that task but at least the whole exam, if not much higher. The reason for this is simply that you cannot possibly detect all attempts at cheating and thus the punishment should aim at being sufficciently high to make the average outcome of cheating negative if the detection rate is taken into account.
Of course, it is quite difficult to even estimate the detection rates for cheating and thus to adjust the punishment accordingly, but the punishment you are describing is certainly too low.
This aspect is not only important for discouraging cheating, but also from an ethical point of view, as cheating should not yield an advantage over the honest student.
> 20 votes
# Answer
I don't think it is fair. Say you work very hard on your program, to get a 9. While you go to the toilet, I steal your code and submit it. I get a 4 for doing nothing, you get a 4 after a lot of successful work. If this happens the day before the deadline and I had nothing, I would have handed in nothing, and thus get a 0. So there is a clear benefit in cheating: I get more marks than even if I pull an all nighter and put together a crappy code that barely holds together.
I guess the reason to punish everybody equally is multiple:
* Discourage from people lending code to classmates.
* It is much easier than to try to figure out what happened and who is the original author.
But, the way I see it, there are a few objections
* There are still situations where a cheater may benefit from this scheme (half good is better than nothing); a cheater is being awarded points for doing exactly nothing.
* The original author may be innocent. The code could have been stolen. It is unfair to blindly punish without, at least, inquiring in the matter.
* Serial cheaters may get away with it and still get enough points to pass.
**Edit:**
What if the homework is given voluntarely? Consider the case where there are weekly assignments, with a high work load. Part of the point is for students to work and get efficient in problem solving. But, if instead of solving all of them, we share the work, change it here and there, perhaps they will not notice, I still work half of it, and maybe I get full recognition; maybe only half.
Now, say a given week you only had time to do half of them. Gambling is beneficial: if you go the ethical way, you get half the marks. If you cheat, you can either get half the marks, or get away with it if you are skilled or the grader is low on coffee.
> 11 votes
# Answer
I'll only give a legal point of view on this issue for French higher education.
In French universities, even if the kind of rule you describe is enforced by some teachers, it is in theory forbidden to alter notation for cheating: one should only grade according to content, without any penalty. If cheating is suspected by the teacher, she should fill a *procès-verbal* form describing what she suspects happened, and giving all relevant info. This is then passed to a commission that will interview her and the suspected students, and will decide what happens next. This commission has a scale of possible action, going from nothing to five years' suspension from **all** French higher education institutions.
This process is seldom used for projects and evaluations among small groups (*contrôle continu*). However it should be strictly enforced for terminal exams, as otherwise student can easily go to court.
> 10 votes
# Answer
It's actually a fairly nice solution to a more relevant problem: the right pedagogy for different kinds of students.
The formula is a good, but should be stated thusly: "Students are allowed to collaborate on homework, but your scores will be divided by the number of collaborators, so pick your team well." This is in tune with the environment that students will likely encounter after their degree, but neither enforces any policy nor penalizes any others.
Then the teacher should grade on the bell curve. This gives a passing score to those who worked together, and a great score for those who were truly above average. In some way this is superior to students who try to get an A by a hyper-competitive attitude towards the rest of the class.
During the test, they will still have to show that their personal level of mastery, without the help of their peers.
> 3 votes
# Answer
The goal of a policy on cheating isn't being "fair", it's to discourage cheating.
In academia we don't want to have academic papers who bend the truth a little bit, but we want to have academics who tell the whole truth and for whom cheating is not an option. As a result you don't want to do anything that encourages cheating.
> 2 votes
# Answer
This seems like a bad policy. With this type of policy it leaves the teacher having to figure out who copied from whom and how many people were in each "group". Usually if Alice's work is copied by Bob, and Bob's "work" is copied by Carol, then Bob and Carol are penalised the same. In your policy, you would have to figure out how much to penalise Bob and Carol. It seems like it would be better to allow group work with the stipulation that the points get divided in a manner either specified by the students or the teacher.
> 0 votes
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Tags: ethics, cheating
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thread-26596
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26596
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How to ask for feedback from research students on my supervision abilities?
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2014-07-30T20:59:05.737
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# Question
Title: How to ask for feedback from research students on my supervision abilities?
As the lone experimentalist in my group, I end up supervising most of the students (M.S., B.S. and high school) who do experimentation-focused research in my lab.
I am always trying to improve my mentoring and supervision skills. So I would like to ask my current students for some feedback at the end of the summer.
However, I want to make sure they don't feel pressured in any way by this request, that they are assured there will be no negative or positive consequences to them, and that they understand that I really want honest answers. (I'm not fishing for compliments.)
And, I am looking for specific feedback that I can use to improve or build on, not just general complaints or reassurances that everything was fine.
Given the goals stated above, what's the best way to ask for this kind of feedback? Should we speak face to face in an "exit interview" kind of thing, or should I ask them to write something in an anonymous form online, or something else entirely?
What specific questions can I ask to get focused, helpful feedback on my supervision and mentoring abilities?
Does anybody here have experience (as either supervisor or supervisee) with this kind of assessment, and have useful techniques to share?
# Answer
**Set the Stage**
At the start of each relationship, let each student know that you value feedback, that you are adaptable/flexible in your approach to supervision, and that you will be asking for their feedback both during and at the end of the end of the supervision period.
**Reinforce the Message and Values**
During the supervision period, look for opportunities to demonstrate your adaptability, your interest in feedback, and it is OK for them to offer feedback even if they might feel a bit uncomfortable. (Some people resist giving feedback to supervisors, including for gender/age/cultural reasons. They need to *experience* the process working successfully to overcome that resistance.)
**Asking for Feedback**
Aim for a face-to-face meeting, though it's fine if some people prefer to give feedback in writing. Before you ask for feedback, first ask what is important to them in supervision relationship. You need to understand their frame of reference and values. Then ask: "What worked well for you? And what didn't?" Then you can ask the feedback question: "For those things that didn't work so well for you, what would have worked better for you?" You are asking how things could be different for them, within their frame of reference. You aren't asking them to step into your shoes and advise you on how to be a better supervisor.
> 26 votes
# Answer
I (am) was in a similar situation as you are. I ended up supervising a team of BS and M.Eng/MPS students for a project. Most of the work for them involved programming and data visualization.
After the end of the semester/year, I took them out for coffee in a casual setting and asked them how I needed to improve my supervision skills. Since I worked with them closely throughout the semester/year, we were on friendly terms and I got some very constructive feedback. This helped shape my supervision in the next semester.
I did not ask anyone for help but this was what I had observed my previous adviser(s) doing with me so I followed their example.
> 24 votes
# Answer
I tend to have a group lessons learned session, either periodically or at the end of a project/phase. Phrasing questions in terms of the project, what worked and what didn't, sets up a stage for a frank and constructive discussion. Since it is not about you, you can participate as well.
> 3 votes
# Answer
The bigger question behind your question is: How can I be a more better/professional manager? Right?
And to answer that, it's probably not as simple as posing a question on SE.
I would ask you: Why do you think you need extra feedback? Do you think your students are hiding their thoughts or fearful of voicing their feelings to you? Because otherwise you should be fairly "in sync" with them while you're interacting, presuming your not managing from afar. That is the *key* indicator for supervisor performance, and there's no boilerplate that you'll be able to make for every situation and every type of person. If you try, you become the another PHB.
As a former manager, I know that if your employees aren't voicing their true thoughts or concerns to you, there's already a problem. And it's not necessarily them.
So the other key item, if I've guessed your intentions properly, is how do you develop this skill(s)? And for that you need to listen and dialog fluidly in each situation you encounter so that you *never miss a step* and always stay on top of things. That takes courage (because you will fail) and time (because it takes a diversity of experience), not technique.
> 1 votes
# Answer
You can do an anonymous survey. Ask them to rate you on certain criteria(that you mention in the survey, and want to get a feedback on!) Have them add additional comments too after the survey so they can add things that they feel, you should know about. This would be completely anonymous so they won't be too afraid to be honest. But on the other side they might still hesitate to open up completely as no one wants their boss to be mad at them just because they spoke the truth.
> -2 votes
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Tags: mentoring, supervision, assessment, feedback
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thread-26532
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26532
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Should I accept an invitation to give a talk on dated work?
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2014-07-29T18:37:06.830
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# Question
Title: Should I accept an invitation to give a talk on dated work?
I'm a recent math PhD, working in Subject X. I had the good luck to give a counterexample to a conjecture in Subject Y, using ideas from X. I don't know much about Y -- in fact I learned the conjecture in a "Y for dummies"-type paper and immediately saw the example. The people I met in Y seemed to be pretty happy about this.
Now I've been invited to give a talk at a big conference about Y. I would of course be delighted to do so, but by the time the conference happens my paper will be about 18 months post-arxiv. I don't really have plans or competence to do further work in Y, and I'm concerned that my paper will be getting stale by the time the conference rolls around. On the other hand, I could give a basic introduction to X and my example, which I think would be interesting to the audience.
Any suggestions as to how to proceed? Should I accept and give a dated talk?
# Answer
> 29 votes
I'm a physics PhD student, so our culture is a little different, but I've seen people give talks that were primarily about work published multiple years ago. So if math culture is anything like physics culture (and what I've heard suggests that the time scales are even *longer* for you), I don't think it's a bad idea. Especially, considering the fact that you have been *invited* to give this talk, it seems they want you there despite knowing that your work will have been out for a long time by the time the conference happens.
If you want to inject something new into it, you could consult with some colleagues in subject Y and ask them what the relevance of your counterexample is. Then you could finish your talk with an overview of what they tell you.
# Answer
> 20 votes
I'm assuming that either your job or the conference (or a mixture of both) is covering your travel + attendance cost. If that is the case you should give your talk on it.
A couple of good reasons.
1) Your employer likely hires PhDs to publish papers and give talks, and invited talks always looks good when you're looking for a promotion or a new position.
2) Because Subject X provided a counter-example, it is likely much more relevant to Y than was previously though. Likely the researchers in Y don't know much about X, and would like to know more.
3) You say you believe the conference attendees would be interested in your talk. This is the reason people attend conferences, to hear about something they don't understand well but find interesting. Don't worry that the paper is a few years old.
# Answer
> 8 votes
To add one aspect to the other excellent answers here:
Go and give that talk. Even if you don't really have plans or competence to do further work in Y, as you note, the topic seems to be interesting enough to enough people to explicitly invite you. So you never know, you might meet someone at that conference who you could collaborate with in extending your work!
# Answer
> 5 votes
**Yes, you should accept and give the talk**. Here's why:
1) **You will be providing a public service**. Most of science is currently hyper-specialized and practitioners from different disciplines have trouble communicating their findings to each other because of the differences in jargon and mutually familiar techniques. You have managed to bridge a gap and it is very valuable to make more people in Y aware of your techniques from X. There might even be people from a related Subject Z at the conference, and they might also be looking to learn from you.
2) **There may be more low-hanging fruit in Y**. You state that you are not inclined to pursue subject Y any further. But perhaps there are other current topics in Y where yet another technique from X might make a contribution. Just listen to some talks on Y and talk to the speakers afterwards. Someone might offer to co-author a paper with you, where they do all the work on Y and you provide the proofs from X.
3) **You might initiate more fundamental research on X**. Why was the conjecture in Y formulated in the first place? Was your counter-example so hard to construct with the tools previously used in Y? Was the counter-example not a viable practical example in Y? How would other techniques from X map to the domain of Y? Perhaps there are aspects in Y that cannot be readily modelled using X. In that case, you might need to generalize some of X or combine it with tools from subject U.
**Conclusion**: go forth, inspire and be inspired.
# Answer
> 4 votes
There is nothing wrong with the paper being old.
As an example, I once did a live experiment during a conference, with the attending people as participants in the experiment. Obviously, I couldn't evaluate and write up the data during the conference, although I had to give a talk with first results 24 hours after the experiment. I was also required to submit a paper with the complete results with the postproceedings, and these postproceedings appeared maybe 4 months after the conference and were sent to everybody who attended it that year.
I had to give the talk on the postproceedings paper the following year, when the conference was held again. Of course, it was attended by the same crowd of known faces (it is a conference for a somewhat small community). These were the same people who had heard the first results the year before, and then received the written paper.
Still, the talk was a success. The audience was very attentive during the talk, and I received both really good questions and great positive feedback afterwards, having professors come up to me, an unknown doctoral student, and express interest and praise for my work. They weren't bored at the "old news".
In fact, I don't think they had read the paper from the postproceedings, and that's fine. With the sheer quantity of research produced these days, nobody can keep up with all publications in their core area, and everybody picks only the stuff which has direct implication for their own work. They are still very interested in related topics when they get the occasion to hear about them, and enjoy good work. They just don't seek this information actively.
So, give the talk. It is a way to promote yourself and your work, and also your area X, which can have interesting synergies with Y. I doubt that anybody will have a negative reaction just because the paper has been sitting around for months.
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Tags: career-path, presentation
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thread-26620
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26620
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As a PhD student in Germany, would I retain student status for tax purposes?
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2014-07-31T09:44:20.763
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# Question
Title: As a PhD student in Germany, would I retain student status for tax purposes?
I am currently pursuing my masters degree in computer science from TU Munich, and I would love to pursue my PhD soon after my graduation, but I am worried about the finances at the same time.
What I gather is I should be able to make a decent enough salary but what I do not understand clearly, is whether I would retain my student status during my PhD and enjoy reduced taxation?
With reduced taxation and few other student benefits, it could possibly mean I have a more stable financial situation.
# Answer
Yes and no. Student status does not lead to reduced taxation in Germany (that should hold for non-locals, too). Instead, low incomes and scholarships are not subject to tax, which is probably what you are referring to. The maximum amount for scholarships before they are subject to taxation is said to be higher for non-Germans, though. As a student, health insurance is also cheaper.
You are unlikely to get the cheaper health insurance as a PhD student as well. Depending on the state in which you do your PhD, you may or may not be allowed to enroll as a PhD student, so you may lose benefits such as cheaper food in the student canteen. Other than that, see the links provided in the comments to your question by Wolfgang Kuehne, as the taxation situation is very much dependent on how your PhD studies are funded.
However, being subject to taxation and full-fee health insurance is not necessarily bad, as if you manage to find a 100% paid scientific employee position (which is not uncommon for CS), you will see that the net income is actually quite ok - even if you take the higher accommodation cost in Munich into account.
> 6 votes
# Answer
I'm not sure where you get the idea that a CS grad student in the US makes more than a CS student in Germany. If you get a full TV-L position (100%), which many CS positions are, then your net pay after deductions starts at 25,000 € per year (roughly $34,000), and goes up from there. I know of very few US graduate students whose *net* income is that large—most of them may get that much as a *gross* salary, and are then responsible for paying taxes and health insurance out of that sum.
If you aren't trying to raise a family, or have exceptional financial circumstances, the graduate salary (it's a salary, not a stipend—as it usually is in the US) is probably more than sufficient to live anywhere in Germany. (Also, you receive full social benefits, including retirement and health insurance.)
So, salary considerations shouldn't be a significant part of your decision-making process—at least not in the sense of "can I afford to be a graduate student?" You can ask if that's a lifestyle you want to be living, compared to what's possible if you go into industry.
> 8 votes
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Tags: phd, computer-science, career-path, salary
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thread-26595
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26595
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Should I apply for PhD program this year after one semester of research experience, or wait another year?
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2014-07-30T20:16:00.670
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# Question
Title: Should I apply for PhD program this year after one semester of research experience, or wait another year?
I am doing BS Computer Science. I will be starting my final year in August and my CGPA is 3.05. I don't have any research experience yet but I am pretty sure that I want to get a PhD degree.
Will 3-4 months of research experience be enough if I involve in a research project now (considering the 15 December deadline for PhD application)? Or should I apply next year and get more research experience?
# Answer
Plenty of PhD students go into their program without research experience. I would say that of the PhD students I know who went into their PhD directly from their BS in CS well over half had no previous research experience. Previous research experience can help during the application process but it's not required.
That answers your overt question of "Do I need research experience to get into Grad School?" but let's take a moment to look at some of the implied questions you bring up.
Spending more time researching prior to applying for or attending graduate school can help you make sure that a postgraduate degree is really what you want. You should spend some time figuring out what kind of job you want after you are done with school and seeing what level of education will help you reach that goal. Or, in other words, *why* do you want to go to grad school? There were be a lot more happy grads students if more of them stopped to consider this question. I found that I while I enjoy research, I hate writing research papers SO MUCH that I couldn't face 5 - 7 years of research papers. I also discovered that for the jobs I wanted a PhD wasn't very useful at this point(and that most jobs I looked at would eventually pay for me to go back and get a PhD).
