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thread-29855
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29855
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To what extent does the location of a conference impact the number of submissions?
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2014-10-12T16:57:44.277
|
# Question
Title: To what extent does the location of a conference impact the number of submissions?
Some conferences take place in locations that are considered to be more attractive than others to most people (e.g. UIST 2014 @ Hawaii). Some can be more easily accessible than others. Etc.
Is there any research/study/survey that looked at the impact of the location of a conference with regard to the number of paper/poster/etc. submissions?
# Answer
> 2 votes
I don't know of a specific study on this matter, but I can at least offer one piece of data. There is a conference that I frequently attend which has a community mainly composed of Europeans and Americans. As such, it switches back and forth between the two continents each years. The American contingent is smaller than the European, however, and there has been a clear pattern of American years having lower attendance than European years. This has been attributed, on the basis of a lot of anecdotes, both to the difference in travel expenses and also to restrictions on the use of travel funds by some agencies on each side of the Atlantic.
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Tags: conference, reference-request, travel
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thread-29824
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29824
|
Is it difficult to get into graduate school for applied math with a computer science degree?
|
2014-10-12T03:40:01.960
|
# Question
Title: Is it difficult to get into graduate school for applied math with a computer science degree?
I'm a computer science student in my third year of undergrad. I've been taking math classes on the side and will have finished most of the applied math major by the time I graduate.
I'm wondering how difficult it would be to get into graduate school for applied math with a computer science undergrad degree. I could possibly switch over to the applied math major if that would make graduate school admissions easier, but I'm wondering if it would also be fairly possible with a computer science undergrad.
# Answer
There's no reason why you couldn't get into an applied math graduate program with a CS bachelor's degree. Some parts of some applied mathematics programs are called computer science in other programs (and vice versa). Many applied mathematics students come from engineering, physics, CS, and other undergraduate programs.
> 4 votes
# Answer
I did this myself (a long time ago, in the 1980's.) I completed the requirements for a BS in Mathematics and a BS in Computer Science, but I took the Computer Science degree because it was more employable. A few years later after I'd had some experience in software development positions, I decided to go back to graduate school in applied mathematics. I was accepted to every graduate program that I applied to.
Some key things to do:
1. Make sure in your application cover letter/statement of purpose to explain that you have taken a lot of mathematics at the undergraduate level. This will help if the reader of the application doesn't bother to read your transcript and see the mathematics course work.
2. Get a good score on the GRE subject test in mathematics as well as on the GRE general tests.
3. Get letters of recommendation from your former mathematics professors, particularly professors in applied mathematics.
4. Connect your background in computer science to applied mathematics. You're in a good position to specialize in numerical computing as a graduate student.
> 3 votes
---
Tags: graduate-admissions, mathematics, computer-science, changing-fields
---
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thread-29836
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29836
|
Does it look bad to have more letters of recommendation from undergrad than masters professors in PhD admissions?
|
2014-10-12T09:25:45.093
|
# Question
Title: Does it look bad to have more letters of recommendation from undergrad than masters professors in PhD admissions?
I did my undergrad at university A, and my masters at university B. I am now applying to university C which requires 3 letters of recommendation. Naturally, my thesis advisor is one of them. I also contacted my undergrad advisor whom I did a 4th year project with.
Finding the right third referee is the problem. In my masters, I only took one course with each professor; 8 different courses with 8 different professor. So I don't think that they know my that well, although I did score A in all of the courses. I decided to contact another undergrad professor whom I took 2-3 courses with.
How will the admission committee look to an application where there are 2 referees from my undergrad and only one from grad study ? Will that affect my application in a negative way ?
# Answer
"All other things being equal," you'd rather have more references from graduate than undergraduate professors.
Your situation is such that "all other things aren't equal." Apparently, you didn't get to know any of your masters professors well, and only took one course from each. Whereas you had undergraduate professors that you took two to three courses from, and they know you better, and may be in a better position to assess your research potential.
Taking the inference a step further, you may have done your most interesting/significant research as an undergraduate, while your master's work "topped up" your academic knowledge. If that's the case, you probably ought to "go with what you've got," and get more referrals from the (undergraduate) professors that you did more work for, or at least got to know better.
I would rather have "glowing" recommendations from undergraduate professors than "lukewarm" recommendations from graduate professors.
If all else fails, try to take a second course with one of your graduate professors so the s/he can get to know you better, and give you a recommendation.
> 6 votes
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions, recommendation-letter
---
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thread-8048
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8048
|
Applying to PhD programs in mathematics: would a letter of recommendation from my department chair at the community college be of any advantage?
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2013-02-17T03:06:53.780
|
# Question
Title: Applying to PhD programs in mathematics: would a letter of recommendation from my department chair at the community college be of any advantage?
I finished my MS in mathematics 5 years ago. Over these years I have been teaching at a community college (primarily calculus 1,2,3 with analytical geometry and Ordinary Diff. Eqs). When I was in my masters program I was having trouble narrowing my interests and decided to stop at my masters and start teaching. During this time as an instructor I have become very interested in some applied mathematics (biology in particular). I plan to apply to several PhD programs in the near future. With that said, I didn't keep in touch with too many people from the university I attended. I did stay in touch with a couple of my professors (on a minimal basis) and plan to ask them for letters of recommendation.
My questions...
Would a letter of recommendation from my department chair at the community college be of any advantage (and even suffice as 1 of the 3 required)? Or should I call a professor from 5-7 years ago that may remember the grade they gave me? To me the latter seems very generic and I feel my department chair could say more about my dedication to mathematics and teaching.
Thanks!
# Answer
I agree, the letter from your current department is likely to be more meaningful than a letter from someone who barely remembers you. The people reading your file will immediately recognize you as a "non-traditional" applicant (i.e., not straight out of undergrad), and will not be surprised that the letters in your file do not follow the pattern of traditional applicants.
While many employer letters are utterly dispensable in graduate admissions, it's a different story when the employer is a math department, "even" at a CC. Chances are that some of your target departments (at least those that combine pure and applied math) are struggling to staff their remedial courses. Slightly cynically speaking, they will be happy to have an instructor with faculty-level experience and TA-level salary (in addition to research prospects).
> 19 votes
# Answer
I was accepted into a number of Computer Engineering PhD programs with recommendations from the following people:
1. My then-current department chair at the high school where I taught physics and computer science.
2. A professor from the graduate education program where I got my Master's degree in teaching.
3. A professor who taught "how to teach physics" courses at another university, where I had been taking a series of the courses in order to become a better physics teacher.
I would have loved to get recommendation letters from professors from my undergraduate engineering curriculum, but my degree was from 15 years prior, and no one would have remembered me, nor been able to write anything substantial.
The letters I did get gave detailed information about my work performance from a teaching perspective for technical classes, and from a learning perspective in (somewhat) technically-minded classes.
Bottom line: get letters from people who can comment on your ability to do research, if possible, but more importantly from people who know you well and can add information to help a committee decide on whether or not to accept you.
> 10 votes
# Answer
As a "non-traditional applicant," you will be evaluated more on your work experience, and less on your coursework than most. So a letter from your department chair where you teach would be very helpful.
Fortunately, your work experience is very germane to your graduate study aspirations. I (and most others) can see how an interest in "applied mathematics (biology in particular)" grew out your your teaching calculus, analytic geometry, and differential equations. (And there's the old saying, "those that don't want to practice, teach. Those that don't want to teach, do research.")
Even in a research-oriented graduate program, teaching ability is a "tiebreaker." In your case, with your heavy experience, a potential "deal maker." Graduate students are expected to do research first, but teaching, second. You already offer the teaching "bird in hand," and if someone has doubts about your academic background, the likely thinking is that since you can teach this stuff, you're not likely to be bad.
While research earns the advancement, teaching "earns your keep." You may take particular interest in programs where there are tenured associate professors, people who can't get promoted to full professor based on research, but get tenure based on teaching ability.
> 0 votes
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Tags: recommendation-letter
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thread-29864
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29864
|
How long it takes for GRE score to be delivered to graduate school?
|
2014-10-13T02:35:46.583
|
# Question
Title: How long it takes for GRE score to be delivered to graduate school?
I would like to know how long it takes for a General computer based GRE score to be delivered to graduate school in US. Some graduate schools mention do not take GRE later than specific date so I am wondering does it really take long time to send the score online?
# Answer
> 4 votes
Per the ETS website, for the online general GRE (emphasis mine):
> About **10–15 days after your test date**, your official scores will be available in your My GRE Account, and your **scores will be sent to the score recipients you designate**
It is up to the receiving institution to decide how they want to receive those scores: online (which doesn't add additional delivery time), or paper mail (which adds some additional shipping time).
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Tags: graduate-admissions, gre, deadlines
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thread-29869
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29869
|
Does a letter of recommendation from a postdoc who's been my instructor carry much weight?
|
2014-10-13T04:30:38.087
|
# Question
Title: Does a letter of recommendation from a postdoc who's been my instructor carry much weight?
In large universities, undergraduate students tend to receive instruction mostly from recent PhD graduates or post-doctoral fellows. This is especially true during the first two years, when students may also have PhD students as instructors for their classes.
During the application review process, how much weight would you put for letters written from post-doctoral fellows? Is the job title something that people care a lot about?
# Answer
The issue with getting a letter from a post-doc is not their job title; it's the degree of experience they have with different students, and the authority with which they can judge their preparedness for a graduate program. So, it's not that a letter from a postdoc is unacceptable and as soon as they have an assistant professorship everything is great. There's a subtle continuum where the more experience someone has, the more weight their letter has, because they have known so many more students.
Also, this is a bit more cynical, but humans are social creatures. It's well-nigh unavoidable that they give more weight to a letter from someone they know personally. A postdoc is much less likely to be well-connected and thus able to leverage this for you.
> 5 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, postdocs, recommendation-letter
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thread-29868
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29868
|
Should I add the "presenter certificate" to the paper presented at a conference?
|
2014-10-13T04:05:19.583
|
# Question
Title: Should I add the "presenter certificate" to the paper presented at a conference?
I have presented a paper at a conference and received a certificate proving that I was a presenter. The conference does not have an English agenda, so it would not be easy for an application committee to find proof that I was the one who presented it online. I am now submitting the paper as one of my writing samples for a Ph.D. application. Should I attach the presenter certificate to the paper, in order to prove to the committee that I was really the one who presented it?
# Answer
> 6 votes
As per the answer to your previous question, you are not required to spontaneously supply proof for everything in your CV, and it would look extremely unusual to attempt to do so in this case.
The fact that you *could be* asked to substantiate anything written in your CV, and the consequences of subsequently being caught in a lie, are considered enough of a deterrent to prevent people from lying about their credentials. The standard practice in academia is *not* to include "proof" of everything on a CV unless explicitly asked for proof of some kind.
So in answer to your question of whether you should merge the "certificate of being a presenter" into the paper presented at the conference as part of your PhD application: No, you should not. You should not submit such a "certificate" *at all* unless you are explicitly asked for it, and I have never heard of anyone being asked for such a thing.
# Answer
> 3 votes
One thing to keep in mind is that certificates from a conference are easy to fake: anyone can make a plausible-looking certificate on their own computer, and the admissions committee will have no idea what a real certificate would look like. (And even if the admissions committee somehow knew what it should look like, an applicant could copy/modify someone else's certificate.) This makes them almost completely useless for verification. The certificates may satisfy bureaucratic requirements among those who use them, but in practice they won't actually prove anything.
I would recommend against including these certificates with your application. It looks suspicious to me, like you're presenting it as stronger evidence than it actually is. In particular, people might wonder whether you are trying to prevent a more detail investigation by preemptively offering a certificate.
However, this isn't a particularly important issue, since the admissions committee probably isn't worried about whether you actually presented the paper at this conference. A conference presentation is not meaningful or worthwhile for its own sake, regardless of quality. There are conference with low standards (where bad work is sometimes presented) or no standards at all (where anyone can present whatever they like). Instead of being worried about whether you presented the paper, the admissions committee will instead wonder whether presenting the paper means anything. That's much more subtle question, since the only way to convince them that the quality is high is if someone knows enough about the conference to judge its quality and is trusted by the committee. In practice, the way this typically works is that if the committee really wants more information, they find a member of the department who has a contact in the country in question and ask them for their opinion of the conference. (This can also lead to verifying attendance if necessary, since the contact will presumably have the appropriate language skills and can also get in touch with the organizing society.)
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Tags: publications, phd, graduate-admissions
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thread-29876
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29876
|
How important is the GRE for top engineering schools in the US?
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2014-10-13T07:09:06.133
|
# Question
Title: How important is the GRE for top engineering schools in the US?
I am wondering how important is the general GRE exam for top 10 schools in the US in engineering? Do they use it as a factor to admit students or it can be only used for funding or none/both of them?
# Answer
> 1 votes
For engineering, the GRE is used primarily as a screening tool—and very weakly, at that. Having excellent letters of recommendation and a strong transcript can very easily overcome weak GRE scores, while a perfect GRE score won't save a candidate with a weak transcript or bad letters. Also, of the sections, the math section is probably given the most weight by admissions committees in engineering, since it's viewed as the most relevant.
As for funding, the only reason I could see the GRE being used is to "verify" English-speaking ability for teaching assistantships. I've never heard of the GRE being used to determine research funding.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, united-states, engineering, gre
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thread-29875
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29875
|
Does doing an undergraduate semester exchange abroad improve chances of getting into top universities?
|
2014-10-13T07:06:37.513
|
# Question
Title: Does doing an undergraduate semester exchange abroad improve chances of getting into top universities?
I am a math undergraduate student from India, from one of the IITs. I have an opportunity to go for a semester exchange at some Universities in Germany, France and Switzerland, for a single semester. I am interested in pursuing further studies in pure mathematics at a top university abroad. I wanted to ask how much would a semester at an excellent university help me in getting into the masters or Phd program of the same University, or for that matter even other top universities.
**How much of an impact would a semester at an excellent university have on the chances of acceptance for masters and Phd programs at top universities?**
**Edit: Recent development and further information**
I have been accepted as an exchange student at EPFL.(The question still remains)
Some background as to why I am asking the question - While the University is not taking any semester fees, the cost involved is significantly high, and would stretch my finances quite a bit. I want to evaluate what I would get out of, what would be a very significant monetary investment for me. Basically "Is it worth it?".
# Answer
As JeffE says: It does not really matter whether you went somewhere and where did you go; it matters much more what have you done there. In general, having an Erasmus (or similar) semester abroad is not seen much as an advantage. Having a semester abroad **accompanied by a publication** with a professor there -- that's a different story, because it shows that you went there and really got some experience there.
However, if you spend the semester at a university at which you later apply for studies (which seems to be your case), you can get something from solely being there: **the contacts and the knowledge of the environment.** For instance: There are many PhD positions funded by various projects rather than by some general scholarships. It's mostly the project leaders who decide who gets the funding, and knowing them in person etc. can help. Still, you need to do more than just sit there at the lectures for 15 weeks.
> 3 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, student-exchange
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thread-26719
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26719
|
To publish or not to publish a paper in an ERA "type C" conference?
|
2014-08-02T13:59:16.487
|
# Question
Title: To publish or not to publish a paper in an ERA "type C" conference?
I have been researching a topic in Computer Science for several years now. The topic was interesting, but while I managed to get some conclusive results, I was not completely happy about them. It was like something was missing, but I knew that I really needed to talk to somebody more specialized in the topic, but unfortunately a lot of external professors that I contacted did not have enough time to collaborate. Anyway I submitted it to two conferences, which were ranked like B according to the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) schema:
```
A* - flagship conference
A - excellent conference, determined by a mix of indicators
B - good conference, determined by a mix of indicators
C - other ranked conference venues
```
The final verdict at both conferences was a weak reject. So I made the corrections that the reviewers suggested and submitted it to another conference. This new conference has a rank of C, but it deals with the subject that I was making research; the final verdict was accepted as a borderline paper.
Now, the question that I have is that if I should present my paper at that conference, or should I try to fix other things and resubmit to other higher-ranked venues? For me it would be more practical to leave it as is, and let another researcher pick it up if she is so interested.
# Answer
> 21 votes
You should have asked yourself this question before you submitted to the conference. Withdrawing your paper now, after it's been accepted, means you wasted a bunch of people's time (editor, reviewers, ...). Do unto others ...
Additionally, given that it was accepted as a borderline paper and was rejected at two previous conferences may be a hint that your work is not perceived as top of the line by external referees. I doubt you can shoot much higher than what you have now.
# Answer
> 6 votes
ERA ranking is subjective, I am not aware of peer-reviewed evidence that it works. Personally, I know conferences ranked as A, and whose quality is below acceptable. On the other hand, EuroPLoP is the premier conference for software patterns practitioners, and is ranked B in ERA.
So, do not dismiss a conference just because it is marked as C there. If it is not relevant to Australian community, it does not mean it is not relevant to European/Asian/US community. It is always better to see PC, authors published in the past editions, and other factors to make a decision, not relying on some subjective number.
BTW, there are more conference rankings:
# Answer
> 3 votes
ERA rankings are a left-over from earlier days when venues couldn't be easily and quantifiably evaluated in terms of "impact". The ERA rankings are/were driven by apparent popularity and "votes" cast by a small subset of Australian academics. This makes ERA rankings dubious since they are largely subjective.
These days one has access to various online tools to evaluate the impact of a venue, such as Google Scholar Metrics (h5-index) and Scimago Journal Rank. In turn, these tools often expose many ERA rankings as erroneous.
In terms of getting feedback on your work, conferences are not the only venues. You may also want to try "Letters" type of journals, which allow publication of short communications. Even if your paper isn't accepted, the feedback from the reviewers can be very useful.
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Tags: conference
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thread-2326
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2326
|
Why doesn't citation of a book give specific pages?
|
2012-07-08T01:43:38.573
|
# Question
Title: Why doesn't citation of a book give specific pages?
In papers or books, citation to another book usually doesn't contain the specific page, section, chapter of where a result is borrowed. If the book is really thick, and the readers may have different knowledge levels and familiarity with the book, some readers may find it not easy to locate the borrowed result within the reference book. So why don't people specify the source of a citation as detailed as possible in books?
BTW, it is good to specify as detail as possible for citation to a paper. But since a paper is usually much shorter than a book and it is usually in a searchable electronic form, it may be much easier to find the source in a paper than in a book.
# Answer
It's always good practice to cite as closely as possible, especially in a book. LaTeX makes it easy to do this with the `\cite[]{}` form. For a paper, it's often not necessary since one typically cites the main result of a paper. But even with a paper, if what you're citing is a lemma buried inside (and that is not obvious from the abstract) it's good to say `[23, Lemma 3.1]` or something like that.
As to why people don't do it, AnonymousMathematician already answered that above.
> 13 votes
# Answer
> So why don't people specify the source of a citation as detailed as possible in books?
Well, sometimes they haven't thought about this issue. Sometimes they know something is in a certain book but don't have a copy handy to figure out exactly where. Sometimes they do have a copy handy, and they know they should look it up, but they are too lazy.
In many cases one can easily locate the right section using the table of contents or index, but when this fails it's really annoying.
> 12 votes
# Answer
There is also often a good positive reason to cite a book without reference to specific chapters or subsections, and that is if one is pointing the reader to a source of review or introductory material. I personally often find it much better to point to a comprehensive survey (which is equally often a book rather than a journal paper), rather than a giant and certainly incomplete list of individual references, especially in formats where the number of pages or reference counts is limited.
This is especially the case when doing cross-disciplinary research. For example, I recently had a reviewer query how our paper could assert something that is such common knowledge in my field that I wouldn't have even thought to cite it. Thus, in the revised paper we cite an appropriate undergraduate textbook. Pointing to a specific element inside the book wouldn't have made sense, since you really need the whole foundation. It would be absolutely inappropriate, however, for us to attempt to reproduce an undergraduate class in the text of our paper.
> 3 votes
# Answer
One reason to not cite a specific page is if the information isn't on *a specific page*. Books, far more than papers, can communicate not only facts or single points of information, but ideas presented as a coherent whole.
For example, a paper I wrote cited Karl Popper's *The Logic of Scientific Discovery* when talking about the process of scientific reasoning. There's not a page where that takes place - it's the whole book.
> 2 votes
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Tags: publications, books
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thread-29726
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29726
|
What would be the potential consequences of offering to fund your own graduate degree?
|
2014-10-10T13:32:40.430
|
# Question
Title: What would be the potential consequences of offering to fund your own graduate degree?
I am aware that being funded by a grant greatly improves your chances of receiving a master's degree, however, hypothetically what would be the potential consequences of offering to fund your own? If the negative consequences are minimal, how does one go about offering this to a potential supervisor without under-selling themselves?
I'm applying to programs in Canada.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Getting funding usually stipulates that you have a project that is related to the fund that you have applied to. That being said, it is not always the case. Whether you are self-funded or funded does not necessarily mean that a particular supervisor will work with you. If your research interests are not aligned with the professor's, then it is likely that he/she will reject working with you, even if you are funded. It does not really matter if you are funded or not. It looks better on your CV, however, if you do get funding.
Furthermore, being funded does not guarantee that you will receive a master's degree. Hard work and dedication do. It is the same in any academic program.
If you want to work with a certain professor, I would suggest that you email him/her with a research proposal. That way he/she is able to 1) know that you exist and are keen to work with him/her, 2) that you have a project in mind, and 3) you are open to criticism concerning your research proposal.
Professors like working with students who want to work with them, usually, and they also like students who have similar research interests, or have stimulating proposals for new avenues of research.
# Answer
> 1 votes
One potential problem is what I'll refer to as "Lack of Responsibility", and I experienced a little bit of it when part of my degree was funded by a university fund not tied to any particular project.
While it gives you a tremendous amount of freedom, it means that you're not tied to any mentor/group/project/grant. Your work product doesn't need to go in the annual report, or be written up to make the lab look good for a renewal, etc. There's no pressure to settle down and get to work - which means the freedom to explore, but also the freedom to drift aimlessly.
Basically, it removes "Because someone needs to keep the lights on" as a motivating factor behind getting work done, and that is a *powerful* motivator.
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Tags: graduate-school, masters, funding, canada
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thread-23784
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23784
|
advantages and disadvantages of white-box testing of students assignments?
|
2014-06-22T10:32:58.683
|
# Question
Title: advantages and disadvantages of white-box testing of students assignments?
This is a fork of my question homework-testing-method-for-schools but i'm taking it in another direction.
I was asking about a homework testing method that'll encourage students to write better code and reduce the TA's proofreading task to a minimum.
I was thinking of using unit testing, (or anything else you can think of), in order to turn students in the right direction (design wise), and hopefully giving them good thinking and coding habits (we're talking first programming course in collage).
so my new question is:
1. If you think there's something wrong and not educational about unit testing students code please explain why do you think so..
2. If you think this is a good (or just an o.k) idea please tell me if you have any ideas of how to design the tests.
thank you for your answers.
# Answer
> 3 votes
A lot of what I said as an answer to this question is probably also applicable here, so I will not repeat it.
> If you think there's something wrong and not educational about unit testing students code please explain why do you think so..
I don't think there is anything particularly wrong about unit testing student code, but it will likely not do away with manual grading or direct lab sessions entirely. All things considered, the way how TAs traditionally check programming assignments (build, run, check behavior against assignment description) is pretty close to what a unit testing framework does anyway.
> If you think this is a good (or just an o.k) idea please tell me if you have any ideas of how to design the tests.
The major challenge I see is that you want your tests not only to serve as a framework to check whether students implemented the right functionality, but also to check whether they did it in the right way. I think unit tests and generally automated grading will *not* be able to help you here, aside from limited hard-coded rule checking.
A lot of the problem is already encoded in your use of terminology. You say you want "unit tests that do white box testing". This isn't really feasible, IMHO. Unit tests test interfaces. So, to cut it short, I do not think that unit tests will help you in this regard.
# Answer
> 1 votes
As a tester I would suggest giving a couple lessons on testing itself, its techniques and TEST DESIGN. The latter is useful to write proper set of tests. Anyway, teaching them good habits of writing tests for their code is a huge plus. As an advanced task for one of the latest your lessons I would suggest you to switch the roles with your students: tell them you are going to write a class with given interface and defined behaviour, and their task then would be to write unit tests that would 1. cover the described behavior and 2. find some bugs (probably, left in the code by your intention). That would teach them writing test based on the desired behavior, not the implementation.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I have been involved with two classes that used automated testing in different ways, and in both cases is was an excellent idea that was generally well received by students.
One was a class on compilers, which naturally encouraged the use of regression-testing because most assignments were to write a piece of software with specific functionality. In this class, every assignment had two sets of detailed regression tests: one was provided with the assignment to be used during development. The other was kept secret and revealed only when the assignment was returned. Grades were a mixture of the two sets of results: the first batch was "easy points" that everybody was expected to get, the second set was the real differentiator demonstrating that a student's solution was sufficiently general and deep.
The other class was a large (300+ student) artificial intelligence class, where automated testing of homework was introduced in order to lighten the grading load and allow the TAs to spend time on small-group tutorials instead. In this class, all of the homework was done through the automated system, including both coding and non-coding questions (e.g., numerical calculations, multiple choice), and students could submit their answers, check if they were correct, and resubmit again and again until their got it correct. As such, homework was viewed as "required practice" and everybody was expected to eventually get all of the questions correct, though we didn't care when. The grades for the class then came almost entirely from quizzes, exams, and projects, with the homework percentage used as a *multiplier* on the total (well, technically it was multiplication of a complex formula that essentially amounted to: "If you blatantly ignore the homework, we'll drop you a letter grade").
So in sum: automated testing can be an excellent solution and I think more classes should adopt it. It requires a bit more up-front investment, but can pay off both in terms of time and in terms of pedagogical value. How exactly you design it and integrate it depends on the goals, as illustrated by these two examples, and I'm sure there are many more.
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Tags: teaching, exams
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thread-28072
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28072
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Is it usual to use endowed chairs to support deans' administrative duties, rather than faculty's academic work?
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2014-09-05T18:22:42.743
|
# Question
Title: Is it usual to use endowed chairs to support deans' administrative duties, rather than faculty's academic work?
Our law school has (soon to be had) an endowed professorship that was awarded (on a 5-year rotating basis) to a faculty member with an outstanding record of research and scholarship, consistent with the traditional role of endowed professorships and chairs. The money in the endowed fund has grown sufficiently to transform it from a "professorship" into the law school's very first endowed "chair." At the very same meeting that the faculty was informed of this positive development, we were also informed by the University's chief development officer that this new and first chair would be awarded to the dean, not to increase his salary but to augment his administrative line of funds for travel, fundraising, etc.--a move consistent with our university's persistent shift of more and more resources away from faculty and to administration. The endowed professorship--awarded to a faculty member--will expire as soon as the current holder's remaining term ends in two years.
The CDO maintained that it was usual to award the first chair to deans and not to faculty members, a statement that members of the faculty found to be ludicrous.
Is it usual anywhere else for chairs to be used more often for administrative support of the dean rather than to recognize, encourage, and support faculty academic research and scholarship?
# Answer
I only know how these things work in the natural sciences at R1 institutions, so my experiences might not be helpful for your institution.
However, at my university, both the current and former deans of natural sciences were given endowed chairs when they arrived: the (former) dean Daniel Carson (see here) is the Schlumberger Chair of Advanced Studies and Research and Professor of BioSciences, and the current dean Peter Rossky (see here) is the Harry C. & Olga K. Wiess Chair of Chemistry. As you can see from his webpage, Carson continued to run a lab and churn out great research while dean (he finished his position in the spring of 2014), and I expect that the same will be true for Rossky (he just arrived and doesn't have much of a web presence at Rice, but here is his former webpage). So it is not necessarily nefarious -- to hire really top-notch scientists into administrative positions, you have to offer them things.
But of course I have no idea what is going on at your university, and it could very well be a power play by the administration.
> 3 votes
# Answer
I have never heard of using an endowed chair to support administrative duties of a dean, but then again, I have never heard of a rotating endowed chair before. Many donors stipulate terms as to what their donations can be used for. It may be that some endowed chairs exist explicitly for supporting deans administrative duties, but I would think this is quite rare. While I would assume that your law school is not breaking any laws, they may be bending them. I would ask the CDO (whatever that is) for some evidence to back up their claim. You could probably gather evidence from within your university and other comparable universities to back up your belief that it is uncommon.
> 2 votes
# Answer
No. What you're seeing is an example of academic politics. An attempt to grab truth before anyone else can argue against it.
Many people who attempt such reptilian measures tend to "double-down" whenever they are questioned. Just persist and you'll see that they back off.
Then take charge. This is the kind of stuff that makes academia look ridiculous.
> 0 votes
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Tags: university, professorship, funding
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thread-29878
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29878
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Is it possible to get into a top-10 engineering graduate program without publications?
|
2014-10-13T07:14:31.200
|
# Question
Title: Is it possible to get into a top-10 engineering graduate program without publications?
I would like to know if it is possible to get into top 10 engineering schools for MS/Phd program without any publications?
# Answer
> 10 votes
In my experience, most undergraduates, even excellent ones with strong research potential, do not publish. The reason is simple: undergraduates usually have to spend a lot of time on classes and don't have much time available for research, even if they're very good at it. The likelihood of both producing a significant publishable result and seeing it in print before applying to grad school is simply not very large. Even if you do get a publication, it's not obvious whether it's due to your research talent or due to your supervisor placing you on exactly the right project.
That said, getting involved in research as an undergraduate is the best thing that you can do if you have interest in graduate school. Not only will it put you in a position where a professor can give you a good recommendation for your research work, but it will also help you figure out if you actually *want* to subject yourself to the grueling realities of a Ph.D. program. And who knows, you might even get some publications!
# Answer
> 14 votes
The admissions process for graduate school is complicated. I am not aware of any admissions committee that requires prior publications to be accepted. Admissions decisions are not so much based on the presence/absence of publications but on the extent to which the application demonstrates an ability to conduct research. Prior publications can demonstrate an ability to conduct research, but do not necessarily guarantee it. The lack of publications does not mean you cannot conduct research, but does mean you need to demonstrate research potential in another way (e.g., letters of recommendation).
# Answer
> 3 votes
Faculty on the admissions panel for a department typically assume that undergraduates did not do any of the "heavy lifting" on any paper they are on. Rather, they assume the PI/grad student/etc. had the idea, did most of the experiments, wrote the paper, and that the undergraduate may have assisted in parts of the experiments that were routine. *This may not be the case*, and if so is hopefully said in the letter of rec. But it is what is generally assumed (and honestly, what is typically true).
So to answer your question: no, publications are typically not required for admission to a good PhD program.
Some fellowships (NSF, Hertz, etc.) do have a bias towards published undergraduates however, although it's also not a requirement.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Faculty in those institutions have their own research agendas, and yes, there are very awesome undergraduates who do not have any publications who land the dream of the Ph D. And this is a top institution I have observed my friends get into without the publications. This said, the work performed in undergrad is your CV. The projects that you chose to undertake for grades, the extracurricular activities you chose to participate in--- everything about you that you choose to present in the application process determines how persuasive you are to the potential faculty member.
The more that your interests and skills match the needs and research agendas of the professors, the better chance of convincing them that you're worth their time and money.
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Tags: publications, graduate-admissions, engineering
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thread-29908
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29908
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Transitioning from pure research to a teaching position
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2014-10-13T16:03:07.827
|
# Question
Title: Transitioning from pure research to a teaching position
I have a PhD in Computer Science and have been working as a "pure researcher" in an academic setting for the past 10+ years. I have a decent publication record, with a large number of citations to my work. As part of the research role, I have also been a co-supervisor/advisor of several PhD students and done presentations in front of conference audiences. I've done a bunch of "guest lectures" in a few undergraduate classes.
I'd like to transition from the current pure research position to a mixed teaching and research role. My motivations are to have more contact with people (as research can be lonely) and better job security. To than end I've applied for several teaching positions (tenure-track associate professor), but I've been told that the lack of teaching/lecturing experience (undergraduate students) is a problem.
Why would the selection committee see the lack of teaching experience as a deal-breaker?
I do understand that teaching requires a different set of skills than research. However, teaching skills can be learned, so is this a case of demonstrating the capability of learning such skills? If so, what would be some acceptable strategies for obtaining such skills?
# Answer
It's true that teaching skills can be learned. But some people underestimate the amount of work required to do so, or do not commit to putting it in, or remain tied to ineffective philosophies of teaching, and thus do not become good teachers. Others do, but it takes them some time, and in the meantime they don't do as well.
All other things equal, a search committee would rather hire someone who has already been through this, and will be able to walk in and teach well from day one, rather than needing a potentially long period to adjust (during which they will have to explain to their dean why this new hire's teaching evaluations are so poor). Especially since you are applying at a more senior level (associate professor), your competitors likely have 5 years or more of teaching experience, and evaluations, letters, etc, that show that they are effective teachers. Lacking that, it's understandable that you would be at a significant disadvantage.
It seems to me that the most natural course of action would be to see if you can pick up some teaching at your current institution. Approach your chair and express your interest in teaching a class or two if the opportunity arises. There will likely come a time when the chair just can't get all the classes covered, and would ordinarily consider looking for an adjunct, visitor, or graduate student to teach a class - then she will think of you. If you pull it off with reasonable success, and make it known that you are receptive to continuing to teach, you will likely get more opportunities. Eventually you can build up sufficient experience to be a good candidate for a different job - or maybe you'll find that your existing job, plus occasional teaching, satisfies you after all. (Or maybe you'll find that you don't in fact enjoy teaching, and stick to the job you have.)
I'd think that this sort of gradual phase-in of teaching duties is likely to go better and be less stressful on the whole. Even if you were able to get a full-time teaching job, you'd likely be asked to start teaching 2-3 courses per semester right off the bat - with no prior experience, that can be a pretty severe shock.
> 18 votes
# Answer
Think of it in the reverse direction: Would you hire a person with tons of teaching experience for a research job? I think the same thing goes for someone with tons of research experience applying for a teacher position: It's a mismatch of skills that (like being overqualified for a job) renders you as a potential flight risk from the job. People want to hire candidates who are best fit for the tasks they are to perform; who don't have to struggle to acquire the skills to perform the job well.
You may be trying to reach for something that you're really not ready for yet. However, all hope is not lost. Instead of pursuing a professor position, try being an adjunct (part-time) instructor first. This will enable you to practice teaching and help you to understand if you really want to do this in the first place. If you are able to maintain the position over a period of time, and learn the ins and outs of being an educator, you'll be much more qualified for professor positions in the future.
> 6 votes
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Tags: career-path, teaching, job-search, computer-science, tenure-track
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thread-11353
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/11353
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What is the best way to keep your students from getting out of control?
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2013-07-24T05:38:59.890
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# Question
Title: What is the best way to keep your students from getting out of control?
I am new to teaching. Recently I was given the opportunity to teach at my own university (I am currently doing an MPhil from my university). If a teacher fails to control his students once, he wouldn't be able to control them until the end of semester.
This is my first time in teaching and I am afraid that my students would get out of my control. They wouldn't listen to me, would misbehave and wouldn't let me give my lecture without interruption.
Please advise me the best way to keep my cool and prevent my students from getting out of control.
**EDIT:** I have not started teaching yet. I'll be starting my classes from next week.
**EDIT2:** The students are Bachelors students. I don't actually want to control them. I just want to maintain discipline in my class. I want to prevent misbehavior in my class. I have seen students not listening to new teachers and just pass the whole lecture passing comments.
# Answer
> 28 votes
First, realize that the main reason they might misbehave is the same as every one else, whether they are 4, 14, 24 or 94 years old: **they will be distracted if they are not interested**, bored. Conjectural factors surely also play a role (if it's nap time, for example), but if you get them interested you increase dramatically your chances of having a well-behaved audience.
Now, with regards to exercising your authority on a crow, the principles are again pretty much the same for 4 years old and 20 years old:
1. **Immediately assume a position of authority.** You have to be convinced that you naturally assume this authority before you go to the class. It derives from two factors:
a. By naming you a lecturer, your university gave you authority over the lecture room. Be ready, but not overly eager, to exercise it.
b. This authority also derives from your skills and knowledge: you are an authority on the topic you are lecturing. To maintain this, you have to be prepared to teach your topic.
2. **Be consistent.** Lay out a set of rules, explain them, and enforce them. They have to appear justified and reasonable to the students, so that you can enforce them if need be. **Always put things back in perspective**: why are we here, and how this justifies what I do.
To give an example: I always start by explaining that “I will not shout, because my voice doesn't allow me to go through the whole lecture shouting. Thus, if the noise level meets the point where I would need to shout, I will simply stop lecturing.” Standing there, silent, is a very effective way to lead the group to self-discipline (“hey, guys, shush!”). If necessary, I will remind them that even if I cover less material, the exam still covers the whole planned curriculum…
3. **Be pragmatic.** If things are going bad for some external circumstances, be prepared to make a justified exception to the rules, for the benefit of everyone. For example, if it's Friday afternoon and all students are exhausted from a week of exams, giving them 10 minutes off in the middle of a two-hour lecture might lead to overall improved productivity.
