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2016/09/22	671	2,807	<issue_start>username_0: I am applying for a PhD position in Canada. I have already talked to a Professor and for some reasons, he really wants to hire me as his student. The problem is that currently, I have no TOEFL score requirement. The professor told me that he may convince the graduate committee to conditionally accept me. I was wondering how likely he can do it? Who makes the final decision about a PhD applicant?<issue_comment>username_1: Let me explain my comment as an answer. The admission process works in two different ways: Formal enrolment and informal enrolment Formal You apply through university web link and select the research areas or supervisor. Then probably you communicate with the chosen supervisor through email(s). If things go well then you might get an interview call or direct admit. Informal You approach the supervisor first. Discussions or interviews may go on. If everything is alright, you supervisor would speak with the admission committee for your official admit. In both these types of cases your supervisor recommends for the admission. However, it is the decision of the admission committee to make the final call. > > Note: I have skipped the recommendation letters related points which is a major part in both these types of enrolment. > > > Moreover, each University has their own set of rules. It is wise to go through the same. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In my day in the UK at the University of Sussex it went something like this; well at least for Chemistry. In your final year students undertake a project with a department researcher. Generally, at this stage you have a pretty strong idea if you want to undertake a postgrad course and undoubtedly who you would like to work with. Then, during this project if you are interested to carry on you just asked. It boiled down to funding. Some from the University but mostly from industry who were willing to sponsor the student so they could get research done. The costs went towards the student grant to pay for living costs etc and then lab supplies etc. If you got on well, showed an aptitude for research the 'prof' would say 'sure, I can get the cash and would like to work for me....' All of this, and it was a University thing would hinge on you getting a 2:1 Hons degree. If that happened you were accepted to take out a Ph.D with the research person. I myself, missed out and got a 2:2. That said, someone dropped out in doing their Ph.D and I was offered the grant instead. Ph.D's were also advertised externally in the scientific press and you then really up against other candidates and it became a job interview. Either way you had to be a good student, showed a keen interest in research and well, a generally nice person. Upvotes: 1
2016/09/22	321	1,349	<issue_start>username_0: If I were to refer to the work of X et al. [YYYY] several times within a paragraph does one need to write the date every time? It appears to disturb the flow of the writing and reads better without, however I'm unsure of the convention. I've never taken notice either way when reading papers and cannot find an example. Perhaps it is bad form?<issue_comment>username_1: This is entirely dependent on the venue's style. It varies not only by field, but also by the particular journal or conference. Ideally, your venue will have a published style guide. Or at least a short document with explicit instructions. Sometimes this will be in the citation style guide, other times you will need to look in the full guide. Failing that, go digging through other papers published at same venue, and see what they do. Failing that, or if this isn't actually targeted at a standard venue (eg for a standalone book). Find a style guide, for your field. Either one used generally used in your field Eg the Chicago Manual of Style. Or choose on from a journal that you like. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: In a paragraph, you don't need to refer work A several times. Just mention it on the beginning or at the end of paragraph. If you mention a work very often, you'll reduce the impact of your proposed method. Upvotes: 1
2016/09/23	316	1,244	<issue_start>username_0: I sent one abstract to my supervisor, which he approved and said it is fine. Later on, when the same abstract was published and circulated on university email, he sent me an email and stating that this Abstract is not good and you should have checked it with me before sending for circulation. I have his email of approval and I know he also does know that I checked this abstract with him before submission but seems he want me to take the blame. How do I cope with this situation, I don't want the relation turning bad or aggressive for both of us.<issue_comment>username_1: It's possible he's simply forgotten. Simpler is better in your response. Reply to his email as follows and attach his earlier email: > > You did approve it. See attached. > > > Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I suggest a slightly longer response than [Nicole's answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/77225/14017) that allows for a somewhat graceful exit and has less potential for coming across as reproachful between the lines: > > I am not sure which part you are referring to; you did approve the abstract as such (see attached), but were you maybe referring to another piece of text? > > > Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
2016/09/23	809	3,532	<issue_start>username_0: I am supposed to present my work at a technical conference with mostly software/network scientists or engineers and my work is centred around a mathematical model, a MILP, and the related performance evaluations with it. I'm a little confused about whether to present the mathematical model in its full detail (with all the constraints) or just explain using bullets about the constraints in the model and completely skip the mathematical notations. I find it really hard to decide either of these options and I would love to know your experiences in presenting your work to someone not related to that field. I've observed at some presentations about some of the audience being a little bummed out or not showing much interest in it. But, it would be foolish on my part to presume that whole audience is averse to math. So, I'd like to strike a fine balance between both these themes so as to not to disappoint myself and ensure the audience understands the content. Some of your comments or real-life experiences may come in very handy for my presentation. Oh, and btw, I use beamer for preparing my presentation.<issue_comment>username_1: We can be sure you do not have more than 20-25 minutes for your presentation. As you implied, in such conferences you have to satisfy the novice audience along with the most professional one. So it is highly recommended that you try to present for all of the audience in proper time limits. In my opinion, SOMETIMES it is necessary to get into some details in order to show the professionals what you did (in reputable conferences mostly). Also you should not make your ordinary audiences bored. So you can show the beginners the big picture such as ideas, examples, etc. (not so much detail) and in some few slides you may want to show some details for your professional audiences, though you do not have too much time for that and you should consider the time limits seriously. All in all, do not stick in details you give a fair chance no one will care about it. But it does not mean you should skip every detail. Also, try to use your colleagues ideas and feedback in your PRE-PRESENTATION practice about these matters. In my opinion, they are the most reliable resources for us. I myself, really care about my friends and colleagues comments before my presentations or even my paper submissions. And finally it might be worthy to take a look at [How to Present a Paper at an Academic Conference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj7DBhGwLXQ&list=PL41131E73CAFBF5C8). Moreover, It is great to know that you are using LaTex for your presentation. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The way I think of it is the following: you are not teaching a class, your goal is not to provide all of the details, but get people interested in following up with you personally. You can skip a lot of background and details. Just give the high level summary of your model and what you accomplished in a fun and engaging way. Maybe tell a personal story about how you discovered the model, or one specific cool application/results. Whatever. Just keep it simple and short without too much technical detail, not too imposing, and be friendly. Anyone interested in the topic will approach you afterward to ask more questions and get contact information. A conference is more about networking with people in your field (or even outside of your field! interdisciplinary collaboration is a good thing) than knowledge transfer. Good luck! Upvotes: 0
2016/09/23	577	2,442	<issue_start>username_0: While it is clear to me why time from submission to acceptance can vary a lot (given that this involves that most fickle of creature: the reviewer), it is less clear what determines how long it takes for an accepted paper to be published. Is this purely a matter of all accepted papers being put in a queue and then the journal selects from the top until they fill out each issue (possible going a bit further down to make the page counts fit)? Or is it common that papers are "pushed" forward in the queue based on various factors (and if so, which factors)? If it makes a difference, I am mostly interested in math journals, but I am also curious about possible dependency on the field.<issue_comment>username_1: I'd say your second option, various factors impact the progression of an accepted paper. Commissioning editors might decide that they commission an edited issue with academics deciding on the selection and groupings of articles, and that will disrupt the 'queue' of all accepted articles you mention. Otherwise, commissioning editors might notice that some recently-accepted articles fit nicely around a specific theme or share a common characteristic that make publishing them together valuable, regardless of the order they were accepted. Essentially, publishing is a human process, with the advantages and drawbacks that entails. If publication was only down to space, things might be very different. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Just as a real story and completion to the answer of @username_1, I report some examples from Elsevier and Springer. Recently Elsevier and Springer publishers have provided information about the review process and publication time (Online publication time and paginated ones). While this information is not completed for all of the journals, but for some of them in a variety of fields are accessible, such as [Advances in Mathematics](http://journalinsights.elsevier.com/journals/0196-8858/oapt), [Applied and Computational Harmonic Analysis (Online Article Publication Time)](http://journalinsights.elsevier.com/journals/1063-5203/oapt). In Springer, the information is not as easily accessible as Elsevier but there exist some information about the journal including the review process and publication time, [Journal metric Flyer](http://static.springer.com/sgw/documents/1519588/application/pdf/10958_JournalMetrics_Flyer%5B1%5D.pdf). Upvotes: 0
2016/09/23	928	3,665	<issue_start>username_0: Occurred to me that some office-based private for-profit companies offer the opportunity of sabbatical periods to their staff. Do most higher education institutions offer sabbatical periods for administrative / support staff? Is the concept of sabbatical for support staff as well as for academic staff featured in your institution's HR policies as a matter of course ? So here sabbatical is not about period off teaching and service duties for academic staff to focus 100% on research. Sabbatical period would mean paid leave from one's usual role to achieve something different, like creating a business, or developing something innovative, to pursue one's creative talent.<issue_comment>username_1: Large Land-Grant University in the U.S.: > > Applications for professional leaves will be considered only from faculty members on permanent appointment (academic or annual) who have completed at least five years of active service for $UNIVERSITY at the time the leave is to be effective. > > > Another university in the state has a very similar policy. Beyond that, I have never heard of staff taking sabbatical leave. Occasionally going for professional development, etc. but not for that length of time. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In general: Staff get things like holidays, vacation, and sometimes sick leave. Staff can take time via things like (in the US) the FMLA. Faculty do not get vacation nor sick leave. Sometimes they can take a term off (unpaid) Permanent, FT, full-professor, tenured faculty can APPLY after X years, often for a research (and paid) sabbatical. Another thing faculty will do for each other is sub. In general faculty sub for each other as a nice favor to do, sometimes with the anticipation that someone will sub for them when they need it. I've seen in extenuating circumstances a faculty member subbing for an entire term to help out. I've even seen where several faculty will each take one entire course for an entire term where a long-term faculty was in the hospital and recovery - so that the recovering faculty would not need to come teach, and would get their full pay for the term. Staff can't do that. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: In general sabbatical means something different for academic staff and support staff. See for example this [question of mine](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8557/what-is-an-academic-sabbatical). [Harvard](http://hr.harvard.edu/files/humanresources/files/huctw-manual.pdf) does not appear to offer a paid sabbatical for non-academic staff, but does offer an unpaid sabbatical: > > Long term leaves of at least three months and up to one year are available to any employee with five or more years of prior service to the University . Such leave will not be unreasonably denied. > > > This type of leave is intended to give employees the opportunity to explore or expand interests related or unrelated to their present work at the University with the assumption that they will return to employment at the University > > > [MIT](http://hrweb.mit.edu/policy/4-16) does not appear to offer a paid sabbatical for non-academic staff and there rules for unpaid leave are more rigid than Harvard. Similarly, [BU](https://www.bu.edu/hr/documents/employee-handbook.pdf) only offers an unpaid sabbatical for non-academic staff. All non-academic staff appear eligible, but it can only be up to 3 months in duration. Based on this non random sampling, I would conclude that paid sabbatical for non-academic staff is rare, if not non-existent, while unpaid sabbatical would be quite common. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
2016/09/23	883	3,678	<issue_start>username_0: I'm a second year undergraduate psychology student in Australia. As a mature-age student, I have a very clear focus in that, I'd like to transition from my undergraduate degree to a PhD, post doc and into academia proper. It is hard to pin professors down for "pathway" advice. I am currently working in a lab as a research assistant where I am involved in the publication of a few articles and working with a PhD student and post doc on writing up a few experiments for submission. Whether the journal accepts it or not, the experience gained from submitting and receiving feedback will be invaluable (I hope!). I am not sure whether to stay and complete my PhD in Australia or apply at another University overseas (UK or US). Alternatively, I could wait until the PhD is completed and then apply for post doc positions overseas (I have a dream of doing a PhD or post doc at Stanford (US) or Cambridge (UK)). * Is there a better place to do my PhD other than Australia? What about post doc? * In Australia being published or not isn't considered during application for PhD but is it necessary for the U.S. or UK?<issue_comment>username_1: My partner did undergrad and grad degrees in Europe, and formed the dream fairly early on to do some sort of study in the US at some point. That did eventually happen, in the form of a post doc. My observation has been that as a dream it was a positive life influence. Dreams of this type are usually most constructive if they are left rather vague. When thinking about where to apply for grad school, you must consider * funding * fit of school and department * fit of culture (place where school is located) * family considerations having to do with possible relocation These are all things you can start thinking about now. There are many strands, schools of thought, etc., within a field of study. As you progress in your studies you will learn a lot about what intrigues you, and that will help you guide your choice of schools to apply to. I can say that based on my own experience, I would not expect that your being a returning student would hinder you in the U.S. I can't speak for other countries. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Probably, but not necessarily. Some universities insist on international experience, but I have not seen that in Australia. The real concern here is not "Should I study in Australia or elsewhere?" but "Who are the best people for me to work with?" Most people are outside Australia, so you are likely to find the best people in your field outside Australia. One consideration is that Australian universities are funded based on how long it takes students to finish their PhD degrees. As a result, many students are encouraged to finish in 3.5 years (plus three years of bachelors and one year of honours). In the United States, PhD students typically study for 5-9 years (plus four years of bachelors), depending on a variety of factors. A longer PhD can be useful because you can get more results before you have to apply for jobs. But it is also a longer time in which the student is paid much less than a postdoc. It's a personal decision to weigh these factors. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I was a researcher in NZ for many years. I found that they were very reluctant to hire anyone into a senior position unless they had taken at least one graduate degree abroad. The two universities you mention are the very best and you are unlikely to go wrong if you can finance studying at them. I do not know enough about Australia to be certain, but remember that a lot of the hiring people in both Australia and NZ are from England. Upvotes: 1
2016/09/23	451	1,841	<issue_start>username_0: I am a final year Computer Science student from South Asia and expected to graduate by August 2017. I thought of starting to contact professors for masters program from now. Today I received a reply from the professor I mailed first. He said, > > Thank you for your interest. I would suggest you to contact me once you have graduated. > > > What can I infer from this kind of reply? And another question: Is it too early to start to apply?<issue_comment>username_1: You can infer from this type of reply that you should contact him once you have graduated. There are many reasons for this: * If you're genuinely interested, you'll follow up when the time comes. * The last year of a program can be hugely impactful in either good or bad ways on a student's preparation. * You may be outside the application window for his program, which puts talking to new students low on the priority list. Similarly, if its a competitive process for admitting people into his lab, he'll be wanting to compare you to other interested students. * Funding is a time-variable thing. Whether or not he has room for a student in his lab, can pay for them, etc. might be very different now and when you'd actually arrive. Among others. It's not necessarily too early to start applying places, but sometimes you may get answers like that. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: A lot can happen in the last year of a program. If I had to guess, this is professor lingo for "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched." Complete your current degree (or progress to the point where you are absolutely 100% sure you will be receiving your degree) before you start asking professors about Master's programs. I don't necessarily agree with this line of thought, but then again, I'm not a professor. Upvotes: 0
2016/09/23	1,503	6,617	<issue_start>username_0: A former PhD student at our lab had this idea for an algorithm for solving an engineering problem that has many well known solutions. The student developed preliminary results but ended up applying the algorithm to some other simpler engineering problems instead and graduating. I 'inherited' the project and it has always been a project my advisor has had high ambitions for. My advisor actually ended up changing my research project to this one after 6 month even though I heavily objected. The project is not funded. I TA to pay the bills. At this point I have already advanced to candidacy and I'm in what I was planning to be my final 6 month. My research has basically consisted of building other algorithms based on the one the other student came up with. All are for an application in a measurement system. I have derived all of the mathematical solutions that will be at the heart of my algorithm and I am in the process of validating them with new experimental data. The previous data I worked with was all provided by the first student to work on the project. I have recently discovered there are some issues with the original algorithm that create errors in the solution. The errors are larger than those of the previous (well-established) methods. This does not happen in all conditions, however, the experimental data I was left with all happened to be cases where this error does not show up (I'm not entirely sure this was by coincidence). How can I salvage this project and graduate without delaying my graduation much. I have family obligations that require me to graduate soon and I'm devastated that I've discovered this so late. This is partly my fault for trusting the research from the previous student too much (it was easy to do since my advisor can't stop praising him). I personally have always been of the opinion that research projects do not need to have positive outcomes and PhD students should be assured that things will be fine for them even if there research has bad outcomes. I feel that doing research to show that something has a bad outcome is still equally valuable. I also feel that because of pressure to have good outcomes a lot of researchers exaggerate their results out of fear of possible consequences and it ends up doing more bad than good when people try to use their publications. Do you think I have a good case of being able to graduate given my situation? And how would you approach convincing my advisor?<issue_comment>username_1: Conditions Under-which Fancy Algorithm Has Inflated Error Properties by A. Student. Journal of Science and The Doing Of It. 2017. This would be a perfectly acceptable paper, and one which should appear in the literature. If you can, correcting said algorithm so it does not do so would be a bonus, but not necessary. Also, it's slightly late for you, but one should always ask when embarking on a thesis/dissertation project "What happens if the answer is "No"?" Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Einstein is attributed as saying (paraphrased) "If I knew what I was doing, it wouldn't be called research". I completely agree that a negative result is still a result, and in fact, a very useful one! The other comments address the technical merits, so I will focus on interacting with your advisor. You have to provide a good pitch. As an academic, he will likely be swayed with good data, so spend some time verifying your result. * How do you know the algorithm is wrong? Find a way to quantify the error. It might be just comparing it to the well-known case you mentioned. * Once you have that, run the old experimental data + the new data through your code and make a graph or chart of the error. Show that the original data set results match the original work (so that your code is shown to be correct/consistent implementation of previous work), but that other data sets produce larger error. * Propose a modification to the algorithm, then re-run all the data. Show that the values and error are still consistent on the original data set, but with lower error on your new data set. Even if its not a real full solution, it's important to show that you have improved it. For political reasons, you may want to avoid the term "flawed", so as not to insult the past student, but rather to say that you have extended the algorithm to other situations. That's definitely publishable material, as others said. I think this is doable quickly since it sounds like you already have most of these pieces together, you just need to arrange them to make the argument to your advisor. I had an old advisor that loved graphs of everything. You could sway him with a good graph. Hopefully that is true for your advisor too. Good luck. Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I can't comment on PhD theses, but nobody has mentioned how to actually talk to your advisor. 1. Do not immediately slam your advisor with, "Your favorite students work is wrong, I want to write about how wrong it is." 2. Start by saying that you think (be non-deterministic, there's still a chance you're wrong) you have found some issues with the previous work. 3. Present a clearly written memo detailing the edge cases and why they break the existing work. Include an "out" for the previous student and the advisor. Graciously say that the sample dataset did not include these edge cases so couldn't have been proven broken at the time. Do NOT say that you suspect the previous guy fudged the data. 4. Allow the professor time to digest and draw his own conclusions. (They may have already had suspicions about these edge cases so they may be pretty accepting of this news.) 5. Listen to the feedback. Make a mental distinction of feedback that is their immediate reaction and feedback after "a while". 6. Calmly take in the feedback and spend some time going over to see if it is possible you missed something. Give your rebuttal after "a while". (Don't immediately react to your advisor. You'll say something that you'll kick yourself for later. Your absolute main rebuttal point should be the very first one your advisor hears because people tend to block out the next few arguments while they argue the first one in their head.) 7. After your advisor has accepted that the previous work had flaws, propose the possibility of a paper about why the previous method is incorrect. This should happen over the course of several days. You both are very good at your technical specialty, but you're both human. This is a social situation and you should approach it as such. Upvotes: 2
2016/09/23	1,346	5,674	<issue_start>username_0: I am 5 years into my postdoc, which has been up and down but I now have a decent publication record. I like what I am doing, am ready to manage people and can't wait to get out of the lab and no longer be a postdoc. I have many ideas and not enough hands. But, it is becoming clear that to be "successful" one has to be willing to look absolutely everywhere for a faculty position. I am in New York City, I moved here for my postdoc from London, UK, and love it here. I have friends and a support system, a husband, a great apartment. Aside from that it is relatively convenient for flying to the UK to see my family - who have a lot of problems, which I am struggling to deal with. Although I think I might want to have a faculty position, I want to be here more - and I think I need this to feel happy. My family problems has taught me that life is too short to be miserable and do things that will make you unhappy. My boss is going all out promoting me to her PI friends and telling them how great I am, asking around for positions and introducing me to people - which is incredibly supportive. But she keeps suggesting places I just can't see myself living in, and says I need to be open minded. The fact is that I simply do not want to. What would you do? If I tell my boss this, I feel like I'll lose her support and need her on my side for the next step (which also I wouldn't mind being in industry). I am really confused and don't know how to have this conversation with my boss or if I should at all. Any ideas?<issue_comment>username_1: Conditions Under-which Fancy Algorithm Has Inflated Error Properties by A. Student. Journal of Science and The Doing Of It. 2017. This would be a perfectly acceptable paper, and one which should appear in the literature. If you can, correcting said algorithm so it does not do so would be a bonus, but not necessary. Also, it's slightly late for you, but one should always ask when embarking on a thesis/dissertation project "What happens if the answer is "No"?" Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Einstein is attributed as saying (paraphrased) "If I knew what I was doing, it wouldn't be called research". I completely agree that a negative result is still a result, and in fact, a very useful one! The other comments address the technical merits, so I will focus on interacting with your advisor. You have to provide a good pitch. As an academic, he will likely be swayed with good data, so spend some time verifying your result. * How do you know the algorithm is wrong? Find a way to quantify the error. It might be just comparing it to the well-known case you mentioned. * Once you have that, run the old experimental data + the new data through your code and make a graph or chart of the error. Show that the original data set results match the original work (so that your code is shown to be correct/consistent implementation of previous work), but that other data sets produce larger error. * Propose a modification to the algorithm, then re-run all the data. Show that the values and error are still consistent on the original data set, but with lower error on your new data set. Even if its not a real full solution, it's important to show that you have improved it. For political reasons, you may want to avoid the term "flawed", so as not to insult the past student, but rather to say that you have extended the algorithm to other situations. That's definitely publishable material, as others said. I think this is doable quickly since it sounds like you already have most of these pieces together, you just need to arrange them to make the argument to your advisor. I had an old advisor that loved graphs of everything. You could sway him with a good graph. Hopefully that is true for your advisor too. Good luck. Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I can't comment on PhD theses, but nobody has mentioned how to actually talk to your advisor. 1. Do not immediately slam your advisor with, "Your favorite students work is wrong, I want to write about how wrong it is." 2. Start by saying that you think (be non-deterministic, there's still a chance you're wrong) you have found some issues with the previous work. 3. Present a clearly written memo detailing the edge cases and why they break the existing work. Include an "out" for the previous student and the advisor. Graciously say that the sample dataset did not include these edge cases so couldn't have been proven broken at the time. Do NOT say that you suspect the previous guy fudged the data. 4. Allow the professor time to digest and draw his own conclusions. (They may have already had suspicions about these edge cases so they may be pretty accepting of this news.) 5. Listen to the feedback. Make a mental distinction of feedback that is their immediate reaction and feedback after "a while". 6. Calmly take in the feedback and spend some time going over to see if it is possible you missed something. Give your rebuttal after "a while". (Don't immediately react to your advisor. You'll say something that you'll kick yourself for later. Your absolute main rebuttal point should be the very first one your advisor hears because people tend to block out the next few arguments while they argue the first one in their head.) 7. After your advisor has accepted that the previous work had flaws, propose the possibility of a paper about why the previous method is incorrect. This should happen over the course of several days. You both are very good at your technical specialty, but you're both human. This is a social situation and you should approach it as such. Upvotes: 2
2016/09/24	880	3,504	<issue_start>username_0: I'd really love to have your valuable advice! I have a professor who I respect very much and he adores me as his student, often says I'm his best student. And we kept in touch even after I graduated recently. I email him a lot about grad school and he usually responds really fast, like within 3 hours after I sent the email. About two weeks ago, I wrote him an email about grad school, but he didn't reply. It was unusual but I waited for a week, and wrote two more emails to him and sent to both his email addresses, he still didn't reply. Now it's been two weeks. It's really unusual that he doesn't respond at all, and I normally CC myself in those emails, and I received my own emails, so I know it's not the problem of email delivery. My concern right now is that he's old and I'm worried about his health; because him not responding is not like him. I'm in a different country now, so I can't physically check up on him, but I have his colleague's email. Would it be rude if I sent his colleague an email to ask if everything is okay with my professor? Do they have any news about him? What if my professor was just busy and didn'r reply? Would I be overboard on this issue by asking his collegue? Also since he was gonna write me recommendation letters, would it seem like I'm only asking about him to make sure that I have my LOR? (WHICH ISN'T WHY I'M CONCERNED.) I don't know if it's appropriate to email his colleague and ask about how's he doing and if anything happened. What should I do? Thank you so much!<issue_comment>username_1: In this situation, I guess, you should start with these emails. You shouldn't have an emergence to do this. Slow response is near enough. Additionally, you shouldn't be concerned about the personal reactions (as, he's impolite to bother me, he's wasting my time) on your mails. This is definitely ok to writing to the working addresses with business matters (put them there the instead direct health concerns). Email body be like. > > I'm ... My profession is not responding for a ... and time is critical for my current issue. Unfortunately, I haven't his other contacts. Could you, please, help my with..." > > > Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I'm a professor, and two weeks is not a particularly long time for me to get around to replying to a non-urgent e-mail. That said, I'm not generally as good at replying to e-mails (particularly those from former students, which you now are) as you describe your professor as being. In your situation, I would do one or both of two things: 1. E-mail him again. Say directly something like "I sent you a couple of e-mails over the past few weeks, but I haven't received a reply yet. Could you please reply and let me know that you're all right, to put my mind at ease?" A phrasing like this is less likely to come across as demanding, and more likely to come across as simply concerned. 2. E-mail his administrative assistant (not another faculty member) and ask whether Prof. X has been in to the department recently, or whether he is traveling or on vacation or the like. You can say that you haven't heard from him in a while and you're starting to get concerned. Administrative assistants are much more likely to know whether a particular professor is in town or out of town. A random faculty member, on the other hand, is much less likely keep track of where your professor is; I couldn't tell you what the details of my colleagues' schedules are. Upvotes: 2
2016/09/24	1,008	4,350	<issue_start>username_0: I am an undergraduate chemical engineering student who has been participating in research for a little less than a year now. I was able to get a paper published on one of my previous projects. Since I do not feel that the automotive industry is for me, and since I really like doing research, I have realized that the biomedical engineering path is more suitable for me. I started looking for summer research programs at different universities throughout the US, and also found one in Switzerland, but some of them require a very high GPA. The reason why I want to participate in these types of programs, is because I truly want to make my research skills more versatile - I also believe that being exposed to different research projects, will help me on my own, current, research project. I do not have the high GPA, but I have the stamina, ambition, and research experience that I believe it takes to complete such an intensive summer program. Should I still bother applying to them, is there any chance they will consider me? I do not want to ask my research professor for letter of recommendation, when I know there is no possibility of me being accepted. For anyone who has participated in said summer research programs, what was your experience like? Do they really place such a strong emphasis on GPA, or do they take into consideration the work you did/have been doing in your lab? I was thinking of emailing the department head of these programs, introducing myself, "bothering" them, but I am not sure whether starting off with "my GPA is not high enough" is the best idea.<issue_comment>username_1: I think you should. If you don't meet the requirement which you get the same result with "not applying". It wouldn't hurt to try, so I think you should totally give it a try. Good luck. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The rule of thumb in applying to September to May programs is to apply to a "safe" school (one you are certain of getting into), a medium-competitive school (in which you feel acceptance is likely), and a dream school (which is a bit of a long shot). You can apply this general principle when selecting summer programs to apply to. There should be a trusted professor in your department who is functioning as a mentor to you. If no one has settled into that role for you in a natural way, then you should reach out to someone you feel would be an appropriate choice. In your situation right now, a natural way to reach out would be to ask the person for guidance in choosing summer programs to apply to. > > I do not want to ask my research professor for letter of recommendation, when I know there is no possibility of me being accepted. > > > Your reticence is understandable but you should take a deep breath and ask anyway. There is no one to be your manager and promoter -- other than you yourself. Here's a trick that could help you perform that function more easily: imagine yourself ten years in the future mentoring, managing, promoting and recommending a student with your academic record and interests. When you look at things that way, I think you will realize that it is part of being a professor to write letters of recommendation for some long-shot applications, and that professors (who are worthy of the name) find it rewarding to do so. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: This is exactly the kind of question you should ask your research professor. Because 1. Asking this question is a lot less time-consuming for your professor than you asking for a recommendation letter straight out (if he thinks that you have no chance, he'll just say so, and you don't apply). 2. If he thinks that you really deserve to be in a research program, he may be able to contact his friends (who might have connections in the research programs) and get you in, regardless of the GPA requirement. However, this is assuming that you are amazingly brilliant; in general, when they post the GPA requirement, they do mean it. Also, as an advice, if you have the stamina and ambition, I suggest that you get your GPA up first. If you want to stay in an academic path, your undergraduate GPA will help you a lot more than you realize (graduating from a big-name school with a PhD has amazing advantages later on, when you're applying to be a postdoc or a professor). Upvotes: 2
2016/09/24	757	2,881	<issue_start>username_0: I have wrote a paper almost a year ago which it was accepted by a peer review in a conference. However, I never got to present it there due to excessive fees of the event. I want to cite this paper now, so my question is, can I treat this paper as unpublished work or is there a formal way to say accepted in the conference, or any other appropriate way? If it makes any difference i am using Harvard citation format. Side note, is it ok to upload it to my academia webpage and make a citation to there? K.<issue_comment>username_1: Let us answer the question partwise: > > However, I never got to present it there due to excessive fees of the event. > > > This means that you never registered for your accepted paper. When you don't register for the paper, the conference committee consider the paper as withdrawn by the Author(s). This ultimately means that the paper is not published anywhere (neither online nor offprint) > > want to cite this paper now... > > > NO, because the paper is not published anywhere (till now; considering this that you did nothing with paper after that conference) > > ...can I treat this paper as unpublished work ... > > > Yes. You can consider this as unpublished. > > ...or is there a formal way to say accepted in the conference, or any other appropriate way? > > > No. Even if you say, it does not make any sense to the listener; because, finally it never appeared in the conference. In no way, you can say the paper is published. But, historically, you can always say to your friends/peers that this paper was accepted in the Conference in Historical Age, 20XX (which does not make any sense at all) > > ...it makes any difference i am using Harvard citation format. > > > Citation does not have any role here; because, you can't cite the paper. > > Side note, is it ok to upload it to my academia webpage and make a citation to there? > > > No. Never upload the paper to professional networking sites such as Academia or Researchgate. In stead, what you can do is you can submit this as a pre-print to arXiv [arXiv](http://arxiv.org/) And then you can submit to any other venues. Suggestion: You can directly submit the paper to some conferences or journals in your field. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There are two possible cases here: * (Default case) Your paper has not been included to the conference proceedings volume. In this case, your paper is unpublished. It might still be possible to cite it, e.g. by uploading it to arXiv and referencing it as an arXiv preprint, but this citation would have to leave out the name of the conference. * Despite your absence at the conference, the paper has been included to the conference proceedings volume. In this case, your paper counts as published and you can cite it. Upvotes: 2