Spending some time researching prior to applying or attending grad school would also be useful if you felt you needed to improve your application packet. You mention a 3.05 CGPA which is kinda, just 'ok' you know? It's not amazing but it's also not bad enough to prevent you from attending graduate school. It's the kind of CGPA that needs strong extracurricular activities, external projects, great letters of recommendation and strong statements of purpose in order to succeed. How are your letters of recommendation? Do you have a good relationship with any instructors that could write a personalized letter? Were you involved in good extracurriculars(not necessarily CS related, but, rather, extracurriculars where you *did* something)? Have you taken the GREs? How did they go for you? What schools do you want to do your PhD at? How competitive are these schools? These are the kinds of questions that will strongly effect your chances at getting into graduate school. Time researching could help with some of these - it could get you stronger letters of recommendation, buff up missing or subpar extracurriculars, give you time to study for and retake the GRE.
Finally when you start thinking about a PhD you should consider a couple of things:
* If you are not 100% positive(and even if you are) that you want to get a PhD and do all the stuff that comes along with that then you should apply to a program that gets you a Masters degree along the way. This way if things don't turn out the way you want them to you still end up with a very useful piece of paper.
* What do you want to research? Just saying 'I want a PhD' is a short road to a shitty PhD experience. What are you willing to spend almost the next decade of your life researching? Who do you want to research with? If you want to study, say, Human Computer Interaction then you should be applying to schools that have those programs and have professors publishing and researching in that field. If you aren't sure what you want to study then, perhaps, more time researching before you apply would be useful - it would give you a chance to get the lay of the land and make some decisions(and possibly connections).
* I've already brought this up but it bears repeating. What do you want to do with a PhD? Do you want to research? Do you want to teach? Get this shit locked down before you sign up for anything. So many PhD students go into their degree program because 'I want a PhD' without thinking about the why and the what and a not insignificant amount of them end up never finishing.
> 1 votes
# Answer
PhD programs are for applicants who know and show, all they want to do is research! If the research project you are involved in, right now is extraordinarily productive, then you might get into a PhD program this year itself, given that the PhD would be about the research you are doing right now. You can also start writing review papers or research articles to start building your publication record. Even if it is under progress during the time of application, it still counts.
If all (or most) of these are non-feasible for you for the time being, I'd suggest waiting till next year. That way you'd know better what research you want to pursue for PhD and would have a strong profile too. Chances of admission are higher, if you do it(apply for PhD) next year.
Good luck :)
> 0 votes
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions
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thread-26632
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26632
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Number formatting: use of digit separators in manuscripts
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2014-07-31T13:42:10.600
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# Question
Title: Number formatting: use of digit separators in manuscripts
I am reading through a manuscript that I am co-authoring with a colleague and I noticed that it used digit separators/marks for all the numbers (i.e. 2,500 instead of 2500). Maybe it's just me but I think this style started after my colleague started doing a post-doc in the U.S.
I have checked the author guidelines of a couple of journals that are likely submission targets in our field and they don't seem to include anything about decimal/digit separators. I also checked my previously published articles and noticed that numeric values were not edited (by press editors that is) to include digit separators.
Thus my question, is there a general rule-of-thumb regarding number formatting, especially considering digit separators?
# Answer
Digit separators differ between countries, particularly since the decimal seprator is comma in many countries but a period in English/American. Hence in English you may use commas as digit separators while in other countries periods are used. Space is therefore the only separator that is not confusing. A general rule of thumb is to not use separators for single-thousands but start to use them for tens of thousands and up
> 1000
>
> 10 000
>
> 100 000
>
> 1 000 000
When using spaces in writing, it is good to remember to use non-breaking spaces so that numbers are not broken over lines.
> 11 votes
# Answer
In scientific literature it is common to employ a *thin* space to separate groups of digits (see e.g. NIST SP811, §10.5.3). If you're using LaTeX to write your articles you can obtain this spacing in two ways:
1. Directly with the small-space command `\,`. For example: `There were $10\,000$ people at the concert last night` (well, not exactly a scientific example).
2. Using the *siunitx* package and the command `\num` (or `\qty` for quantities with units), which can take care of the spacing automatically. For example: `There were \num{10000} people at the concert last night` (it adds automatically a small space after the 10).
> 12 votes
# Answer
I think that, in as much as there is such a standard, it tends to breakdown between scientific and humanities fields. In general, I would argue that the modern standard in science is to use only spaces as separators ("2 500" instead of "2,500" for instance), while the reverse tends to be true in the humanities.
However, the best guidelines for these sorts of issues, as usual, is to consult with the guidelines and recommendations of the individual publisher.
> 7 votes
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Tags: publications, formatting
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thread-26550
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26550
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What is a faculty mentor for a junior professor?
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2014-07-30T01:57:36.870
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# Question
Title: What is a faculty mentor for a junior professor?
I see JeffE mentioned the existence of a faculty mentor in his comment on this question, so I am wondering if there is usually a faculty mentor for every junior professor (e.g., newly hired untenured profs). If yes, what are their roles?
# Answer
It's rapidly becoming the norm at least at larger research universities (R1s) for all junior faculty to have assigned mentors from the senior faculty. At smaller institutions, they may not be assigned and so junior people have to find a mentor themselves from within the college, go externally, use their thesis adviser as a continuing mentor, or choose not to get mentored altogether.
I'm currently serving as a senior faculty mentor to a junior colleague (I was assigned this person by my Chair) and am an informal mentor to two others. As I see it, my roles are to:
* Show an active interest in my colleague's work. Read their published and unpublished work. Go to their internal talks and try to go to their annual conference talks. Provide feedback.
* Serve as a soundingboard for my colleague -- which journal should they publish in, should they change the structure of their article, what should their publishing schedule be. Suggest, but don't direct.
* Serve as an advocate for my colleague at senior faculty meetings and to the university at promotion and tenure time
* Take the colleague out for lunch from time to time.
In general, try to be a decent human being to them. Especially at the larger R1s, decent human beings are rare so this takes quite an effort. :-)
Note that I've seen a lot of bad mentoring by senior faculty. I'm not sure if they do this because of spite or because they are Evil People®. In my mind, bad mentoring is worse than no mentoring, so I'm not sure if mandatory mentoring programs such as at my institution are a good idea.
> 8 votes
# Answer
This will be a slightly different persepctive from RoboKaren's. I work in a small American liberal arts college in a small department. We have five tenure lines split between math and CS. My college does assign mentors to new faculty who are given funds to take the mentee out to lunch a couple of times. What is different from an R1 setting is that the mentors are specifically and intentionally from very different departments. These assignments come from the Faculty Development Office. Mine is from history.
A few thoughts about what advantages having a mentor from an outside department may have:
* An outside mentor helps navigate the politics of a small department by knowing everyone involved but not being part of the situation.
* A lot of what the mentor gives is insight into navigating the college's structures and politics that are independent of departmental affiliation. For example, the relative workload of the various college-wide committees.
* It helps get you outside of your own department to meet people from across the college. In a small town in a small college this social role is more important than you might imagine.
What this model does not accomplish is any sort of discipline specific mentoring on research or teaching. Those matters are left to informally acquired mentors and friends. This system may not be the Platonic ideal of mentoring but it does accomplish some good without too much bad.
> 5 votes
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Tags: advisor, mentoring
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thread-26586
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26586
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Do the authors need to ask for permission from institutes/companies for including their name in acknowledgement section of their publication?
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2014-07-30T18:42:51.063
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# Question
Title: Do the authors need to ask for permission from institutes/companies for including their name in acknowledgement section of their publication?
In the acknowledgement section of a thesis or paper, the authors usually thank the funding institution of their research project and people who had significant impact on their publication.
When acknowledging companies/institutions in a publication, should they be informed beforehand? I mean, should authors ask for permissions before acknowledging any names in a publication?
# Answer
If the agency provides funding, and you are not sure about their policy, you can always contact the person who administers your grant to find out.
Some private foundations do have specific requests for acknowledgement. For example, I seem to remember that the Templeton Foundation likes authors to include a statement such as "The opinions expressed here are those of the author and not necessarily those of the John Templeton Foundation."
Your grant agent can surely tell you about this. And they will almost certainly be happy to hear you are publishing something with their support.
> 4 votes
# Answer
As long as you're not publishing their logo, you should be able to print their name in an acknowledgement section. **However**, if you are getting sponsored by them, it may be *necessary* (according to terms of agreement(s) or as a courtesy) to show their logo.
> 2 votes
# Answer
It likely depends on what field, and what you're acknowledging them for.
In most medical journals, and as such most journals of "allied" fields like nursing or public health, you *must* name your funding sources, so institutes and companies take it as assumed that their names will be appearing in publications. One company that's funded projects of mine even provides the boilerplate language in their funding agreement.
If you're acknowledging them for *help*, or the reasons you'd acknowledge an individual, rather than for funding? Again, likely depends on the field - again, in medicine, many journals consider being in the acknowledgements section to be a tacit approval of the results of the paper, and require you seek permission to put them in the acknowledgements section.
Regardless of whether or not you *need* to, it's probably decent practice to let them know, especially if they're funding you, because it tells them you're doing productive things with their money.
> 2 votes
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Tags: publications, ethics, acknowledgement
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thread-26531
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26531
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Thinking about switching to a Masters from a PhD, advisor wants a decision now
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2014-07-29T18:36:07.190
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# Question
Title: Thinking about switching to a Masters from a PhD, advisor wants a decision now
**Main Question:**
Three semesters into a PhD program, I am still unhappy with my project. I am currently in a summer internship where I was offered a job, and as I have enjoyed it so far and they pay well, I am considering finishing a Masters degree and leaving after that. I emailed my advisor to let him know about the offer, asking his advice about that and about the logistics of switching tracks. He has now asked me to let him know what I decide so he can give my TA position this coming semester to a different student (only PhD students at my university are guaranteed funding). I don't want to be misleading and take funding away from students who are committed to a PhD, but I honestly don't know what I want to do yet. I wonder if there might still be a chance that everything gets better and I do finish a PhD. But since I am not committed, is it better to officially switch? I don't know if it is possible to switch back, because my grades have not been the best and my university is very selective. (But I worry that the department does not look highly upon me at this point anyways - my first year was rough, and I ended up taking leave last fall for personal/health reasons.)
How should I handle this situation?
**Possibly relevant background information:**
almost 23, US, computer science. Finishing the requirements for a masters degree will take 2-3 more semesters (five classes and a paper). I majored in physics in undergrad but added a computer science major my junior year, and then decided to apply to graduate school for that because there were many things I hadn't gotten to learn about yet and found interesting. So I am now in a highly ranked program doing a project related to AI / NLP, which I had very little experience with prior to grad school. The project is old, in a language I hate and struggle with, has mostly been bug fixes and reimplementing things that have already been done before. With the exception of last semester, when another student joined (she has left already) it was just me working on it and three professors giving out tasks. Entering my third year, I am starting to feel pressure to figure out a topic, but I still feel as if I don't know enough to decide and have no clue what would be acceptable or even what I would want to do.
I miss the excitement of undergrad days when I would write simple AIs or algorithms for my own amusement and edification - I thought grad school would be like that, but I haven't done anything of the sort since. I've enjoyed my industry internships and class projects far more than any 'research' tasks because I got to build something that *actually works*. This is why I am considering not going through with the PhD and just getting a job, although not ruling out the possibility of going back later when I have a more clear idea of what I want to do, after narrowing my interests on my own time. I am not interested in a job in academia at all but rather I just want to have a high-tech job where I can make something novel and useful - which in some cases might be more accessible with a PhD, but I think is also possible with just a Masters.
# Answer
> 2 votes
To be honest, you can make a lot of money and reputation in the field of CS without any graduate degree. Take the examples of the CEO's of some very big software companies. You don't need a PhD to satisfy your hunger for more and more challenging tasks when you are a computer scientist. CS people generally do a PhD if they want to stay in academia and be a professor or something like that.
If the industry work makes you happy, go with it. Finish your requirements for Masters, graduate, take up a job that you really love and who knows you might be the next 'Gates' or 'Jobs'. PhD won't help if you are not loving what you are doing and it won't bring any exceptional job offer which you otherwise can't get with a MS degree.
Hope you are able to make up your mind soon. I wish you good luck :)
# Answer
> 2 votes
That is a tough decision, but do you think it's mainly the project or just the whole concept of PhD that isn't appealing? Would it help to switch projects or advisors? It sounds as though you have a good fit with your internship, so perhaps it would be a good to gain that work experience and, if you want later, return to school with a clearer idea of what you want to work with (as you mentioned).
With regards to the type of job you want in the future, have you spoken to other professionals to gauge whether or not a PhD is really necessary? That might help in your decision as well. Good luck!
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Tags: phd, masters, ethics
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thread-26553
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26553
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What's a novel way to say "all errors are my own"?
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2014-07-30T05:24:10.927
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# Question
Title: What's a novel way to say "all errors are my own"?
Typical disclaimer is now just common fodder for all papers and books. Any advice on a more original take to this generic statement would be appreciated!
# Answer
> 65 votes
Making the manuscript error-free is left as an exercise for the reader.
# Answer
> 19 votes
What is the point? If errors are due to factors other than those under ones own control, it should be mentioned (people are usually careful to protect their own names from problems they are not responsible for). Any unreferenced errors, ambiguities, misconceptions will clearly be labelled as the fault of the author by default.
# Answer
> 13 votes
Donald E. Knuth writes in the Preface of Volume 4A of his series *The Art of Computer Programming*:
> I fear that \[errors\] lurk among the details collected here, and I want to correct them as soon as possible. Therefore I will cheerfully award $2.56 to the first finder of each technical, typographical, or historical error.
This is not novel but if there is a greater way to own up and ask for help, I don't know it. This assumes, of course, you want to know about errors and not just issue a blanket "my faul, duh" statement.
Incidentally, Knuth cites Christos H. Papadimitriou (*Computational Complexity*, 1994) just below; if you are in for a little snark:
> Naturally, I am responsible for the remaining errors---although, in my opinions, my friends could have caught a few more.
I don't think it makes sense to copy such a statement (even as citation) to replace your own words. The best way is probably to be authentic and write what you think.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Usually, such a disclaimer appears when the author of the paper/book acknowledges some contribution from other persons that do not appear as authors, especially when (for papers) the referees are acknowledged for constructive comments and suggestions.
The polite way is to say "all *remaining* errors are my own".
The "heavy-weight professional" way is to say "the usual disclaimer applies".
A natural way to create a Catch-22 (a vicious circle) would be to state "to the best of my knowledge, this paper contains no further erors".
# Answer
> 1 votes
I find the increasing prevalence of this type of acknowledgement annoying. In political science, it seems like it is on almost every paper. Indeed, some authors have now switched to just writing "the usual disclaimer applies". Why I would need to acknowledge that I am responsible for (errors in) something I have authored continues to allude me. A novel (yet pleasantly classical) strategy would be to say nothing of this sort at all.
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Tags: publications, writing, etiquette
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thread-26415
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26415
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Research Methodology Books for beginners in Computer Science research
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2014-07-26T08:50:08.293
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# Question
Title: Research Methodology Books for beginners in Computer Science research
I am looking for Research Methodology textbooks in the field of Computer Science. Most books I came across are useful to social science, economics etc.
In our part of the world a person who wants to do research should study a course in research methodology. But most books in research methodology are from social science, economics perspective.
Would like to know some from technology/computer science/engineering perspective. Some must read books for general reading also would be good
# Answer
Research methodologies are usually independent of your area. Often, the application of some methods and the examples used to describe them differ depending on the area. For example, empirical research is a methodology that can be applied whether you do research in CS, psychology, or physics. This methodology teaches you how to conduct experiments that are sound (by minimizing different threats to validity) and how to analyze the data in a statistical way (e.g., when to use which statistical test to accept a certain research hypothesis). In medicine, you might conduct experiments to analyze the effects of some drugs whereas is CS, you would do some performance experiments to analyze the effects of some optimizations. The methods used in both areas are the same, the application might differ largely though.
Hence, it would not harm to study a text book from psychology / statistics, because the tools you learn there are also valuable for CS (e.g., knowing the difference between qualitative and quantitative research or descriptive and analytic). Furthermore, there is no CS-methodology (at least I am not aware of).
> 2 votes
# Answer
This book is "research methodology for computer science". It's a quick and easy read that clarifies many issues specific to the computer science field. The problem is that it is available only in Brazilian Portuguese, as far as I know.
> 0 votes
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Tags: research-process, computer-science, methodology
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thread-25804
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/25804
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What to do when you discover a mistake in the archived copy of your PhD thesis?
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2014-07-12T18:30:26.353
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# Question
Title: What to do when you discover a mistake in the archived copy of your PhD thesis?
I've just defended my PhD in mathematics and started a postdoc. While working on an improvement of one of the results of my thesis, I realized that there are several minor mistakes and a big bug in a proof that invalids a minor result in the thesis (about 3-4 pages out of 110). Unfortunately neither I nor my advisor or referees figured it out the mistake. Though the result is minor, it is announced in the introduction and the manuscript is on-line on an ArXiv-like server, so that I could publish a new version but not cancel the one on-line.