But most importantly, realize that **while first impression is important, it is not *“do or die”***. Even as an experienced teacher, sometime you will underperform a given day (because you're tired, because you're not committed enough to this specific topic, because …), but there is nothing you cannot correct later.
# Answer
> 23 votes
Well, as a high school teacher, I have a few tips that may be of help (and I will clarify that having taught undergraduates before, I found from experience that a lot of these still apply on a regular basis):
1. Set the groundrules from the first lesson, calmly lay out your expectations for effort, behaviour, homework etc, be sure these are consistent with the rules of the institution and most of all - stick to them.
2. Don't shout, it will turn into a shouting-contest that the teacher can not win and places too much 'power' (via attention) in the hands of any unruly students.
3. Be consistent in all that you do.
4. Remember - you are the professional, I have found that displaying knowledge that extends the curriculum gets the students engaged.
5. Be helpful, firm and fair - be friendly, but not a 'friend'.
6. Don't be afraid or ashamed of asking colleagues for help, or for them to sit in and critique a lesson. I am 14 years into teaching and I still do this.
7. Be aware that external issues may affect in class behaviour, this would be a reason not an excuse for any misbehaviour.
8. Enjoy the class, be enthusiastic in the subject, the class and the profession.
These are the ones that come to mind.
# Answer
> 15 votes
Just to point out one thing the other answerers (especially F'x, Damien and Nicholas) haven't mentioned, do **encourage and reward any *contructive* interruptions**, like asking questions about the subject you're covering or, even better, answering questions asked by other students, pointing out any mistakes you may have made or letting you know if the material you're presenting has already been covered in another class.
One of the best things that could possibly happen, as far as engaging your students to learn is concerned, is having a spontaneous on-topic discussion between students emerge in your class. If there's any chance of that happening, you definitely should encourage it, even if it's cutting into time you'd planned to spend talking about something else. You can always make up for the lost time later.
Of course, the size of the class matters here. In a class of 10 people, you can just let the discussion unfold naturally; in a class of 200, you're going to have to hand out turns for speaking and make sure you don't let a discussion between a small group of students drag out so long that others get bored. Just try to do it without sounding dismissive.
How is all this relevant to maintaining discipline in class? Well, the thing is that **the #1 cause of classroom misbehavior is boredom.** (The #2 cause is probably the mistaken belief that you *have* to misbehave in class to be "cool".)
On one hand, the more your students get to engage in the teaching process and to guide it towards things *they're* interested in, the less bored they will be. On the other, if your students *are* getting bored, **you'll want to know about it and find out *why* it's happening**: Are you going too slow or too fast? Do they find the material you're presenting irrelevant? Or are they just too tired and unable to concentrate? The best (if not the only) way to know that is to encourage your students to provide you with honest feedback whenever they have trouble following your lecture or find it uninteresting.
Another trick that may help is to tell your students up front that **attending classes is voluntary**, as long as they understand that anything they miss will still be on the exam. If they don't want to stay in the classroom, it's better that they leave than get bored and distract others. That way, you'll get rid of the students who are bored because they already know the subject, as well as, hopefully, some of those who just feel like they *have to* misbehave. (The latter group may flunk the exam, but that will at least hopefully teach them a lesson for the next time.)
(If you do this, it's a good idea to post a detailed lesson plan in advance, and maybe make your lecture notes / slides available, so that students who choose not to attend can check if they'll miss, or have missed, anything they didn't know already.)
You should also encourage your students to **come ask you after class if they feel like they're not keeping up** or if there's something they just don't get. Not only does that give you a chance to help them over their stumbling block and to keep up with the class, but it also provides you with useful feedback on your teaching. If you find a lot of students getting stuck on a specific critical issue, you may even want to announce a change in your lesson plan and use the next lecture to focus on that point until you're pretty sure everybody gets it. Just make sure to keep asking for feedback as you do it.
# Answer
> 6 votes
For university students, you could point out the obvious - that they are no longer at school, and things are done a little differently here. Classroom discipline is essentially an implicit pre-requisite, which should have been learned at school.
Primarily, they will be expected to behave as adults. This means showing **both** their lecturers **and** their fellow students the respect they deserve and pay silent attention to the lecturer.
In conjunction with expressing this view, I have seen the application of the policy that, if there is prolonged disruptive behaviour from any student or group of students, following N warnings, the lecturer will simply walk out of the class, return to his/her office and wait for a/the class representative to apologise on behalf of the class.
Getting the approval of your line manager of this policy is recommended before you follow it. Telling the students up front that this is how you will deal professionally with class disruption will give you the confidence to actually execute the policy, if needed. You will know that you have a plan in place, the students know that plan, you know you can follow through with your plan as required.
Peer pressure is your ally, here.
# Answer
> 6 votes
When I first began to teach, nothing I *said* would make the students behave. It was only when I *acted* did students start to behave. For your first semester of teaching, I recommend that you *strictly follow all the rules* your university has on disciplining students. This includes sending them to the office of student affairs, filing disciplinary cases, giving failing grades for an activity or for the whole course, and so on. It is important that your response be quick and consistent. Again, *you do not have to say anything,* you don't even have to warn them or remind them of the rules. Just implement the disciplinary measures quickly and consistently. Act as if it's no big deal to you, as if you've been doing it your entire life so many times that it has become second nature to you.
If you do this, trust me, you will have *absolutely no problems* with discipline during the next semester.
# Answer
> 5 votes
There are so many great answers here already but I do feel there is one important point which is not covered which needs to be. Before I get to my point, I will just say that being a good teacher requires you to get it all right, not just get most of it right. If you let one thing slip (like classroom management) your teaching can end up being extremely ineffective which will be reflected in the final grades of your students.
The point I want to add to all of the others already mentioned by others is to engage the students. I don't mean just making it interesting (that is also extremely important) but you should actually make the students do as much of the work as you can (read up on Active Learning). The more you can get the students actively working on the subject of the class, the less chance there will be, even for those who are quite advanced, to become bored (thus turning to their friends or their phone).
Group work is extremely helpful (perhaps the most helpful) but there are plenty of plenty of other ways to consider. The key point is to keep them actively focused on the class at hand so they will not focus on something else.
# Answer
> 2 votes
They will certainly not remain disciplined if you will give the impression of fear and confusion. Your revealed weakness (of mind) may give them negative impression that might make them courageous for misbehave etc.
So, first and above all, don't be fearful and increase your confidence level.
You should also check what possible disciplinary actions your university may allow to take against miscreant students. But definitely, it should be the last tool you may use.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Lots of great answers already but there are a few things I haven't seent that I think are important.
Establish **eye contact** with your students to engage them and show them that you are paying attention to them (and check if they're paying attention to you).
**Walk the room**, use the whole space. If you stay in front all the time, people think that can get away by sitting in the back and spending their time texting. You don't have to warn most of the time, just using the space helps to establish your authority.
If you think a student is starting to get bored and distracted from what you are saying, find a question pertaining to the topic and **call on them** to answer it.
**Use humor**. If I'm trying to start a class and some students won't stop talking to each other, I'll either just get into their conversation in front of the whole group and link it back to class somehow.
The only times I've had to do more serious discipline, it was mostly because someone had a real behavior problem (problems managing their anger, etc.) In those cases, most students will be glad that you will put the other in their place because they're likely to be disturbing the whole class.
Most schools I've taught at have new teacher workshops and there is always one about class management. I would look into it, it can't hurt!
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Tags: teaching
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thread-29465
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29465
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How would I cite multiple authors from an online forum?
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2014-10-06T03:09:04.560
|
# Question
Title: How would I cite multiple authors from an online forum?
How would I cite two authors from this online forum (http://www.thenation.com/article/one-thing-do-about-food-forum)?
The forum is edited by Alice Waters and my quotes come from Wendell Berry and Peter Singer.
In my paper, I include the in-text citation (example below)
> Singer mentions that "Etc etc etc" (qtd. in Waters, ed.)
Originally, the citation in my bibliography was ...
> "One Thing to Do About Food: A Forum." The Nation. Ed. Alice Waters. N.p., 11 Sept. 2006. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.
but is that actually correct? Do I have to instead reference them like ...
> Singer, P. "One Thing to Do About Food: A Forum." The Nation. Ed. Alice Waters. N.p., 11 Sept. 2006. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.
>
> Berry, W. "One Thing to Do About Food: A Forum." The Nation. Ed. Alice Waters. N.p., 11 Sept. 2006. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.
I'm not too sure how I would go about in this so any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
# Answer
> 2 votes
Starting with the principle that the goal of a citation is to make it as simple as possible for somebody to find the particular reference, I can see two ways to approach this publication:
1. Treat it like a journal special issue or chapters in a book, where there are multiple articles bundled together under one editorial title.
2. Treat it like a single multi-author article.
In this particular case that you have linked, it seems that none of the contributors have titles for their individual sections. That means that you can't readily separate out the individual contributions. I would thus recommend citing it as:
> Alice Waters, Jim Hightower, Eric Schlosser, \[etc\], "One Thing to Do About Food: A Forum." The Nation, 11 Sept. 2006. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.
Then you simply to who you are quoting in the main text like you are already doing. If they had individual article subtitles, you could do:
> Singer, P, "Singer's Article" in "One Thing to Do About Food: A Forum." ed. by Alice Waters, The Nation. 11 Sept. 2006. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.
Without the secondary titles, though, listing Alice Waters as editor makes it sound like she's the editor of The Nation not the forum.
\[Note: I think my style may be slightly off from your required format - the key point is the person/title pairings\]
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Tags: citations
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thread-28897
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28897
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Research plan without a specific goal?
|
2014-09-22T15:16:04.940
|
# Question
Title: Research plan without a specific goal?
In order to apply for studying abroad (writing my M.Sc. thesis) I need to write a research plan. However, I only know the approximate research field, e.g. "program analysis for concurrent software", but I was not assigned an actual topic or specific goal yet.
How am I supposed to write a research plan without knowing any more details? I'm completely inexperienced regarding such paperwork (never had to do it before), therefore I relied on templates and guides I found on the internet, but they all assume you already know a specific goal.
What am I supposed to write in this case? Is there some outline I can use as an orientation?
# Answer
I had an experience with along these lines from the other side recently, working with a student to write a plan for the research that he would be doing under me during a three-month visit. We had to be ultra-specific in order to meet visa requirements, but the project had a lot of uncertainties in it. In fact, however, the challenge of writing a specific research statement was quite useful for making sure we thought a bit more in advance and were able to get a fast start once my student arrived.
I would recommend getting in touch with the person that you are expected be working with abroad, and set up a time to talk (Skype, Gchat, whatever) about some more specific goals. Some good examples of starting points for a discussion:
* Are there particular types of analysis technique that are likely to be used?
* Are there particular pieces of software that are likely to be good test cases?
* What is the goal? Do you want to find security issues, bugs, inefficiencies, usability, portability, robustness, something else? Or are you just trying to exercise the scalability of the techniques?
* What are some intermediate checkpoints that you can use to know if you are making progress towards your thesis? What should be done in 1 month? 3 months? 6 months?
It's OK if the answers change while you're there. Everybody understands that research is research and that things may change. But going in with a concrete plan will help a lot in making good use of your time, in understanding whether something *has* changed, and if so what you want to do about it.
And if the potential supervisor abroad can't make time for a meeting with you? Then maybe you should rethink whether this would be the right place to go...
> 4 votes
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Tags: research-process, university, application
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thread-28793
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28793
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Is it possible for a conference not to be published?
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2014-09-20T12:32:41.053
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# Question
Title: Is it possible for a conference not to be published?
I was quoting a paper from the ICLR 13 and noticed that I could not find any information about the publishing of the conference. So far I have only seen proceedings which published the papers of the conference in a book entitled *'proceedings of the xth international conference ...'*
**Q: Is it possible for a conference not to be published, i.e. the papers can only be found online (or via a database, e.g. arXiv). Is this a common thing? Why?**
# Answer
The important distinction that you want to pay attention to here is whether the proceedings are **archival** or not. Fewer and fewer publications (conference or journal) are actually put onto dead trees: it's expensive and heavy and takes up lots of space in your office.
An archival publication is one whose proceedings are in the custody of an institution that guarantees their long-term preservation and availability. This can be anything from a traditional journal to a large society like IEEE or ACS to a database like arXiv or even a memo collection like the IETF RFCs. If it's archival, it's a "real" publication because it will be there if somebody goes looking for it in 20 years. Prestige of the venue is a completely orthogonal question...
Anything that is not archival is transient, and might vanish at any moment. This happens often with communities that don't have peer reviewed conferences (e.g., many biology communities). This is fine if the point of what you wrote was to have a ticket to give a presentation or to have a discussion. If it's not archived somewhere, though, it's not really a publication, because there is no persistent reference that can be followed.
> 2 votes
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Tags: publications, conference
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thread-27914
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27914
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Does filing a patent application require disclosure in the paper publication process?
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2014-09-02T09:51:11.980
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# Question
Title: Does filing a patent application require disclosure in the paper publication process?
Suppose a patent has been filed (or is in process of being filed) over the same research that is described in a paper.
Does filing a patent application require disclosure in the paper publication process?
If so, what would be the expected format of disclosure during the paper publication process, regarding the patent pending status?
# Answer
The answer to this depends on the state of the filing and the particulars of the publication venue.
* If you haven't filed anything yet, you definitely aren't required to disclose, and more than you are required to cite a paper that hasn't been submitted yet. After all, any number of things might prevent the filing from happening. Also, if you disclose before filing, it could screw up your patent.
* If you have filed, then it depends on whether the venue requires you to disclose a conflict of interest. For example, PLoS ONE is very picky about conflict disclosure, but most IEEE venues do not care. A patent filing (preliminary or full), is reasonable to treat as a conflict of interest.
If you're not sure, though, then the people handling your patent will almost certainly be willing to help you figure out the right way to handle it. In my experience, the IP offices of many institutions are very happy when researchers are actually willing to engage with them and will be very helpful to you.
> 3 votes
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Tags: publications, patents
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thread-29935
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29935
|
Could a Masters degree actually make someone a less employable candidate?
|
2014-10-14T02:51:33.923
|
# Question
Title: Could a Masters degree actually make someone a less employable candidate?
Let me preface by saying I'm studying Computer Science, so I don't know how well this applies to every field but this is what I have heard from. many Computer Science and Engineering majors.
I have heard that, when applying for jobs, a masters degree can be a sign of poor performance. That is, those with a masters in Computer Science are thought to be significantly poorer programmers than those with an undergraduate.
I am interested in getting a masters degree because I hope to one day transition into more analytical and research based positions, but if I get an MSc. could it hold me back? Would it be better to get some work experience, and then get my masters mid-career? I know that some employers may even pay for your graduate studies, but is this significantly better than the alternative in any sense?
# Answer
I would actually think it is precisely the opposite: generally, a computer science Masters requires a thesis, and that thesis usually involves writing a big chunk of functioning code of some sort. Accomplishing that indicates that person is capable of a accomplishing a large and complex task with minimal supervision. With an undergraduate degree, you don't necessarily know whether they've ever built a real program that wasn't handed to them as a pre-digested problem as part of their curriculum.
Now, if somebody was a giant company looking for "cannon fodder" programmers to grind out massive repetitive projects, maybe that could be a minus. Likewise, you have to pay people better when they've got a Masters, commensurate with their increase in skill, so if somebody is looking for low-quality coding work, a Masters could make a candidate overqualified. However, if you're thinking about eventually moving toward more research in your career, do you really want those sort of jobs?
I know for a fact, however, that the company group I'm in rarely even considers hiring people without at least a Masters. A number of others I know are similar: the more cutting-edge or research-oriented a company is, the more that they are likely to value that extra education.
> 9 votes
# Answer
No, the Master's will not hold you back. I received an MSc last year in Computer Science, and I no longer eat ramen unless I want to.
I'm not sure where the rumor began that Master's in CS makes you overqualified. In April, when I switched jobs, I was interviewed by four large companies looking specifically for people with Master's. In fact, I was one of only two candidates at one of the jobs, and the recruiter made it apparent to me that they were having difficulty finding people who had Master's degrees to fill these higher-education positions. Plenty of BS programmers, but not enough people with team capabilities.
A fact of life is that we may not learn everything in school. I didn't. That's okay! It's also true that some of the things you use at work will be covered in classes. For example, I learned how to use servlets in class. Six months down the road, I looked at some software we were using at my old job, and lo and behold, same technology. I ended up making some improvements to that software and even presented that information at a conference.
It's ultimately up to you whether you want to work a bit for experience before or after your Master's. I would say, looking back, the Master's prepared me much more for the real world than just the Bachelor's.
Master's Degrees, like most investments, are investments. Time and money are placed in, and a commodity is produced. In this case, the commodity may not be apparent, as you haven't received your MSc. You don't just learn `programming++` at a Master's level. You learn how to apply programming to research, or the real world, depending on your ultimate career path.
Here's a rough rundown of what each level is. Note that this is for COMPUTER SCIENCE. Other fields may differ drastically from this in what type of content is taught. For example, Physiology Masters are probably not going to be taught project management.
### Bachelor's Level
At the Bachelor's level, students traditionally start by learning the basic concepts of software development and theory. For example, machine language and compilers. Eventually, students get mastery of perhaps a single language. In my case, this was Java, so I'll use that as an example.
For Java, we learn a pretty decent amount of practical use for *grunt work* programming. Your bread and butter skills, for example. In the working world, we would probably label this Software Developer I. Entry-level. You can fill in, but so can a lot of other people. You'll have a hard time getting to show you're out of the pack at this level, because there's only so many ways to create a `for-loop` and "good enough" will usually do.
One of the things that's not focused at the Bachelor's level is working as part of a development team.
### Master's Level
At the Master's level, students have the opportunity to learn much more focused topics of study. Off the top of my head, here are some examples that would be reasonable continuing from a BS with little prior background.
* enterprise web and application development (building large self-supporting frameworks, industry)
* cryptography (cracking or developing encryption, practical both for industry and research)
* neural networks (pattern finding and analysis, mostly research at the moment)
* artificial intelligence (it's really tough to describe what this field is, even for me, but it's both industry and research at this point)
In addition, there are several parallel fields that you also have associated topics of study you can migrate to, for example Information Systems Engineering, or Bioinformatics.
Additionally, concepts are provided in preparation for a management role. The software development cycle, for example, is taught as one of our core courses, and shows us how we enter the design phase and work through to the development and testing phase. Whereas in college, classes were expected to complete one or two-week assignments, most of my graduate classes focused on delivering an entire product at the end of the semester.
Regardless of what you study, there is likely an industry or research institution that will be interested in what you learn. A fresh graduate would very easily qualify for a Software Developer II role, a mid-level developer.
Another major benefit of graduate level courses is the establishment of a *development team* as an entity. Whereas in undergrad most of our tasks are solo endeavors, by Master's we may have to collaborate with other people, or use other people's code. Code reuse is nice at this level, and so is working with people with different backgrounds. No longer are we in the universe where we can't copy people's code (we still have rules about that, like attribution, but now we can use APIs and libraries to simplify our lives!)
### Doctorate Level
As I am not a PhD, nor do I plan to get one, most of this is from familiarity rather than experience. Doctorates will, similar to a Master's dedicate most of their time to study a specific subset of computer science. My adviser in college studied neural networks, for example. Most doctorates gear towards research and/or teaching at this level. Much of it is based on theory and concept rather than software development at this point. Similar to how basic college calculus versus PhD math are on completely different levels.
### Possible Caveat to the PhD
I have heard of these rumors of higher education being a disadvantage. In my opinion, a PhD with no hands-on software development lead in the software development cycle is probably going to be a hard buy in industry that needs a software developer lead. That's hearsay for me as I haven't met any PhDs in CS outside of university, so take with a grain of salt.
### Software Developer Roles in the Industry
I mentioned software developer roles above, but only up to Level II. Traditionally, I have only seen levels go up to III, but at a recent interview for work, I met an SDIV. These roles can be roughly defined as brackets for years of experience.
* SD I: 0 to 2 years experience, likely to have a Bachelor's. Entry-level and most likely the bottom rung of programming and testing. May be tasked to work with an SD II for most work. (This used to be me.)
* SD II: 2 to 5 years experience, or *equivalent*, may have a Master's. Likely to work independently as part of an overall project (i.e. you get assigned a task, usually broad, such as "Implement a user interface to handle XYZ." This is me at the moment).
* SD III: 5 to 15 years experience, most likely have a Master's. Significant experience with the software development cycle. Likely to be a project manager or be assigned to a high-level development or testing team (i.e. in framework management). This would be someone like my Project Manager boss.
* SD IV: 15+ years experience. This person is well-qualified to be a project lead, or may lead multiple projects. This would be someone who is probably could teach a graduate class on the subject and not need to consult a book. You'll rarely encounter these people, since coding languages go out of phase or are brand new. Someone really has to have been an early adopter of the language to get this amount of experience.
> 4 votes
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Tags: masters, computer-science
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thread-27493
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27493
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How much time do professors have to do research on their own?
|
2014-08-21T23:55:21.020
|
# Question
Title: How much time do professors have to do research on their own?
As part of their job, professors have to take care of getting funding, prepare classes, advise students, fulfill administrative tasks and attend to various meetings/conferences.
How much time do professors have to carry out research on their own (i.e. excluding the above-mentioned tasks)?
I am especially interested in the field of computer science \> machine learning, in the US, in an averaged-size university.
I am mostly looking for studies that try to quantify how much time professors have to carry out research on their own.
# Answer
I found this small-scale, not randomly-sampled survey from Boise State University:
Warning:
> All charts below are from TAWKS Phase 1 Stats, initial survey of 30 higher ed faculty from Boise State University. While findings are highly suggestive, they do not represent a random sample.
Answer to question:
> Only 17 percent of the workweek was focused on research and 27 percent of weekend time.
Graphs:
> 34 votes
# Answer
The answer is going to vary greatly depending on whether the professor is in a tenure track, has already obtained tenure or is in a contingent/adjunct position.
Besides these issues of rank, it also matters a great deal what kind of university/college we are talking about. If you're a tenure-track professor in the so-called "R1" institution, you will surely be spending significantly more time doing research than a non-tenure, contingent adjunct at a community college.
The size of the university generally matters much less than individual and university rank.
On top of all that, it often comes down to the individual professors' interests and ways they conceive of their career.
> 11 votes
# Answer
The National Center for Education Statistics in the United States surveys faculty of post-secondary institutions (see the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty page for information on methodology). The most recently available data is from their 2004 survey, with 26,110 respondents across the United States.
The NCES allows you to create custom tables from this dataset using the PowerStats tool on their website. (You have to create an account to use the tool.) This is a valuable tool if you're interested in exploring these and other statistics.
As per user20959's answer, time spent on research varies quite a lot by academic rank:
and by institution type:
> 6 votes
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Tags: university, professorship, united-states, working-time, reference-request
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thread-29640
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29640
|
Do tenured professors work less or more than non-trenured professors?
|
2014-10-09T02:15:02.653
|
# Question
Title: Do tenured professors work less or more than non-trenured professors?
Is there any research/study/survey/... that looked at how much time tenured professors work in comparison with non-trenured professors?
I am especially interested in the field of computer science (machine learning) in the US.
So far I have only found a small-scale study (survey of 30 professors from the same university):
I'm looking for some more exhaustive surveys.
# Answer
> 9 votes
The National Center for Education Statistics in the United States surveys faculty of post-secondary institutions (see the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty page for information on methodology). The most recently available data is from their 2004 survey, with 26,110 respondents across the United States.
According to this survey, tenured faculty worked 53.3 hours a week on average, and tenure-track untenured faculty worked 53.7 hours a week:
The NCES allows you to create custom tables from this dataset using the PowerStats tool on their website. (You have to create an account to use the tool.) This is a valuable tool if you're interested in exploring these and other statistics.
For example, here's the same data broken down by rank, with the percentiles for average hours worked per week:
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Tags: tenure-track, working-time, reference-request
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thread-29932
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29932
|
Does taking graduate course as an undergraduate increase chances of getting into graduate school?
|
2014-10-14T02:21:21.023
|
# Question
Title: Does taking graduate course as an undergraduate increase chances of getting into graduate school?
I would like to know does it help if I take a graduate course related to my major in engineering as an undergraduate and do very well in it? will it increase my chance of getting to graduate school in case if graduate school committee sees the graduate course in my transcript?
# Answer
Yes, I think most admissions committees would see this as good evidence of your preparation for graduate study.
> 3 votes
# Answer
There are two specific reasons why it will help:
1. It shows that you can work at a high level;
2. If the course is in the area where you are applying to study, it shows that you have investigated that specific area and have some level of commitment to it.
*However*, in my experience the graduate level course *may not* compensate for poor or patchy performance on the undergraduate programme that you're *meant* to be completing at the time (not saying that this is the case, but I've seen some try). Some recruiters see patchy UG performance with additional courses that you didn't need to take as an indication that you can't focus on the most important, immediate task. In either case, I'd expect detailed questions on why you took additional graduate courses, and how you balanced your workload, at interview.
> 3 votes
# Answer
It really depends on the student and the graduate course(s). Consider two students.
Graduate courses are unlikely to help a student with a strong academic record and a near perfect GPA, but no previous research experience and recommendation letters that only speak about classroom abilities. There will be little doubt from the admissions committee about the ability of this student to learn advanced concepts and the weakness of the application is the limited evidence to evaluate research potential.
Graduate courses may help an applicant with a good record of relevant research experience and recommendation letters that focus on the research, but a weak academic record. The weak part of this type of applicant is fear over the ability to learn advanced concepts. The ability of a graduate course to sway the decision of the admissions committee will depend on both the grade and the content of the course. Anything less than a B in a graduate course is likely a disaster and it may take an A to sway an admissions committee. Similarly, taking a course that is unrelated to your research interests or is viewed as a "soft" topic will likely decrease the value of the course.
> 1 votes
# Answer
I would say overall, yes.
My school offers what's called a "project course" and it's intended to get senior students aiming for their masters experience with research and writing a thesis. You speak to a professor in your faculty who's research revolves around a topic that interests you and you will write an honours thesis related to that under their supervision throughout the year. I study Computer Science, so my project courses also contained an application aspect. If I want to get into grad school, they will see that I have built a large program, written a thesis, and worked under the supervision of a professor at my institution. All desirable traits in a grad student.
It is very, very common for students who take these courses to get their position as a masters student under the same professor the very next year. Definitely something an academic advisor will recommend you do.
> 0 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, coursework
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thread-29892
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29892
|
Is it right to ignore publications coming from non-top publishers?
|
2014-10-13T12:18:53.993
|
# Question
Title: Is it right to ignore publications coming from non-top publishers?
When I look into a specific problem over Google Scholar and simple Google Search, I find many related publications from publishers other than IEEE, ACM, Elsevier, Springer etc.
Usually the authors come from Indian, Chinese, Arabic institutions. My initial instinct is to ignore them, however I always feel as if there might be something important.
What is the right thing to do in such cases?
# Answer
> 31 votes
There are a lot of good publications in the world that are not published by mega-publishers. Some of them you've never heard of because they are regional or specific to certain subfields, but are still very good. It's also often difficult for people from certain countries to publish in mainstream conference venues due to visa issues. For example, IEEE and ACM usually require at least one author to be present in person, and that may simply be impossible for, say, a group of Iranian authors and a conference being held in the U.S. Likewise, the cost of travel is often prohibitive for authors from the developing world.
That said, there's also a lot of junk publications in junk venues, and even something like the IEEE stamp doesn't mean you're reading a real paper.
So how should you evaluate a paper in a dubious venue? Just like you would any other paper:
* Is it on target with what you are looking for?
* Are the results significant?
* Is the data credible?
* Is it part of a network of related papers building toward the presented result?
Publications in dubious venues are just much more likely to fail these tests.
# Answer
> 11 votes
Google has recently done an analysis of citation trends, and found that citations to "less" prestigious journals are actually increasing:
Rise of the Rest: The Growing Impact of Non-Elite Journals
An extract from the above study:
*"... now that finding and reading relevant articles in non-elite journals is about as easy as finding and reading articles in elite journals, researchers are increasingly building on and citing work published everywhere. Considering citations to all articles, the percentage of citations to articles in non-elite journals went from 27% in 1995 to 47% in 2013. Six out of nine broad areas had at least 50% of citations going to articles published in non-elite journals in 2013."*
Additionally, in my personal experience (15+ years of computer science research), I've found that the breadth of ideas is considerably enhanced if one makes some effort to go beyond the so-called "top" journals, while still staying aware of publications in "top" journals.
A lot of the elite-type publications can be quite political, in the sense that stuff won't get published in them (ie. get past the reviewers) unless it follows the fashionable-approach-of-the-day and cites the "right" papers. This can lead to a reduction of new ideas and/or only incremental improvements of existing methods.
As a consequence, some of the less "prestigious" journals can in fact be a breath of fresh air, where some of the more risky, newer, and/or alternative methods are explored.
# Answer
> 7 votes
Back in the old days before online publication and widespread indexing of journal articles, readers depended on journal publishers to curate the research papers and select the best papers for publication. Now, there are many more places to publish, and the number of papers being published has grown dramatically. More so than in the past, good papers are published in obscure journals and bad papers are sometimes published in prestigious journals.
In evaluating the quality of a paper, you're largely on your own. However, one thing that you can do now that you couldn't easily do in the past is to check how many other authors have cited the paper that you're looking at. If the paper that you're looking at is widely cited by other authors (and the citations are not negative ones), then there's a good chance that the paper is reasonably trustworthy.
# Answer
> 6 votes
You should have a basic workflow for assessing the merit of a resource. If it's from an unknown journal or seems a bit dodgy, I would do a quick scan of the abstract, introduction, methods and conclusion (if they don't exist then there's a red flag). Also, what resources are listed in the references/bibliography? If they are all low-quality (the MSM, other unknown journals, Wikipedia) then I'd quickly move on.
*But*, if the writing is clear, the research aim, hypotheses/questions, analysis and findings appear credible, there are good quality references cited, *and* it is relevant to the research you are doing---always ask 'how is this relevant to my question?'---then I'd read deeper and errr... Google the author to find out a bit more about him/her and the institution to which s/he belongs.
As you get further into your reading and your field you will be able to assess the quality of the resource quickly.
# Answer
> 3 votes
At this point, for almost any field worth doing research in there is just *too much literature* for anyone, even an expert, to keep up with. In the field that I work in on the order of 100 papers are published a week - I could literally read all day and still not be caught up.
Instead of this, I have found much more use in following particular groups whose work I have found useful in the past (some outside of the US/Europe axis). So, if one of these (approximately 100) groups publishes a paper in a non-major journal, I am more apt to read it. Along with this, I *don't* read everything in the major journals of the field, either. This might help if you don't want to completely ignore non-major publishers but also don't want to spend your whole life reading.
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Tags: publications, research-process, literature-search, disreputable-publishers
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thread-29949
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29949
|
Copying the format of a past journal article as a model
|
2014-10-14T11:21:55.613
|
# Question
Title: Copying the format of a past journal article as a model
Is it right to copy the format of past journal articles in one's research as an upcoming researcher?
To give an example assuming there is a research article on *"the dynamics of informal urbanism in Asia - the case of Indian cities."* Can I pick up the same reasoning, albeit slightly, and apply it to, say, *"the dynamics of informal urbanism in Africa - the case of Kenya"*?
Will that be acceptable?
# Answer
It can be done in an acceptable way. I would frame such an article as a replication: This is what XX and YY found in India. This is what I know about Kenya. So this is how I expect the findings to be different (or the same) in Kenya. Now lets look.
Beware of plagiarism though. Your article will be close to the original, so make sure you don't (unconciously) copy phrases, and cite **every time** you use ideas from the original article.
> 8 votes
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Tags: research-process, plagiarism
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thread-29955
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29955
|
Is it wise to do teaching-assistantship in a university I am not studying in?
|
2014-10-14T13:09:46.427
|
# Question
Title: Is it wise to do teaching-assistantship in a university I am not studying in?
The universities from which I earned my BSc. and MSc. degrees are not the same. Last week, a professor who knows me from my BSc. university called me and asked me to accept his teaching assistantship for one of his MSc. courses.
Despite probably receiving a letter of recommendation from him for my PhD applications;
* What would be benefits of accepting such proposal?
* Is it wise to do teaching-assistant in a university I am not studying in?
# Answer
Benefits:
* You keep your contacts with the academic environment, that may be useful applying for a PhD.
* Some professors will know you, and this that may help you get a position (depending on how it is done in your country).
* You gain teaching experience.
Drawbacks:
* TA salaries are usually quite low. Depending on your background, you may be loosing money. The working conditions may also not be so good.
* You are not getting other kind of experience, that would be useful for any non-teaching job.
On a side note, it may look weird on your CV being a TA while not enrolled. This is not necessarily bad, but be prepared to be questioned about it in interviews.
> 2 votes
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Tags: teaching-assistant
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thread-29957
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29957
|
Capitalization of "Subsection"
|
2014-10-14T14:20:41.673
|
# Question
Title: Capitalization of "Subsection"
I write a mathematical paper. Do you capitalize "subsection" when you refer to a specific subsection? For example, I would write:
```
"In Subsection 3 we show ..."
```
But I would write:
```
"In the previous subsection we showed that ..."
```
What is the consensus on that issue?
# Answer
You've got it right. Think of it like proper nouns vs. pronouns. Compare:
> Mr. Jones told me about types of stars; then he explained how they burn hydrogen.
and
> Subsection 3 explains about types of stars; the next subsection explains how they burn hydrogen.
> 0 votes
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Tags: writing, grammar
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thread-15288
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15288
|
Is it possible to be admitted to a Master's program after not completing Bachelor's degree due to academic dishonesty?
|
2014-01-02T08:18:09.107
|
# Question
Title: Is it possible to be admitted to a Master's program after not completing Bachelor's degree due to academic dishonesty?
Is it possible to get admission to a master's program in economics without finishing up your undergrad?
I have completed 105 credits so far for my BA Honours in economics and math degree, and still need 15 credits to graduate (120 required for graduation). However, a case of academic dishonesty could lead to my suspension from my current university. I know that I made a mistake at such a crucial time in my undergrad, but I can only learn from it.
The problem also I'm having is that some universities will not even consider my application as result of academic dishonesty. Apart from this my application is quite strong in terms of doing well in economics courses, strong letter of recommendations, and GRE score..
I have already published an economics paper in an undergraduate journal and feel as if there isn't anything to learn about economics from my university.
I can study economics independently and work to get "food on the table" and have some real-world experience under my belt before embarking on a journey as an intellectual.
# Answer
> 10 votes
I don't think there's much room for optimism. Offers of graduate admission are generally preconditioned on actually completing the previous degree. Moreover, having your previous degree candidacy terminated on account of academic dishonesty will make you "radioactive"; very few graduate schools are going to want to bring in someone who got suspended for plagiarism or cheating. (Given that the entire research enterprise hinges on being able to trust reported results, why would a school want to take a chance on someone who has already clearly violated those principles?)
\[More generally, however: I do know of an economics professor whose PhD is in fact his only degree; however, the circumstances behind that are so unusual that they're unlikely to be replicated any time soon. (Basically, he followed a professor from Germany to the US while he was still an undergraduate in the days when the *Diplom* system was in full force.)\]
# Answer
> 6 votes
Simply put, there is a small chance you could get into an MA program without a BA, and there is a small chance you could get into an MA program with the stigma of academic dishonesty on your record, but there is virtually no chance of getting into an MA program when you have no BA *because* of academic dishonesty.
I would recommend you do what you can to make amends and get the BA. If you can say that you were suspended due to academic dishonesty but turned over a new leaf, persevered and finished the degree, then you have somewhere to start from. But if schools get the impression that you were kicked out for cheating and never bothered to go back and fix that, it will be a huge red flag that will make it nearly impossible for you to be accepted in good faith. (You could still get accepted by lying or hiding your past, but you admirably mentioned in the comments that that's not what you want to do.)
# Answer
> 4 votes
As others have said, no. What credibility do you think you have for your other good grades when you admit you cheated? It's entirely possible that you cheated other times as well and were simply more clever about it.
Moreover, most low-tier universities don't suspend students for cheating if it's the first offence. You get a zero in the course and move on to take it again or take another comparable course. The fact that suspension is on the table likely means that you cheated before.
# Answer
> 1 votes
My best advice would be to take a time off and go back to complete your undergrad. Even if this is going to cost you time and money, it will pay off at the end. You might want to also consider a transfer into another institution who is willing to accept you in, with the credits you've already earned in your current institution. I personally don't know any "accredited institution of higher education" who doesn't require a Bachelor degree,especially in these days of higher and tougher competition. Furthermore, most graduates institution will ask a Bachelor, GRE, etc.... as part of the routine application process.
# Answer
> 0 votes
I don't think this is really worth an answer but I have low reps and I can't comment yet.