2016/09/24	3,035	13,069	<issue_start>username_0: I have been assigned to a section of student where I am teaching probabilistic models. From the starting day itself, I feel something strange is happening in the class. For example: * I like to have two-way communication inside the class. i.e. I prefer to have some sort of active discussions. However, the students do not respond at all. * Given the above point, I initially thought that it was my fault that they are not finding my teaching interesting. But, I sat with them in other courses which they are taking. It is the same. It sounds strange, but, it is. * I can't say they are lazy (c.f. [How to deal with lazy students?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9686/how-to-deal-with-a-lazy-class)) because they are doing something else in class. Some are busy coding, some are reading research articles, some are doing something else. Out of 40 students, only ~5 students are interacting. * I can't throw them out of the class, as it is against the university rules. Due to the above reasons, I (and a few other faculty members) do not feel interested in teaching these students. How can we improve the class environment, given the passiveness of these students?<issue_comment>username_1: Your question sounds like you're expecting a silver bullet answer which will magically change your class the way you want it. It is unlikely to happen this way. To change the way the class behaves, you need to understand the reasons of their current behavior. Your first step - to observe them sitting other lectures - was a good one. But you need to take it further, and really dig out the reason(s) behind it. You can consider checking with your colleagues on the history of this particular group. Were they always behaving like this? Or someone or something pushed them off suddenly? It may take a single lecturer to dramatically demotivate a class, e.g. by giving an appalling and negative feedback to most students. You can consider talking to them, explaining why the current situation makes it difficult for you to enjoy time with them. You can do it directly or through students' representatives or anonymous email/post. You can ask student support team to step in and help to mediate the case. Some cohorts are difficult, but honest and open communication is often a key to fix it (at least to an extent). Remember, you are not teaching subject, you are teaching people - so focus on them. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Some possible strategies: 1. Make sure the lecture is worth listening to. Don't simply go over what's in the textbook. 2. Reward the students who pay attention by asking exam questions about examples gone over in lecture. 3. Put students who obviously aren't paying attention on the spot by asking them questions. 4. If the class as a whole is doing well on assignments and exams but still appears bored, consider making the material more difficult. (But be careful about this, lest you leave the weaker students in the dust.) 5. Remind students that they can leave if they don't want to be there. (Being able to say this is one reason I never take attendance.) A classroom with five engaged students is a better environment than a classroom with five engaged students and 35 distracted students. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: > > Some are busy in coding, some are reading research articles, some are doing something else. > > > I have seen (and participated in) this exact behaviour in classes that are minor and irrelevant to the study path students take. This might be an Ecology class for Physics majors, or a Science class for Language majors. Thus, step 1 is to understand students' motivations behind taking your class. If your students only take classes because some governing body requires them to, you have little room to improve their motivation. To find if this is the case, try asking the students: either directly or by collecting an anonymous poll with 'What is your motivation for this course?' question. If the answers indicate that their motivation is external, adapt. One strategy I can think of is changing the lectures to project work, literally making the students learn on their own. However, what to do with students who only have external motivation is a separate question. EDIT: since the students seem to be taking the class for the sake of a good transcript, they will not interact with you in the lectures. Their goal is to sit through the lecture, "nine-to-five", and minimize the effort, subject to reaching a passing grade. (Ironically, students are good at solving these kinds of optimization problems.) My advice still holds: if a student is given a project to work on, be it a program, a research report, an essay, a survey, you name it, he has much less space to slack than in a lecture. Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: In my opinion, there has been a general (but not universal!) downward trend in student engagement and participation in classes in recent years. In other words, I see more passivity these days than previously. I'll skip the analysis and get to the brainstorming. (You may have tried some of these ideas already.) * Incorporate a small participation component (no more than 10%) into your grading scheme. (If you do this, (a) make it clear in the syllabus and remind students of this occasionally -- but don't drive it into the ground; and (b) make sure you do it consistently by making notes right after class, and during class if need be.) * For students who are not comfortable participating in a spontaneous way in class, provide alternatives. Examples: online class discussions, asking students to peer review each others' drafts, some "journal" type responses to thought questions. Note that a shy student who doesn't feel comfortable sharing his or her response with the whole class will still be able to participate in this, by sending the response to you individually. Or you could have them participate electronically using a randomly assigned ID. You have to design and test the questions carefully so that it's clear what you're asking, so that there is no one right answer, and so that the desired length and scope are clear (and fit the question comfortably). Perhaps I am making this sound daunting. It need not be if you are collecting feedback in a regular way without getting on the students' nerves about it (see bullet point at end of list). * Encourage the students to interact more with each other. I think this is more important than eliciting a particular type of response to something you say in class. Again, this peer interaction need not be in class, and it need not be by speaking. You could be a facilitator of group discussion sessions (maybe 15 minutes per class once a week). If necessary, to break the ice initially, you could pose a topic of discussion that is not directly relevant to your subject -- just to help them over the hump. Using name tags with a fat magic marker so they are easily readable, for the first few classes, can be helpful. * Include information in your course about how your subject matter can be applied, and how it can be relevant on the job. * Explicitly encourage some assignments to be worked on in small groups. Don't wait until the last month of classes to give this type of assignment, because one of the purposes of this should be to facilitate the forming of study groups. Work a little bit directly with each working group, to make sure that each of your students is getting plugged into a group in a comfortable, functional way. * Allow and encourage humor in your class. Ask students to contribute a favorite funny math or science cartoon or short video clip, and project the best once a week. * You wrote, "I have asked about the motivation behind taking this course," but apparently you didn't get helpful information back. Try, instead, asking each student to give you a short info sheet about him or herself, including how the course fits into his or her academic goals. You could ask, for example, "What sort of learning style works best for you? What was your favorite class you've ever taken, and why? What was the worst, and why?" Explain that they don't need to write long answers to these questions (so you don't get on their nerves with what may seem like unnecessary, tangential work). * Think carefully about what you expect students to do while you are lecturing. Copy notes from board verbatim? Sit and watch the slides go by? Jot down additional notes on a powerpoint hand-out? Sit and watch the slides go by on their own laptops while you stand at the front of the room talking about the slides? Work the sample problems with you, trying to anticipate what the next step is? Look at a proposed proof you are displaying, to discover its strengths and weaknesses? Make up a problem of a certain type, for one or more classmates to try to solve? In other words, are they being set up for a passive role right from the start? * Observe other classes, perhaps in some other departments and institutions, to collect intriguing techniques and approaches. * Don't wait until the end of the semester to collect constructive feedback. You can ask simple, quick feedback questions at multiple points in the semester. Make sure students are comfortable doing this in an anonymous way, for example with an electronic tool that guarantees anonymity, or by asking a friend or colleague to step into your class (while you step out) for the last 5 or 10 minutes of class on the days you do one of these feedback questionnaires. (If your class is very small, and handwriting can be easily recognized, definitely go the electronic route.) Keep in mind that human interaction is something like a seesaw. When you are overfunctioning, it is natural for the other party to underfunction. You may need to bring your own tone down, and be a bit less entertaining, in order to allow the others' personalities to come through. I have no idea whether you are coming on too strong and making some students uncomfortable in this way! To find out, ask a trusted colleague, friend or grad student to sit in on a class to provide feedback. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I have never had this issue, although I do fear that it'll come to me one day. I have nothing but personal experiences to offer (I have never been big on teaching methods) but here goes. I think the most important is to establish some sort of rapport between you and the students. I generally do this by talking about some concepts that the students don't expect me to know. For example, I know that I sound ridiculous when I do it, but I intentionally use a generous amount of slangs in my teaching. For example, I'll say things like, "Hey, let's integrate the freak out of this function, because like, YOLO." (For the record, I'm at a great R1 school, ranked very very high for pretty much every area). First of all, they find it amusing that a "grownup" is trying so hard to fit in. Secondly, because it's pathetically funny (I'd love to be naturally funny, but that's not something that I can change easily) they actually want to listen, in case they miss some hilarious moment. Thirdly, it makes me almost one of them, so they feel better about confiding in me their weaknesses, so if they're stuck or confused, they'll actually interrupt me and ask. This method has its downsides, because some class clowns feel the need to interrupt when they have something funny to say. But you learn to deal with it (eg. "Thanks for that input, but now I'm going to show you that math is even funnier than that.") But if the students are downright ignoring you and doing their own things, and if it repeats for multiple sections, then there is a clear problem in your teaching method, and I think that you need to find things to entertain your students. If it's just that one section, however, maybe you just got unlucky with the student lottery, and you do your best and bear with them for a semester. Good luck! Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: @MassimoOrtolano is right. Not everybody likes to be put on the spot in a lecture. Students may prefer offline studying. Myself, I used to sometimes be "in the interaction zone" during lecture, but sometimes not, and reading post hoc or even only when the exercises/homework loomed. Very variable, depending on mood, energy, etc. Do they do well? If yes, that's what you want. Don't assume that one size fits all. Frankly, if you want them to interact, don't blame students for passiveness, but wonder what's wrong with your lecture (which may or may not be the case). Are you too fast? Too slow? Both will kill interaction. And, sometimes, you simply cannot do anything. I have generally high interaction levels, but I've had cases where nothing I did made a difference. Well, that's that. Find out whether it's you - and adapt your energy; if it isn't, cut your losses and do your honest best, and accept that, at some point, it's the students responsibility to match your investment. Upvotes: 2
2016/09/24	825	3,420	<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD student, and just gave a talk about a model that my advisor and I have been working on in a small conference. During my talk, a professor pointed out that our model will have an serious issue in his field, which my advisor and I are not familiar with, so the model might not work. I wasn't sure how to respond to him at that moment. Fortunately, the issue only associates with part of my talk. And, my advisor was there, too. He responded to him that this part of the work is still in progress so I wasn't too embarrassed. Therefore, I would like to ask, in general, 1. How should I respond when an audience points out that there might be an issue in my work during my talk? 2. How often does this happen in an actual talk? 3. How serious is this?<issue_comment>username_1: Whatever you say, don't get defensive or passive-aggressive. Just discuss the remark as it is. He may be right, he may be wrong, and he may just have an interesting point, which, while not invalidating your approach, may show you some ways not to go. I've seen various possibilities and derailed at least one talk myself. Such situation is not very common but it happens now and then and what it really calls for is pursuing the issue to the end (not necessarily during the talk; you'll have to think when discussing such stuff, and being at the blackboard with 20 people looking at you slows your brain down quite a bit). If it is not immediately clear that the observation just kills the presentation completely (in which case the only decent exit is to step down) the obvious immediate response would be something along the lines "Thanks for the observation. I haven't noticed that. Let's discuss it right after the talk". In most cases people will be happy to do it and you'll learn something new in the process. It is normally understood that the discussion of a controversial point during the talk itself is not a great idea. As to how serious it is, it won't hurt your reputation much, if that was the question, but it may be serious enough to force you to completely abandon your current approach and that is something you'll need to find out. Don't expect the objection disappear once that professor is out of the room. If it was a valid point, it will arise again and again, so you'd better address the issue right away. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: *1. How should I respond when an audience points out that there might be an issue in my work during my talk?* If it's an honest issue, then acknowledge it. Frankly, I'd state something like > > We haven't covered this aspect as of yet, but thank you for pointing this issue for us; we will address this soon. > > > Replies like this are always welcome. It portrays your genuineness and a sport of research. *2. How often does this happen in an actual talk?* Depending on the conference, quite often; especially if your domain aligns well with the understanding of the audience. *3. How serious is this?* It depends on how you take it. It is something that you should expect from a conference. The rationale behind a conference is to share ideas and discuss on shortcomings that could be improved in future. It is preferred primary to journals in several institutions due to its dynamic nature (that is, for a 'good' conference). Take it constructively and you'll be fine. Upvotes: 2
2016/09/25	1,354	5,711	<issue_start>username_0: I'm on the job market for tenure-track positions in mathematics in the US this application cycle. I was advised by various people to contact the people in the institutions that I would really like to go to, so I have just contacted 4-5 top institutions that I am planning to apply to. In the usual job market desperation, I may try to decipher every word in their response (if they respond at all), so I am curious about if there is anything to be deciphered at all. I'm only a postdoc and I have not had emails of this sort, but I can see myself responding in various ways. For example, for a complete no-name who has no chance in my school, maybe the kindest thing is just to thank them, ignore them, or just tell them that we're not hiring in their area. Maybe if it's someone that looks like they have a shot, maybe I'd respond telling them that I'll read their applications carefully, or something along those lines. Or maybe I'll volunteer some extra information such as our intended area of hire (because those generally don't appear in job ads) or actually pass on the email to the hiring committee. Or, do you just have a canned response that you send out to everyone who contacts you? All of this is speculation, and I'm intentionally doing this before getting any response back, so that I don't go crazy over the responses. Does what I say above have any similarities with the reality? Even a glimmer of hope from any of the responses will put my mind at ease, so I am hoping for many anecdotal stories from current/past faculty who have had to deal with emails of this sort, which I am sure they receive plenty of.<issue_comment>username_1: Don't stress out about the responses, since it's nearly impossible to get reliable information by reading between the lines. The variation in how people might respond is enormous, and unless you really know the people involved it's hard to know what it means. For example, suppose someone sends a friendly, encouraging reply. Maybe it means you have a real shot at the job. Maybe it means they think you have a real shot, but they could be totally wrong. (Sometimes people on hiring committees have unrealistic beliefs about how everything will play out.) Maybe it's just their personality and has nothing to do with your chances. Maybe they are deliberately saying the same thing to everyone in order to avoid awkwardness. If you don't know them pretty well, all you can do is guess. Of course a standoffish reply is equally difficult to interpret. The net effect is that you'll get replies that look like they may contain information, but you really won't know what, if anything, they mean. It's best to resign yourself to this now, rather than spending a lot of time worrying over how to interpret replies and not actually learning anything valuable in the process. Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There is probably a small positive correlation between how encouraging e-mail responses are and how much of a chance you have. But there is also a large amount of random chance, depending on the personality of the responder. It can be maddening, and it is probably useless, to try to extract the signal from the noise. Usually if you get specific information right away, it will be bad news. In particular, if your research interests are not a good match for whatever the search committee is looking for, you might be told immediately. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend trying to read too much into the content (or presence or absence of these e-mails). Good luck on your job search! Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: A few years ago, fresh out of PhD, I was hunting for a university job. I applied to a bunch of universities ranging from world's top to average/below average. I knew I didn't have a faintest chance to get a job at prestigious university, but I really enjoyed reading their responses: > > Despite your excellent qualification, we regret to inform you that we > hired another person, who was more suitable for this position... > > > Reading that would make me happy. They think I have an "excellent qualification"! I think 99% of negative responses are standard and professionally tailored to incite positive emotions in spite of bad news. Like firing someone of Friday before Christmas. All the positive responses I ever received/sent were as dry as they can get, loaded with specific and technical info. With that being said, job hunting is a tremendously time consuming activity, like a full-time job. Trying to infer something from non-explicitly positive responses seems to be a waste of precious time. If the response seems neutral/unclear and you need to decide whether to agree to another job or not, then you should immediately ask them to clarify their response saying that you have a decision to make. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Don't infer anything from a return email, other than whether you get an invitation for a meeting/interview, or not. That's the first level of "screening" and that's all that can be reasonably done through email. Other than that, an email is no place to get even an "indication" of where you stand. It was sent by one contact person (out of many) who may not even be key decisionmaker. During and after the interview/meeting, etc., you will probably be placed in one of three categories: 1) a "top" (tenure-track potential) candidate, 2) a marginal "borderline" candidate who will be made an offer with no guarantees, or 3) a non-candidate. Of course the third result is intellectually "easy" (if painful), so you'll want to distinguish between the first two. But the time to do that is after the interview. Upvotes: 0
2016/09/25	1,021	4,294	<issue_start>username_0: How would one properly format a department/office/lab/subsection of a university? If say I work in Lab X of University Y, should I format it like this? Lab X, University Y or University Y, Lab X? Or something else?<issue_comment>username_1: Don't stress out about the responses, since it's nearly impossible to get reliable information by reading between the lines. The variation in how people might respond is enormous, and unless you really know the people involved it's hard to know what it means. For example, suppose someone sends a friendly, encouraging reply. Maybe it means you have a real shot at the job. Maybe it means they think you have a real shot, but they could be totally wrong. (Sometimes people on hiring committees have unrealistic beliefs about how everything will play out.) Maybe it's just their personality and has nothing to do with your chances. Maybe they are deliberately saying the same thing to everyone in order to avoid awkwardness. If you don't know them pretty well, all you can do is guess. Of course a standoffish reply is equally difficult to interpret. The net effect is that you'll get replies that look like they may contain information, but you really won't know what, if anything, they mean. It's best to resign yourself to this now, rather than spending a lot of time worrying over how to interpret replies and not actually learning anything valuable in the process. Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There is probably a small positive correlation between how encouraging e-mail responses are and how much of a chance you have. But there is also a large amount of random chance, depending on the personality of the responder. It can be maddening, and it is probably useless, to try to extract the signal from the noise. Usually if you get specific information right away, it will be bad news. In particular, if your research interests are not a good match for whatever the search committee is looking for, you might be told immediately. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend trying to read too much into the content (or presence or absence of these e-mails). Good luck on your job search! Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: A few years ago, fresh out of PhD, I was hunting for a university job. I applied to a bunch of universities ranging from world's top to average/below average. I knew I didn't have a faintest chance to get a job at prestigious university, but I really enjoyed reading their responses: > > Despite your excellent qualification, we regret to inform you that we > hired another person, who was more suitable for this position... > > > Reading that would make me happy. They think I have an "excellent qualification"! I think 99% of negative responses are standard and professionally tailored to incite positive emotions in spite of bad news. Like firing someone of Friday before Christmas. All the positive responses I ever received/sent were as dry as they can get, loaded with specific and technical info. With that being said, job hunting is a tremendously time consuming activity, like a full-time job. Trying to infer something from non-explicitly positive responses seems to be a waste of precious time. If the response seems neutral/unclear and you need to decide whether to agree to another job or not, then you should immediately ask them to clarify their response saying that you have a decision to make. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Don't infer anything from a return email, other than whether you get an invitation for a meeting/interview, or not. That's the first level of "screening" and that's all that can be reasonably done through email. Other than that, an email is no place to get even an "indication" of where you stand. It was sent by one contact person (out of many) who may not even be key decisionmaker. During and after the interview/meeting, etc., you will probably be placed in one of three categories: 1) a "top" (tenure-track potential) candidate, 2) a marginal "borderline" candidate who will be made an offer with no guarantees, or 3) a non-candidate. Of course the third result is intellectually "easy" (if painful), so you'll want to distinguish between the first two. But the time to do that is after the interview. Upvotes: 0
2016/09/25	720	3,244	<issue_start>username_0: I am currently working on a research paper in Computer Science which involves quite a few math equations. I am using MS Word currently to write the paper. I haven't yet included the equations. I am planning to send it to a journal. I have a previously published paper in IEEE Digital Xplore for which I used LibreOffice Writer in Ubuntu to specify the equations and the content. I thought it wouldn't matter what platform I used because I would later convert the document into PDF format. But in the actual paper available on the website, the equations all look pixelated and downright illegible. <http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7518940/> My question is, what is the standard way of specifying equations for a research paper? Should I convert the whole document to LaTex and specify equations there? If so, should I look up on the particular journal format to use before including the content?<issue_comment>username_1: [EDIT: this answer refers to contexts in which the publisher is responsible for the typesetting. In contexts in which the author is supposed to produce directly a "ready-to-upload" pdf file, what I write is inappropriate, as correctly noted in the comments.] Your only responsibility is making sure the equations are readable and understandable to the referees. I assume that the equations looked better in the manuscript that you first submitted, so you are clear. It's the typesetters'/copy editors' job to make sure that the final pdf looks good, and they should be professionals who know the functioning of the software tools they use and the basic things to check when they convert from one format to another. They should have caught this problem before the paper went online, and fixed it themselves or asked you for a copy of the equations in a different format. They completely failed at doing their job. You should complain with the publisher and request a change. In addition, you should also let the scientific board of the conference know informally, possibly by contacting the editor you have interacted with. The panel deserves to know that the publisher they use did such a bad job, because they are the ones that can complain at a higher level and change things. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If you can write in latex, you should write on it versus word. The latex is specially designed to work with technical documents with a lot of mathematical equations. Also, you can write math equations in word using built-in equation editor of Microsoft word or MathType as a better alternative than built-in ones. See this link for [word equation](https://uwaterloo.ca/information-systems-technology/services/scientific-computing-software-support/supported-software-scientific-computing/creating-and-numbering-equations-microsoft-word-2007) for equation writing in Word with better configuration. Technically the MathType produces equations with higher equality than Word built-in and I recommend it to use as a macro on Word. About writing in Latex and then revert to Word, it wouldn't be recommended and will be reduced the quality of equations (due to reversion complexities and equation editors' of Word difficulties). Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
2016/09/25	2,622	10,791	<issue_start>username_0: My research area is Computational Biology. My work involves in silico methods, I do not carry out any wet lab related experiments. My supervisor wants 4 chapters (apart from introduction and conclusions) for my PhD thesis. He said each chapter should be a journal paper (must be SCI indexed, with no article processing charge (my institute does not pay for APC's, and the APC amount is equal to my 3 months fellowship, hence paying APC alone is also not feasible) and above Impact Factor 2). I already have made a review paper, but that goes into the introduction. Hearing his demands I am a bit scared that I might end up doing PhD from 5 or 6 more years, and I do not want to do PhD for 7 8 years. I am in my 3rd year right now. He told me this after 1.5 year of joining. I do not think I will be able to give 4 more journal papers in the next 3 years. My current work status is, that I am working on 3 papers simultaneously now. One work is 70% complete (can't say it is totally complete unless it gets accepted by a journal). Another work is 50% complete, and the third I have just started. My questions are: 1. Do you feel that the demand of my supervisor is too much? 2. Is it even possible to produce 4 more journal paper in the next 3 years? 3. Is it possible to bargain the count of paper down to 3 instead of 4? If so, how should I do it? Note: The advisor's rule is the institutes rule, the advisor has the last say in decising whether I get my degree or not. Many people from our institute graduates with just one journal article too.<issue_comment>username_1: 1. Purely opinion. 2. Possible, yes. Guaranteed, no. 3. You should not bargain. You should follow your university's procedure for evaluating doctoral theses. Your advisor's job is to advise you on what should be in your thesis. If he is ambitious and you do as he suggests, it will make both of you look good. I have often observed that if the PhD student is offered a good job, suddenly everyone realises they have written a good dissertation. Publishing and getting a job offer are both ways to show evaluators you are ready to graduate. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: It depends on what you want to do after your PhD. If you're interested in getting an industry job, then I think that it's reasonable to try to bargain with your supervisor to try to cut down on his/her demands. I don't want to live like a grad student for 7-8 years/I can't survive on a grad student stipend/I just want to get out with a degree are all reasonable arguments (if properly and politely worded). If you want to continue on an academic path, then I recommend that you follow your supervisor's rules. Sure, you can still bargain, but remember that your supervisor's recommendation letter is what will get you your jobs for the rest of your career. If all of the other students of your supervisor follow his/her rules, and you whine about not being able to fulfill your supervisor's expectations, can't you guess what will be written in your recommendation letter? Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Though it may be difficult, 4 papers isn't impossible for computational biology, depending on the content. In computational biology there is really a wide variety of paper types - experimental, computational modelling/analysis of data, completely theoretical. Some papers are even focused on just describing tools. The requirement of IF>2 is very low for this field. As an example consider the journal [PLoS ONE](http://journals.plos.org/plosone/) which has IF>3 and will accept any paper regardless of perceived importance as long as there is some minimal novelty and it is technically sound. So I suspect the idea is to go - in the worst case - for quantity rather than quality (e.g. [salami slicing or least publishable unit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Least_publishable_unit)). Personally I am not a fan of this way of publishing but there are many who adhere to it, and I can understand why. I am guessing that the supervisor thinks this way is better for you. This way you have a good chance to get several publications, but if you put everything together into one paper in order to get it into a prestigious journal, there is a chance that paper will not be accepted or will only be accepted into a bad journal, and that could mean trouble. So, for example (though a bit extreme in my view), If you have an idea for a new bioinformatic tool, you could write one paper just on the theoretical part (maybe with some simulations on synthetic data), a second paper on applying it to biological data and correlating with other biological datasets, and a third short paper on the tool itself (maybe you set up some website/server etc). Of course the best thing is to get 4 landmark papers in prestigious journals, but I wouldn't count on that... Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: > > Do you feel that the demand of my supervisor is too much? > > > I work in theoretical mathematics. In that field, a requirement of four publications in journals of impact factor greater than 2 would stop more than 99% of students from getting a PhD thesis. (I got my PhD in 2003 and am now a tenured, "full" professor. If I'm not mistaken, I have zero publications in journals of impact factor greater than 2....but in my field we do not speak of impact factors when we talk about journal quality.) The above paragraph is there only to tell you where I'm coming from. In fact I do not understand the logic behind such a requirement -- in particular, I don't see where the number four is coming from, and if I wanted to impose high standards on my students I would do it in terms of the quality of their work rather than the quantity. But I can't say that the demand is too much, since I am not in your field, am probably not in your country or university, and I am not working with your supervisor. Whether it is too much is mostly up to the two of you to decide, along with other members of your committee and subject to the rules of your program and university. > > Is it even possible to produce 4 more journal paper in the next 3 years? > > > It is certainly possible for someone. I would be willing to bet at any reasonable odds that there are students in computational biology who have this many publications in this amount of time. I urge you to look in the literature of your field and see when, where and how often this occurs. Perhaps you mean to ask whether it is possible for you. That's a really good question, though of course we are not in a position to answer it. > > Is it possible to bargain the count of paper down to 3 instead of 4? If so, how should I do it? > > > The language of "bargaining" is not very apt, but: yes, you should certainly discuss the situation with your advisor sooner rather than later. Your advisor is setting what I think we can agree is an unusually high bar -- you mention that other students in your institute have gotten their PhD with a single paper, and he is asking for four papers. Note though that you said that that's what he wants. Many thesis advisors have high expectations for their students and try to push them to do their best work. (And the others are not very good advisors, in my opinion.) However, (i) what you want your student to do, (ii) the least they need to do to graduate and (iii) what they actually end up doing are three different things: wildly different, sometimes. Here you seem to be assuming (i) and (ii) are the same. I think that they probably are not, but they could be in your situation. The only way to find out is to ask. Here are my specific recommendations: Step 1: Do your research. Find out the publication records of students in your area. In particular, look at all the students who have gotten PhDs in computational biology in your institute and under your advisor. Then pick a few other institutions for comparison, including at least one that would be regarded as better. How often is it that students have four publications in IF > 2 journals before they graduate? If this happens only a small percentage of the time and/or if it almost never happens at your institute or with other students of your advisor, that's a strong clue that the constraints you've been given are aspirational...or ought to be. Step 2: Have a serious conversation with your advisor. Show him the research you've done in Step 1 -- not confrontationally, but so that both of you will be working with the same facts. Then show him a plan of the work that you will do and the papers that you will have published by a certain time. This plan should be serious but realistic: you should be able to defend the amount of time you'll spend at any stage. Your plan should include a specific time that you want to graduate. If your plan shows you with three papers for sure and very iffy on the fourth, bring that up explicitly with your advisor. I think it is likely that you will find that your advisor is flexible on the requirements and appreciative of the thought you've put into your future. However, it is also possible that he is absolutely intransigent and insists on more papers than you think you can reasonably write in the allotted time. Well, if that is the case, far better to have that information now rather than three years later! If you have it now, you have plenty of time to figure out how to respond to it. Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: Check with your university Ph.D. degree section, and ask for the requirement. If the papers are required as chapters. Then it's your mistake that you did not read it on joining. If the papers are not required as a chapter in the thesis instead you have to write the chapters, then you can talk to your supervisor in a nice way that since the papers as a chapter is not a requirement for a thesis, so lets come to some mutual conclusion. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: To work out what is reasonable in your field, look up the CVs of recent graduates in your field, who have attained the type of position that you are aiming for after graduation. How many papers did they publish in their first few years, and where? I'm not a computational biologist, but am in the related field of ecological modelling. In my field, 4 papers in 3 years would be a low-average benchmark for a working academic and a moderately high benchmark for a PhD student, but should be achievable by a strong student with good supervisory support. Some journals you could aim for include Bioinformatics, Ecological Modelling, Applied Mathematical Modelling and possibly Environmental Modelling and Software. I'm sure you are aware of others more specific to computational biology that meet your advisor's guidelines. Upvotes: 1
2016/09/25	403	1,329	<issue_start>username_0: If I graduated from a university (named `X` for example) in 2014 and my average (or GPA) was the highest among all students who graduated that year from the same major (let's call it Y). So I want to say in my CV that my rank was the first. How to say that in a proffesional way? What I'm currently using: > > Graduated from X with a B.Sc degree in Y with an average of 90% (class rank: 1) > > ><issue_comment>username_1: What you have looks fine to me. I've seen numerous cv's with notation like that and never thought amiss of them. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Realistically, it's your CV and you can do anything you like. And people do. A common format for an entry in the education section of a CV is degree honors, major, university, month year. If your university recognized your rank as first in the class as valedictorian or perhaps summa cum laude, I would probably write it this way and skip the GPA. > > B.Sc valedictorian, Y, University of X, June 2014. > > > If they didn't recognize your performance with a specific designation of honors, I might add the additional information in parens following. > > B.Sc, Y, University of X, June 2014. (GPA 90%, Class rank 1) > > > But again, it's your CV and there are no hard and fast rules. Upvotes: 3
2016/09/25	1,739	7,177	<issue_start>username_0: I'm in the process of writing a recommendation letter for a female student to be admitted to some honors program within the university. She is fantastic and I assume that she will get admitted with or without my help, so my question isn't necessarily specific to this particular letter, but I do remember feeling curious about this, so now's a good time to ask, I guess! It's this one line in my letter that made me scratch my head a little bit. The line in question would like to say something like, "she is very interested in advancing women and other minorities in the STEM field," which is a quality that I approve of heartily. The problem is, I am not sure if everyone in academia feels the same way about this as I do. Perhaps there is that one grumpy old professor from the Old Boys' Club who absolutely hates "feminists" and maybe I am inadvertently hurting her chances. Sure, I could word it carefully so that it doesn't set off the feminist trigger in most people, but I still have that nagging feeling of "what if" in my head. Just to make sure that I am not misunderstood, I also support gender equality, and I do not want to discourage anyone from saying so, but recommendation letters are a delicate thing that need to appeal to everyone, and I do not want to hurt anyone's chances, most of all not of these fantastic women that I want to brag about to everyone.<issue_comment>username_1: First of all, your title doesn't quite match the rest of your question. In your suggested quote you write "she is very interested in advancing women and other minorities in the STEM field," whereas according to the title you are asking whether you should write "She is a feminist." Sadly, these things will not evoke equivalent responses in all parties -- the word "feminist" has unpleasant connotations in certain circles nowadays, more so than a generation ago. (By the way, I am a feminist, and it makes me sick that the word is now taken in this way. But it is by many, and so I think it is too loaded a word to use about someone else in such a context.) The purpose of a recommendation letter is to successfully convey your impression of the recommended party. In particular, if you feel strongly that the recommended party should get the position being applied for, then you want to write the letter that maximizes the chance of that happening (while staying appropriate, professional and truthful, of course). With that in mind: how relevant "she is very interested in advancing women and other minorities in the STEM field" to the honors program the student is applying to? Is this advancement one of the activities that students in the program will be participating in? Or, beyond interest, does the candidate have a record of activities and/or accomplishments in advancing women and other minorities in the STEM field? If the answer to either question is yes, I would suggest that you fill in further details accordingly: this is part of your argument that she is great fit for the program. If not, then: are students selected for the honors program because of their progressive views -- or, much more cynically put, because of the alignment of their political and social views with those of the administrators of the program? Probably not, right? In particular, because "She is fantastic and I assume that she will get admitted," then I don't think you need to help her out in this particular way. There is some risk that even a feminist could read "she is very interested in advancing women and other minorities in the STEM field" as a bit of a consolation prize. Again, write the strongest letter you can. Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The word "feminist" is "loaded," so I wouldn't use that word, if that's what you are asking in your title. But if the issue is, "she is very interested in advancing women and other minorities in the STEM field," that's fine. That phrase gets the key idea across without provoking a gut level reaction (either positive or negative). After all, you want your student to be judged "neutrally" on her qualifications, without regard to whether the hiring professor is pro- or anti- "feminism." Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Answer to the question in the title: "Yes" if and only if feminism is a matter of the person's research activity. ("No" if it's not.) Reason: you wish to say that this person is an excellent scientist. Period. The person reading your letter doesn't even need to be informed of the candidate's gender, let alone whether they hold feminist viewpoints. (EDIT: This answer assumes that the honor program is about science rather than anything else like social or organizational skills. Please consult other answers if this assumption does not hold.) Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: I would approach this with extreme caution, and honestly, I'd be quite hesitant to mention it in a LOR I was writing, despite finding your student's objectives laudable (and being quite comfortable being described as a feminist). There are a few reasons for this: * It calls out her gender. Very rarely do we write about the commitment of a male graduate student to the representation of women in STEM fields. As much as I hate to say it, even mentioning it will bring the gender of the applicant to the forefront, and there's pretty strong evidence that a female applicant is inherently disadvantaged. * There are two audiences who care about this: People who care about women in STEM, and people who will go "I don't want a feminist/political activist/etc. in my lab". The former will likely still be interested in your candidate - after all, if they care, they should be caring about her scientific accomplishments. The latter will likely hold those actions against her. * Along those same lines, it gives someone the opening to dismiss her as "What, she doesn't do good enough science for you to just write about that?" Basically, I think mentioning it can only really hurt her, unless the position clearly calls for evidence of that kind of advocacy work, or you know it's a passion for whoever would be reading her letter (for example, if you're writing the recommendation not for a program, but to a specific PI). Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: You want to put some icing on the cake, and add something about the candidate's feminist activities, but are questioning whether doing so openly would strengthen her chances. If her CV is openly proud of those activities, by, for example, listing a volunteer role in a feminist organization, then you can be similarly open. If she has chosen not to bring these activities out clearly in her CV, you can still work them into your letter, but in a more subtle way, e.g. > > As a grad student, <NAME> was extremely effective as a peer mentor in our department and as an outreach volunteer in the community. > > > Outreach can get you brownie points with, for example, the NSF, so this could be an effective selling point. Also, if Dr. Jones took the initiative in some way, that would be another plus you could draw out of it, without being explicit. Upvotes: 2