What is the best thing to do? Upload an errata? Upload a "revised" version of the thesis? Publish a "revised version" of the thesis on my web-page?
Can this damage my future career, making me look not "reliable" as a researcher?
# Answer
Though I am not in mathematics (I'm a philosopher), I would only add that generally speaking, the PhD dissertation should be one of the worst papers you ever publish. That doesn't mean it should be terrible...it only means that it's the start of your career, and your writing--and your research--will get better with experience.
You could still go ahead and submit a correction, but at the same time, don't stress yourself out over it. So many doctorandi today think the dissertation has to be flawless, and that they have to make some ground-breaking, Nobel-prize-worthy advancement in their field for the thesis to be any good. This is simply not true. Look--you have a postdoc, the results of which will no doubt be more influential on your future than your dissertation.
Again, I'm not saying to *not* submit the errata. Rather, I just don't want you to lose sleep over the mistake. Don't be too hard on yourself.
> 38 votes
# Answer
This question actually reminded me that I had made some (minor) addenda/errata notes on my own thesis but somehow forgot to ever post them. I should get to that!
Anyway, you definitely should correct the error; it's bad for mathematics if serious errors propagate. It's a little embarrassing, yes, but it's not at all uncommon. It will be more embarrassing if someone else finds the error first, and extremely embarrassing (and maybe starting to be career-damaging) if you have to say "Oh yeah, I knew about that, but never corrected it because I was embarrassed."
Before doing anything, I would suggest you spend a few days seeing if you can fix the error. Maybe you can find a way to work around the gap in the proof. Maybe you can adjust the hypotheses so that you still have a theorem, though a weaker one. (Or maybe you can find a counterexample.) Figure out what other parts of the thesis are affected by this error, and if they need fixing as well.
It can get confusing if there are multiple versions of your thesis floating around, so rather than trying to revise it, I would write up a short erratum note, explaining whatever you have learned about the error and its fix (if any). You might as well also list any other typos or errata that you have found, references to relevant work that's been published (or discovered by you) since your thesis was written, and anything else you would like to add.
Post the addendum on arXiv. Then, wherever your thesis is posted (your web site, the alternative preprint server you mention, the university's official site if possible), post a note saying "Addendum posted at arXiv:1234.5678". If you can't add notes or comments on the site itself, but can upload a revised version of the thesis, just add a page at the beginning with a reference to the addendum.
(And I'll echo JeffE's suggestion: it would be nice to post your thesis on arXiv itself as well. The "Comments" field would be a good place to reference the addendum.)
> 16 votes
# Answer
Mathematics has a great tradition of making mistakes and then fixing them yourself. Having other people find your mistake is a little embarrassing, but fixing them yourself shows that you are dilligent, so stop worrying.
Whether you upload an erratum or a revised thesis doesn't really matter, as long as both the old and new versions are available. (It's useful to see how things have been corrected, since mistakes are a good source of learning.)
Before you upload the new content, please double check that you really got it right this time. If it is wrong a second time (or was right and now you made it wrong), you can start to look a little foolish.
> 9 votes
# Answer
If anyone would care, there would be a mechanism for erratas... Even now, majority of the thesises is not available for the public. It is true for most science and most (even prestigious) universities. In short: no one reads them and no one cares.
If the mistake is something you published, I would care more about fixing the actual paper.
> 5 votes
# Answer
I had at least one error in my thesis (that I know of). As with yours, it was minor and affected even less of the paper. I found it when I was preparing a paper for publication. Fortunately, I was able to correct it, and the correct version was actually more interesting than the original erroneous one. I never corrected my thesis because the correct result was actually put in a journal article.
I've also had errors in print, a much more embarrassing affair. The mathematician who corrected it was very kind about it. I have not yet issued a correction, but it will appear in a forthcoming article, and quite a while after the initial error.
In my opinion, shared by some other responders, your publication record is more important than your thesis (unless you're a stratospheric talent). So don't sweat it too much. And, don't be reluctant to ask your advisor for advice (that's one of the reasons why he's called an advisor).
> 2 votes
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Tags: thesis, etiquette, errors-erratum
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thread-10869
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10869
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How difficult Is a PhD Program?
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2013-07-01T02:07:52.770
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# Question
Title: How difficult Is a PhD Program?
I am a Master's student in math who is doing pretty well so far. I aced my first two classes (real analysis) and my summer session in probability theory is going well, too. Even before my Master's study, I already thought of a PhD. Nonetheless, there are concerns:
1. My good grades were the result of grit, not brain, meaning that I had to spend time to understand what the book is telling me. Furthermore, a lot of times during exam and homework, I had to try and fail a few times before arriving at the solution.
2. I did not study math during undergrad. Before my Master's study, I gulped down three semesters of calculus, plus LA and DE in one year. So compared to other students, I am already behind. In the next two months, I will learn complex numbers on my own and review my linear algebra.
3. I am a professional in a field that has nothing to do with math or research. After the holiday, I will speak to my advisor about taking a thesis class. It's not an insurmountable obstacle, but, in an unrelated field, I do have less time to concentrate on math.
At the end, how big is the jump from Master's to Phd? Especially after what I said in (1), I do worry that it is beyond my ability. I do not hold anyone responsible for my decision. So, please kindly offer your best assessment of my situation.
# Answer
> 12 votes
I'll answer your title question and sub-questions in three words (then add to that): ***Difficulty is relative.***
Noam Elkies finished his PhD in math at the age of 20. The average graduate student would probably take anywhere from 4 - 5 years. That doesn't mean Noam was a god among graduate students when he was a graduate student, and that's the reason he was able to finish his thesis faster than Joe Schmoe (though he *is* quite exceptional) and Joe Schmoe should just give up. Far from it. The fact that you're doing well in your master's courses is a good indicator you're well qualified for the coursework part. Working on a PhD thesis means producing original research. Producing original research means dealing with not so cut-and-neat problems like ones you'd encounter in your homework or textbooks. It means working with problems that you're not sure are close-ended, open-ended, or neither. In other words, different skill sets are needed for research in addition to the problem-solving heuristics which you've already acquired from your coursework.
Since you've never wet your foot it seems to me you have *no indication* of your ability to do research . So what do you do? Just go for it! You only live once as far as we know, and it seems to me that your real problem is your self-imposed doubt. Get that out of your head. Research is about staring and thinking about a problem long enough then coming up with an answer which turns out to be completely wrong and in that, the process repeats until you get your "Eureka!" moment.
You should also stop worrying about others being ahead of you. There'll always be someone faster and better than you (unless your name is John Von Neumann :-) especially in academia. A good algebraic geometer from UGA by the name of Roy Smith didn't get his start in advanced mathematics until his late 20's, after working in industry as a meat lugger. He received his PhD at 35. Over 30 years later, he's still going strong. What you should learn from him is if passion calls for it, then there should be no stopping you. If you fail at a career, then that's that. It's not the end of the world. But if you never bother to even try, then you'll never know and you'll always have a "What if?" moment.
**So just to sum all of this up**: Apply to a PhD program and see what happens.
https://mathoverflow.net/questions/7120/too-old-for-advanced-mathematics/45644#45644 (if you're interested in Roy's post)
# Answer
> 11 votes
There are a few different things going on in this question, I'll try and address them separately.
First of all, heed JeffE's words about the impostor syndrome. The idea that some people are effortly geniuses (which is inevitably followed by "but not me") is untrue and distinctly unhelpful.
Moreover trying and failing a few (or many!) times before coming to a solution is the very *definition* of doing research! The important question you should ask yourself is if you enjoy the challenge of struggling against a problem; if so, then research would be a great fit.
As for your background, you seem to have a plan to address the gaps in your background, and if you're doing well in your master's programme, I wouldn't worry too much about being behind the other students. Another challenge may be if you have a full-time job; doing a Ph.D. with a fulltime job is by no means impossible, but requires a some great time management skills. Anyway there's plenty of resources on this forum to help with this issue.
Finally, as for the question in the title, I would say it depends the most on what you plan to do with your Ph.D. after you graduate. I'm a recent graduate (in math) from a well-known North American school, and the quality of the Ph.D's varied greatly. I think it really depends on what you want to do with the degree. If getting a Ph.D. is the farthest one wants to go in academia, the standards for graduating are pretty low, and I think can be achieved not too strenuously. If one wants to be competitive in the academic research job market, the bar is quite a bit higher.
# Answer
> 3 votes
As Austin Mohr, pointed out, it is unlikely a stranger on the net fully answer this for you, but what you are experiencing is similar to what I experienced, so I can tell you how it was from my perspective.
Given what JeffE commented, studying through true 'grit', does involve 'brains' as you are developing and applying problem solving skills and stategies - which has clearly been effective, as you mention, you have good grades. So, it seems you have developed effective study techniques.
Point 2 is pretty much not an issue, based on the skills and strategies you developed in point 1.
If you do an unrelated thesis, as you mentioned in point 3 - look at this way, you'll be developing the research and synthesis skills needed for a PhD.
What I found about the transition between the Masters and PhD, was that it wasn't so much of a leap, but a case of using the skills developed a lot more thoroughly.
I hope this helps.
# Answer
> 0 votes
In your shoes, if I were applying for a PhD program, I might be thinking in terms of an "ABD" (All but dissertation.)
From the sound of it, "grit not brain" will get you through your PhD courses. You likely will pass the "comprehensive" examination. And then the fear is that you will "freeze up" when it comes time to write the dissertation because you are behindhand in "natural" (as opposed to synthetic), talent compared to others.
You will have to balance these real concerns against the benefits of "taking courses" and getting as far as you can, before possibly running up against a brick wall with your thesis.
This was basically my story (some decades ago). I was "counseled out" of a PhD program by a dean who observed that I had the preparation and the brains for the program, but lacked the "spark," "thirst," or drive that would see others through, but maybe not me.
What's worse, as a history undergraduate with mostly As, I had trouble finding a senior thesis topic, and spent the first part of my senior year wondering if I would be able to graduate, and thinking about writing a "trivial" paper that would earn a C. In the middle of the first semester, I stumbled on a viable topic that earned me departmental honors.
I can see one of three outcomes for you. 1) A "light bulb" will go off in your head at some point before you approach the end of the PhD program. If this happens, you're fine. 2) You will somehow squeak through, not quite knowing how you did it, and come out of the process a bit shell-shocked. 3) Neither of the above will happen, as you feared, in which case you might "bail out" as an "ABD."
I can't predict the outcome for you, but am sharing my experience. Just understand what the risks are, take into account your circumstances, and (hopefully) make the best decision for you.
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Tags: research-process, mathematics
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thread-26665
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26665
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How was higher education done before the university system?
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2014-08-01T05:28:45.373
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# Question
Title: How was higher education done before the university system?
I know the university system as it is understood today dates at least as far back as the 13th century or perhaps even to the time of Charlemagne, Alcuin of York, et al., but how was higher education handled before universities? Was it by private tutoring?
# Answer
> 11 votes
As with many things the history of higher education is not well known since accounts may be scarce or missing altogether. Early evidence indicate that schools existed in Egypt where, primarily, boys would learn to read and write etc. One has to remember that such skills were not for the masses. Religiously connected schools also emerged where religious texts were handled and copied. Theological and medical teaching was also done but very little else. evidence of mathematics have been found so there were also schools, perhaps aiming at architecture, astronomy , etc. relevant for the culture. None of these has a degree at the end but was likely based on apprenticeship and mastery evaluated by the teachers. Similar evidence for teaching exists in all older cultures and seem to focus on maintaining order in the social and cultural basis for society.
There seems to be a big step when considering Greek education which was far more comprehensive than the pragmatic education earlier. In the city states of ancient Greece specialized schools emerged where teaching circled around very specific topics such as the Hippocratic school of medicine on Cos. This specialization seems to have continued with the well known Greek philosophers/scientists such as Aristotle, Plato etc. and teaching progressed in directions envisioned by these founders. In other words, there was no single systematic way for schools to teach and operate.
In the Roman world subjects were ordered in groups that we can recognize today: I grammar rhetoric, dialectic; II geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, music; III medicine, architecture. This was how the *liberal arts* (defined as theoretical and intellectual activities by the Greeks) were seen. The subjects have of course survived to modern times although organisation has changed. So education became more organised but the education was not open and still served a purpose for maintaining government rule. Out of the post-Roman world came the first universities as stated in the question where education became even more organized and eventually including fixed degrees.
This answer is loosely based on the excellent book: *The first universities* by Olaf Pedersen, Cambridge UP, 1997. I strongly recommend it!
# Answer
> 2 votes
It depends on what you mean by higher education.
Degrees are highly inflated nowadays, now practically everyone and his dog has a PhD, or at least a BSc.
100 years ago passing final exams in high-school practically was the terminal degree for most administrative positions. Much fewer people went on universities, mostly engineering, doctors and such.
If you go back a couple of hundred years you realize that very few profession actually needed university degree, and universities were mostly scholarly centers for philosophy and religious studies. Most engineering didn't even exist 500 years ago, and what existed was taught by professional communities through apprenticeship, not by universities. So what you call higher education is defined very much by the post-industrial area.
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Tags: teaching, academic-history, tutoring
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thread-26670
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26670
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Authorship issues in numerical mathematics
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2014-08-01T08:20:17.043
|
# Question
Title: Authorship issues in numerical mathematics
I have been working on a draft in the area of numerical mathematics for several months.
My PhD advisor recently discussed this draft with me. He wants to be mentioned as an author for (i) some discussions (ii) financing the research.
However, I am not sure about the authorship guidelines in my discipline. Numerical mathematics sits between pure mathematics, computer science, and the sciences, and it is comparatively young. So what is the appropriate norm on (i) choice and (ii) order of authors?
# Answer
> 7 votes
## Authorship
Being a researcher in numerical mathematics myself, I think that just "financing the research" is not a sufficient argument to include your advisor as co-author. The notion of "some discussion" is very imprecise and may mean that
* the problem, the idea of the solution and the composition of the work belong to your supervisor, and your work is purely technical; or
* your supervisor checked your manuscript briefly just once and made a couple of comments regarding your English.
Without knowing the level of involvement, it is impossible to judge whether or not you should include your supervisor as co-author. To answer this question, you may wish to read your journal's policy regarding the authorship. For example, the Elsevier's definition of authorship reads:
> Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.
## Order of authors
From my shoes, it seems that many researchers in the numerical mathematics prefer to list the authors alphabetically, i.e. the order of authors does not reflect their contribution. However, when I personally publish together with researchers in applied areas (like Chemistry and Physics) in journals like Phys Rev B, we prefer to follow their convention, where the first author is the "main" author, and the last one is the one who "finance" the research. This leads to a certain amount of confusion, when all these papers appear together on your CV. Arguably, a good decision is to describe the contribution of all co-authors in a special section at the end of your paper.
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Tags: mathematics, authorship
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thread-26647
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26647
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Best strategy to learn programing for graduate research data analysis in biology
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2014-07-31T19:03:08.933
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# Question
Title: Best strategy to learn programing for graduate research data analysis in biology
I'm actually asking this question on behalf of a sibling who's pursuing a PhD in Biology. While I'm a Mechanical Engineering student and am "computer-savvy" and experienced in learning programming languages from technical textbooks and internet forums, she is very inexperienced in programming in any form.
What textbooks would you recommend for the self-teaching of MATLAB and/or Excel for the purpose of data analysis? If she wanted a technical book, I could find one in five minutes. I'm looking for a book that can explain MATLAB to an inexperienced user with no programming background.
Also, if you learned MATLAB or a similar program with great success, what tips would you give for self teaching? Thanks!
# Answer
The best tool to learn depends on the actual job. For very basic data analysis, Excel has the lowest entry barrier, but the learning curve gets steep soon. Learning a full language will take some months, but will greatly expand the things she is capable of doing. Also, knowing programming in a field where everybody uses Excel can be a great advantage and unique feature for employment.
One important factor deciding which language is the environment she is in. Having people used to the tools and perks of a language can be very useful when learning from scratch. On the other hand, I'd only count "modern" options (some old professors are very fond of FORTRAN77 and IDL, but learning these is like learning to train dinosaurs).
She should consider not only her lab, but also ask at the Bioinformatics department, and take a look at other labs in the branch she is in. In my experience, for the most informatics side of the field, people use mostly Python, C++, and Java for some machine learning. I have encountered some MATLAB, but definitely not much.
One last note: I think in learning your first language you want the cleanest and less quirky possible. MATLAB in this respect is a mess of a language, with a crappy syntax and bad scalability. My personal choice would be Python, so here are some introductory materials:
* Summer school on scientific programming and introduction to Python. All materials are posted.
* The official tutorial. There is a lot of things that are not for useful for scientists, but it is very good introduction to the language.
* Khan academy. They have everything. Very nice.
* Coursera has a full assortment of courses. She will surely find something of interest there.
> 8 votes
# Answer
Learning Matlab (I prefer) or R will ultimately make you a more efficient researcher: not only do both languages allow you to do advanced mathematical data processes, but also make publication quality graphics. Excel requires much more work to get data visualization publication ready, in my experience.