Theoretically -- if you get an offer now, some schools (I did my PhD at a top-tier institution in the US) will not bother to check that you have a bachelor's degree; mine certainly didn't. You might even get away with it, if no one bothers to check your bachelor's degree (admittedly not very important if you become a full-fledged academic).
Realistically -- what you are asking is quite impossible, especially because you have committed an act of academic dishonesty. If someone finds out (and chances are good that they will find out, since academics like to chat and gossip at conferences), you could have your admission offer revoked, or even your degree revoked.
Besides, your situation is somewhat unrelated to your question. Most institutions will ask for transcripts from ALL universities that you have attended, whether you received a degree from them or not.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, degree, cheating
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thread-29951
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29951
|
Who owns the intellectual property for work you do on weekends?
|
2014-10-14T12:26:10.080
|
# Question
Title: Who owns the intellectual property for work you do on weekends?
I am an academic at a UK university and have been asked to do some consultancy work for a company who wants to own all the IP for that work. I would only do this work on the weekends. Would my university have some claim over this IP? My university's written rules only say that the ownership of all inventions will be determined by Section 39 of the Patents Act 1977. This, on the face of it, seems to suggest they wouldn't have any rights over the IP.
I am reluctant to ask my university until I am clear what the right answer is as their initial reaction to all enquiries is just to say no.
Section 39 Patents Act 1977
> (1) Notwithstanding anything in any rule of law, an invention made by an employee shall, as between him and his employer, be taken to belong to his employer for the purposes of this Act and all other purposes if—
>
> (a) it was made in the course of the normal duties of the employee or in the course of duties falling outside his normal duties, but specifically assigned to him, and the circumstances in either case were such that an invention might reasonably be expected to result from the carrying out of his duties; or
>
> (b) the invention was made in the course of the duties of the employee and, at the time of making the invention, because of the nature of his duties and the particular responsibilities arising from the nature of his duties he had a special obligation to further the interests of the employer’s undertaking.
>
> (2) Any other invention made by an employee shall, as between him and his employer, be taken for those purposes to belong to the employee.
>
> (3) Where by virtue of this section an invention belongs, as between him and his employer, to an employee, nothing done—
>
> (a) by or on behalf of the employee or any person claiming under him for the purposes of pursuing an application for a patent, or
>
> (b) by any person for the purpose of performing or working the invention,
>
> shall be taken to infringe any copyright or design right to which, as between him and his employer, his employer is entitled in any model or document relating to the invention.
# Answer
While it is right that it would be helpful for you to pay, what ought to be a modest sum, to an intellectual property lawyer to check that what you are doing is OK (and hence rely on their indemnity insurance) for reasons that will become clear, hopefully I can say something useful here.
Patent law is UK wide, even though the UK is divided into distinct jurisdictions for most purposes. Other aspects of law are different, eg Scots and English contract law differ on a number of points. I suspect that the differences between the various systems aren't relevant to your problem, but when seeking a lawyer it makes sense to talk to someone from your part of the UK (for these purposes: Scotland, England and Wales, and Northern Ireland, are the 3 relevant jurisdictions).
Some UK IP law, for example copyright law, makes the employer the first owner of the IP if it is created by an employee in the course of their employment. The 1977 Act differs from this by creating two possible situations: (1)(a) and (1)(b) above.
39(1)(a) asks three questions: \- is what you are doing a part of your "duties" under your employment contract? \- are they either your "normal duties" or duties "specifically assigned" to you? \- would an invention reasonably be expected to result from carrying out those duties?
These questions mean what they say. Could what you are planning to do in the weekend be fairly said to fall within your duties as an employee? If yes, you need to think very carefully about the other two questions, if no, then they will not fall within s39(1)(a). To answer *that* first question is something that will depend on what your duties are (for which we would have to examine your written contract of employment or statement of terms of employment and also what you actually do) and also what it is you are proposing to do.
And that is exactly something that you should be talking to a lawyer about, rather than asking here, because it may require a delicate and careful examination of the facts.
s39(1)(b) applies to people with a special obligation to further their employer's interests. In commercial companies this would be likely to include members of the board of directors. For a university it would depend very much on the nature of the post (see above).
Universities in the UK can have very strange contractual arrangements. I worked for a university at one time which permitted me to do paid contract work during my "working hours" (which were not enforced). That may have been unusual but should demonstrate why nothing should be assumed and why it is sensible to talk to a lawyer about it.
Hopefully those remarks will help you take advantage of legal advice more efficiently.
> 9 votes
# Answer
To broaden Bill Barth's answer a bit: you *definitely* need to get an lawyer involved. You also should make certain that there is date-stamped written communication ensuring that your university's legal/IP staff are aware as well. This may seem like a pain and may make it harder to get started on anything, but it's much better to get any possible conflicts identified and sorted out now, rather than to find yourself in the middle of a complex and lengthy lawsuit later.
I don't know about the UK, but suspect it to be similarly heterogeneous to the US, where there is an exceedingly large range of differences in the IP rights given in employment agreements at research institutions, both within academia and outside of it. Some places are very liberal and basically claim nothing that's not "in the direct line of your duties." Others claim even your dreams and the photos you take at your kids' birthday party (not exaggerating!). In all cases, however, there is often a wide grey area between *de jure* and *de facto* policy, and it's important to get an agreement and understanding written down before you give IP to any second organization.
> 27 votes
# Answer
You need to spend a few hundred pounds with a UK IP attorney/solicitor getting some advice about the law in your country. If the weekend contract has any value to it at all, it will be worth finding out from someone who knows the law.
> 13 votes
# Answer
More important than the laws surrounding general IP in your country is the contract you signed with your employer.
The contract must detail exactly what work is to belong to the company. The contract probably specifies a body of work and a timeframe. For example,
```
The company shall own all works by the employee related to Tree Bullfrogs created from April 1, 2000 to April 1, 2001.
```
Alternatively,
```
The company shall own all rights to all works produced during normal business hours.
```
Most of time the contract will be designed by professionals to supercede general IP laws your country has. However, no contract can give a company to all things you create on your own time, unless specifically agreed upon.
In conclusion, *read your contract.* Depending on the stakes involved it could make sense to hire a lawyer, but he will also be more concerned with the contract.
> 3 votes
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Tags: intellectual-property, united-kingdom, legal-issues
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thread-29804
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29804
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What to do about top students making other students lose confidence?
|
2014-10-11T22:13:47.177
|
# Question
Title: What to do about top students making other students lose confidence?
About once a year, I end up with a section with a student who is well ahead of others in the course. Often, these are students auditing the course, but sometimes are senior students attending 100-level courses or students majoring in the subject attending a course for non-majors in a made-simpler-for-non-majors course.
Such students are often eager to learn, quick to volunteer to come to the board or volunteer their work for peers to check (e.g. in a writing course), active in discussions, and they tend to take charge of group work. This does not seem like behavior I should discourage. Yet, in such sections, I notice significantly reduced confidence, participation, and engagement among other students, who seem uncomfortable with having a strong student constantly outdo them. Other sections tend to have active lessons, with many students eager to volunteer or join in a discussion, but in these sections, the class atmosphere is quiet and I'm reduced to calling on names and getting unwilling participants to carry the course along.
What can I do to turn this situation around?
# Answer
When I was a TA, I always found these types of students the most difficult to handle. You don't want to crush their enthusiasm, but you also don't want to let them dominate and make it harder for other students to learn. It's also important to remember that just being way out ahead of other students doesn't cause this phenomenon: you're dealing with somebody who is both ahead and feels a need either to show off or to receive affirmation from you the instructor.
Some tactics that I found effective were:
1. Establishing clear ground rules that people had to raise their hands to be acknowledged, rather than just shouting out. Then you need to become comfortable waiting long enough for other students to raise their hands too.
2. Saying things like "Everybody needs a chance to learn, so I'm going to make sure that we get some folks up to the board who haven't been there very often."
3. Rather than asking for volunteers, actively calling on students who have been silent. It's embarrassing for them, but if you do it kindly and make it into a guided learning experience at the board rather than a test of their abilities, it can be a very good thing.
4. Privately discussing with the enthusiastic student, something like: "I'm very pleased at how well you're mastering the material, and I need to make sure other students have a chance to have the same learning opportunities, so I'm going to call on you less often."
5. Giving "extra credit" work that the enthusiastic student can be working on to occupy themselves.
In all cases, what you want to emphasize is the importance of active learning by participation, and how it's important for all students to have those opportunities.
Addendum: I was talking about this with my wife and she told me about a tactic that she uses that I think is another excellent addition to the toolkit:
6. Divide the class up into rough geographic zones and call on zones round robin, e.g. "Left side answered the last question. Let's get an answer from the middle now."
> 66 votes
# Answer
I'll offer two ideas; perhaps you can use them both:
---
One thing you can do is augment your class with on-line discussions, as a form of blended learning.
One advantage of asynchronous on-line discussions is that it's not as easy for one person to dominate the conversation. Also, if everyone is required to contribute to the discussion, no one can sit back and let the guru do the heavy lifting for them.
If your class is too big for all the students to answer the same question, the class can be put into groups, and each group can have their own shot at analyzing and answering the question.
---
During class time, when I've had a "resident expert" answering a lot of my in-class discussion questions, I've often let that person answer a question or two at the beginning. If they try to keep answering questions, though, I'll sometimes say something along the lines of, "Wait, you've had a turn; we need to get some of your classmates into the discussion now, too." Said in a friendly, pleasant and encouraging tone, it hasn't seemed to alienate the smart guy, and other students pick up on the cue that it's time for them to get involved.
I've also had some after-class discussions with these hard-chargers, to let them know I appreciate their enthusiasm, but it's best for everyone if they don't overdo it. That's usually been well-received.
> 16 votes
# Answer
I remember *being* that smartarse, and yes, they can be looking for approval or to show off but it depends.
If they're first year undergrads near the start of the year they may not be generally good at a lot of things outside the course, it can be a case of "Finally! finally something I can understand and really be good at." And they may be revelling in that unique experience. I wouldn't be too tough on that.
Further into the course if they're far ahead I'd suggest giving them something tougher to think about. They've read through all the sections you're covering in their own time, they're listening attentively but they're thinking about how it links up to something 3 chapters ahead. This is not going to help the other members of the class when that person asks questions that leave them lost.
My suggestion: Quietly give them something tough to chew on. Really tough. They're probably completing the assignments with ease, give them a challenge. It doesn't have to get them marks. If they're looking for approval or confirmation that they know what they're doing that will give it to them and it has the advantage that it keeps them advancing. If they're putting off other students actually talk to them quietly after class and tell them something similar to what you just said in this stackoverflow question and ask them to consciously avoid things which intimidate other students. They're not babies, they can understand.
Hell, give them a job tutoring undergrads in lower years.
> 12 votes
# Answer
Ideally, such a student wouldn't be in your course, they would be in an honors section or a senior/graduate level course that meets the requirements they are attempting to fulfil with your course while still being challenged. If you have an opportunity to identify such a student before the end of the add/drop period, you may recommend they make a change, or work with their advisor to give them an honors section while limiting their participation (so that others can contribute). I did such an honors course while sitting in on stadium hall sized lectures in my first year physics course at FSU, and my extra work consisted mostly of writing an on-topic paper graded by the same professor.
If it is too late for them to switch to a more challenging course, there's not much you can do, except to act fairly towards all of the students. You'll need to work harder at getting the others to participate. You could also give this student the attention they need outside of lectures, perhaps suggest to show up for your office hours, or speak to them before or after class.
Perhaps you could give the class, as an optional assignment, an opportunity to do a minor literature review of seminal works in the field, and you might communicate to your special student your expectations that they would want to do this. However, you can't force the student to do the optional assignment. But another possible upside for the optional assignment is that some of the others might surprise you with their self-motivation and thus build more confidence in their own abilities.
> 11 votes
# Answer
I was Adjunct Lecturer for some time in a technical field/institution and yes, I came across such type of students and situations.
What I've found out was that not strong students were feared to answer because they **maybe** say something "stupid" or "wrong" or anything that could be accompanied by a synonym of the previous adjectives. And, just by "luck", in such classes there always was a really good student who always knew the right answer
What I did to overcome such situations was to organize the lecture or the lab in order to actually looking for **wrong answers** in order to, on one hand, prove my point, and in other, motivate and make students to think about why I actually saying what I was saying in the lecture, i.e. what problem was solved with what they were going to learn in the lecture. So, if I was to point out the problem then I needed the problem and the problem was found in the wrong answers.
Thus, if the good student yield out the correct answer I accepted it. Actually, I was saying that this was the correct answer. But, just afterwards I asked "Although that this is correct, why is correct? What someone else would do? Why is wrong something else?" and trying to take answers from students that were not active in the lecture/lab. If the non-active students were not saying anything, then I asked "Why you do not say just what it comes to your mind", which most probably followed by "Because I do not want to say anything wrong". Such answer gave me the opportunity to "change the game" by pointing out really hard that "**everyone is born without knowing and there are not wrong/stupid/etc answers from people that learning**". When (finally) I got my wrong answer, I tried to: a) justify the student that gave that answer (because was a common answer, or an answer that was first came to mind), and b) start revealing the flaws of the wrong approach (and provide the path to the correct answer) with consecutive simple questions.
Although that such a strategy may took away some valuable time from a lecture, dialogs like the above were only held once or twice in the semester. Afterwards, most people were active and the good students were trying to actually go "deeper" in the problem than before. But, because "going deeper" required to find out what were the wrong approaches their "learning difference" from other students was diminished. This diminishing was happening because good students were actually waiting to listen my counter argument in the not-so-correct answers of their colleagues. By doing so (i.e. waiting for my counter argument), they do not yield out correct answers, they do not discouraging their colleagues and they learned to think one step ahead.
> 8 votes
# Answer
Students learn in different ways. Some like to talk out an explanation or answer and others like to reflectively think through their understanding. Sharing in a class of your peers (people who you want to think positively about you) can be difficult for many students, especially in a class larger than 20. One approach that has been documented as helpful for many students (and I use it as a staple approach) is the Think/Pair/Share structure. Ask the question, then have students write down **on paper** their ideas/thoughts/explanations. After a quiet minute, invite them to turn to someone nearby and together construct a stronger answer. After the students talk in pairs for 2-3 minutes, invite a couple of pairs to share their collective answer with the whole class. This is a structure with increasing risk (share with self, share with one other, then pair shares with whole class). I have found that after I carefully require the structure (e.g. keep everyone quiet during the reflective minute) several times, the students can execute the structure well and more students participate. I also am careful to explain why I want to use this structure often, rather than open questioning.
> 3 votes
# Answer
I think that the biggest detriment to isolating or adopting teaching policies that ostracize the enthusiastic student is that it demonstrates to the quieter students that enthusiasm is discouraged. The best case scenario is that instead of quieting down the top performer, is to discover additional top performers. That way, it's not just one or two very enthusiastic students, but a whole majority. That way, it becomes easier to single out quieter students and approach them outside of class.
From my own experience, I was in awe of a classmate who knew the course and the text very well. It made me look at my study habits and try new ones. I figure, if he wasn't as active, or if he kept his abilities to himself, I would have been less enthusiastic with my studies.
And, as a matter of definition or etymology the definition of student (technically study, however the definition of student refers to the definition of study) is
> early 12c., "to strive toward, devote oneself to, cultivate" (translating Latin \>occupatur), from Old French estudiier "to study, apply oneself, **show zeal for**; examine" (13c., Modern French étudier), from Medieval Latin studiare, from Latin studium "study, application," originally "**eagerness**," from studere "**to be diligent**" ("to be pressing forward"), from PIE \*(s)teu- (1) "to push, stick, knock, beat" (see steep (adj.)).
>
> Martha swanc and becarcade to geforðigene þan Hælende and his þeowen þa lichamlice behefðen. Seo studdede emb þa uterlice þing. \[Homily for the Feast of the Virgin Mary, c.1125\]
>
> From c.1300 as "**apply oneself to the acquisition of learning**, pursue a formal course of study," also "read a book or writings intently or meditatively." From mid-14c. as "reflect, muse, think, ponder." Meaning "regard attentively" is from 1660s.
(All bold is emphasis on my part)
http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=study
> 2 votes
# Answer
I am not an educator, so please take these suggestions with a grain of salt:
I think existing answers are off the mark, as they're focusing on altering the environment in a very artificial way for the quieter students. College is about learning life skills (not just academic ones) that will allow students to thrive in the real world, and they will need to deal with groups/teams of varying skill levels eventually. Meanwhile, existing answers all focus on punishing (in some way) the most successful students.
Instead I would focus on the root problem. There will always be someone better than us, and someone worse than us. We should see the latter as an opportunity to help another while taking pride in our own skills, and we should see the former as an opportunity to challenge ourselves against a superior opponent, all within a safe and comfortable atmosphere. Look for ways to encourage this sort of approach in the quieter students.
Specific suggestions:
* Perhaps you could do more group work, pairing stronger students with weaker ones so that the former can help the latter. Perhaps even formalize it with a 'peer mentoring' program.
* Observe interactions and insure stronger students are getting and using the opportunity to increase their own confidence by helping struggling peers, not by overpowering them.
* Give all experts the experience of failing safely, even yourself. Creating an accepting environment for mistakes can help reduce the fear of making them; the classroom should accept excellence as well as those at a lower standing, without it impacting their valuation of self.
* If you have the time, find specific skills that the weaker students are strong in, then give them the chance to shine in front of the class; use this to build confidence; consider making a point that everyone is strong in some areas and weak in others, a valuable life lesson.
* As an extension of the former, and alternative to the first, find pairings that allow each student to use their strengths to shore up the weaknesses of the other, and assign group work based on those pairings allowing both to shine.
> 1 votes
# Answer
College students realize that there will always be someone more knowledgeable out there. They know there are going to be people that are majors, retakers, old serious adults, or students with genius parents. If you want to get your other students to participate then just randomly call on people whether they raise their hands or not. Tell them to pick group leaders by rock paper scissors.
> -3 votes
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Tags: teaching, motivation
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thread-20667
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20667
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Name misspelled in first publication
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2014-05-12T04:08:54.047
|
# Question
Title: Name misspelled in first publication
I am an undergraduate student starting my second year. Last semester, I took part in a research project and earned co-authorship of their paper, which got recently published.
However, when adding names from our anonymous submission to the camera-ready version, the primary author misspelled my first name(Garret instead of Garrett). Because this was a fairly minor edit, I didn't notice it until a few weeks after it had been fully published.
I've already asked the advising professor about it and he said that it wasn't anything to worry about, and that I should create an account on Google scholar and manually add the paper to my account. I've done this, but is there anything else I should do? How bad is this, or is it actually fairly minor?
# Answer
> 12 votes
I guess you can contact the journal publication and ask them change your name in the online version. Printed book is probably already published. But the online is very easy to change. I never tried this, but I guess this would not be a problem. Just give it a try.
I see one problem here. In case you want to use that publication in future, lets say in your thesis, your misspelled name may induce some problems, because you present the verified list of articles you published.
# Answer
> 7 votes
This is probably not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things. The journal can fix your name on the "linking page" for the article—which is the one most search engines will point to.
Secondly, in terms of the search engines themselves, the misspelling is not as catastrophic as if it were the last name that were affected. This is because most search engines only use initials for first and middle names, instead of the complete name. For instance, "John Q. Public" would be searched for in Web of Science as
> Public JQ
not
> "Public, John Q"
which makes finding your papers not so difficult, in spite of the spelling error. (Of course, if there's a problem with the citation databases, you can alert them to the error.)
# Answer
> 3 votes
It's pretty hard to change a name after publication. Many journals with print editions treat that as a permanent record of sorts. I'm not sure if that information can be changed in the DOI record though. It would be best to do as was suggested, and link that pub to your name in citation managers.
# Answer
> 3 votes
The name error is a factual error and it should be possible to request a corrigendum to the journal. See for instance here:
http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v16/n12/full/nn1213-1906a.html
All of the other answers hinting to the fact that you cannot change your name on a published article assume that the name was correct at the time of publication. This is not true in your case. Journals base their reputation on their being factually correct and I can't see any reputable journal refusing to change an incorrect name.
This said, I agree with others that it probably will not make much of a difference, but it would also be annoying to have to point this out every time it comes up (oh, yes, that is really me).
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Tags: publications, journals, personal-name, errors-erratum
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thread-29975
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29975
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How can I fix previous name misspelling in publications and how should I avoid them in future?
|
2014-10-14T21:25:50.713
|
# Question
Title: How can I fix previous name misspelling in publications and how should I avoid them in future?
I worked in a research laboratory last summer and some of my work was used in a paper that was published this year at a conference. This is my first paper and I am listed as a co-author, however, my last name was spelled wrong. I have a capital “i” in the middle of my last name that was mistaken for a lowercase “L”.
Firstly, what steps should I take to correct this? Is it best to contact my supervisor from the lab and ask them to correct it or should I attempt to do so myself?
Secondly, in the future should I change my last name spelling to use a lowercase "i" in the middle to avoid this occurring again? I am an undergraduate student, but I am interested in pursuing a career in research.
# Answer
For fixing, I think the advice in the linked question is the way to go: contact the publisher and ask them to correct it. This is what errata are for, and it's perfectly normal.
I think the harder question is what to do about the future.
* On the one hand, the non-distinguishability of I and l are just going to keep causing problems (as can be seen from this very sentence!) and you rarely have control of fonts.
* On the other hand, it's your personal identity at stake. Do you really want to change your name for the sake of typography?
This is a problem that I see faced by a large number of researchers who don't have names that perfectly transliterate into English. One of my French colleagues, for example, is very insistent on getting the accents correct on his name, while others just ignore it and let things fall to the lowest (anglicized) denominator.
You're going to need to make a decision based on your personal relationship with your identity. If it's important to you, stick to your proper name and just know that you're going to need to be proactive in checking and correcting in every paper you deal with. Fortunately, there's usually a proof stage for just this type of issue. If you'd rather not bother, then by all means embrace the simple lower-case solution. One way or another, though, you should settle on a decision by somewhere in the middle of graduate school. Don't worry too much about some confusion in the early papers: if you make a career of research, the early papers will fade behind your later work; if you don't, it won't matter.
> 2 votes
# Answer
I have had this with one of my recent publications, my surname was spelled with a superfluous 'x' - which was beyond odd.
What I did was to immediately contact the editor and alerted them to this error. I gave a precise account of the error (full bibliographic reference).
The editor's response and speed of response indicated the importance of having the name spelled correctly for correct attribution and correct search indexing.
As many journals are online, this change can be completed on the parent site fairly quickly, indexing in other sources and searches can take a little while long - but in my experience, the correction does take affect in due course.
In future, there are a couple of ways around this - and one I learned to do is to pay particular attention to any pre-publication 'proofs' they send and ask you to review before publication. Make sure you get to see any pre-publication proof and check for the spelling of your name.
> 2 votes
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Tags: publications, personal-name, errors-erratum
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thread-29969
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29969
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How to email current students in graduate programs you're considering?
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2014-10-14T19:33:47.150
|
# Question
Title: How to email current students in graduate programs you're considering?
What is the right approach for sending emails to contact the graduate students in the graduate schools that we are applying to?
Some questions to ask current graduate students are suggested in this related question.
When asking such questions by email, what are things to consider to maximize the chances of a useful response?
# Answer
My email has been posted at both my MSc and PhD department's website. I do not mind cold emails, even before applications are submitted. I answer this question maybe 3-4 times a year before applications are even due: "If you could go back in time and start over, would you still come back?". Applications cost money, I don't mind spending an hour or two every year helping people whose shoes I was once in.
Most people are the same I'd think.
Edit:
I'll read anything with my advisor's name in the email, so, if you title the email "Prospective student for Advisor" or something like that, then It will probably at least get read.
> 4 votes
# Answer
Once you have been admitted, the department will typically help put you in contact with graduate students. Of course they will select the most enthusiastic ones, so it can be helpful to reach out to others to get a better sample (for example, students in your research area or who are working with potential advisors). You can generally find contact information for graduate students on the departmental web page or on their personal web pages, and it's reasonable to send a quick e-mail. You can ask whatever you'd like, but you should remember that it's not really their job to tell you about the department. It's best not to ask questions you can get answers to elsewhere (for example, don't ask about degree requirements), awkward questions (such as departmental gossip they might be uncomfortable discussing, especially in writing), or repeated/demanding questions (after all, they are doing you a favor).
On the other hand, I don't think you should contact graduate students before being admitted. Most graduate schools receive substantially more applications than they will be able to accept, and sometimes far more. It's not efficient to spend a lot of time telling people about the department if they are probably not going to be admitted anyway. Instead, that can wait until the admissions decisions have been made. (Plus you'll generally get more enthusiastic responses once you've been admitted.)
> 3 votes
# Answer
When I was applying to grad schools, I cold e-mailed some people and got some very helpful responses.
In the first place, you might start by apologizing for cold e-mailing them. If there are any extenuating circumstances, you might explain them. I e-mailed under two different circumstances:
* I was accepted by program X, and got the sense that I didn't want to go X, and wasn't planning to fly cross-country to visit -- but I wanted to hear from a couple of people at X first.
* I was waitlisted by program Y and I was pretty sure I wanted to go there. But things were going down to the wire, and I didn't get the opportunity to visit before the acceptance deadline.
You will optimize your chances by writing your e-mail in a way that expresses your gratitude and a little bit of your personality. Ask them questions that you can't easily learn for yourself by browsing the department's website. And write your e-mail in a way that makes it clear that you are hoping for a response but then won't need anything else from them. (Unless you end up visiting later, in which case I recommend offering to buy them lunch or a beer.)
> 1 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, email, communication
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thread-28544
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28544
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Job Market in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
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2014-09-15T14:59:47.967
|
# Question
Title: Job Market in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
**The question**: Firstly, do I need to have a background in computing to be a research in human-computer interaction (HCI). Secondly, I need help with getting relevant work experiences which seem to be difficult because I live in a developing country (Nigeria) where there is basically no research in this area.
**The story**: I have a BSc in Mass Communication and MA in Communication and Media. I discovered this field while on my masters program and have since developed an interest in it. I'm more interested in human-technology (mobile) relationship than designing. I have tried to define my research plan to fall within this area. I intend to research on mobile phone and rural development in Sub-Saharan African countries. I would love to be a researcher and also lecture within this area.
Considering I took some Microsoft professional courses (MCSA & MCSE), I can say that I have some networking/Computing qualification.
I'm wondering if getting a masters (something like a MRES) in HCI will give me added advantage or if what I have is okay because for most job opportunities I see usually request for some one with a computing/HCI background which I don't have. I won't mind interning to get the needed experience because it seems like all the vacancies are requesting experienced people.
**My Career Goal**: To be a research/lecturer. I hope to be flexible enough to be able to indulge in other business such as running an NGO that is youth and women development inclined.
**My Background** I am a 26 years old lady with no experience in this field. My education was split between my country (which is developing by the way) and UK. I really hope to do a PhD in a more advanced country and at the same time get some relevant work experience.
# Answer
> 3 votes
In HCI, you've set your sights on what I think is a very interesting hybrid field. On the one hand, there is the hard-core technological aspect of creating new approaches to user interfaces, which these days often also involves some extremely sophisticated machine learning and signal processing. On the other hand, there is the human aspect of it, in finding out how people actually interact with their technology and what are the ways that it can make the most difference in human lives, which has a lot more to do with sociological and psychological studies.
From what you've said about your background and ambitions, it sounds like you are more inclined toward the human aspect, which is great. In terms of building your career, I would recommend thinking about what you need to do from the perspective of gaining the skills that you need in order to study the human aspects. A solid grounding in statistics and analysis will definitely important, as well as learning how to design and conduct effective human subject studies. Even if there's no HCI programs in your area, I'm guessing that it is much more likely that there will be programs where you can study some of these others.
For the programming side and for getting involved in the field, you might want to look into AppInventor and Technovation. AppInventor is a programming toolkit intended to lower the barrier of entry for people to develop apps for phones and other Android devices. Technovation is a worldwide program/contest for getting young women involved in software engineering by building their own applications. In fact, I notice that one of this year's finalist teams was from Lagos! You might look to get involved in some fashion, such as coaching a team. It's not something that will make you money, but it might be a good way to pick up experience and connections.
There is probably no easy path, but it sounds like you have good ambitions of a sort that a number of international programs are intended to encourage, if you can only build yourself a solid foundation and find the right connections. Finally, as I am an American who knows a lot more about computer science than developing countries, please take all of my advice with a big grain of salt. I hope that others will be able to speak to your situation more directly as well.
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Tags: research-process, job-search, job
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thread-29364
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29364
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How to promote research commercialization?
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2014-10-03T17:07:26.203
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# Question
Title: How to promote research commercialization?
What efforts have there been to promote research commercialization (e.g. connecting researchers with investors interested in commercializing the researchers' research) and how are these done?
# Answer
> 4 votes
In the US, at least, there are *lots* of different mechanisms intended to try to facilitate commercialization. The major players are:
* Universities, who want to make money by licensing patents
* Entrepreneurs and venture capital groups, who see new technology as one of the best sources of profitable market disruption.
* Large established companies, who want to acquire new technology in order to prevent their markets from being disrupted and to disrupt their competitors.
* Local, state, and national governments, who see tech transfer as a both a major economic benefit and an important justification for investing public money in research.
A few of the many significant mechanisms:
* Every research university has some form of Technology Transfer Office, whose job is to get researchers and business people introduced and help them figure out opportunities for commercialization. Many universities also have "sabbatical for a startup" programs for their faculty, official or otherwise.
* Regional associations, like the Massachusetts Association of Technology Transfer Offices or the Northwest Future Energy Conferences do the same thing on a larger scale.
* SBIR/STTR programs are a whole family of programs where significant amounts of government grant money is allocated specifically to commercialization of new technology by startups and other small businesses. Some small businesses effectively set themselves up as independent research institutes with this money.
* Within subfields, there are often specific joint industry/academia programs specifically designed to facilitate technology transfer. For example the Semiconductor Research Corporation is designed to serve as an industry/academia bridge in, well, semiconductor research. Another example is SynBERC, a long-term NSF project in synthetic biology which includes a highly successful program for industry involvement at all scales.
The interface between academia and industry, in the US at least, is much more intense and complicated than many realize. You just have to go looking for connections into it.
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Tags: research-process
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thread-29987
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29987
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How can I publish my thesis?
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2014-10-15T07:07:35.507
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# Question
Title: How can I publish my thesis?
I have a written thesis, as my Final year project. I have submitted in university.
but now i want to make it professionally mine.
I want to publish it some where but i don't have such kind of experience before. I am total Rookie in this field.
Any Expert Opinion?
**Note:** Thesis in About "Handwriting Recognition "
# Answer
> 2 votes
1. **Publishing the thesis "as is"**
Your first option to to publish the thesis as it is now, without any modifications. This is usually the easier thing to do. Assuming your thesis in in PDF format, you can just upload it to your own website. Another option would be to upload it to a repository such as figshare.com, where it will also be assigned a DOI and it will be easier for people to cite (and discover?).
2. **Making a journal article out of it**
This option will be harder, but will also probably benefit you much more. I'm assuming that you know how a journal article looks like, so now your job is to make it look like one. The technical aspects may be challenging at first, but they are pretty straightforward. Every journal has a "guide for authors" section where they instruct you exactly how and where to submit the article. What format to use, how to draft the figures, what citation format to use, etc. If you are not sure which journal to publish to, I suggest that you look on the citation list of your own thesis and see which journals published articles similar to yours. One of the reasons that this option is harder is because you have to convince the editors and reviewers of the journal that the article is novel, important, well written and worth publishing. The article will be subject to peer review which will require additional time and effort from your side. It is a lengthy process and can take several months.
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Tags: publications, thesis, research-undergraduate
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thread-29990
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29990
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Is there any online tool where students can register for tasks/assignments?
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2014-10-15T09:16:53.840
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# Question
Title: Is there any online tool where students can register for tasks/assignments?
I'm teaching architecture and I want my students to select a building that they will work with from a list. When a building is selected by one student, it should no longer be an option for the others (first come - first serve).
Is there an online tool where a list can be created and students can select their object of interest, preferably without going through a whole registration process? Our student-platform unfortunately does not offer this functionality. Any suggestions?
Tool could be in English or German.
# Answer
> 0 votes
I found the tool "Doodle" (doodle.com) where a poll can be set up with different options to fit my needs. With this tool, appointments can also be arranged.
Here's a link to an example I set up: select architect
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Tags: teaching, website, tools
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thread-29997
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29997
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If you have broad interests, should you describe a narrow research topic in statement of purpose anyways?
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2014-10-15T10:02:03.783
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# Question
Title: If you have broad interests, should you describe a narrow research topic in statement of purpose anyways?
All the advice for writing a Statement of Purpose (otherwise referred to as 'Personal Statement') for graduate (Masters) on the internet usually pins it down to narrowing down your interest to specific research topics. But what if one just wishes to dig deeper into a range of subjects without committing at the outset to research?
For example, I have broad interests in computer systems (which includes the OS, compilers, processor architecture and so forth). Specifically, I like writing low-level embedded software and am very interested in learning new ways of designing CPUs. I've written toy OSes and compilers and I like reading about CPU architectures. But none of that seems relevant to current research in the field.
Maybe, if I force myself to, I can come up with a narrow research topic or two but would it be too wrong to say that I want to go to graduate school just to learn more? (Of course, I could read papers on the internet forever but I feel directed learning would serve me better)
By my own admission, I am nowhere near to knowing the state-of-the-art in systems research. If I do try to make up a topic, I am afraid it might appear superfluous in my Statement. Should I try harder to find a research topic or am I better off writing what I actually feel?
# Answer
Why not do both? The value of a narrow statement is to show that you are capable of focus and thinking deeply about a subject. In fact, if one makes it too narrow, then it can exclude you from projects you would like because people think you won't be interested.
So you might formulate your statement as follows:
* Start by expressing your broad interests and the accomplishments that you have made in the past. For a Masters, it's more important to illustrate that you were able to build complex things than that those thing were novel. Your breadth will be good here.
* Shift to looking toward the future. Express your desire to be doing something novel and intellectually significant. Then say, "For example, one thought that I have considered ... " and give a narrow statement focused on something that you think would be new and significant. Just make it clear that it is a *possible* direction rather than something that you are committed to.
> 4 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, masters, statement-of-purpose, research-topic
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thread-29994
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29994
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Is "On XXX of YYY" a good thesis title?
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2014-10-15T09:49:24.340
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# Question
Title: Is "On XXX of YYY" a good thesis title?
I've seen many theses with long long title.
I understand that can help to narrow down the scope of the thesis.
Yet, I was recently asked to think of the title of my thesis, and I don't like those long long titles.
Is something in the form of "On XXX of YYY" a good title?
For instance,
* "On the uncountability of real numbers"
* "On the identification of biological systems"
I think this can make the thesis rather straightforward. Is such a title specific enough to attract the intended audience?
# Answer
> 8 votes
The title of a work is the first thing that people will use to decide whether to read it or not. You want it to say as clearly and lucidly as possible what it is that you have contributed. If you title something "On XXX of YYY", then that says you've done a loosely coupled collection of investigations regarding the relationship of XXX and YYY. If, however, the important conclusion of your thesis is more specific, it's good to say that in your title.
To make up an example, compare:
* "On the diet of Antarctic seals": this document studied diet exhaustively, and came up with very thorough data but no particularly big surprises.
* "Antarctic seal diet dependent on frozen pizza": this document studied diet, and found something rather bizarre that clearly needs more study.
In sum: short is good, but unnecessarily vague is bad.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I personally don't care for this style of title. Seeing a title like "On the cromulence of blobs" makes me wonder: What exactly *about* the cromulence of blobs is the author investigating? Why doesn't she just tell me? It tends to leave me less piqued than frustrated, and gives me the subconscious suggestion that rather than producing a specific result, the paper is just going to ramble on about blobs and their cromulence.
But in general, for choosing a title: the first question is, what kind of thesis did you write? Some theses (especially doctoral) are **original** and present new results, others (especially undergraduate and sometimes masters) are **expository** and simply explore existing results.
For an **original thesis**, my advice would be to choose a rather specific title that accurately describes your results, even if it is long. I would use the following rule of thumb to evaluate potential titles: look at all the papers you know that contain closely related work (hopefully you have cited all of them, so all you should need to do is open your bibliography). For each of them, ask yourself: **Does my title make it clear that what I did is different from what's in this other paper?** If not, your title is not specific enough. Other researchers doing related work will want to be able to tell at a glance whether your thesis is likely to address the question they have in mind.
For an **expository** thesis, a more general title is fine: just state the topic that you wrote about. People are unlikely to come looking for such a thesis with a specific question in mind; they may read your thesis more for a general overview of the topic.
# Answer
> 0 votes
That name made me curious and i opened the Question. But i did not got from name what is it about.
If thesis is about to make people curious, then go for it. but if you want a name that one is real representation of your thesis. Then choose an alternate.