2016/09/25	1,277	4,396	<issue_start>username_0: [Crelle's Journal](http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/crll) is a nickname of a Mathematics Journal, and it's full name is "Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik". It's commonly called Crelle since it is founded in 1826 by <NAME>. Now I want to cite a paper in Crelle, but I realize that in the official page they also include (Crelle Journal) in the citation information, for an example see [here](http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/crelle.2016.2016.issue-718/crelle-2014-0038/crelle-2014-0038.xml?format=INT). On the other hand, some mathematicians once told me that it is "pretty weird" to see the nickname being used. So my question is, is it common to include (Crelle) in the citation? Or, how official is the name Crelle's journal?<issue_comment>username_1: I usually see "<NAME>. Math." without "Crelle". MathSciNet has citation information in the form of BibTeX entries; for references indexed there, I recommend going with that. (Indeed if you use BibTeX you can just download the bibliographic information without writing it out again.) Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I agree with username_1. I think you are misreading the website. They are not telling you say "Crelle's journal" when you cite. If you click the cite link on the journal homepage, they give you something like this (for APA format): > > Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. Retrieved 26 Sep. 2016, from <http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/crll> > > > without the nickname. That said, it's pretty weird that the cite options you get are APA, MLA and Chicago as none of them are ever used in math. It's already pretty weird to use the full journal name, rather than the standard abbreviation. I usually use MathSciNet to make my bibliographies, as username_1 recommends. Note: I have seen people include (Crelle's Journal) in citations on their CV or website, which is okay though perhaps not common, but I wouldn't do it for a bibliography (edit: not to say it doesn't happen, as other answers point out). Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: For citing most any mathematics journal there is an easy way to get what the common way to cite it is: look up the (short) title in MathSciNet or [zbMATH](https://zbmath.org/journals/), the latter allows limited access without subscription (almost always they use the same). If you want to be on the safe side use whatever is given there as (short) title. For the current case this is "<NAME>." It is true that for this journal specifically mention of its founder's name Crelle is somewhat common, so if you want to you might include it. It is sufficiently official as for zbMATH mentioning "Crelle's Journal" as parallel title. A reason for doing this could be that some might recognize it more directly than under its real name, but this is (if at all) relevant for a CV more than for a bibliography. I'd say if you really want to you could use Crelle's Journal as the journal name. It might get changed in copy-editing though. But if you are not convinced it is a good idea just don't. No one should find it strange if you do not use it. To get a feeling how common it is to use it nowadays one can search for example arXiv with fulltext search. One gets around 250 hits for Crelle. Mostly they mean the journal. A cursory look shows that: * the format to include Crelle's journal or Crelle in parenthesis to complement J. Reine Angew. Math. or something similar is no uncommon (as mentioned by username_4). * to use only Crelle's journal is rare but nevertheless is still done sometimes. In this process I noted that the DOIs of the journal contain the string "crelle." Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I don't recall ever seeing "Crelles Journal" by itself as the title (in modern bibliographies), but I often see it in parentheses after "<NAME>. Math." Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: [AMS Abbreviations of Names of Serials](http://www.ams.org/msnhtml/serials.pdf) says: > > <NAME>. Math. Journal für die Reine und Angewandte Mathematik. [Crelle’s > Journal]. <NAME>, Berlin. ISSN 0075-4102. > > > If the historical note is very important for you, > > <NAME>. Math. (Crelle’s Journal) > > > could work, but editors may ask you to remove it. Upvotes: 2
2016/09/26	1,026	3,855	<issue_start>username_0: Are there research papers which are written on understanding (rather than deriving new facts and theorems) of topics of Mathematics in some new and unique approach not used before? For example, a paper that would give a new type of proof of a known result and things like this. If the answer to this question is 'Yes', then how much weightage is given to such a research paper in terms of its acceptance and publication in a reputed journal?<issue_comment>username_1: A research paper should deliver novelty, so I wouldn't expect research papers that advance understanding of an existing topic, without providing novel material. By comparison, a review paper or a handbook chapter might achieve such an objective. For instance, [Very Short Introductions](https://global.oup.com/academic/content/series/v/very-short-introductions-vsi/). Some review papers are highly cited, so presumably they are considered valuable. EDIT. To conclude, research papers advance knowledge, whereas review papers, handbook chapters, etc. advance our understanding of existing knowledge. Thus, by my reasoning, "research papers which are written on understanding" aren't common, but review papers, handbook chapters, etc. "on understanding" are common. EDIT II. The scope of the question has changed since I provided this answer. I agree that research papers providing new proofs of known results most certainly exist. My answer acknowledges the existence of such papers, because they deliver novelty. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: There are many papers out there that give a new proof of a previously-existing theorem. You can search for "a new proof of" in mathscinet (or even google) and find lots of good papers in respectable journals. However, the new proof must provide new insight to be worth publishing. Two proofs can look different but actually be very similar, in the sense that they are relying on the same key ideas. This can be a bit subtle (and even subjective in edge cases), so it's a good idea if possible to consult with an expert in your field before making your findings public. But if you manage to prove the result in a more elementary way than the original proof, that's a big point in your favor. It's always good to know that a result can be proven without appealing to a powerful theorem. If you go in the opposite direction (e.g. showing that a theorem from the 1950s also follows from Fermat's Last Theorem), you're less likely to impress people. Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: To give a concrete example, the hook-formula in combinatorics, has several proofs. There is a [bijective proof](http://www.combinatorics.org/ojs/index.php/eljc/article/view/v3i2r14) by <NAME>, a [probabilistic proof](http://www.cimat.mx/~gil/docencia/2008/representaciones/probabilistic_proof.pdf) by Greene et al, a [geometric polytope proof](https://www.emis.de/journals/SLC/wpapers/s46pak.pdf) by <NAME>, a [proof based on Lagrange identities](http://www.mathnet.ru/links/016052c3ae4e4aa28c4adf8aae7f92f4/znsl4482.pdf) by <NAME>, [another bijective proof based on hokey players(?)](http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~zeilberg/mamarimY/Zeilberger_y1984_p101.pdf) by <NAME>. And don't get me started on proofs of the Littlewood-Richardson rule. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: <NAME>urs paper "The PCP Theorem by Gap Amplification" (JACM) essentially reproved a known theorem in a striking and surprising way. The paper won some very prestigious research-awards. Of course, the paper contains many new ideas and techniques introduced for the purpose of reproving the PCP theorem. In particular, the paper contains lemmas and theorems that where not known before, but the main point of the paper is to provide a better understanding of a known theorem. Upvotes: 2
2016/09/26	632	1,977	<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently writing my paper, and I have to compare some DNA sequences. But I found some samples have already been analyzed. So I used analyzed data from NCBI and my own new data (different species) for the comparison. Now I want to state clearly that I used their data in my paper. What is the best way to do it? Should I write their GeneBank accession No. and put the papers in my references? I'm worried if that is not enough. Should I contact the authors of the paper?<issue_comment>username_1: You ought to do the following 1. Cite the GeneBank with the appropriate accession number. In addition to citing their [main paper](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3531190/), > > <NAME>., <NAME>., <NAME>., <NAME>., <NAME>., <NAME>., & <NAME>. (2013). GenBank. Nucleic acids research, 41(D1), D36-D42. > > > Cite the data source. I suppose the following details would suffice: > > Title: "GenBank: Accession No. X" > > > Publisher: National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) > > > Online: *URL* > > > 2. Cite the source where the data was previously analysed. This includes the paper which publishes the data and the original location where you have found it. 3. Clearly specify which set of data was used in your study that was already analysed in the main text in addition to that you've analysed. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: The way to cite NCBI databases, services, and data is described by NCBI itself in an "NCBI Knowledgebase" post here: <https://support.nlm.nih.gov/knowledgebase/article/KA-03391/en-us> In addition, NCBI provides a separate file with lots of examples: <ftp://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/education/supportcenter/NCBI_services_citation_examples.txt> Don't guess, look it up ! (Archived permalink: <https://web.archive.org/web/20181028213653/https://support.nlm.nih.gov/knowledgebase/article/KA-03391/en-us>) Upvotes: 2
2016/09/26	1,354	5,821	<issue_start>username_0: When getting reports for papers submitted to a peer-reviewed journal, referees sometimes suggest that some missing items be added to the list of references. In my short career I have seen all possible cases, from honest additions that were clearly necessary, through border-line literature where one could cite any one of a long list of possible sources, to blatant cases of citation shopping where the reviewers ask for 10 of their own papers to be added to the list. Here, I am looking at the problem from the other side (the reviewer side). I recently refereed a paper for which I suggested that the authors look at a very recent paper, authored by researchers totally unrelated to me, that touches on a couple of issues that I thought were very relevant. Since that paper is so new, it is likely that they were not aware of its existence. Because of all the misbehavior I talked about in my first paragraph above, I am afraid that the authors of the paper I reviewed might assume I am one of the authors of the suggested paper. I know I should never disclose my identity in a report, but what about stating who "I am not"? Something like this: > > I think the authors should have a look at recent paper Nice New Paper, which might help with the interpretation of their results. This reviewer would like to add that he did not participate in said study. > > > In my opinion this would serve two purposes. 1) Clarify the legitimacy of my suggestion (I do not get anything from it) and 2) prevent the authors of the reviewed paper from suspecting it was the other guys who reviewed their paper and they are shopping for citations. What are possible ethical considerations against this course of action from the points of view of editors and authors?<issue_comment>username_1: Honestly, unless it's particularly blatant (i.e. five suggested citations all to the same people etc.) I tend to assume people are doing this anyway, or at least extend them the benefit of the doubt. So my core advice? Spend no more time worrying about this than you already have. If you really care, the way I would approach this is to phrase your comment as if you had read the paper. So, for example: "The authors may wish to consider citing the recent article by username_1 et al. Highly Topical Research is Highly Topical in this month's issue of Journal of Our Field. Based on my reading, their findings in Table 2 would strengthen the core argument of this paper." Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: As a reviewer, I have suggested the authors to cite one of my papers only once or twice. I apologized for doing that in the notes to the editor, and remarked that I couldn't avoid it because it was really central. I wrote nothing in the blind notes to the authors, and I write nothing when I suggest papers from other people. I do this because of two reasons: 1. I value anonymity of peer reviewers highly, and I prefer to avoid remarks that reduce it by unnecessarily providing additional bits of information. There are already unavoidable signs such as writing style and English mistakes, and I don't want to add more. 2. I believe it is the editor's responsibility to make sure that the referees are not citation-shopping. It can't be anyone else's, because they are the only person with all the information necessary to perform a check. So I have to justify my actions to him/her, not to the authors. If, as an author or as a second reviewer, I noticed a very blatant case of citation shopping, I would consider it appropriate to write to the editor privately to suggest investigating. but this has never happened to me up to now. (Although there have been a couple of borderline cases.) Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I think that you should avoid remarks like this. Avoid politics and stay focused on science. Is this the only paper you refer to in your review? If you have other places where you refer to other papers by other authors, what makes you think they will able to single out the paper you suggest as (falsely) your own? Instead of the way you suggested to write it, how about something like this: > > I suspect that the authors overlooked a very recent paper by XYZ (link doi ref etc). XYZ provide these new data and that interpretation which conflicts with point A of the authors and supports their point B. I think it is important that the authors address these new findings so their paper does not become instantly outdated and keeps at pace with new development in the field. > > > By phrasing it this way, you are doing the following: 1. You put the focus on the scientific content of the new paper. Instead of saying "here's a new paper, cite it", you point out the scientific reasons that this paper is relevant. 2. You leave the choice of citation to the authors. Again, by not saying "cite it" you lower the chances of them thinking it's yours. If the paper is indeed relevant as you think it is, there is no reason that they do not cite it. It's their paper after all, and if they choose not to cite the paper, it's their call (pending editor's approval). 3. You mention the benefit to the authors by reading and possibly citing the new paper. No one wants to publish stuff that's no longer relevant, or superseded by other studies! I also think that by framing your comment similar to what I suggested, the question of whether they think you are the author or not becomes unimportant. What's important is the science: the point is to make the authors understand that the paper has scientific importance and should then be cited, and even if they think that you are the author of said paper, they will not think you are forcing them to cite it because you are trying to increase your H-index or whatever. Upvotes: 4
2016/09/26	615	2,747	<issue_start>username_0: I am in my last semester of a double degrees in the bachelor of electrical engineering (honours) and bachelor of mathematics in Australia. During my studies, I watched a series of video lectures about convex optimization by <NAME> from Stanford university and I got very interested in control theory however my university does not offer research in control theory. As a result, my honor thesis is about signal processing and not control theory. I am thinking of doing research in control theory for my PhD in the US. Will the graduate admission committee look down at my application because all my research experience is in signal processing but I wish to study control theory as a graduate student?<issue_comment>username_1: 1) Bachelor's degrees in the US are generally less specialized than those in other countries (though this is less true in engineering). It is quite common for people to enter graduate school without well-defined research interests at all and to make decisions only after a year or two of coursework and trying out different labs. 2) Any large department at a large major research university in the US (such as the University of Michigan) will have experience with graduate students from Australia and may very well have faculty who were undergraduates in Australia. They will evaluate the University of Wollongong as comparable to similar caliber universities in the US. It is true that, because some (but not all) funding streams and accounting mechanisms give priority to domestic students, that US citizens or permanent residents may have an advantage in admissions, but that has nothing to do with where you were an undergraduate. (In particular, if you are a US citizen, having gone to the University of Wollongong wouldn't hurt you.) Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: > > Will the graduate admission committee look down at my application because all my research experience is in signal processing but I wish to study control theory as a graduate student? > > > No. Many undergraduate students in the US don't have an opportunity to be involved in research. Those who do don't necessarily write a thesis or a journal article. So in that sense, having written a thesis at all will strengthen your application. If you had studied biology and wished to switch gears completely, with a jump over to engineering, then an admissions committee might be concerned about you. Looking at it from their point of view -- they want to be pretty darn sure their incoming grad students have the necessary mathematical background to be successful in their beginning level graduate coursework. With your background it is clear that this will not be a concern. Upvotes: 1 [selected_answer]
2016/09/27	1,102	4,973	<issue_start>username_0: I am working on a project in biostatistics involving some private companies. Specifically, these companies share data about their customers with us and we try to apply our algorithm to this data. The good part is that both the algorithm and the application are very new, and seem to work quite well. Unfortunately we can not publish this data in paper or conferences, as it is privately owned. * What is the typical way to proceed in this case? * Does the fact that it is not possible to publish the data implies in general that also results based on this data are also unpublishable?<issue_comment>username_1: It will very much depend on the data in question, and what agreements you've reached with the private companies. For example, a lab I used to work out paid rather handsomely for some data that underlies some of our models, but it's basically ours. We publish as we see fit. A couple points: * If you want to publish the data itself, that should have been negotiated in advance, though it's reasonable for a company to say no. * If you wish to proceed, you could try to renegotiate, but again, this should have been done ahead of time. * No, not being able to publish the data does not imply you cannot publish the results of your research. You should consult the original agreement made with this company to see if, and how, publishing results is allowable. If you genuinely can't get anywhere, it may be possible to simulate data with similar properties and publish on that. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Publishing data based on confidential private company data Where the company consents, it is possible to publish studies based on confidential customer data. Common requirements are * Don't identify the company in any publication and possibly be broad when discussing the context of the company (e.g., location) * Don't make the raw data available to other researchers or on online repositories * Don't present individual-level analyses or small group analyses which might allow any customers or proprietary data to be identified When you initiate a relationship with a private company to analyse their data, it is important to discuss and agree on a number of matters: * Are you able to publish research based on analyses of their data? (note that this can be done without sharing their raw data) * If you publish, to what extent do they require their details to be concealed? (e.g., no disclosure of place, companies, etc.) * How will authorship of publications work? Does anyone at the company wish to be a co-author? If so, what level of contribution do they need to make and how will this work? * What if any rights of veto or influence do they have on what can be published? Will you have academic freedom to publish results even if they do not support the company's commercial agenda? * Are you able to share their data with other researchers or on suitable online repositories? * Will they give you money or other compensation for analyses you perform or reports you write for them? If so, what are the details? Types of Relationships: In general, there are different kinds of partnerships between academia and companies that relate to the analysis of data. Relationships should be formed based on a shared understanding of goals and mutual benefit. * Pure consulting: In this context, while you are in academia, you can often still provide standard consulting services. In this setting, you would charge commercial rates to the company for any insights you gain. * Pure research: Data is shared with you by the company with the explicit aim of assisting your program of research. The company may be curious about the results, but is principally motivated by a general desire to assist in your research. The company does not have any explicit expectations about customised reports and so on beyond the research program that you pursue. * Hybrid consulting/research: In this model the company is seeking to gain insights into their business. Providing customised reports to them and other services may be part of the exchange for allowing you access to the data for research purposes. Alternatively, allowing you to publish research based on the data may be one of your conditions that may offset the fee you charge the company for other services you provide. Within all these models, there are many variations. The important point is that early on in the relationship, you ensure that both you and the company agree on what model is being adopted. These matters can also be renegotiated. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I won't do it, the company where I did my research allowed me to publish the results of investigation, but they warned me about future workers that may not be happy with the publications. Anyways, if you dontt allow any reader to get an idea of which is the company, there wont be any problem. But talk with the workers of the company first. Upvotes: 0
2016/09/27	1,490	6,466	<issue_start>username_0: Edit: Since teamwork has come up in the answers, I think it would be useful that I add this. The other student has requested to team up with me, and the advisor has rejected this. Besides, I already have the solution to my research question. Not much left for teamwork on that section. I will have to share my solution with my supervisory panel, and then start the evaluation which I can't and rather not to do in secrecy. A student recently moved from another area to study with my supervisor. Along with this change in supervisor, the student has also changed direction and has started working on the same problem as mine. The change in subject is quite a sharp turn too. For example, think of a student with a background in microbiology(all the way up to masters and over one year work of their PhD), suddenly starts working on a machine learning model for aggression in dogs. While I have deidentified the subjects, the problem I have been working on is even more specific than the imaginary dog problem. It might be worth adding that the subject of my study was proposed by myself after over two months of literature review. The change sounded weird to me at first, but I wasn't worried until I saw part of my study plan and one of my ideas in this student's review presentation. I am sure that this has been my big mouth not keeping what I say in check, primarily because I usually think very positively of people. I can keep my mouth shut from now on, and the supervisors I have are quite good. However, I imagine they have quite a challenging task in remembering which idea/solution was shared by which one of their students, and not to talk about it to the other student unintentionally. I am not sure why the hell someone would throw away years of background and start working on something that they have no background in and is already being studied under their nose. A tough challenge is that how do I exchange information without a worry that these ideas might leak out? One of my supervisors is a very busy person, I am sure that this person has a fantastic memory. However, is it possible that they forget which idea was shared by who? and unintentionally share it with the other student? What should I do? Suggestions? To my principal supervisor, if they happen to see this: Please do not take offence, I have great respect for you and will always be grateful for all the incredible support I have received. This issue is part of my learning process, and I'd like to tap into all resources available to me so I can tackle and learn about it to the best of my capability. /walloftext<issue_comment>username_1: Main point here is to prove who got what idea first. In other words, every new idea has to be dated in one way or another. In the old days, you would mail yourself printed documents, and you would keep envelops sealed until there was a contentious situation and then opening the relevant envelop would demonstrate you had the idea first - or else. Nowadays, you could email yourself, (use Facebook?, a published or unpublished blog?) or use a cloud solution with document versioning or change tracking options, both ways that will enable ideas/content/data to be tracked and dated. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Teamwork -------- It's rather common for teams to work on "the same thing" research wise - on a single project, shared research and (most importantly) collaborating and sharing ideas, not hiding them from each other. That is a good thing. It may be dependent on the field, but I'd guess that having such teamwork is far more common than a "two person" team of a supervisor and a single student. The attribution of a particular idea within a single team isn't that important - doing the work in implementing and verifying that idea is almost all of created value in a research project. Simply coming up with an idea for possible work and nothing else generally justifies a mention in acknowledgements, not even a co-authorship. Since there are more valid research ideas than time to work on them properly (and this is true even if a student needs two months of literature review to pick one suited for him/her), it is rather expected for advisors to spread interesting research ideas around - it often takes years and multiple attempts to do a particular idea properly, and treating it as "taboo" because someone else is working on it would be rather counterproductive. If you have two or more people working on a single sufficiently large problem, that's great - you will inevitably specialize to certain parts of that problem and depending on how you (or your supervisor) organize the work, you can co-author the resulting publications or split the results in smaller pieces to publish separately; but you will go further beyond the other researchers in the same subfield than if you were struggling at it alone. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Just because you are a grad student, and your advisor is an established researcher, does not mean: * that you do not have the right be be supported in a positive way by your advisor * that your project, that you came up with, and defined, and started to work on, should be assigned to another student * that you should have to pussy-foot around protecting your small, medium-sized, and big steps towards your thesis from your own groupmates and your advisor, for god's sake * that you do not have the right to assert yourself with your advisor In my opinion, if you want to continue to work on this topic, with this advisor, and hold onto your self-respect, you have an obligation to yourself to assert yourself with him or her. I'm not saying it will necessarily be easy (although you may be in for a pleasant surprise -- you never know!). I'm just saying it has to be done. If you want to, you could talk over the problem with your dean of graduate studies in your department first. It is precisely the imbalance of power between you and your advisor that makes what s/he did (giving your topic to another student) appear so questionable. Let's hope s/he did it out of thoughtlessness, or in the belief that the topic can somehow be subdivided neatly enough into two theses that the two of you can continue without being in competition with each other. (If the latter case -- I hope it is true.) However, I suggest you start thinking about a possible different advisor, just in case. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
2016/09/27	1,009	4,220	<issue_start>username_0: I want to use this website in my report but I do not see the produced year of the following pdf `https://www.astm.org/BOOKSTORE/DS68/pg41.pdf` How can I do the reference of that pdf ? Is this correct : `ASTM international, "Ultrasonic Testing," ASTM international,. [Online]. Available: https://www.astm.org/BOOKSTORE/DS68/pg41.pdf. [Accessed September 2016].`<issue_comment>username_1: Main point here is to prove who got what idea first. In other words, every new idea has to be dated in one way or another. In the old days, you would mail yourself printed documents, and you would keep envelops sealed until there was a contentious situation and then opening the relevant envelop would demonstrate you had the idea first - or else. Nowadays, you could email yourself, (use Facebook?, a published or unpublished blog?) or use a cloud solution with document versioning or change tracking options, both ways that will enable ideas/content/data to be tracked and dated. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Teamwork -------- It's rather common for teams to work on "the same thing" research wise - on a single project, shared research and (most importantly) collaborating and sharing ideas, not hiding them from each other. That is a good thing. It may be dependent on the field, but I'd guess that having such teamwork is far more common than a "two person" team of a supervisor and a single student. The attribution of a particular idea within a single team isn't that important - doing the work in implementing and verifying that idea is almost all of created value in a research project. Simply coming up with an idea for possible work and nothing else generally justifies a mention in acknowledgements, not even a co-authorship. Since there are more valid research ideas than time to work on them properly (and this is true even if a student needs two months of literature review to pick one suited for him/her), it is rather expected for advisors to spread interesting research ideas around - it often takes years and multiple attempts to do a particular idea properly, and treating it as "taboo" because someone else is working on it would be rather counterproductive. If you have two or more people working on a single sufficiently large problem, that's great - you will inevitably specialize to certain parts of that problem and depending on how you (or your supervisor) organize the work, you can co-author the resulting publications or split the results in smaller pieces to publish separately; but you will go further beyond the other researchers in the same subfield than if you were struggling at it alone. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Just because you are a grad student, and your advisor is an established researcher, does not mean: * that you do not have the right be be supported in a positive way by your advisor * that your project, that you came up with, and defined, and started to work on, should be assigned to another student * that you should have to pussy-foot around protecting your small, medium-sized, and big steps towards your thesis from your own groupmates and your advisor, for god's sake * that you do not have the right to assert yourself with your advisor In my opinion, if you want to continue to work on this topic, with this advisor, and hold onto your self-respect, you have an obligation to yourself to assert yourself with him or her. I'm not saying it will necessarily be easy (although you may be in for a pleasant surprise -- you never know!). I'm just saying it has to be done. If you want to, you could talk over the problem with your dean of graduate studies in your department first. It is precisely the imbalance of power between you and your advisor that makes what s/he did (giving your topic to another student) appear so questionable. Let's hope s/he did it out of thoughtlessness, or in the belief that the topic can somehow be subdivided neatly enough into two theses that the two of you can continue without being in competition with each other. (If the latter case -- I hope it is true.) However, I suggest you start thinking about a possible different advisor, just in case. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
2016/09/27	793	3,357	<issue_start>username_0: After getting the conference's decision to publish a paper there is a short period of time to prepare and sent a camera ready version. However, during the review period, it was found that the paper can be improved significantly or that the minor bug can be fixed. Is it acceptable to change the scientific content of the paper after it's acceptance? If yes, to what extent one can change the paper? I am especially interested in the minor setting of the experiment. Should one inform the conference chairman if he's gonna make changes (fixes)?<issue_comment>username_1: Generally, papers presented at conferences include the preliminary results, and the purpose is to receive feedback on your preliminary results and improve them for the final study. If this is the case with your paper, I think you could consider making the improvement after the conference, since you are going to improve the study anyways later on based on the inputs you receive at the conference. However, if you strongly feel that making the change would improve the paper significantly, you can write to the Chairman and explain your concern. If he agrees, you can make the change. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I can't speak for all disciplines, but in my area (somewhere on the boundary between theoretical and practical CS) I've never met anyone who claimed that changes from the submitted version to the final version of a conference paper have to be restricted to those issues that were spotted by the reviewers. That means: yes, of course you may fix bugs – in fact, you are supposed to. You may update experimental results, if you clearly state that the results published in the final version were obtained using Comcom-Moc, vers. 3.1.4, 2016-09-24. You may include better examples, and you may add further explanations. The caveat is that you may not make changes that might have influenced the opinion of the reviewers negatively. So, for instance, if you spot a bug in Comcom-Moc, vers. 3.1.3 (i.e., in the version used in the submitted version), you must of course fix it, but if the results for vers. 3.1.4 look a lot less impressive than the results for the buggy old version, you have to inform the editor – neither keeping the old results (which are known to be invalid) nor silently replacing them by the new ones (which are possibly no longer competitive) would be acceptable. The same applies if you find a bug in a theoretical proof that can only be repaired by replacing the main statement of the paper by something significantly weaker. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: In general, you should go ahead and make the change without consulting anyone if it: 1. Fixes typos, spelling, layout, readablilty without significantly impacting the content or flow of the paper. 2. Adds results or comments supporting the claims made (and accepted) during review. 3. Does not result in anything being removed from the paper, or the "results in the paper being weakened" \* Especially if you are adding more results, you should note that this does not permit you to remove anything from the paper to stay within the page limit if applicable. For any other (major) changes, you should contact the track chair through the conference organizers. \*Closely paraphrased actual wording I have seen for an intl. conference. Upvotes: 1
2016/09/27	5,651	22,860	<issue_start>username_0: I am a recently graduated PhD, but for the past few years I have been on an 8:00-16:30 schedule with a lunch break at noon. I arrive between 7:45-8:00 and get started immediately. Now I am on as a continuing research scientist and have been assigned to supervise two graduate students and another post-doc that's new to the field. It's important for our schedules to overlap, so I've instructed them to meet me at 8:00 to get started. To clarify the frequency, this type of "meeting" would be once a week for the next 13 weeks. I use quotes because it's really just the time we agree to get in the lab and start work together, which is still a meeting but not the one we often think of when we see the word. Someone I am close to, who has both graduate school and office (industry) experience, tells me this is unreasonable. According to her, even in formal business environments, the first [half-]hour is reserved for checking your email, getting settled, going through voicemails, etc. As I like to tell people, I was a student for 25 consecutive years, so I know the ropes regarding when academics typically wake up and get started. I'm not asking if starting work at 8:00 AM is typical, but rather if it is unreasonable and why I should or shouldn't change my policy.<issue_comment>username_1: It is not unreasonable, but it might annoy your graduate students. I myself wouldn't like it because it would mean that I have to get up an hour earlier than my girlfriend. Maybe one should set the question the other way round: What is your disadvantage if you meet at nine? Is it important for you to meet your students first thing in the morning? Comparing your need and your students needs, you should find a sensible compromise. Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It can depend on the institution (and the culture), but I would consider it unreasonable, yes. In fact, the university buildings in the place I work do not even open before 8am, and no-one, really no-one, is expected to show up that early. You should consider that people also might have to travel, and as it is indeed very reasonable to expect that people need half an hour or so to get some coffee, check mails, plan their day, and so on, you effectively require them to be there at 7.30. To me, this does not sound like a reasonable requirement in academia. Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Early (or late) meetings are generally unreasonable. Some people naturally wake up early, while others stay up late and are more productive in the evening. If you force people to attend meetings that are too early or too late for them, they will be physically present but may not contribute that much due to being too tired. What constitutes an early or late meeting depends on the society and culture. At the institute I currently work at, people are generally expected to be around from 10:00 to 16:00, and regular meetings outside those hours would be unreasonable. Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_4: It depends entirely on whether you have consulted the other meeting participants. There is nothing inherently wrong about an 8 a.m. meeting if it is convenient for everyone involved. If you have set the time without consulting the other participants, there are two serious problems. You may be giving one or more of them a practical problem. For example, consider a parent whose child's school starts at 8 or later. You may be disrupting carpool arrangements. It may conflict with a class one of the students wants to attend. The other problem is more subtle, and applies even if none of the participants actually has a problem with the meeting time. Setting the time for a small meeting without consulting the other participants and considering their views is very disrespectful. It tells them that you consider your schedule, your convenience, to be so much more important than theirs that you don't need to consider them at all. That sort of message is not good for a working relationship. Upvotes: 9 <issue_comment>username_5: Congratulations on getting to lead a small team! You might want to look into developing your leadership skills and techniques to help you with your new responsibility. After all, leading people is about more than instructing them. A good question you can ask yourself about the appropriateness of your requests: How would it feel if this would be other way around? In this case, what if some other recently graduated PhD student would instruct you to change your schedule to 11:00-19:30 so that you can have a meeting at the end of every work day at 19:15. Would that be perfect, or acceptable, or bad, or horrible? You write: > > It's important for our schedules to overlap, so I've instructed them to meet me at 8:00 to get started. > > > If the requirement is to make the schedules overlap, why instruct them to make the schedules identical? Maybe you can meet with your team and talk about your requirements for working together (overlap in schedule, regular meetings, probably more) and also give them a chance to state their requirements. Then you can lead the process of figuring out how to find a solution that works well for everyone involved. (Note that the solution doesn't need to be reasonable to outsiders, it just needs to work for the insiders. But also note that it not only needs to work for you, it needs to work for everyone on the team). Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_6: Addressing the section about not starting immediately after people plan to be in work, there are a few points against it: 1. Commuting delays - if there is extra traffic or someone can't find a parking space, or the train/bus is late, then they will miss your meeting or be late. Starting 30 minutes after everyone normally gets into the office gives everyone a bit of a buffer without needing them to get out of bed half an hour early just in case there is an unexpected delay. 2. Time to unpack and get their belongings together - People bring bags, have coats etc and might need things from their desk like pens and paper. So they don't walk in the front door of the building and straight into the meeting room. People need a few minutes to grab what they need for a meeting. Also if they were travelling for an hour they might need the bathroom. 3. Going from 0 - 100% takes a bit of time - You might have everything in mind that you want to discuss, but normally I like to go over what will be discussed before. If I am talking with someone on the way in, or driving, then I don't think much about what I will be doing until I'm through the door. For these reasons leaving the first half hour for people to "settle down" in the office gives a better chance that they will be punctual for your meeting and prepared. Anecdotally, my previous company generally kept the first hour free unless it was a meeting everyone agreed was important and should take place ASAP, and even then it was accepted that people might be a few minutes late due to delays. If everyone is in the office at 7:45 most days like yourself then it's probably not a problem. If people arrive between 9-10am then expect people to occasionally be late to the meeting or not present at all, in which case it is a bad idea to schedule it so early or they don't need to be invited in the first case. Your group might be happy to have the meeting early to give them a larger block of uninterrupted work, or they might hate the prospect of having to plan to get in the office at 7:30am to allow for the possibility of delays. Everyone is different. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: [So I'm just going to put this article here.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/what-time-should-work-start_us_55f075d4e4b002d5c077a361) First of all, why is it so important that your schedules overlap? And why is it so important for everyone to abide by your schedule? I spent 12 years in academia and the only time I ever had an 8AM class was when I was a freshman in college. This class was intentionally scheduled at 8AM because they knew that people wouldn't show up, it was a critical class, and if you failed it you got kicked out of the program. LOTS of people failed it. I would consider it unreasonable to start at 8AM unless you have a really good reason that it needs to start at that time. "That's when I start" is probably not a good reason, and honestly also a little bit inconsiderate. If you decide to start at 8AM, you need to understand that you're probably not going to start on time. You're also going to end up with a bunch of people that don't show up. They're going to resent you for making such an unnecessary decision, you're probably going to resent them for not showing up, and all in all it's probably a really bad decision in terms of team dynamic. As an alternative solution, why not establish core hours, say from 10AM to 4PM? Give the rest of your team a bit of flexibility with which side of that they want to put the rest of their hours on so that it's not all about your schedule and everyone can do what they need to do. You'll still get your "whole team" time, but it's a much more considerate way of handling it. Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_8: You try to distinguish between atypical and unreasonable but I don't think this is possible. Unless you are in a culture where it is typical for PhD students and researchers to be in the office at 8am, it is unreasonable to require your team to be there at that time if the only reason is that it's your usual schedule. The other answers give all kinds of reasons why it might be somewhere between awkward and very inconvenient for people to be in the office that early, if that is not the usual culture. Of course, those reasons might not apply to the specific people you're meeting with. The natural thing to do would be to ask them if 8am meetings is OK. However, since you're in a position of power over them, they may feel pressured to agree with something that is bad for them. If it is not usual for people to be in the office at 8am in your culture, you should ask yourself why you're trying to impose your unusual schedule on the other three-quarters of your team. Is it really so important that you're all there at the same time? Is it impossible for you to work 8-4:30 and them to work, for example, 9-5:30? Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_9: It depends on the local institution you are in. At my institution, I had meetings at 7:00 AM on certain days and tutorials at 11:30 PM on some Fridays during a term. These times were checked to be ok with the participants, though. (E.g., if they wanted to meet only within the regular working hours, there is nothing I could have done about it.) So, 8:00 AM is not unreasonable. I emphasize the dependence on the institution, since, e.g., getting at 8:00 at -20°C in the winter to an institution in Alaska or in northern Sweden can be physically nontrivial. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: For typical grad students, it isn't unreasonable (though some students might resent it). If the students are parents of young children, it may be unreasonable, as it could unfairly shift the burden of getting kids ready and off to school onto a partner, who may have equally pressing responsibilities. If the students are single parents, it is very unreasonable. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: "Unreasonable" is perhaps not the exactly-right word, because one can make arguments in favor of it. But it is obviously aggressive, possibly creating burdens for people (childcare, commuting, daily rhythms), and is in fact arguably obnoxious in that it makes a demand for compliance in a part of the day that is not universally easy to organize "to suit". Thus, although possibly people can do so, it often does/would require a disproportionate amount of effort to comply. Ergo: unreasonable. Done. Instead, ask the people what times-of-day would be convenient for them to meet... (or, oppositely, ask what times would be inconvenient, and then do that, instead). Meeting times are even more artifactual than speed limits... duh. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_12: Congratulations on becoming a supervisor! A team is made up of people who may have different preferences, working styles and expectations. For a team to work together in harmony, everyone will need to practice give-and-take, i.e., even though I prefer option A, I am willing to go with option B, because that appears to be better for the team overall. In my opinion, even though you are in a position of authority and could make decisions as a dictator of sorts, in the long run, it is healthier for the team dynamics if you show your team members that you are willing to take the time to listen to them, to understand what are their needs and preferences, and then to make together a decision that works best for everyone. In my personal experience, I often have to meet with collaborators outside of regular office hours, due to the fact that we reside in different time zones. We generally try to schedule our meetings at a time which does not cause too much pain to each person involved. On rare occasions, when there is an urgent deadline, one of us may meet at an unusual time (e.g., midnight, 5 AM), but this is usually a sacrifice that the person is willing to make, rather than it being something that the others force upon him/her. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_13: A point that isn't coming across is that there are different institutional environments, and in some of them, being told what time to be where, and then showing up, is part of doing business. In particular, these sorts of situations happen all the time in clinical research, and for non-clinical people who work with clinical people. In such cases, an 8AM start to a workday might even be considered to be late. In your case, though, I suggest talking to participants, and then scheduling a mutually agreeable time, so long as your schedule can accommodate it. If you really like the 8AM time, though, and want to instill your students with an early work schedule, you might simply bribe them with bagels. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_14: Keep in mind that different people have different circadian rhythms and for some of them this is an effort. If someone would require me to come at 8 am, I would hate the situation, I will come for the first 1-2 meetings and then I will start to be late or barely on time and I will be mostly useless for the entire day (especially if this is a prolonged situation). And this is not because I'm lazy (as a student/casual researcher I happily worked 14-16 hours a day) but because I simply have a hard time getting up in the morning. Also, I usually ride a bike. So in order to not be all sweaty and tired, I would have to come 15-30 minutes earlier. Also, as others have suggested above, some people have other commitments. In some cases (e.g. a course or a large team) you simply cannot make everyone happy. But, since we are speaking of a team of 4 people that you are supposed to work with, I think it is quite reasonable to ask for their opinion and find a good compromise for everyone. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_15: Yes, it's unreasonable. Meet toward the middle of the day so people get in and leave generally when they want. People who do like being in that early probably enjoy the lack of meetings where they can actually get work done. Similar goes for people who stay late. For reference my company runs roughly 11a-4p as meeting friendly time. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_16: You have already got many good answers about the timing aspect itself but, reading through your question, I feel there is a larger point that needs to be made. First, your demand is clearly unreasonable. It does depend on culture (national and organizational) but, through 5 countries and many diverse workplaces (university, research centers, private businesses big and small), I have never seen such stringent requirements for knowledge workers. And you know this yourself, you are trying to avoid the logical conclusion by making a distinction between typical and reasonable but it's not reasonable to impose something like this on your own if it's not typical and already a policy in your organization. But more importantly, you speak of “overlap” and that can be easily achieved with a rule like being present between 10 and 12 and 14 and 16 (not that you really need to be so formal in such a small team but that was actually the rule at the most rigid and hierarchical organization I worked at as a researcher). This would leave your reports free to arrive as late as 10 and yourself free to leave as early as 16 and also some flexibility regarding lunch break while having plenty of time to attend common business and also an opportunity to work quietly early in the morning or late at night depending on personal preferences. So meeting at 8 certainly isn't necessary to have some overlap! And you also suggest that this is not about a real “meeting” either but mostly about forcing the other members of your team to show up early, just because you want them to. So it has nothing to do with overlap or any actual need of your research but is entirely about micro-managing everyone's schedule. This is bound to be perceived as “bossing around” (and rightly so) and that is a problem in itself. Is that how you were treated while preparing your PhD? How others are treated in your organization? Do you think it's a good idea? Those are the questions you should be asking yourself. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_17: > > I've instructed them to meet me at 8:00 to get started. > > > The only thing that is unreasonable here is your "instruction" to them! I am reading that sentence as misuse of power. The proper way to do it would be to ask each one of them individually which time suits them. Let three of you sit together to decide which time is least uncomfortable for the meeting. If you want them to be comfortable to work with you and not see you as a "boss" or a threat, give them and yourself some choice which is acceptable to 3 of you rather than thrusting your opinion on them/anyone. Consider reading how to [deal with people](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0671027034). Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_18: It's not unreasonable, but people talk. Word will spread that, if someone wants to work with you, they have to meet with you at 8AM. This will be something people will even mention at "grad interviews", so it will be a factor which people have to think about if they are interested in having you as an adviser and choosing schools. For this reason, I think you might miss out on a lot of good students just due to this schedule choice. As always, being flexible is the best option. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_19: This would be as reasonable as hosting a meeting between 1:00 - 3:00 in the morning since I am most productive during those times and I would love more than anything for my team members to work with me during these times. Everything is quiet during those hours and there is less media and news distraction. Plus, it is a time where daily micro-tasks such as replying emails, setting up meeting is at its minimal and best of all no urgent distractions from students or family. What a lovely time to do all the heavy lifting! In fact, I am currently taking a break to write this at 2:43 AM Est. I cannot sleep at all before these times because I can't stop thinking about the problems surrounding my research. I plan to wake up at 9:30 or 10 just late enough to catch breakfast, then use the little time left before lunch to deal with micro-tasks, maybe attend a talk or two that usually happens around 11:00 am and focus on research after lunch. I can't see why anyone else wouldn't follow this schedule. In fact, it doesn't look like the security guards mind these hours. Nor people who works at local restaurants, or at the convenience store, or taxi drivers... I'd say 1 - 6 am is the new 9 - 5 pm. That is to say it would be unreasonable for me to impose my personal habits that is considered for most cultures too early or too late. From my experience, in dealing with one or two people, usually the time is set at a time that is towards the beginning or the end of normal working hours, as the middle of which is usually occupied, but this requires discussion instead of imposition. In small teams with more than 4 people, Doodle poll is a good way to assess availability for a span of one or even two weeks. Finally, it would be a good idea to follow up when people start to not show up or be distracted during meetings, it could be that they have somewhere to go immediately after, or it is at an inappropriate time, so watch for those signs as well. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_20: Based upon my research group at University, I would say it would be counterproductive. Everyone: professor, grad students, post doc would be up to late hours either doing their work or catching up on tasks. Even if people regularly sleep for just a couple hours of night, it can't be the most beneficial time to meet. It comes down to the group of people, their willingness to give up sleep and their other commitments which might affect their rising time. Scheduling assistants such as Doodle are very useful when several people have to come together at one time to get a consensus. Generally, if it just the students to meet with each other, late at night might work and be agreed upon, but usually when a professor is involved the times seem to run from later morning to mid evening. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_21: One of the main differences of academia compared to other types of jobs is that there is no specific or defined working hours. I have worked in three different labs in three countries, and I never had to start at 8 and I never had to finish at 16:30. Even in Sweden, where it's common for people to start at 8, the general rule is that all meetings have to be between 9-16, as it might be inconvenient for people to be there earlier or later (habits, children, etc). In other places, I have heard that people are kindly asked to come before 9:30 (as in France) and while some labs don't allow to work after hours, the starting time is around 9 (as in Spain). I always considered that working hours in academia are flexible (and I admire those that try to keep the 9-17 schedule - I cannot), and trying to be respectful to other people's needs, I would say you cannot demand someone to come at 8, especially since (I suppose) your schedule is not full with meetings that would necessitate the use of the 8am slot. With that said, I only had an 8:30am meeting when all other slots of my boss were full and the meeting urgent. Upvotes: 1
2016/09/27	4,920	20,154	<issue_start>username_0: My PhD supervisor and I are co-authoring a paper. We have an excellent relation, and he is both a well-regarded scientist in its field and a deeply religious person. In our co-authored paper, he wants to include, for the first time in his career, a perfunctory thanks to God in the acknowledgements. Nevertheless, our field has an ongoing and widely publicized scuffle with intelligent design and I am afraid that such statement might hinder the paper's credibility or insult some readers. Although not religious, I am a strong defendant of people's (and my supervisor's) freedom of belief as long as their doctrines aren't violent or discriminatory, which his aren't. It is, for me, a matter of tolerance. He also is very respectful of my position and has made clear that he didn't wanted to sneak the sentence without my consent. Furthermore, he is not trying to push any religious agenda, it is simply something that has to do with his personal beliefs. The paper is sound from a scientific stance, no single word in its body hints anyhow to God to fill gaps in the argument and he isn't planning to include a grandiloquent dedication, but I am still afraid that squeamish readers would take matters personally and discard the paper without a second reading, affect my career in the long the long term or, even worse, we might hit the news ("see these people, they are thanking god in their paper"). Am I risking something big if I say "yes", go ahead? Should I refuse to let him put the word God in the paper? Is there any precedent of a paper in which God was thanked by the authors? EDIT: This questions has been flagged as [duplicate](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/41819/what-is-the-etiquette-for-thesis-acknowledgements-that-thank-god). I would like to clarify why it's different: 1. The authorship of a thesis, including its acknowledgements, belongs to the student and is not shared with the supervisor. It is (explicitly or implicitly) understood that everything that goes into a thesis was written by the student and approved by the supervisor, but, in regards with the acknowledgements, it's the students choice who to thank and the supervisor has no voice or vote on that matter. Have you ever seen thesis acknowledgements written jointly by supervisor and student? Can a supervisor ask a student to thank his wife (or his God)? Probably not. On the contrary, authorship and responsibility is fully shared in papers. 2. Theses are more of a formality and can be stored for decades without much attention. Papers, on the other side, are meant to reach the large amounts of readers and it is very likely that someone, sooner or later, will spot the dedication. 3. I wasn't clear enough about a key point in my question and will expand here. I wouldn't mind saying "yes" to my supervisor or following @Ritz recommendation if this was a paper in, lets say, accounting, business administration or even engineering, but my field is in full confrontation with intelligent design and some people might read the acknowledgements as a nod to the movement. (I see my supervisor as a good example of [NOMA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-overlapping_magisteria). Some people can do excellent science and be religious. So far, in the scientific realm, we are doing pretty well, but the reader is not going to care about that.)<issue_comment>username_1: I think there's no universally right answer, but you should try going through some steps for your situation: 1. Does it conflict with your beliefs? Personally I would be adamantly against such a thing in a paper I was a coauthor on, but that's my personal belief. I'm guessing it clashes at least a little with your personal belief or you wouldn't be here asking us about it, but that's a question you should think carefully about. Your opinion matters on this, and if you feel strongly then you shouldn't let someone else override your feeling without due consideration. 2. Is it likely to conflict with your audience? Look at some other papers, see if this is done anywhere in your field. Your adviser can afford not to worry as much about this because they're established; you may need to pay more attention to it. 3. Will it upset your adviser? There's a clear power problem here, with your adviser asking you casually about this - can you afford to say no to their requests? Would they take it well if you said no, and would that affect you later? Conversely, would they be very appreciative if you said yes? For two and three you could try asking someone else you trust in the department what their opinion is on the matter. For number one, you'll just need to do some, dare I say, soul searching. Good luck! Edit: Another thought I had later is to consider why your professor is interested in doing this for the first time, now. Did they only recently become religious? Or did something hold them back from doing it before, that they now feel secure enough in their position to cope with, or religious enough to make it worth the cost? This may suggest that there's something there worthy of your concern as well. Also, given that you've clarified that your field intersects with the intelligent design movement, number 2 may be a particularly big concern. Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I don't think you should approach it as "do I refuse it or allow it?", but rather as "let's talk about it." Try having a friendly, respectful conversation which addresses: * your concerns about how it might affect the perception of the paper * why he wants to include this acknowledgement in this paper specifically It sounds to me like he is trying to be gentle about this, and there's a good chance when he hears your concerns he might just say, "Okay, don't worry about it. I'll put it in my next paper." Or he may be able to allay your concerns. Also, he may have a specific reason wanting to acknowledge God in this paper. If such an acknowledgement were included, the wording might also affect how it is perceived. If it is of the form [supervisor] thanks God for..., there will probably be no impact on how you are perceived. Or if it is something that might be read as being clever, like We thank God for providing intelligent arguments against intelligent design, I don't think it would engender any bias against your paper. (In fact, I personally don't think most scientists would read a low-key thanks to God as an indicator of unscientific work, but I don't know what things are like in your field.) Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: On a coauthored paper, it's perfectly reasonable for the acknowledgments to specify who is thanking whom when it's just a subset of the authors, and this is not uncommon (e.g., "X and Y are grateful to the A Institute for hosting their visit" or the like, when author Z wasn't actually there). This is the approach Ritz suggested in the comments, and I'd strongly recommend it. For example, in [this paper](http://www.math.wisc.edu/~boston/fixed.pdf) one author thanks God, without including the others. I'm sure nobody would hold this against you personally, and I can't really believe anyone would discard or disbelieve the paper because of the acknowledgments. It might indeed get some attention: even in mathematics, I've heard people comment on an author's tendency to thank God (nothing negative, just a "gee, that's unusual"), and I can imagine it might get more attention in areas where religion is more contentious. However, I don't think you need to worry that your career will suffer because your coauthor thanked God. Upvotes: 8 <issue_comment>username_4: If I were in your position, I would feel a little uncomfortable about acknowledging God (for God, read "a god", "the God", "Gods", or whatever) in a paper as well. Not, I hasten to add, because I have any problem with a scientist believing in God, but just because I don't think that is really what the acknowledgement section is for. Most journals ask for acknowledgements to be kept brief and specific. I interpret this to mean that they are for acknowledging a specific contribution to the paper that was not sufficient to merit co-authorship. Therefore, they should acknowledge someone for something, not just acknowledge the person in general. What would one acknowledge God for? If it's anything specifically related to your work, then it will be controversial in your field, but if it's for something more vague like "comfort and support" then I don't see the need. Similarly, if I read an acknowledgement along those lines to someone's spouse or partner in a paper, I would consider it ever-so-slightly unprofessional. Certainly not a huge deal, but it would jar a little. Perhaps you could use a similar argument with your supervisor - play down the personal aspect (that you yourself feel uncomfortable about it), and focus on the fact that it's just not really the done thing. If you can quote something from the "instructions for authors" for your target journal (they often make a brief mention of acknowledgements) then so much the better. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: I made the comment that "Personally, if this is a secular paper coming from a secular environment, I view the request as inappropriate and less than professional" and feel like I should expand on this as an answer. At least in the US, injecting religion into the secular workplace is not a normal thing to do. If your supervisor questioned you on your religious background when deciding whether or not to take you on, that would have been illegal. I think you have to look at this as a possible religious test on you. Just the fact that you're asking about it shows that you are uncomfortable with it. It's hard to say what I'd do in your situation, but I hope that I would choose to approach my supervisor, and say "This topic is making me uncomfortable, and I would prefer to keep our secular paper secular". You have every right to feel comfortable in your workplace, and every right to complain about it loudly if you don't. Lastly, as you're launching your career, you don't need to stand out as the guy who's papers acknowledge God. Frankly, its odd. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: > > Although not religious, I am a strong defendant of people's (and my > supervisor's) freedom of belief as long as their doctrines are non > violent or discriminatory, which his aren't. > > > Your tolerance is laudable, but tolerance implies not trying to coerce other people into professing a belief in a religion that they don't actually believe in. That is exactly what your supervisor is trying to do to you. This whole thing is wildly inappropriate. Suppose, for comparison, that <NAME> hires <NAME> to come and do yard work at her house. He shows up, pulls weeds, prunes fruit trees, and mows the lawn. Then, when he's all done and the yard is looking really spiffy, <NAME> says that before she writes <NAME> a check, she would like him to walk out in the middle of the street with her and hold up a sign saying, "Thank you, <NAME>, for creating the grass and the trees." After displaying the sign for 15 minutes to every passing motorist, <NAME> will get paid. Now <NAME> happens to be Catholic. This is not OK with him. He is being forced to profess a belief in a religion that he does not believe in. He didn't know when he signed up for the job that this would be a requirement. The whole idea is outside the norms in his field of work. And adding to the inappropriateness of the situation is the fact there is a power relationship here. <NAME> has the money and the power, and <NAME> is screwed because he's the low man on the totem pole. Ritz suggests in a comment: > > Instead of saying 'We would like to thank God ...' you could ask your supervisor to write 'The second authors wants to thank God ...', where your supervisor is the second author. > > > To continue the metaphor, this kind of thing could be a survival mechanism if Mr. Martinez is desperate for the money and Mrs. Ramakrishna is a nasty, vindictive person who will not respond well if he straightforwardly points out how inappropriate her idea is. The fact that it might be a successful survival mechanism does not in any way mean that Mrs. Ramakrishna's actions are OK. Some might reject my analogy-fable as a false analogy, because <NAME> fears for his soul if he professes belief in Lord Brahma, whereas je\_b merely says s/he is "not religious." The trouble here is that religious beliefs are not just warm fuzzy feelings, they are serious belief systems that have had serious consequences historically, including [some](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albigensian_Crusade#Massacre_at_B.C3.A9ziers) that [were](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Troubles) truly [horrific](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Civil_War). Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: I do not recommend to put a thanks to God in a paper's acknowledgement. I think a very strong point against it which is still missing is the purpose of a scientific paper. A thesis is your own creative work which you worked years on and you did it to show scientific ability and (ideally) for your own character building. So many companions and circumstances have done something to help you...so it is quite normal that people are very thankful to exactly those companions and circumstances to complete the work and this includes the own religious convictions. But a paper has a different purpose: It is for informing your peers about the results of your work. You do not inform them * that you are blonde and have green eyes * that you enjoyed your holiday in Greece 2 days before * that you are a avid reader * that Prof. Dr. Miller trust you and have very much confidence in your result Why ? Because it has nothing to do with the result of the work you are trying to communicate and defend. Your peers are interested in your experiments and arguments you bring forward, nothing else. The acknowledgments are strictly for exactly those people which made your results possible. It is the point of methodological naturalism: Imagine you have different people with vastly different worldviews. Your only chance to convince them all is that you put exactly those arguments and evidence forward which cannot be denied by any personal conviction which is not based on evidence. For example Mr. Miller may trust you, but some people may point out that there is no way we can check out if Miller is mistaken and some people may go so far that they personally do not trust Miller. So the point of a scientific paper is exactly to do that: Present your case so that you can assume nothing about the person you are trying to convince and still convince them. So privately you can still believe anything you like, but when writing your paper you only present your case from a strictly neutral viewpoint. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: Half a year ago, in March 2016, there was actually [a quite similar incident](http://www.nature.com/news/paper-that-says-human-hand-was-designed-by-creator-sparks-concern-1.19499) involving a paper in the PLOS ONE journal, where the authors flatout stated that: > > [The] mechanical architecture [of the human hand] is the proper design by the Creator for dexterous performance of numerous functions. > > > This raised a large uproar in the scientific community, leading to debate over proper reviewing ethics and ultimately the retraction of the article by the editors of PLOS ONE. Now, this wasn't in an acknowledgement, but in the paper proper, but the situation is strikingly similar. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if a second paper with overt references to religion might lead to a similar result with widespread derision and debate followed by editorial retraction, especially considering this is most likely in the same field (biology). If you made this paper a year ago, there probably wouldn't be much ado about it, but considering the event mentioned above, it might not be prudent to make this acknowledgement. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: Religion is a personal thing. It is perfectly fine for your supervisor to have his beliefs. However to acknowledge God in a scientific paper is not appropriate, and will almost certainly harm his (and your) credibility. I believe you can be respectful of his beliefs without agreeing to this. If he presses the issue. You could perhaps ask him exactly why he wants to do this? What could be the positive outcome? It will not be well received by your peers, and he obviously can thank God personally without making a public acknowledgement. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: You can consider doing what they did in Israel's declaration of independence. It references "Tsur Israel" (צור ישראל), which is one of the names of God but can also simply mean "the strength of Israel". So everybody can interpret it however they feel comfortable. If you can come up with a way to acknowledge God indirectly and your supervisor is ok with it, it might be the best compromise. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: You should consider talking to the graduate program supervisor in your faculty/department and asking for their thoughts/advice. Regardless of whether you agree to this or not, your supervisor is pressuring you through his position of authority - which is inappropriate. Also, I would try talking to other former or existing supervisees (is that a word?) of your supervisor, to determine whether this actually is the first time he has wanted to do that. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_12: Yes, you are risking something and should refuse. Regardless of whether he personally owns the acknowledgement to God, your content will be "guilty" by association to some, and you too, by extension. You have explained that you fear this, and it is a reasonable fear. You have said he respects your position and would not do this without your consent, so he is already prepared to omit this, and has less to lose by doing so. God knows his mind--He does not need to be acknowledged publicly on a paper to feel appreciated. Be honest with your supervisor. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_13: @AnonymousMathematician's answer is the canonically correct one and essentially solves the problem, but an idea occurred to me that complements it a bit. My thought is that both of the coauthors have the right to include individual acknowledgements in the paper, so certainly if your coauthor would like to acknowledge God, he must likewise allow you to acknowledge whomever you want. This could enable you to distance yourself further from his acknowledgement (if you feel that doing so would be to your advantage) in several creative ways. For example: > > Author A acknowledges the support of the National Science Foundation through grant X, and thanks his colleague Professor Y for a suggestion that improved the proof of Lemma 7.1, and God for his guidance and inspiration. Author B thanks The Flying Spaghetti Monster for helping him overcome his addiction to Netflix, which was crucial to the timely completion of this work. > > > Or: > > Author A is thankful to God. Author B thanks <NAME> for inspiring him to become a scientist. > > > Or: > > Author A thanks God. Author B is thankful to Author A for providing him a useful lesson regarding the value of ideological tolerance in acknowledgements sections. > > > And so on - Author B can insert an acknowledgement to the laws of quantum field theory, to "my Creator, who gave birth to me 43 years ago last July", or any number of other entities that he factually is grateful to for existing and facilitating his scientific journey. If this is executed in a tactful way that doesn't sound too passive aggressive, and the acknowledgement is factually correct, the readers will get the message and the religious coauthor should not have any cause to be offended (although he might regret bringing up the idea of acknowledging God...). Upvotes: 2
2016/09/27	1,212	5,561	<issue_start>username_0: Background: A little over a year ago, I wrote a paper for an internship (during high school) at a major university medical center. My contribution to the paper was basically everything except conception and some editing/revision (mainly phrasing, not content). The author list, in order, is: immediate supervisor, me, other intern, senior person in group, and PI. The other intern put in about 3 hours of work which were not used in the final manuscript before disappearing to another country and not responding to my attempts to contact. My immediate supervisor, frankly, had very little contribution and is not giving the paper the attention I would like; they took a year to submit the paper (rejected the first time by a reach journal), is taking excessively long to resubmit or get back to me about it, and is usually radio silent. I have a pretty good relationship with the PI, who seems somewhat aware that my immediate supervisor is not being responsive or attentive. It's from work done during high school, so I don't have very much experience with these politics. * Can and should I ask the PI (or someone) about changing the order of authors? * and what actions would be appropriate for me to take to try and get the paper finally submitted relatively soon?<issue_comment>username_1: I think you should talk to the PI about the order of authors. Don't frame the conversation as a demand/plea/request to change the order: phrase it as a question from a very new researcher who put a lot of work into a project and wants to be shown the ropes about why author order is the way it is. This is not a cover story: I really think that virtually no high school student could know the conventions of author order in the publications in a specific academic field. So although it is possible that you deserve to be first author or come in some other place, I don't see how you can reasonably know that without gaining a lot more information about the conventions of the field. Here is another question to ask your PI: what are the consequences for your career of the author order on the paper? This is not my neck of the academic woods, but I would guess that a high school student being an author on such a paper is already getting about the maximum amount of credit without being first author. It may well be the case that the ordering of the other authors has something to do with their academic career...and they may or may not be doing it in what we would agree is a totally ethical way, but unless your contribution was really exceptional, it may in fact turn out to be worse for everyone involved to make a big fuss about it. I want to end by saying that academic politics really only matters for academics. I'm not (at all) saying that you don't have the right to engage in the jockeying for authorship position...but you may have the luxury of not needing to worry about it. That is a luxury, by the way... Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I agree with username_1's first paragraph in that you should be first sure you understand the conventions of author order, especially in regard to paper contribution, before you suggest any changes. It would be a great start to a conversation with your immediate supervisor or PI. You say you've done almost everything, but I would suggest thinking about and listing each of the contributions you made. When authors are ordered, it's not necessarily the amount of time they've spent but the type and quality of their contribution. * Did you come up with the original idea? * Did you design any of the experiments? * Did you suggest any changes to any involved experiments/prototypes? * Did you run any of the experiments? * Did you analyze the data? * Did you interpret the data? * Did you write the paper? * etc. ... Since I don't know the specifics of the situation or the field it's difficult to give you my personal opinion on whether you deserve first authorship or should ask for it. If your involvement comes down to essentially following specific instructions (running already designed experiments, writing up the already interpreted results) without any or with little creative input from yourself, then I don't believe you do. Since this paper has already been submitted once, the time has passed for you to ask unless you personally make significant changes or additions. Asking for first authorship (or an authorship in general) without a good understanding of conventions can have a negative impact on your relationship with your immediate supervisor without gaining you anything. In my personal experience I've heard interns ask for an authorship when their contribution was pressing the start button in a series of experiments because 'it doesn't affect the other authors,' which is both laughable and ridiculous. Another note of caution - the paper review process often takes months, and can extend to over a year in some cases just for the first round. Since this is again your first work, make sure you understand where the delay is coming from before getting too anxious. If the delay was in fact on them, was it because significant changes had to be made? With the current rejection, I would not ask your supervisor why the re-submission is taking so long, but how you can help address any of the reviewer comments to make it suitable for re-submission or submission to another journal. Ask for a copy of the reviews if you don't have them already; it may be very clear why it is taking so long if there are large issues to be resolved. Upvotes: 2
2016/09/27	1,259	5,580	<issue_start>username_0: I've seen a recent journal paper that presents a solution to a problem, and it in the introduction it has a statement that the problem has not been solved yet. That wouldn’t be very strange if I didn’t publish a paper with a solution a few years ago, which is not cited. I understand that no one can be aware of all papers published so there can be honest omissions, but these authors were aware of my paper because we talked about it at a conference held before the submission of their paper. Another case which I have noticed is that some papers avoid mentioning other related papers which present similar methods but perform better than theirs. Is this considered as misconduct, and is there something one can do about it?<issue_comment>username_1: Let's for a second assume that they knew and that it was intentionally There are two ways to look at it: * you are not supposed to cite everything which you heard about a topic, but everything which you actually based your paper upon in a way that a reader can follow your derivation. It is nice (but scientifically optional) to mention completed work of others in the introduction. A typical situation where not mentioning the other paper would absolutely be ok, if the paper was already in the making/writing process (yes, from first draft to published paper, it can take years) in the other group when they heard about. * I personally find it easier to read papers which clearly limit their citations in the main part to the ones they actually used. * OTOH I have seen whole string of publications but specific authors who obviously did not cite specific other authors (in that case most likely to hide the fact thay own paper was not state-of-the-art from referees). * Scientific misconduct would be only there if they actually used your paper and derived their work from it (theoretically it should be possible to establish a timeline in which the work happened in their lab). * Unless you find a subtle mistake or some other signature (like unusual variable names) in your derivation which made it to their work, that will be difficult to prove and get a starting point. So unless you actually have a strong indication that they really behaved bad, it may be wise to swallow it and not waste energy following it up. Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes. If they were indeed aware of the fact that a paper exists which proves that the problem was solved, then they clearly commited a scientific misconduct, though less so, I should think, by not citing your paper, and more so by claiming that a problem had no solution which they knew was solved already. Even if they considered your proof wrong, they should absolutely make it clear why they disagree with you. However, as commenters have pointed out, there is always a good chance that people don't realise what a paper is about, don't remember that there is that paper, or they wanted to discuss your paper and just forgot about it, which of course doesn't speak for their academic diligence, but means that no misconduct was commited (unless your paper is so high-profile that by not including it, they are neglecting their duty to read the literature before writing a paper.) Edit: Note that I have answered the general question in your title, not the more precise question in your text, which I don't know how to answer without additional evidence. Another edit: The formal rules for scientific integrity of my own university, for example, do not explicitly mention omitting a citation, but do (obviously) contain "intentional or grossly negligent misrepresentations in an academically relevant context" (my translaton) as an act of misconduct. This is exactly my point: If they knew, or really should have known, it's academic misconduct. If they didn't know and your paper is so obscure that they didn't act grossly negligent in not finding it, it isn't. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I'd suggest contacting the editor of the journal that published their paper. I'd also suggest not insisting on scientific misconduct in the early stages of the communication. If the authors solved a problem that has exactly one prior solution (yours) and failed to reference your paper, it is a very peculiar situation. Lets leave the authors aside for the moment. That kind of oversight should be caught at the review stage (it is after all a rather quick search and the reviewers are supposed to be experts on the field), so that leads me to question the reputability of the journal. On the other hand, it simultaneously leads me to question the reputability of the journal/conference where your work is published. Many authors don't read articles from predatory journals/conferences. If the above is cleared in a satisfactory manner, i.e. none of the involved journals are predatory, we can get back to the authors again. Such an oversight is indeed probable cause for a poor literature review at the least. One possible caveat would be that the problem they solved isn't exactly the problem you solved, but some variety or special case. That may be hairsplitting of course, but proving misconduct is an extremely delicate matter. I hope that it is now clear why you should raise the editor's attention but refrain from making strict accusations. If you are right, a reputable journal will (in the best case for you) retract their paper. Once this is accomplished, if you still feel insistent, you could further pursue the matter of scientific misconduct with the authors' institution(s). Upvotes: 2
2016/09/27	630	2,692	<issue_start>username_0: I am in the first semester of my masters degree in a professional field. I have been assigned to a group with a (fake) political stance. Every week of the semester we are expected to make presentations to the class advocating our groups position in various formats (town hall, internal meeting, speech, etc.). The groups were largely assigned based on age/professional experience (many of the students in this program are working adults, but we are all just out of under-grad). Our first meeting there was some friction about where and when to meet, one of the members even went to the wrong location then blamed the group when she was 15 minutes late. Our first presentation was good but not nearly as professional as the other groups. Now the group wants to stop meeting in person and use Google Hangouts instead. I am very afraid this will detract from the quality of our work and probably our grade, how can I convince my fellow group mates that the extra time spent meeting in person is worth it?<issue_comment>username_1: If I have understood right, you are concerned that the little bit of functionality this working group has had up until now will deteriorate even further with this change of meeting format, because you suspect that the shift to remote collaboration may signal a lack of commitment to the project. Whenever you are assigned a work group at school, and things are not going well, you should inform the professor, keep trying to make it work, and then if things continue to go badly, inform the professor again. In other words, inform the captain when the ship starts taking on water; do your best to keep the boat afloat; and keep a firm eye on the lifeboats. Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: I know this answer comes too late for you. But I agree with your assessment. This group project is only going to sink from here. To which, I would build on one existing comment already offered to you. > > Raise your concerns to them, and then listen to what they have to say > with an open mind? > > > That being said, do not raise your concern to them as a group, raise your concerns and listen to each what has to say with an open mind, but do it individually first. If you bring this concern to them as a group, most members of your group will probably just make the most expedient decision that takes the least amount of commitment on their part, a vote will be quickly called, and then that will be the end of it. Also, I agree that the Professor wouldn't want to be bothered with such a problem. Learning to work with unmotivated colleagues is a fact of life. This is your problem to solve, not his. Upvotes: 2