While your friend is a biologist, and field where my impression is that R is more heavily used that matlab, if she really wants to learn matlab, this book is great:http://www.springer.com/earth+sciences+and+geography/book/978-3-642-12761-8
While it is designed for Earth Sciences, the tools are universal. Not only does it teach you how to use matlab, but, it goes over statistics and numerical methods as well in a very easy fashion. This book was used in one of my masters classes, and most of the people in the class barely had calculus 2.
My real suggestion is to explore R, as I think in general the world outside the physical sciences is moving towards using that.
> 6 votes
# Answer
> If you happen to have bookmarked those resources when you used them, could you please post an answer linking to them?
A good online resource for MATLAB is found at the Introduction to Computing Resources page, put together by Andrew Török of the University of Houston. I linked to the main page as there are other resources listed in the contents menu which your sibling may find useful.
> Also, if you learned MATLAB or a similar program with great success, what tips would you give for self teaching?
As with the self-teaching of other subjects, there is no good substitute for getting your "hands dirty" and playing around with what the tool has to offer. Start by learning the basics (as discussed in the online resource linked above), and progressively increase the complexity until you reach the desired level of understanding.
---
Edit — I'm including a few more online MATLAB resources that I know of:
> 3 votes
# Answer
The book I used as an undergrad: Scientific Computing with MATLAB and Octave written by Alfio Quarteroni.
It's not a beginner's tutorial, but it gives you the mathematical theory behind some of the most used functions. I found it useful because it really helps to know what the functions *actually* do. It contains sample code as well.
One thing that biologist often need to do with Matlab is image processing. If it is the case, the book Digital Image Processing Using Matlab can be handy (lots of practical examples).
The second is most likely available in the library of your/her institution, the first is a bit more confidential but should at least be available through inter-library loan. Note that a good person to ask about books and resources is your librarian.
As a side note, an open-source alternative to Matlab is Octave, which has a good online community around it and shares a good deal of its syntax with Matlab.
> 2 votes
# Answer
(with full agreement with the people who says that online resources, including even youtube are nowadays better than textbooks)
If I were her, I first would learn statistics (that is relevant to her field). Is she an ecologist? A biochemist? Doing in silico bioinfo? They are pretty different fields. Learning MATLAB without having any clear idea about mathematics (linear algebra, statistical tests etc) she wants to use, is pretty damn difficult. This is the typical "I just want to do ANOVA! just tell me where i should click?" problem. On the other hand when she is already able to write down basic equations to paper, and understand what letter is what, and have at least a vague idea of the mechanics, the MATLAb/octave part become pretty straightforward.
Two remarks: \- I wouldn't waste my time reading 400 pages books discussing everything from PDEs to symbolic calculations. Any 2-10 pages long tutorial from the net gives the same info, with often better pedagogical part. \- While Excel has many annoying features, it is very good to organize and save certain type of experimental data. You can put anything in it, figures, short notes, explanations for yourself, keep everything in one place and for printing one can use something else, gnuplot etc. Of course, it is subjective.
> 2 votes
# Answer
As said previously in the answers to the question, the textbooks do not usually work great for programming.
I am an Engineering Physics student working with Applied Mathematics and have been using and promoting MATLAB since I started. However, this summer I was out of my license and therefore turned to Anaconda.
I am going to go off on a spin and recommend Anaconda Scientific Python Distribution. Anaconda is based on Python which is a great language to start of on, if not the best. Not only is it free and open-source but can be used in so much more then MATLAB. They also explain why they give this out for free on their website.
* We want to ensure that Python, NumPy, SciPy, Pandas, IPython, Matplotlib, Numba, Blaze, Bokeh, and other great Python data analysis tools can be used everywhere.
* We want to make it easier for Python evangelists and teachers to promote the use of Python.
* We want to give back to the Python community that we love being a part of.
From my experience so far, it has been more intutive to implement more complex tasks as well as being even a bit FASTER!!
> 0 votes
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Tags: books, data, online-learning, code, biology
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thread-26645
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26645
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When to update an Arxiv posting vs. creating a new post?
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2014-07-31T17:34:58.117
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# Question
Title: When to update an Arxiv posting vs. creating a new post?
I have a paper on the Arxiv which has recently been referenced in someone else's published work. I have since used the new work (of someone else) to significantly extend my current Arxiv work. Since my previous Arxiv posting has not yet appeared anywhere, I am sending the old work along with the extensions to a journal in a single paper. So my question is this: should I update the Arxiv listing for the previous paper with the new extended version as a revision or should I add it as a new paper?
I guess my worry is this: let A be my paper, B be the other paper that references A and A' be my extended paper which builds on some ideas from B to significantly extend A. If I post A' as a revision to A, then there is a weird referencing problem where B refers to my Arxiv post without knowing that A' builds on B. However, if I post A' as a new paper, then it includes essentially all of A in it (though presented in a more clear manner) and so there seems to be some duplication.
# Answer
As long as the results of A are a subset of A', I see no problem with posting it as an update.
To avoid confusion due to the circular references, you could mention something like "Paper B builds on an earlier version of this work" when you first cite B.
> 7 votes
# Answer
I agree with Mangara that there's no problem with updating the previous paper if your new version subsumes the previous one. It's understood that results in preprints are sometimes improved before publication, and so this won't trouble anyone. Furthermore, there are several reasons why you should (and not just can) do this:
1. It's best not to leave incomplete versions of the paper lying around, since someone may run across them and never realize there's a better version elsewhere. For example, it's better if readers following the reference from B learn that there's a new version, rather than just seeing the old one and potentially assuming that's all there is.
2. Posting very similar papers can look bad, like you are trying to inflate your paper count with minor variations. That's not your intent, but someone browsing through your arXiv papers won't having any way of knowing. You might also trigger the arXiv flag for text overlap between your papers, in which case the similarity will be explicitly pointed out to everyone.
The comments field in your arXiv submission can help address the potential for confusion. Whenever you make major changes to an arXiv paper, it's a good idea to explain in the comments what has changed, so that someone who has already read a previous version knows whether it's worth another look. Highlighting the changes in this way will also help clarify things for readers following older references.
> 10 votes
# Answer
I at one point took the route of adding a new paper, and had it come out badly, so I'd recommend replacing. In summary, we had paper A, a lengthy preprint which developed a lot of theory in a somewhat confused order. We then realized that a large fraction of the results could be proved in a more general context and in a much cleaner way, which became paper B. However, there remained a number of elegant combinatorial arguments which only worked in the original context, and became paper C.
I have had to tell a lot of people not to read preprint A, just B and C (which are now published). In retrospect, I think I should have made C a replacement for A. It seems that the argument for this is strongerin your case, where you are only replacing a paper by one paper, not two.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Ideally the someone-else should have included the version number of the arxiv posting. In that case, there is no possibility of confusion.
> 1 votes
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Tags: arxiv
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thread-26684
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26684
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I made a huge technical mistake in an arXiv paper... How bad is it?
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2014-08-01T15:28:18.657
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# Question
Title: I made a huge technical mistake in an arXiv paper... How bad is it?
I made a huge technical mistake in a paper I published on arXiv... How bad is it in academia?
# Answer
> 42 votes
Mistakes are "bad" in academia if you fail to disclose them once you know about them (which constitutes unethical behavior), or if they affect something that counts towards a formal credential (like a degree; which is unlikely for an arXiv submission).
So, the way forward is:
* Inform your co-authors (if there were any).
* Upload an updated version of your paper to arXiv, in which you place a big notice at the top stating that there is a major technical error and the contents of the paper should not be considered accurate.
* Then withdraw the submission from arXiv with an appropriate notice as to the nature of the error.
Then, if you think you can correct the error and rescue the rest of the paper, get to work on that.
Academics make mistakes all the time. Acknowledge your error, disclose it, and move on.
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Tags: arxiv, errors-erratum, retraction
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thread-17743
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17743
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Taking higher level theoretical mathematics vs taking less math and more courses in application areas?
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2014-03-05T06:34:00.760
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# Question
Title: Taking higher level theoretical mathematics vs taking less math and more courses in application areas?
I intend to go to graduate school for applied/computational mathematics, specifically a program like this https://icme.stanford.edu/.
At this point, I'm trying to decide whether to take graduate level theoretical math courses in areas like Algebraic Topology, Differential Geometry, etc. (which I don't currently have any experience with, but I could still take), or just take courses in application areas (the ones I'm interested in are statistics, biology, chemistry, computer science).
My math education in the latter case will consist of basic linear algebra+calculus, a course on PDEs, a course on abstract algebra, a complex analysis course with an applied focus, a couple mathematical modeling courses, basic number theory, basic probability theory, a couple numerical analysis courses, and upper-level real analysis. So not a ton, but not negligible either.
There's also a lot of math in the non-math courses I will take (algorithms, theory of computing, quantum mechanics, optimization, stochastic processes, machine learning, etc., some of which are grad-level) However, this schedule is perhaps lighter on mathematical theory, and contains zero grad math classes.
Should I drop some of the courses in application areas (although courses with significant mathematical content that yet focus on applications are perhaps my favorite type of courses) and take graduate-level theory courses to increase my readiness for and chances of getting accepted to graduate school? Or will I have ample time for that in graduate school and should I take courses I enjoy more (and have greater aptitude for) while informally studying theory on my own?
Or do I need to take more theory even as an undergrad, and even though I'm not gunning for pure maths? (I do not plan to go into academia after graduate school, in case that matters.)
# Answer
I think that at this stage in your career, you should set yourself the goal of reaching some sort of **mathematical maturity**
> ... fearlessness in the face of symbols: the ability to read and understand notation, to introduce clear and useful notation when appropriate (and not otherwise!), and a general facility of expression in the terse—but crisp and exact—language that mathematicians use to communicate ideas.
Courses like abstract algebra, algebraic topology, differential geometry and e.g. combinatorics will give you a combination of breadth and depth that will make it much easier to quickly master any applied field that you will choose in grad school.
In my experience (PhD in string theory, currently applied economist), mastering the really advanced math courses should be done as soon as possible, when you have all the time and energy to immerse yourself. It's also my experience that it is rather straightforward to apply abstract patterns when you already know them, but the reverse (the emergence of abstractions from concrete applications) is much, much harder.
Of course, by all means mix and match your fundamental math courses with a small selection of interesting applied courses. There's no sense in not enjoying yourself.
> 11 votes
# Answer
I would take the applied maths courses (the second option). If that is what you enjoy and would like to pursue in grad school then it will benefit you more than theoretical courses.
I take more theoretical courses to mean a lot of epsilons and deltas and theorems etc. If you are more interested in statistics, biology, chemistry and computer science then these courses will not be as useful as more applied mathematics courses. In applied mathematics you're more interested in constructing interesting algorithms or models that work without worrying about the theoretical details too much. That's not to suggest that applied mathematics is any easier, it's just that the focus is different.
Do you have any specific ideas what area you'd like to work/study in?
> 2 votes
# Answer
This is really quite a subjective question. However, even if you are planning to work in applied areas, it probably makes sense to get a good grounding in basic theory first. For example, you say you are interested in statistics. If so, you should definitely take at least one advanced probability course which uses measure theory, and also a measure theory course. These should definitely help later on, even if you don't wind up using advanced probability theory. Some material at the level of the Billingsley book "Probability and Measure" is kind of what I am thinking of.
More strictly pure courses like Algebraic Topology, Differential Geometry are a bit more debatable. They *might* be useful in applied areas, depending on what you are doing, but will probably not be. They might be worth it from a mental broadening perspective, but that is really subjective. I've worked in applied areas some, and have never needed to reference theory of this kind.
Also, I think if a course is well taught (which may not be the case, of course) and forces one to work on the material, then it is better than self study.
Disclaimer: I have a PhD in Statistics, which may cause some biases.
> 2 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, mathematics
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thread-26687
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26687
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How to improve chances of graduate admission following major, long-term burnout?
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2014-08-01T15:46:55.210
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# Question
Title: How to improve chances of graduate admission following major, long-term burnout?
So my first post didn't fare too well with this crowd. Let me try again.
Because I did not get into any of the schools I actually wanted to attend, I lost my drive to continue getting good grades and subsequently very negatively impacted my GPA. My current GPA does not reflect my ability. When I was applying to schools for undergrad, I had the desire to go to graduate school since I liked solving new problems. I now feel that since I did not get into one of the schools that would have been a better fit for me with respect to ability and the facts that I let my grades slip and that I've been out of school for effectively two years now for medical reasons, it will be much harder for me to get into a good graduate program. I've got one year's worth of classes to finish off my undergraduate degree, but even acing those two semesters wouldn't increase my GPA to what I deem acceptable.
I've also come to realize that I don't like school per se (the exams, the coursework, etc.), but I do love learning and working on new problems. Unfortunately, it's hard, if not impossible, to do things that require having learned things without going to school to get a degree that says you have learned said things.
My questions:
1. How do I recapture my drive to do the work so that I do not totally hose any future I may have? I seriously doubt that attempting to transfer to one of the schools that have previously denied me would work.
2. How do I secure a position in a good graduate program with a pretty terrible GPA, having no real research experience, and coming from a less-than-stellar school? REUs rejected me, I suspect, on the grounds of my GPA.
3. Is there any path that would allow me to get into a decent research position without the bother of degrees?
If you can think of any other options that would lead to a research position, I'd love to hear them.
# Answer
First of all, I gotta say congrats for editing the question in a way which will make it more interesting to us.
Regarding the parts of the question that you have removed: You know, bad things happen, and they will happen in the future as well, it is your reaction that matters the most. Kudos in that regards as well, since you have decided to look around for a solution for your problem. That is a nice start nevertheless.
You can refer to this post regarding you question about getting into graduate school. However, are you sure that you really like research, have you had any experience in the past? If not, how do you know you like it? Or you just like the Phd title? Bear in mind that the graduate school and later academic career is full of rejections: paper-, grant-, acceptance-. It is obvious that you will have to change the way how you react to rejection, based on how you have reacted to rejection for the colleges that you have applied.
You should have kept you motivation high and work as much as possible to show that committees that did not accept you they have done wrong. But that is past already, you say you have 1 year left to finish your undergrad studies. Try to do you best in the courses that are left.
After all coursework is not the main factor in showing your research capabilities. When you will apply to other institutions later on for research/phd position you will have to convince them that you are capable of doing research. That's the main thing.
It would be great if you could stick around some research projects taking place at your current institution. Maybe some papers come out from there, even you can impress the professors, which might want to write strong recommendation letter for you later on. Strong recommendation letters are important as well.
Finally, do not be that obsessed with the colleges that you have targeted before. There are good colleges doing great stuff over there. Also, you can consider switching continents, in that case your GPA would matter less, as you will have to undergo two extra years of Master studies (in Europe) in order to get a Phd.
To answer your questions precisely:
1. You have clearly stated that you don't want to screw up any future you might have. So, remind this to yourself daily, try to focus on this. Try some self-motivation stuff!
2. The link I provided above should be helpful. Got no research experience? Then, simple... get some!
3. Do a Masters, in US or abroad before getting to Phd; Perform well in the Masters, most recent GPA matters the most.
> 7 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions
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thread-26674
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26674
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What should I do as a reader if a paper misrepresented earlier papers?
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2014-08-01T11:47:35.207
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# Question
Title: What should I do as a reader if a paper misrepresented earlier papers?
I was reading a paper from a reputable journal and found that the authors misrepresented earlier papers that they cited, by saying something like
> Theory X was developed in \[A, B, and C\], but the underlying assumption was not general enough, and therefore it is insufficient to address our problem, which warrants a more general approach.
The fact is that A, B, and C (which are well-known papers in the field) actually presented a general theory, which is applicable also to the problem considered in their paper. The rest of the paper sounds like an argument against something that was not there in the first place.
I think it is a serious misrepresentation if they did it intentionally. Otherwise, they should have been more familiar with the papers they cited. The fact that such misrepresentation slipped past the peer-reviewing stage also suggests that the review was questionable.
As a reader of the paper, what should I do if I find such misrepresentation?
In my case, the first author of the paper is someone I personally know.
# Answer
In general, there is not much you can do. If a misrepresentation leads to erroneous results, one way is to write a "letter to the editor" straightening out the error. Such an approach does not seem right in your case since the error is to state that someone has not reached conclusions they really have. I do not mean to say that this is ok but it is harder to get a comment published when the problem, for example, does not affect future research by introducing errors. One also has to bear in mind that the error apparently escaped both reviewers and editors on the way to publication. It may also well be that the author actually see it the way they write it which means the misrepresentation is not intentional (as you seem to imply). So in the way I read the particular case, I cannot see an immediate way forward. If one writes about a problem where the conclusion you refer to is cited, it is of course possible to point out who was first and thereby contribute to setting the record straight.