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Tags: thesis
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thread-30010
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30010
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collaboration with a professor from other school
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2014-10-15T14:33:20.763
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# Question
Title: collaboration with a professor from other school
Is it acceptable/advisable to seek to collaborate with a former professor (e.g. from undergrad school) while doing research with ones adviser at grad school (the two schools being different)? Of course, under the assumption that a conflict of interest is avoided (the process being transparent with both professors in agreement with it, the narrow research subjects don't overlap, etc.).
The main benefit of this over-hour endeavor is co-authorship in published papers and an additional recommendation source, along with satisfying ones desire to work on that specific problem.
# Answer
> 7 votes
**Do it.** It can only be good for you. And it is generally acceptable.
Make sure that your supervisor knows what's going on and approves, though if you are using your own time, there should be no reason not to approve.
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Tags: collaboration, extracurricular
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thread-30008
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30008
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what is the best strategy to deal with a situation where a student asks all of homework problems on an online forum
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2014-10-15T14:26:57.330
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# Question
Title: what is the best strategy to deal with a situation where a student asks all of homework problems on an online forum
I teach a course, every week I assign homework. I put several hours to choose the right homework problems which cover the course material and permit them to be prepared for the exams.
I encourage students coming to my office hours and to ask all of their questions, I may also help them to solve the homework problems. During the class I normally give some hints about the homework's difficult problems (in any).
The homework load is (in my opinion) reasonable: 4-5 exercises, maybe 3-4 out of them are easy and maybe 1-2 is a little challenging. The homework has 10% point.
Today, to my surprise I saw a user who has asked all of my homework problems (including the easy ones) on math stackexchange. And all of them have been answered. Regarding the particularity of my homework problems and the time of posting the questions, I am sure that the user is one of my students, I am not sure which one.
To be precise I had not prohibited the students about posting the homework questions online as I was not expecting this situation.
My question is what is the best strategy to deal with this situation.
# Answer
> 10 votes
I am not sure what my opinion of this really is.
On one hand is asking on the internet really that different from asking a friend how to do a particular piece of homework, or even just looking up the method in a textbook.
Presumably you think that looking the answer up on the internet will not result in your students learning the material as well working out how to do it for themselves. The result of this is that the students will do worse in their final exams which are worth distinctly more than 10%.
You could give your students a gentle reminder of this at the start of the next lecture/course. Hopefully, they will listen to you and try and do the work on their own. If not, I wouldn't feel bad for them if they did poorly in their exams.
Some people may be concerned that not punishing this behavior is encouraging students to cheat and gain extra marks for their homework. I would say you are quite naive if you think students wouldn't ask each other how to do the homework anyway. It is very hard to police these sorts of things which is probably one of the reasons they have a relatively low weighting.
Personally, I would give homeworks zero weighting as this removes any incentive for students to try and improve their mark this way. The questions would probably still be asked but that is more because students don't like going to office hours.
While you probably could try punish the offending student under your institution's academic integrity rules, I think you will have difficulties identifying the culprit without significant effort and possibly underhand tactics from your part. Even if you could identify them I wouldn't for the reasons outlined above.
# Answer
> -11 votes
I had this happen in my biostatistics course a few years ago, with Yahoo Answers.
I told that class that every single person was going to get an F for the semester for academic misconduct unless the student(s) came forward and admitted their action.
Then I went to Yahoo Answers, made a bunch of fake accounts, and posted tantalizingly wrong answers to all of my own HW questions. I have told all subsequent students not to google the HW answers because there are wrong solutions out there.
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Tags: teaching, ethics, plagiarism, coursework, homework
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thread-29991
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29991
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My paper was withdrawn from predatory journal after publication, what should I do?
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2014-10-15T09:20:10.523
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# Question
Title: My paper was withdrawn from predatory journal after publication, what should I do?
I am currently in a very embarrassing situation.
I have a paper (forgot to say, this paper takes no more than two pages) submitted to a journal. The journal accepted my paper for publication and I saw it online. But today I found that my paper disappeared without notifying me! I emailed them, and a staff member replied that a reviewer asked them to withdraw my paper. The reason given for this was:
> Your paper does not meet the requirements for publication.
And I then tracked the publisher and the editorial policy, I found the journal is nearly a predatory one. First, it is a new journal, published only for one year. They require no publication fees only this year, from next year on, they do require! Second, the publisher is in the famous list of predatory publishers. Also, it took only two and a half weeks from submission to acceptance.
On top of this, I may face problems because I have used this paper to apply some scholarship.
What can I do?
# Answer
> 29 votes
The most important thing you need to do is figure out the copyright status. If you have given them exclusive rights to reproduce the work, then you may not be able to publish it anywhere else. It is likely that the copyright transfer was part of a publication contract where the publisher has agreed to publish your work in exchange for the copyright transfer. Hopefully, the publisher will given up the rights you transferred to them. If they won't, you may need to get a lawyer to explore your options.
Having listed the paper in a scholarship application is problematic. Paper-based journals and journals that generate DOIs create a permanent record of the published papers. In your case, it seems a published paper has simply disappeared. I would write to the places you have submitted an application and explain the situation. something along the lines of
> The paper XXX, which I listed on my application, was published by YYY. Unfortunately, YYY is a known predatory publisher and has since made the paper unavailable. I still stand behind the research; attached is a copy of that work. I am currently working towards resubmitting the manuscript to a reputable publisher. I am sorry for any problems this causes.
# Answer
> 8 votes
It's hard to give objective advice without knowing more about the case, especially which journal, but this journal's behavior is surprising. Usually fake journals will publish *anything* as long as you pay for it.
Some have as strategy to generously offer free publishing to 'high quality papers' (which tells you something about the papers that don't fall in this category by their standards...) or to Western authors. In the later case, the goal is to give a false appearance of international recognition to cater for the needs of (mostly, but not limited to, India- and China-based) authors to publish in 'international' journals. Of course *they have no real strategy to archive the work that they receive*, they probably have no data management or backup strategy, nothing. I suspect some operate from internet cafés. It's frequent that entire journals just vanish without a trace, and without reimbursing the APCs, obviously.
In your case, why would they not publish your paper is mysterious, but is probably not unrelated to the fact that you didn't pay anything. It's *possible* that they actually evaluated it and found an issue with it (plagiarism, ethical concerns, blatant off-topic, etc.) or that it didn't serve their purpose of legitimating the trash that they accept for a fee, but only you can know if this is an option.
*Or*, they have bad intentions, from which I can think of a few:
1. They will ask for money to publish it.
2. They will want to sell you back the rights.
3. They will sell the content to some unscrupulous scholar who will publish it as his/her own.
At any rate, brace yourself, anything is possible. I would recommend, in the short-term, to upload a pre-print on your personal website to give access to it to your scholarship committee, even if the copyright contract prevents you to do so. Fake journals rarely have the firepower (or enough legal notions) for seriously fighting over copyright issues. You should also tell your story to Beall, at least for the sake of warning other scholars.
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Tags: publications, journals, disreputable-publishers, retraction
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thread-29953
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29953
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How should I deal with my groupmate's unprofessional behavior as a TA?
|
2014-10-14T12:42:31.657
|
# Question
Title: How should I deal with my groupmate's unprofessional behavior as a TA?
I have a colleague in my group who became TA for a course which we took together, which is taught by our mutual advisor. It is almost a policy that a student can't become TA unless he scores an A in the course, but he was chosen because he asked "first" and the professor is "nice", even though I was the highest scoring student, which usually gets the teaching assistantship. He also knew that I wanted to TA that course, yet he still asked.
Many students come to him for questions or help. He usually tells them to copy the homework (!) or to ask me or a colleague of mine for help because "he doesn't know and \[me and my colleague\] know the material much better!"
How do I deal with such a person? I mean, my colleague and I try to answer all the questions the students have, but the annoying thing is that we can't be doing half the job while he gets all the money. We spend our time trying to help others where he should do that. We are very busy people and we don't have time for this when we don't have to officially do it.
Should I talk to my advisor about this? I don't want to sound as if I'm envious.
# Answer
> 32 votes
Being nice is nice, but you also need to set your own priorities. You are not the TA for that course, so you are not obliged to answer any questions. If you happen to have time and feel like answering a question (notice the singular), then fine, answer it. When not, just politely say you don't have time and that they should go see the TA. Also, you are not responsible for (bad) advice given by that TA. Instead I would focus on getting your own research done, or do the TAing of some other course.
# Answer
> 17 votes
I agree that this is unprofessional behavior on the part of the other TA (let's call him X).
I understand your instinct is to try to help the students when they come to you, and that's certainly generous of you. Unfortunately, this sort of thing represents a very common pitfall for young academics. Working with students is very rewarding, in the short term: it feels like something where you can make an immediate difference in someone's life. This is especially true in contrast to research, where work is often solitary and progress is slow and difficult to discern. So spending extra time with students, while helpful in itself, has the potential to become a serious distraction in the long run. Balancing one's time between teaching, research, and other activities can be one of the hardest thing for an academic to do (it certainly is for me).
So I think this is a good opportunity for you to practice "protecting your time". Helping X's students, even if you enjoy it or feel the students really need it, is not something that can take priority over other tasks that are specifically your responsibilities (e.g. your research).
I would suggest having a talk with X and tell him that you're not going to be able to help out his students, and to please not send them to you. If you feel you need a justification for this, you can just say it's distracting you from your research or studies or something similar. If X's students keep coming to you anyway, you can politely tell them "I'm sorry, but I'm not the right person to help you with this. I'd suggest that you ask the professor during her office hours." You don't need to get involved any further; if lots of students start coming to the professor and complaining that X can't answer their questions (and in my experience, believe me, they will), or even that X sent them to you, who couldn't help: she will figure out that something is amiss.
I agree with the other posts that you should not explicitly try to play this to your advantage as far as getting the TA position. That seems to have the potential to backfire. It may work out for you in the long run, but stay at arm's length while things run their course.
On a side note, you mentioned that you've overheard X encouraging students to "copy their homework". I'm not quite sure what that means out of context, but if you mean X is telling them to do something dishonest like copy from each other without attribution, then this is a much more serious matter that I think obliges you to step in - it puts X over the line from unprofessional to unethical. If you feel you have enough of a relationship with X to speak frankly, tell him that's a bad idea: it's likely to get students in serious trouble, and also him if they tell the professor he told them to do it. Otherwise, or if X doesn't seem to take you seriously, alert the professor.
# Answer
> 12 votes
The biggest issue, I feel, is how you're handling the situation where your friend asks you for help. Whereas other people have addressed your bounds, I feel like we have to address how you are treating those bounds.
I'm going to say a statement that, up until a year ago, felt very alien.
*"My needs are as important or more important than the needs of others."*
Say that a couple of times in your head. It sounds selfish or wrong to say such a thing. And that's what I felt as well when I was told this statement initially.
But is it really wrong? Of course not. When we evaluate the greater good, we sometimes devalue our personal selves, even though we have a vested interest in it, in an attempt to remain unbiased. This works well in standalone situations, but not in this one.
Consider the scenario you've presented.
Your friend, knowing full well you wanted the spot, took it from you. Then he comes to you to ask you to help his students. And you've gone ahead and helped him and now you're complaining about why you have to do that.
You've, in short, placed his needs above your own needs. You don't get anything out of this relationship. You may have heard of this type of relation: a toxic one. It wastes your time and returns you nothing and gives him all the credit when his students succeed.
You're never going to get the TA job you want if he's in it. And you're helping him stay in it!
You may feel like you're doing people a service, but you're not. If this TA is bad, he should be removed. Your helping him will keep him there and impact the learning capabilities of other students, and waste your time for little to no benefit.
If you really want to help these students, you should be doing this on your own time when you feel like it, not because your friend asks you to help him do something he should be doing by himself. Instead, you're helping carrying your friend's responsibility for him when he accepted a role that traditionally bears all the responsibility alone.
You need to be willing to say *no* to this person.
# Answer
> 9 votes
There are two separate issues here that you should mentally separate:
* Your friend got a job you wanted.
* Your friend is not doing that job well.
As for the first point, not much can be done after the fact. Perhaps make your interest in the course known to the professor who will teach that course next time.
As for the second point, you are well within your bounds to refuse to help students since you're not associated with that course. You can tell your friends that you're too busy with research and other TA duties to help his/her students. This dissociates the prior TA-assignment incident with the actual matter at hand.
# Answer
> 5 votes
It strikes me that the underlying cause of your unhappiness is not the professionalism or otherwise of the person that got the TA position, or the impact of his behaviour on you, but the fact that he got the position you wanted and that seems unfair to you. Here's a lesson that will serve you well I think: life is not fair. The world of work is not fair. Career progression, in particular, is not fair. Good things do not automatically go to the most deserving. If you want something, do not sit back and wait for it to fall into your lap because you think you deserve it for working hard or whatever.
Rather than focusing your anger on him, you should ask yourself: who or what is responsible for this state of affairs? Some helpful information would be to know whether you made your desire to be TA known to the advisor - if you didn't then you must have been hoping the advisor would simply offer it to you. Your colleague meanwhile made his desires to be TA known. Why shouldn't he? Did you really think that he should not pursue his ambitions out of some sort of deference to you because you have better scores? If he (or you or anyone else) adopted that policy they would never get anywhere in life. If you think he should not have been made TA and you should AND the advisor knew of your desire, then the responsible party is the advisor for picking someone else. If the advisor did not know of your desire then either you are responsible for not making your wishes clear, or your advisor is responsible for not asking you whether you wanted it before giving it to someone else. In either scenario, your colleague is not responsible for "depriving" you of the TA position.
So, if you feel something is amiss with him being made TA, talk to the advisor.
With the day-to-day behaviour of the TA it's a different matter - if you are not happy having work pushed over to you in this way then talk first to the TA about it, and if that has no effect talk to the advisor about it. Sitting there complaining and making accusations behind someone's back isn't particularly professional either. If you want things to change, start asking for what you want.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I would try to quantify the manifestations which are objectively problematic. How often are you interrupted by students? How many tell you (in so many words) that your so-called friend could not or would not help them? What other tasks suffer because of this, and by how much?
Collect data, black on white, until either *(a)* you can convince your professor that something is wrong, even if not to the point where you can get things your way; or *(b)* you convince yourself that it may not be worth your time and effort after all -- I know it seems preposterous now, but my experience is that sometimes that's what happens when time passes.
Don't wait too long to make that decision. Sounds to me like maybe you should give it a week, maximum.
You might not need your data, but it's a good starting point for objectively assessing the situation, and if somebody should ask you for numbers or other proof, you know you are prepared.
Strive to remain professional. Try to reason about what's beneficial for the students, the department, the collective, in the long run; not yourself or the problematic TA. Still, if you are doing unpaid work, I would consider bringing up the topic of fair compensation.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Honestly, your question could be (and probably should be) shortened to:
> I'm really good at subject X, and students keep coming to me for help on subject X. How should I respond, given that I don't have time for this?
I'd advise the following response:
*"I really wish I could help, but I don't have time. You really should ask your teacher, or teacher's assistant if you have one."*
And you're done. There is no need to be concerned about how they came to know of your skills, or become involved in petty politics or whether someone is getting a free ride or passing the buck.
If the student indicates that they've already tried those resources, you might remind them that they are paying students, and if their teacher or TA aren't meeting their needs, they may have to have a discussion with them, or bring it up with their guidance counselors. Also suggest that they might want to form study groups with others in their class.
Lastly, if you enjoy teaching them, offer tutoring services. This will give you the ability to receive pay for your work, without all the overhead the TA has to deal with, and you're already receiving free advertising.
Regardless, there is no need to carry bitterness and acrimony into these situations. Treat it as though you hadn't been hurt, and as though the TA and teacher are both acting in the student's best interests, and then decide how to act from that point. The answer should be obvious once you ignore your personal baggage.
# Answer
> 0 votes
If you have to answer most of questions from students, it seems to me that the TA does not prepare enough the material he suppose to teach and this is a totally unprofessional.
Answering students is not helping them, since you can answer particular questions (about a particular homework,...) but you have no time to teach how to have a global understanding on the material. In this situation, you should speak to your advisor. If you want to make it smooth and keep a friendly relation with the TA, you may warn him first that you cannot continue to answer the students questions and that he has to prepare thoroughly the material.
Of course, noone has a perfect knowledge of everything, so you probably should keep yourself available to answer theoritical questions **from the TA**, not homeworks questions from the students. The TA validated this course, so he knows well part of the material. By ponctually answering the question of the TA, you help him to master it completely and to answer himself to students questions.
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Tags: teaching-assistant, interpersonal-issues
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thread-30021
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30021
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How to cite a paper when I don't know where was published?
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2014-10-15T18:21:41.403
|
# Question
Title: How to cite a paper when I don't know where was published?
I have collected some papers regarding the subject of my M.A. thesis, but I have some articles that I couldn't find where they were published. The point is when I Google the title of the article, Google shows me that the article has been cited more than 60 times, but I can't find where and in what journal. How can I find the journal in which these articles were published?
# Answer
> 7 votes
Sometimes the route that seems most tedious can end up being the most efficient. I would try looking at some of those 60+ references. Any work that's been cited so many times will have to have the source listed in the bibliography sections of those references.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Google Scholar typically offers "Cite" button that will give you its best bibliographic information available on the citation. That will usually give you everything you need. If not, follow the links in Scholar to where it found the article, and there will usually be bibliographic information. And you can also do as @aeismail suggests and look at how others have cited it.
For some particularly odd or obscure articles, however, you may still be unable to find an appropriate set of journal/conference information. For example, technical manuals often have no official publication, but just an online reference site that is being maintained. Another example is the Carlson Curve is widely referenced but has no official publication beyond a series of blog posts. Still, there is always a correct way to cite: follow the principle of giving the most complete and persistent data that will allow others to find the same information that you found.
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Tags: citations
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thread-30032
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30032
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Consequences for foreign students of being dropped from a class?
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2014-10-15T23:06:19.823
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# Question
Title: Consequences for foreign students of being dropped from a class?
Say a student from another country is in the US on a student visa, and is enrolled in my community college class. I'm required to drop students who aren't participating in the class, and I have a policy in my syllabus that lays out criteria for dropping people (e.g., not showing up to the first class, or not showing up to class for a certain amount of time). If I do this, and it causes the student to go below a full load, what are the consequences for the student? Is it true that they might be deported within a matter of weeks? Does it matter if it's before or after census? If the student stays enrolled, but doesn't pass the class, are the consequences the same?
# Answer
> 20 votes
My wife, who has some experience in these matters, says the following:
* If the student is dropped from the class, making them no longer a full-time student, then they may lose visa status and be required to leave the country within *days*.
* If the student fails, however, then it is up to the college whether to kick them out or not: so far as immigration is concerned, what matters is whether they are a full-time student, not how well they are doing.
Another possible option, which may or may not be possible in your institution, would be to try to arrange a late transfer into another "class" like an independent study, which would have no transcript value but would preserve full-time status.
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Tags: united-states, international-students, visa
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thread-30024
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30024
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What are the potential pitfalls of having a PhD in machine learning?
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2014-10-15T19:34:04.053
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# Question
Title: What are the potential pitfalls of having a PhD in machine learning?
This is a follow up question from this one. From what I read in that question I understood that in most cases the PhD is not a good idea to grow a good career in the industry.
However I contacted two people in the industry who have PhDs in machine learning and data mining and they work in Amazon Germany as machine learning scientists or data miners. They told me almost any job in data mining or machine learning requires a PhD.
My question is: do the same pitfalls for other fields also apply for PhDs in machine learning and data mining? If not, then are there still other pitfalls?
# Answer
As a person who has hired quite a few people in industry, I will simply say that **advanced areas** (or even areas that are *perceived* to be advanced) **often see PhDs being preferable**. In this respect I completely agree with Bitwise.
I do not, however, agree that you might earn less. **Those with sought-after skills get paid well in industry**. It is about supply and demand but supply (people who can do the job) is not high and demand is growing.
**Machine-learning is hot in the business literature**. That is, managers are *becoming* well informed about the potentials of machine-learning and they are becoming worried that the only way they can compete for the long-term is by taking advantage of this area.
While lower-level programming jobs might not see any benefit from higher qualifications, areas like machine-learning are not seen as lower-level.
To answer your main question, are there pitfalls of having a PhD if you want a job in industry? The answer is no. I am unaware of anyone who has ever thought lower of a job candidate because they have a PhD. Yes, you could get a job without one but for your areas of interest, a PhD will give you lots of advantage when it comes to getting job offers.
> 9 votes
# Answer
Supply and demand plays a large part into why I believe the "PhD is not a good idea" comes across. To be fair, a PhD will probably NEVER hurt your chances. It's more whether it will HELP your chances. I find what's best is to demonstrate exactly what each degree provides in a theoretical job application.
A BS in CS, MS in CS, and PhD in Machine Learning (with BS/MS in CS) all apply to a job that is asking for computer science skills.
The BS provides programming at a basic level and maybe a few upper level skills.
The MS provides what the BS does along with additional experience in concepts such as the development cycle. He may have also had some work experience.
The PhD provides what the MS does plus a research in the background of machine learning (probably not applicable to most jobs).
The PhD really doesn't offer significantly more in a practical sense. The PhD can still get the job, but the advantage the PhD has over the MS is much smaller than the MS over the BS. If the MS will do, it may depreciate the value of the PhD (it won't hurt you, but it won't help you as much). When you're competing for the same Master's-level equivalent position, you're in a very big pool of potential candidates, given how there are naturally more MS holders than PhD holders.
**Now we'll take the same candidates, and apply the same people to a machine learning job instead.**
The BS has probably never heard of machine learning or taken a class.
The MS may have one class worth of experience in machine learning. It would be quite rare for an MS to have work experience with machine learning as well.
The PhD has dedicated a significant amount of time in machine learning. Probably knows everything about theory, and has written his own software.
In this case, the PhD has significantly more experience simply due to his field of study. Probably the only candidate, or one of a few, and has an actual machine learning background.
If you plan to get a PhD in machine learning and then decide to code general enterprise environment software, it's not going to help. If you get that PhD and then decide to work in a cutting-edge environment that actually implements machine learning, you'll probably be the top candidate. Also keep in mind that there are far more general development jobs than there are for machine-learning.
> 6 votes
# Answer
The statement "PhD is not a good idea for a career in industry" is not always true. It depends both on the field but also on the type of job you want to do. For some things, like programming, experience in industry is often considered much more useful than advanced degrees. However, if you are aiming for a position that involves advanced research and development (like some machine-learning jobs), you will most likely be required to have a PhD, or at least have a major advantage.
It is possible that you might earn less or advance slower in a PhD research-type position, but I don't think salary level or rank are necessarily the way to measure career success.
> 5 votes
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Tags: phd, machine-learning
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thread-30037
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30037
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Which among an LoR for startup work and a "good student" LoR, will be more effective?
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2014-10-16T01:52:56.860
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# Question
Title: Which among an LoR for startup work and a "good student" LoR, will be more effective?
I am applying for Master's program in CS. I have the following two alternatives:
* An LoR from a startup founder for significant and relevant work. The possible problem is that the entire team consists of final-year undergraduates including founders, however they are from a relatively well-known university in the country that I am applying to (USA).
* An LoR from one of my professors with whom my interactions have been only during courses and labs which are not directly relevant to my area of specialization.
Which of these would be more effective as part of my application?
My other LoRs are from a professor with whom I have worked on a relevant R&D project for almost a year, and one from a professor about coursework and labwork, which is relevant to the field.
# Answer
If the startup is showing evidence of success (e.g., it's actually raising significant venture capital or making money from clients), then if it were me, I would absolutely go with the letter from the startup. They may be have been undergraduates, but now they are a Small Business Success Story, and you are part of that story. It will help you stand out as unique, capable of taking initiative, and capable of working on ill-bounded problems as part of a team.
If, on the other hand, the startup is still little more than a collection of nebulous hopes, dreams, and semi-finished software, the professor (who is essentially neutral as far as recommendation value goes) is a safer bet.
> 1 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, masters, recommendation-letter
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thread-30041
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30041
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Should I list conferences I attended on my CV?
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2014-10-16T04:52:07.987
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# Question
Title: Should I list conferences I attended on my CV?
I am a PhD student in mathematics, and I noticed that on my peers' CV's, they often list conferences they attended. It seems as if they just attended these conferences, they did not help organize, nor did they give a talk.
**Should I list conferences I only attended on my CV, or does it look like obvious filler?**
# Answer
In general, you can put pretty much whatever you want in your CV (unless there is a template, in which case deciding what to put or not should be pretty straight-forward). The question is: **what is the point of putting a piece of information in your CV?**
Usually, a CV is used in the context of a recruitment process, where the point, in the end, is to give reasons to the recruiter to recruit you instead of someone else. Hence, a piece of information contained in a CV should be instructive, for instance by ensuring that you do have the proper credentials, or by providing evidence that you can be apt to the position you are applying for.
Perhaps attending conferences is something relatively rare in your field, and you have attended more than the average PhD students? In that case, listing all the conferences you have attended could indicate you are very interested in keeping up with recent advances in your field. It could also show that you enjoy travelling. Perhaps you have secure internal or external funding to attend that conference (i.e., the funding was not automatically given)? That's also good evidence. **You could list them if it provides evidence for an aspect that you are willing to emphasise in your application.**
On the other hand, if the conferences you have attended had nothing special, or do not help emphasising any particular point, then you might want to keep the space in your CV for something else.
> 15 votes
# Answer
Maybe the customs are different in mathematics, but in computer science I would never consider putting attendance of an ordinary conference on a C.V. Now, there might be certain exceptional cases where there's some sort of exclusive prestigious invitation-only conference, but that would be a rather unusual case. Most of the time, the only thing that attending a conference shows is that you had access to enough money to be able to register and show up. I, at least, would see a list of conferences attended as filler.
> 12 votes
# Answer
It may not be a big achievement just to *attend* a conference, however participation with the poster and especially oral presentation I think could be mentioned, especially by students who may not have any publications yet.
Conferences should be listed separately, not confusing them with peer reviewed publications that are much more significant achievements. This list must include the header of your poster or presentation, co-authors, not just the name of the conference.
After there are enough published serious works, a list of conferences does not make much sense.
> 1 votes
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Tags: conference, mathematics, cv
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thread-30039
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30039
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What can be an exceptional record of teaching?
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2014-10-16T03:12:30.010
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# Question
Title: What can be an exceptional record of teaching?
When an academic apply for a faculty position, the main criteria of selection are usually his record of research and teaching (and other academic affairs).
For the case of research, it is straightforward: research publications, other research outputs, funding, etc.
But how one can have an exceptional record of teaching and academic affairs?
When someone has many high impact papers, he can be confident about his research records. With what records, one can be confident about his teaching/academic records?
# Answer
The following points would contribute to a good teaching record:
* **List of courses** that someone has given. Note that this shows the quantity of teaching, but not the quality. Still, I would consider it the key part of someone's teaching record, and to some extent quality might improve with quantity in this case.
* Undergraduate and graduate **student theses** that one has supervised. Some measure of teaching quality might be how well the theses were done (e.g. prizes/publications), even though this says more about the student than about the teacher.
* **Teaching evaluations** from students. That's probably the best way to really assess the quality of teaching.
* A formal **teaching qualification** and any **teaching prizes** will be a nice bonus, of course.
> 4 votes
# Answer
Defining or even giving an example of an exceptional record is hard. An easier thing is to compare two things, and see which one is more exceptional. So:
* you have only taught one course (perhaps multiple times) or you have taught a great number of courses.
* you have taken over courses that already existed, or you have introduced a topic to your department for the first time
* you have taught only undergrads, or at all levels within your university
* you have taught only your own department, or throughout your university
* you teach in one very narrow area, or a number of difficult topics
in all these cases, the second is more exceptional than the first. Then consider things like being nominated for (or winning) awards or commendations, and you can start to tell a story. Some rare people will have achievements like "so many students want to be in my section of this course that I lecture in a 1000-seat hall" and while this is certainly exceptional, you can construct a good tale of why you're great even if you don't have that particular anecdote.
To me, it's put important to put your claim and the evidence together in a paragraph that starts by asserting your claim ("I have an exceptional teaching record") and goes on to back that up by listing what you've taught - or just stating a number if it's too many to list - and what's exceptional about your record. Don't just include a whole pile of facts about you and hope people will realize this means you're a great teacher. Show that you are and claim that you are.
> 1 votes
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Tags: teaching, faculty-application
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thread-29018
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29018
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How to remove gender bias from an academic job search?
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2014-09-26T02:09:58.730
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# Question
Title: How to remove gender bias from an academic job search?
I overheard some professors discussing the next round of hiring at my university and several were concerned about gender bias possibly playing an issue in the hiring process. An initial thought is to just go through CV's and black out an applicant's name. However, an academic job search makes it much more difficult to do this. Not only do applicants have CV's, but there are also typically 3 letters of recommendations as well as publication lists (which might reveal the identity of an individual if the paper is known by some of the hiring panel).
Some suggestions that were thrown out involve trying to find a way to scan through 2-300 applicant materials and black out/replace gender pronouns and names. From browsing StackOverflow, there is apparently quite a bit of difficulty with this from a programming perspective. Still, it seems the most efficient way to remove as much gender bias as possible in the process but doesn't seem to be widely used.
> What are some of the best ways a hiring panel can remove gender bias from the application process?
This question could also potentially extend to ways to generally remove other forms of bias, such as ethnic bias.
# Answer
Bias exists at many points of the hiring process. You suggested blinding the search committee to applicant gender but, as you point out, this is extremely difficult to do perfectly and completely broken by even small failures. For obvious reasons, blinding will also not be particularly relevant after you start interviewing candidates. I like the other suggestions to provide training to sensitize the committee to issues of gender bias.
Beyond that — and if your university policies allow it — you might also decide now (i.e., before the search) to interview at least one male and at least one female candidate. This way, you will give the best male and female candidates a full chance to convince you that they are right for your department. This ensures that at the top person of each gender makes it through the earlier stages of the process where gender bias may very well play its biggest role. At the interview stage, blinding would not have worked anyway.
This kind of policy is unusual but not unheard of. The most famous example I know if is the Rooney Rule in the US National Football League which requires that all teams interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs. Although this is sometimes cited as an example of affirmative action, it does not mandate any preference or quota to candidates within the pool of those being interviewed. If you're doing it right, it does mean that the very best candidates from under-represented groups will always have an opportunity to show their stuff at the final round.
If you found out that best person from the under-represented groups is really not as good as the best person from the over-represented group, at least you'll know that you gave the best member from each group a full hearing.
**Update:** I will point out that this answer basically assumes that all of your candidates will present as either male or female. As a result, is it very limited in the case of non-gender conforming candidates. These candidates may also be subject to even greater discrimination and this approach will not solve (and could even aggravate) those problems.
> 21 votes
# Answer
I think there are two approaches. The approach your question focuses on is blinding of the panel to the gender of the applicant. Doing this, may actually increase gender bias. By blinding the search panel to the gender of the applicant, it becomes very difficult for things like maternity leave to be taken into consideration. The better way to remove, or limit gender bias, is to provide training to the search panel about gender bias in academia and help them become aware of any biases they might have.
> 8 votes
# Answer
One simple and extremely effective step is to start tracking metrics on the candidate pool at every stage of the process. Let's say you're looking at how your department hires assistant professors. Then you might track:
1. What percentage of Ph.D. holders in the field are women?
2. What percentage of the applications you receive are from women?
3. What percentage of the short-listed candidates are women?
4. What percentage of the interviewed candidates are women?
5. What percentage of the offers made are to women?
6. What percentage of the accepted offers are taken by women?
7. What percentage of the professors who advance toward tenure are women?
Now you've got actual data on what your pipeline looks like and can look for where the leaks are. If the fraction of females in the pool changes significantly at any particular stage, then that's where to focus your energy. Likewise, if the base fraction in the field is lower than you want in your institution, you can use your metrics to decide where to try to enrich the pool with good candidates. Obviously, the same approach can be applied for other disadvantaged groups as well.
I personally think this type of approach is a critical addition to the toolbox of addressing bias, because it lets you scientifically study your institution's process. You may discover things that surprise you. For example, the colleagues who I learned about this from discovered that the later stages of the hiring pipeline they were dealing with were actually OK, but that the percentage of women applying in the first place was much lower than the percentage of women in the field. That meant (to everybody's surprise) that the problem was primarily in the way that positions were being advertised and recruited for, rather than in the interviews themselves, and so that was the process that fixes were targeted at.
> 8 votes
# Answer
As a former programmer, I can confirm that it would be quite difficult to do this purely in a programmatic way. Take my name, for example. From my name, you can probably guess that I am male. If you had a computer program looking at my resume, how would you remove the word "Evan"? Keep in mind that it's easy for a human to know that that's my name, but difficult for a computer to know. Computers are very fast, but also dumb - they'll do exactly what you tell them to do, no more, and no less. Sometimes this is problematical with programming when whet you're telling them isn't what you think you're telling them, but that's another discussion entirely.
If you want a truly blind resume / cover letter / letter of recommendation review, you'd need either a manual approach needing humans who aren't involved with the hiring committee and won't report what they saw to black out the names and the pronouns used in all of these documents. Ideally, they'd be retyped with gender neutral terms such as "that person" instead of "he / she", so you won't have someone trying to squint under a blacked out ink trying to read it. People are curious - it'll happen if you let them.
There's also a hybrid approach: use computers do to the easy part, and people do the hard part. The easy part would be getting rid of all the he / she / him / her words in documents and replacing them with a gender neutral word / phrase of your choosing. The hard part would be doing the same thing with names.
The reason this is hard for computer is simple: how does the computer program doing the parsing know that what it's seeing is a name? It doesn't, unless you have some way of telling it. In an ideal world, word documents or PDFs would have metadata with a field clearly identifying that this is a name, but I doubt such a feature exists - at least in Word. PDFs probably do support this, but again, whether or not Adobe Acrobat supports this isn't the issue, but rather the issue is whether or not the appropriate metadata is embedded in the document.
> 2 votes
# Answer
A way to implement gender neutral CVs for the first round of selection would be to ask applicants to give a preliminary gender neutral file along their full application. This short CV would be asked to contain only information that does not permit to guess the gender of the applicants, at least not easily (e.g. publication lists with names replaced by the number of author and the position of the applications, etc.)
This can only be used to a very first round of selection, and letters of recommandation would have to be only used in the subsequent round, or the recommandants should be asked to make them gender neutral and without the name of the applicant.
> 2 votes
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Tags: university, job-search, application, faculty-application, gender
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thread-30043
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30043
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In what situations would it be appropriate to include one's photograph in a CV?
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2014-10-16T05:16:47.877
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# Question
Title: In what situations would it be appropriate to include one's photograph in a CV?
I think I have only seen one CV where a photograph of the CV owner was included. I personally wouldn't want to put my photograph in my CV, but I was wondering, **in what situations would including a photo if oneself within the CV be appropriate?**
# Answer
In the United States, you should never include a photo in an academic CV. It comes across as somewhat inappropriate, like you are deliberately drawing attention to your appearance and hoping it will influence the decision. (I know that's not actually the intent, but many people's gut reaction upon seeing the photo will be "Why is the applicant showing me this? Do they think I should know what they look like before making a decision? How is that supposed to be relevant?") If you are from a country in which photos are often included, then that will be understood as a reasonable explanation, but it will stand out as foreign. If you aren't from such a country, then it will look bad.
> 34 votes
# Answer
If you apply for a job or for grad school in Germany, a photo will be more than appropriate (unless there are other rules or specific forms for the position or school). Indeed it is quite the norm to have a photo on your CV for job applications in Germany (both inside and outside academia). However, if you have a CV attached to, e.g., a grant proposal, then a photo would look strange.
> 22 votes
# Answer
First, there is no clear cut right or wrong here and the short answer as I see it is that there is no question of appropriateness, but maybe of impact.
I see quite a few CVs at different stages in academia and the majority lack photos but a fair number carry them. From my perspective, I would say that persons in or aiming for academic education are the ones that to a larger extent add photos to their CVs. People applying for higher academic jobs, after their PhDs, do it less. The latter is likely due to the fact that when applying for such a job it is the merits (publications, teaching experience etc.) and the experience in research which receives all focus. An image is irrelevant.
So why will (mainly) younger persons add photographs? I agree that tradition (e.g. in different countries) plays a role. I can also imagine that it may seem like a good way to present themselves amongst a more anonymous mass. Whether or not this is successful, I am not certain. But, it is true that these applications stick out and are noticed and for good reasons. As social beings we are used to see faces and communicate with persons so an image may have an effect. Unfortunately, due to irrelevant reasons but hopefully in very few instances, some people may also let the picture influence their views of applicants that overshadow the official selection criteria but that is another story.
To add to the picture, most people have personal web pages of a facebook page with images of oneself and other things related to life and activities. A link to such pages (e.g. through a QR patch) could be more efficient to relate personal traits and interests than a photograph in a CV. This does not mean that all will take the time to see the pages.
So for any academic use, I do not see an image as important. Use of a link to social media incl. web pages may suffice, if one thinks there is something valuable to see there. So the appropriateness is not an issue as I see it but the positive effect, if any, may decrease with time since important assessment criteria are progressively filled with information.