2016/09/27	1,418	6,339	<issue_start>username_0: I have a very significant number of publishable projects and have a very large data set that can be used to publish dozens of articles. I have published a number of top peer reviewed journal papers but do not have the time and resources to do this myself and am looking for research collaborators who are experienced in writing Computer Science or Social Science journal articles to co-author these research papers with me. How can I find such researchers? Are there any online resources that might guide me in this process?<issue_comment>username_1: How good is your data? If you truly have amazing unpublished data that could readily form the basis for multiple top tier publications, then with some persistence you should be able to find academics who are interested in writing publications based on that data. However, are you able to truly judge the suitability of your data for academic publications? In general, if you are not in academia, you are likely to have a poor to modest understanding of what makes a great dataset. For example, I sometimes work with industry datasets that look at the characteristics of workers (traits, job performance and so on). There are all sorts of academic reasons why a given dataset (that the consultant may think is interesting) will not yield a good publication: e.g., the sample size is too small; there were issues with data collection; the measures used are insufficiently reliable or valid; the measures used do not map onto the theoretical constructs in the literature; the questions that can answered by the dataset have been examined many times already in the literature; the meta data is incomplete. Even if you have a dataset that could be used for a publication, there is still the issue of whether the dataset is good enough to persuade an academic to work on it. In general, more established academics have a large collection of studies and datasets sitting around waiting to be potentially written up. In this case, the academic is likely to strategically prioritise their publications in terms of some sort of effort-reward trade-off. So, your dataset needs to not only be publishable but sufficiently aligned and interesting to an academic to persuade them to work on it. Thus, my advice would be to start to connect with a few academics in order to assess how suitable the datasets are for publication. How to find a suitable academic? There are many strategies for finding a academic who might be interested in analysing your data for publication. Ideally, you'd have a sense of the kinds of publications that could be obtained from the data, and therefore which academics are working on these topics. A targeted email to some of these people explaining the data you have and your interests in sharing for publication should help to start a conversation. You can then have skype chat or face to face chats (with people in your city). If you're lucky you might have existing social networks with existing academics (e.g., where you did your studies, or in your town). As you interact with these academics, you can get a better understanding of whether the data is suitable for publication. Also, if you have good data, but the first few academics are not interested in it, such academics may be able to refer you to other academics who are interested. You also mention that you want "experienced researchers" to write the papers. In this regard, there is a trade-off. More high-profile researchers are more capable of getting quality work published. However, they also have many more opportunities. So there is a trade-off. For example, early career researchers may be more interested in your data, if they've had less time to obtain a broad range of research options. Your dataset might also be useful to form part of a PhD project. How to negotiate co-authorship? Based on respected criteria for co-authorship (E.g., [here](http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html)), merely providing data is not sufficient to warrant co-authorship. You generally need to contribute to some degree to the writing and conception of the paper. That said, if you make co-authorship a condition of sharing your data, then academics are free to take or leave your proposal. If collecting the data in itself involved some degree of academic contribution and you also agree to contribute to the writing and analysis process (even if not leading), then such a proposal is likely to be more palatable to academics. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Publish a detailed description of your dataset, say, on your website, along with your offer+terms to share it for people to work with you on it. You don't need to disclose the data for that. If it's as good as you're telling us, people will spread the word to the relevant mailing lists, and run to you. You can start by telling the few people you already worked with, and ask them to spread the word. If the data is that good, they'll share the memo until someone wants to work with you on it. Then also, as comments point out, maybe the dataset it not interesting enough to hijack the attention of busy people. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I work in DC, where there's a large concentration of both researchers and places (government offices, think tanks, foundations and such) that generate data. One thing I've noted repeatedly is that, outside of the obvious places like the Fed and World Bank, where everyone goes for data, every office in the city has data they wish people would work with. So your condition isn't particularly unique. The strategy I see most often used is to try and contact academic departments directly, with the goal of reaching PhD students. The (econ) departments I'm familiar with are often happy to forward opportunities to their researchers, and PhD students as a rule are out hunting for research projects. My department regularly has guest speakers that come to talk about data and projects that need researchers. This would be a particularly fruitful strategy if you're offering to work with them on the project, but it should work even if not - PhD students can still take projects based on your data to their advisers to work with. Upvotes: 2
2016/09/28	617	2,546	<issue_start>username_0: 1) My degree demands me to have around 50 lbs. of new books and reading each year. Second-hand books are not possible for my subject that changes every year. 2) The total cost of all this material is around $5000 USD. 3) I must have all this material with me while I travel repeatedly between North America and England during my degree, and I cannot afford exorbitant shipping or airline baggage fees each time. I suffer from an eye condition that forbids reading on screen for long times. Thus buying the PDF versions for these books is not a possibility. What else can I do?<issue_comment>username_1: e-ink ----- As also suggested in comments, a quality e-ink reader as (for example) the better Kindle models will provide a paper-like experience for your eyes at a limited weight. PDFs are not the optimal form for that (ebook formats allow re-flowing to have screen-sized full pages at a font size tha't best for your eyes), but it will certainly work; reading hundreds of pages on that is more like reading a book than a screen. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: > > I suffer from an eye condition that forbids reading on screen for long times. > > > The weight and the travel are not the primary problem here. The eye condition is the primary problem, and this way of looking at the situation will give you the key to finding a way to work more comfortably. In the U.S. the people to talk to are the Student Disability Office at your university. I don't know what the analogous office in the UK is called. You will be asked to document your eye condition. Once you're set up with a Section 504 accommodation plan, your university will find solutions. Obvious first choice, audio recordings, if they already exist. To some extent, it would be good to be able to work with digitized PDFs of these readings, which you will keep on a special laptop whose display has been optimized for your particular eye condition. It used to be, a human reader would record texts for the low vision student. Now, they will set you up with software that reads the text out loud to you. You need not be legally blind to be in need of accommodations. They will take into account that you can do some reading, but tire more easily than the average student, and need support. I suppose it's possible the publishers will lend you a second hard copy so that you have one copy in each country. You just have to talk things over with the disability office. You will work together as a team. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
2016/09/28	801	3,389	<issue_start>username_0: After a phd and a 1 year boring job in a private company, I finally found a postdoc position than looks very interesting to me. I am very excited to perform research again, but I would like to avoid the mistakes I did during my Ph.D. to be more efficient. I would say that my main waste of time was that I was too disorganized. Often I did measurements, forgot to write all the parameters, and had to do it again. I think I will now be ok on this point, with but if you have advices here, I will happily read them. Then, my main problem and one of the things I felt very inefficient at, was bibliography research. For example, when I wanted to get information on a very precise topic, I searched through google scholar or science direct and found several articles. I tried to picked the most interesting ones, but then I often got lost in the different references cited by the article. I always felt that I had to read every of these references to get things perfectly clear and become confident on the topic. Of course this never worked, because there are usually many references and references in those references (would take ages to read them all) ... So I often ended reading only parts of all the articles cited by the main article, barely remembering what I have read. Does someone have an efficient method to avoid getting lost in all the articles cited in one article, and all of their references ... and so on?<issue_comment>username_1: e-ink ----- As also suggested in comments, a quality e-ink reader as (for example) the better Kindle models will provide a paper-like experience for your eyes at a limited weight. PDFs are not the optimal form for that (ebook formats allow re-flowing to have screen-sized full pages at a font size tha't best for your eyes), but it will certainly work; reading hundreds of pages on that is more like reading a book than a screen. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: > > I suffer from an eye condition that forbids reading on screen for long times. > > > The weight and the travel are not the primary problem here. The eye condition is the primary problem, and this way of looking at the situation will give you the key to finding a way to work more comfortably. In the U.S. the people to talk to are the Student Disability Office at your university. I don't know what the analogous office in the UK is called. You will be asked to document your eye condition. Once you're set up with a Section 504 accommodation plan, your university will find solutions. Obvious first choice, audio recordings, if they already exist. To some extent, it would be good to be able to work with digitized PDFs of these readings, which you will keep on a special laptop whose display has been optimized for your particular eye condition. It used to be, a human reader would record texts for the low vision student. Now, they will set you up with software that reads the text out loud to you. You need not be legally blind to be in need of accommodations. They will take into account that you can do some reading, but tire more easily than the average student, and need support. I suppose it's possible the publishers will lend you a second hard copy so that you have one copy in each country. You just have to talk things over with the disability office. You will work together as a team. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
2016/09/28	469	2,071	<issue_start>username_0: I have to talk into a paper of mine about a new proposed operator: do you think it is of any use to talk about it within the introduction? My problem is that, by doing so, maybe a reader/reviewer could arise more problems than the ones he could motivate by reading the whole description later on the paper. On the other hand an example of such operator within the introduction helps the reader/reviewer to better understand the problem this new operator tries to solve. Another problem is that, if the example is too simple, then he could think that more difficult tasks could not be solved by this specific operator. Thanks in advance!<issue_comment>username_1: The Introduction should serve for "introducing" the problem you claim to solve. Generally, you might want to start with a very short background which brings you to talk about the problem definition and the proposed solution. In your case, the proposed operator seems to be the solution you are proposing. Therefore, i would personally say only few rather general information on the operator and leave the technical discussion to other sessions in the paper. I hope i answered to your doubts. BR, username_1. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: The introduction should highlight whatever you think is most important and most likely to catch the interest of your readers. It should be a summary/overview of your results. If your goal is to define a new operator, definitely say so in the introduction. If you need several motivating examples, say so in the introduction. If the examples are too involved to summarize, tell the reader from what area these motivating examples come. > > In this paper we define a new operator X with several applications for the study of A, B, C in the context of [area]. In §2 "Motivating Examples" we give several motivating examples, including [this well-known example]. In particular, we find that X generalizes operator Y that Smith and Taylor defined in [2,3] to study Rubber Ducks (see [2,3,10–12]). > > > Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
2016/09/28	479	2,016	<issue_start>username_0: I am starting a PhD in computer science, and have noticed that a number of classmates will write on LinkedIn or their academic websites that they are getting a "PhD in Machine Learning" or "PhD in Artificial Intelligence" and so on. Is this common/acceptable to write "PhD in [Area of Interest/Expertise]" instead of your home department?<issue_comment>username_1: I believe it makes sense. The PhD education is a very narrow education which will give you very specific knowledge regarding a specific aspect of a research area. Therefore, it makes completely sense to be a bit more specific rather than general. PhD in computer science sounds very broad and not much descriptive. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: This should not be a problem. These people are providing additional information about what they are studying; nobody is going to be confused and think that they are studying under the auspices of a "department of machine learning," or whatever. Whether people do this is cultural, and it depends on both the field and institution involved. Personally, I would not phrase things precisely this way on my c.v. However, technically, my Ph.D. degree is not "in" anything at all; no field was noted on my diploma or at my commencement ceremony. Depending on context, I might say that my degree was in "mathematics," "applied mathematics," or "mathematical physics." Which I would use would depend on my audience and what information I was trying to convey. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It sounds fine to me too. FWIW, I usually phrase it as two separate statements: I'm getting a PhD. My research/thesis topic is..." Not only are you clarifying what your field of expertise is, you're also preventing misunderstandings. I study artificial life, but I'm in what's called the "Faculty of Engineering", and for all I know that's what will be listed on my diploma. I certainly wouldn't want people to think I was capable of building a bridge! Upvotes: 2
2016/09/28	2,603	11,156	<issue_start>username_0: I am currently working on a paper in Computer Science. I am the sole author of the paper. Every aspect of the paper, the idea, the implementation, figures, plots, results are all solely based on my efforts. Since I wanted it to be accepted into a good conference/journal, I wanted it proofread. I approached a professor who is doing research somewhere close the same field (not exactly the same field) as my paper's. He made corrections to the paper based on semantics and visual aesthetics. Should I include him as a secondary author? Is it ethically wrong if I just mention him in the acknowledgements section? How should I go about dealing with this situation?<issue_comment>username_1: I would thank him in the acknowledgments. Although there is no set standard for what is required to be an author, it is generally accepted that they must make a research contribution. Proofreading definitely doesn't meet that criterion (or any of the other criteria that I have seen). I did this in one of my recent papers. I just said: > > We would also like to thank <NAME> for his helpful feedback on a draft of the paper. > > > Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: As you already mentioned it, you have a really pratical option to handle your conflict. The acknowledgement section in which you can also wrap authors's contribution in most journals. In case you decide to offer him the co-authorship you can and should put all author's contribution as they have happened. Your own case is pretty clear here. AB contributed by developing and implementing the algorithm as well as writing the complete draft. I would like to give you the following points you might have missed considering yet regarding other co-authors, especially your professor's one: Is your professor the project leader? You could acknowledge his contribution by stating this, but also you could consider granting him co-authorship. Is this a collaborative project which you are provided with initially? Your professor most likely has spent a lot of years operating in his position within the science field to have the capability to do so. He can be protecting you from an overwehlming administrative amount of work (which is needed for the existense of positions like yours). Without him there would be no workstation, no access to a free cluster to perform heavy computations? For me this are ethical reasons (or others like this examplary given exists behind the scenes) to grant a co-authorship if clarified with something like "Prof. XY's contribution gets acknowledged with leadership of project XZ funded under nummer 111 by YZ" All co-authors in addition contributed by an internal review. "All co-authors" needs to be addapted in your considered two-author case. Take some weeks to consider these points in case you never done this before. Talk to your collagues about it. Also to some long term post-docs. Those can help you seeing stuff faster which now might still be hidden to you. I also would like to emphasize. You never put just someone as a co-author, you offer him co-authorship. It is a much more respectful way to describe this procedere because this forumlation still implies the possibility that your professor rejects because he consideres his time he is able to spent not worthy to accept. Finally, I just gave you my point of view, but I cannot give you a direct answer. Consider such points and also the arguments from a contradictionary point of view which might show up in another answer. It will still be your decision which you have to do by yourself. There is authors guidelines in every journal which you should read carefully and follow. I have not done this in your field (the reading of the guidelines). I know though some papers of computer science and those have a (for my field) rather uncommon high frequency of really small teams or single authors. So the ethical common sense might be shifted a bit from my pov. My main point was that I see no ethical conflict if the pure secondary nature of contribution is stated clearly (but ofc in agreement with the journal). Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: The problem you have raised is quite tricky to address. Generally speaking, there are some non-written rules about contributions and authorships, which i guess you know. On top of this, there are even more "internal" non-written rules: each institution and research group have different policies. I will suggest you to make sure you are following all of them. Sometimes, the contribution that a supervisor/professor gives is more on the discussion phase where she/he assists you in the reasoning and in the definition of the research problem. In your case, you claim the professor made corrections related to the semantics and the aesthetics. From the way you write it seems that they are all minor corrections, but it might even be that the semantic and aesthetics issues were major issues for your work. Sometimes, papers get rejected because they fail in delivering the message not because they are technically wrong. All in all, i suggest you to adhere to your institution policies and to objectively asses the importance of those corrections for making a final decision. For the future, as someone already said, make sure you discuss duties, authorships and expectations when involving other people and before start to write the paper. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: Asking the professor if they wish to be listed as a co-author carries some potential benefits: 1. If the Professor has a good reputation then it may be a bit easier to get the paper accepted for publication. 2. Sharing this with the professor could be the start of future partnerships. They may ask you to contribute to their next paper or include you on their next grant. I have only limited experience with this, but I have generally found that strengthening connections between people outweighs the glamor of a one-person show. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: The answer below assumes that the professor (P) is the advisor of the student (S), and that the internal guidelines of the institution forbid P to be a coauthor unless his/her contribution is sufficiently large. (Consider other answers for all other cases.) This was the case for one of institutions I've been to. For such institutions, the unspoken, unwritten, but still present culture of deciding upon such an issue at my institution goes roughly along the following lines. It is similar for many other institutions (and it may or may not be like this in your case). > > S: Here is the current paper draft to be sent to the conference XXX. As of now, you are in the acknowledgements. Would you like to be a second author? > > > P: No, thanks, please do not make me a coauthor. > > > S: Are you sure? You really contributed a lot of proofreading to it. > > > P: No, that's ok. The paper contains only your ideas. > > > S: But you are also my advisor, so I think you should be on it. > > > P: No, you did all the hard work. You should be the single author. > > > S: Ok, thank you. Then your name will be in the acknowledgements > / in a footnote on the first page / etc. But, still, you did proofreading. Is there anything I could do in return? > > > P: ... > > > If you tend to think that your institution has similar rules and culture, consider simply trying out this approach. Do not include your advisor iff he/she rejects at least, say, thrice. Otherwise, do inlcude him/her. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Contrary to what some people are saying here, there are clear guidelines (see the Vancouver protocols on scholarly publishing) as to what constitutes authorship. Most reputable conferences and journals support them (and publishing in non-reputable venues is a bad idea anyway - it's not just a neutral, publishing in bad venues damages your reputation, as it leads people to suspect all your papers). In some countries, and I can specifically vouch for Australia, ignoring them can get you sacked. And under the Vancouver protocols, proofreading (or being the head of a lab or doing organisation or gaining the money for the research) clearly do not qualify. If you're in a country that does condone such 'honorary' authorship, do think about whether you might ever want to apply for a job in a country that does not accept it (one paper on your resume that smells of being 'honorary' is likely to lead to all your papers being tarred with the same brush). Even if you decide to give the professor authorship, you must give him/her the choice, as adding people's name without consultation may cause grave embarrassment (I've been there), and worst case, may lead to retraction of the paper. You can see many examples in retractionwatch. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: I think there is a common misunderstanding here about 'authorship' in the context of scientific papers. Someone explained to me that a 'professor' at a university is not just someone who has a lot of experience and authority on a subject, but in fact someone that the university has appointed to have the authority of the university in their statements, to be someone who professes the university's knowledge or position. That means that when they teach, they are not just giving their own opinion, or teaching from their own understanding, but teaching the official line of the university. It is not a legal position, so I wouldn't take it too far, but it highlights the importance of the name of the institution in the role of the professor as a teacher or an author. There is a tenet that any author named on a paper should be able to defend it. Whilst that is not always practically true, it indicates something of what the author list should be, along the lines of the title of Professor above. Author, here, is then more than just who wrote the paper, or indeed who did the work, but includes the concept of on whose authority the paper is presented. A professor, by inference from their position, holds the authority of the university. In the modern research world, where authorship counts towards impact measures which count towards management requirements or performance-related pay, the water is somewhat muddied. But I would take the central idea that adding someone as co-author is not a kind of 'thanks', or riding on coat-tails, and so on. If someone is added as co-author, then they are adding their reputation to the paper, being willing to defend it at a conference or during a visit to another institution. So the question of whether to add the professor who proof-read it is fairly simple; ask the professor whether he would want to be added to the list of authors or not. If he does, he is lending his authority and that of the university. You are still the first author (which is meaningful in most fields but not all), and no-one is likely to be under any false impressions about who did the work; professors in my experience rarely do the work themselves, acting as a focus of research ideas and development which is done by their Research Assistants, PhD students and so on. Upvotes: 1
2016/09/28	1,066	4,680	<issue_start>username_0: I'm a MA student, and I think I've made a big mistake submitting to my first conference... I submitted an abstract to a regional academic conference over the summer, and it was accepted. I had to submit the full version of the paper for the student competition a few weeks ago. I was having trouble cutting my material down to meet the limit-- all the conference said was that papers should be "no longer than 20 minutes." The due date crept up on me, and I did my best to cut it down as much as possible, not having enough time to read through my drafts out loud to see how "long" they were. The conference is two weeks away, and I have started practicing out loud...and it's taking me around 27 minutes to read my paper. What do I do? Is it a big faux-pas to shorten my submitted paper for the presentation so it doesn't go over the time limit? I've had trouble getting in touch with the conference organizers about other things, so I'm doubtful that I'll be able to talk to them about this.<issue_comment>username_1: The session chair will (or at least should) try to keep the talks at a conference within the allotted time. When you appear to use more time, the chair might start to notify you that you need to wrap up. When you fail to do this, and it becomes clear that you are taking more than a few minutes extra, the chair might even cut you off. Finally, I would like to point out that extra time taken by you might lead to less time for the speakers after you, or less time for scientific discussion. You have a responsibility to your peers to be prudent in claiming their time. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Keeping in time is mandatory ---------------------------- In general, you can expect to be cut off if you are over the time limit, so you definitely should shorten your presentation - it's very likely that important parts of your talk are at the end so it's very important not to lose the ending! In most fields, presentations are very, very different from the actual content of the paper - if someone wants to read the paper, they can do so at any time; but the presentation should cover why they'd want to read your paper afterwards and also explain things that might be easier to show or demonstrate rather than read about. Even if in your field tradition is to read the paper as-is, that is optional but keeping the schedule is mandatory. I would suggest to reduce some parts that describe the background/foundation/earlier results which would be known by the conference attendees but might be less known for a general reader of your paper. You should mention earlier work, but you don't need to go into detail about that even if you do so in your paper. Keep the focus of your talk on the novel parts of your paper, and also make sure cover in detail the motivation of this research and it's wider context in your field. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I'm going to go out on a limb (well, an educated limb) and state what is probably obvious to all who have been to conferences of any kind before: The term "to read a paper" is not meant to say that you should "read out aloud every word and sentence of something that you have submitted before". Rather, it is meant to say "present the material that you cover in the paper you submitted". (This is in the same sense as a "Reader" in the British university system is not actually "reading" anything out aloud to the students, but is in fact just a regular professor who is lecturing -- even though they use the word "professor" for something different.) In other words, prepare to give a lecture or presentation of some sort about the material you covered in the paper. How these presentations look like is quite different for different communities, but you definitely have the freedom to: * Use words other than those you chose in the paper (and in fact, you should: written language and oral language are quite different; for example, when we speak, we almost always use far shorter sentences, and speaking as we write makes it unnecessarily difficult for listeners to follow). * Select among the material in your paper and determine what you think is the most relevant if you have a 20 minute time limit. Most conferences today have projectors that you can use to display slides. If they do not support Powerpoint, you will almost always be on the safe side if you show up with PDF file of your presentation. Whether they have projectors, and whether they have computers you can use, or whether you have to bring your own laptop, will depend on the conference. You should ask the organizers again about this aspect. Upvotes: 2
2016/09/29	5,362	22,822	<issue_start>username_0: I am teaching an honors class for seniors (at a very good university, top 5 in my field). Most students are fantastic. They are very interested, they often surprise me with insights in class, and the class is very lively not because I am a particularly engaging lecturer but because the students love what they are learning. They thrive on painful homework sets and difficult homeworks/exams. They can't get enough of whatever I throw in their way. In all, they are a joy to teach. Unfortunately, in a class of such strong students, the weak student sticks out like a sore thumb. One student in particular is doing extremely poorly. Generally homework sets are well done since students more or less help each other out, but in quizzes and exams this student has scored failing grades (10-20% range). But because of her good performance in the homework sets, I don't think that she realizes that she is a very weak student. This in itself is fine, because not everyone can be strong in everything. But what worries me is the subconscious that manifests in her behavior. For example, she comes to my office hour (she is the only one that comes regularly; I hold three hours' office hour a week, and she is there all three hours. The others come and stay for no longer than 10-15 minutes). * She tells me that a particular problem is not doable because it was not covered in class (it was done and I point it out in her notes that she took in class). Her favorite complaint is that a problem seems unapproachable unless we know some advanced topic (that she gleaned from the textbook) that will not be covered for a few more weeks. I ask her to prove it using the advanced topic and she still cannot do it; furthermore, the problems are most definitely doable with what I have covered in class. * When I do not post the solutions immediately after the homework sets are due (because as a professor, I happen to have things other than teach this course), I expect an email in my inbox asking where the solution set is. * When she does not understand a concept, she bring her notes and says that the class was unclear and that I should explain it again to her (I receive great evaluations, and I am in particular noted for the clarity of my lectures). The thing that I am concerned about is that less than a month into the semester, she is already showing signs of blaming her problems on me. I know her very well academically, since we have been spending three hours a week going over the course material. There is no chance that she will pass this course (as she has no idea how to think for herself; her idea of academic improvement is to consistently show up to my office hour and listen to me talk), and I am worried about her creating problems for me. She is a transfer student from a community college, and no one else has any data on her as this is her first semester. Furthermore, as a woman, I often find that students tend to demand things from me, and I am seeing signs of this (asking for more office hours in a completely entitled way, etc.) It would honestly improve the quality of my life so much if I could somehow find a way to deal with her. What can I do to 1) try to get her to drop my course, and 2) cover my ass for the administrative hell she might raise, if she fails my course? As a disclaimer, I have had weak students before, and I was not this worried about them, because they acknowledged that they were weak, and they actually put work into trying to learn the course. This one, however, seems more into thinking about what things are in her way of learning that I am not doing. EDIT: Thank you for your sympathy and many insights to how I might deal with this issue. It took me a long time to read everything, but I have decided to do the following: * Take a harder line of approach with how she interacts with me in office hours; I will guide her to ask very specific questions, instead of the generic "I didn't get this part of the lecture" and if she protests, I will voice my concerns over her poor performance in quizzes. But I do think that she is not doing anything wrong by taking up all my time. I just have to be more firm in choosing which questions to answer and which not to answer. * Document her questions and my answers/approaches to her questions. * But since she has been scoring nearly perfect scores in her homework sets (although she is failing her quizzes badly), I do not think that I will suggest that she drops my course for now. The add/drop deadline passed about a week ago, so there is no alternative for her anyway, and I will suggest that she drops the course after the midterm. Or maybe some miracle will happen and she will actually do well!<issue_comment>username_1: Some short-ish advice: * First: Realize that you can't save everyone. I'm on the other end of this, teaching at the community college, which is something like an academic M.A.S.H. unit. Some people you have to realize are, most unfortunately, unsaveable ("black-flagged" in medic parlance). The weakest students are, oddly, the ones most resistant to suggestions about switching to easier courses (I tried this twice this semester to no avail: see [Dunning-Kruger effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect)). * Second: Set boundaries. It's probably an abuse of your office hours that this one student is taking up all of them. Proper usage is, as you say, 10-15 min for a particular question or issue. For a particularly weak student like this I may say, "Let's say we have 30 minutes for this." Require that she ask about a particular homework exercise that she can show prior work for. Do not just regurgitate the lecture wholesale. * Third: One student failing should not cause administrative hell. Students will fail and this is a normal part of the institution's function. If she does complain then (at least where I am) the instructor is given the benefit of the doubt. The majority of the time, a student in this situation has a record of failing other STEM courses. (If it does cause hell, then you have my enormous condolences for a degenerate administrative system.) * Fourth: It doesn't hurt to document what you efficiently can. I keep a digital gradebook via the learning management system; occasionally a student complains, my department ask for documentation, I turn that over (showing multiple documented failures), and that's the last I hear of it. After grading, I actually run all my tests through a bulk digital scanner so I keep a copy before I hand them back (in fact: I make all my tests on one sheet of paper to assist this; takes about 1 minute at the school's feed scanner). This actually hasn't been seen by anyone else in the few years I've been doing it, but it's there if I do need it. Also it's good for me to reference as documentation and examples in the future. Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I had a similar experience and I behaved like the given answer of @Daniel. The important fact that we should obey point about our teaching styles. In my class, the average student asked me to show more applied examples via the software in the class that I avoided. Also, "I didn't understand what you did in class" is a familiar expression for the average students. In the next term, I've changed my style of teaching including more examples with full details, giving more time and skip some material from the contents and provide in-time solutions for Homeworks. The result was surprising for me due to the excellent evaluation of my class which was the best among 6 years of teaching experience. Just give more time on your explanation the ideas in the class with more applied examples (including computer-aided examples, simulation, and playing real stories in the class and etc!) even if you have to sacrifice some material from the course topics. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Not a full fledged answer, but some tips: * Prepare appropriate responses to complaints. Do not defend yourself, but state your expectations. For example, for "This question is not doable." do not answer "But is doable like this..." but respond "Being able to do questions like this is part of the expectation for the course." For "I did not understand the class and I have no idea where to start." answer "Students in this class are expected to work through the material and be able to grasp the course material. The office hours are for additional questions and occasional clarification." * You may take some time to review her performance with her based on facts. Something like "Let's see if your difficulties with the questions are reflected in your other performance. On previous homework you did like... while in the quizzes the picture is very different. Note that the final grade will be determined like... and that your current performance may not be enough. To be able to pass this course you need better performance in... " For the last point it is important to not judge the person but her performance. * As for "I have no idea where to start." Use the Polya questions "What is the given data?" and "What would the answer be?" Do not answer these questions under any circumstances but stress that every student has to be able to answer these questions on his own. You may help a bit and reiterate the question several times (from my experience, most weak students need to hear the question more than two times before they even start to think about the answer) but you shall not provide the answers even if office time is over and not even if it is the second or third time the student comes to office hours with this question. * Ignore the remarks like "The lecture was unclear." and respond "What question do you have about the class." Focus solely on the student’s learning. Sometimes I would go as far and say "If you don't have questions about the class then I can't give answers." * Do not suggest an easier class but try to make it her idea. For example you could drop the line "The expectations for this course is... but that course has the expectations..." Be sure to not imply that she will make that other course for sure. Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: Daniel's answer is good, but here are some different suggestions. * Contact the student's academic advisor (maybe there is a special one for transfer students) as well as the honors college to make them aware of the issue. (It sounds like this student should not be in an honors course.) They may have suggestions and be able to talk to the student. (Also this will help in the event of your concern 2, but I suspect it's an unlikely concern.) * Ask your department head for advice. (Again this should also help protect you in the event of 2.) * Consider having a conversation with the student. I sometimes do, and it may or may not have any effect. (Based on your description of the student, I would guess no effect except maybe making her upset, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't be confronted with these issues.) I wouldn't tell directly the student to drop or that they will definitely fail, but I'd point out a couple of concerns (exam/quiz scores, perhaps a lack of expected preparation) and note that the amount of time the student spending on this course may not give them enough time to do well in their other courses, and suggest the student think about it seriously. (Ideally this would happen at the beginning of the semester.) Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: Just a few added points. 1. Make sure that this student understands how the grade will be generated, and where she currently stands. If this student isn't failing, you should put your grading scheme under a microscope and figure out why. 2. Make sure that this student has all the prerequisites for this honors class, and really belongs there. If she doesn't, recommend that she withdraw, and then start up a policy of reviewing prereqs before letting students continue in the course. If she does have the prereqs, take a good hard look at whether the other students have better backgrounds, and up your prereqs in future iterations to match what students need to excel in the course. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: 1. Is it currently mathematically impossible for her to actually pass the course? Or are you just assuming that she won't based on her current work? Either way, you do have a responsibility to let her know. If I were her and I were failing and knew there was nothing I could do, I'd be out of your hair faster than you could blink. 2. As far as your office hours, I don't think it's particularly good to change them this semester just because you have a student that's abusing them. In the future though, you may want to consider stating that your office hours are a 3 hour block of time during which a student can reserve 30 minutes. 3. It sounds to me like she's not really paying attention in class at all. Have you put her in the front of the room? 4. I've had a few students before who want to show up to office hours with the expectation that you'll just do their work for them. As far as her excuses and table-turning behavior, you should address it in a way that is very matter-of-fact without emotionally frontloading it. "Yes, we did this in class." "If I tell you that you won't learn how to do it." Do. Not. Acquiesce. If she continues to struggle, have her break it down into the smallest possible components and go from there. It's okay if they don't like you. It's not okay if they take advantage of you and you allow it. 5. I agree that you need to be documenting her time with you, what you do with her when she's there, and her progress. For your own protection. 6. Perhaps you should suggest to her that she gets a tutor that isn't you? If you have a recommendation ready to go, maybe she'll just take that and go work with a tutor. Hope that helps - just remember that at the end of the day you can be responsible for what you offer to someone's education, but you can't be responsible for their talent, work ethic, or intellect. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: I can totally sympathise with you and the stress you must be going through right now. A few suggestions that might help: 1. I would suggest that you always see this student with another person (academic, etc) present as a witness to all your efforts and your attempts at helping her. I know you document your discussions, but it might help if somebody else was present too as a witness. 2. Why not find some really good and self motivated students in your class and pair her up with them? If they can't sort out her queries, then try a post-graduate student instead. If all else fails, then she can come to you. I always find poor students often do better when working in the company of other good students. 3. As already mentioned, explain to her that you're concerned about her future performance on the course and she might want to consider changing to another course. Sounds like you're already doing a lot to help her-unfortunately, you can't change every student. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: There are two ways how to deal with it. If You want them to pass You can suggest them to look for tutoring. Suggest them to ask their schoolmates or older students for the tutoring. Your assistant or PhD. students are option too. If You are neutral about them passing your course You can show them the tests results and suggest them leaving the course. If it is in the start of the semester, there sould not be many obstacles to switch courses without punishment. --- I wasn't great student and I was lost in one part of Thermomechanic course. It consisted of one lecture and one practise per week. I asked the PhD student that conducted the practise lessons for tutorial. During this tutorial they taught me everything I needed to understand the troublesome part. They just found the way I was thinking and explained me the topic this way. I also selected one lecture, optional in my studying plan, and after first lecture I talked to the professor. I told him I had been totally lost in the lecture and that I hadn't know it was final lecture for material science. He suggested me to ask for lecture withdrawal and selecting different lectures if needed. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: I haven't seen this point mentioned yet: > > She is a transfer student from a community college, and no one else has any data on her as this is her first semester > > > When she does not understand a concept, she bring her notes and says that the class was unclear and that I should explain it again to her > > > her idea of academic improvement is to consistently show up to my office hour and listen to me talk > > > She is doing things that work well in secondary school (a.k.a. high school) - she's working hard on her homework and making maximum use of your office hour, and so on. She probably thinks she's working hard and doing well. In school, the exam questions tend to test whether you've learned exactly what was told, not more. But at some point a student has to learn that university isn't secondary school. It's much more about working on your own than about absorbing from a teacher. Not everybody knows that when they start. She doesn't realize she needs to change her way of studying. So I think you could also have a conversation on that, she's there in your office anyway. Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_10: I am going to suggest a rather different approach. Others have mentioned that she should use a tutor, I am going to suggest that *you* should be the one to go see a tutor. Specifically I am going to suggest that you have a one-on-one with the head instructor of the tutoring staff to get advice on how to deal with this student. I assume your institution has a certified tutor training program such as [CRLA](https://www.crla.net/index.php/certifications/ittpc-international-tutor-training-program) and whoever is in charge of that program is the one you want to talk to, their title may be something like Learning Specialist. We all have our fields of expertise and sometimes it is easy to forget that tutors do too. The job of a tutor is not to help students do the homework, but rather to help the students to become better at being a good student. You would be wise to get advice from such an expert. Perhaps they might even be willing to observe a session with your student in your office, or you could prearrange to have the student meet you and the tutor lead at the tutoring center if you have one on campus. Doing this may help the student to survive not only your course but many others as well. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: I just wanted to offer an alternate perspective on this thread from personal experience. I think there's been a lot of great advice on this so far and I agree 100% that if the student has an entitlement problem and is making you misersable then yes, you should take steps. That being said, your question made me feel sad because when I was in graduate school, I might have had a professor that considered me to be your weak student. It was my first semester and I was taking the class to fulfill a Masters/PhD requirement. I had come back to school after working professionally for nearly a decade, so I was rusty on a number of topics, but I had decided that if I just worked hard enough then it wouldn't make a difference. I really struggled with one of my classes in the first semester. I was there for every single class, every single office hour of the professor, and every single office hour of the TA. I spent 30+ hours a week really trying to understand the material and working to do the assignments. I went at it with the honest belief that if I just kept working at it, I would get it. In addition to the office hours, I also tried to get tutoring from the school (was not available) and asked friends for help with concepts. In exams, I scored in the 10-20% range too and it was incredibly frustrating. I spent a lot of time trying to work things out and during that time, when I would get really upset, I would wonder, "If I'm spending this much time and energy on this and no matter what I'm doing I just can't seem to get it, maybe it isn't me." Looking back, I think I can honestly say that the problem wasn't solely mine---while the professor had good teaching reviews, the number of people who dropped the class was around 50%. Additionally, I'd like to think I'm not a complete idiot and I did finish both my graduate degrees at a top ten institution in my field. The reason why I bring this up is because there were a few things you mentioned that bothered me a little. For one, you said she sits in your office hours every week for three hours. Maybe she is looking for excuses, but sitting in that many office hours is probably not her idea of a fun time. You also said she does well in the homework sets. I'm curious about how much time she's spending to do well in those. You definitely have more perspective on the situation than I do and as I said, if she's got an entitlement issue and is making your life miserable, then something needs to change. However, I just wanted to say as someone who was a struggling student in a class that had many of the same issues that you list, it was kind of painful to see you asking about what you can do to make her drop the class. It was also painful to see the question about limiting the office hours you dedicate to her. Yes, it shouldn't be a rehash of the lecture, I just wonder if the three hours of office hours are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the amount of time/effort she's putting in to really trying to get the concepts. That being said, it might also be a complete mismatch of communication styles. It may be possible to try having an in-class exercise asking students to explain the concept you just taught to the person next to them to see if she's more able to understand that way. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_12: This sounds like she need a little more professional help than could be given by a professor. Universities sometimes haves offices where there is free counseling available for student-related issues, such as dealing with anxiety (which may be the reason of the discrepancy between her test and homework grades) and the difficulties in getting more self-dependent. You may have to sweeten this suggestion to her by a (truthful as I suppose): Your homework grades are excellent, but you require a lot of help to do it; and in the tests you seem to have some problems; maybe you plainly are nervous or want to do everything perfect. Currently I don't see that you will pass the course, but make sure you don't fail again for the wrong reasons. Upvotes: 2