So, if a misrepresentation leads to errors, it can usually be pointed out in a published letter. If the misrepresentation concerns a non-critical issue, it is still just as bad, but the possibility of publishing a clarification is much smaller. Now, clearly, these issues are on a sliding scale, so it may be difficult to see where a correction may be reasonable. In such cases, the editor of the journal where the paper was published should be able to provide some feedback on how to proceed.
> 12 votes
# Answer
Since you say that you are concerned about the longer term implications of this error being included in the scientific record, you could consider applying the general theory of A, B, and C to the problem in the more recent paper yourself.
If the approach is successful, as you imply it would be, you could write up the results in a white paper or maybe a conference paper. Their journal submission will almost certainly get more exposure, but researchers seriously attempting to build on their work would more than likely find your rebuttal (for lack of a more appropriate word).
This is of course a lot of effort to go to for something that probably doesn't directly affect you, but it could also ingratiate you to the authors of A, B, and C, if that's something you care about.
> 7 votes
# Answer
Since the misrepresentation seems only to strengthen the motivation or novelty of the approach the authors of the paper in question present and don't, from your description, introduce technical errors which may be likely to propagate into future works, I would likely just mention to my friend (the first author) that the way I read them papers A, B, and C present a more general view than his interpretation seemed to suggest, then have that discussion with him.
It could be that he has some insight into the real generality of the earlier papers than you do, or you could wind up enlightening him.
> 3 votes
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Tags: publications, journals, ethics, peer-review
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thread-12460
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/12460
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Building a workshop website
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2013-09-04T15:52:28.400
|
# Question
Title: Building a workshop website
I am organizing a one day workshop as a part of a major conference in my field. I would like to have a website to
* introductory text (static html)
* announce things (some content management)
* keep everybody up to date (mailing list)
* maintain a pre-workshop and post-workshop online discussion forum
**Is there a web service that would implement these things easily?**
Also, I don't want the visitors to register accounts. Perhaps a mailing list accessible via web would be sufficient, since I do not expect anybody to regularly visit just to check the forum (except for myself). Is there a mailing list/forum service suitable for such purpose?
Free would be best. I am capable of building such website myself, but I do not want to host it nor spend too much time setting it up. In the past, I used wordpress.com, google sites, google groups and such...
# Answer
> 7 votes
I would recommend a generic tool for making websites.
WordPress.com (or WordPress.org if you are more tech-savvy and want to host it on your univ. server) is a popular option (e.g. NetSci2013).
In both you can add comments for discussions.
Other CMSes would work - for example Wikidot (e.g. Offtopicarium).
When it comes to mailing, Google Groups are one easy solution (unless you want something more sophisticated.)
The only general advice is to use as many made tools as possible, so you don't waste time on reinventing the wheel (or dealing with too many services at once).
# Answer
> 8 votes
Some large institutions maintain platforms for such tasks: some of them are restricted to their members, others have a more liberal policy. For example, the French CNRS (largest national research institute) has developed `SciencesConf.org`. It fulfills your requirements, except for the forum (which, as far as I can tell, is rather unusual for conferences to have).
# Answer
> 1 votes
If the forum is not a must, for static web pages Google Sites is another easy-to-setup option which has *inter alia* a visual editor available.
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Tags: website, workshop
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thread-26701
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26701
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CS paper rejected for lack of technical contribution; what does this mean, and how can I fix it?
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2014-08-01T21:57:08.090
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# Question
Title: CS paper rejected for lack of technical contribution; what does this mean, and how can I fix it?
I recently got two papers rejected with the reviewers asserting a lack of technical contribution. They contained good ideas, at least in my eyes, and used common methodologies in the experimentation. So my question related to the CS field is, what is the difference between a good idea that was tested and a technical contribution? What should an idea have to become a technical contribution?
Another observation I had is that other papers, that got accepted, were actually worse from the research methodologies and were previously published in similar form (so the idea was not very original) at that conference, so the “contribution” of these papers is much lower than mine would have been (again it’s just from my perspective). So I don’t understand why those papers got accepted and if the reviewer’s decisions actually make sense, what is it that makes such papers accepted? I aim at enhancing my now rejected papers because I still think they contain original ideas that should be published, I just don’t know where to start.
# Answer
Since you ask those questions, I assume you are relatively new to CS research. I do not know if you have previous research experience in any other scientific area, but let's assume you are new to research all together. Correct me if I am wrong.
When your paper gets rejected, the feeling of rejection sucks. It sucks a lot. But in research you have to deal with this rejection and move-on. It does not matter if other people's works that you consider worse have been accepted. Maybe they are better than yours maybe not. But that is really irrelevant. Focus on your work and how to improve it.
The questions you should be asking:
* Is this problem you are trying to solve interesting?
* Is your solution substantially better than previous state-of-the-art?
* Are you certain that you described related and recent literature thoroughly? Are you up-to-date on related literature?
* Did you make clear the benefits on your approach?
* Is your paper well presented and written? Have you explained your approach thoroughly (with pseudocode, figures) and not just with words?
* Were your experiments thorough? Did you use many datasets for your experiments? Have you used the datasets that the related papers use or at least similar if not bigger in size and scope? Have you compared your results with previous approaches? Have you many charts demonstrating the various aspects of your solution?
* Have you advertised your work by finding many test-cases for your problem?
If any of those answer is NO, then you must turn them to YES, before resubmitting your work. You must understand that if your paper or the problem you try to solve is boring, then it gets rejected. It is as simple as that. In that cases, the most usual reason for rejection is "not enough contribution". So, probably it is also your presentation that needs to be fixed.
Also, it seems rather strange that although you are probably new to research, you have submitted two papers at the same time. Perhaps this is too ambitious and it would be better to focus on one of them, improve it and resubmit it. Perhaps, they should be sent to different venues that are more tailored for each one of them.
And last but not least. Do not worry. It gets better with time. Both the way you handle rejection and the way you write papers. So, improve what needs to be fixed and everything will work out.
> 13 votes
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Tags: publications, peer-review, computer-science, rejection
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thread-26639
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26639
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Should I do a dual Ph.D.?
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2014-07-31T16:03:27.167
|
# Question
Title: Should I do a dual Ph.D.?
So there are already some good questions on the topic of double doctorates:
Is doing two PhD's a good path?
When does one go for a double doctorate?
I'm looking for some advice specific to my situation. I'm currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program in a mathematical field (computer science) but most of my research is geared towards applying these methods in a scientific field (stellar astrophysics). Because of this, my advisor is encouraging me to take up a second Ph.D. in astro. He says I can write one dissertation to get both degrees, and he doesn't think that it will delay my time to graduation too significantly.
On the one hand, it is attractive to me, because it might help qualify me more towards future positions in astrophysics. On the other hand, I don't necessarily see too much additional value in getting a second one; to me a Ph.D. is a license to do research, and one doesn't need two licenses. Further, I'm sure there is a real risk of it delaying my time to graduation significantly despite what I might be told. I'm also not completely convinced that it would equip me with skills that I wouldn't already be getting, although it might demonstrate to others that I have those skills. But then again, can't they just look at my publication record? Finally, while I absolutely love astrophysics, I am also attracted to other sciences, and I wouldn't want a doctorate in astro to cause people to think that I can't work in other sciences also.
Are all these concerns legitimate? Have I laid out the pros and cons appropriately? Are there other considerations I should contemplate? Are there some drawbacks or advantages that I haven't listed?
# Answer
> 6 votes
I don't really see the point. I agree with a PhD being a license to do research. If you are interested in astrophysics and want to get a strong profile for future work there, make sure your publications are related. That's much more convincing than two PhDs.
# Answer
> 6 votes
> ...my advisor is encouraging me to take up a second Ph.D. in astro.
I would not trust random strangers on the internet more than my advisor. He has nothing to gain with proposing this and he is probably genuinely interested in your welfare. Still, he may not know well the administrative part of his proposal, so make sure you know the details well by asking the administrative people of your university.
* Is there extra courses required?
* Do you need to write only one dissertation? How will your dissertation change in case of the dual PHD.
* Will the PHD awarded from the same department as the single PHD or from a combination of departments.
* How much longer will your PHD take?
So make sure you get your facts straight and then talk your objections with your advisor. Then you can decide what you want
# Answer
> 5 votes
Your research interests and ability to articulate your interests in grant proposals will be significantly weightier in your future career than precisely which department from your university's school of arts and sciences signed off on your dissertation.
Your publication history (which journals, what topics, etc.) will be more convincing than a dual PhD (which, honestly, would get you more sideways glances than researching or professing outside the department of your degree issuance).
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Tags: phd, research-process, graduate-school, multidisciplinary
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thread-26698
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26698
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Post tenure job search in the humantities: a waste of time?
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2014-08-01T20:40:30.133
|
# Question
Title: Post tenure job search in the humantities: a waste of time?
I've searched many forums and websites and I am hoping to find a more direct answer to my question.
I am a tenured, associate professor of humanities at a SLAC (yes, I do appreciate this). My family is very unhappy where we are living. I would have gone on the job market before getting tenure but had a confluence of personal crises that went on for over a year. Anyway, I looked for a job last year but noticed that all except one or two in my field are for assistant professor.
Is it "not done"/completely a waste of time to apply for assistant professor positions?
Last year, I had one campus interview, and they said they would hire me as associate but not tenured. Didn't get that job, obviously. I am actually okay with moving without tenure, due to wanting to improve things for my family. I am just a humanities prof, however -- I don't bring grants, funding, all that jazz with me. I'm not a hotshot in publications, either. I don't want a different job or a different university (a move up), just a different location where my family might be happier.
Am I wasting my time?
# Answer
Senior level hires at small, liberal arts colleges (SLACs) are uncommon in the sciences, rare in the social sciences, and very rare in the humanities. Why would a small college pay the same price for an associate or full professor when an assistant costs half as much?
R1s do senior hires because we want and can pay for name-brand profs. We often have named (and well funded) professorships to entice people to switch. Big name professors also bring in big name grants and attract graduate students. These latter concerns aren't as important at SLACs.
That's not to say it doesn't happen. A SLAC might hire a senior professor in the humanities for the following reasons:
1. It's starting up a new program and needs an experienced hand to guide it
2. A senior faculty member died/left/was fired and all of the remaining members of the department are too junior to chair it
3. There is so much infighting in the department that the provost wants an outside chair to step in
4. Freak accident of nature
Since you have tenure, you can afford to be patient. Keep your CV, cover letter, and job talk polished. Go to all the right conferences. Be portable.
> 20 votes
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Tags: job-search, professorship, tenure-track, humanities
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thread-13122
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/13122
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How to search for an open access journal with no publication fee?
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2013-10-01T15:50:53.613
|
# Question
Title: How to search for an open access journal with no publication fee?
I'm having some trouble trying to find a place to publish. Therefore this question is about how to find these places.
For this I provide the following example, my particular case.
I'm searching for:
* A journal, not a conference, workshop, etc.
* Where publishing is free (no cost for processing the paper)
* That is open access (no cost for readers)
* Where the reviews are transparent/public. I.e. anyone can follow the review process
* Where my drafts are also public (for people to follow the review process) The point is that I would like not to need arxiv.org or similar services to dissuade reviewers from shifty actions
* In the field of computer science theory (like lambda calculus and such)
* LaTeX should be accepted, this is very important
* I don't need trees dying, online publishing is fine
* I don't care about impact factors, as long as the journal is trustworthy
This is my particular case, but I'd like to make clear that I'm not asking for this specific fish for me, but for a good method about how to fish that can be useful for everybody in academia, specially those that are new and do not have this kind of knowledge.
PD: maybe a workaround would be using two services where one should be. Now I am thinking about uploading the paper to arxiv.org (or similar) and asking for reviews and comments on cstheory (or similar). I think that would meet all requirements and *implicit* requirements (implicit for journals) as allowing citations on my paper, proving authorship, etc. I'm not sure about being overlooking something or which considerations should be done to find the right place(s) to publish in this new context.
# Answer
> 6 votes
Use this link http://doaj.org/doaj?func=csv to download the complete list of journals from DOAJ, with metadata as scientific field, license (if CC) and whether you have to pay to publish.
# Answer
> 13 votes
The set of journals you are describing is almost *guaranteed* to be equivalent to the null set. You are specifying way too many criteria on the journal. You are basically asking for a complete wish list that no single journal can reasonably satisfy and still survive. For instance:
* How does it pay its ISP hosting bill?
* Who handles the processing and editing of articles?
* Who does the typesetting and copyediting?
* Who maintains the web site?
All of these things require labor, and is not something that anyone is likely willing to donate *pro bono*. That means income has to come from somewhere.
Some of these criteria are not problems (for example, a CS journal is unlikely to refuse a LaTeX submission). However, in total, I think you really need to decide which criteria are required, and which ones would be nice to have. Then prioritize accordingly.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Here is a link for DOAJ search listing open access journals specifically involving the no-author-charges condition, and another one restricted to the computer science (again with zero publication charges, of course).
Unfortunately, I do not quite see how to restrict the results of the above searches to meet your other criteria(accepting (La)TeX submissions etc.) without checking the specific journals by hand.
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Tags: publications, online-publication
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thread-26736
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26736
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How to respond to my name being included in acknowledgements of incorrect/misleading paper whose authors ignored my recommendations?
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2014-08-02T21:43:11.773
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# Question
Title: How to respond to my name being included in acknowledgements of incorrect/misleading paper whose authors ignored my recommendations?
My colleagues (grad student + their advisor) from my department approached me, a fourth year PhD student in STEM, for comments on a manuscript written on a topic related to my research.
In two iterations over email, I pointed out serious logical fallacies in their arguments, instances of misleading references and attempts to skirt crucial issues in the paper. Most of the issues in the manuscript are still unresolved but the authors have thanked me for my comments in the acknowledgement section. I'm uncomfortable with my name being included in the acknowledgement section of an incorrect and misleading paper submission.
Would it be wise to politely request for my name to be removed from the acknowledgements?
# Answer
> 21 votes
How acknowledgments work is always a bit of a judgment call, but to me the following principle seems reasonable.
> You are free to acknowledge anyone in any paper *as long as what you acknowledge them for* is factually accurate. If you have any reason to believe that the acknowledged party might take issue with the factual accuracy of what you write in your acknowledgments, it would be honorable to show them a draft of the paper and ask for their blessing on the wording of the acknowledgment. If this causes them to ask to be omitted from the acknowledgments, then it seems reasonable to honor this request unless you feel that removing this acknowledgment compromises academic integrity. (For instance, if you are including significant work of the acknowledged party, then just because they don't want you to mention that does not necessarily make it okay to do so. This creates a sticky wicket that other questions and answers on this site have addressed.)
I believe it follows from the principle that whether acknowledgments are acceptable depends more on *what they acknowledge you for* than whether they drop your name or not. For instance, suppose they thank you for "helpful conversations". If you did in fact speak (or write...) to them about their work, then if they say the conversation was helpful, how can you argue?
I think that most savvy academics understand that just dropping someone's name in the acknowledgments does not mean that the paper contains their imprimatur. Nevertheless it is shady to acknowledge someone -- especially someone very famous and eminent -- purely for the cachet that their name may convey to less than savvy readers. Here is a famous review of Marilyn vos Savant's book on Fermat's Last Theorem that calls out the author along these lines: she acknowledged some very famous mathematicians, who when contacted by her surely did not say anything to indicate that the material in her book was correct (not only does it contain errors, but it contains errors that any practitioner or serious student of mathematics would regard as bizarre).
In the case at hand: I think the OP would be within her rights to mention that she would rather not be acknowledged in the paper. Whether she wants to indicate that this is because she still finds the work to be significantly flawed depends on all kinds of social and political factors beyond the scope of this answer. As to that I would only say: in my opinion, simply very politely asking for your name to be removed from the paper without getting into why is probably a higher percentage strategy than indicating that the work is still problematic.
**Added**: Let me add that the principle above is meant to be on the minimalist side. In practice, if you think that someone is not going to appreciate being acknowledged in your paper for whatever reason, then unless there are academic integrity issues involved in omitting the acknowledgment it seems wise to do so. Once I acknowledged a friend of mine in a preprint in a way which was factually accurate but nevertheless embarrassing to him: he simply did not want to be associated with something that he viewed as intellectually trivial. I took his name out of the later drafts of the paper. This incident has made me think more carefully about how acknowledgments will be received by the acknowledged party.
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Tags: publications, etiquette, acknowledgement
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thread-12792
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/12792
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What is the real benefit of tenured positions for universities?
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2013-09-17T21:22:16.647
|
# Question
Title: What is the real benefit of tenured positions for universities?
People are interested in tenured positions to have a secured job, as they do not need to worry about their contracts. Tenured position gives a professor security that s/he cannot get fired easily (e.g., simply not renewing his/her contract). But, what is the actual obligation for the professors? In return, what is the motivation for a university to offer tenured position, which is accompanied by less flexibility from HR point of view.
Apparently, tenure is just for the sake of `academic freedom`, and has no real benefit for the institution, except a one-way service to professors (probably satisfying more applicants). Am I right? Then, a university must prefer not to offer tenured positions at all, as HR has more freedom with non-tenured positions.