> 10 votes
# Answer
My rule of thumb is to **put a photo on a CV when there is a chance it will help you**. Have you spoken on a conference and you want to be easily recognised by someone who could have seen you there? Have you talked to someone important, who happens to see a lot of people, and you want your CV to better remind them of you? Is the photo required officially or by local culture\*? Then yes, put your (smiling) face on the CV .
On the other hand, if there is a strict anti-discrimination policy in place at the particular institution, that discourages photos on CVs, then you better avoid sending yours with a photo.
* As @Dirk mentions, it is appropriate to attach a photo to your CV if the recipient is in Germany (my current employer is a German company and I can say the photos are very useful very often), in the neighbouring Czech Republic, however, a CV with a photo is rarely seen and not really required.
> 9 votes
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Tags: etiquette, cv, graphics
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thread-30040
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30040
|
How to express dissension as a grad TA while maintaining professionalism
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2014-10-16T03:35:26.630
|
# Question
Title: How to express dissension as a grad TA while maintaining professionalism
I have a problem with the courses I'm TAing. I am a math PhD student at a large (supposedly good) state university where the lower-division math classes are taught in the "discussion section" format (i.e. students go to a big lecture with clickers three days a week, and attend 30ish person sized recitation with a TA once a week). I teach three of these recitations.
When I first came here several years ago, I was shocked by the low quality of the courses I was assigned to. This was supposed to be a good school, yet the students are treated without respect, held to no standards, and come out knowing virtually nothing. Furthermore, there are strict limitations imposed on TAs, to the point where I feel that I am being actively prevented from teaching anything to my students. A breaking point came for me recently when my course coordinator made it mandatory for us to assign online quizzes through a third party "online instructional application," instead of administering handwritten quizzes in class. I have *very* strong objections to this, for multiple reasons that I could elaborate on, but they are not the point of this post.
The point is, I feel gross. I'm being forced to teach in a way that I find unethical and unreasonable, and every attempt that I have made to bring up an issue in the past has been met with complete inflexibility. It seems to be the culture of the department to dismiss the opinions of its graduate students.
I don't know how else to state my objections. I know I'm not in charge, and I don't want to be unprofessional, but I want to be heard. I have given serious thought to resigning with a public letter. However, even with that sacrifice, I'm not sure anyone would listen.
Is there anything I can do? How should I handle this situation?
# Answer
> 25 votes
I would strongly recommend against doing anything dramatic, such as resigning or publicly denouncing the course. I feel bad about discouraging acting on your beliefs, but I think it could actually hurt your career. There are two reasons for this:
First, the topic of how to teach low-level mathematics courses has become contentious and politicized in recent decades. Unless this is actually your scholarly specialty, it's safest not to get too dramatically involved, particularly as a grad student. The problem is that you can easily find people who will embrace you as a champion or martyr, whichever side you are on. Even if you are sober and self-restrained (which would probably rule out a public letter), other people on your side will say provocative things and attract negative attention while supporting you. Controversy is dangerous for academic careers, since it's generally easier to veto hiring someone than to generate an offer. So if you acquire equal numbers of friends and enemies, your enemies can hurt you more than your friends can help you. Plus, if you want a research career, being known for inflexible opinions about low-level teaching will distract attention away from your research accomplishments. That distraction can be a problem even for people who agree with you.
Second, you risk coming across like a worrisomely disruptive colleague. Most math departments contain at least one faculty member who regularly takes fervent stands on seemingly minor issues. They feel they have logically analyzed these issues, and they can't in good conscience cooperate with anything other than what they see as the logical option, since that would be a betrayal of the basic principles underlying mathematics. Coordinating with others or compromising play no role in the analysis, and it doesn't really matter how important the issue itself is (what matters is standing up for what's right). These people drive everyone else nuts, since they make it impossible to get anything done without either giving in to them about their pet issues or spending hours debating.
I'm not saying you are necessarily disruptive in this way. You have chosen an important topic to get upset over, and you might be completely right about it. However, if a hiring committee hears that you resigned in disgust upon being asked to administer online quizzes, they will wonder what else you might make a fuss over. This could put them off even if they agree with your concerns about teaching, and there's no way to reassure them that it's really just this one issue.
So what can you do while avoiding these dangers? One approach is to let the faculty handle this fight. If every faculty member disagrees with you, then your cause is hopeless in the short term and it's best just to calm down and finish your Ph.D. program without too much controversy. If some of them do agree with you, then it's not likely that publicly joining them as a grad student will shift the balance of power in the department. Instead, you can try to get your future TA assignments in courses they teach, while encouraging them behind the scenes in their attempts to change the department's approach.
To the extent you take direct action, I'd look for approaches that don't cause extra work for anyone else. For example, if you resign, then someone will have to find a replacement for you (so they'll automatically be upset about it). But you might be able to improve the course by strategic volunteering. Could you prepare optional handouts meant to deepen the students' knowledge? Could you offer a few additional review sessions before exams? These sorts of things aren't going to effect the fundamental changes you seek, but they could at least make you feel better about having done something rather than nothing, and they may build some goodwill with the lecturer by showing that you really want to help the students.
# Answer
> 19 votes
Many new graduate students have idealized ideas about teaching. You should ask yourself whether your opinions are based on a long experience of teaching at similar schools, or only based on your impressions as a new TA of "how things should be".
In my experience in the math departments at two 40,000+ student state universities, many new GAs have an idealized viewpoint that doesn't match reality. Here are a few important aspects of these schools that I didn't recognize when I first arrived at one:
* The typical student at a large state university is not as strong as many incoming GAs imagine. This is true even at highly-rated institutions. Yes, the students can do something - they are decent students. But the university has no way to find 10,000 "graduate-quality" high school seniors each year to admit as freshmen. Many of the students they do admit will still struggle with calculus, organic chemistry, and other traditionally "hard" courses.
* At a large institution, many of the students who don't struggle with calculus already took it and can place out of it, or will sign up for an honors calculus course if there is one to take. So the calculus classes aren't a representative sample of the student body, which increases the effect from the previous paragraph.
* Especially at large schools, students complain about unequal treatment. If every section of the calculus course ran differently - especially if some TAs decided to impose stricter standards than others - the likely result would be formal complaints by the students, which the departmental administration would have to resolve. So it is often a *goal* of the course coordinator to prevent each TA from making their section much different than other sections.
A new GA only enters the program once, but faculty see a new crop of GAs every year. These new GAs are unfamiliar with the history of the department, and they do not attend the administrative meetings where the relevant faculty talk about how they want the courses to run. But the GAs often have opinions about how the courses *should* be run which the faculty know would be disastrous if implemented. The general tone of the question above sounds to my ear like the type of complaint permanent faculty have probably heard from many previous graduate students, so I'm not surprised if they quickly dismiss it.
From the outside, it sounds as if the coordinator of your class is doing things to try to maintain quality. Using clickers in lecture, and using an online quiz system, are ways to increase student participation.
With that said, let me answer:
> Is there anything I can do? How should I handle this situation?
As a TA, do your best in the situation you are in, and learn from your experience. Once you graduate, the format of the calculus course you once taught will be a very minor afterthought. If you end up in a position to decide on how calculus is taught at another school, you can use your experience then.
If you take up a career in academia, there will be *many* irritating things that you have to do, with little flexibility. You can't win every battle, even if you think the other side is completely wrong. So you have to have a thick skin, and keep a focus on what is really important.
# Answer
> 16 votes
A first important note before I answer the actual question:
> I don't know how else to state my objections. I know I'm not in charge, and I don't want to be unprofessional, but I want to be heard.
From what it sounds like, you *were* heard (you have been given the chance to voice your objections on multiple occasions). The persons in charge just decided to not follow through with your suggestions, which is, in the abstract, completely ok for them to do (they are in charge, and you are not).
I feel this is an important distinction to make - from what you have written in the post, there is nothing that rings a big alarm bell of grossly unethical behaviour to me. Yes, the thing with the commercial provider could be due to somebody personally profiting from the contract, but it could just as well be that the persons in charge honestly think that handling quizzes electronically will improve class. There are strict limitations on what TAs can do and teach in many big courses in many universities, this is often simply required for coordination between different recitation groups. That you feel the students are treated without respect and "come out knowing virtually nothing" sounds dramatic, but I am not entirely sure whether this is a fact or just your personal impression.
One interesting question would be how other TAs and the undergrads see the situation. Are other TAs also of the impression that the quality in the courses is much lower than it could be? Do the students also feel treated without respect? If you have not done so yet, I would suggest you to verify that your opinion is indeed shared by a majority of the other involved stakeholders - and, if this is not the case, reflect critically whether you are just overreacting.
> Is there anything I can do? How should I handle this situation?
It sounds like you did what you could do (bring up your concerns with the responsible persons), and they decided to dismiss your concerns. At this point, you have basically two options:
* *Quit TAing* \- some statements in your (well-written) question sound like you have reached a level where you cannot justify working on the course anymore. In this case, the best thing to do is to leave. However, don't make a big fuss with a public letter etc. - I have seen similar things happen on multiple different occasions, and they *never* led to any substantial change and they *always* led to a plethora of public shaming and scapegoating of the letter writer. Don't put yourself into that position.
* *Go on* \- you have done what can reasonably expected from you in this position (notified the higher-ups, argued your objections), and they have decided to not change. You do not need to have any ethical concerns about leaving things be for now, and just move on teaching the course *even though you personally would do things entirely differently*. You are, as you say yourself, not in charge, so you don't need to beat yourself up over decisions which are not yours to make.
If you select the "go on" option, you can either resign from your cause entirely (and give up all hopes of change), or play the political game. As you are probably well aware, politicians everywhere (not only in congress, but also in companies, faculties, and any other collection of humans) are able to influence decisions that are not actually theirs to make by slowly swaying over the formal decision makers to their cause. This will only work "from the inside", so if you quit, this door is pretty much closed to you.
# Answer
> 3 votes
I would recommend two things:
1. Don't take responsibility for what you don't have authority over. For example, if the students ask why they have to take their quizzes online, the answer is "Because Prof. X said so." If they complain, don't try to justify Prof. X's decision. Just say "I have been explicitly told that I don't have any authority over this matter. You should go talk to Prof. X."
Indeed, you have an opportunity to play good cop - bad cop. The powers that be have set up a system and a series of hoops to jump through. Become an expert on how the game is played. If old exams are publicly available, study them carefully and explain to your students what sorts of questions are likely to appear. If you present yourself as the students' ally against "the system", they will believe you when you give them advice and tell them that they really, really need to do their homework.
2. Keep this in mind in your job search. A lot of small liberal arts colleges pride themselves on offering an experience opposite to what you describe. Do a good job even in an environment you hate, and when twenty employers ask you "Why do you want to work at a liberal arts college?" in ten-minute interviews at the Joint Math Meetings, you will have a very convincing answer.
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Tags: teaching-assistant
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thread-30044
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30044
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Listing talks given at home institution on CV
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2014-10-16T06:06:28.057
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# Question
Title: Listing talks given at home institution on CV
I've given many talks at my home institution, at the undergraduate and graduate colloquiums, and in a few seminars. The list is getting quite long.
**Is it appropriate to list many talks given at my home institution? Does it reflect badly on me?**
# Answer
First of all, it's great that this list is becoming long! It's good to be taking every opportunity you can as a student to practice presentations, and many students try to avoid this rather than embrace it.
Now, as for what to include in the C.V.: while in principle you can include anything, in practice you want the C.V. to convey "here are all of the things I've done that I think are significant". Thus, it's not the question of home institution per se, but the significance of the talk venue that matters. For example: if you were invited to give a talk in a seminar series where most of the other speakers come from other institutions, that's nearly as significant as giving a talk elsewhere. Giving a required talk in the internal graduate colloquium matters much less.
I would recommend keeping some evidence of the fact that you are giving many presentations on your C.V. To keep it from feeling like filler, however, you can compress the "unimportant" talks into a single bullet point, like "NN presentations in internal meetings, seminars, and colloquiums." That conveys the information without feeling spammy. Once you've built up a significant record of giving talks at external venues like conferences and other institutions, then you can drop that bullet point as being assumed.
> 7 votes
# Answer
Internal talks generally carry no prestige since there usually is little to no competition to get a a talk. In fact, it is no unusual for the organizer of internal seminar series to have to resort to begging. Internal talks demonstrate three things. The first is that you are a good departmental citizen and are willing to participate in something the department deems important. The second is that it shows you are actively conducting research. The third is that it shows a willingness to present your research and receive feedback on it.
When to list internal talks on your CV depends on what the CV is for. For an annual review, listing internal talks from the past year is critical. For a promotion review it is generally useful to demonstrate all of your departmental citizenship activities. For a grant application it is probably not useful since funders do not really care if you are a good citizen. For job applications, it is a mixed bag and somewhat depends on your personality and other activities. There are often better activities to demonstrate departmental citizenship, but many of these activities are more painful than giving an internal seminar.
> 3 votes
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Tags: mathematics, cv
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thread-28888
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28888
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What should I do if I've enrolled in a badly organized course?
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2014-09-22T12:57:53.983
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# Question
Title: What should I do if I've enrolled in a badly organized course?
I am nearly finished with my master's degree. Recently, I enrolled in a required course that is a terrible mess. I'd like to wait another year, and take it again with an instructor who has their stuff together and will actually answer student questions and prepare lessons that match the exams. Delaying graduation seems preferable to wasting more time on this course.
* Some classmates gave the teacher what I believe are reasonable suggestions, but the instructor just gave excuses.
* I looked all through the course catalog, but only see policies that assume students are the problem-makers. For instance, after one week into the term, students get no tuition refunds and a "W".
* I'd rather not create problems for the instructor, who is new to this job.
Are there any steps I can take to clear myself of this mess?
# Answer
> *some have suggested complaining or going to some authority, but offer no specific suggestions about how to do this*
First, you need to understand how the authority chain is structured in academia. Your first course of action is to confront the instructor, which you've already done. The next step up would be the department head, and after that, the dean of the school – but I wouldn't recommend going past the department head with your complaints.
You need to do this very carefully. You need to be level-headed, respectful, factual, and specific. Be sure your case is compelling. In the event of a "he-said/she-said" debate, assume the department head will probably lean toward having the faculty member's back, rather than believing an offended student. Many students are too quick to complain when things don't go their way, making it easy for complaints to fall on deaf and jaded ears.
For example, in the scant details you've provided here:
* *Assignments are graded without rubric*.
I won't dispute the value of rubrics, but this is hardly a grievous offense. Many instructors don't opt to use rubrics.
* *Homework is graded inconsistently with instructions*.
This will be very hard to prove. A lot of assignments are by nature subjective, and it's hard to pinpoint why grades are given the way they are. Students often turn in work that is inconsistent. For example, say I assign some problem to be answered with an essay question. One student gets right to the heart of the matter, but the overall work is sloppy, and it reads like a draft that was hastily written 10 minutes before class. Another misses the point a little bit, but the essay is carefully crafted and has a lot of supporting detail. A third addresses the matter from an angle I hadn't considered before. How are my instructions supposed to cover all those cases, and more? (Moreover, assignment instructions are often very hard to get right the first time around, because you don't yet know how students might misinterpret stated requirements.)
* *Tests are very hard, but contain no relationship to the course assignments and lessons*.
The first part of that is **not** a problem, although the second part is. If you start out by complaining about difficult tests, you may come across as a whiner and get very little sympathy or support. Be very careful about even mentioning that "tests are very hard."
You'll also have to figure out what you want the end goal of your complaints to be. Do you want action taken before the semester is over? Or are you only looking to give feedback so that next year's students don't find themselves in the same unfortunate circumstances? If you're hoping for intervention this term, probably the best you could hope for is for the department head to counsel the instructor, urging him to get his act together before the end of the term. But there are two sides to every story, and, unless your complaints are true on a large level, you're unlikely to get much sympathy. In other words, a bad question here and there on an exam is part of getting a new course underway, as are confusing assignments. If these are just normal "growing pains," you'll come off as a malcontent. On the other hand, if these are verifiable, wholesale shortcomings in the ability to conduct a course fairly and effectively, you might get a department head to step in, and urge the professor to get his act together. Even then, though, you'll probably have to make it to the end of the course, and you might see very little improvement. It's unlikely that the instructor will be reassigned midstream.
In short, you'll have to convince the department head that this faculty member is bordering on incompetence, and that it's not merely a case of an unpopular professor. This might be a tough sell.
> 7 votes
# Answer
I have seen cases where the instructor is given a module just two weeks before it starts, has no time to prepare, and might not have the proper background to teach it.
You might consider that the instructor is doing his/her best with what they have to work with. You might consider talking with the instructor to see what they believe you should be doing in order to succeed in the course. If they say "read the book" then you should read the book and study with little support.
Not all instructor are good and some are good but in a bad situation (that is, a situation not of their own making but rather one forced upon them). Either way, talk with them and find out what you can do to succeed.
> 16 votes
# Answer
I haven't seen this suggested...
How connected are you to the other students in the course? Is it possible for you to meet as a group with the department chair?
You've got little power in the situation, but one thing you do have in your favor is that a new instructor is unlikely to fail a huge proportion of the class, particularly if those students have politely met with the department chair to express their concerns and provide samples of the lectures, homework and exams.
You can't get out of the class, but you can make it advantageous for the instructor to give everyone a good grade.
> 5 votes
# Answer
*Warning:* my answer might be out of focus for you because it takes into account only the information on your question, while some of your comments complement that information.
Unfortunately, some instructor do waste students' time by doing a very poor job; I'll assume this is the case here (but note that sometimes students feel that a course is done very badly but realize later that they learned more than they expected: student need not know better than instructors what they really need).
Here is basically what I told to students complaining that their instructor made the course impossible to follow when I was responsible for a 500 students, 20 instructors course (they were not the first to complain about these instructors, and I had other evidence preventing me to blame them for the problem): I know your teacher is not the teacher you would have wanted, but I cannot do anything beside reporting the issue to him, which will certainly not solve the problem instantly. We have the same issue as teachers, having some students that often do not know the prerequisites for the course, are not willing to learn them as we tell, and/or do not believe us when we say that the course needs a fair amount of personal work. *Both teachers and students should do their best in the situation they are given,* which means that you can and should try to talk with your teacher to mitigate the issues you have, but at the same time be prepared for the issue not to be solved before the end of term, and find a way to learn what you have to learn. There are books, there are other students with whom to work, etc. If you think it is best, don't waste time with the instructor's course and learn by yourself while keeping in touch with the important information (homework, exam dates, etc.)
So to state this again in fewer words, it seems much more efficient for you to make your best to master the course content, judging this content from the syllabus and what related books discuss, rather than expecting next year's instructor to be better.
I would say that the expected outcomes of such an attitude should be:
* you learn valuable things and pass the exam, because ultimately it tested what you learned,
* you learn valuable things and pass the exam, because your institution realizes that there is an issue and makes it right somehow,
* you learn valuable things and fail the exam, which turns out to be indeed impossible.
Even in the last case, you get more from this attitude than dropping the course altogether.
**Edit:** this answer was written under the assumption that the class is mandatory, as I (mis-?)understood the question. Of course, for a class that is not needed or that can be switched with another, then these would be options to consider seriously. If the course can be delayed without losing the benefit of the other courses, this would also be an option to consider. So my answer is really about what to do if dropping or failing the course implies one has to take the whole year again.
> 3 votes
# Answer
My thoughts:
First, you need to make sure that the problem is the instructor and not you. Are a large number of other students having the same problems? In my experience, it is also often the case that a class appears badly taught to a student who is missing something key about the material. For example, when I was a grad student TAing for an artificial intelligence class, we often had people complain that we tested them on different material than we had taught them. In fact, however, they were missing the point: the real material was the methodologies for decomposing problems, not the particular examples of problem decomposition that had been used to teach this methodology. Their classmates who had grasped the key idea of the class, however, had no problems.
If, however, the problems are really a matter of the instructor giving a terribly badly organized course, then I think that your third premise (don't want to cause trouble because they are new) is fundamentally flawed.
If this instructor is expecting to have a career involving teaching, it's much better to have serious problems brought up early, where they can become part of a "plan for improvement" rather than several years down the line, where they are part of a pattern that will get them fired. Most departments really do care about teaching (among other things, because it affects the number of students they get and thus their resources within the institution), but often don't have a lot of resources available to devote to *managing* teaching.
You have an academic advisor in the department, yes? Go to that person with a report of the widespread problems, and ask their help. It's unlikely that anything will actually be able to change this semester (schedules are set too far in advance), but:
1. It will help establish a record that can cause things to change in the future.
2. Your academic advisor will be able to help figure out how to deal with the matter of credits in your program, and whether it's better to drop or to grind through or to attempt some sort of petition (in many departments, you can do anything if the right three people are willing to sign the right piece of paper)
> 3 votes
# Answer
I would not recommend going over your professor's head at this point. At least, it is not clear that you have done everything possible to turn the situation around. I'm hoping that your goal is to understand the content of the class so that you are not wasting the term.
I think that, instead of asking the professor to change, you should approach him under the premise that you want to adapt to do better in the course. To do this, I would propose the following strategy:
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1) You want to understand the grading of the homework. So go to your professors office each week with your graded homework and tell him/her you want to find strategies for doing better on future assignments. Ask to go over the assignment to learn how/why you lost points.
DO NOT ASK FOR POINTS BACK. If the grading is fair, you will get a better sense for what is expected. If it is not fair, s/he will likely recognize this as you go through the assignment, and might offer to regrade it without prompting. Be polite and engaged with the material. You want your professor to take an active interest in your success in the class.
2) The midterm may or may not have anything to do with the content of the course. At the master's level you should be expected to go beyond regurgitation and apply your knowledge. Take your graded exam to your professor and tell him/her you want to learn the material better. If you do not understand how a particular problem is connected to the course, it is okay to say so. But, don't make it seem like it is the professor's problem. Remember, you are trying to learn. You might say something like "could you explain how you think about this problem? I didn't see how to solve it using the techniques from class."
Again, DO NOT ASK FOR POINTS BACK. Give your professor the opportunity to help you understand the test. If some aspect of the test is unfair, allow your professor to realize this on his/her own. As before, be positive and engaged. You do not want your professor to feel threatened.
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In summary, I'd like to remind you that professors are people too. If you only give negative feedback, you are unlikely to get the outcome you want. If you are not receiving the support in class to succeed, it is okay to get more help outside of class. However, this is going to also require more work on your part.
It is going to create more work for your professor as well. If other students struggling in the class do the same thing, this will amount to a lot more work, and may be enough incentive for the professor to make the changes you are looking for. Just make sure you keep your interactions polite and respectful.
If, in the end, this strategy doesn't work, you will have taken concrete steps to improve the situation. This will be important if you ultimately feel you need to take the issue to the department chair.
> 2 votes
# Answer
If you are about to finishing your master degree I strongly suggest not to postpone this course another year. Study for it with the material the professor gave you and if you find that something is missing or not clear speak with the professors.
Doing a master degree is not only about having good professors and learning from them. You are also supposed to learn (a little) by yourself. Not like a PhD student, of course.
If you want to help your professor in getting the course better talk to him. Going through his superiors is not helping.
> 0 votes
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Tags: coursework
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thread-30071
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30071
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Apply for a cluster for scientific computing from a developing country for academic use?
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2014-10-16T16:06:07.980
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# Question
Title: Apply for a cluster for scientific computing from a developing country for academic use?
I don't have access to a computer cluster in my university. Is there website that accepts applications for free access to a computer cluster for scientific computing?
Further information: I am in Cuba. I need something on the order of 30 processors, about 50 GB of hard drive, for a week or so. I need to run programs written in C++ and Python.
# Answer
> 2 votes
This doesn't quite answer the question, but in case you have *some* funds available (but not enough to buy a cluster): Various cloud services - Amazon in particular but probably others - will let you "spin up" a temporary compute cluster on their servers. You pay for this by the minute, or sometimes by more complicated systems where the price is according to demand.
For small projects this approach can be quite economical, and so may be feasible in some circumstances where access to a dedicated system is unaffordable.
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Tags: application
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thread-30081
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30081
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Access to student records/grades
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2014-10-16T19:36:52.577
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# Question
Title: Access to student records/grades
Is it common practice within colleges/universities to allow all faculty within a division access to all student records within that same division? (i.e., all Health Science faculty having access to all Health Science student records)
Wouldn't this violate FERPA?
# Answer
> 5 votes
Reading FERPA, this clause states that it is appropriate given certain circumstances.
> However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR § 99.31):
* School officials with *legitimate educational interest*;
* Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes;
* Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student;
* Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school;
These would be closest to those that matched what you asked.
So if, for example, your HS faculty wanted to average everyone's GPA individually, he could potentially do that, as long as he doesn't post all the names in public.
# Answer
> 2 votes
FERPA allows for "school officials" to access confidential records when they have a "legitimate educational interest". From the U.S\> Deprtment of Education web site:
> One of the exceptions to the prior written consent requirement in FERPA allows "school officials," including teachers, within a school to obtain access to personally identifiable information contained in education records provided the school has determined that they have "legitimate educational interest" in the information. Although the term "school official" is not defined in the statute or regulations, this Office generally interprets the term to include parties such as: professors; instructors; administrators; health staff; counselors; attorneys; clerical staff; trustees; members of committees and disciplinary boards; and a contractor, volunteer or other party to whom the school has outsourced institutional services or functions.
So it is not *on its face* a violation of FERPA for professors to have access to student records.
In practice, many schools impose their own restrictions *tighter than FERPA*. Sometimes the school describes these restrictions as "FERPA requirements", when they are actually just the (conservative) advice of the school's own lawyers, rather than literal mandates from FERPA.
Due to these local policies, at a particular school, other faculty may not have unrestricted access to a student's grades. You'd have to inquire with a particular institution to find out their internal policies about such things.
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Tags: united-states, privacy
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thread-30067
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30067
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Asking a Professor for a review of a university application research supplement
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2014-10-16T13:32:54.553
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# Question
Title: Asking a Professor for a review of a university application research supplement
As part of the application to a particular university, I can submit a research supplement which is a paper I have written which will be reviewed by the university's faculty. However, it must be accompanied by a letter from a 'research supervisor' regarding the work.
The paper I have written is based on a paper written by a professor from another university, and as I am currently in high school and none of the staff here can review it, I thought it would be great if I could get said professor to write such a letter.
Firstly, would it be appropriate to send such a request, and is it likely to be fulfilled?
Note: For the purposes of your answers, you may assume the paper is in fact correct, and a serious piece of research, which although it presents original results, is 'orthodox.' I am aware professors sometimes get sent crazy letters from people with wacky theories (I've even seen some crop up on the physics SE).
# Answer
> 1 votes
It is definitely not inappropriate. But professors are busy people, and you are likely to be put in the "crank" bin without a detailed reading. Be careful crafting your email, and ask some of the staff at your school to review it to minimise it.
If after a reasonable time you don't get a response, you could try to find a student's association at the university related to your research. They could probably be able to judge it, and take it to the professor in person with their "seal of approval", that is more likely to get his attention.
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Tags: application
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thread-29989
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29989
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Is it ethical for authors to reference another paper, but not cite it formally, because they consider it unscientific?
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2014-10-15T08:35:56.120
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# Question
Title: Is it ethical for authors to reference another paper, but not cite it formally, because they consider it unscientific?
I found in a medical paper from the 1990's a non-citation like this:
> The results and terminology by John Smith, Jane Poe, John Doe, Richard Roe, Larry Loe, *Journal of Scientific Papers*, 12345-698 (3), are unscientific \[Brown, 1997; Lawrence 1985\]
So, they want to unequivocally reference the paper by Smith et al; but as they consider it bad, they don't want to give them a citation. I have never seen that before. Also, I am not familiar with the field, so I can't say how bad that paper is.
Citations are considered as a measurement of the impact of a paper, and as such, a proxy for its quality. On the other hand, people cite papers even to criticise them (you did it all wrong, people!).
Is this non-citation ethical? How bad would the paper have to be to justify it?
# Answer
> 42 votes
As editor I would not accept this in a publication. If it is published it should be referenced. Yes, it bumps the references for the authors and yes, bad science may attract a fair amount of citations for all the right?/wrong? reasons. But, it is not up to the authors to decide how referencing should be made, journals have guidelines that should be followed. Having the citation properly referenced makes it easier for others to find the article and see it for themselves.
Furthermore, from another point of view the statement that something is "unscientific" is not appropriate either. It is an opinion. The cited paper can be unscientific but the academic way to show this is not to just say it but to prove it.
Your quote is a specific case, of which I know nothing, so the reply concerns the general case but I would react if I saw something like that in a paper I edit and I would ask the authors to stick to facts.
One last point is that if a paper is really bad, then it should be considered for retraction. That is how scientifically extremely poor, bordering on dangerous, papers are handled.
# Answer
> 19 votes
> "Citations are considered as a measurement of the impact of a paper, and as such, a proxy for its quality."
Many people, including me, agree that these considerations are not appropriate; the second even more so than the first. However, using a practice as you describe, i.e. citing a paper but not adding it to the bibliography, could work in the direction that citation indeed stand a bit more for "impact" and "quality". However, since are so many more flaws with the impact factor and bibliometrics as a measure for anything else than the number of citations (such as self-citations, citations "forced" by reviewers, citations rings in the vanity press, citing without reading the paper…) I would say that it does not make sense to use a practice of citing without citing.
My brother proposed a "markup" for citations which goes in the same direction, i.e. something like
```
\cite[negative]{PaperWithSevereErrors}
\cite[community feeling]{PopularPaperWithNoSpecificRelation}
\cite[please journal editor]{AnyPaperOfEditor}
\cite[enforced by a referee]{SuggestedPaper}
\cite[proof or evidence elsewhere]{TechnicalPaper}
```
but I guess that this proposal has to be taken with a grain of salt…
In another direction: Citations say on what work you build your own. If there is a paper which you find horrible and which you do not build upon, is there a need to cite it? If you simply want to bash some others work, use a blog post, or probably even don't do it at all. However, if you think that the respective paper is bad but used by others nonetheless and want to emphasize in what way it is flawed than you have to cite it properly as your contribution really builds upon that paper.
# Answer
> 10 votes
It's most certainly bad form. Let's say you read a paper that you believe is wrong, and you want to write a paper saying how wrong it is.
If you cite the paper, yes, the wrong paper will get the citation, but when people who know how to use the literature (less and less every year -- sigh) look up the original paper, they have a fair chance that bibliographical tools will point them to the new paper. This should help correct the literature, and prevent the wrong paper from being cited for years to come. The citations will eventually die down for the wrong paper.
In contrast, if you don't cite it, it will be harder for the community to learn that its wrong-- thus YOU ARE HURTING YOUR FIELD by not using every tool at your disposal to correct the literature!!
As to ethics, it's certainly not plagiaristic with the full citation appearing in the text. You're not trying to hide anything. It's just wrongheaded and somewhat petulant, but I'm not sure I would call it an ethical breach of real magnitude. It certainly doesn't make the author look good.
# Answer
> 4 votes
A citation is not a recommendation. One of the purposes of citing a paper is that readers of your paper can check what use you have made of it. I would say that this is at least as important when you are criticising that paper as it is in the contrary case. If you criticise the paper and do not make it as easy as possible for the reader to find that paper, then it could be felt that you are hindering any attempt to tell whether or not it is in fact *your* comments that are "unscientific".
(I am sure you understand that this is hypothetical and I am not suggesting that there is any such intention in your own case.)
# Answer
> 3 votes
This looks an awful lot like a reference to a secondary source where for whatever reasons the authors were unable to find primary source (in your example the paper by Smith and colleagues) and instead is relying on the secondary sources by Brown and Lawrence. In APA style this would look like
> In Seidenberg and McClelland's study (as cited in Coltheart, Curtis, Atkins, & Haller, 1993), ...
and wouldn't have the date and journal of the primary source, but there is substantial variation in citation styles.
If, however, the paper by Smith and colleagues is readily available, then it is bad form not to use the primary source and instead rely on the secondary sources.
# Answer
> 2 votes
It's not obviously *ethically* bad, but it's a poor way of going about things. You cite papers for a number of reasons:
* To place your own work in context (to show the way in which your work relates to that of others).
* To help your readers find other papers in the field.
* (Somewhat more tenuously) To demonstrate your own awareness of the broader field in which you work and thereby imply that there might be a slightly higher chance that you know the subject well enough to make your work interesting. (Of course, work done in isolation can also be interesting, so this doesn't entirely hold water.)
* (Sad, but not entirely uncommon) To avoid your paper being sent back by a reviewer who was saddened that his/her own paper wasn't cited.
In none of these cases does citing a paper in and of itself imply that you endorse the contents of that paper. (In the last case, people have been known to say mildly complimentary things, which do count as endorsing the paper to some extent, but the fact of citation itself doesn't.)
As a result, you should cite all papers that you feel are relevant, and explain your views on them in the text. If you think a paper's relevant but rubbish, you can always say things like:
> In \cite{Foo}, Foo et al. described an early method for crawling Bars. This work unfortunately had a number of significant downsides, including its failure to maximise your whiskey intake per unit time. More recent works \cite{Baz} have addressed this issue by focusing exclusively on Whiskey Bars.
It's less helpful to say something like:
> There was some work by Foo et al. that focused on generic Bars and wasn't great. However, the exciting work by Baz and Wibble \cite{Baz}, which focuses exclusively on Whiskey Bars, has addressed this issue.
As a reader, I might still want to read the sub-optimal work of Foo et al. to better understand the limitations of their approach. By citing it, you help me do that.
More generally, judging the quality of a paper by the number of citations is an inaccurate business at best - you can write a bad paper and get all of your friends to cite it, and you can write a good paper that gets ignored. Number of citations tells you a little about the impact your paper has had (if only on your friends in some cases), but nothing about whether it's any good. A bad paper can have a greater impact than a good one.
# Answer
> 1 votes
No. If some existing work is really somewhat pseudoscience only, it is unlikely to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, to start from. However if major flaws have only been discovered after publication, such history must be cited properly, including the published reference to the analysis, why unscientific.
# Answer
> 0 votes
One thing to consider is that one way to judge the quality and impact of a specific publication is to actually look at the references that cite it. If you formally cite it, you will appear in such a list:
> ### Papers citing "A is good", J. Smith et al., *J. Sci. Pa.* 1, 23
>
> \[...\]
>
> * "A is actually terrible", A. Green and B. Black, *J. Sci. Pa.* 4, 56
>
> \[...\]
An unorthodox citation will remove your paper from this, and will deprive people investigating J. Smith et al.'s claims of the chance to easily find your refutation.
I should note that no literature search is really complete until you take at least the key works in the field and look carefully at the papers that cite it, and this is something that people do look at.
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Tags: citations, ethics
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thread-30078
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30078
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Is it ever ethical / justifiable to award additional points to prevent too many students from failing course?
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2014-10-16T18:49:14.593
|
# Question
Title: Is it ever ethical / justifiable to award additional points to prevent too many students from failing course?
Is it acceptable, if too many students in the class would fail otherwise, to award additional points across the board (in the one class, in one semester)?
Would it require approval of the Division Dean? How could this be justified?
# Answer
I would say, in nearly all cases<sup>*</sup>, it's *unethical*. Specifically, if a student's submitted work does not fulfill the requirements for a passing grade, then they do not deserve a passing grade. Arbitrarily adding points that do not reflect the quality of submitted work makes the grade partially or completely useless as an indicator of performance in the class, and if it's not good for that, what's the point?
However, *unethical* does not necessarily mean *unacceptable*. Don't get me wrong, I think it *should*, but I'm not going to impose my moral standards on your grading scheme. Ultimately nobody on this site can tell you whether it's acceptable to do this. Your superiors at your educational institution might be able to, since they'll at least know whether it would violate any of the institution's rules.
In any case, as a few people have mentioned in the comments, arbitrarily adding points to keep students from failing is a band-aid effect. The fact that too many students are failing indicates that there is some deeper problem. Perhaps your teaching is inadequate. Perhaps your grading standards are too harsh. Perhaps the students are not properly prepared for the class. Perhaps your idea of what constitutes "too many students failing" should be revised. And so on.
<sup>*</sup>Speaking of harsh grading standards, this is (the?) one case in which I think it is ethical to add points: to compensate for an overly difficult exam or assignment. This is a little tricky to get right, though. You have to have a preexisting standard to measure whether the exam is at an appropriate difficulty level. For example, in classes I've TA'd for, there has been a longstanding policy that any time the average grade on a test (across ~1000 students) is less than 70%, it will be taken as an indicator that the exam was too hard, and therefore enough points will be added to everyone's exam grade to bump the average up to 70%. Given the large class size, I think this is reasonable.
For smaller classes, you have to consider the possibility that you just have an underachieving group of students one particular year. In another (small) class that I took, each year the instructor would compute the distribution of all grades in the class over the previous *ten* years, compare that to a desired target distribution, and make the course material for the next year harder or easier as needed. From what he told me, it gave pretty consistent results. I think this is a good way to do it.