2016/09/29	727	3,077	<issue_start>username_0: Recently, in my research lab we were able to achieve a performance of X % for some problem. This X is far better than the performance Y which was achieved by some other research group for the exact problem, very recently (two months ago). Yes, we can always compare X and Y and publish the paper alone. But, I was thinking that it is better to collaborate with that research group and share with them the results of our approach. * Should my research group collaborate with them? * Is this a proper way of collaboration? * Should they feel that our group is weaker than they are and that this is why we are trying to collaborate (a feeling of insecurity)? Could I get some suggestions on this?<issue_comment>username_1: First, it not just to say "Let's us collaborate with them!" That's not how collaborations start in the first place. To get a collaboration started you need several prerequisites: Genuine interest in the same problems (seems to be given here), similar knowledge and similar goals but also complementing expertise, being open for new ideas from the other side, and most important: Genuine interest in a collaboration in the first place. Based on the above, I would never approach somebody (or some group) with the question "can we collaborate on this" but always start differently. The start may be different in different cases, it can, e.g., be just informal discussion with an individual without any particular goals besides getting to know each other, it could be a meeting of the workgroups with the purpose of exchanging ideas or it could be an invitation of somebody to give a talk. To see if this may lead to a collaboration is the second step… > > Should my research group collaborate with them? > > > I can't answer it, and probably nobody here can. If you think that a collaboration can be beneficial, than go ahead and contact them. > > Is this a proper way of collaboration? > > > I don't see an answer here either, since I do not see any collaboration yet. I can say that working on the same problems may be a basis for a collaboration. What would also be helpful, would be if your groups attack the same problem with different methods so that combining expertise may be helpful. > > Should they feel that our group is weaker than they are and that this is why we are trying to collaborate (a feeling of insecurity)? > > > I don't think that anybody will jump to this conclusion just because you asked for collaboration. I would also not jump to this conclusion based just on results for one single project (but you told that your results are even better than their results…). Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: A collaboration is useful if: 1. you work on a very related or the same problem and 2. you can offer them expertise or tools that they otherwise wouldn't have and they can offer you expertise or tools that you otherwise wouldn't have. If you can answer yes to both questions, then you should evaluate whether you can build up trust if you do not know them yet. Upvotes: 1
2016/09/29	516	2,230	<issue_start>username_0: I am a physics student and I am presently writing my Master thesis. My work has been a theoretical/numerical analysis of data produced by a simulation written by my advisor. I would like to write explicitly somewhere that I wrote all the programs for the data analysis and performed the analysis itself, but the simulation code has been written by my advisor. Where/how should I include this remark? The thesis is structured as follows: * Contents * Introduction * Methods * Results * Discussion and Conclusions * Appendices * Acknowledgements * Bibliography<issue_comment>username_1: Unless otherwise stated, it is reasonable to expect the reader to assume that everything discussed in your thesis is your own work. Therefore I do not see a need to explicitly state your own involvement in data analysis. Concerning your supervisor's code, there are a few options. * One thing to consider is whether the code has been published, or has previously been used in other published work. If this is the case then you should cite the publication(s) in the text. * Is the code available online? If so, I would likely provide a footnote providing the url. You could mention in the footnote that your supervisor is the author, but perhaps the code already contains a reference to its author. * If the answer to the previous two questions is no, then I would likely mention in the acknowledgements that the supervisor had authored the code. A caveat In some cases there's a distinction between writing code and creating the process that the code performs. For example, imagine I write a piece of code that performs a one sample t-test. I am the author of the code, but I'm not the creator of the t-test. I'm assuming that if your supervisor's code is implementing someone else's ideas then that person is being appropriately credited as well. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Usually that is included in the Preface, which comes in the beginning of the thesis. Some call it 'Declaration of Authorship' instead of 'Preface'. See for example [these guidelines](https://www.grad.ubc.ca/current-students/dissertation-thesis-preparation/structure-theses-dissertations). Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
2016/09/29	1,075	4,750	<issue_start>username_0: My advisor told me to write a blog post, so I wrote a draft of it. He didn't like it, so he told me to write another draft. He didn't like that one either, so he wrote a third draft himself, which contained none of the words from the previous two drafts. He listed me as the sole author of the blog post and has been going around telling everyone I wrote it, even though he wrote the entire thing. He has also done this with actual research papers (he listed me as the first author even though he wrote the whole thing -- I did make all the figures though). Is this normal advisor behavior? It makes me feel a bit weird because I didn't actually write it.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes this happens occasionally and this is a sign of a supervisor that is involved with your PhD. This is good for you. The point of it is for you to read the texts and learn from the differences between your drafts and his/hers corrections/final text. This is a great opportunity for you to learn how to improve your scientific writing skills. Take advantage of this to improve. If this continues while you write decent texts (you might think you do but you might not, don't worry its common), then this might be signs of a controlling supervisor that wants the publication with his/hers name exactly as he wants it. This causes irritation some time. But again take advantage and learn! Sure you can gain a lot by comparing your drafts with the final text. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: For papers, this division of labor is a little unusual, but not outside the realm of normal practice. First author position is normally given to the person who is the lead on the project, not necessarily the person who actually contributed the most words to the manuscript. PIs often have a lot of experience with writing papers -- in particular, framing the narrative of a particular study so that the most innovative/interesting features of the work are highlighted, and so that the paper gets noticed by the intended audience. Also, sometimes another author (e.g., second author) will take the lead in writing up work that, for example, another student was close to finishing but did not complete before graduation. Not using any of your words is a more extreme position, and is definitely on the "micromanaging" end of the spectrum, but I don't think it's unheard of. As far as blog posts go, though, while I don't have a lot of personal experience in this area, a "ghost-writing" arrangement feels strange to me. I would not feel comfortable listing a blog post I didn't write on my CV, for instance. I think the difference is that generally, in blogging -- in contrast to journal articles -- the text is the whole point. I can maybe see this happening if the blog post was a description of a side project I performed and for which I made figures or illustrations -- but even then I'd expect joint credit in the byline, not sole credit. I guess it's possible there are different conventions in your field, though. One larger point that concerns me is that instead of really teaching you to write for a research audience, your advisor is just taking the wheel. That's an important skill to learn in grad school in and of itself. If your advisor isn't willing to take the time to teach you this skill, I would try to find an additional mentor who can. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Probably the conclusion that you don't deserve credit is not totally justified. I am pretty sure that the final result contains at least some words from your drafts. On a more serious side, it may well be that professor could never have written the final result without having read your drafts. You know, the first sentence is the hardest, and professors also know how to procrastinate. But they usually often know ways around it! Having somebody else to start the writing process, and giving this guy a deadline (and you know he will make the deadline) and then starting from there is one great way to get started on time. Actually, in previous days my professor asked me quite often to draft something for him (emails, abstracts, reports,…), but when he got my draft and started writing himself, most of my draft disappeared as well. In fact he even told me in advance, that this will happen, but having some draft helped him to get going. Writing paper together with an advanced researcher often feels the same. I echo the other answers, that you can learn a lot from carefully studying the edits. And remember that writing the words in one thing, but getting results, sharpening formulations (not sentences) and structuring text is another thing. So just accept that he thinks, that you deserve first-authorship and be happy. Upvotes: 4
2016/09/29	2,413	10,583	<issue_start>username_0: I am a doctorate student in mathematics, having returned to finish my Ph.D after a long absence. Four years after my initial departure, I returned after gaining maturity in the working world and rekindling a personal interest in higher-level math, and to become competitive for work nearer to home. Since I was restarting with a long-tarnished reputation, but since my advisor was very forgiving and gracious, I was allowed to conditionally resume my degree under extremely stringent conditions, which I met - I passed tough qualifiers and I completed my coursework in a short frame of time on my own dime while maintaining full-time work. Following completing my qual and degree program requirements, I began to focus strongly on my research in order to complete the dissertation. I recently passed my preliminary oral exam for my dissertation in May, spent the first half of the summer reviewing additional papers for my writing, and commenced writing my dissertation formally in July with hopes on a December graduation. The trouble began anew when my advisor retired suddenly in August. Although I had been updating him on my progress and asking him for advice while writing, finding time to meet with him became problematic, as he started to become absent and increasingly difficult to reach and schedule with. However, his "hands off" approach had me still writing, and I had a substantial amount of work to review and share with him, and he agreed to meet with me yesterday. That meeting yesterday was when disaster happened. I noticed that he had become very temperamental; he was highly critical of what little he let me present to him, and overtly stated that he was not going to waste his time and read what I had written. The solutions that I was able to present to him were dismissed out of hand without any further explanation, and his first statement was to tell me to trash everything I had written and start from scratch (even though he didn't read it or hear anything but a small portion of it). As the (heated) four hour conversation progressed, he jumped from clear and reasonable critique to complete incoherency, which I found unusual and hard to incorporate moving forward. When the conversation concluded, I realized that he had in mind a different dissertation problem for me to solve, one that wasn't even covered in my preliminary exam in May. He stated that I had until the end of the weekend to clean up my writing, make it presentable, and incorporate the new problem he presented, adding three extra tasks to boot (one of which he had never required me to research before). I am to send the writing to my committee at the end of the weekend and have them evaluate its status. I mentioned that while my work has substance and progress, it was not complete and organized (that's why I visited him in person), and that my final oral exam was supposed to be the point of my committee's evaluation, not when the writing is still in media res. Without his confidence, my committee will not grant scheduling my final oral, and will likely not take the time to read what I send until they hear the word from my advisor anyway. He didn't care. In short, this unexpected, sudden, and strange conflict with my advisor has suddenly put my graduation in heavy jeopardy with respect to the stringent deadlines imposed by the Grad College for December graduation (due to my long absence), has put new my job at risk (since obtaining a Ph.D was part of the hiring requirements for contract renewal next year), invalidates three years of hard work to rebuild my formerly tarnished status after my long absence, wastes the tens of thousands of dollars I paid out of pocket to do this, and permanently ends my twenty-year dream of obtaining a Ph.D. Thank you for listening and for offering whatever advice you offer. I am at the end of my rope and feel powerless, worthless, and hopeless.<issue_comment>username_1: The most promising strategy is to work with at least one committee member other than your advisor. The first choice may be the one that is a potential advisor, but you really need someone who is both approachable and good at academic politics. Anyone like that is going to be very busy, and you need most of the meeting to be about them advising you and thinking of ways to improve the situation. You must strip your wall of text down to a few key points: * You are on a tight academic deadline, because credits will disappear if you do not graduate this year, and you will not be able to finish your PhD if you cannot meet the deadline. * Finishing the PhD is personally and financially important to you. * You proceeded with the research presented at your preliminary oral exam, which you thought had been approved. * You have been having trouble getting feedback from your advisor. * At your recent meeting, you had trouble communicating with him, and he seemed to be requiring a change in research line that would make completing the PhD impossible. Two topics to not discuss: Your prior performance, and the advisor's personal issues. The professors should be dealing with the person you are now. What matters is your current difficulty with your advisor, not the reasons behind it. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: My first instinct would be to go to a trusted third party who is responsible for providing guidance or even mediating disputes between students and their advisors. If no such person exists, then try to find one. In my department the director of the graduate program also serves as a confidential and neutral third party to whom advisors and students can approach about exactly these kinds of issues. He is sworn to confidentiality (will not inform your advisor of the discussion) unless you specifically request that he mediate between you. If your department has no such designated person then you could try requesting a meeting with a reasonable proxy such as the chair or graduate program director. If none of these people are willing or able to serve in this role, it might be worthwhile to go to the dean of graduate studies, but this would be an option of last resort, as it would look bad for you, your advisor, your chair, and your department. Going outside of your advisor to another trusted committee member could be a solution, be be warned that you do not want your committee to feel like they have to pick sides between you and your advisor. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I am sorry to hear that you are feeling stressed. As a fellow math PhD, let me try to say a few things that will put your mind somewhat at ease. My advisor (who is the most considerate, caring, and brilliant person that I could have hoped for) was also very hands-off, and when I had solved my first problem and excitedly went to him to try to get him to understand the main idea behind the proof, he did not understand a word of what I was saying. I graduated from something like a top 5 private university in math, so we're talking about a brilliant mathematician here. He sent me off, telling me that I needed to write up everything before he could check whether I have done everything correctly (he might also have said that he did not want to waste time on what little I had written). The next week, I actually wrote out everything in a more coherent way, and he spent maybe an hour criticizing the first few pages, then sent me off again, telling me to make all the corrections that he suggested, then to apply the same standards to the rest of the paper. Looking back, even the slightest change of a single word can make a notation incoherent. Now that I have matured considerably from the graduate student that I was, I am no longer sure if my advisor actually didn't understand, or if he sent me away because it was an educational opportunity. Finally, a few weeks later, after painstakingly fixing everything so that my advisor couldn't criticize me on minor points, I just sent it to him via email. A few weeks later, he sent me a corrected copy back and told me that the solution was nice and that it was a lot more subtle than what he had in mind! What your advisor is doing reminds me a lot of what my advisor did to me. If he gave you a specific deadline and he is willing to meet with you again, it is most likely an issue on your exposition (and don't feel bad; most graduate students really need to work on how to clearly write things). And believe me, if you are staring at a poorly written piece of mathematics for hours, you really get cranky. And the fact that he gave you a very short amount of time to incorporate a new problem into your thesis makes me suspect that the problem is well within your reaches. No reasonable advisor will demand that a student solve a completely new problem in a week! So I think that your first course of action should be to calm down, and carefully evaluate what you have written. Just do your best in cleaning up everything and presenting your advisor with a new copy. Think about the new problem that your advisor suggested as well, and see if it is easily solvable with what you know already. Once you have calmed down, I would send an email to your advisor, asking if he thinks that you can still graduate by December, and whether if there is anything that you can do to make that happen. Just calmly and politely lay out your concerns in an email, and suggest that you could meet to talk about it. That is step one. You need to make sure that your advisor isn't just saying these things so that you can learn something from these interactions. If your advisor continues to be difficult, I would talk to the chair of graduate studies in your department. Especially because your advisor has retired, I would think that you need an active advisor (even if it's just on paper) in the department, so it should be relatively easy to find someone who is willing to proofread your thesis and help you graduate. Finally, I just want to add that you want to try to maintain a good relationship with your advisor regardless, because your advisor's letter counts the most when you look for academic positions. You did not say whether you want an academic position, but it is something to keep in mind. Because we don't have a lab culture, I do think that most mathematicians are reasonable when it comes to dealing with graduate students, so instead of reacting quickly against the hurtful comments, try to see if your advisor had a point (even though it seems that at the best scenario, he conveyed that badly). Upvotes: 2
2016/09/30	851	3,102	<issue_start>username_0: In Google Scholar, I want to create a compound alert, which returns papers that are relevant to two concepts. Concept 1 is all about a branch of machine learning, which can be triggered by the words "deep learning" and "neural network". Concept 2 is all about a branch of robotics, which can be triggered by the words "navigation" and "localisation". Furthermore, the article must definitely include the word "robot". How should I express this as a single alert? I know that an AND is implicit, such that: ``` "navigation" "localisation" ``` will only return articles which contain both those words. I also know that an OR can be define, for example: ``` "navigation" OR "localisation" ``` will return articles which have either of these words. But in my case, it is more complex. I basically want to say: ``` ("deep learning" OR "neural network") AND ("navigation" OR "localisation") AND "robot" ``` These brackets are just to illustrate what I want to achieve, but I'm sure that they're not interpreted in this way by Google Scholar. Any ideas? Thanks! --- Edit: My current solution is to just have four separate alerts: ``` "deep learning" AND "navigation" AND "robot" "deep learning" AND "localisation" AND "robot" "neural network" AND "navigation" AND "robot" "neural network" AND "localisation" AND "robot" ``` However, most of these papers are triggered by three or four of the conditions, and it is very frustrating getting several emails for each one! So I am hoping that there is a way to express this all with a single alert.<issue_comment>username_1: If you have an academic access, I recommend [Scopus](https://www.scopus.com/). It will let you do searches as complicated as you want, sorts results by new (default, so you might not even need an alert) and lets you set up alerts or an RSS feed. Its search feature is much more advanced and thorough than google scholar's! It has two main downsides: you need an academic access, and downloading pdfs is more cumbersome than with google scholar. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I think what you're looking for is a [Google Scholar Alert](https://scholar.google.bg/scholar_alerts?hl=en&view_op=create_alert_options) for > > +"robot" +("deep learning" OR "neural network") +("navigation" OR "localisation") > > > [Google search operators](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433?hl=en) include "OR", "-" and "+", and permit brackets, but do not use "AND". Fun fact: The order of the terms will change the order of results (and content of previews). That matters if the hits exceed the number permitted by your alert. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Run the following search: <https://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_ylo=2016&q=%22deep+learning%22+OR+%22neural+network%22+AND+%22navigation%22+OR+%22localisation%22++AND+%22robot%22> I tuned it to include results only since 2016, and specifically scholarly articles. [Google advanced search](https://www.google.com/advanced_search) also lets you play around with a fair few options. Upvotes: 1
2016/09/30	923	3,890	<issue_start>username_0: I'm a student of a technical college. My MSc. final project supervisor liked my work, so he hired me for his company. Where I live, it's actually quite common (my bachelor thesis professor also hired me for a part time job, but that was after I've finished my bachelor's degree). The thing is, that the research I'll be doing for the thesis is closely related to my work in the company: basically what I do in the company is just application of the research I do for my thesis. Is it ethically acceptable to claim hours I've spent on doing the research and experiments for my thesis and get paid for the time spent this way? I think my supervisor is okay with that and he would pay me without blinking an eye, but how about the university? Is it ethical? And if not, where do I draw the line between my paid job and my thesis work if they are so closely related?<issue_comment>username_1: I think it's fine to get paid by the university for doing your research. No one's going to fault you for your work having real world applications. I know many students who have summer jobs that overlap with their research interests and no one blinks an eye when they finish up their research and then go to work for companies that benefit from it. Ideally, you'd probably want to get a job for a company that does work in your area. That being said, it's probably unethical to double-dip and get paid for the same work twice. Depending upon your school's policies, you also might have to list the company as a conflict of interest on some internal document. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I approve your initiative to request more information on this subject, however I am not sure you will be able to find your answer here. I suspect this question is very dependent on your College, field, research, country, ... And I would need a clarification, how much application is "application". > > basically what I do in the company is just application of the research I do for my thesis. > > > If I think of organic chemistry, one can develop a new catalyst, for example while working at the University, and then use the same catalyst at a company to create a new range of products. There won't be any problem in this scenario if you haven't signed any confidentiality clauses with the university. Since this would be only the application of the knowledge you gain from your research. Usually, when you are hired for a job, you are hired on your knowledge about something. It can get quite complicated though if you find something when you are working "at the company" and you would like to use it in your thesis. To be honest, it is for avoiding such dilemma that most PhD program where you are paid require you to not work anywhere else. If you have a contract (and you probably have) if you are doing research (even if you are not paid), read it again and see if there is any mention of this kind of situations. If you don't have any or if there isn't any mention of this, have a look at the policies of your lab/institute/program or try to figure out who is in charge of the legal issue of your College; if such a person doesn't exist (very unlikely) the head/dean of the College should probably gives you the authorisation. As you are in a technical College, it would be funny that you are the first one with this situtation. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: That is totally fine, many people do a master thesis in an official cooperation with a company. University hasn't hired you for your studies, and the diploma is not your "payment". Who might be in trouble is your professor and his company, if he hasn't cleared this with the university officials. Because he has a contract with the university, and they have some rights to your results, because they provided the lab, provided your professor, etc. Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
2016/09/30	467	1,985	<issue_start>username_0: I have submitted a paper. The reviewers might agree to accept its publication, but they have asked that I revise it. I have not yet submitted the revision to them. What can I say about the paper ? Should I say that the paper is under revision or under review, or something else ?<issue_comment>username_1: A. Scientist. My Brilliant, Albeit Slightly Flawed Work. Journal of Sciencing. (in revision) Is the standard way I note these on my CV, when I feel like doing so. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Be as honest as possible. 1) If the paper has been accepted pending revisions, then say this. 2) If the paper has not been accepted, and all you're doing is responding to reviewer's comments, then it has not been accepted. I would put it on my CV as "in submission" without saying where it has been submitted. Your specific field might have different norms about this. As a practical matter, you don't want to misrepresent yourself to potential employers. You especially don't want to create a situation where they think you've accomplished something when you really haven't, and it comes out later that there was a misunderstanding. That's a real good way to kill your career before it starts. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I would use some of the following: 1. submitted 2. under review 3. submitted to … and do not stress that there is already a revision going on. Even revised papers may get rejected, so being in revision is no guarantee to get the paper published. I also would not state the journal to which the paper is submitted to because I do not see how this says anything about the quality of the paper. If you think, that the paper is good and interesting for whoever reads the CV, make it available as a preprint and provide a link. I myself have a section "Preprints" in my CV where I list submitted but not published papers with links to the arXiv and add the line "submitted, month, year". Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
2016/10/01	1,235	5,652	<issue_start>username_0: I'm an undergraduate who recently was involved in writing a paper where I did most, if not all, of the work writing the manuscript. The PhD student basically "dumped" his project into my lap after a year of sitting on the results, and asked me to write it. I wasn't really involved in the project, except for a few small things in the beginning. I'm currently listed as third author on the paper; the second author is completely out of the picture, and has not contributed at all to the paper (the PhD student has at least provided some edits). Should I argue that because I wrote the paper, despite not doing all of the research that the second author did, that I should be listed as second author? As the deadline grew nearer, I found myself picking up more and more of the responsibility of the paper. I was initially happy to be third author, but when I found myself writing the entire paper, I think that my contributions are a lot greater than I had initially anticipated. However, I've never been involved in writing a paper before, so I don't know what the etiquette is for these types of scenarios. Should the second author be listed on the paper at all, or should we swap places in authorship? I don't think that the second author will even read the paper before it's published anyways. Should I talk to the PhD student that I think I should get more recognition for the work I've done on this paper, because I feel like I honestly should be first author considering that if I didn't write this paper, it never would have been written, or should I just be happy where I am? I'm not really sure what to do! Any advice would be immensely helpful.<issue_comment>username_1: Unfortunately, the time to decide these kinds of issues is well in advance of publication, and preferably in advance of doing the work and writing the paper! The answer to your question is "it depends". Authorship on academic papers isn't so much about writing text, but about scholarship. Writing text is a part of that, but scholarship is much bigger than simply writing up results. In the guidelines I link below, scholarship is defined as: Scholarship: Contributes significantly to the conception, design, execution, and/or analysis and interpretation of data. If your primary contribution is mainly writing the paper, then I would tend to think that you would not be the primary author. If you have substantial contributions above and beyond writing the text of the paper, for example if you were primarily responsible for designing the investigation, or primarily responsible executing the investigation, these put you on much stronger ground to claim primary authorship. Beyond that, there are special considerations for lead authorship. Though all authors are responsible for verifying the accuracy and integrity of the work, the lead author is the person who is primarily responsible for this. They are the one responsible for obtaining publication approval from all co-authors for publication, and then responsible for certifying the accuracy and integrity to the publisher / journal / conference / etc. Practically, the lead author is the corresponding author who interacts with journal / conference editors and reviewers. They are also typically the person who is responsible for defending the work publicly if it is to be presented at a conference. The person primarily responsible for conducting investigations and experiments is typically the lead author for these reasons. They are the person who is most able to certify the accuracy and integrity of the work. They're also the person most familiar with the actual investigation that is being written up, and most able to discuss the details. I have a few practical suggestions for you: 1) Most schools have specific authorship guidelines that can help with these kinds of decisions, for example: <http://research.wustl.edu/PoliciesGuidelines/Pages/AuthorshipPolicy.aspx> 2) Relevant publishers, professional organizations, journals, conferences, etc. may have their own authorship policies. Again, if your primary contribution has been writing the paper, that would not seem to indicate to me that you would be the lead author. Unfortunately, in your situation, it sounds like this graduate student has been somewhat exploitative. It makes sense to involve undergraduates in the writing process for many reasons, but it's unreasonable for you to write the entire thing. The primary scholar on a project (the lead author) should be the one responsible for drafting most of the text. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I happened to stumble over this post only now, so I'm late to the party, but let me add an important point. I fully agree with @username_1's comment "the time to decide these kinds of issues is well in advance of publication, and preferably in advance of doing the work and writing the paper!" and @<NAME>'s point that these things sometimes change anyway. But one thing you didn't say is whether this paper is for a conference (as is common in, say, CS) or directly to a journal (as is common in many other fields). If going to a conference, you also have to decide early who will present the work. I ran into an issue once or twice when that question proved contentious later on. As for the case here, I agree that it is really weird for the person who did the technical work to drop it on the questioner essentially to ghost-write. IMHO writing the paper is at least as important as doing the work and the author should be first or second in the list -- perhaps by alphabetical order. Upvotes: 0
2016/10/01	1,081	4,958	<issue_start>username_0: What are advantages and drawbacks of starting a computer science PhD funded both by the university and a company, compared to a PhD fully funded by the university? I can provide more details about the context pointing out some hypotheses that I have done so far. A company: * will provide proprietary data; * will stimulate about solutions for current issues; * will impose constraints on PhD topic (it could be slightly modified, but no more); * will impose some constraints about publications, e.g. they would delay publications until new outcomes are started in the company production line. On the other hand, without a company: * no proprietary data; * less stimulating scenario compared to issues coming from a real scenario (?); * free management of PhD topic (you could modify significantly during the 3-year research); * no problem about publications; * more "theoretical" research. I will appreciate any experiences, especially computer science area.<issue_comment>username_1: Unfortunately, the time to decide these kinds of issues is well in advance of publication, and preferably in advance of doing the work and writing the paper! The answer to your question is "it depends". Authorship on academic papers isn't so much about writing text, but about scholarship. Writing text is a part of that, but scholarship is much bigger than simply writing up results. In the guidelines I link below, scholarship is defined as: Scholarship: Contributes significantly to the conception, design, execution, and/or analysis and interpretation of data. If your primary contribution is mainly writing the paper, then I would tend to think that you would not be the primary author. If you have substantial contributions above and beyond writing the text of the paper, for example if you were primarily responsible for designing the investigation, or primarily responsible executing the investigation, these put you on much stronger ground to claim primary authorship. Beyond that, there are special considerations for lead authorship. Though all authors are responsible for verifying the accuracy and integrity of the work, the lead author is the person who is primarily responsible for this. They are the one responsible for obtaining publication approval from all co-authors for publication, and then responsible for certifying the accuracy and integrity to the publisher / journal / conference / etc. Practically, the lead author is the corresponding author who interacts with journal / conference editors and reviewers. They are also typically the person who is responsible for defending the work publicly if it is to be presented at a conference. The person primarily responsible for conducting investigations and experiments is typically the lead author for these reasons. They are the person who is most able to certify the accuracy and integrity of the work. They're also the person most familiar with the actual investigation that is being written up, and most able to discuss the details. I have a few practical suggestions for you: 1) Most schools have specific authorship guidelines that can help with these kinds of decisions, for example: <http://research.wustl.edu/PoliciesGuidelines/Pages/AuthorshipPolicy.aspx> 2) Relevant publishers, professional organizations, journals, conferences, etc. may have their own authorship policies. Again, if your primary contribution has been writing the paper, that would not seem to indicate to me that you would be the lead author. Unfortunately, in your situation, it sounds like this graduate student has been somewhat exploitative. It makes sense to involve undergraduates in the writing process for many reasons, but it's unreasonable for you to write the entire thing. The primary scholar on a project (the lead author) should be the one responsible for drafting most of the text. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I happened to stumble over this post only now, so I'm late to the party, but let me add an important point. I fully agree with @username_1's comment "the time to decide these kinds of issues is well in advance of publication, and preferably in advance of doing the work and writing the paper!" and @<NAME>'s point that these things sometimes change anyway. But one thing you didn't say is whether this paper is for a conference (as is common in, say, CS) or directly to a journal (as is common in many other fields). If going to a conference, you also have to decide early who will present the work. I ran into an issue once or twice when that question proved contentious later on. As for the case here, I agree that it is really weird for the person who did the technical work to drop it on the questioner essentially to ghost-write. IMHO writing the paper is at least as important as doing the work and the author should be first or second in the list -- perhaps by alphabetical order. Upvotes: 0