# Answer
Institutions offer tenure, not (just) because of high-minded abstractions like "academic freedom", but because it makes good business sense. The benefit of tenure to the institution follows from the benefit to the individual:
* From the faculty member's perspective, tenure makes it possible to pursue high-risk/high-impact research ideas without having to worry about having to keep short-term bean-counters happy.
* This makes institutions that offer tenure more attractive to strong researchers because those researchers want an environment that best supports their ability to pursue their research ideas.
* Such researchers, in turn, are very often also the ones who bring in the big grants. Their high visibility also enhances the reputation of the institution, which attracts more students and alumni donations, etc. etc.
For these reasons, given two otherwise-identical institutions where one offered tenure and the other didn't, the one without tenure would find itself at a significant competitive disadvantage.
> 33 votes
# Answer
I think you might be misunderstanding the purpose of tenure. While your view from the teacher's side might be correct (wanting to avoid worrying about contract renewal) the purpose for a school to offer tenure is *supposed* to be putting an educator in a position where he/she can teach whatever they feel is best without worrying about being fired if the school doesn't think it politically appropriate. For example, if someone was teaching about communism during the 1960's in the US, the school might want to fire that teacher. Tenure shows that the school believes in scholarship over politics.
As a side note, recent studies show that this is not at all what happens. Students learn more from non-tenured teachers than tenured ones.
As to your question, the responsibilities are the same as any other professional position - do your job. You certainly can leave if you find better opportunities - it's not a prison, it's a job.
> 19 votes
# Answer
I think there are some odd accidental assumptions in the question. For the U.S. system, although there is substantial drift in the last 10 years, the idea was not only that people should *teach* what their best judgement indicated, without worry of censure or loss-of-job, but that also their *research/scholarship* should reflect best-understanding rather than politics... especially given the transience and partisanship of politics.
There is also the idea that in otherwise-profitable enterprises people might not want to put any effort into teaching at all, thus not want to participate in a "university" (with students), without an otherwise-extraordinary promise of more-or-less-endless job security. Some smart, able people, not terribly interested in money, beyond a certain point, can be ensnared by the "care-free" aspect of a tenured faculty position.
"Even" in the U.S., in recent years there has been a push to "contract" faculty positions, indeed. In happy times, these seem to be no worse than tenured positions. However, obviously, in the next economic downturn the administration will have the easy option of terminating as many contract employees as seems convenient.
Yes, this is part of the increased corporatization of U.S. (and other) colleges and universities. Of course, we should understand that we are at the end of a sort of "golden age" between the pre-WWI times that only the upper-classes' children "went to college", apart from seminary students, and after the post-WWII time where the "GI Bill" financed returning veterans' college educations to avoid flooding the job market... which was already in disarray after all the women who'd been "allowed" to work in factory jobs and such in wartime were expected (or forced) to quit and "go home"... so there was an artificial surge both in the numbers of college enrollments and in the socio-economic goals.
And more complications currently...
> 12 votes
# Answer
One more point is that tenure *per se* is a huge perk which lets the universities get away with the salaries considerably lower than in the industry and keep many smart people nevertheless, at least in the fields where leaving academe for industry *is* an option.
> 9 votes
# Answer
If I understand the question you're asking, there is no obligation for a tenured professor to remain at the institution that gave him or her tenure. Professors changing institutions happens quite frequently. In many cases, such moves occur because of career advancement—for instance, one might be offered a position in the university administration (chair, dean, or provost, for example).
However, in such cases, the professor typically has the obligation of "winding down" her group at the old institution "gracefully." Usually, that means that the advisor is still responsible for supervising any students that chose not to move with the professor. In some cases, depending on location, there may be teaching duties leftover—for instance, a tenured professor left my university here in Germany not too long ago to take a position in another country. He still had to return once a week for an entire year to fulfill the teaching obligations he had under German law. (Professors' minimum teaching loads are regulated in Germany.)
> 4 votes
# Answer
Just to add an international perspective: In Denmark (and some other, especially Northern, European countries), tenure is not unique to academia. Here an employer is obligated to offer you a permanent contract after three years or discontinue your employment; academia operates on this general principle. "Tenured" faculty here have permanent contracts just like someone working in any other field, as opposed to the fixed-term contracts held by postdocs, assistant professors, and temporary employees elsewhere in the marketplace. So, at least in some countries, tenure is a general workplace guarantee, not something special to university faculty.
> 3 votes
# Answer
Given the relative two fisted brutality of the unitary Australian system in industrial relations terms on the average (as opposed to "appointed") academic staff; and the early death of "tenure" in Australian contexts:
* The only limitation on institutions offering positions is industrial
* We can see this in field specific peaks of casually taught classes reaching 80%
* And society wide casualisation of about 50%
* Academics have incredibly low rates of militancy in the face of massive erosion of work conditions
* "Research," the unique product of on-going appointments in Australia, has consistently been treated by institutions as a "Luxury" product (AUR reports on cross subsidisation of research by teaching).
* Employer preference is the only basis on which any on-going positions exist, and this seems to be directly related to either Degree program related academic administration ("Who's in charge of the BA's pedagogy?") or to inter-Employer status game ("We have 100 more HERDC points than you, and are therefore a better university").
> 2 votes
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Tags: professorship, university, tenure-track
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thread-26726
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26726
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How can I prove my self-studied knowledge?
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2014-08-02T15:22:51.827
|
# Question
Title: How can I prove my self-studied knowledge?
In applying to graduate program, what are some ways to prove knowledge gained from self-study?
I've been told of the following:
* Independently conduct research / create projects that require the knowledge
* Partake in research that requires the knowledge
* Contribute to a project that requires the knowledge
But the former seems like an expensive hurdle in many experiment-heavy fields, and the latter two seem like a catch 22. You must collaborate with people to prove your knowledge, but you must prove your knowledge to be considered for collaboration.
Are there other ways to do so?
# Answer
One may prove their knowledge by these aspects.
* They may have a certificate of the courses they have passed.
* They may have a publication or patent registration in the field of their personal studies.
* They may have worked in the field of their knowledge and their projects and portfolio is a proof of their knowledge.
A website designer may not have any certification of their design knowledge, but the websites they have designed are the proof of their knowledge.
1. You may have done voluntary/paid teaching at your undergraduate university or in an educational institute, so you have the certification of your teaching activity and that may be counted as a proof of your teaching and your knowledge. (Also teaching/research assistantships to a course which you have never passed but you did assistantship in that area.)
2. You may have some publications in the area of your knowledge, for instance, a published paper or book; or a contribution to a publication which is so related to your knowledge.
3. You may have done some jobs related to your knowledge. An engineering design, done some code-developing, etc.
4. You may have a recommendation letter from a professor in which has written that you have sit in their class for that course, but you have never registered for the course; so it proves that you have the knowledge of the course.
However, as far as you are registering for a graduate program, you must fulfill their requirements not what is generally/logically reasonable or what seems to be acceptable. So it is better to provide all your proofs in your CV or their application process website and let them ask you for more official documents. Also, you can email them and ask for your special issue.
P.S. It seems that your question indicates self-study knowledge, but some people may have done some non-degree programs and certificates of those courses may also prove their knowledge in the course.
> 15 votes
# Answer
How about giving a talk on what you have learned -- e.g. at the scientific student society (or perhaps there is a separate student seminar)?
If for some reasons this is not feasible, consider finding other students interested in the subject and form a (informal) study group to study this subject deeper. If you form such a group, you can also consider asking the professor who is an expert in the subject to (informally) guide/supervise this group in some way.
> 6 votes
# Answer
One way of proving your knowledge is getting a letter of recommendation from a professor, or someone who can vouch for it.
One of my favorite professors told me, "If you ever come by some knowledge where the source isn't obvious I'll vouch for your knowledge of it if you can demonstrate it to me."
> 6 votes
# Answer
If you have your own professional site (science blog, tasteful web comic, whatever) you can produce some original content that builds on the knowledge gained during your independent study.
If you can manage to propose some minor extensions or future applications of that knowledge, even better, as it shows that you not only learned something but you have thought of where it can be applied in future research.
Then just tactfully reference this content in your application.
> 5 votes
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Tags: education, independent-researcher
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thread-508
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/508
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Is a self-taught person allowed to compete with other in a prize like Nobel Prize, Field Medal, etc?
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2012-03-02T06:06:10.157
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# Question
Title: Is a self-taught person allowed to compete with other in a prize like Nobel Prize, Field Medal, etc?
If a person studies and/or does experiments at his/her own home or laboratory because of some reasons, is he/she still allowed to compete with others to get a prize like Nobel Prize, Field Medal, etc?
More precisely, from the beginning he/she never gets educations from formal institutions (schools, colleges, universities).
# Answer
Allowed - yes. Have any reasonable chance to compete - no.
(But to learn university-level things, given the determination - yes.)
There are two separate issues:
* you won't learn stuff abut the current research lines and you won't be able to attract others to your results,
* in academia things like degrees and university/advisor name do matter.
First, you can learn a lot of stuff by yourself. However, it is hard to get to research-level. Moreover, now most research requires a lot of collaboration. A century ago it may be still possible to invent something in one's private workshop (but still a lot of knowledge and infusion was required). Now it is not true anymore. Also, you need to know the tools and which problems are open, solved or seems to be dead-end. Moreover, you may end up solving problems which are difficult but not of the interest of other academicians.
See also from Gerard't Hooft, How to become a good theoretical physicist:
> It so often happens that I receive mail - well-intended but totally useless - by amateur physicists who believe to have solved the world. They believe this, only because they understand totally nothing about the real way problems are solved in Modern Physics. If you really want to contribute to our theoretical understanding of physical laws - and it is an exciting experience if you succeed! - there are many things you need to know. First of all, be serious about it. All necessary science courses are taught at Universities, so, naturally, the first thing you should do is have yourself admitted at a University and absorb everything you can. But what if you are still young, at School, and before being admitted at a University, you have to endure the childish anecdotes that they call science there? What if you are older, and you are not at all looking forward to join those noisy crowds of young students ?
Also: almost all Nobel prize winners had advisors, which were also well-know and are from first league universities.
Second, the academia is less meritocratic than it seems to be. While certain skills and knowledge are essential, they are not the only factor. It does matter if you have a certain degree\*), from which university you are and who is/was you advisor. Many contacts are within a clique, were you need to have a recommendation by people they know.
\*) In science no matter how smart you are, you won't have chance without a certain degree, while in programming your skills and experience are more important than if you have a PhD degree or not even a BSc.
Nevertheless, finding enough skill and determination to do experiments in one's own home may be a good predictor of later success in science or engineering.
> 18 votes
# Answer
The important factor here is that these prizes are awarded for making a significant contribution to knowledge. This cannot generally be assessed at the point at which you had the idea, and it is for this reason that prizes are usually awarded for contributions which are decades old.
For example, John Forbes Nash, Jr. was awarded a Nobel prize in 1994 for work done as a graduate student in the late 1940s.
It's only after many years of further research, by the originating researcher and the community as a whole, that the importance of an individual idea can be understood in that context.
A corollary of this is that only research which is published, presented at conferences and generally publicised in the research community is likely to attract sufficient attention and further development to be considered for such a prize.
> 12 votes
# Answer
It's certainly possible, if you're a genius on the order of Srinivasa Ramanujan and can invent an entirely new, provable/repeatable, and productive field from first principles.
Likely for a mere mortal? You've probably got better odds of winning the Lottery, being struck by lightning, or fill-in-your-least-likely-scenario-here. Not because there's any prejudice against autodidacts, but because the odds of someone selftaught actually finding something new -- and being correct about it -- are just not that great.
Go for it. Just don't expect recognition of that kind until you have produced work with is widely agreed to be truly revolutionary.
(Except, as noted, for the peace prize. Which is sometimes given based on hope rather than achievement. Even then, you'll probably have to be someone who has worldwide recognition.)
> 4 votes
# Answer
A person is nominated for a Nobel Prize by someone familiar with his work, and the Nobel Prize committee judges it for its originality, depth, and service to mankind.
It's barely possible for someone to make a highly original contribution to a field outside of the usual academic circles. In the unlikely event that this occurs, the Nobel Prize committee will consider it on its own merits.
For instance, the Nobel Prize was awarded to a new finance concept called microlending, developed by a banker, not a professor. Admittedly, it was the Nobel Peace prize, but it could have been awarded as the Economics prize.
> 2 votes
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Tags: productivity, education
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thread-26429
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26429
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Are there formal studies analyzing available test time versus performance?
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2014-07-26T19:45:17.937
|
# Question
Title: Are there formal studies analyzing available test time versus performance?
Are there any studies showing that there is a direct connection (or a lack of a connection) between extending the time given for students to complete a written exam and their performance on the exam?
I think there's a lot of anecdotal evidence that would suggest that the more relaxed time constraints are helpful, but I would like to be able to point to "field studies" if possible, as that would make for a more convincing position with my colleagues.
# Answer
> 13 votes
Several studies have examined the impact of extended test-taking time on performance at all academic grade levels. Many of these studies focus on individuals with learning disabilities, but generally include students without learning disabilities as a control group. I have summarized some studies here, and provided a list of additional studies which may be of interest. The studies indicate that other individual factors (academic ability and skills, perception of time, and method of test administration) may impact test performance in concert with or in addition with extended time.
One study of learning disabled (LD) and non-learning disabled (NLD) college students being given a reading test that assessed vocabulary and comprehension assessed outcomes for those who received an extended test period of time and a half compared to the normal period (Ofiesh, 2000). Individuals with LD saw significant improvements in the extended time period compared to NLD students. Some NLD students did show improved scores in the extended period, but the difference was not significant. Similarly, in a study assessing the performance of elementary, middle, and high school students on the Stanford 10 achievement tests who received either the recommended amount of time or extra time, the authors concluded that NLD students exhibited no benefit or detriment with extended testing time (Brooks, Case, & Young, 2003). This did not vary whether they received a few minutes up to double the recommended time.
Another study of 6th grade students taking a standardized test found that NLD students did not see a significant increase in scores in an extended-time condition, but LD students did (Huesman & Frisbie, 2000). However, NLD scores also varied based on instructions. When NLD students were given extra time, and told to take their time, their scores improved; when given extra time but told to work “quickly” but to still do their best work, they did not significantly improve, possibly because they were placed into a mindset of being timed. Another study examined the impact of extended time (1.5) on both multiple choice and problem solving tests in three university courses, but found no improvements in performance (Armitage, 1999). However, in a study of prospective graduate students who took the GRE writing test, participants who were given 60 minutes performed better than those given only 40 minutes (Powers & Fowles, 1996).
A study of SAT performance for nearly 2,000 LD/ADHD or NLD high school students was examined for groups allowed standard time or 1.5 or 2 times the allotted time for verbal and math sections (Mandibach, Bridgeman, Cahalan-Laitusis, & Trapani, 2005). They found that NLD medium- and high-ability students performed best in the 1.5 time condition, but low-ability examinees saw no benefit. Extra time affected math more than verbal performance. Strong conclusions about LD student performance were non-significant in part due to small sample sizes. The authors note that low-ability students may not benefit from extra time because they lack needed problem-solving skills, while medium-ability students may benefit because they are able to check their work. Less benefit was seen for high ability students who may not have needed the extra time. The authors also noted that for longer tests, breaking the material into sections and setting time limits per section seemed to benefit all students, rather than asking them to pace themselves across all material.
One study found no direct effect of extended time on written essay quality for college students, but did find that student who were allowed to use a word processor wrote more than students who provided handwritten answers, and that typed (but not hand written) essays demonstrated a link between length and quality (Lovett, Lewandowski, Berger, & Gathje, 2010). The authors propose it was not time that led to these improvements, but the flexibility to edit their answers when typed.
A review of the evaluation of written exams cites several other studies regarding the impact of time on writing quality (Cho, 2003) and may be of interest. A report by Tindal and Fuchs (2000, pgs 26 – 35) provides a concise summary of the literature of test extensions or untimed tests from kindergarten through post-secondary education, including specific summaries of each study found in their review. This might be a good place to start in terms of additional literature. Although most of the examples I described here found few effects for non-learning disabled students receiving extended time on tests, I’ve also listed additional literature which may provide alternative results.