The key is that you have to have a preexisting criterion for when points will be added. If you look at the grades after the fact and decide, hey, too many students are failing, let me add some points so we all look better - then you're doing it wrong (IMO).
> 5 votes
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Tags: teaching, exams, grading
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thread-30096
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30096
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Should a speaker attend a conference where he/she is required to pay their own registration fee?
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2014-10-17T00:54:58.690
|
# Question
Title: Should a speaker attend a conference where he/she is required to pay their own registration fee?
I have been accepted to present a paper at a conference in a recognised university.
There is no doubt about the 'legitimacy' or public standing of this university as it is recognised worldwide. In addition, it is the management department within the university that is organising the conference. The keynote speakers are recognised and leaders in their fields.
The conference has two streams: peer review and non-peer review. The non-peer review is more like practical / application of theories in practice.
I am located in the non-peer review section and was asked to pay my own registration of $500. There is no assistance for travel etc.
**Is this normal for an international conference?** (I always thought at least the speaker's registration was stand expense that was borne by the conference organisers).
**What are the pros and cons of attending and presenting at such conferences?**
# Answer
Most international conferences are paid for by the registration fees of the attendees. The higher the ratio of attendees to speakers, the more registrations the conference can afford to comp (give for free). When a large fraction of the attendees are also speakers, as is the case with a lot of peer-review-centric conferences, then it's often the case that only the keynote speakers have compensated registration and/or travel. If the conference is close on its budget, even the organizers are expected to pay their own way and their own registration fees. The smaller the conference, the more likely this is to be the case, but even very big ones often expect everybody but the keynote speakers to pay their own way.
In short: yes, this isn't unusual at all.
> 51 votes
# Answer
> (I always thought at least the speaker's registration was stand expense that was borne by the conference organisers).
Absolutely not. Typically, only *invited* speakers do not have to pay registration fees and, sometimes, they get their travelling expenses refunded by the organizers. Conferences may also have reduced registration fees for students and young researchers. All others have to pay full registration fees and travelling expenses.
And these days, probably, not many people attend conferences without being speakers too. Some institutions don't even allow you to attend expensive conferences if you're not a speaker.
> 49 votes
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Tags: conference, fees
---
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thread-30115
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30115
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Would adding anecdotes in statement of purpose be necessary?
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2014-10-17T06:52:58.853
|
# Question
Title: Would adding anecdotes in statement of purpose be necessary?
I am applying to phd programs in the US.
In preparing for the statement of purpose, I consulted some native speakers. I was suggested to add some anecdotes in my statement.
Nevertheless, after a moment's further thought, I found anecdotes occupy the space! And, I am under the impression that, since I am NOT applying to undergraduate programs nor master's programs, simply focusing on introducing my thoughts and research is the best policy.
So would a statement of purpose such that it is specific but it contains no anecdotes be considered less suitable (in whatsoever sense)?
# Answer
In writing, there is a general principle of "show and don't tell" which applies. It's not the question of to anecdote or not per se, but whether the illustration provides some insight into how you are unique. If a (short) anecdote can illustrate something important about your creativity, initiative, or problem-solving skills, then it will help you stand out and can be useful to include.
For example, compare these two statements:
* I founded a student group that teaches underprivileged high-schoolers to program.
* When I was growing up, an important turning point in my education was when a friend's older brother taught me programming. I wanted other people to have the same experience, so I organized some friends and reached out to local teachers. Together, we founded a student group that teaches underprivileged high-schoolers to program.
The second is longer, but it tells a lot more about why what the writer did was significant and shows how they expressed initiative and motivation.
> 6 votes
# Answer
This is only second-hand information, since I am a PhD student in Europe, but I have friends who are now engaged in various US institutions, so I am somewhat familiar with the differences in those application matters between the US and Europe.
The main idea when writing a statement of purpose is to be concise and to-the-point. The admissions committee gets a lot of applications and are typically not interested in anything besides the narrow scope of the document before them. So anything that is longer than a few paragraphs needs an exceptionally good reason to be that long. Since you are limited in this way, it is advisable to make these paragraphs count and stick to your research (both done and planned) and recommendations. I've been even told that it is a good idea to bold out the most important catch phrases, like the names of the professors you collaborated with or papers you may have published.
On the other hand, at least in Europe, the interview is the place to show your eloquence and present your personality in the best light (among other things of course), so a few short well-placed anecdotes don't hurt.
> 4 votes
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions, application, statement-of-purpose
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thread-30128
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30128
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Honor Listed in undergrad. Should it go on the CV for grad applications ?
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2014-10-17T14:34:04.773
|
# Question
Title: Honor Listed in undergrad. Should it go on the CV for grad applications ?
I was placed on the "Honor list" by the university during my undergrad study several times. Students are placed according to their GPAs.
My question, should this be mentioned in the awards and honors section in the CV especially if this CV is forwarded to graduate study somewhere else ? How would they look at it ? (Good, Bad, We really don't care and you wasted our time).
# Answer
> 4 votes
Unless you're under a tight space constraint, there's no harm in having a bullet point in awards and honors saying "N times on Undergraduate Honors List (top x% of students in a year)" or whatever is the correct information. It's slightly different than GPA because GPA is sum total and this is per year. Make sure you have something like the parentheses explaining what it means, because nobody outside your institution will know. Some readers may notice it and have a small positive reaction; some won't care or will find it redundant, but if it's just one bullet point and you don't have a CV full of filler, then they probably won't mind either.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, cv, awards
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thread-30129
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30129
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What documents need to be shredded?
|
2014-10-17T14:55:39.830
|
# Question
Title: What documents need to be shredded?
I prefer paper documents when reviewing manuscripts and grants. While these are confidential documents and generally sent to me electronically, they generally do not come with any instructions not to print them. Am I required to shred them or can I throw them out in my office or put them in the communal recycling bin?
# Answer
> 6 votes
When if comes to reviewing grants and publications, from an ethical perspective, my understanding is that you have three duties:
1. To not compromise the authors' priority in their investigation of their ideas and their ability to capitalize on investments in preliminary work.
2. To not compromise any intellectual property claims through premature release of information.
3. To not expose the authors to potential embarrassment due to the harsh and mocking comments scrawled all over the place in red pen.
If you personally are behaving ethically, then it really comes down to how much you trust your recycling waste stream. Is there any likelihood of a student, colleague, or other malicious agent going through the bin and pulling out the information, either intentionally or just in a search for scrap paper? Shredding is definitely safe, but a low-priority piece of information in a big communal recycling bin with a latch is also certainly exercising a reasonable standard of caution unless you have reason to believe that you or your institution are being targeted for industrial espionage (yes, it happens).
Honestly, though, in most cases the information just isn't important enough to worry about. An incremental paper presenting the next step of a well-established program, a badly written manuscript on its way to a well-deserved reject, a grant proposal filled with "you should totally fund us to keep doing what we're doing"---these sorts of things just aren't of much interest to anybody except the authors and their close colleagues in any case, and are probably perfectly safe in the recycling bin. It's not ideal, but it's also very low risk.
Beyond ethics, I believe that there are also sometimes legal requirements, particularly when it comes to being an external reviewed of grant applications for government agencies. In that case, the best thing to do is to ask the program manager involved.
# Answer
> 2 votes
If it is a bulky document I have just shredded the first few pages and recycled the rest.
Anything with any confidential information I shred or avoid printing off, especially student data.
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Tags: ethics
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thread-30127
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30127
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Does adding "All rights reserved" have no legal usefulness?
|
2014-10-17T14:23:01.837
|
# Question
Title: Does adding "All rights reserved" have no legal usefulness?
My University requires students to add the mention "All rights reserved." on their thesis. The full required copyright notice is "© 2008 Jane Doe. All rights reserved."
However, I have read in a couple of places that the mention "All rights reserved" has no legal significance:
http://www.iusmentis.com/copyright/allrightsreserved/ :
> The phrase was a required element in the 1910 Buenos Aires Copyright Convention. This was a treaty between the United States and most South and Middle American countries. Article 3 of this Convention states:
>
> *The acknowledgement of a copyright obtained in one State, in conformity with its laws, shall produce its effects of full right, in all the other States, without the necessity of complying with any other formality, provided always there shall appear in the work a statement that indicates the reservation of the property right.*
>
> Adding the phrase "All rights reserved" was enough to comply with this article.
>
> The phrase "All rights reserved" indicates that the copyright holder does not want to give up any of the exclusive rights he has under copyright law. This is only relevant for members of the Buenos Aires Copyright Convention.
>
> Today all members of the Buenos Aires Copyright Convention are also member of the Berne Convention. The Berne Convention states that unless explicitly stated otherwise, all rights are reserved. Further, a copyright law may not require any formalities as a condition for copyright protection. Therefore "All rights reserved" has no legal significance anymore.
Wikipedia echoes the same information:
> The requirement to add the "all rights reserved" notice became essentially obsolete on August 23, 2000 when Nicaragua became the final member of the Buenos Aires Convention to also become a signatory to the Berne Convention. As of that date, every country that was a member of the Buenos Aires Convention (which is the only copyright treaty requiring this notice to be used) was also a member of Berne, which requires protection be granted without any formality of notice of copyright.
Is adding "All rights reserved" only a legally insignificant reminder to the reader that author is by default the copyright holder of the piece of work and that he did not give up any of the exclusive rights he has under copyright law? Has the mention "All rights reserved" turned to be useful in the jurisprudence since its legal obsolescence?
# Answer
Currently, copyright is assumed to the authors unless explicitly declared otherwise, and no rights are granted unless explicitly declared. Thus, *de facto* your work is "all rights reserved" even if you don't explicitly state it.
Please do make sure you explicitly state copyright information, however, including name and durable contact information! The assumption of strong copyright protection even without explicit notification is actually a big problem for effective sharing of information both inside academia and outside, because people often reserve more rights than they intend to, and lack of good copyright information makes it difficult to correct this.
A number of organizations are building systems intending to simplify this type of interaction. One of the most notable is Creative Commons, whose licenses your see all over Wikipedia. Other similar ventures and consortia exist for software, electronic hardware, mechanical blueprints, DNA, etc., each of which has its own unique set of IP problems, often intensified by the interaction of copyright with patents and less well-known IP systems such as EU *sui generis* database rights.
> 6 votes
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Tags: thesis, copyright, legal-issues
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thread-30139
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30139
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Is it ethical to ask a graduate student to help me with my paid external research?
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2014-10-17T18:27:16.773
|
# Question
Title: Is it ethical to ask a graduate student to help me with my paid external research?
I have a part-time outside job in addition to being a full-time professor. I'm struggling with performing an analysis that I believe a graduate student would be able to help me with. I suspect the student would be happy to do so, both because of having a nice demeanour and also they enjoy interesting problems and are also applying to PhD programs, so being able to state that they helped me with my research would be to their benefit. I'm not able to easily get my outside employer to hire them as a consultant. Would it be ethical for me to ask for their help with this problem? If I did, should I offer to pay them out of my own pocket (outside salary)? Should I insist on doing so? I'm thinking it would take a few hours. FWIW, I'm not their official advisor, although my colleagues and I share that role in practice.
FWIW, one of the two outside organizations involved in this project is a non-profit, for which some people volunteer the time. (I'm being paid by a for-profit company to do work with a non-profit organization they support.)
UPDATE
After posting the question but before getting any replies, I emailed the student, asking them if they wanted to help, including a link to this question and cc'ing the director of the graduate program and the Provost, as a check on myself.
I just figured out the technical problem I was struggling with, so I no longer need help, and this question is moot. I'll leave this question up, in case it's useful to future readers.
# Answer
> 10 votes
Before anything else, you need to be certain about the legal ground on which you stand:
1. Is the external work that you are doing bound by any sort of non-disclosure agreement or other agreement to which your interactions with the student would be subject?
2. Do the university's terms of employment for the student state anything that whether a student can work externally and under what conditions?
If it's clear from both sides, then if the student will be doing a non-trivial amount of consulting work, they should get paid just like you are getting paid. Almost certainly, they should get paid by the company you are paid by, and not by you (unless you are doing your own work as an LLC or some such entity). A good litmus test is: would **I** be doing this work for free? Clearly, you aren't.
If it were five minutes of work, that might be different. But if it's complex enough that you are struggling with it, it's likely to take hours, maybe many hours, and could impact your students progress in classes or other research projects. In that case, pay is clearly deserved.
# Answer
> 5 votes
I may sound a little strict about this, but when a guy does partly the job you are paid to do, he should get paid for it. Period. It does not matter if he is a graduate student or he thinks he must owe you a favour in exchange for a future reference letter. Slavery has been abolished (at least in civilized countries). You must pay him for his effort's worth. Where this money comes from (your pocket or your outside employer) is for you to decide.
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Tags: research-process, ethics, advisor, consulting
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thread-30080
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30080
|
Is there a Post-doctorate Equivalent for an ABD (All-But-Dissertation) status?
|
2014-10-16T19:18:49.070
|
# Question
Title: Is there a Post-doctorate Equivalent for an ABD (All-But-Dissertation) status?
I am an ABD (all- But-Dissertation) student. I have done all my work, completed my credits, passed my qualifying exams, I passed my oral exams, but I am having trouble finishing my thesis (advisor problems) , and I was wondering if there may be some variant of the standard post-doctorate for people in an ABD status.
EDIT: Basically, are there post-doc programs that will accept someone who did all the work but did not finish their thesis? Or are there programs similar to a post-doc for people who have
SECOND EDIT: I am in a Mathematics Program. Does anyone know of schools that will allow me to transfer with relatively few requirements, i.e., not needing to take years worth of classes?
Thanks.
# Answer
The fundamental misconception is that there can be "someone who did all the work but did not finish their thesis". The thesis is the focus of a Ph.D. program, while coursework and other requirements are nothing but preparation for the thesis and are of negligible importance in comparison. Postdoctoral positions are meant to give people a chance to deepen their research experience beyond what they achieved while writing a thesis. If they haven't written a thesis, then they haven't completed graduate school and do not yet need to move beyond it.
Occasionally people do begin a postdoctoral position without yet having received a Ph.D. This happens when they have completed their doctoral research but have not yet graduated, for example because their institution awards degrees at only a couple of times each year. I've never heard of someone starting a postdoc if their thesis wasn't at least nearing completion, and I think it's so unlikely that it's not even worth looking into (although I can't conclusively rule it out).
Although postdocs per se are not the right program for this, one could reasonably ask whether there is anything else. There are plenty of postdocs intended to help recent Ph.D. graduates gain additional experience, but are there any programs aimed at helping students who are struggling to finish their degrees (perhaps for reasons beyond their control) become successful and productive researchers?
Unfortunately, I don't know of any. The general feeling is that this is the responsibility of the department you are studying in. They know better than anyone else what you have accomplished so far and what your future potential is. If they have faith in you, then they can help you try to find additional funding, transition to another advisor, or whatever might be appropriate. If they don't have faith in you, then it will be difficult to convince outsiders to take up your case. It could happen in theory (if, say, a faculty member somewhere else is impressed with you and helps you transfer), but I don't think it's likely. Looking outside your current department/university will be seen as a sign that they have given up on you, and unfortunately that will tend to put other institutions off.
> 26 votes
# Answer
Simple answer: you can't be a post-doc until you're a doc.
If you want your Ph.D., what you should probably instead be looking do to is to change advisors, within your institution if possible. I know a number of people who have done that, sometimes rather late in the thesis process. You'll likely need to change your research and take more years to complete, but there's nothing shameful about that. Think of it as no different than finding out that your first research project simply wasn't possible to complete.
Alternately, many institutions will allow you to take a Masters and leave, at which point there are still lots of research jobs available in industry, government, and even non-traditional posts in academia such as project research staff.
> 6 votes
# Answer
You can certainly get hired as teaching faculty at a lot of places with those qualifications. But you're not going to get hired into a research oriented postdoctoral position without the PhD.
> 1 votes
# Answer
I know of at least one person who was hired for a postdoc and began work before his dissertation was officially filed. I also know of someone who applied for and was interviewed for a tenure-track job; she didn't get the job, but if she had, she would have begun work before receiving her PhD (and the people offering the job were aware of this).
However, these were both cases in which the people were clearly on track to complete their PhD and simply needed more time to see it through (e.g., more rounds of revisions). In other words, they were not people who hadn't finished their thesis, but people who hadn't finished their thesis *yet* --- the people hiring them were confident that they were obviously going to finish. Indeed, they basically *were* finished with the actual writing, but were just making some revisions in response to committee comments.
You don't say exactly why you haven't finished, but the phrase "advisor problems" suggests it is not just a matter of needing more time to do another round of revisions. No one will accept you if the reason you haven't completed your thesis because you are locked in some sort of stalemate with your advisor. However, they may accept you if you are clearly on track to finish, even if you may not actually officially receive the degree by the official deadline. I would imagine that in most cases the letter of recommendation from your advisor would be a major factor here. If you haven't received the degree yet, but your advisor says your research is coming along nicely and the end is in sight, hirers may be satisfied. If your advisor mentions that the two of you are at an impasse over substantive issues (i.e., he wants you to do something with the thesis that you haven't agreed to do) that will raise a red flag.
As a side note, my impression is that many hirers would not see a problem if you have not officially received the degree yet due to purely procedural problems (e.g., it has been approved by your committee but not yet officially filed because your margins were the wrong size). I gather that is not the nature of your situation though.
> 1 votes
# Answer
There are pre-docs for people who are in their final year. They are usually called dissertation writing fellowships and are more common in the humanities and social sciences.
That being said, they always require a functioning committee in your home university and a strong sense that you will be able to finish and submit your dissertation (at your home university). The fellowship supplements but does not replace your home committee.
My advice is to scrounge and beg together a new committee at your university.
> 1 votes
# Answer
In the UK it is possible to be hired as a research assistant on EPSRC grants. You receive a lower salary until your corrections (if any) are accepted, at which point you're upgraded. It can be a tough grind though if you discover e.g. a gap in your PhD which needs plugging. Your new boss may not be happy either.
In all cases I know of, there is a expectation that you will complete quickly. I certainly don't think anyone would hire you into such a position if you told them you weren't going to finish the PhD. A postdoc is partly for training future faculty.
I have lots of sympathy for advisor problems but really encourage you to persevere with finishing the PhD. It might take another year, possibly living on baked beans, not talking to your advisor much. \[Are there other grad students in your area to chat to?\]
Without a PhD, you might get one (or exceptionally two) assistant positions.. but, realistically, long term you'll be scrabbling for teaching jobs assuming you stay in academia. Not sure about industry jobs.
> 1 votes
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Tags: postdocs, all-but-dissertation
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thread-30117
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30117
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How to get the best of the last half of a PhD?
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2014-10-17T08:41:37.827
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# Question
Title: How to get the best of the last half of a PhD?
I'm a PhD student in Physics with one year and a half to go. My project is at the border between physics and computer science (I am developing a new method to analyse materials). I'm fascinated by computer science and I would prefer not to work in a research center, which seems to be the natural prosecution of what I'm doing. I did research in a number of different field (biophysics, x-rays, neutrons, algorithms), finding out I'm not super talented, but I learn fast and I have some intellectual stamina. I also have some experience as a reporter/journalist.
I like doing research, even if sometimes I find the academic environment a bit boring and alienating. I don't have much working experience outside academia, but I don't exclude the possibility of a non-academic job. I started studying machine learning books to expand my computer skills and employability.
Is there anything you suggest to do to maximize my possibility to land a nice postdoc (ideally in physics/computer science, which should be a way to keep open the possibility to work in the industry, and ideally in the US) or a job as a data scientist?
# Answer
> 4 votes
With regard to:
> I did research in a number of different field (...) finding out I'm not super **talented**, but I learn fast and I have some **intellectual stamina**.
I will try to focus on "talent" and "stamina", two self-evaluation criteria you mention which have not been directly addressed in the comments so far. You set up a contrast between stamina (which I interpret as a combination of curiosity and persistence) and talent (which I interpret as the ability to do more original/creative work with less apparent difficulty). You also mention several specific disciplinary sub-fields of research: xrays, etc.
I wonder if your perception of your "talent" might be more a consequence of the switching you have done between different areas of research, rather than your innate capacity for original research in one or more of these fields.
Research in learning and expertise development suggests that it takes about 10 years of concentrated work in a particular discipline (whether it is chess, car racing, or an academic field) to develop expertise. Once developed, such expertise may be mistaken for talent by a less-trained eye. Your words suggest a judgment formed by comparing yourself to others. If these others happened to be more experienced in a given area of research, then the difference in "time on task" may partly account for your perception of lesser capacity for original research in some ways.
A couple points seem worth making:
1. You probably do want to eventually identify, develop, and apply your talent in some field. Whether it is CS or Physics or something else, it has to be something you should be willing to apply yourself to for an extended period of time.
2. As you decide on your post-PhD path, consider the *disciplinary area* that you think could hold your intellectually engaged for a while. If your interest in research is such that CS is a means to answering questions in other fields, then CS is a means rather than an end for you. This will take you down one particular career trajectory. However, if your interest is in questions in CS proper, this might imply a different trajectory (e.g. a research scientist/programmer in a physics lab, vs. a research scientist in a research center that focuses on computational questions like algorithms, etc (sorry, CS is not my area).
3. Finally, saying that you "like doing research" is a starting point for some deeper reflection. Think about *HOW* you like to do "research" - stated differently, what are the characteristics of a research project that make it exciting and fulfilling to you. A big part of this has to do with the level of "agency" you are comfortable with. Some people find satisfaction in carefully nurturing their own research agendas. They do this by working in a very specific niche for a very long time, spearheading (as a PI) their own grants and building partnerships and communities around a specific theory and/or methodology. Others are less comfortable leading, and prefer following -- rather than agonize over what grant to apply for, they are happy supporting on-going work, where the decisions about the direction of inquiry have mostly been made for them. While both kinds of people may (justifiably) consider themselves "researchers," the differences in approach can lead to very different career trajectories in terms of the role one is shooting for and the kind of institution (size, mission, etc.) that is compatible with each of these roles/goals.
Good luck!
# Answer
> 7 votes
Postdocs are typically useful for two types of things:
1. They build experience as a (semi)independent researcher that is now typically required before you can be considered for a faculty post
2. They are a chance to broaden or shift focus of your research
For example, I know somebody working in robotics whose thesis worked was entirely in simulation due to grad school circumstances, and used the "focus shift" opportunity of a postdoc to get into hardware. So a postdoc is worth considering if you feel that your current work is too narrow to be noticed by the type of organizations you might like to join.
As for where to go next: if you aren't absolutely driven to try to do a faculty job, don't try for it. There is a huge world of non-traditional scientific opportunities out there, which are often hard to be aware of from inside traditional academia. Some things to consider, with a lot of strange ecological niches that you can't even be aware of until you start talking to people in them. Do note, however, that if you aren't a US citizen or permanent resident, then many of these opportunities may be harder for you get due to visa issues.
For pursuing all of these questions, however, the big thing you need to start doing is networking. Get to know more professors in your department than your advisor, especially any ones who have had non-traditional career paths. Go to conferences and meet people. Look for events in your field that are also attended by non-academic researchers (this will likely be more in computer science or material science than physics), and look for the more informal and discussion-oriented attached events like Ph.D. symposia and workshops. If your advisor can help you get introductions, that's the best help you can possibly get, but since you're interested in a non-standard path they might not be able to.
As you meet people, be honest about your situation. There are always a lot of people trolling for good possible hires for non-faculty positions, both in academia and out of it, and there's a word of mouth network. If you've got good core computer science skills and don't come off as needy or desperate, there are a lot more possible matches out there than you might imagine.
# Answer
> 2 votes
From what I can tell from your question, the industry seems a logical choice. For the remaining time, I'd advise you to look into branches that might interest you and then focus your development on skills required there. There is a plethora of various opportunities for your type of background, whether in the research sector or in engineering.
That being said, if you don't plan to stay in academia, doing a post-doc seems not to be the best investment. People usually do a post-doc in order to improve their chances for a professorship (or as a kind of placeholder until they get one).
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Tags: phd, job-search, postdocs
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thread-30133
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30133
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Is my plan for sticking with my incompetent advisor reasonable?
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2014-10-17T16:22:16.007
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# Question
Title: Is my plan for sticking with my incompetent advisor reasonable?
There have been previous questions related to mine; for instance, this one:
Losing faith in my PhD advisor?
I believe this new question is worth asking because of my specific proposal for action.
I am a PhD student in mathematics in the US in my final year. My advisor is not a competent mathematician, and does not really understand even the basics of the field he is supposedly working in. Please understand that I have come to this conclusion slowly and reluctantly; I am well aware that, for instance, people can say "dumb" things in the moment.
Anyway, I've been on my own as far as learning this field and producing some research. I feel like I've just gotten to the point where I know what I need to understand to work in this field, and if I had another year to actually learn it, I could start really doing research. Essentially, I feel like this is where I should have been a few months after working under my advisor, but it's been 2.5 years.
Unfortunately, I feel like it is probably too late to switch advisors or schools. Staying an extra year with this advisor may be an option, but would be difficult financially.
I think I will be able to produce a dissertation and graduate this year. My dissertation will not be a work I am proud of. My idea is that I could get a postdoc and make up for lost time there, really learning my field and establishing a decent research track record.
While this plan is very distasteful to me (of course I am not happy about producing work that embarrasses me), I want to ask about the practical aspects. **What are the chances I could actually get a postdoc?** My advisor seems to think this is very possible; but other people lead me to believe that as someone with no significant research results and no one with prestige to recommend me, it is unlikely. (I no longer trust my advisor's advice on anything.) **Assuming I obtain a postdoc, is it likely I could establish a decent track record of research, given that I will be in some sense two years behind schedule as far as learning this field and establishing myself?**
# Answer
> What are the chances I could actually get a postdoc?
Of course there's no way to give a definitive answer without far more information, but here are some factors to consider.
First, how bad do you think your thesis would really be? It's possible to graduate with a thoroughly unimpressive thesis, good enough to qualify for a degree on the basis of hard work but not good enough to satisfy any employer who cares about research. If that's your situation, then the chances of a worthwhile postdoctoral position are negligible. On the other hand, perhaps your embarrassment is because you're writing a merely average or even good thesis rather than a truly noteworthy one. If that's the case, then you might be fine. Perhaps the truth is somewhere in between these extremes, but we can't know where based on your question.
Have you had any feedback from third parties? For example, have you spoken to other mathematicians at conferences? What about visitors to your university or collaborators of your advisor's? If other mathematicians have heard of you and expressed seemingly genuine interest in your work, then that's a plus. If you've never interacted with anyone but your advisor, then you're in a much worse position to look for a postdoc.
What about letters of recommendation? You'll need several from people other than your advisor who can address your research accomplishments. Do you have letter writers in mind? If you can't think of anyone, then that's a major obstacle. If you can, then have you sounded them out on whether graduating is a good idea? If they are unenthusiastic about the idea, then you aren't likely to get compelling letters from them (and without such letters you won't get a decent job). If they are as enthusiastic as your advisor, then you should feel reassured.
Does your advisor have a track record of helping students get jobs? If so, then that's an excellent sign. If he has a track record of failing to help students get jobs, then that's a terrible sign. If he doesn't have a track record at all, then that's worrisome, and his views on the job market might not be well informed.
> Assuming I obtain a postdoc, is it likely I could establish a decent track record of research, given that I will be in some sense two years behind schedule as far as learning this field and establishing myself?
If you can get a three-year postdoc, you'll be able to accomplish a lot in that period. You may not have time to achieve your full potential before going on the job market again, but you'll be in a much better position than you are now. If you get this chance, then it's worth taking it.
Incidentally, I don't think it's fruitful to count how many years you are behind schedule. There really aren't schedules or mileposts for research, and different people's research programs and abilities often develop in incomparable ways. Some mathematicians do their best work much later than others, for reasons that are not always apparent.
> Staying an extra year with this advisor may be an option, but would be difficult financially.
Perhaps you could apply for jobs now but fall back on staying another year if your job search is unsuccessful. That's not ideal, but it might be your best option. If you really can't afford to stay another year, then your choices are far more constrained. You either apply for jobs this year or choose another career.
> 8 votes
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Tags: advisor
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thread-30077
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30077
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Charisma vs. credentials in academic hiring
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2014-10-16T18:48:38.650
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# Question
Title: Charisma vs. credentials in academic hiring
While it's clear that having a sterling CV with lots of high profile papers will be beneficial to getting hired, I often hear from other faculty that, when hiring, they are looking for someone who "fits in", "could be a friend", and overall is "nice". These, to me, are ways of saying the person is charismatic, or at least quite pleasant to be around. It is unclear to me how much this is actually true, or said in retrospect to talk up the newly hired person. Here are my questions:
1. Have you ever been part of a hiring committee (or just hiring a postdoc for your group) when you and/or the committee chose someone who was "friendlier" over someone who had a better CV and/or gave a better talk?
2. Why did you ultimately make this choice?
3. In hindsight, do you feel it was the correct choice to make?
4. Alternatively, if the most credentialed (but possibly less friendly/charismatic) candidate was chosen, what was the discussion about this? Did the relative charisma of the candidates come up when making the decision?
# Answer
> 30 votes
The final pre-offer stage of most academic hiring processes is the "on-campus interview". This is when the candidates come, one at a time, spend a day on campus, give talks, speak with faculty, etc.
**By and large, every candidate who receives an on-campus interview is qualified for the job.** Therefore, at this point of the process, it is no longer useful to try to sort candidates by the strength of their CV alone. That has already been done at earlier stages of the process, and the candidates who received an on-campus interview already made it through that process.
Therefore, it should not be surprising that, from time to time, someone with at "worse" CV gets an offer before someone with a "better" CV. There are so many factors that the department takes into account, and the CV is just one. That does not mean that having a better CV is irrelevant at the end - it is very relevant! But it is just one piece of evidence among many at the end of the process.
There is a lot of controversy about "fit". In the worst case, it can be a way to act on hidden biases, which is a valid cause for concern. You can read about all sides of this debate on in the Chronicle of Higher Education or Inside Higher Ed.
# Answer
> 19 votes
It's not so much about "niceness" as it is about the interpersonal skills necessary for a well-functioning group. Every research organization, whether of an individual professor or an entire department, has a lot of things that need to be accomplished that can't be done by individuals in isolation. Not only is there all of the administration, but people typically want to be able to effectively collaborate with others in their group, write joint grant proposals, help one another in battles with the administration, etc.
If you have a candidate who is excellent in isolation but lacks the interpersonal skills necessary to interact effectively, they may be more burden than they are worth. If they are actively problematic in their interactions, that can poison an organization for years. For a tenure-track position, I have even heard people compare hiring a new professor to getting married since you potentially are committing to live with that person as a close collaborator for decades (though I think that analogy is a little overly intimate myself).
Of course, it's hard to judge long-term compatibility in the short period of an interview. But given all of these long-term considerations, it is no surprise that people will give a lot of weight to their impressions of the feelings they have when interacting with a candidate.
# Answer
> 6 votes
I have rewritten this a few times trying to find the right approach to this; forgive me if something ends up mangled in the process (and the length, of course). As non-faculty holder of a recent terminal degree, I wanted to weigh in from the student side of things.
1. there are a lot of intersections between things we perceive to be part of a person's "personality" (charismatic, nice, frank, honest, mean, personable, distant, etc.) and their ability to work effectively with students
2. it's a big concern to me if a hiring committee is picking someone they'd like to have a drink or a dinner-party with over someone who would make, you know, a good member of the faculty; I want to have faith that these decisions are being made with the theoretical student's best-interests in mind, because we the theoretical students may need you to have our backs.
I'll do this backwards and start with the second point: as students, we don't have a lot of leverage regarding who is and isn't faculty, and if serious concerns with another faculty membercome up, it's important that, as students, we know these concerns won't be dismissed because everyone pals around with them and can't see their flaws. This is a balance, of course; I enjoy faculty who get along, and I've learned a lot by being mentored by more than one faculty who are good friends.
To the first point: While I was a graduate student we were asked to attend talks by the three candidates given on-campus interviews and give feedback on the candidates. We debated the tradeoffs between which candidate we felt produced the best work and which candidate did the best job of actually talking about that work in a way that (we hoped) would make them better in the classroom and as mentors.
I recused myself when car trouble popped up and kept me from attending the third talk, but of the two I did see, the more charismatic candidate won the position over a candidate who appeared more insightful, kind and levelheaded but had trouble communicating the excitement and importance of his own work. This was a problem when going up against someone well-known in his field. How much faith can I put in a professor who is uninteresting even with the agency to choose topics and incentive to shine (compare to: when he is teaching something he doesn't want to teach to students he doesn't think he has time for)? At the time, this decision satisfied me, though there were certainly others in the program who thought the decision was terrible.
In retrospect, the candidate hired is a charismatic person who is very successful in his field and isn't afraid to give feedback that we as students may need to hear, but which most professors are too nice to give. He can also be a boor, sexist, bully, and drunk. He clearly played favorites with attractive female students, gave unattractive female students a hard time, while being much more even-handed with the male students (with a notable exception regarding a student interested in the same female student he was...). I won't be surprised if I hear certain kinds of news about him in the future.
I've had nice, friendly charismatic professors who are good at guiding students, mediating conflict, treating everyone fairly and encouraging us to succeed. I've had harsh but charismatic professors who never run out of brutal honesty drive us all the harder to succeed. I never had a professor wow me into being a better student by the weight of their accomplishments. I've also discussed a charismatic professor whose extracurriculars were a distraction to our ability to learn what he's capable of teaching. None of these factors will generally stand out on a CV, and some of them will obviously prove elusive even after a thorough campus interview.
From my distance, I can only hope our faculty and administrators weren't picking a friend, and will be capable of sober reflection and thoughtful advocacy for student interests should a student come to them in need.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Just a few thoughts. One, you mention "charisma" and "giving a better talk" as different alternatives, but in fact charisma is part of giving a good talk. When people evaluate a candidate's "job talk", they are inevitably evaluating the presentation as well as the content, and the presentation will benefit if the person is charismatic.
More generally charisma goes beyond just being "nice". There are many ways in which a person may or may not "fit in" with a department. A person may be perfectly nice and even fun to hang out with, but still somehow have a personality that doesn't jibe with a department.
I have been on a hiring committee where various sorts of interpersonal factors played a role in the decision. It wasn't a matter of a "nicer" person was chosen over someone with better research chops, though (nor vice versa). However, there was one candidate who, during a meeting with graduate students, made some remarks which stunned them, and made it seem as if he held fringe positions on basic moral/ethical issues. (Imagine someone unjokingly saying something like "Armed robbery, you know, it's not as bad as some people think." That wasn't what he said, but it had a similar effect.) This candidate did not get the job, although this incident was of course only one factor in the decision.
I mention this just to note that, aside from charisma or research credentials, it's possible for someone to raise a giant red flag simply by their interpersonal behavior. What's especially important is that doing something like this can make it so that faculty and students in the department would actually feel uncomfortable being around you. That's an important way that "charisma", loosely defined, can matter. If a candidate behaves in a way that makes people in the department uncomfortable or not trust him, he may not have a productive career in that department (even if he could have one somewhere else), simply because that social tension will prevent him from working well in that environment.
# Answer
> 3 votes
As part of a hiring panel at a Fortune 500 company where I once worked, we were trained in what to look for in applicants. (The company was acquired so I no longer work there.)
A sobering fact is the average adult American spends two to three times the amount of waking hours with coworkers than they do with immediate family.
We held the motto "Hire for character; train for skill." Simply put, CV qualifications are much easier and more likely to change over time than someone's abilities to work well with, mentor, inspire, and support others.
In general, the abilities of communicating effectively and being charismatic are intrinsic to one's effectiveness. All other things being equal, someone that won't fit into a and organization well can be a disruptive influence that lowers the efficiency and moral of an entire organization, including their peers, subordinates, and especially their superiors who wind up refereeing disputes.
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Tags: job-search
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thread-28589
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28589
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Improving chances of selection into a course at university
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2014-09-16T19:31:39.690
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# Question
Title: Improving chances of selection into a course at university
I am currently entering my third year at university, unfortunately my grades in the second year were lower second honours (which places me in the bottom 40 percentile) putting me at a disadvantage when picking my major subject module for this upcoming year.
We are not asked to submit a CV or attend an interview for admission into major subjects for the third year.
Students who pick a specific major subject are also asked to pick a minor subject - selection for minors is usually not deemed to be competitive. However, it turns out the minor subject I have chosen (entrepreneurship) was actually over subscribed and thus allocation has been delayed for the course organisers to make a choice as to which students are selected.
For the past two years at university I have spent a lot of time getting involved in, and reaching elected executive positions within entrepreneurship societies and groups (very rare for an undergraduate).
I feel like if the course organisers were to know about my additional interest, I would easily be accepted into the course. Every other student I know (in my academic year) does not show an active interest in entrepreneurship except for a few who only picked the course as a minor subject.
However I believe the course organisers are forced to make their decision based on grades alone, this may result in my rejection.