2016/10/01	1,423	5,665	<issue_start>username_0: Is there any research/study/survey/... that tried to estimate how much it would cost to remove paper pay-walls so that all existing research papers are made publicly available free of charge? E.g. [France paid Elsevier 172 million EUR](http://rue89.nouvelobs.com/2014/11/10/france-prefere-payer-deux-fois-les-articles-chercheurs-255964) ([mirror](https://web.archive.org/web/20170521161119/http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/rue89/rue89-nos-vies-connectees/20141110.RUE6560/la-france-prefere-payer-deux-fois-pour-les-articles-de-ses-chercheurs.html)) so that 476 universities and medical center can have legal access to 2000 journals for five years. I wonder how much it would cost to buy the access to all papers so that anyone can access then.<issue_comment>username_1: Zero. The government of the nation you live in can pass a bill that mandates that all (existing and future) published research papers are made publicly available and redistributable. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I think that your example does not reflect the question. I didn't read the [entire contract](http://bo.rue89.nouvelobs.com/sites/news/files/assets/document/2014/11/marche_elsevier.pdf) but it seems to me that France has just paid in advance the publisher's fees for five years for all the universities. Probably they got a large discount, with respect to what they would have had to pay without such a large contract, but the order of magnitude is roughly the same. For instance, in Italy all the university libraries are public, which means that any citizen can enter and read books and journals. Sometimes ago, I looked at the annual budgets of a few university libraries, and depending on the size of the university they ranged from a few hundred thousand euros to several million euros. Unfortunately there was no information on the expense breakdown between journals, books and databases, but I think it's reasonable to consider around 50 k€ for a major, possibly greedy, publisher (years ago I heard that IEEE journals where around 30 k€). Hence, if you consider 50 k€ for roughly 500 universities and centers for five years you obtain 125 M€, which is of the order of magnitude of what France has paid. Therefore, according to your example, > > How much would it cost to remove pay-walls? > > > It costs as much as the total fees. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It's an interesting thought. Presumably, if you looked at the market capitalisation of some of the major commercial journal publishers, you could get a sense of how much it would cost to purchase both ownership of the intellectual property in such articles, journals, infrastructure and many other things. I did a quick google and it suggested that the market capitalisation of Elsevier (for example <http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/REL:LN>) was 35 billion British Pounds (although I'm no expert in reading this stuff, and there seems like there is a lot of aggregation of companies into larger structures). My main point is that there is presumably a market value associated with the vast majority of the commercial publishing literature. It would be interesting to get an estimate of what this is (e.g., is it a half trillion US dollars or perhaps its much less, I'm not sure). The main point is that it would be theoretically possible for governments to buy such companies or alternatively acquire the rights at commercial rates. It would however be very expensive. Alternatively, governments could change intellectual property law in relation to scientific journals or some category of material. There are a variety of ways that this could be done. A simple option would just be to mandate that articles in scientific journals need to be made accessible on a suitable repository (e.g., like pubmed) perhaps after some embargo period. In general, a lot of this raises a number of broader legal issues. For example, it may be considered poor legal precedent to change the law after the fact. I.e., journals invested in publications on the assumption that their intellectual property would be protected and these rights are then unilaterally taken away by government. In some legal contexts, this may give rise to the publishers having rights for financial compensation. The alternative strategy is to focus more on ways going forward that the published literature can be more accessible to the general public. For example, this can be seen in various conditions placed on grants that the publications need to be open. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: > > Is there any research/study/survey/... that tried to estimate how much it would cost to remove paper pay-walls so that all existing research papers are made publicly available free of charge? > > > I am not aware of any such study. The cost however, could be pretty minimal if the governments of a couple of key countries (e.g., US, UK, Germany, etc) decided to make it happen. If laws were passed to outlaw restrictive licenses on research publications, this would effectively remove pay walls. A few years back, the NIH mandated that all publications resulting from NIH funded work be made freely available after an embargo period. While the NIH is still willing to provide funding for publication and open access fees, if they stopped, people would be forced to publish in free (both as in beer and as in freedom) places. Similarly, there is discussion that in the future in the UK the REF will only count open access publications. Again the research councils provide funding for publication and open access fees, but if they stopped, people would publish in free places. Upvotes: 2
2016/10/01	797	3,547	<issue_start>username_0: This comes following my other question. When writing a research plan/statement when applying for an assistant professor position, how should be the document structure? I have to explain a few (e.g., 3- 5) topics for my future research. Should these be general topics or as specific as a research proposal? Should I prove that I have a strong background in these fields or it is enough that the ideas are novel and attractive? Should I include technical data/figures or the purpose is just the general description? Should I explain expected outcome as we do in a proposal?<issue_comment>username_1: With your research plan, you need to convince a recruitment committee that you have a viable plan from which to launch your career. Your plan will need to show the committee * that it is scientifically sound * that you have the skill set to carry it out (or know how you will acquire it) * that you understand what resources you need to carry it out * that you understand your funding streams * that there is something that gives you competitive advantage among the dozens of other people in the field vying for money from the same pool as you. The weight of each of these considerations will be a function of your complete package. So, the generic answer to all of your questions is "do what you need to do to accomplish the list above" I suggest you work on your plan and carefully review it with some mentors. As to the level of specificity, you shouldn't have to lay out complete experimental protocols, but you should be prepared to discuss each proposed line of experiments at that level. In your statement, though, it would be quite useful to have specific hypotheses for each research path. You should also be prepared to prioritize. When asked about how you would spend the next five years, you should know the answer, and pretty specifically. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: These are really broad questions, hence difficult to answer in a helpful way. When writing a research plan/statement when applying for an assistant professor position, how should be the document structured? If the application guidance gives no details, it's entirely up to you to decide on that. Have you approached the contacts where you are applying to ask them directly? If that matters to you that much, you should not mind asking for additional details. Should these be general topics or as specific as a research proposal? Again, it's entirely up to you to decide on that. Think also in terms of disciplinary habits. Are proposals in your discipline rather generic or thorough? Should I prove that I have a strong background in these fields or it is enough that the ideas are novel and attractive? Think if you were in a position to select applicants: what would you prefer? Probably a combination of both. If someone has little experience in a field, probability to come up with novel and attractive is smaller, I would think, don't you? Should I include technical data/figures or the purpose is just the general description? If you feel like technical data is needed and useful to make your line of argument and your whole proposal stronger and more compelling in order to be selected, why not go for it? Should I explain expected outcome as we do in a proposal? If you are used to explain expected research outcomes in your field of expertise, why do any different this time? Recruiting colleagues are bound to appreciate a clear and long-sighted research proposal and vision. Upvotes: 1
2016/10/01	746	2,959	<issue_start>username_0: The university theses repository is not indexed in the main scientific literature search engines. This issue makes finding a thesis difficult, and it's a problem especially because after PhD many are looking for a postdoc position. Is it a good idea to upload a biology related PhD thesis on Biorxiv.org? Does Biorxiv.org allow it? Is is legal on the copyright side? Are there any drawbacks?<issue_comment>username_1: If there are no legal restrictions imposed on it by the university, it does seem to be a good alternative for waiting for possible years to get research published. Nature (<http://www.nature.com/news/biologists-urged-to-hug-a-preprint-1.19384>) seems to validate it by suggesting that biology is lagging behind other sciences, and is likely to catch up. To address the other point: "The issue of whether a preprint could jeopardize the chances of a manuscript subsequently appearing in a peer-reviewed journal is also being resolved, says Inglis. Since bioRxiv launched, several journal publishers have changed their policies to expressly allow the publication of research previously posted to preprint servers." Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: This is not allowed on bioArxiv, consider using Arxiv instead: <https://www.biorxiv.org/about/FAQ> > > bioRxiv does not permit the posting of news, product advertisements, > teaching materials, policy statements, theses, dissertations, student > projects, recipes and simple protocols. > > > Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: My advice would be to submit it to Proquest (associated with University of Michigan). This is the norm in the US. They maintain a repository of most US theses on microfiche and electronically. There is a nominal charge for independent researchers to get copies of your thesis (you will get very small royalties over time). This database is well abstracted by Google Scholar, Science Citation Index, Chem Abstracts, etc. Can't recall, but there may be a small charge to submit the dissertation and/or a copyright form to fill out. It is the norm for chapters in theses to be modified slightly and converted into regular journal articles. The Proquest thesis is not considered prior publication by any of the journals/societies I have worked with (Nature, Science, ACS, APS, IEEE, etc.) Just cite the dissertation. (Has tangential benefit of some self-citation...woot!) In fact, I encourage you to convert as much of the thesis into "real articles" because (even though the thesis shows up in Google Scholar) doctoral theses tend to be much less cited/read than "real articles in real journals". I'm not sure about book publication (many humanities theses are turned into real books by trade presses). So just check on that if you want it before going with the Proquest microfiche. If you just plan to get your own custom-bound volumes, for self/university library, etc., that should be fine...nobody will blink. Upvotes: 1
2016/10/01	1,672	6,895	<issue_start>username_0: I have been working in academic career in several years. I have noticed that almost all professors spend most of their time to write proposals? And to my surprise, they are not working on research papers. This is reflected by the fact that the number of technical papers with first author (single author) as a senior professor is decreased quite dramatically. My question is, therefore, is there any hidden (but valid) reason for this?<issue_comment>username_1: My comments reflect my personal analysis of the reasons for the OP's observation: The decision that academics should regularly compete for funding of their research is an idea that seeped in, mostly from the US, into the funding schemes of other countries. Originally, intended as a way to permit funding for projects at a scale that individual universities could not afford, it has expanded into becoming the default way of funding research, in the belief that competition would make for better projects and higher motivated researchers. As so often, the optimum does not lie in the extremes. From one extreme of academics couched softly on guaranteed money (and thus not required to work at all), it has shifted to much attention being spent on the competitive process. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I'm a bit puzzled by the word "hidden," since I don't think the answer is at all hidden -- in fact, I often discuss this with my students. Why spend lots of time writing proposals? (1) It's expensive to run a lab! At least in the U.S., a graduate student typically costs ~$50k/year, which includes tuition and overhead costs that the student doesn't see. Postdocs are ~$100k/year. Equipment and supplies are not cheap. The sum of all this is a lot of money. (2) For a variety of reasons, it's hard to get money. The success rates for proposals at NIH or NSF are around 10-20%, meaning that most proposals don't get funded. Certainly more than 20% of proposals are very good -- at least based on my experience on grant review panels. Writing a proposal that's at least very good takes a lot of work. Writing N such proposals so that enough get funded to keep one's lab afloat takes an even larger amount of work. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I think there are several reasons. The most important one in my opinion is that as a professor in an experimental field you really don't have a choice. In many fields, grants pay for all the lab personnel, experimental equipment and even the professor's own salary. This means that if a professor has no money, her lab is effectively closed and in some institutions she may be effectively fired (given no salary and no workspace) even if she has tenure. This has dramatic consequences for everyone in the lab, and once the lab is closed it won't help if the professor suddenly get new funding. It is somewhat like a CEO who has to make sure the company doesn't close. This is a situation you need to avoid at all costs. Since grants are very competitive, you need to submit many grants to minimize the probability of having no grants at some point in time. Additionally, one grant will often not be enough to cover all the expenses. So most professors in this situation really don't have a choice, they simply have to do it even if they want to spend most of their time on research. In my experience, most professors would clearly prefer to spend all of their time doing science rather than grant-writing and administrative stuff. A second reason, is that there is that there is a clear correlation between funding and research productivity. For example, if you have more people in your lab then you have more projects and eventually more papers. Also, many high-impact journals like to publish large datasets (personally I think this is because they get a lot of citations) which are basically just a factor of the amount money one has. Additionally, academic institutions in the US take very high fractions of grant money as overhead (can be over 50%), so they strongly encourage their faculty to get grants. These factors all mean that getting grants can have a direct impact on research output, promotion and prestige. Finally, you need to consider that in many fields the professor's main job is not executing research. A professor needs to teach, participate in committees, obtain funding, manage the lab administration, promote the lab's work, recruit personnel and supervise students. How then can she spend most of her time doing research? Imagine a software company where the CEO not only needs to run the company but also has to manage HR, PR, funding and all administration. Would you expect that CEO to spend most of her time programming? That should clarify why you don't see many professors as first authors (or CEOs as lead programmers). Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Not doing research and not having first-author papers are two very different things. In my lab, my students and postdocs always get first authorship. But that has nothing to do with who does the work -- I think I do definitely participate in the research, and I do most of the writing. It's just that as a full professor, it doesn't matter to me any more whether I'm first or last author: I have tenure, nobody cares where on the author list I am. On the other hand, for my students and postdocs who still need to get positions somewhere, it matters a great deal, and so I want them to be first author. In other words, the question of where someone is on the author list has little to do with how much they actually contributed. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Since the question asks "why does X always happen?" I feel it is a legitimate view to take, in an answer, to say "X does not always happen". I am leaving this as an answer because I feel it is important to challenge an assumption that the OP makes and seems to be ignoring in comments to other people's answers. (I have tried to make this point in comments to the main question, see [this one](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/77668/why-professors-spend-most-of-their-time-to-write-proposals-than-doing-research/77750#comment190045_77668) for instance.) > > I have noticed that almost all professors spend most of their time to write proposals? > > > In my view this is not true, unless the OP specifies (a) the discipline (b) the university system or geographical region. > > And to my surprise, they are not working on research papers. > > > See my previous comment. > > My question is, therefore, is there any hidden (but valid) reason for this? > > > Various explanations, pertinent to particular disciplines and geographical regions, have been mentioned in other answers. However, let me repeat that if a question asks "why does X always happen?" I feel it is a valid answer to say "X does not always happen". Upvotes: 4
2016/10/02	250	1,074	<issue_start>username_0: I'm applying to Columbia's journalism school and it asked me if I have any publications. Since I worked as a reporter before for the local newspaper, and I did write a few headline stories, I thought this might help my journalism application. But since they're nor academic, I'm not sure if I should put down my news articles as "publications."<issue_comment>username_1: It's not uncommon to have subheadings for different kinds of publications. "Peer-reviewed journal articles", "Proceedings", "Monographs" and so on. For a journalism program, "Newspaper articles" seems like a completely appropriate subheading. Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: If that's a school which teaches journalism, then definitely, but like @username_1 suggests, list them separately from anything else, since they're not academic publications about journalism. If it's a graduate program for the study of journalism, then possibly, but only to a minor extent - and still it's the same practical advice: List them separately from anything else. Upvotes: 4
2016/10/02	432	1,902	<issue_start>username_0: I wrote a paper of 17 pages and containing 37 citations, could this large number of pages and citations affect its acceptance in any scientific journal or magazine?<issue_comment>username_1: 17 pages of manuscript usually shrink to eight or ten in the journal, and 37 citations does not sound like an exceptionally large number. It depends on the journal you want to submit this paper to. Change the typesetting to the format of that journal, to see how many pages you actually have, and then compare to other articles in there. Generally: It doesn't matter, if it's not totally off. Is you article well written, scientifically rigorous, referencing the scientific background, and adds something new to it? Then submit it to a journal where it fits in. Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The number of citations for a paper depends on what sort of a paper you are writing. If you are writing a paper describing a novel experiment/implementation, the number of citations aren't generally a criteria as long as all the methodologies and ideas behind the techniques used are justified with citations of academic articles. On the other hand, if you are writing a review or a survey paper collating all the existing methodologies and their effectiveness, the number of citations are generally expected to be high (something beyond 30-40 citations). Specific to your question, it does seem like 37 references seems to be a little less for a paper that is 17 pages long. But this is usually dependent on the field of study your paper is in. With all that being said, there is generally no strict criteria for this. As mentioned in one of the comments by <NAME>, some journals may have specific requirements referring to the citations, usually present in the "Instructions to Authors" section of the website for the conference/journal. Upvotes: 0
2016/10/03	2,073	8,896	<issue_start>username_0: I received an email from a student today. The email said that she was applying to a program, and that she needed her professors to fill out a recommendation form. She added that it shouldn't take long, because it should be easy to fill out. The deadline is exactly a week from today. I am currently away from my institution, and will not return until her deadline, so this already puts me in a tight spot. She was also a weak student, maybe in the top half, but by no means a memorable one. So I replied very quickly to her email (within 30 minutes of receiving her email), telling her that 1) if it's just the form, I can do it in a week; 2) if she needs a letter, I cannot write her a good letter within a week; and 3) overall, although if she insists I will do the job, she is advised to ask someone else for a letter. She responded in a half-sentence, saying "it's just the form" So I asked her to send me her CV, transcript, and any relevant application materials. She has not responded yet. I made a mistake here, though, because I was so busy that I did not open her attachment, thinking that if it's just a form, it should be easy to fill out. Now that I opened the form, I realized that I have seen this form before. I have already filled out this form for another student, and furthermore, I have written a detailed letter for her, because the form has an "additional comments" section that is very short (that I assumed had to be interpreted as a recommendation letter). I even asked about this letter here: [Should I write that a student is a feminist in my recommendation letter?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/77362/should-i-write-that-a-student-is-a-feminist-in-my-recommendation-letter) So now I am facing some tough choices. Should I still agree to just fill out the form for her? Given that I have already written a strong letter of support for another student on top of the recommendation form, this will be a death sentence to this other student's application since her grades on the form will be lower, and she will not have a letter to supplement it (however, the first student is a lot stronger in every dimension that I am qualified to assess them on). I could email the student again, and tell her that because of the above reason, I cannot even fill out the form because it is too weak and that she will surely not get in. Or, I could just do a half-assed job of writing a recommendation letter for this student as well, although the letter will have to be very generic and neutral, as I have none of her application materials, I do not remember her well, and I am also pressed for time since I am at a conference all week. Even physically sending the letter will be a pain since I do not get back until the day of the deadline. So I am once again turning to you, hoping that I can get some quick answers (if I decline to write the letter, I had better let her know soon, so that she can find someone else). What should I do?<issue_comment>username_1: In my opinion, you should do the best you can within the time constraints to write her a supplementary letter, making as strong a case you can while still being honest. Here are a few points informing this opinion: 1. There's nothing ethically wrong with giving the obvious impression that you think one student is better than another, while supporting both. 2. Having said that, if you give one student an "extra" letter and not the other, it could be interpreted as a signal that you specifically don't think the weaker student deserves to be selected. 3. You already suggested that she ask someone else, and she hasn't, which probably means you're her best option. Alternatively, you could try to find the email address of someone involved with this application process, explain the entire situation to them, and ask for guidance. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Presumably, she already knows what her grades are, you did not promise to make any claims that were not true but you did promise to write the recommendation. The time to say no because you don't think she's a strong candidate or because you're too busy was when she asked and before you said yes. Similarly, you don't get a pass because you don't read email or attachments. Let her know that, on reflection, you're concerned that your recommendation won't be as strong as either of you might like and offer her the opportunity to choose a difference reference. But be prepared to learn that you're as good a reference as she's got and that you will have to write the best recommendation that can be supported by the truth, no matter how much you'd like to get out of it. You promised, so keep your promise. One way of doing this without stretching the truth or saying anything she might not expect is to focus on reporting facts rather than opinions, e.g., the actual grades and ranks in the classes she took with you and descriptions of the assignments she did for you. Learn from this and think first next time before saying yes. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: You seem really to be overthinking this. You're writing a recommendation -- you're not the student's full-time advocate or cheerleader. Fill in the form, send it in, be done. If you want, to mirror the structure of the other student's application, write a supplemental letter also for this one, just a paragraph or so -- shorter than what you've spent time on in your question here! By the way: there is nothing at all wrong with having your recommendation for one student look worse than another's if you believe the former is actually worse for the program than the latter. In fact, I've often explicitly written on recommendations that A and B are both applying, and that A is stronger than B. Your job is to help provide an assessment with which the program can make a fair choice among applicants. Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: I believe the standard response when you don't feel able to write a strong recommendation letter is to say, "I don't feel I know your work well enough to write a strong recommendation, and you would be best served by finding someone who knows your work better than I do." Or something to that effect. When a student receives this somewhat coded response, she can say Thanks anyway, and approach someone else, or she can try a little harder with you. At which point you could either stand your ground, or relent and write her a lukewarm letter. What complicates your current situation is that you already said yes, and now you are trying to figure out if you can, and should, back-pedal. The options available to you, that I can see, are: 1. Back-pedal, and send her the above message. You could apologize for sending an incomplete response previously, having glanced at her email in a cursory way without really taking it in before responding. Or whatever excuse you care to give. 2. Tell a white lie. Apologize and explain that your week has gotten more complicated than you anticipated, and you're not going to have time to do her form. If you choose this one, the email you send must be very brief and apologetic, and should contain a couple of spelling mistakes, to look authentic. 3. Invent an illness or an illness in your family that prevents you from making her deadline. This is a variant of option 2. 4. Tell her honestly that when you agreed to do it, you thought the form was going to be shorter than it turned out to be. Explain that you had not opened the attachment until now. Point out the "comments" question. Explain that you don't know her well enough to tackle that question, or explain that you don't have enough time to do anything more than check off boxes and fill out short response questions. 5. Proceed with filling out the form, knowing that your recommendation will not be very strong. Do not say anything to the student about how lukewarm your recommendation will be. Remember that this is not the only program she will ever apply to, and your responses in the form are unlikely to change the outcome of her application one way or the other. As you are considering your options, you may want to try to apply the Golden Rule. In other words, what would you want Prof. Sana to do if you were Prof. Sana's less-than-stellar student? What do you think would be most helpful to this student in the long term? You know more about this than we do, because one can only fit so much into a post, about the student's potential, temperament, ambitions, reasons for a mediocre performance, and hopes and dreams for herself. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: No idea if this is helpful, but how about: Fill in the form, and add in the comments box that you intend to write an additional letter (as you did previously) but cannot get it done in time for the deadline because you're at the conference. Send the letter a few days later. Upvotes: 2
2016/10/03	382	1,645	<issue_start>username_0: Should I indicate on my CV that one of my papers is an invited paper, when I am one of the authors, but not the invited author? If yes, how do I do this? Should I list it with my other conference papers but with a remark, or should I create a separate 'Invited papers' heading?<issue_comment>username_1: I believe that the key distinction here is not whether the paper has been "invited" or not (since there are lots of different types of invitations with different implications), but whether the paper has undergone meaningful peer review. If the paper has undergone a normal peer review process, it doesn't matter whether it was invited or not: it can be reasonably collected with all of your other peer-reviewed manuscripts. If the paper has not been peer-reviewed, then it should be separated for listing as a non-reviewed publication---still potentially significant, but definitely a different category. Again, the invitation itself is not really the issue, but the standard to which you have been held before publication. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There is no distinction between the "invited author" and the authors who submit the "invited manuscript." All of them are equally eligible to use the "invited" label for the work in question. The reason for this is that the inviter needs to contact someone to get the process started. Just because you're not the specific individual who was contacted doesn't make your contribution to the invited work any less significant. As for how the work is designated, I mark such talks and articles as "(Invited)" within the standard sections. Upvotes: 0
2016/10/03	374	1,486	<issue_start>username_0: I am in the middle of my master studies in math and need to decide which subject I want to choose for my master thesis, geometry or statistics. I have the following questions: > > Is it possible to start the PhD (say in statistics) in a different subject as the master/master thesis (say in geometry)? > > > What actions would you recommand, if I want to change the subject? (e.g. first taking a job in statistical area before starting a PhD in this subject) > > > Would it make sense to do another master in statistics? > > > I thought going from the more theoretical subject geometry to the more applied subject statistics more "natural". Note that I have in both subjects, geometry and statistics, at least 30 Credits, but my studies (also my Bachelor) is more focused on geometry.<issue_comment>username_1: There is a self-evident answer, - yes, it's possible, no any official restrictions, no one care (maybe, except your advisor). And there are obvious consequences when you're changing the research topic - you're starting something new with less experience. This can be good or not, and this is your, and only your decision. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes, in, say, Economics, its encouraged. Having a strong background (i.e. a masters in math or statistics) is a bonus. That being said, it is expected that you aren't blind about the subject you going into your PhD for (but that should be obvious). Upvotes: 1 [selected_answer]
2016/10/03	638	2,705	<issue_start>username_0: Recently, my paper has been accepted in a journal(ENDM). They asked to reduce the number of pages. When I used their template, it exceeded the number of pages allowed. I tried my best to reduce the number of pages, but no use. Can I reduce/change the margins given in the template of a journal to reduce the number of pages. Is it ethical to do so? Will they reject my manuscript? (manuscript has been accepted after minor changes).<issue_comment>username_1: > > They asked to reduce the number of pages. > > > Then do it. If your article complied with the journal's instructions before peer-review but now breaks them because you added extra content asked by reviewers, you could write a short note to the editor saying the requested edits forced you to write a longer version. If they ask you to comply, then you have no choice but to edit your paper accordingly. Don't fiddle with the template. > > Is it ethical to do so? > > > That's irrelevant. Such rules are practicalities of each journals and ethics have nothing to do with it. This being said, editing out portions of the article after the final review is generally forbidden. If you make significant changes to the content, I suspect the article will have to be reviewed again. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: The entire point of the template is to make certain that everybody is on the same page (no pun intended) as to what the format is. Changing it defies this purpose and will almost certainly be noticed – if the journal uses this template for production at all. While nobody except the journal staff knows how exactly they would react to what you intend to do, I would prophesy that at best they directly return the manuscript to you and ask to properly shorten your manuscript. Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Margins are important for typesetting ------------------------------------- When preparing an actual journal edition, they're not going to use your document as-is, they are going to put it in their typesetting process (whatever that might be) anyway. The only reason why a journal is asking you to use a particular template is so that you (and they) can see what the layout would be. Altering that template to have reduced margins would mean that in the "preview" version you have the required number of pages, but in the actual end product the number of pages and layout is different than expected - which is not a good thing, because (1) it comes as an unpleasant last minute surprise; (2) it's malicious, caused by a deliberate attempt to circumvent their guidelines. The result may vary, but it certainly won't be viewed positively. Upvotes: 3
2016/10/03	566	2,398	<issue_start>username_0: There is a faculty member of Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study (a mathematician), whose research is particularly enticing to me. Do faculty members of the IAS take PhD students? If so, should I just contact him directly?<issue_comment>username_1: Are you a Princeton graduate student already? If yes, ask someone local about both the rules and whether that person takes students regularly. If you're at another nearby school (Penn, Rutgers, Columbia, etc.), then usually you also need a local official advisor in addition to an outside advisor. Again, seek advice from someone local who works in a similar area. If you're not already enrolled in grad school then don't worry about this yet. It is very unusual for people to pick an advisor before going to grad school in mathematics. I certainly wouldn't bother someone at IAS if you haven't gotten into Princeton yet since most people don't get in anyway (eg me). Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: To be clear, having experienced that environment some years ago, and having observed it relatively recently: yes, math grad students at Princeton are able to have advisors among the permanent members of the IAS math faculty. ... but it is not clear whether grad students at Rutgers or other near-by places could expect IAS permanent math faculty to agree to advising... and I'd wager that those other institutions would want a more "local" co-advisor, for bureaucratic reasons imposed by their universities. The question of asking whether they're taking students: well, sure, but selectively, and you're not likely to induce a definitive answer about whether they'd take you, especially at such an early stage, unless you are "super-special", which one should not depend on. You could ask whether, in principle, he'd take students, yes. But the meaning of the answer might be subtler than you anticipate, given peoples' reasonable hesitancy to commit to unknown conditions... Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Appointments and secondary appointments can be tricky, and can differ for different faculty members in the same program. You should ask both the faculty member and the department you'd like to be a student in if the faculty member is entitled to mentor student from that department. Even if not, sometimes comentorships can be arranged to suit an individual case. Upvotes: 0
2016/10/03	500	2,160	<issue_start>username_0: Simple question: how do you know that you are an invited speaker for a conference? For example, receiving an email "For your information, this is our next conference" is obviously not an invitation. What about "I would like to invite you to contribute"? Is there an strict definition of Invited Speaker?<issue_comment>username_1: This varies by area, but in computer science, you're an invited speaker if * you're delivering a keynote * The event is invitation-only (like a specialized workshop) Being invited to contribute is generally NOT considered an invited talk, unless you're being asked to do a keynote and the conference also wants you to submit a short position paper relating to your keynote. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There are a number of different forms of invited talk, but to me, a clear distinction can be made by considering whether the decision to have a person speak comes before or after any associated submission. * If the organizers of the event have decided they want Dr. Smith to speak, based on Dr. Smith's record, and then afterwards negotiate the particulars of topic and content of the talk, then it's an invited talk. There might or might not be any publication associated with it, depending on the particulars of the venue. This covers keynotes, seminars, symposia, and many other forms of talk. * If the organizers ask Dr. Smith to submit something, and then decide whether they want the talk based on what's been submitted, then it's not an invited talk. This is the typical case for conferences, workshops, etc. What can make things confusing is that the word "invite" is often used in solicitations for submissions of the second type, particularly by low-quality or predatory organizations that are trying to trick people into thinking it's an invited talk, rather than just another request for submissions. If the judgement comes after the submission, however, it's definitely not an invited talk---and if the judgement comes before because it's a terrible venue, then you shouldn't go even if it would give you an "invited talk" line on your CV. Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
2016/10/03	674	2,729	<issue_start>username_0: I'm editing a dissertation for APA style. I'm encountering a number of transcribed interviews that appear similar to the following: I'm very consis-...ah, -consistent...yeah. The ellipsis issues aside, this is the first time I've encountered dashes as shown above. It appears that the dashes are cues for an incomplete word in the first part of the quote and for the complete word in the second part of the quote. True? In any case, my inclination is to suggest to the author that they rewrite the text by using brackets, i.e.: I'm very consis[tent] . . . yeah. (If pause and hesitation are not crucial.) I'm very consis-(pause) . . . ah, consistent . . . yeah. (If pause and hesitation are crucial.) For those of you who are well-versed in APA for dissertation purposes, would you agree with this or suggest a different way of handling it? Note: I was not successful in looking for guidance in APA 6th edition and at apastyle blog.<issue_comment>username_1: I've never seen any mention of it in relation to particular academic style guides (I'm sure newspaper/media style guides will say something about it) but the use of dashes to represent abrupt, mid-word (or mid-sentence), disruptions is extremely common. Consequently, I'd imagine that most people reading the dissertation will understand immediately what is intended. My advice would be to stick with the dashes, but if you wanted to suggest something different then I think both your alternatives are problematic. The first, consis[tent], suffers from the obvious flaw that it assumes what the speaker is going to say, without the transcriber necessarily knowing. For example, how do you know the speaker wasn't going to say "I'm very consistently..." The only thing the transcriber can say for sure (give or take mishearing) that the speaker intended is some word that begins with the syllables "con" and "sis". The second alternative, consis-(pause) is a little less problematic, but writing (pause) in addition to ellipses is superfluous. As with the dashes, most readers will understand that the ellipses represent pauses, so why potentially confuse matters by providing additional information? Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: APA style does not cover transcription. You need to ask the author what transcription style they are using (or possibly what software they used). In the absence of author/publisher feedback, you need to pick a [transcription style](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcription_(linguistics)). It is not my area of expertise, but the style I have seen most often is [Discourse Transcription](http://www.linguistics.ucsb.edu/projects/transcription/representing). Upvotes: 2
2016/10/03	582	2,360	<issue_start>username_0: I am a graduate student in mathematics currently applying for jobs in the US, mostly at small liberal arts institutions. I have accepted an invite to give a talk at a school in mid-November. May I list this talk on my current CV and expect people to realize that as it's dated "November 2016," it is scheduled but has yet to happen? Do I need to mark it as tentative? Or should I simply leave it off?<issue_comment>username_1: You can. But put it at the end of your CV, if you do so. It would not bother anyone, as people previously said on the page, although I guess it probably would not make you get the job or have a great positive difference on the image your hypothetical employer will get of you when he receives the CV. It depends of you, mostly, the choice is yours. Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: In terms of status-enhancement or proof of merit, the actual giving of the talk is of almost no consequence. The invitation is the thing that "proves" status and merit (such as they may be). So, yes, list it, all the more considering that you probably don't have many such episodes to put on your CV. For that matter, if you yourself had some (unfortunate, presumably) reason to cancel from your end, still, you did get the invitation. From their end, to cancel your talk after issuing the invitation would be a fairly severe gaucherie... so I'd bet it won't happen. Even if it did, almost-surely the official reason would be some funding problems, not that they've discovered that you're a poseur and a bad person, etc. So the status and virtue leading to the original invitation are not diminished. Being invited to give presentations is a kind of proof of one's relevance to the research community. There are rumors of "an internet", supposedly allowing easy, massive, long-distance asynchronous communication without the expenses and perils of long-distance personal travel, but until that possibility is assimilated into the academic community... much like the notion that "publication" could mean literal publication, rather than running a status-and-merit gauntlet... :) Joking (???) aside, it's not the literal giving of the talk, and is not the literal publication in refereed journal, that confer status or prove merit, but the invitation (resp. acceptance). Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
2016/10/03	425	1,623	<issue_start>username_0: Is it plagiarism if I use other peoples formulations and phrases? What if I do so massively? Or let's say, the structure or rough form of their essays? (I think it should be, but I would like to know what most people think, leaving aside that it might be difficult to discover it when somebody just copies someone very roughly in form)<issue_comment>username_1: There's no hard-and-fast rule that if you copy 6 words, that's okay but 10 is not but, copying the substance of someone else's work, making only cosmetic changes is called "close paraphrasing" and would likely be considered plagiarism even if the source is cited. If it was, as you say, "massive" or if it omitted any citations to the original work, then, without doubt, that would absolutely be considered plagiarism. As an instructor, I know that if I discovered it in something a student submitted to me, I would certainly report it as suspected academic misconduct and I would expect my report to be sustained. Here's an article you may find helpful: [Successful vs. unsuccessful paraphrases](http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_paraphrase.html) Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The case you point out is plagiarism; it just fits (almost) perfectly with the definition of that concept. To have a definition, go on the fallowing link: <http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism/> You should at least try to reformulate, and to resume the works of the ones you are taking sentences from. Also, you can quote them, and add at the end of your paper a bibliography section, were you refer to them. Upvotes: -1