**Referenced studies:**
**Additional studies:**
* Alster, E. H. (1997). The effects of extended time on algebra test scores for college students with and without learning disabilities. *Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30*(2), 222-227. doi:10.1177/002221949703000210
* Calahan-Laitusis, C. (2004). *Accommodations on high-stakes writing tests for students with disabilities.* Princeton, NJ: ETS. Retrieved from: `http://144.81.87.152/Media/Research/pdf/RR-04-13.pdf`
* Cohen, A. S., Gregg, N., & Deng, M. (2005). The Role of Extended Time and Item Content on a High‐Stakes Mathematics Test. *Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 20*(4), 225-233. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5826.2005.00138.x
* Crawford, L., Helwig, R., & Tindal, G. (2004). Writing Performance Assessments How Important Is Extended Time?. *Journal of learning disabilities, 37*(2), 132-142. doi:10.1177/00222194040370020401
* Knoch, U., & Elder, C. (2010). Validity and fairness implications of varying time conditions on a diagnostic test of academic English writing proficiency. *System,38*(1), 63-74. doi:10.1016/j.system.2009.12.006
* Lewandowski, L. J., Lovett, B. J., Parolin, R., Gordon, M., & Codding, R. S. (2007). Extended time accommodations and the mathematics performance of students with and without ADHD. *Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment,25*(1), 17-28. doi:10.1177/0734282906291961
* Lewandowski, L. J., Lovett, B. J., & Rogers, C. L. (2008). Extended Time as a Testing Accommodation for Students With Reading Disabilities Does a Rising Tide Lift All Ships?. *Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 26*(4), 315-324. doi:10.1177/0734282908315757
* Munger, G. F., & Loyd, B. H. (1991). Effect of speededness on test performance of handicapped and nonhandicapped examinees. *The Journal of Educational Research, 85*(1), 53-57. doi:10.1080/00220671.1991.10702812
* Runyan, M. K. (1991). The effect of extra time on reading comprehension scores for university students with and without learning disabilities. *Journal of Learning Disabilities, 24*(2), 104-108. doi:10.1177/002221949102400207
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Tags: exams
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thread-26764
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26764
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Differences between cover letter and research plan?
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2014-08-04T01:00:09.387
|
# Question
Title: Differences between cover letter and research plan?
I want to apply for a PhD positions and it says to include the following:
1. a cover letter
2. Research plan – this should be a personal statement motivating why you are applying for this position
I usually put in the cover letter the statement of why I am applying, but in this case how should I separate both of them?
# Answer
> 3 votes
In general, the discussion of research in a cover letter is much briefer than a research plan. The former is generally one or two paragraphs, while the research plan for PhD positions is typically one to two pages.
A good "research plan" (or in this case, more accurately a "statement of purpose") should explain why and how your past and present experiences prepare you to undertake the topic you'd like to study as a PhD student. Note that this is not meant to be a "life story"—we don't care what you did when you were five years old. Instead, tell us about *relevant* experience: research, professional experience, service work, and so on.
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Tags: phd, research-process, application, statement-of-purpose, application-cover-letter
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thread-26755
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26755
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Maximum number of citations per sentence?
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2014-08-03T18:34:49.453
|
# Question
Title: Maximum number of citations per sentence?
I'm working on a literature review for a masters thesis in the sciences, and I have a ton of sources that cover the topic. Many specific points are covered *ad nauseam*, and many similar ideas can be cited multiple times. My question is how many is acceptable? Is there a general rule for citing sources per sentence/idea? Does more look better? Basically, is there a limit?
# Answer
> 13 votes
The short and somewhat unsatisfactory answer is: *enough*. There is no formal limit but obviously too many becomes impractical. If you can reference a huge number of references for a single statement (sentence) it is normal to pick one or possibly a few by using a format indicating these references are just examples:
> (e.g., Smith et al., 1943; Turner and Anthony, 1963)
>
> some statement by, for example, Smith et al. (1943) and Turner and Anthony (1963)
I am assuming Harvard style formatting in these examples.
Exactly when it is reasonable to show examples and when one actually have to show al references is a matter of context. If you, for example, have a series of references that together build up some matter and where none is more important than the other and none summarize the other, it could be necessary to list them all regardless of how many there are. I suggest you try to look at a number of different papers of a similar type (literature review) to the one you are writing to see how others handle such instances. You should also look at other masters thesis if you have the possibility.
The main point of this is to know when it is sufficient to list only (good) examples rather than all possible references. This is of course a matter of training and learning to assess when which format is appropriate. It is therefore necessary to assess when papers simply duplicate each other (from whatever view point you reference) or when they each contribute something unique that merits their reference.
# Answer
> 11 votes
And to add to Peter Jansson, don't over do it. A literature review in an article is meant as a general reference, so the reader can get "up to speed" in the state of the art of the topic under discussion. In your thesis, you have to show that you are able to search the literature, you understand it, and are able to extract the important information.
If you put every single article, you are not fulfilling any. On the one hand, the reader will not know what are the most relevant articles for your work. On the other front, anyone can get all the articles published in a subfield in the last couple of years and write a sentence, based on the abstract and the figures, in just a few days.
In short, show that you have comprehended the literature by finding the most informative subset of articles.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Some more concrete thoughts (background is biological sciences):
1. A "particular point" may be covered *ad nauseum* in backgrounds and introductions of papers in the field, but where did that idea originate?
2. Cite review papers sparingly. I generally cite reviews only when pointing out that there's a tangentially related body of work well covered in someone else's review.
3. The only time to cite MANY sources for a particular point is when the point is (or is considered) controversial.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Besides whether or not the citations themselves are necessary, it's also important to consider how they affect the flow of your writing.
If it is actually *necessary* to cite all those papers (see Is there such thing as too many references for one paper?, as well as the other excellent answers to this question), it would look much cleaner to place the citations in a footnote (especially if you use the author-year rather than numbered style).
If you use numbered citations and LaTeX, the `sort&compress` option in `natbib` can reduce clutter by citing a range (ie \[7-16\]) of sources rather than \[7,8,9 ... \]. However its effectiveness depends on how your bibliography is ordered.
If you must cite many papers in a single sentence, you should at least make every effort to ensure it reads fluently and that the citations do not distract you from the main text.
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Tags: thesis, writing, citations, literature-review
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thread-26783
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26783
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What are the flaws of working in a research center department led by young principal investigators?
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2014-08-04T13:18:40.660
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# Question
Title: What are the flaws of working in a research center department led by young principal investigators?
In few months I will join a new research center department of an excellent university in Northern America. My field is computer science and bioinformatics. **This new department has mainly hired young principal investigators and scientists, all 35-40 years old.**
I have visited the labs and clearly have seen the **advantages** of this new young environment: flow of new ideas, enthusiasm, friendly relationships, opening of mind. But I am sure there are also some flaws of this situation.
**So I am asking you all: what are the main flaws, defeats, disadvantages of being part of a department lead by young principal investigators?**
# Answer
Some of the disadvantages of young professors vs. more senior staff may be:
* **Less established in their field**. One advantage of a very senior professor for a PhD student is that the senior professor often knows all or at least most of the important players in the area. Hence, he can put the student in contact with interesting collaborators, and open up doors for internships or postdocs. A younger professor may not yet have a network that broad.
* **Less experienced**. This one is obvious, but more senior professors are typically more experienced. They have advised many students before, and make less "beginner's mistakes" (e.g., expecting too much from a student, and then getting angry because the student did not live up to those expectations).
* **Less laid-back**. Non-tenured professors *need* their students to perform, as their own career is very tightly coupled with their students (mis-)fortunes. Many a high-potential assistant professor will not take an unsuccessful research project lightly. This can be an advantage or a disadvantage - an ambitious student and a non-tenured professor may push each other to achieve great results, but the same professor and a more average student may lead to some friction and bad feelings.
* **Less money**. Younger professors tend to have less research grants (yet). This has implications for you even if you personally have a stipend from another source, as it means there is less money for travel, less money to fund research students, etc.
* **Less pull in the faculty**. This may be more relevant in some places than in others, but I have certainly seen faculties where working with an assistant professor had the disadvantage that your group was at a disadvantage whenever any sort of global resources were distributed. The senior professors were often able to acquire resources (they did not actually need) basically by appealing to their seniority.
* **Higher chance that your advisor moves**. Non-tenured professors are *much* more likely to change university (voluntarily or due to not getting tenure) than ones that are already tenured. Especially take this into account if the tenure review of your professor is planned for the next years.
These things just came from the top of my head, I will edit the answer if I can think of anything else.
*Sidenote: yes, these are all stark simplifications. No, none of those points has to be true for any given young professor.*
> 11 votes
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Tags: career-path, lab-management
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thread-21415
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/21415
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Effective way to organize a course so that it can be followed from abroad
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2014-05-25T10:25:23.353
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# Question
Title: Effective way to organize a course so that it can be followed from abroad
I'm reaching out because I'd like to take a Master's Degree in Spain (which starts in October), but my current job will end in December, and I'm trying to find an effective way to organize classes with the course's professors to study from home for the first few months, if possible.
The course is a programming one, and a big part of it is interaction between students and with teachers. What I thought would be an acceptable solution is a mix between Realtime Board and Skype, but it would require someone to watch over my assigned "station", and would in my opinion disrupt the flow of the class. Are there any alternatives?
In short, I need two things:
* A tool like RB, but specifically for code (although RB itself could be used if no alternative is found); basically an online, self-refreshing collaborative space.
* A communication tool. Skype is sometimes unreliable with my current connection, but maybe there are other ways other than recording each lesson to do this?
If anyone needs more information to answer properly feel free to ask, and if the question is not appropriate for Academia, do suggest a better site, I'm all ears!
# Answer
> 0 votes
First, I suggest you consider what are the absolute requirements of this lecture. You say the attendance is not that important. Are there mandatory weekly homework assignments, or a final project which has to be handed out in the end?
It is good that the professor seems to be in goodwill to help you in the process.
I assume this course requires a lot of interaction because it is related to programming, but honestly I have not learned much from the lectures when I have ever had programming classes. Exercises, and actually sitting down and writing the code has helped the most. Of course, the presence of an expert in the field can make things easier for understanding. But, I don't think it is absolutely necessary.
I also believe that the gain that you will have by following the lecture via skype or via Realtime Board, won't be as big as you doing the exercises alone. You might be loosing more time than gaining knowledge from attending the lecture.
The time from October to December does not seem like a long one. Even if it is (assuming that the course might be fast-paced) you still will be able to catch up for the two months when you will be back. Because the introductory parts are easier and you can grasp them faster. If we add other factors to the equation, for example, if you have previous programming experience, this will be even easier.
I don't know what programming language you will be learning there, but if it is one of the programming languages which is covered in one of the online programming teaching platforms (Codecademy), then you don't need to worry at all.
One thing you can do, is to reach out to the professor or any other fellow student and ask them to record the lectures for you; You can listen to the lectures while studying from the textbook. But the main point will be doing the exercises. My experience so far has told that programming is something which you learn by doing, rather than learn by being taught, although some help is welcomed.
Hope this helps!
Note: It would be useful if you could provide the programming language, and your previous experience with programming in the question.
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Tags: masters, code, international-students, tools
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thread-26676
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26676
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How can a professor who has signed The "Cost of Knowledge" pledge review papers without having to recant?
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2014-08-01T13:24:50.250
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# Question
Title: How can a professor who has signed The "Cost of Knowledge" pledge review papers without having to recant?
A large majority of researchers in my field publish in Elsevier journals. However, a professor who is widely regarded as an authority in my field has, some years ago, signed The Cost of Knowledge pledge to neither publish nor review for Elsevier. I think this is sad, since someone who is highly qualified to review these papers will no longer review them and improve their quality.
This professor has published in other journals, but it does not seem that others are following suit, since these Elsevier journals seem to be highly prized. What can he do to be able to review papers that would have otherwise come to his perusal without having to recant?
# Answer
> 9 votes
(This answer is adapted from my comment below Marc Cleason's answer)
In the spirit of the pledge, this professor could put a banner saying in substance "I do not review for Elsevier journal, so if you are an author hoping for me to review your paper, submit to other publisher's journals".
One important thing about such a pledge is that it is useless if it is silent; this is an initial observation by Tim Gowers that lead to the pledge. Now that 14000 people have signed it, each one of them is somewhat hidden in the crowd, so making this kind of statements on one's web page is a way to make one's pledge more public, and to give the movement some momentum. Here, a prominent professor has also the possibility to influence the submissions of his or her colleagues, which is a good bonus.
# Answer
> 62 votes
Sounds like he's sticking to his moral principles, which is the best anyone can do. Maybe he could evangelize his opinion more to increase the impact of his crusade, but that's about it.
I disagree with the insinuation that he may be doing his field a disservice, since moving away from the ancient publishing model is a good thing for any field in the long run. Besides, it's not like he has left the field; just a small part of its publication scene.
Just because nobody seems to be following him (yet) does not mean he failed in any way.
# Answer
> 16 votes
If authorities disregard a journal *en masse*, that journal (or series of journals) will lose any reputation for quality publication. If poor-quality papers get through to publication due to a drop off in submissions or high-quality available reviewers, that journal will lose even more reputation for quality. This sort of issue should be self-correcting if enough researchers feel strongly about it.
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Tags: journals, peer-review, publishers, elsevier
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thread-26802
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26802
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How to display your own name in publications list when you are a middle-author on a publication with a large number of authors?
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2014-08-04T20:57:49.913
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# Question
Title: How to display your own name in publications list when you are a middle-author on a publication with a large number of authors?
My Name is among tens of authors of a paper on global health.
For the purpose of my CV update, I need to show my name without showing the names of all authors of the paper.
My preferred style is JAMA, which shows the names of the first 3 authors followed by 'et al'.
Would the following format be appropriate, at least for my CV, when My Name is published in the middle of a long authors' list ?
First Author, Co-Author, My Name, et al
If so, will this (customized) format ever cause any confusion for any group of audience?
# Answer
> 38 votes
The bolding trick suggested by others is fine up to a point, but eventually it will get to be silly.
I'm coming from a nuclear and particle physics background and have papers with hundreds of coauthors. So I *didn't* take care that my name showed up. I just built my publication list using bibtex in the standard format for my discipline and assumed that readers who wanted to check that I was on those papers know how to use InSpire (the go-to publication database for these disciplines).
That means that my name appears on my publication list only a few times, but it is also there in big letters at the top of the page.
# Answer
> 33 votes
If I understand correctly you suggest adding your name as third regardless of where it occurs (later than third). I would not recommend such a solution since it may be thought of as inflating your own importance (assuming author order reflects that). Even if such a solution would be acceptable within a specific community, one has to consider how it can be construed by others. In my CV I have set my name in bold face and I list all author names in a reference. This way my "contribution" becomes reasonably clear even at a glance.
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Tags: citations, formatting
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thread-26805
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26805
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Awesome papers that were initially rejected?
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2014-08-04T22:43:18.447
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# Question
Title: Awesome papers that were initially rejected?
Recently I heard from a senior student that the celebrated adaBoost paper was originally rejected by a conference.
Are there any other instances of seminal papers (in any field) which initially could not warrant a publication?
# Answer
I'm not sure if this counts, but Edward Jenner's original paper on smallpox vaccination was rejected by the Royal Society.
> In 1797, Jenner sent a short communication to the Royal Society describing his experiment and observations. However, the paper was rejected. Then in 1798, having added a few more cases to his initial experiment, Jenner privately published a small booklet entitled An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae, a disease discovered in some of the western counties of England, particularly Gloucestershire and Known by the Name of Cow Pox (18, 10). The Latin word for cow is vacca, and cowpox is vaccinia; Jenner decided to call this new procedure vaccination. The 1798 publication had three parts. In the first part Jenner presented his view regarding the origin of cowpox as a disease of horses transmitted to cows. The theory was discredited during Jenner's lifetime.
Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1200696/
> 1 votes
# Answer
One should also mention Fermi's famous 'Beta decay' paper, which was rejected by Nature and appeared in Z. Physik 88, 161(1934). English translation of the paper: http://microboone-docdb.fnal.gov/cgi-bin/RetrieveFile?docid=953;filename=FermiBetaDecay1934.pdf;version=1
> 0 votes
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Tags: publications, rejection
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thread-26820
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26820
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Can posting to arXiv ruin your reputation?
|
2014-08-05T09:49:56.933
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# Question
Title: Can posting to arXiv ruin your reputation?
Arxiv is permanent. So if I publish something now, that I feel is not quite high enough quality for traditional publication, and people leave a bunch of feedback showing issues with my assumptions or methods, am I hurt for life? As I understand it, you can't remove something from arxiv, and people can comment on your work. So, when someone 20 years from now googles my name or domain, they will find the paper and the comments and other undesirables?
At least with traditional publication you have peer review as a filter, which can in part shield you. Is arxiv really this dangerous?
# Answer
> 15 votes
I think your comment has very important information:
> This paper is just that. It presents helpful information but doesn't develop any ideas or utilize the scientific method.
So, it is not crappy, they are not unbacked claims; it is just nothing new. As long as you are aware of it, and it is clear you are not trying to make it look different, it cannot hurt you.
You can think of this paper as a small review or class notes.
The only thing that may hurt your reputation is if it had very serious mistakes, and you don't address them. To be safe, just ask some of your colleagues to review it, even if it is not a thorough one. They should be able to tell you if it is correct, informative, and clear. And by all means, if it is informative, go ahead and publish it.
Also, ArXiv is not only for preprints of papers. For example, I have seen philosophical dissertations on QM very non technical (a second year Physics undergrad should be able to follow), or another about the story of protein folding research in a certain institution.