Would it be acceptable for me to email the course organiser and explain my situation (and interest in his course) or would that be deemed as an unfair attempt to skew the decision making in my favour?
EDIT: As well as undergrads studying my subject the course is open to other undergraduates (in other subjects) MBA and Ph.D students. Making it difficult for the course organisers to make a decision based on grades alone (as many MBA or Ph.D students will have received their honours at a different university where the honours system cannot be objectively compared).
# Answer
> 2 votes
Limited admission courses can happen at any level, for a number of reasons. In my own experience, it has tended to be some combination of three cases:
1. The department intends the limited admission to be a filter, to redirect "unpromising" students elsewhere.
2. Resources are simply limited, and only a certain number of students can be supported (this is especially the case for courses that are experiments with the curriculum).
3. "Permission of instructor needed": this is some sort of special or favored upper level course, and the instructor is aiming for something more like a seminar or reading group than an ordinary course.
If you're dealing with the first case, then there may be a formal standard, and you're just out of luck. Much of the time, however, professors have some leeway in how they handle selection. In some cases, students are actually *encouraged* to present their case (but if that was the case, you would know). As an instructor, I would rather any day be dealing with an enthusiastic and hardworking student than one who's just there because it's part of their program, even if the hardworking student is somewhat more poorly rated.
So yes, by all means get in contact, express your enthusiasm and background, and see what the instructor says. If you're polite and willing to take no for an answer, then the worst that can happen is they say no.
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Tags: undergraduate
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thread-30147
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30147
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Importance of grades as a graduate student in math
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2014-10-18T00:36:39.857
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# Question
Title: Importance of grades as a graduate student in math
I'm in my first year as a grad student in math at a large university in the US. For the moment I'm just taking classes, all of which have weekly problem sets which take a ton of time to complete in full. I have carried over the mentality from undergrad where I try to complete all the problems in the problem sets, and at least put in a significant amount of effort on each problem. However, this is taking up enough time that I haven't had much of an opportunity to do math things outside of the class (stuff like attending seminars, trying to read papers, pursuing interesting subjects brought up briefly in class in more depth, etc). Because of this, I've been contemplating taking less time on my problem sets, but I have a few questions about potentially receiving lower grades:
First, is it common for math programs in the US to kick out students for getting low (but not failing) grades? I can't find any official policy from my program and I don't feel comfortable asking anyone. A friend in a different subject said that his program regularly kicks out students in the first couple years even if they pass or are on track to pass their qualifying exams in time, but I'm not sure if this is done in math.
Also, aside from getting kicked out, what are the negative consequences to receiving a low grade? (in a class which is not particularly close to the area I think I want to do research in)
# Answer
In many (US, mathematics) graduate programs, there is quite significant grade inflation. A grade of B would raise significant concern about your progress (and maybe cause advisors to think twice about working with you), and a grade of C would create grave doubts about your ability to continue in the program. You may have a better sense if this is true in your program, but if so, it would be a really bad idea to reduce your efforts to the extent that your grades drop.
On the flip side, it is entirely possible that you could work a little less hard and *still* get A's (the standards for an A may be lower than you think). I hesitate to recommend this, though. The better you know this material, the easier your qualifying exams will be, and failing exams *definitely* gets students kicked out. Solving all the problems on all the problem sets is a really good idea in that direction - rather than worrying about how much time it takes you, you should perhaps rather be glad that you can do it at all (I bet many of your classmates cannot).
Mathematics is unlike some other fields in that (US, PhD) graduate programs place a strong emphasis on coursework for the first couple of years. A transition to research comes afterwards. In many cases you cannot meaningfully discuss a research topic with a potential advisor until you have mastered the material from a course. So it probably is in your long-term interest to prioritize your coursework now, even if some of your deeper mathematical interests are temporarily pushed to the back burner. (Don't worry, they'll still be there after you pass your exams.)
It is good to spend at least a little time on pursuits outside coursework, and you can probably find some combination giving maximum payoff for minimum commitment. For instance, attending seminars is good exposure to current research areas, and may require only an hour or two of your time per week. (Protip: try to go to dinner with the speaker. It's good networking, and your department may well pay for your meal (**free food**)).
> 7 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, mathematics, grades
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thread-30157
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30157
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What GPA is considered as Competitive for top five schools in Engineering in US
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2014-10-18T08:01:00.500
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# Question
Title: What GPA is considered as Competitive for top five schools in Engineering in US
Some prestigious universities like Caltech, Stanford, MIT and Berkeley never disclose their information regarding their cut off major and cumulative GPA for M.Sc and PhD programs in engineering. I also aware of the fact that graduate schools will look at the whole package and make their decision based on sets of factors like letter of recommendation, statement of purpose as well as GPA.
However, since application fee is pretty high it is not worth it to apply to schools that you know you have a slight chance of getting into it so, I would like to know what would be the acceptable GPA (Both major and Cumulative) for applicants to be competitive for top five schools in the world?
# Answer
> 2 votes
As noted in the comments, there is no single answer, because when you are applying for a highly competitive graduate program you need to be both an "excellent student" *and* have additional strong qualifications that set you apart from all of the other excellent students.
That said, GPA is definitely a negative filter, and one can still extract some guesses. Here are MIT's requirements for entry of its own students into the internal EECS 5th year M.Eng. program: 4.25 on its 5-point scale (equivalent to 3.25 on the usual 4-point scale), plus at least 4.0 (3.0) in the most recent term. Since these are internal requirements, you can assume it is likely that external applicants for graduate programs will be measured a bit more harshly since they will be less well known.
Assuming a 4-point scale, I think that a safe rule of thumb for Ph.D. admissions is that if you've got at least a 3.75 both overall and in your field, you can stop thinking about GPA and start worrying about the rest of the package. If you're below 3.0, it will be extremely hard (though not necessarily impossible) to convince people that you are a strong enough student, even if you are very good in non-GPA aspects of admission. In between, the lower your GPA, the more you have to shine in other aspects in order to overcome GPA-based concerns: e.g., 3.6, not so hard, 3.25 very hard. This are rough heuristics, of course, and every case may differ...
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Tags: graduate-admissions, graduate-school, application, gpa
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thread-30156
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30156
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How to know whether my PhD advisor knows the area of research?
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2014-10-18T06:22:10.047
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# Question
Title: How to know whether my PhD advisor knows the area of research?
Ok here is the situation: My advisor gave me a paper about new model X. After reading and researching in X, I became very familiar with X and had many interesting ideas to extend its capabilities.
One thing I noticed with my advisor is the lack of deep analysis over my ideas. By this, I mean a roadmap on how to get these ideas published, what are the things I need to polish/sharp/add to get it (most likely) accepted in top conference/journal.
I handed him one draft of a paper, he didn't even doubt its findings; all his concern is to get it published somewhere in ranked C conferences; all he did was praising my writing (which is poor IMHO). What makes it even worse is the fact that I have seen some papers published in top conferences/journals with the same ideas I have (actually three ideas).
> This makes me wonder: Does he really know X?
if yes, then why he did not provide constructive ways to sharp the ideas to get it published in a top conference? or maybe I am asking for something that he can't offer!
# Answer
I suppose it is rather hard to give a satisfying answer to this question with the amount of information available. I mean, it's hard to estimate all the unknowns in this particular case.
> if yes, then why he did not provide constructive ways to sharp the ideas to get it published in a top conference?
One could speculate in so many different ways; that he does not have the necessary grasp of the field to give meaningful critique is one speculation. Here's another plausible explanation; maybe he wants you to try flying on your own a bit, as a sink-or-swim approach. My supervisor did (and still does) this very often, I have almost too much freedom as to how I write, and what I write and to where I submit, then when the replies and reviews come in we sit down and improve on what I have done. Could be a similar approach
But to come back the question of how to know whether the supervisor is knowledgeable in a particular subject, here are some things that could be useful in the general case:
* checking your supervisors publication record. Maybe the s/he has published articles on about this model before you even came to the group. Or maybe he was involved with an older but related model Y?
* inquire you supervisor for his interest in the subject. If s/he gives you a paper about model X, all of a sudden then there is certainly a goal with that. To-the-point, effective communication might help you figure out his/her grasp of the field.
**EDIT:** In reply to the comment:
> if I have too much freedom as to how I write, and what I write and to where I submit, **then whats the point of supervision!**
My supervisor often says that his job is to teach me how to do research, not provide me with knowledge or make sure I become successful/famous/rich... Your supervisor has ZERO responsibility in **providing** you the means to publish in *top venues*, IMHO. He merely has a responsibility to make sure you get the tools you need to be able to do the research you want to carry out, later on in life.
As a side comment, I think your perspective to research might cause your frustration with your supervisor. Getting published in top venues is not a birth-right to all hard working grad students; and quite frankly, as a grad student where your articles get published have little to do with you or your work (at least in biomedical research).
> 11 votes
# Answer
This is more an extended comment, but here goes.
My PhD advisor had me work on a topic (in applied probability) that he knew little about. I survived and got a PhD, but it was not pleasant. He's seems to have thought that the area was much more interesting/useful/productive than it was, and had wildly unrealistic/inflated expectations about applying it to mathematical finance, which unsurprisingly came to nothing in the end. I suppose in part because he didn't know much about it. It is a pretty obscure branch of applied probability that enjoyed a brief wave of popularity in the 90s, and quickly went cold again because, as it turns out, the area has formidable and (thus far) largely unsurmountable technical difficulties. At any time this area has had a handful of people working on it worldwide. I think with some breakthroughs it could become a useful area, but nothing like this has happened so far.
I learned later from other people (I was pretty naive about how academia worked) that faculty may try to use their students to try to learn about new areas. I've no idea how common a practice this is, but I have no reason to believe it is uncommon. I recall that the people I talked to seemed to think it was quite reasonable. I think it is wildly irresponsible.
In any case, I suggest you don't let your advisor do your thinking for you. If you like the field you are working in, and think you can be productive in it, then by all means continue. However, if you think your advisor doesn't know what is going on, it is quite possible he doesn't. Researchers are only flesh and blood, they are not omnipotent. If he doesn't know what is going on, he will probably be of little help to you. It is possible for your advisor to learn about the topic alongside you, but you are the best judge of whether he is doing that. If he doesn't seem to be, he probably isn't. And frankly, it is not a good thing for a graduate student to have an advisor who views his PhD as a learning experience. Ideally a PhD topic should be well within the advisors area of expertise. If he does not seem inclined to go into details and talks about generalities, that is a bad sign, in my experience.
Bear in mind that finding a auxiliary advisor who knows more about the topic is a possibility, but if want to go in that direction, I'd do something about it sooner rather than later.
Other people have commented here that it is reasonable for you to end up knowing more about the topic than your advisor does. That is a fair point, but that should not be the case at the outset. Maybe that is Ok after a few years of you digging into the topic. And really, it depends on you. If you are comfortable going it mostly alone in the topic, perhaps communicating occasionally with other researchers, then that is Ok. If you are not, then it could end up being a bit of a baptism of fire. We don't know what your topic is, exactly, so we can't say anything more about that. And research topics vary wildly in level of difficulty, of course.
> 4 votes
---
Tags: phd, research-process, supervision
---
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thread-30174
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30174
|
Font size of text within image/graph for MS Thesis
|
2014-10-18T14:20:01.923
|
# Question
Title: Font size of text within image/graph for MS Thesis
Can somebody suggest what should be the optimal font size of text like axis ticks, axis label, legend etc. ?
# Answer
> 5 votes
Your institution's thesis template may specify this - some do and some don't. If not then it's really up to you. Typically, you want it to be smaller than your main text so that it doesn't stand out inappropriately much. Beyond that, it's a balance for efficacy of communication: larger sizes are more legible, but smaller sizes can help avoid visual clutter. Remember also that many of your readers may be older or have imperfect vision and have a hard time with smaller fonts.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Try to use the same font as what you use for **image captions**. Then it should be easy to read and it does not stand out in comparison with the rest of the document.
For example, if your text is 12pt Times and image captions are 11pt Times, then all text in your images is 11pt Times. If both text and image captions are 12pt Times, then all text in your images is also 12pt Times.
(In exceptional cases you can try to save space by using a slightly smaller font.)
---
Tags: thesis, writing, graphics, formatting
---
|
thread-29741
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29741
|
Who to ask for letters of recommendation when changing fields after PhD?
|
2014-10-10T15:29:20.233
|
# Question
Title: Who to ask for letters of recommendation when changing fields after PhD?
I want to apply to competitive postdoc programs in a different field than the one of my PhD. It asks for 3 recommendation letters. What to do if none of my collaborators is well-known in the target field/institutes?
I do have some papers "in between fields", but I didn't have enough opportunity to pursue this interest during my PhD (so neither papers nor collaborators are world-recognized).
Except for advisor, should I aim for:
* collaborators in my main field (they won't be recognized in the target field, much less - target institution),
* or collaborators from the cross-disciplinary paper (they won't be recognized either, but are from the right field),
* or the most recognized profs in the target field (with whom I have been talking, but not collaborating)?
# Answer
The purpose of letters of recommendation is to confirm your research skills and vision. Since you're changing fields, you really *don't* have anybody who can speak to your skills in the new field yet, but you may have people who can speak to your skills in your old field and how they think those may be relevant to the new field.
Much more important than your letters of recommendation, however, is establishing contact with the people that you want to work with in your new field. Postdoc hiring is generally less like grad school and more like seeking a permanent position in academia or industry: you are not likely to be hired for your potential to develop new skills, but rather for your ability to rapidly start contributing in areas of interest to the lab you will join.
What you want to look for is thus an overlap between the two that will allow you to "pivot", contributing with your old skills while learning new skills. If you're making a complete and total switch (e.g., field botany to femtosecond laser circuits), then this might be pretty hard to find. More often, however, there is an overlap that can make it beneficial for both you and the sort of lab you want to join. For example, if your thesis was on mechanical stress models and you want to move into biology, then you might look for people working on anatomical problems where your stress models might be useful to apply.
If at all possible, you should get introductions to people you are interested in working with in person at a conference or electronically by third parties known to both of you. Any PI is likely to be constantly getting cold-call emails applying for postdocs from dubious applicants, and you want something that will make you be placed into the category of "person worth replying to" rather than "spam folder." Here is where your conversations with the high-profile professor may be valuable, if that professor is willing to make such introductions. Your letters of recommendation are then less about making your case than about confirming that you are who you present yourself to be.
> 5 votes
---
Tags: career-path, postdocs, recommendation-letter, changing-fields
---
|
thread-29457
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29457
|
What is the industry equivalent of a post doc?
|
2014-10-05T21:33:14.593
|
# Question
Title: What is the industry equivalent of a post doc?
I've just finished my PhD in Genetics, and I am looking at moving into industry, as a scientist.
"Senior Scientist" seems to be the closest match, because the salary is slightly higher than a junior post-doc.
# Answer
I am not sure how much sense this question makes, given that no position in a research lab is really comparable to a postdoc position.
That being said, I have seen the term "research staff member", or just "researcher" or "scientist" being used a lot as an entry-level, permanent position in a research lab which requires a PhD. "Senior scientist" or "senior researcher" is typically a bit more advanced ("researchers" become "senior researchers" through regular career progression). However, concrete names of course vary between companies, so you should never assume much of anything about a position purely based on its name.
> "Senior Scientist" seems to be the closest match, because the salary is slightly higher than a junior post-doc.
That's a very bad heuristic. Too many other factors influence salary for it to be of any worth for judging the level of a position.
> 8 votes
# Answer
Some companies, including the one that I work at, actually do offer positions that are explicitly postdocs and fill the same type of role as postdocs in academia: a limited-term position connected to some specific set of projects/responsibilities, with the expectation that the person will move up or move elsewhere at the end of the period.
Beyond that, industry titles tell you nothing, because there is nothing even vaguely like a standard. Where I work, "senior scientist" is approximately equivalent to "associate professor" in academia. At a smaller company I know of, it means "has a master's degree." At yet another company, it might mean "has been here for 30 years." You just don't know.
Instead, look at the background required and responsibilities associated with the job, and see if they match what you have to offer. Beware that position postings are often the result of a mangled committee process, and if it calls for a long laundry list of skills, you're probably in good shape to apply if you have at least a couple of them.
Salary may also vary wildly, depending on the sector of industry and particular company, but as a rule of thumb it should be well above what you would be paid as a postdoc in academia. In computer science, for example, a Ph.D. entry-level position in industry gets somewhere between 1.5x and 4x a typical postdoc salary (it's one of the compensations of stepping off the traditional track). Sites like Glassdoor are a good way to tell whether you are being made a fair offer or not.
> 1 votes
---
Tags: phd, job-search, postdocs, industry
---
|
thread-28620
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28620
|
How to approach someone who has stopped replying?
|
2014-09-17T11:46:12.433
|
# Question
Title: How to approach someone who has stopped replying?
Recently, I applied for an advertised post-doctoral position with a researcher in an well-known institution.
After two weeks of not getting a reply, I sent him a reminder, and he replied
"Oh, thanks for getting in touch again, I hadn't seen your previous email. Can we have a chat on Skype tomorrow at X?"
He never showed up for the chat, and has not contacted me since.
Would it be sensible to approach him again, or shall I write it off as a lost cause?
Perhaps it would it be a bad idea anyway to work with someone who lacks the professional skills to keep up with email contact, and stick to commitments?
# Answer
If this is a high-profile researcher, they are likely quite overcommitted and may have indeed legitimately accidentally missed connections. When dealing with somebody like this, you also need assume that you need to be the one taking the initiative in contact until you've have an established working relationship.
But it also might be that they are uninterested, and either too polite, conflict averse, or culturally trained such that they are unwilling to express their lack of interest directly.
How to tell the difference? I personally tend to follow the maxim: "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action." After the third failure to connect (or whatever number you set as your threshold), then it doesn't really matter whether they're flaky or evasive: it's not productive to pursue the connection any further without some sort of positive encouragement from the other side.
> 7 votes
# Answer
I suggest you to give **a phone call**. International phone calls have become very cheap nowadays, you could use for example Skype, MegaVoip or Google Voice.
Obviously you have to be very polite, don't become angry or upset. Explain clearly the situation and ask about news.
G-Luck!
> 4 votes
---
Tags: job-search, postdocs, job
---
|
thread-30175
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30175
|
Is there a problem with citing an article that cites a retracted article?
|
2014-10-18T14:29:27.020
|
# Question
Title: Is there a problem with citing an article that cites a retracted article?
I'm looking through a few journal articles and I notice that they have cited an article that has been retracted (based on invalid conclusions).
If I cite that article that cited the retracted one, would that be valid? Moreover, should I check the references of every article in that article to see if they cite any retracted articles?
# Answer
> 6 votes
When you cite an article it does not mean that your work stands on the cited article in its entirety but rather it might be a particular result, an interpretation or an interesting question someone else has come up with before you.
Let look at it like this:
* you (Y) cite a finding (*f1*) by a person/group in some paper (P1),
* who in turn cites another finding (*f2*) some other person/group in some paper (P2).
* later turns out that something in P2 does not add up and the paper gets retracted.
The interesting question is *whether or not the mistake or error etc in P2 is related to your work*. If:
* scientific grounds for *f2* is still valid despite the error that causes the retraction, or
* your *f1* is independent of *f2*
then you are essentially safe, since the reasons for retraction does not reflect on your work/findings. In other words, you have not built your work on erroneous foundation.
That beings said, I can only assume that citing a retracted paper isn't particularly nice, and if you can avoid it (if someone else has also mentioned that same finding without going through the retracted paper) then it's probably better.
Hope this wasn't all too convoluted.. I had to rewrite it a couple of times already :)
# Answer
> 8 votes
Ultimately, it doesn't depend on the retracted article, but on the one that you cite. Is the science in the article that you cite valid, despite the retraction of its reference? After all, most references are for context not critical dependencies. If it's still valid, there is no problem with the citation. If the science doesn't stand, though, then it doesn't stand and you shouldn't cite it.
---
Tags: citations, retraction
---
|
thread-5964
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5964
|
Choosing which version of an article to cite
|
2012-12-27T16:58:47.537
|
# Question
Title: Choosing which version of an article to cite
I sometimes find an article published in several conferences.
> If similar material is published in different conference proceedings, how do I choose which one to cite?
# Answer
> 6 votes
Normally you should cite the most recent version, which is probably also the most prestigious venue (normally republication is done while ideas are working their way up the prestige ladder). It's possible that only the earlier version contains the material you want to cite though, but unless that's substantially longer than a later version, then I would assume that means the author(s) have recanted that part, and you should probably mention that in your article e.g. "Bryson (1986) claims fish can fly (p. 253), though note later work does not reiterate this claim (Bryson 1991; Bryson 1993)."
# Answer
> 7 votes
It's a little unusual to have the same or even similar material published in different venues. First of all, you didn't say whether your area uses conferences as primary publication venues or not - I'm assuming it does, otherwise why even cite a conference publication.
In that case, what exactly are you citing in the article ? If it's a specific result (empirical, theoretical etc), then probably the oldest venue where it appears is the first occurrence of that result, and should be cited. If you're citing background material or motivation, then either the first paper that discusses the relevant motivation, or maybe a survey article ?
At any rate, the key is to understand exactly what you're citing the article for, and find the oldest occurrence of that concept.
# Answer
> 6 votes
You should have two goals in mind when choosing what to cite:
1. Give credit, by citing the first person to discover the result, in the form in which it was originally found
2. Helping the reader interested in looking the result up and learn it in more depth.
Either one of them can be more important than the other, depending on the type of your paper and of the context of the specific citation.
The two goals are often conflicting; for instance, #1 might tell you to use an obscure conference proceeding with a clumsy first version of the result, and #2 might suggest to use a clear exposition in a book by another author instead. You might want to go for a tradeoff instead and cite a newer paper by the first author with a better version of the result.
In any case, if your choice is backed up by either of these two rationales, or by a suitably weighted linear combination of them, then in my opinion no one can blame you.
# Answer
> 5 votes
On a number of occasions, I found myself knowing the author personally pretty closely, and would ask them which version they want me to cite. On other occasions, I would cite whichever source I read first, and just stick to that. People should not be cited five times for one idea; it is little of my business to untangle their political games of publishing the same stuff in different journals (a very common thing in the social sciences I mingle with), and I would do whatever works for me, not for them.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Cite all versions! I find this practice useful, because it gives me all the information that the author has. Ideally, you should explain the distinctions between different versions too.
---
Tags: citations
---
|
thread-8098
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8098
|
How should I cite a website URL?
|
2013-02-19T16:00:40.263
|
# Question
Title: How should I cite a website URL?
I am currently writing a report and I have been compiling a list of references (from IEEE mostly) and I also have a number of websites.
> My question is, what is the best way to note a website URL? Would it be to reference and cite a URL, would it be adding a footnote? An example would be a reference to google.com. Would it be the correct to just create a footnote?
I've started to just add a footnote each time a website is mentioned (using LaTeX) so for example if a javascript plugin is mentioned then a footnote would be added to the website URL. How would be best to do this as it would not suffice as a reference as it is just noting a website for further reading. I do not have time to waste be writing the whole report to then have to go back through and edit the document hence my question.
# Answer
> 7 votes
I suppose the easiest way would be to use the `\newcommand` command in LaTeX.
Put something like this before your `\begin{document}`:
```
\newcommand{\jquerynote}{\footnote{\url{http://jquery.com}}~}
```
Use it as follows.
```
We used JQuery\jquerynote to build the user interface.
```
If you want to change the reference to a citation or another format, you can replace the contents of the `\newcommand`
As far as to "What is the best way to cite a website URL?" the answer generally is that there isn't a standard. Personally, I use web sites as a citation if it contributes some kind of important intellectual argument to the paper. If I use web sites as a footnote, it's because it has to do with some kind of tool I used and is there simply to inform the user that I used Tool XYZ.
Using your example, if I said in my paper, "We used the Google search engine to identify evidence of bias in search engine results" I'd probably put that as a footnote, whereas if I said, "Company web sites from Google, Microsoft, and Apple about employment all state that having fun at work is important" may be citations.
(I should finally note that this is a personal convention rather than anything spelled out in a styleguide, but maybe it helps you?).
# Answer
> 16 votes
Echoing the comments and other answers, citing a website is no different to citing any other resource, such as a book, or a paper. Depending on your favorite text editor and reference manager, you would like to produce bibliographic entries, such as
> ... for the implementation of the prototype, we used the *Ruby* programming language \[23\] and ...
> ...
> ...
> **Bibliography**
> ...
> 23. Matsumoto, Yukihiro. *Ruby Programming Language*. `http://www.ruby-lang.org/`, 2009.
In BibTeX, there's @misc entry for that. You would use it as follows:
```
@misc{links/Java,
author = {{Sun Microsystems Inc.}},
title = {{J}ava{\texttrademark} {P}latform, {S}tandard {E}dition 6},
howpublished={\url{http://java.sun.com/}},
month{jun},
year = {2006}
}
@misc{links/xml,
author = {{W3C}},
title = {{Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0}},
howpublished = {\url{http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml/}},
publisher = {World Wide Web Consortium},
year = {2008},
month = {November}
}
```
Since websites are a dynamic resource, you should always include the date (year/month) of the last retrieval.
For the url, the code above would assume `\usepackage{url}`.
Another technical issue with this is whether your chosen bibliography style would include the URL in the reference, or not. You might want to consult this questions at tex.SE
# Answer
> 9 votes
I wouldn't use footnotes because they are disruptive. Also this may lead to an abundance of repetition in your document, with the same footnote appearing over and over again.
Instead, I suggest you treat URLs as normal references.
The `biblatex` packages provides support for URL references. Another advantage of using the package is that it lets you create a separate bibliography for the URLs. This is not explained here.
The package supports values for `url`, `date`, and `urldate` keys in your BibTeX database.
* `url` describes the URL.
* `date` describes the official date.
* `urldate` describes the date you visited/retrieved the URL.
The package also lets you customise the text in the bibliography that precedes the value for `urldate`. For example, you can set it to `Visited` or `Retrieved`. Customising the string is done by setting the *bibliography string* `urlseen`.
The following is based on an example from Marco Daniel. It shows the basic mechanism. Save it, run LateX on it, then `bibtex`, and LaTeX.
```
\documentclass{article}
\RequirePackage[style=authoryear,
useprefix=true,
backend=bibtex,
block=space,
language=british]{biblatex}
\renewcommand*{\bibopenparen}{[}
\renewcommand*{\bibcloseparen}{]}
\renewcommand*{\finalandcomma}{,}
\renewcommand*{\finalnamedelim}{, and~}
% 3em recommended by Bringhurst, p 80.
\renewcommand*\bibnamedash{\rule[0.48ex]{3em}{0.14ex}\space}
\usepackage{filecontents}
\begin{filecontents}{\jobname.bib}
@Online{ctan,
label = {CTAN},
title = {CTAN},
subtitle = {The Comprehensive TeX Archive Network},
date = {2006},
url = {http://www.ctan.org},
urldate = {2012-04-07},
}
\end{filecontents}
\addbibresource{\jobname.bib}
\DefineBibliographyStrings{english}{%
urlseen = {Retrieved},
}
\begin{document}
I always get my {\LaTeX} packages from
the Comprehensive {\TeX} Archive Network~\parencite{ctan}.
\printbibliography
\end{document}
```
The `\parencite` command is for parenthetical citations. (`biblatex` also provides other kinds of citation commands.) The `filecontent` related stuff makes the example a standalone example (so you won't have to create the BibTeX file). The command is not recommended for day-to-day LaTeX.
# Answer
> 2 votes
If you are using BibTeX to maintain your bibliography, you might want to use the IEEEtran bibliography style, which takes care of the *url* field in the BibTeX entries by adding an \[Online\] tag in the bibliography followed by the given url.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Given that web content disappears, you could cite the Internet Archive URL, e.g., https://web.archive.org/web/19981111184551/http://google.com/ rather than http://google.com/ (I bet you can't remember Google looking like that!) This also ensures that the content you cite is the content your readers see.
---
Tags: citations, thesis, writing, latex
---
|
thread-30190
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30190
|
Why should I format a citation manually without bibliographic software?
|
2014-10-18T19:23:29.300
|
# Question
Title: Why should I format a citation manually without bibliographic software?
During a lecture (and a separate presentation) my instructor told us about bibliographic software, how it composes references automatically and is able to correctly cite articles in many formats. The software is freely available to everyone.
However, many others did not use it and were penalized on incorrect formatting when the assignment was due. Why would one not use software to compose references and citations? Is there advantage in learning how to cite articles manually?
# Answer
> 17 votes
All bibliographic software has a learning curve. You have to invest time and energy up front to learn the system and set up your database, and only reap the benefits later in the decreased amortized cost of maintaining correct citations.
If somebody doesn't think the tradeoff will be worth it (e.g., thinks they "aren't good with computers" or doesn't think they'll write many papers that the software would be useful for or is in a rush and isn't thinking about the long term), then they may manage a bibliography by hand.
For example, I'm a devout LaTeX/BibTeX user and would never consider doing something by hand---except that I have done so on a few occasions when forced to use an incompatible format where it wasn't worth setting up a new toolchain (e.g., putting a few citations at the end of a PowerPoint deck).
# Answer
> 10 votes
I can think of at least three real-world advantages we gain by learning how to cite articles manually:
1. It compels us to become familiar with the syntax and form of citations, which makes references to articles easier to read and parse ... something that we all still have to do manually.
2. If you only need to jot down or reference one article you can do so without troubling with software tools.
3. By knowing how citations should be formatted, you are in a position to recognize errors and correct them (i.e. you can tell when your bib software malfunctions).
Pocket calculators are cheap, reliable, and widely available. Why do we insist on learning addition? The answer is, there are a lot of times you might want to use addition and you don't *always* want to depend on a calculator for that.
Of course we should take advantage of software tools for compiling references and bibliographies, but this is not always viable or always necessarily better than doing it manually unless we can assume that bibliographic software:
* correctly cites articles in the desired format.
* composes references with little effort (automatically).
* is freely available to everyone (i.e., at no cost).
In my experience, all three of these assumptions break down much more often than one would like. For instance, it might be difficult and very frustrating to make a small change to a standard format in your bib software, which is required by the journal or funding agency you need to work with.
# Answer
> 3 votes
I think is the type of things you need to do by hand once, in order to know the basic idea of it. After that it should be left for computers to do, just like determinants or matrix multiplication.
Doing it by hand is extremely time consuming and prone to errors. There are too many citation styles for anyone to master them anyway, even within a specific field.
This is just another thing better left to automated algorithms.
---
Tags: citations, software, reference-managers, citation-style
---
|
thread-13508
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/13508
|
Conference Title - shall abbreviation and year be listed uniformly?
|
2013-10-18T15:02:01.623
|
# Question
Title: Conference Title - shall abbreviation and year be listed uniformly?
I'm just had a look at my citations and they are in an aweful state. Most conference papers that I imported into my citation manager have different styles, e.g.:
```
IEEEE Conference on Emerging Txxx Bxxx Qxxxxxxx, 2009 (ETBQ 2009)
IEEEE Conference on Old Wxxx Yxxx Sxxxxxxx (OWYS), 2009
IEEEE Conference on Txxx Txxx Xxxxxxxx, 2009, (TTX 2009)
IEEEE Conference on Gold. 2009 (Chicago)
```
Am I allowed to bring all conferences into the same format?
What format would you recommend? Should I drop abbreviation, year, or place of the conference as it is repeated? I think the year might have to stay because e.g. a coference might be held in Dec. 2009 and the papers are only published in Feb. 2010, hence the 2009 date would be lost. I also like the abbreviation as it helps my to identify the coferences in one glimps.
**Second question:** Should I add "Proceeding of the" in front of every conference?
# Answer
There is an important and unfortunate caveat for managing citations that I bring up because this refers to IEEE. In IEEE, ACM, and many other computer science and electrical engineering venues, it is often the case that there are strict page limits and the citations are counted toward that limit. This happens mostly with conferences, but sometimes even with journals.
Because of this, I often find it necessary to maintain both a "master" reference database and an ad hoc "abbreviated" copy of the database used for a particular paper. In the master database, I keep the full everything in all its bibliographic detail to the best of my ability. In the abbreviated copy, conference and journal names get shortened as necessary to purge the bibliography of widow and orphans and extract those last few lines necessary to get the text to fit. It's a nasty, undignified practice, and I consider it the lesser of two evils if it can preserve technical content without decreasing the ability of a reader to locate citations.
The ability to find the citation, though, is sacrosanct. Authors, title, year (and volume and issue if available), must never be trifled with. As such, the shortening targets that tend I use, in order, are:
* "Proceedings of the..." can always go, as can the location of a conference.
* "International Conference on" goes to "Int'l Conf. on" and then vanishes
* Most EE/CS conference have acronyms: an exceedingly well-known conference can be entirely replaced by its acronym.
Thus, for example, "Proceedings of the 23rd International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Beijing, China" can ablate all the way down to "IJCAI", saving 1-2 lines in typical IEEE format bibliography. It's an ugly business, and maybe I shouldn't admit to it out loud on the internet, but it's a useful practice that I still find ethical as long as the spirit of readily locatable citation is preserved.
> 2 votes
# Answer
If you are publishing specifically with the IEEE then I would recommend looking at their Citation Reference Guide which also explains the way common words from conferences are abbreviated and what you should include.
For example, the word "Proceedings" is abbreviated to Proc., Conference to Conf. etc and a paper from a conference would look like this:
\[1\] J. K. Author, “Title of paper,” in *Unabbreviated Name of Conf.* , City of Conf., Abbrev. State (if given), year, pp. xxx-xxx.
> 1 votes
# Answer
It is clear that the papers from the same publication should follow the same format. The proceedings or journal should provide a suggested reference format for the papers. This should point you to what is a correct way to reference them and format the entry in your database.
When you enter papers into a data base you should try to follow the suggested reference in terms of what information is suggested to be included. I use bibTeX and enter the full name of the publication. I can also provide the formal abbreviation of the journal since the format for references in journals vary, some use full names some use abbreviations. There is a data base for journal abbreviations established by ISI that should give you the correct abbreviated format for all. I assume many if not all reference managers have ways of handling full and abbreviated names, probably using full names as a standard. With proceedings that are not included in the list you ave to follow the suggestions from the proceedings and also use the correct abbreviations for specific words as suggested in the ISI data base.
Many authors do not know about the correct abbreviations, or do not bother to follow them, which causes confusion in databases. I have papers that occur under up to 4 different posts because of inappropriate journal names, wrong volume or page numbers etc.
> 0 votes
# Answer
As conferences are very important for computer science, here is this list on wikipedia. And at the end it also lists conference acronyms from LNCS series published by Springer (LNCS publishes roughly half of CS conferences). This link lists correct names for IEEE conferences, and this link lists those for ACM conferences. All-together, those would cover 85% of conferences in Computer Science:)
Personally, I would advise to not go for journal-like shortening of conf names, which is IMHO last century, now we don't have a problem of storing longer strings in the database:)
> 0 votes
# Answer
*"Am I allowed to bring all conferences into the same format?"*: **Yes**, please do it, and please make sure that you **always give the abbreviation**, because this is the only way to easily recognise the conferences.
> 0 votes
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Tags: citations, conference, citation-style
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thread-30200
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30200
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Does a supervisor have right to submit paper without consents of coauthor students?
|
2014-10-19T01:32:39.217
|
# Question
Title: Does a supervisor have right to submit paper without consents of coauthor students?
Me and another PhD student, we are first two authors in a paper. We had a disagreement with our supervisor about submitting our paper to conference. We both opposed the submission as we think it's too early to submit our result and the paper will most likely be rejected. Our supervisor said, academically he has the full authority to submit the paper even if we oppose. My question is does a supervisor have the right to submit a paper from the point of view of the university?
# Answer
Your supervisor does not have the right to submit a paper with your name as a coauthor without your consent. By making such a submission he would be making a false representation that all coauthors have agreed to the submission, thus essentially committing a form of minor fraud or certainly dishonest and unethical behavior that is considered completely unacceptable in the academic world.
Note that you write "from the point of view of the university", so technically there is a chance that your university has unconventional standards in such matters and in their eyes your supervisor is correct. If that is the case (which I strongly doubt), I would suggest getting the heck out of that miserable institution and going to a real university.
Finally, while it is absolutely possible that you generally have better judgment than your supervisor (a possibility that does not occur to many graduate students even when perhaps it should), he does have more -- probably a lot more -- experience than you in matters of publications, so I agree with jakebeal that it is worth questioning whether your objection to the submission is a good idea, and maybe consulting other experienced academics from your field.
> 29 votes
# Answer
Ethically, a paper should only be published with the active consent of all the involved authors. Thus, from an ethical point of view, your supervisor should not submit without your consent. If your supervisor does so, that is a clear breach of scientific ethics and needs to be treated very seriously.
On the other hand, are you sure that you are right in withholding your consent? You say that you think that it is too early to submit your result to this conference. Are you sure that you have a better idea of the size of contribution expected by this conference than your advisor?
You don't say how far along you are in your program and how much you have published before. It is common for early-career researchers to overestimate the size of a result necessary for a good paper. In my graduate program, for example, Ph.D. students were expected to produce a Masters thesis first, and a common failure mode was for students to essentially try to do a Ph.D. worth of work already.
It is natural to want to be able to submit a paper that definitively solves the whole subject, but in some areas, particularly engineering fields, it is more common to have a sequence of conference papers that build up piece by piece, followed by a capstone journal paper that ties it all together into the complete and thorough package. Conference papers can thus be reports of a significant step toward a result, rather than the result entire. You supervisor may be seeing a step of that sort in the results that you have so far, and it would be good to ask and see *why* your supervisor thinks the work so far is significant enough to publish.
Take a close look at your situation, compare with other papers published in the conference (not the award winners, but random papers in random sessions), and ask yourself how the size of your increment compares with theirs. You may find that it's reasonable to submit after all (the criteria is not: "Am I certain to be accepted?" it is: "Will the reviewers be annoyed that I am wasting their time?"). Or you may gather evidence that will let you make a stronger case for why you think your paper is not ready, and be able to convince your supervisor.
> 18 votes
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Tags: advisor, paper-submission
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thread-30135
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30135
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In a conference, when will the decision of best paper (or other award) be made?
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2014-10-17T16:39:58.540
|
# Question
Title: In a conference, when will the decision of best paper (or other award) be made?
I am just curious, do they make the decision before the conference?
Or do they watch the presentation of potential candidates first and then make the decision?
# Answer
> 12 votes
It depends.
Some conferences, such as ACM CHI, announce them before the conference even starts. This has the advantage/disadvantage of letting people know which talks they should see. And in my experience, these sessions are packed!
Other conferences announce them at the end of the conference. This has the advantage of keeping everyone at the conference until the very end (people might try to leave after their own presentation...) so they don't miss their own award!
# Answer
> 8 votes
It depends on the conference, though most of them in my experience make the decision after the talks.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Best paper awards are awarding the best *paper*, not the best presentation. They are common in **archival conferences** (i.e., conference that publish proceedings and that "count" as publications) like those that form the primary publication venues in computer science.
Because they are geared towards papers, they are almost always decided on well in advance of the conference. Often they are decided at the program committee meetings where the final decisions are made as to which papers will be accepted! When they are announced varies from conference to conference even within fields. Sometimes awards announced at the conference with a ceremony. Often, they are announced well in advance.
Conference that award papers earlier often do so that they can mark best papers on the conference program. In some conferences that list awarded papers in the program, best papers are not even formally announced. One year at *Computer Supported Cooperative Work*, I found out that one of my papers had received an award when I browsing the public program!
In most non-archival conferences (e.g., social science and humanities conferences) awards for papers are given for any work that was published in the field in the previous year. These papers nominated ahead of time and are not necessarily (or even often) work that is presented at the conference.
I've heard of best presentation awards given at the very end of conferences based on presentations given at the conference but I believe these are exceeding rare and, in my experience, have mostly been in the context of special conferences like doctoral colloquia.
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Tags: conference, awards
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thread-30167
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30167
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Is there a standard for capitalization in references of math papers?
|
2014-10-18T13:26:13.917
|
# Question
Title: Is there a standard for capitalization in references of math papers?
How do you capitalize the titles of references in a math paper? Would you rather write:
> Global smooth solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations
or
> Global Smooth Solutions of the Navier-Stokes Equations
? The latter capitalization is the usual capitalization, where every non-grammatical word, and all names, are capitalized. But the former variant seems to be common in the references. The only exception seem to books, which are usually capitalized as on their titles.
I have been skimming over the list of references in mathematical papers by well-regarded researches, but I have not found a definitive pattern. In fact, in many publications, neither the author nor the editor seems to actually care.
# Answer
> 16 votes
Every journal has its own preferences for this. Use a citation management package like BibTeX or EndNote, and follow the style guide of the journal you submit to. In the end, it doesn't truly matter as long as your readers can find the article, but it's best to follow the journal's instructions in the case that they do actually care.
# Answer
> 8 votes
Bill Barth is right in that this choice is typically made by the journal's style files and/or copy editor, not by the author. However, just in general, my experience is that the first form (capitalize only first word and proper nouns) is more common when referencing papers, while the second form (capitalize all but "little" words) is used when referencing books.
# Answer
> 3 votes
You are right: in math, neither the author nor the editor is likely to really care. Most math papers are prepared with specialized software (TeX or LaTeX, using BibTeX of AMSRefs) which formats the references automatically. So we just trust the software, and focus our attention on more important things.
This must sound crazy to people who are used to fretting over some particular style - APA, Chicago, etc. Their concern over something so minor, which can be so easily automated, is equally mysterious to us.
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Tags: citations, mathematics, citation-style
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thread-30220
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30220
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Should I include a selection as an alternate in national competition awards on CV?
|
2014-10-19T15:30:52.190
|
# Question
Title: Should I include a selection as an alternate in national competition awards on CV?
I'm applying for postdocs with a PhD in Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies. I've seen some folks include nominations and selection as an alternate for awards on their CV.
I was an alternate this year for a Princeton fellowship and an alternate some years ago for the Association of University Women dissertation fellowship. Do I include these on the CV? I do have letters/e-mails to back this up somewhere in my files...
What about "best grad student paper" nominee at a national conference?
I didn't include these before, but now I'm not sure... What do you think?
# Answer
> 1 votes
The two basic criteria I recommend using for answering questions on whether to include something optional on a C.V. are:
1. Are you proud of it? \[note\]
2. Will it detract from other things on the C.V. by feeling like "filler"?
I don't know the particular awards you're talking about or how competitive they are, so I can't make a specific recommendation regarding them. At one extreme, being runner up for an award where only three people are nominated isn't very interesting; at the other consider how big a deal it is for a movie to be nominated for an Oscar even if it doesn't win. See if you can find out how big the applicant pools were and how many alternates were accepted, and if it was highly competitive, then include it on your C.V. and *also include the competition numbers*. I would also advise to err on the side of inclusion (people who don't care will just ignore it) unless it will detract by comparison from other things that you *have* won.
\[note\] Certain things are non-optional, of course, for the sake of honesty, even if you aren't proud of them: you've got to include things like internships, and all of your papers, whatever you might have done while young and naive.
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Tags: job-search, cv, awards
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thread-30206
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30206
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Can a rejection be appealed after reviewer says comments were addressed, but paper is not original enough for the journal?
|
2014-10-19T05:58:24.880
|
# Question
Title: Can a rejection be appealed after reviewer says comments were addressed, but paper is not original enough for the journal?
I received a rejection letter from an Editor after I revised and resubmitted my paper by addressing all comments from two reviewers.
The first reviewer has no feedback meaning that he accepted all the responses given.
The second reviewer say that he confirms that all his comments on the previous version of the paper have been addressed. However he still feel that the paper does not contain an adequate level of originality for it to be published in a journal like "xxxxxxxxxxxx" with a very high impact factor. He did not utter any doubts regarding the originality during the first round
Is it still possible to write an appeal to the Editor-in-chief against the decision?
# Answer
> Is it still possible to write an appeal to the Editor-in-chief against the decision?
Sure, it's always possible to do that. Whether the appeal will get you anywhere is a different question. In this case, I feel like you think what you told us is grounds for an appeal *which has a reasonable chance of being successful*....but I didn't see anything in your post that would make me, if I were an editor of your journal \[disclosure: I am not a journal editor; but I have dealt with journal editors regularly for some years now\], reconsider the decision.
Basically they are saying that after addressing the comments they agree that your paper is solid and publishable, but is not worthy of publication *in their journal*. More specific words like "originality", "difficulty", "novelty", "value", "depth" all amount to this same judgment. Does a journal have the right to reject papers that they think are perfectly sound and publishable but not good enough for them? Of course they do!! The journal's right (and even obligation) to do just that is what allows the entire system -- in which some journals are more prestigious than others, and for which publication in the most prestigious journals (e.g. *Nature* and *Annals of Mathematics*) is a career-making accomplishment -- to function.
Unfortunately it is quite hard to *successfully* appeal this kind of verdict. In the rare case that you happen to know that the editors lacked some specific, objective, important piece of information that would have impacted their decision -- the referee's report dramatically mischaracterizes your work, say by neglecting to mention that you solved an important and well-known problem -- you can bring that to their attention. More often you suspect that they didn't properly appreciate your work, but your recourse is to resubmit to a journal of equal or greater prestige, and look forward to the (usually implicit!) "I-told-you-so" when your paper gets published there.
Maybe you thought that being asked to make revisions meant that the paper would be accepted conditionally on making those revisions in a way that satisfied the referees? Well, if you were specifically told that, then: **Yes, appeal. You have a strong case.** Otherwise: unfortunately, no, that need not be the case. If a referee feels that even if you made the revisions she would still not recommend the paper for acceptance, then the ethical thing to do is to reject the paper and make clear that the suggested revisions are for a version of the paper to be submitted elsewhere. However, even if the referees recommend the paper, then the decision to accept rests with the editors. As a general rule, the better the journal the more likely it is that a paper which was satisfactory to all the referees will still not be published. Some of these journals presumably don't even have the space to publish all the papers that their referees recommend them to publish, so they have to make hard choices.
There is one small word in your post which shouts to me: **still**. This suggests that one of the referees mentioned in her original report that your paper did not have enough originality to be published in the journal you sent it to. Is that right? If so: well, then is it really true that you addressed all the comments of the referees? In my experience, lines like this are often hints that the referee is not going to want to publish your paper even if you make some revisions which in your mind measurably improve the paper. Since "originality" is quite subjective, it is very hard to be confident that you are adding originality, and when you get a report like that it is often a good idea to check in with the editor to see whether s/he views that comment as a deal-breaker. (I can think of one instance where I got a comment like that, was asked to revise, and wrote back to ask the editor whether he really wanted me to revise the paper under the circumstances. He said yes and the paper was published. However the journal, while solid, was very far from the top one in my field.)
> 17 votes
# Answer
There may be an appeal process (the details vary from journal to journal), but it is generally a venue for complaints about the fairness of the editorial process, not a second scientific evaluation. Based on the information you give, this is not your case.
I would suggest you use the input from this journal to improve your paper and submit it elsewhere. Choose your battles wisely.
> 6 votes
# Answer
<sup>Disclaimer: I have never been involved in a comparable situation, and thus the following is based on thought only.</sup>
In addition to the scenario depicted by Pete L. Clark, I think you have a good point if all of the following applies:
* Neither the reviewers nor the editor gave any hints regarding a lack of originality in the first round.
* The second reviewer did not state that she or he could not evaluate the originality of the paper unless some aspect had been clarified or something similar.
* No new information affecting the originality of the paper came up since the paper was first submitted. For example, if one of the improvements in the revised paper was a better context embedding, this may have shed a new light on the originality of the paper. Or you might have attenuated your claims for some reason.
* The second reviewer did not gave a (good) reason why she or he did not raise objection regarding the originality during the first round.
* The paper was actually rejected due to the second reviewer’s criticism.
**If all this is true** – and I strongly recommend to carefully check this as far as possible and have your assessment confirmed by a somebody else, e.g., a colleague¹ –, then I would consider the behaviour of the second reviewer questionable, as she or he
* unnecessarily lengthened the review process;
* wasted the time of everybody involved: the other reviewer, the editor and you;
* caused your paper to be rejected on basis of a point of critique that you had no chance to respond to (though lack of originality can be an incontestable killer argument anyway due to its inherently subjective nature);
* can not excuse this as an honest mistake (e.g., like failing to spot a hole in a mathematical proof), because evaluating the originality of the manuscript is one the main jobs of a reviewer and should not depend on details
* created – by using the word *still* – the wrong impression that the lack of originality was an old and unaddressed point of critique, though it was not.
Moreover, this could actually be a malicious strategy to delay the publication of your paper (for example because the reviewer is in the process of publishing a similar paper): Delay the paper as long as possible² with strong, but not rejection-causing critique and only then raise the hammer argument (here: lack of originality).
Thus, in this case, you would have a good point. However, this is only half the battle. The editors and the journal can still do as they wish³ and can be disgruntled as it was them who accepted the second reviewer’s critique or at least missed that lack of objectivity had not been criticised in the first round – unless the journal assignes somebody else to evaluate this situation.
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<sup> ¹ unless this is a breach of confidentiality
² which may be one round for a high-impact journal
³ unless you have such a strong case that they have to fear the loss of reputation if you make this public </sup>
> 1 votes
# Answer
As I learned from my good friend who is very well published:
1. Whenever you're planning research, plan to have publishable results no matter your research results. (Set up your experiments so both the positive and negative cases will be interesting, however it works out.)
2. Plan and understand your field's journal hierarchy. If you don't succeed at your top journal, then go on to the next. Go for quantity and quality of your research, there's always the next paper.
Can you appeal to the editor? Of course, but it is a "Hail Mary" pass. You're telling the editor that he or she has a problem (the process that led to the non-acceptance of your work) and that a fix is needed. No one welcomes or appreciates that kind of request and the tendency is to dismiss the biased complainant (you), unless the problem is egregious.
Remember that you also don't necessarily want to start your relationship with the journal's editor as a complainer.
As an alternate course of action, why not try the next journal down on your list? You'll be bringing that editor a great paper and perhaps other research in the future will cite your work in journal #2. (Thus demonstrating over time that your paper was truly high quality.)
With your next project, not only may you be accepted at journal #1, perhaps you'll be asked to be the guest editor someday.
> 1 votes
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Tags: peer-review, paper-submission, editors, rejection
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thread-30199
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30199
|
What reasonable steps can I take to report misbehavior by publishers to the wider research community?
|
2014-10-18T23:48:14.560
|
# Question
Title: What reasonable steps can I take to report misbehavior by publishers to the wider research community?
What resources are available for reporting unethical practices or misbehavior by publishers? I'm aware of Beall's list, are there other efforts to objectively identify publishers with low standards or other practices that are detrimental to the research community?
Is it helpful to submit info to organizations like COPE?
This meta discussion is of interest and might suggest that AcademiaSE is not a suitable venue for sharing information on specific practices.
# Answer
> 3 votes
If the matter concerns a mathematical journal, you can submit your case to the European Mathematical Society ethics committee
Note that even if this committee has been established by the EMS, they should consider non-European issues as well as issues from European publisher, journals and authors.
Of course, their power is somewhat limited but given their status, they could have some impact by simply issuing a public statement.
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Tags: disreputable-publishers
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thread-30211
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30211
|
What is a non-tenure-track assistant professor position in the USA and is it harmful?
|
2014-10-19T11:35:05.330
|
# Question
Title: What is a non-tenure-track assistant professor position in the USA and is it harmful?
I see some offers on the Chronicle jobs website (such as this one from UC San Diego) for non-tenure-track assistant professor positions.
Is the work of a non-tenure-track assistant professor exactly the same as the work of a tenure-track assistant professor, e.g. in terms of teaching/research ratio?
Also, would taking on a position of this type be more, less or equally helpful compared to, say, taking up another postdoc, for someone that would later want to apply to a tenure-track position?
Forgive me if this question does not make sense to you, but I have taken the impression from some sources that whatever professional decision one takes that is slightly outside the "normal" progression of an academic career can be harmful.
# Answer
> 10 votes
The most important point is that jobs vary significantly by discipline. If you are in the field of Cognitive Science, or in a related field, you are in a better position to know what a job ad in that area is actually looking for. Unfortunately, the job ad linked in the question is written in a way to make it hard for those outside the area to know what it wants - it does not directly say whether they are looking for research or teaching. There is no way to tell without asking what the teaching/research ratio would be.
In general, there are two common uses of non-tenure-track "Assistant Professor" positions in the U.S.:
1. Postdoctoral positions. These are not usually considered "harmful" to your career. In many fields they are a standard part of the academic job progression.
2. Teaching-oriented positions for which the candidate has a PhD. These may be full-time positions (as in the linked ad) or part-time.
The second type of position could be helpful, or harmful, depending on what sort of tenure-track position you are looking for. You have already narrowed down the type of institution where you would like to have a tenure-track position, and started honing your CV to be a perfect fit for that type of school, right?
* If your type of school is an elite research school, then another postdoc seems more likely to be helpful than a teaching position. This is the type of school where leaving the standard progression is most likely to be harmful to tenure-track chances. If you are a likely candidate for this type of position, you probably know it already.
* If you are looking at non-elite public universities, which have more of a balance between research and teaching, a single non-tenure-track teaching assistant professorship is not a mark of certain doom for your tenure track hopes. You can use the job to hone your teaching, move your research forward a little, and you can use the time to apply for tenure track jobs.
* If you are looking at teaching-first institutions, or at community colleges, then you need to make sure you have excellent teaching credentials. You might be able to use a teaching-oriented term position as a way to do that.
Unfortunately, because of the excess of candidates relative to the number of tenure-track positions in many (most?) fields, and because the number of tenure-track jobs is not increasing, many academics work multiple term positions in a row. This is especially common in the humanities, and it can be "harmful" for tenure track hopes, unfortunately. I was fortunate to find a tenure-track position, so I can't speak too much to how to handle the situation of multiple term teaching positions, but you can find a lot of discussion about it on the web.
# Answer
> 15 votes
Actually, in this specific case I think it may just be a mistake in the ad.
The application page linked from the Chronicle ad just describes the position as "Assistant Professor" and doesn't say anything about tenure one way or the other. Certainly the default for an assistant professor position would be that it is tenure track.
Also, I attended UC San Diego as a grad student (in a different department) and don't ever remember hearing about any non-tenure-track assistant professors. Full-time teaching-oriented faculty at UCSD have the title "Lecturer".
So I think there's a good chance that these are ordinary tenure-track assistant professor positions, and that someone just clicked the wrong box when submitting the Chronicle ad.
I would suggest getting in touch with the department for clarification.
# Answer
> 8 votes
After reading the advertisement, my opinion is that this is most likely an error in posting the advertisement, and that these actually are tenure track positions.
There are at least three situations in the US where I commonly see non tenure-track assistant professor positions:
1. Limited duration "Visiting Assistant Professor" positions. Here the candidate will be expected to cover the teaching load of a regular faculty member, typically because the regular faculty member is away on sabbatical leave or on an administrative appointment or unavailable due to health problems. It's not uncommon for such a position to exist for a year while a department searches for a permanent tenure track replacement.
2. Permanent or limited duration "Research Assistant Professor" positions, typically funded by grants. Here the candidate will be expected to perform research and bring in the grants to support their salary but won't have a regular teaching load.
3. Permanent "Clinical Assistant Professor" positions. These are full time teaching positions with no possibility of tenure. A similar title often used is "instructor."
The advertisement linked to by the original poster doesn't seem to fit into any of these categories, which is why I believe that the "non tenure track" on the listing is simply in error.
# Answer
> 3 votes
In my department, postdoctoral appointments, usually for a 3-year, non-renewable term (and thus definitely not tenure-track), carry the title of assistant professor. Postdocs are listed on the department web page as "Post-Doc Assistant Professor" but in the university directory simply as "Assistant Professor of Mathematics" (with no indication that they are not on tenure-track).
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Tags: career-path, job-search, tenure-track, non-tenure
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thread-30233
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30233
|
Pose lots of unanswered questions in a PhD thesis chapter?
|
2014-10-19T21:50:26.863
|
# Question
Title: Pose lots of unanswered questions in a PhD thesis chapter?
I am just finishing my computer science PhD. It has five research chapters. The first four pose many research questions and answers all of them; they are complete in this sense.
The fifth chapter is a bit odd. We have just launched a three-year field trial of vehicles. I was responsible for many of the field trial design parameters: Who are the participants, how do we measure and gather data, how do we transmit data, what hardware/software do we need, etc.? Most of the chapter is methodology-focused and talks about all of these design decisions and how we made them. However, I am graduating (my defense is in a few weeks), and many of the interesting research results of this trial won't be available for months/years after a significant amount of data is collected.
So my question is, is it odd to have a chapter of the following form? “Here are a bunch of really interesting research questions, and here is how I helped design a trial to answer them, but that said, I do not present all the answers here because they are not known yet.”
# Answer
The posing of "open" questions is quite common in doctoral dissertations, usually in the final "conclusions and outlook" section.
However, your situation is a bit different, in that you have an actual project that is designed to address these questions, but the study is too long for you to wait to include the results in your PhD thesis. Given this, I would basically do what you've said: introduce the basics of the case study you've designed, what it's designed to do, and so on. You just won't be able to present the *actual* results of the experiments. If this is clearly communicated to your committee by both you and your advisor, then this shouldn't be a major problem.
> 11 votes
# Answer
Your dissertation is not supposed to solve all the world's problems. Presumably your chair and committee have been following your work and will understand why there are unanswered questions. Your own question tells us you've described how the remaining questions will be answered as the experiment progresses.
With that said, the best advice I can give you is *ask your committee chair.* It is your chair's job to guide you to a successful defense. Your chair can guide you on how to present research that no one expected to be complete.
> 9 votes
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Tags: thesis, writing
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thread-30223
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30223
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What should I do when my supervisor wants to delay my graduation?
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2014-10-19T16:46:43.873
|
# Question
Title: What should I do when my supervisor wants to delay my graduation?
I am MASc (two year program with a thesis) student in a Canadian university. Right now, I've finished my course requirements and I want to graduate in five academic terms. I have two supervisors. One of my supervisors has said my research accomplishment is good enough to start working on my thesis. But my other supervisor isn't willing to let me work on writing my thesis. He doesn't give any specific reason why my accomplishment is not good enough or what I can do to get his approval. He said he wants me to stay for six terms and then he will approve my graduation. He is also pushing me to do PhD under his supervision. Whenever I want to discuss my masters graduation, he diverts the whole discussion into doing PhD with him. Sometimes he ends up threatening he won't approve my masters. So discussing this issue has become pointless. Anyway, I've contacted two other faculties; they said my research accomplishment is already good enough for research milestone set by university. What should I do?
Relevant question: My MS thesis advisor wants me to delay my graduation for one semester. What should I do?
My situation is different because it's not the issue of time or my supervisor is careless. My supervisor wants to delay my masters for his own benefit.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Based on your description, one of your supervisors is behaving in an unethical manner. A faculty member must not delay a student's graduation purely for personal benefit. Nor should they coerce a student into beginning a PhD under their supervision. Most programs have a procedure for removing or replacing a supervisor. I recommend you use it if your supervisor is behaving unethically.
You might get a better answer if you said why you have this supervisor or what your goals are.
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Tags: masters, advisor
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thread-30230
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30230
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Is it usual for a PhD thesis to have two distinct subjects?
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2014-10-19T20:57:45.607
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# Question
Title: Is it usual for a PhD thesis to have two distinct subjects?
In my PhD studies I have **slipped off my original track of research**. This was also caused by the fact that I found out that my work can be generalized to a broader scope. It is not so bad, during this detour I did a lot of work.
But then I tried to get back to my original subject and did a lot of work there too. So now after 3 years of studying, I have several papers and a lot of data **for both tracks**. I don't think that the results in any one of these tracks are sufficient to graduate, but together they are.
Should I:
1. try to find a **unifying** theme and try to make my thesis seem unified on the outside, or
2. should I transparently say that my thesis is about these **two subjects**?
# Answer
> 6 votes
Option 1. At least in computer science, it happens often (but not always) that someone works on several somewhat disjoint but somewhat related problems. It's all about the glue and the story; if you can sell the cohesiveness of the thesis in the abstract and introduction, you're golden. Be upfront about the fact that there may be some disjoint problems, but try to find and highlight the unifying themes.
Here's a quote my advisor always tells us which has relevance to this: "all wells, when dug deep enough, lead to the same water source."
# Answer
> 1 votes
This really appears to be about titling your thesis (and maybe writing the introduction). The question, then, I guess, is: who is going the read your thesis and title? Do you want to have a highly descriptive title (Description of topic 1 & description of topic 2), or could you just say (Vague title that sums up both, broadly). In general, I'm not sure if one is objectively better than the other - the audience matters.
# Answer
> 1 votes
You should consult with your advisor. Seriously, this should be very obvious to you.
Your advisor is very (solely, perhaps) responsible for the development of your research into a defendable thesis topic. I'm sure that whether this is "usual" highly depends on the idiosyncrasies of your field, but even *that's* not relevant: from the standpoint of completing your thesis, all that matters is the idiosyncrasies of your advisor with the thesis committee.
I really do hope that your advisor has been signing off on your research to the point of assuring you that these two research tracks together can constitute a defendable thesis, unless I'm misunderstanding and this has been a fairly recent and serendipitous development in your work, in which case "ASAP" would be the best time to introduce this question to your advisor, because you *may* be wasting time.
Your question may be just about titling or packaging your research - that has been supported by your advisor to the ends of completing your Ph.D. - in which case that's a more docile problem (that I cannot answer). I would recommend posting a new question focusing solely on that or amending this question, if that is the case (IMO new question is better since amending it would change the content of this Q/A thread so much).
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Tags: phd, thesis, research-topic
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thread-30242
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30242
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Is it very difficult for international applicants to get a Visiting Assistant Professor position in the US?
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2014-10-20T01:52:37.680
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# Question
Title: Is it very difficult for international applicants to get a Visiting Assistant Professor position in the US?
I am a mathematics postdoc working outside the US and this year I am preparing for applications for positions (mainly in the US). I should also add that I am not a US citizen.
Sometime ago I have seen in the comments to a question here somebody said that tenure track positions are unlikely (though not impossible) to be offered for people working outside USA. I can understand this, since a tenure track position is meant to end in tenure, I mean, I have the impression that universities hire someone with the intention/hope that he/she will be granted tenure eventually.
I am hoping to secure a 2-3 years visiting position in mathematics so that I can introduce myself to the academia in the US, and then maybe apply for tenure track positions. But the question is, whether the same thing is true for these positions. That is, is it hard to get even a visiting position for someone working outside the US?
Also, I have a good command of English and a high TOEFL score. Do you think I should add this to my application package (e.g. mention it in the cover letter, or attach a copy of the test result, or have it sent to the universities etc.) to counter the fact that I am not a native speaker of English?
# Answer
I'll mention a few important issues here:
1. There are relatively few visiting positions in mathematics with a certain term of more than one year. Rather, most of these positions have a term of one year, and may be continued for another year or two if the need for the visiting position continues. Visiting positions like this are typically created to fill the hole left by a faculty member on sabbatical leave or as a temporary replacement for a faculty member who has resigned, retired, or is too ill to work. Generally, the plan is to get a tenure track faculty member hired during the one year term of the visiting position. There are certainly some circumstances in which a visiting position is setup to last more than one year, but these are very desirable positions and the competition for them is intense. Thus your chances of finding a visiting position with a term of more than one year are limited.
2. In order to work in the United States in a visiting position, you will need to have an appropriate visa and the types of visa that are appropriate here (most likely a J1 visa for a temporary position, but perhaps an H-1B visa) require employer sponsorship. Your potential employer must pay fees to apply for such a visa and typically will need to retain a lawyer to assist in the process. This can cost thousands of dollars. Furthermore, there's a substantial risk that the visa might not be granted or might be delayed. Because of these issues many academic departments are hesitant to hire applicants who must be sponsored for a visa. In my experience, many universities and academic departments will undertake to sponsor newly hired tenure track faculty but don't want to do this for a visiting position.
3. Most visiting positions in the US are focused primarily on teaching. The hiring committee will be concerned if you have not had experience teaching in the United States, because there are substantial and important cultural differences between the US system and higher education in other parts of the world. The hiring committee will also be concerned if English is not your native language.
4. There will almost certainly be many (tens if not hundreds) of well qualified US citizens and permanent residents with appropriate teaching experience in the US who will apply for the position.
If you have a strong record of research and would otherwise be qualified for a tenure track position, then you might have a better chance of getting hired into a tenure track position than into a visiting position.
> 3 votes
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Tags: job-search, united-states, faculty-application, international, visiting
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thread-30250
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30250
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Is Visa required to obtain a very short term research grant (15 days) from a US University?
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2014-10-20T03:32:20.733
|
# Question
Title: Is Visa required to obtain a very short term research grant (15 days) from a US University?
I am an associate professor and I am going to the US for two weeks. I am going to visit a colleague who is arranging with her university a small grant for me to cover the basic expenses. According to the agreements between the US and my country, I do not need to apply for a Visa to enter the US for tourism or business reasons. However I wonder whether I will need a J-1 Visa (or any other type of visa) in order to receive the grant (I hope not, since there are only 10 days left, and my colleague has not provided me with the formal letter yet...). Thanks!
# Answer
> 5 votes
If the grant is only to reimburse you for your travel expenses (airfare, lodging, meals, etc), then you should be fine with the visa waiver. You are not considered to be employed by the host institution and do not need a work visa. (Source: Personal experience - I've been responsible for arranging travel reimbursements for many visa-waiver visitors.)
You will probably need to document your expenses, so save receipts for airfare, lodging, meals, ground transportation, and so on.
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Tags: funding, university, visa
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thread-30232
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30232
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What is the difference between "interpreting" and "reporting" research in a scientific publication?
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2014-10-19T21:07:45.650
|
# Question
Title: What is the difference between "interpreting" and "reporting" research in a scientific publication?
In line with this question, I would like help with writing a results section in a Computer Science paper. There are many useful suggestions online\[1 , 2\], but I am confused about one of the key points in these links:
> avoid interpreting the results rather than just reporting them. Just present and report the observations and measurements, factually and informatively, without discussion.
What is difference between interpreting and reporting?
# Answer
> 0 votes
> Any skeleton/guideline to follow?
Actually the links you provided are excellent and give a good basis to start with. There's not much to add to it. Reporting styles of results sometimes differ from field to field so I think it's best to examine the style used by some of the papers that you cite that are similar to yours.
> How do you make the difference between interpreting and reporting?
This is usually the hardest part. A good way to start is to simple make a bullet point list of *observations only*. For example:
* This is a green apple.
* Each apple weighs 50 g.
* Each box of apples weighs 2 kg.
* There are 20 boxes.
This is going to be a boring, unexciting list. But this is exactly how it is supposed to be. Once you got the list, you can create a nice paragraph from it. Notice how tempting it is to just make the short calculation noting how many apples there are, but no! This is an interpretation and not merely an observation.
There are, however, some "obvious" one-word interpretation that sometimes can go to the results section. For example, you may point out that the apple is a Granny Smith cultivar. Or you may note that a 2 kg box is a standard size box. These immediate interpretations should be obvious to the reader, so he will not have to ask "why" when reading. The reason for putting these in the "Results" section instead of the "Discussion" section is that they may distract from the main point you are trying to convey in the full interpretation of the data.
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Tags: publications, thesis, writing, writing-style
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thread-30256
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30256
|
Writing a recommendation letter as an employer for a student applying to programs in a different field
|
2014-10-20T07:18:01.317
|
# Question
Title: Writing a recommendation letter as an employer for a student applying to programs in a different field
I have been asked to write a letter of recommendation for a student I formerly supervised at my place of employment (at university, but as a staff member). The graduate programs the student is applying to ask for a letter from an employer and I feel that I can write him a strong letter. However, the student is applying for MPH, a field I know little about. Is it important to directly connect my experience with the student to his intended field, or is it adequate to just state that I think the student can succeed in the field?
# Answer
> 3 votes
In the letter, while you describe his duties, you could explain (and provide specific examples if possible) about skills that the former employee has developed and demonstrated that are transferable across all fields, including:
* analytical skills
* writing skills
* interpersonal/collaborative skills
* work ethic
* initiative
Also consider if the person has written any published work, have they the potential for innovative research that could be a source of grant funding.
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Tags: masters, recommendation-letter
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thread-30261
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30261
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How to detail conference presentation of my work that was given by someone else on CV?
|
2014-10-20T10:58:30.953
|
# Question
Title: How to detail conference presentation of my work that was given by someone else on CV?
Recently some work of mine was presented at a prestigious conference by the second author on the forthcoming journal article. On the write-up submitted to the conference I was listed as first author, but was unable to attend for personal reasons. How should I list this achievement on my resume whilst still acknowledging the roles played by each author?
# Answer
> 1 votes
A CS view on this - other fields (even other subfields within CS?) may have different conventions:
It is irrelevant who gave the talk. It may be the first author, it may be one of the other authors, it may be someone else entirely (e.g. if none of the authors could come to the conference for some reason).
During the presentation, it is important for the audience to know who is presenting, which is why in the presentation slides, the name of the person may be highlighted. However, that is not so much to assume much credit for the work, but to give the audience an indication of who they are talking to; how to address the person in the case of questions, and just to associate the right name with the right face. In a well-functioning team of several authors, chances are that the slides were not done by a single person, anyway, so the slides themselves are again a group product of several or all of the authors.
Bear in mind that, while a publication on a conference is *generally* assumed to mean that one of the authors presented the paper, extraordinary specifics of how the presentations were done are generally not listed anywhere, neither in bibliographies, nor in CVs. Additional people who presented, but were not authors, never appear there, nor do hints about "exotic" presentation methods (given that there is tremendous variation in what a "poster presentation" means, depending on the conference, I can well imagine that for some conferences, a "paper presentation" is not necessarily the traditional stage talk + slides).
Such details might be slightly interesting, but at the same time, it would just be too cumbersome to keep track of all of them, so lastly, the core of your work is the paper/article that gets included in the proceedings, and that is what you refer to.
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Tags: conference, cv, authorship
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thread-29838
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29838
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Research on practices in addressing faculty bullying/harassment in academia
|
2014-10-12T11:30:18.820
|
# Question
Title: Research on practices in addressing faculty bullying/harassment in academia
Recently, the chair of the faculty senate at my institution began an effort to systematically address issues of faculty bullying/harassment. In particular (but not exclusively), we are worried about the exploitation of non-tenured and non-tenure-track faculty by senior tenured faculty. The institution has a policy on employee-employee harassment that is vague - something like "all employees have the right to be treated respectfully. The institution will have a process to address claims of harassment."
The institution does not have a process beyond 1) informally complain to the deans and 2) file a formal complaint with HR. The second process is a matter of record keeping and thus does not lead to negotiation and resolution except for egregious and repeated offenders. The first process is not formal, so each dean handles cases as he/she sees fit.
> We are seeking to propose a process and are looking for research on best practices. We are aware of the ombuds model that some institutions use. Are there other models? Has research been done on how effective they are?
**Note:** We are only concerned with non-sexual harassment, like "I will not support your application for tenure unless you X," where X is some activity not normally required for tenure, like teach a number of extra courses without pay, perform clerical duties for other faculty, etc. It also includes abuse of full-time and part-time adjuncts - "We won't renew your contract unless you do X," again where X is not in their original contract. Our institution has very clear and legally mandated processes for addressing sexual harassment.
# Answer
This is just some examples of preventative actions that I have encountered as an Adjunct in an Australian University.
One method employed by my and many other universities is for any existing or new member of staff to undergo training, of which anti-bullying and anti-harrassment modules are undertaken, an example is from the University of Western Sydney \- the page has the modules, but also includes a workplace agreement page and information about the procedures are if you find yourself being bullied. **These procedures are linked with the state/national legal framework already in place**, such as Australia's Fair Work Commission. Another example is from the University of Western Australia and a very extensive policy document from the University of Adelaide.
Many Universities have adopted a 'zero tolerance' policy, such as in the anti-bullying document from the University of Newcastle.
An example of a 'best practices' guide, is the University of Western Sydney's document UWS Workplace Bullying Prevention Action Plan 2014 - 2016, in response to
> In 2012, the University conducted a staff engagement survey on a range of management and human resource practices. Although 62% of staff agreed that UWS was adequately responding to bullying and abusive behaviours, this was highlighted as a potential area of organisational risk for the University
In Appendix A of the document, they extensively outline the 'Best Practices' for preventing bullying at the University, through evaluating and controlling the risk of bullying, which must be done in a clear an unambiguous way with a core emphasis on *preventative measures*. As it is a new document, no data is yet available about its effectiveness.
Another example is the University of the Sunshine Coast's Responding to Workplace Bullying - Procedures page, where specific procedures are laid out in accordance to health and safety and fair work laws.
Research into the effectiveness is hard to come by, according to the article Workplace Bullying: An increasing epidemic creating traumatic experiences for targets of workplace bullying (Farmer, 2011), the reason why a full analysis of the effectiveness is in part due
> Currently, a gap in the literature exists concerning the participation of “bullies” in many of the research studies published to date. Future research could look to include “bullies”, in such avenues as focus groups when looking to discover why workplace bullying occurs. If recommendations such as those noted above, ranging from zero-tolerance workplace bullying policies, education and training, and advocacy and awareness are continued to be drawn upon in the fight against workplace bullying, then it is the hope with the persistence of researchers and advocates, workplace bullying will one day reach similar status to policies which prohibit sexual harassment in the workplace.
As with all best practices, it is incumbent on people to implement them and to follow them - and to report when something goes wrong.
> 3 votes
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Tags: tenure-track, policy, harassment, adjunct-faculty
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