**Edit:**
Regarding your comment:
> but are arxiv posts considered publications for what you're talking about? i could put my grocery list there if I wanted to, right?
ArXiv is not peer reviewed, so the quality threshold is not so high. You can publish not so technical pieces, or sneak a bad article that looks just fine, they don't count as official publications. But, on the other hand, they are better than nothing. Specially if you are at the beginning of your PhD, when you are not expected to have publications yet, your ArXive papers are an example of your capabilities.
No one will use the sheer number of submitted papers, but if you have some fine pieces (for example, a good, brief review of your field, previous research and terminology), can show you have a promising career for, for example, applying for summer schools or extra funding.
Depending on your field, this kind of papers can be extremely useful. For example, in Bioinformatics, most people come from a CS background (programming experts and good Mathematics, but knowing nothing about Biology and Chemistry), Biology (lacking in Algorithmics, Machine Learning, and Statistics), Physics (lots of Maths, but basic knowledge of mostly everything else)... For me, having a quick reference of the basic terminology of other disciplines would save me a lot of time, as I have to look up many simple concepts that would be obvious for, for example, a Chemist undergrad.
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Tags: publications, arxiv
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thread-26791
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26791
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How handicapped am I in graduate admissions if I graduated from a lower tier university?
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2014-08-04T17:36:48.763
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# Question
Title: How handicapped am I in graduate admissions if I graduated from a lower tier university?
Due to a combination of factors, I ended up going for my undergraduate studies to a relatively unknown university that was close to me geographically.
Let's say that I have a relatively standard background for someone trying to apply to top tier schools for graduate studies (some research experience, some low to medium quality publications, very strong grades, good recommendation letters). Then how much does the alma mater have an impact for someone like me? I obviously know that it is still possible to be accepted, but how much of a disadvantage am I looking at exactly?
# Answer
You don't mention what field you're in. At least in the social sciences at my R1, we look at various factors. The admissions committee knows that people have to choose the college that they went to for various reasons other than just academic excellence.
One of the factors that I look at is trajectory. Someone who went to a public high school, then a community college, and then transferred to a public university, with perhaps middling grades the first year but then quickly ramps up to stellar grades by the time they graduate is very interesting to me -- much more than someone who got all As at a *good* school but doesn't seem like they pushed themselves very hard.
With the portfolio that you describe for yourself, I'd say you wouldn't be eliminated in the first round, but you'd struggle in the second and third rounds to stand out. How you stand out is up to you. I'd work on a stellar statement of purpose -- one that strongly articulates why you want to go to graduate school to study what you want to study.
Again, this is in the social sciences at my school (a large private R1), your mileage may vary.
Part of this is because brilliance by itself isn't enough for grad school in the social sciences. Perseverance and autonomy and the ability to get knocked down and get back up are also critical.
> 13 votes
# Answer
My impression after being accepted and discussing this with senior faculty was the following:
A large, top tier graduate program receives applications. Some fraction of these (say a quarter) are entirely unqualified and will be discarded.
Another, very small group are fantastically qualified, with great research experience and superb academic credentials from the very best schools. These few will almost definitely get in, but may not accept.
Finally, the largest group consists of people with credentials that are no better or worse than yours (maybe they attended a better school, but their record is slightly worse, or their recommenders are more prestigious, but the letters are less personal). If you are in this group, you should do everything you possibly can to improve your application, but ultimately you're playing the odds.
The biggest obstacle you will face at the top tier schools is that they receive so many more applications that the acceptance rate might only be a few percent. This means the odds are very unfavorable that any particular top tier school will accept you as a solid, but not extraordinary applicant.
This is how it was explained to me anyway. So, I don't think your school is a serious handicap, but it probably does exclude you from the "Oh my gosh, must accept and give all the money!" pile. You might consider applying to more programs to compensate.
EDIT: As Ben Webster pointed out, "Apply to more programs" is incomplete. You might consider applying to more high quality programs.
> 9 votes
# Answer
I recommend reading the following article:
> Why You Can’t Catch Up, by Nancy Hass; The New York Times, (August 1, 2014)
The takeaway is that anything is possible, but you're much less likely to get into top tier grad schools with a low-tier undergraduate.
> 4 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, ranking
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thread-26813
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26813
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Is the minimum GPA required for Graduate school a cut-off criteria or a general guideline?
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2014-08-05T05:41:24.183
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# Question
Title: Is the minimum GPA required for Graduate school a cut-off criteria or a general guideline?
I am a senior year undergrad student from a prestigious institute in India. I intend to pursue a PhD after graduating. While researching universities, I stumbled upon the fact that many of the top schools have a minimum GPA requirement. For example UCSD has 3.4/4 as its minimum requirement.
My GPA is 7.2 on a scale of 10. It is quite above average in my school, but it translates to a 2.9 on a scale of 4 which looks pretty bad. DOes this mean that my application is likely to be rejected outright?
Also, I heard that most universities don't consider converted scores (by WES, for example) in a good light. I have research experience in my undergraduate years to offset the GPA. I really hope that the universities have a look at that.
Should I not apply to schools with such a requirement?
# Answer
> 7 votes
There's no absolute here—it really depends on the program in question. Some departments are stricter about cutoffs than others. It depends a lot on the number of applications they receive, and how selective they need to be. However, I know that many good departments don't screen on GPA alone.
However, even if you're GPA is not "elite," that's not the end of the world, so long as you have the research experience and the letters of recommendation to support you. (A student from our department was recently admitted to a top-10 engineering program in the US on the basis of his research experience—his GPA was pedestrian at best.)
# Answer
> 1 votes
Fundamentally, graduate schools are looking for evidence that you can successfully complete the program and graduate. So to get in, you have to make a convincing argument that this is the case.
Your GPA is unimpressive, but there are a few things that can make up for it. Two of them are test scores and faculty recommendations. What you need to do in both cases to rank much higher on these metrics than the typical "2.9" student. Then the fact that "my GPA ... is quite above average in my school," will start to count for something. Specifically, it may get your graduate school thinking, "This "2.9" GPA is at least a 3.2 or 3.3 on our scale, maybe more."
You're still not home free, but this is where your research comes into play. If you can convince the school that you have exceptional research potential, they may think, well, this guy is a "doer" who will "ace" the thesis, and get 3.2-3.3 in his courses, just enough to get the 3.4 average. Or it could be that the required 3.4 represents "insurance" against a graduating requirement of 3.2 or 3.3.
You'll probably want to get more and better advice from a faculty adviser. But if you do apply to the school of your choice, the above represent things to keep in mind.
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions, graduate-school, masters, application
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thread-26810
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26810
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Career options for an astronomer outside of academia?
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2014-08-05T04:21:41.223
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# Question
Title: Career options for an astronomer outside of academia?
I know there are similar questions addressed on this site, but the answers are geared to a different skill set to what (I suspect) most astronomers/astrophysicist will have.
I'm currently halfway through a PhD in radio astrophysics (in India) and I'm not too sure that I want to stay in academics, so I'd like to explore what options I have outside of academics.
So my PhD is geared more toward data analysis, so I have a fair knowledge of C & Python for numerical processing but not for more general purpose computing (but I am trying to teach myself some of that).
I'm aware that this is a vague question, but what options do I have if I choose to leave? I understand that data analysis skills are quite valuable, and it would be nice to continue in a research-like climate because I really do enjoy research.
# Answer
> 11 votes
I moved from a PhD in Astrophysics to an industry job some years ago, so I can share my experience, as well as the experience that a number of my fellow grad students had. This was in the United States, so things may be different in other countries.
The basic idea is that as far as most industry is concerned, a PhD in astronomy/astrophysics is the same as physics, so any job looking for a physics background will do. Jobs looking for a mathematics/statistics background are probably close enough as well, and worth applying to.
Your most marketable skills are your ability to code and do math/statistics while working with data. This is EXTREMELY valuable in industry. Your knowledge of astronomy and physics is likely not very valuable except in some very specific jobs.
Some specific fields that aggressively hire people with PhDs in astronomy in large amounts:
1) **Quantitative Finance** \- The financial world hires a lot of people with PhDs in math/physics/stats to be quants. There are a lot of pros/cons to this field, but it pays well at least.
2) **Defense Contractors** \- This is very much a research type environment. However, this almost always requires that the applicant have US citizenship in the United States in order to obtain security clearance.
3) **Software Engineering** \- A background in coding, data analysis, and mathematics is very desirable. You will likely want to brush up on your programming since scientific programming is not usually software engineering, as well as your statistics.
You can try for more specialized fields like medical imaging, but it is often difficult to compete with the physicists with specialized backgrounds in that specific niche in my experience.
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Tags: job-search, physics
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thread-26840
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26840
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Should I attend a conference even if I don't have a paper accepted there
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2014-08-06T07:56:38.407
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# Question
Title: Should I attend a conference even if I don't have a paper accepted there
Attending conferences is considered one of the perks of working in academia, for a variety of very good reasons:
* networking, meeting new people
* cutting edge research results and new directions
* advertise your own research (while networking)
* (often) nice venues
In some domains, such as computer science, conferences are (becoming) the main exchange site of top work. In some other domains, conferences are considered entertainment. Next to this quality ambiguity, there are some downsides:
* travel costs can weigh on budgets of smaller research groups
* conference papers more likely to be dismissed by hiring committees than journal papers
A consequence of the first downside is that many groups only allow researchers to attend conferences if they have accepted talks/papers, which is difficult in top venues. A consequence of the second downside is that some researchers prefer to submit top work to top journals rather than top conferences.
<sub>I do consider the second con relevant to the question, as this is one of the reasons for ending up wanting to attend conferences without having any accepted papers.</sub>
Given the ups and downs, I would like to assess the importance of attending top conferences (even without accepted talks/papers) for both individual researchers as well as their research groups.
<sub>My field is machine learning, but answers concerning other fields are more than welcome.</sub>
# Answer
> 3 votes
I work in computational condensed matter and have attended both computational (or theoretical) and experimental-oriented conferences. When you submit an abstract for a conference in this field it usually does not imply that you are committing to publish that work in the conference proceedings or that you thereby refrain from publishing that work in a journal. Top conferences (in this field) will encourage and give you the *chance* of publishing in their proceedings, but will not require it.
What usually happens, is that if you can get the paper published in a reputable research journal you do that, and either 1) choose not to submit a proceedings paper or, the option that I find most interesting, 2) submit related technical work that, while still sound and rigorous, might not get published in a journal but will get accepted as a conference proceedings paper.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Once again, there's no definitive right or wrong answer here. There are times where it makes sense to go to a conference where you're not presenting (if you're a beginning graduate student, or it's relatively inexpensive, or you're just getting started in a new research area and want to get an overview). There are also times when it doesn't make sense (you're already attending a lot of conferences, or budgets are tight, or there are institutional policies against funding such travel). A conference that might not be worth attending one year might be worth attending in a different year.
The best thing to do is to talk to your supervisor (if you have one), and ask for her opinion about what the best course of action is.
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Tags: conference, networking
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thread-26857
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26857
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Is it okay to resend an email to a journal asking for the status of a submitted manuscript?
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2014-08-06T18:31:16.437
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# Question
Title: Is it okay to resend an email to a journal asking for the status of a submitted manuscript?
This question is related to the question asked here: Is it okay to inquire about the status of a paper when the online submission system shows no update three months after submission?.
Around 4 months ago, I submitted a paper to a Math journal for peer-review through an online submission system. The same day I received in my e-mail an acknowledgement message saying that the paper had been received.
The status of the paper on the online submission system is still "Manuscript submitted", and the paper has not been assigned to an editor yet.
One month ago, I sent a polite email asking for the status of the paper, but I got no response.
Should I send a second email in the regular way (that is to say, not using the journal's online system)?
Is it possible that things go slower during this time of the year (due to holidays or something)?
# Answer
Yes, you should definitely send another polite email. You could also write directly to the editor, since your situation sounds fairly unreasonable. You deserve some sort of response to your submission. I would consider withdrawing the paper and submitting it elsewhere if you don't get a response.
> 4 votes
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Tags: publications, journals, peer-review, paper-submission, editors
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thread-26853
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26853
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Low ranking university with fund VS Unsure opportunity at a higher ranking one
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2014-08-06T17:16:36.093
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# Question
Title: Low ranking university with fund VS Unsure opportunity at a higher ranking one
Two years ago, I completed my bachelor degree with highest honor ranking 1st of my class in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department in my university in Egypt. Since then I have been working as a teaching assistant in the same department. I was seeking to pursue my Msc degree at a high ranking university and hence I applied for a Msc in 12 universities. I was able to gain admission(without funding) in four of them(among them was Carnegie Mellon and University of Michigan ann arbor). Meanwhile, a friend of mine helped me to get a research as position in a low ranking university in the US (No. 160 according to Us news ranking). In the low ranking university, I am supposed to work intensively (the lab director requires the students to work on Sundays!) on a field that is not my primary field of interest. Also, he , this adviser, expects me to continue my Phd with him and my friends in this lab informed me that he will not give a recommendation letter if I want to leave his lab later. However, I am shooting for a higher ranking university for the Phd.
Do you advice me to go to the low ranking university with this adviser and then shoot for a higher one for the Phd? Or to wait and apply again for other universities for my Msc?
Also, is it OK to change my field of interest after finishing the Msc? will this limit my opportunists for a Phd in my primary field of interest?
Finally, how important is the Msc adviser's recommendation letter while applying for a Phd?
# Answer
The answer is clear, and has nothing to do with ranking: if you want to go onto a PhD, your application will mostly depend on the letter of your research advisor.
That being said, there are terrible warning signs, and I would not take that position. Requiring you to work on sundays (and saturdays I presume) does not make a healthy student. Even students need down times. Sure, when I was writing my thesis I worked for a month straight; but thats crunch time. During normal students life it should be fairly balanced (40-60 hours a week working, with some play).
If you are willing to pay (another topic) go to the higher ranking schools, or wait a year and reapply to see if you can get funding at a better school. The advisor at the lower ranking school seems unethical, and I would not work for him even if he was at a school like MIT or Caltech. The fact that he wouldn't write you a letter of recommendation if you decided to leave is truly an indication that he does not have your best interests in mind: writing letters his his job.
As so many put it here, **run don't walk**.
> 13 votes
# Answer
In the US, going for your MS and PhD at the same school is the preferred approach in engineering. The MS is seen as a golden parachute if you can't pass the qualifying exams for the PhD. Some schools even see having an MS as a disadvantage when applying for a PhD for this reason. If you think you might continue on for a PhD, then choose the school and adviser that you would want to continue on with.
The question of funding vs. prestige is a tricky one. Do you want to work after school or do you want to stay in academia? Funding will leave you less in debt after school, but for a career in academia, the prestige of your program and adviser is very important.
In your particular situation, there are terrible warning signs for the low ranked school so I would avoid that situation regardless of what your longer term goals are.
> 3 votes
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Tags: masters, advisor, application, recommendation-letter, ranking
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thread-26843
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26843
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How and when should I identify my specific research interests?
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2014-08-06T09:54:35.137
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# Question
Title: How and when should I identify my specific research interests?
I am a Computer Science graduate, who is passionate about Computer Science and various topics and want to explore them in and out.
I am interested in research but I cannot refine my interests to a particular topic. It is possibly because I did not get a chance to play with various stuffs and do various projects. So how should I refine my interests to a particular topic?Is it too early to think about it,that is should I wait for getting a Masters or am I right to think about it currently?
# Answer
> 6 votes
You are an undergrad now, so that means you have neither experience nor plenty of free time. But this doesn't mean you can't give it a shot: read up about research, and find interesting projects to do. Aim for something small, that you can, for example, accomplish in one year. The next year, try something different. I'd probably focus on topics that are not exactly covered in your curriculum, as those you are going to learn anyway.
I studied Physics, but on the side I experimented with computer simulations, to later go to image and video processing, analysis of experimental spectra, and complex networks (graph theory). All this taught me tools and ideas that I am now using, in a completely different field (Bioinformatics).
The truth is, before I started looking for a PhD, I didn't even considered Bioinformatics as an option, but I saw one offer, looked appealing, and decided it was exactly what I wanted to do. How is everything I did helping me? For example:
* I have to compare some pieces of data. Comparing them pairwise is simple, so I remembered networks, and designed a robust way of combining the comparison into a global measurement. As a plus, I knew already of a good library, and how to use it so I could start coding my ideas right away.
* Now I have a matrix, and I have to dig out some patterns (with lots of gaps). From my time doing image processing I remember reading about the Hough transform, and it turns out it looks a promising start point. But I also remembered when I was analysing spectra that the output is quite complex, so I will keep in mind the caveats.
The bottom line is that you don't have to start now in what you want to do. In fact, you will be a more efficient researcher if you know many different things, as you never know where you are going to end up. All this, of course, keeping an eye on your official studies.
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Tags: research-process, research-topic
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