2016/10/03	864	3,591	<issue_start>username_0: I am now applying for postdoc (mathematics) and starting to search for jobs in mathjobs. In quite a lot of situation, the job description ask for three letter of recommendation. My question are: * When they ask for three letter, for example [here](https://www.mathjobs.org/jobs/jobs/9243), can I have 4 or 5 letters sent to that university? (I planned to have 3-4 letter for research and 1 for teaching). * If I can only send three letter, is it preferable to have 3 letters all focusing on research aspects, or 2 on research and 1 on teaching (assuming that that postdoc job requires one to teach)?<issue_comment>username_1: It is very usual for mathjobs postings to ask for 3 letters, including one for teaching. It is very usual for math postdoc applicants to submit 3-4 research letters and 1 teaching letter, even for such postings. You will have no problem doing so through mathjobs. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You can send more than 3 letters, put you might strategically choose to put letters that are the most enthusiasts and that boasts you the best, because usually an employer keeps in mind and focuses on what he see's first of a candidate). I assume and I strongly suggest you to have letters focused on both points (research and teaching). This ensures to show all your qualifications (it is a lot more specific), so its is more objective as well as more faithful to your real portray. 2 of my relatives were in a similar situation to yours (a master and a post doc). I hope you will get the position you seek for. Good luck. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: When a job posting asks for X research letters plus Y teaching letters, mathjobs still allows you to submit more than X + Y letters. (If mathjobs has an upper bound on the number of letters you can submit, I don't know it. I have seen files with at least ten letters, even though we ask for 3 + 1.) In general, I think it is almost certainly okay to submit either the number of letters asked for or one more than that. For each additional letter that you want to submit, I would advise you to think about why you are doing it. Here are some things to remember: * It is not guaranteed that the hiring committee will read your entire application. If you submit, say, twice as many letters as asked for, there is a good chance that some of them will be read only very cursorily. This may not be what you want, since: * Virtually all letters I have ever read are "positive," i.e., they say good things about the candidate. But the impression created by sending Z letters is not the sum of the Z impressions created by sending each of the letters. Rather, unless each letter writer has qualitatively different very strong things to say about you, the total impression is some kind of weighted average of the letters, with the worst letters getting a higher weight than the best letters. Thus I think that for all but the most senior candidates it is probably a bad idea to submit more than four research letters: any more than that and it is very likely that the average impression would be raised by removing one of the letters. (Of course you still have the task of figuring out which are your best letters. But you should try to figure that out, not just admit defeat and submit way too many of them.) In your case, it sounds like that they really are asking for 3+1 letters, and you want to send 4+1. That should be fine...but now is not too soon to try to figure out which of those four letters are the strongest and which are the weakest. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
2016/10/04	847	3,633	<issue_start>username_0: Last week I emailed a professor from my undergrad whom I was close with to say hi and inform her that my undergraduate thesis had been published. I am currently in a master's program and asked her if she would be willing to write me a letter of recommendation for upcoming PhD applications for next Fall (and it is worth noting that she wrote me a letter of recommendation for the program I am currently in). She has yet to reply and having a letter from her would really strengthen my application. Is it in poor taste to resend her an email, or should I move on? Like I said, I would really like to have her letter as part of my applications.<issue_comment>username_1: It is very usual for mathjobs postings to ask for 3 letters, including one for teaching. It is very usual for math postdoc applicants to submit 3-4 research letters and 1 teaching letter, even for such postings. You will have no problem doing so through mathjobs. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You can send more than 3 letters, put you might strategically choose to put letters that are the most enthusiasts and that boasts you the best, because usually an employer keeps in mind and focuses on what he see's first of a candidate). I assume and I strongly suggest you to have letters focused on both points (research and teaching). This ensures to show all your qualifications (it is a lot more specific), so its is more objective as well as more faithful to your real portray. 2 of my relatives were in a similar situation to yours (a master and a post doc). I hope you will get the position you seek for. Good luck. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: When a job posting asks for X research letters plus Y teaching letters, mathjobs still allows you to submit more than X + Y letters. (If mathjobs has an upper bound on the number of letters you can submit, I don't know it. I have seen files with at least ten letters, even though we ask for 3 + 1.) In general, I think it is almost certainly okay to submit either the number of letters asked for or one more than that. For each additional letter that you want to submit, I would advise you to think about why you are doing it. Here are some things to remember: * It is not guaranteed that the hiring committee will read your entire application. If you submit, say, twice as many letters as asked for, there is a good chance that some of them will be read only very cursorily. This may not be what you want, since: * Virtually all letters I have ever read are "positive," i.e., they say good things about the candidate. But the impression created by sending Z letters is not the sum of the Z impressions created by sending each of the letters. Rather, unless each letter writer has qualitatively different very strong things to say about you, the total impression is some kind of weighted average of the letters, with the worst letters getting a higher weight than the best letters. Thus I think that for all but the most senior candidates it is probably a bad idea to submit more than four research letters: any more than that and it is very likely that the average impression would be raised by removing one of the letters. (Of course you still have the task of figuring out which are your best letters. But you should try to figure that out, not just admit defeat and submit way too many of them.) In your case, it sounds like that they really are asking for 3+1 letters, and you want to send 4+1. That should be fine...but now is not too soon to try to figure out which of those four letters are the strongest and which are the weakest. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
2016/10/04	703	3,157	<issue_start>username_0: I am an undergraduate student, and am using a term to study with a professor. We got along well in his class and I thought he had a keen interest in helping students. From what I understand, initially I was supposed to work on a project that some other group would deliver to us. We waited until a week and a half ago, and abandoned that. In the meanwhile, I have basically been reading full-time. Unfortunately I find it very difficult to read for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and so have been losing a lot of motivation at work. Typically when reading technical stuff, there is something I can apply it to which makes it easier to remember and motivate for. Instead, I am reading through entire textbooks, cover to cover. I have asked my supervisor what sort of project I can start working on, but he has instead told me to continue reading and that I need to be "more proactive". Is it normal for me to have to propose my own projects when I have no idea what the state of the art really is? I feel as though he is blowing me off. I have proposed projects before but he has said that they aren't relevant enough to the field. The last working month has been one of the most miserable experiences of my life and it's been negatively effecting my professionalism, work ethic and personal relationships. What can I do to rectify this, given that I've already spoken with him? Do I need to resign?<issue_comment>username_1: Lots of reading is a normal part of research. You could do with changing your reading technique because, as you say, reading from cover to cover isn't fun. I've had the same experience myself. However, as an undergraduate researcher, you should not be being expected to find the research problem entirely by yourself. Your description sounds to me more like appropriate for someone two to three years into postgraduate research. From what you say, it sounds like your professor is not really doing his job properly. I would suggest, as a next step, talking to your personal tutor (or whatever your university calls the person who keeps an eye on your studies). Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: As an undergraduate, it is not normal for you to be expected to come up with the research project on your own (that is what getting a PhD teaches you!). When I started out I was typically assigned a graduate student advisor who would let me work on their project or would work directly with me to propose another. There is typically a lot of reading that you will do when first starting out, but not applying it directly to a project or research proposal after a month indicates that something needs to change. I would first talk about these matters with someone who understands your supervisor (graduate student, postdocs etc.) to understand more about your supervisor's expectations. Then have a talk with your supervisor with your concerns (they are valid!). If your supervisor continues to not be helpful I would consider finding another. It's tough to start over, but it would be better in the long run if you can find a better lab that is more nurturing to your growth as a researcher. Upvotes: 3
2016/10/04	1,231	5,568	<issue_start>username_0: I am currently in the process of turning my math doctoral thesis into articles to submit to journals. This is my first time writing anything mathematical for publication. My thesis was on the long-side, and referenced a lot of background material from areas of math that do not often communicate. (The principle field is topology, but it draws heavily on some specific corners of algebra, number theory and relativity theory that most topologists do not study.) It also has a historical component and the first result is a completion of a somewhat archaic classical idea. I then go on to develop that idea to obtain results pertinent to current active research. Due to this, as well as the common advice of not making an article too long (especially one's first article), I am breaking my results into two articles. The first one will say something about what I intend to do in the second for motivational purposes, and lay all the groundwork, but is focused on generalizing a classical theorem. Then the second will focus on results more relevant to current topology, referencing results form the first but not weighed down by them. My question is about what I should include in my setup at the beginning of the second article. I summarize a bunch of standard ideas at the beginning of my first article, which really does need to be there because it is not typical for someone working in any one of the fields to be familiar with the other concepts. I also introduce notation. Then in my second article I use all the same stuff, plus some more. Is it okay to leave out a repetition of that background info, and refer the reader to my first article? I figure I should re-define any original or unusual notation, but I don't want to have all that repetition in the first section of both articles. On the other hand, I want people to read the second one, and not be off-put by being referred to the first one, or feel the background is not well established. Is there a standard protocol for writing a series of two or more articles that develop a concept continuously, which draw upon the same set of background definitions and theorems? Would it be better to just write one very long article after all?<issue_comment>username_1: You have several considerations here. First, where will you publish? It sounds lengthily, and a two-parter will take up valuable real estate, so I'll start by suggesting you send some pre-prints/feelers out beforehand to journals to gauge interest. These pre-submission inquiries can save you tons of time and may even grease the wheels. It would help if both parts were published together in the same journal, but I've seen cases where parts I and II appear in different publications, sometimes with considerable lapse in time. Working the field beforehand will give you an idea how this is going to go. In terms of a standard format, I've never heard of one, but in general I find some consistency. One is that they are often named 'Theory of things I: A solution to bob's paradox'. Then 'Theory of things II: Extension to Wendy'. Besides the conjecture (I've heard) that titles with colons get higher citation counts, this course adds a certain gravitas that can't be overlooked. Next, both articles need to be able to stand alone as a piece of work. It's not feasible to do part I as background and II as the theory or solution, but it sounds like you're already preparing for this. Lay out your background and first contribution in part I. Hopefully, part I will be very intriguing and whet interest for part II. Then, in part II, refer to pt I extensively but don't be shy about reprinting very important parts that are integral to comprehending the current (pt2) material. For example, an equation might be reprinted (and referenced) while a general idea might just be referenced to your original paper. If you've played the pre-submission inquiry well, you might already have some leniency on space constraints, so use them. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Each journal article should "tell a story". Break the thesis up into coherent stories. It looks like you're already doing that. The first article concentrates on generalizing the classical theorem, and the second gives the results that are relevant to current research. I would suggest just putting the groundwork you need for the generalization of the classical theorem into the first article (unless you can save a lot of space by developing some of the groundwork for the second article at the same time as the groundwork for the first). And you should definitely mention the second article to provide more motivation for the groundwork. But putting groundwork that's not needed in this first article will detract from the "story". In the second article, you should include a quick review of the groundwork developed in the first article, and refer the reader to the first article if they want more details. Then add the extra groundwork needed for the second article, and proceed to the results of the second article. One comment from experience: if you put a result that does not fit the "story" into a paper, when people read your paper, they are very likely not to even notice this result. So it's much better to put it in a separate paper. On the other hand, as you can tell from the comments here, many people consider it bad form to spread one story over two papers. So you should split a long result into several papers only if you can formulate it as several related "stories". Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
2016/10/04	2,137	8,094	<issue_start>username_0: How does one get involved in technical committees in international conferences or commissions? Does one need an invitation or does one volunteer him/herself? Also, why are many relatively more experienced or outstanding academics often not involved in these committees? I think the first part of my question has been answered before in this site, but I would be interested to know the answer of the last part.<issue_comment>username_1: > > How does one get involved in technical committees in international conferences or commissions? Does one need an invitation or does one volunteer him/herself? > > > As you say yourself, this has been [asked and answered](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/611/how-do-you-join-programme-committees-for-conferences?rq=1). The executive summary is that as a first approximation, PCs are typically by-invitation and there is no "formal" way to apply or volunteer. > > Also, why are many relatively more experienced or outstanding academics often not involved in these committees? > > > Because time for "outstanding" academics is limited. You can only be in so many PCs before you do nothing but review papers, and for some very distinguished professors even one large PC may already be too many. Further, some conferences (e.g., [ICSE](http://www.icse-conferences.org)) regularly rotate their PC). Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: TL;DR: Who says that many relatively more experienced or outstanding academics are often not involved in these committees? There are, but with some limitations. Usually, membership is by invitaton. --- I'll limit my answer to technical committees of international organizations, according to my limited knowledge, in particular those related to my field. First a few remarks: * Most technical committees work on the redaction of standards, regulations, best practices, recommendations, testing procedures, compendia of terminology, recipes to concoct witch's brews, etc. related to different technical and scientific activities. They can also suggest directions of research that can be particularly important in a certain epoch. People working in these committees should have a broad view of their field, but also a capacity for understanding the practical impact of their normative activity and, possibly, an eye toward the future. Not all academics have such kind of broad knowledge. * It's not really true that experienced or outstanding academics are not involved in these committees: if you have institutional access to [IEEE Xplore](http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/home.jsp) you can browse through the standards and have a look at the people who redacted them. You'll probably find many renowned academics. I'll give other examples below. * The activity of many of these committees is time consuming, frequently boring, and, honestly, not very rewarding if you think at how this kind of documentation is regarded by the layperson (if you're lucky, you might be considered part of a [faceless committee](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18357/are-there-any-guidelines-for-labeling-axes-in-plots-graphs/28918#comment103658_28918); others who have to comply to the regulations devised by a committee might use less gentle words). In addition to the above remarks, it should be noted that some institutions have constraints on the participation to their technical committees that might not be met by academics. I'll expand on this by taking a few examples from my field, that of metrology (no worries: if you don't know what it is, [I won't blame you](https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20058/massimo-ortolano?tab=profile)). Metrology is organised in international committees which work under the umbrella of the [Bureau international des poids et mesures (BIPM)](http://www.bipm.org/en/about-us/). The first scientific committee that we meet by walking down the hierarchical structure of metrology is the [Comité International des Poids et Mesures (CIPM)](http://www.bipm.org/en/committees/cipm/). The members of the CIPM are elected by the [Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures (CGPM)](http://www.bipm.org/en/worldwide-metrology/cgpm/). The requirements needed to be part of the CIPM are quite stringent: you can read the criteria in the pdf linked on [this page](http://www.bipm.org/en/committees/cipm/members-cipm.html). Among the required personal attributes and qualifications, as reported on pp. 2-3, I'd like to highlight the last two: > > Personal Commitment > > > * Each member should be able to make a significant commitment of time and energy in support of the activities of the CIPM and the Metre > Convention. > * Each member should have, in principle, the financial resources required to attend meetings of the CIPM. > * Candidates should commit themselves to serve until the end of their term. > > > Government Support and Relationship > > > * In accordance with the discussions at the 17th CGPM, each candidate should have at least tacit support from their government to serve on > the CIPM. Each Member should maintain a good relationship with their > government and the leadership of their national metrology system > throughout their membership on the CIPM. > > > Thus, not only do the members have to be excellent scientists, but they should also have good relationships with their government, and be able to devote a significant amount of time and of their research funds to their role. These requirements are probably beyond the possibility of the average faculty, and most of the CIPM members are, therefore, directors of [National Metrology Institutes (NMIs)](http://www.bipm.org/en/worldwide-metrology/national/). Those, among them, who are faculties typically have a double affiliation, being also university professors ([list of members](http://www.bipm.org/en/committees/cipm/members-cipm.html)). Among the [former members](http://www.bipm.org/en/committees/cipm/former-members-cipm.html) you can probably find other renowned academics, and a few unsuspected Nobel prizes. Thus, again, it's not entirely true that experienced or outstanding academics are not involved in these committees. The CIPM comprises many other technical committees called [Consultative Committees of the CIPM (CCs)](http://www.bipm.org/en/committees/cc/). Also here we can find the [criteria for membership of a CC](http://www.bipm.org/en/committees/cc/cc-criteria.html). Notice that here the membership is open to institutions, not really to individual members: > > Membership of a Consultative Committee is open to institutions of > Member States of the BIPM that are recognized internationally as most > expert in the field. > > > Unless you are > > named individuals when their knowledge and competence are highly valuable to the CC, even if they come from an institute that does not fulfil the membership criteria. > > > So, generally speaking, faculties, even excellent ones, cannot be member of the CCs because the institutions will nominate, as representatives, researchers from their staff. For a faculty to be invited as a member, their knowledge and competence should be highly valuable to the CC (and, I'd add, not available within any NMI). Continuing to walking down the complex hierarchy of metrology, we find the technical committees of the [Regional Metrology Organizations (RMOs)](http://www.bipm.org/en/worldwide-metrology/regional/) For instance, [EURAMET](http://www.euramet.org/) is the European RMO, which, among various activities, provides funding for joint projects among the NMIs. Its technical committees are [listed here](http://www.euramet.org/technical-committees/). Also these technical committees require their members to be part of NMIs, but groups working on a certain specific task can invite external people, like academics, to be part of the working group (not of the committee). The invitations usually come from the need of a specific expertise, or simply because someone propose an idea that could be of interest to them. Upvotes: 2
2016/10/04	1,363	5,854	<issue_start>username_0: I'm on a team of 10 people contributing to a book organized by the department. As the only contributor under 30, I'm in charge of technical stuff. The team is comprised of members who are not computer savvy. Management of citations and changes in a large text are critical to the project. What features would benefit such a team and how could one convince collaborators to learn & use them?<issue_comment>username_1: TLDR summary: Start with your team and figure out what editing tools they are willing to use. Each choice will restrict the next selection: users, writing, editing & reference management, and version control & sharing. In more detail: You need a suite of tools covering a range of needs. (Google Docs represents multiple of these at once, but nowhere near best of breed for any of them.) I'd focus on the writing and editing. (two very related activities) The file format matters. TeX-based file formats make a lot of sense, as do SGML formats or XML, but learning and teaching those to everyone may be beyond you. ("DocBook" is a good place to start. IIRC, DocBook is now an XML std..) If you pick a file format that makes combining constituent files and formatting consistently simple, then you just need to handle version conflicts. If the format is text based, (as all the forms I've mentioned so far are) then you can use pretty much any of the version control software options to show your edits and conflicts betwixt. For your version control needs, I'd recommend Mercurial. Hg uses a distributed model, so each of you is king of your own castle: you can edit to your heart's desire and synchronize when two of you huddle. If you want a central spot to act as a canon, you simply define one and use it that way. (It can thus act as a CVCS, while retaining the advantages of decentralization.) Git and SVG are other popular options. Turning on a document's versioning can also work in some word processors. (WordPerfect and Word among them.) Speaking of which, if you go with an SGML or XML form, you can still edit it in certain word processors. Word is notoriously bad at this, as well as picky about formats. WordPerfect is surprisingly good at it, and allows a wide array of formats, including user-defined formats. OpenOffice derivatives are very selective in what they do, but, with appropriate extension, can work like this or even LaTeX. If you want documents that require complex formatting and a word processor for writing and formatting, WordPerfect is best. It creates the fewest hurdles when used as intended. Note, though, it does require a very different way of setting up a document than the others, especially if you are using a non native format like DocBook. References: There are multiple options for just the approach to managing references and numbering. One approach is a common storehouse of all the works to be cited. (usually stashed distinctly) It's possible to simplify, allowing redundancy and just using end or foot notes. Most word processors have really bad tools built-in. There are multiple competing options, hiwever, for separate reference management utilities. For my thesis, I used EndNote, which was surprisingly good. It found all of my references and bibliography in my document written and imported them correctly into my archive. Later, when I changed my mind on citation format, it took seconds to update the entire document from parenthetical by name to classical footnotes. Saved at least an hour right there. I don't know if it supports DocBook or any of those sorts of things. (LaTeX folks use BibTeX among other things) One nice feature of many version control software packages is smooth integration with web service. Mercurial, for instance, can refer to repositories via uri effectively as any other path. GitHub is an example of a website providing a central stash for various projects, if you don't want to set up your own. The level of technical ability required for some of these choices is higher, though, and the least common denominator is going to set your options. You really need to get feedback from each member to find out what they are comfortable with. As noted, DropBox can lead to edit conflicts, but of that's the best you can get everyone to use, well, reality wins. (DB could work as a common share with Hg pretty well) Choice of format sets editor/noted processor which determines which other tools are available. Hence, your first step is talking with the team. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: If you're the only technically-literate person on a team of academics, I would eliminate the options with a learning curve. Especially since academics tend to be quite resistant to change (well, most people are, but academics even more so) and you mentioned someone uses WordPad (yikes). Yes, Git or Subversion or the many other collaboration tools out there would work great, but unless you're going to oversee the training of everyone AND they are motivated to change the way they work, it's destined to fail. It takes practice to be good at these things. I would recommend two steps: 1. Use [Dropbox with extended version history](https://www.dropbox.com/help/113) that everyone can treat just like a drive on their computer 2. Split the various parts of the book up into many different files. This way someone can open the file for chapter 1 and work on it while someone else works in chapter 13. This way, if there ARE any mistakes, or someone edits someone else's work out of existence, Dropbox will handle version control in the background that allows for recovery. And most importantly, your collaborators won't really need to change many habits for it to work. Work in a format everyone knows, like Word, and deal with formatting like LaTeX later when the text is completed. Upvotes: 2
2016/10/04	1,539	6,538	<issue_start>username_0: I have my Bachelor's and want to go to grad. school—and I want to go as soon as possible. I recently quit my industry job (I hated it) and am now searching for a job at a university. I can't register for the GREs now, it's after the deadline, but there are some other options I've thought of: * Take classes in a Master's program, take the GREs in April and try to get into a Ph.D program * Apply to universities that don't require the GREs (some in the US, but most in other countries) * Find a way to register for the GREs My degrees are in, and my target field of study is either Physics or Mathematics. Do you folks have any suggestions, or judgments regarding the viability of my above presented options? (P.S. - This question is not off topic. Any single person who did not register for the GREs, but still wants to begin grad. school could use this question. Nothing depends on "personal preferences" because my personal preferences [outside of wanting to begin grad. school ASAP] are in no way relevant. The answer accepted is appropriate, and easily generalized.)<issue_comment>username_1: TLDR summary: Start with your team and figure out what editing tools they are willing to use. Each choice will restrict the next selection: users, writing, editing & reference management, and version control & sharing. In more detail: You need a suite of tools covering a range of needs. (Google Docs represents multiple of these at once, but nowhere near best of breed for any of them.) I'd focus on the writing and editing. (two very related activities) The file format matters. TeX-based file formats make a lot of sense, as do SGML formats or XML, but learning and teaching those to everyone may be beyond you. ("DocBook" is a good place to start. IIRC, DocBook is now an XML std..) If you pick a file format that makes combining constituent files and formatting consistently simple, then you just need to handle version conflicts. If the format is text based, (as all the forms I've mentioned so far are) then you can use pretty much any of the version control software options to show your edits and conflicts betwixt. For your version control needs, I'd recommend Mercurial. Hg uses a distributed model, so each of you is king of your own castle: you can edit to your heart's desire and synchronize when two of you huddle. If you want a central spot to act as a canon, you simply define one and use it that way. (It can thus act as a CVCS, while retaining the advantages of decentralization.) Git and SVG are other popular options. Turning on a document's versioning can also work in some word processors. (WordPerfect and Word among them.) Speaking of which, if you go with an SGML or XML form, you can still edit it in certain word processors. Word is notoriously bad at this, as well as picky about formats. WordPerfect is surprisingly good at it, and allows a wide array of formats, including user-defined formats. OpenOffice derivatives are very selective in what they do, but, with appropriate extension, can work like this or even LaTeX. If you want documents that require complex formatting and a word processor for writing and formatting, WordPerfect is best. It creates the fewest hurdles when used as intended. Note, though, it does require a very different way of setting up a document than the others, especially if you are using a non native format like DocBook. References: There are multiple options for just the approach to managing references and numbering. One approach is a common storehouse of all the works to be cited. (usually stashed distinctly) It's possible to simplify, allowing redundancy and just using end or foot notes. Most word processors have really bad tools built-in. There are multiple competing options, hiwever, for separate reference management utilities. For my thesis, I used EndNote, which was surprisingly good. It found all of my references and bibliography in my document written and imported them correctly into my archive. Later, when I changed my mind on citation format, it took seconds to update the entire document from parenthetical by name to classical footnotes. Saved at least an hour right there. I don't know if it supports DocBook or any of those sorts of things. (LaTeX folks use BibTeX among other things) One nice feature of many version control software packages is smooth integration with web service. Mercurial, for instance, can refer to repositories via uri effectively as any other path. GitHub is an example of a website providing a central stash for various projects, if you don't want to set up your own. The level of technical ability required for some of these choices is higher, though, and the least common denominator is going to set your options. You really need to get feedback from each member to find out what they are comfortable with. As noted, DropBox can lead to edit conflicts, but of that's the best you can get everyone to use, well, reality wins. (DB could work as a common share with Hg pretty well) Choice of format sets editor/noted processor which determines which other tools are available. Hence, your first step is talking with the team. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: If you're the only technically-literate person on a team of academics, I would eliminate the options with a learning curve. Especially since academics tend to be quite resistant to change (well, most people are, but academics even more so) and you mentioned someone uses WordPad (yikes). Yes, Git or Subversion or the many other collaboration tools out there would work great, but unless you're going to oversee the training of everyone AND they are motivated to change the way they work, it's destined to fail. It takes practice to be good at these things. I would recommend two steps: 1. Use [Dropbox with extended version history](https://www.dropbox.com/help/113) that everyone can treat just like a drive on their computer 2. Split the various parts of the book up into many different files. This way someone can open the file for chapter 1 and work on it while someone else works in chapter 13. This way, if there ARE any mistakes, or someone edits someone else's work out of existence, Dropbox will handle version control in the background that allows for recovery. And most importantly, your collaborators won't really need to change many habits for it to work. Work in a format everyone knows, like Word, and deal with formatting like LaTeX later when the text is completed. Upvotes: 2
2016/10/04	1,027	4,559	<issue_start>username_0: I am up for tenure at a US university. It is a regional comprehensive 4-year primarily undergraduate university; it's mostly teaching school but has 10-15% graduate students. I am allowed a maximum of 5 letters of support. I have two from department colleagues (both long-term tenured and one is a sub-dean) and three external. My chair has asked to remove the two department ones as this is basically just ‘not done’ (against the spirit of the guidelines, the guidelines make no mention of who can or cannot write letters). It is not written in either the department tenure guidelines or the university tenure guidelines that you cannot use department faculty for references. Is it common not be able to use tenured department colleagues to write letters of support for tenure? Update: thanks all. Got the tenure thing.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, totally common. The reason is that these people have an inherent conflict of interest: they would be judge (letter writer) and jury (get to vote on your case) at the same time. You will want to choose people as letter writers that (i) know you professionally, (ii) are well respected in the field, (iii) have no stake in all of this because they are at unrelated universities. Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Your department chair is 100% correct in asking you to remove letters from faculty internal to your university. She is doing you a favor by mentioning this to you! To be honest, that you think this might be appropriate makes me worry that you may have insufficient familiarity with how the tenure and promotion process works at American universities. The whole purpose of these letters is to get a sense of your academic profile in the academic community at large (i.e., outside of your institution). A good such letter is written by someone with a lot of status in the community and a good perspective...which includes a lack of involvement in local affairs and politics. On the one hand, it is a waste to get a letter from faculty in your department, because faculty in your department already play a much larger role in the tenure and promotion process: they evaluate your entire dossier and vote up or down. On the other hand, if you are asked for five letters of evaluation and you choose two of them from your own department, it will likely create a very strong negative impression: it looks like no one outside of your department has ever heard of you and your work. I don't mean to be harsh or alarming, but: you need to get a clue pretty fast. Calling attention to the fact that internal letters are not explicitly against the rules of tenure and promotion is absolutely the worst perspective you can have on the situation: in this regard just as is usually the case in life, not everything that is a prohibitively bad idea is explicitly prohibited. I strongly recommend that you approach a trusted mentor (for this inside your department is probably better, although you should take whatever you can get) and say something like "I realize that I have relatively little knowledge of how the promotion and tenure process actually works beyond the formal rules, which I now have reason to believe do not tell the whole story. Can you help me out?" Good luck. Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: There are several reasons why even a teaching institution might not want letters from inside your department. 1. It would be redundant, as the department is likely expected to collectively submit a letter. 2. There may be various conflicts of interest that are more likely for departmental colleagues (such as a reluctance to go through a search if tenure is denied and the friendships that naturally develop through working relationships). 3. These letters are partially to give the committee an idea of the candidate's interdepartmental interactions, which are often highly valued at liberal arts schools. Note that at teaching institutions, as opposed to research institutions, it's not actually uncommon to have colleagues from the candidate's own school write letters or otherwise provide input. Faculty at other institutions may be better/more objective at judging research, but they are much less likely to be in a position to discuss the candidate's teaching and collegiality. At my own institution, we are required to submit letters from faculty at the institution during some stages of the tenure review. However, there is still a preference that these letters not all come from within the department. Upvotes: 3
2016/10/05	604	2,544	<issue_start>username_0: I have an issue with my professors not responding and I wish that you could help me. So in May, I talked to a few professors about recommendation letters and they all agreed to write me letters. I emailed two of them three days ago, and I emailed a new professor about whether he could write me a letter one day ago. But none of them replied. My first reaction was if the emails were sent successfully because I attached 4 documents to every email, and it had happened before where people don't receive my emails with large files, even when it says it's sent. However, I also BCCed myself to my school email (which have the same server as my professors) and my school emails received all my emails. And it's really strange for one of the professors not responding to the email, because he is really nice and he usually replies. My question is since I'm not sure if it's a technical issue that my professors didn't get my emails, or it's simply because all of my professors don't want to write me letters (two of them agreed to do it earlier). If they all chose to say no by not responding to my emails, would it be annoying if I keep sending checking in emails to them? But I also can't sit around and wait forever. Thanks for your time reading this and I'd really appreciate your advice!<issue_comment>username_1: My mother used to say (this was in the days before the internet) that the moment the letter she'd written got picked up by the mailman, she was ready for an answer to arrive. Three days is too soon to worry. Normally one should wait two weeks before starting to worry. Try to wait two weeks. If you really can't sleep, though, I suppose you could write again, briefly and politely, after one week. You might also visit them in their office hours to ask in person. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: When are the letters due? If they're due very soon (within a couple of days), I would just ping them again, and specifically ask them to respond to your email so that you know that they received it. If they're not due very soon, chances are, they're just ignoring it because they don't think that your email requires a response (I do this very often). So wait a reasonable amount of time, and remind them again, this time requesting that they respond to your email. AND if they don't respond after that, then you have a legitimate reason to panic and you are free to call up the department secretary/someone you are close to and get them to chase down the professors in person :) Upvotes: 1
2016/10/05	2,214	8,408	<issue_start>username_0: What federally protected legal rights does a transgender student in the U.S. have re gender pronouns used in referring to the student? This question was inspired by the [recent discussion](https://academia.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/3484/gendered-pronoun-usage) of gender pronouns at Academia Meta.<issue_comment>username_1: As recently clarified by a ["Dear Colleague" letter](http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201605-title-ix-transgender.pdf) from the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, under Title IX, in educational institutions receiving public funding, transgender students have the right to be referred to by their chosen gender pronouns. Also, educational institutions must "take reasonable steps to protect students’ privacy related to their transgender status, including their birth name or sex assigned at birth. [...] A school may maintain records with this information, but such records should be kept confidential." For additional clarification, also see OCR's accompanying publication, "[Examples of Policies and Emerging Practices for Supporting Transgender Students](http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oese/oshs/emergingpractices.pdf)". In the referenced Meta discussion, one user asserted, "Gendered pronouns are not offensive content with respect to the Be Nice policy that all Stack Exchange users are required to follow." That may be true -- after all, Stack Exchange sites are not subject to Title IX -- but as the above-cited guidance from OCR shows, using a non-preferred gendered pronoun in a public educational setting is not only offensive to a transgender individual, if it is done on a public campus, it could result in the institution losing public funding [bold text added 10/6/16 to be more precise]. --- Edit 10/5/16, response to comment > > Note that Title IX [...] does not require gender neutral pronouns as a general rule. > > > The Dear Colleague letter recognizes that "gender transition can happen swiftly or over a long duration of time." Recognizing that a student may feel gender fluid during the process of transition, and recognizing students' right to privacy, the take-home message that I got from the OCR documents is that when in doubt, avoidance of gendered pronouns can be the most sensitive course of action. While the OCR documents cited do not state this explicitly, they do support it. The "Examples of Policies and Emerging Practices" include, as positive examples, the following quotes from state and district policies: * "If you are unsure about a student’s preferred name or pronouns, it is appropriate to privately and tactfully ask the student what they prefer to be called." (DCPS) * [Faculty and staff training should include] “gender-neutral language and practices.” (Massachusetts) * “As with most other issues involved with creating a safe and supportive environment for transgender students, the best course is to engage the student, and possibly the parent, with respect to name and pronoun use, and agree on a plan to reflect the individual needs of each student to initiate that name and pronoun use within the school." (New York) * [Schools are advised to] "collect or maintain information about students’ gender only when necessary." (Massachusetts) * “When speaking with other staff members, parents, guardians, or third parties, school staff should not disclose a student’s preferred name, pronoun, or other confidential information pertaining to the student’s transgender or gender nonconforming status without the student’s permission." (Chicago) It can be challenging to speak or write in English without gendered pronouns! OCR demonstrates that with a little effort, it can be done without confusion, and without too much awkwardness: <http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/investigations/more/02131220-a.pdf> Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I think [another answer here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/77828/11365) is [misleading](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/77827/what-rights-do-students-in-the-u-s-have-re-gender-pronouns#comment190727_77828), so I am writing to clarify what federally protected rights transgender students in the U.S. can reasonably expect at this time. As things currently stand: * The federal government is not allowed to pursue Title IX investigations that interpret Title IX's sex discrimination prohibition to include discrimination based on gender identity. * The Department of Justice and Department of Education have rescinded guidance (issued by the previous administration) that instructed schools to treat discrimination based on gender identity as a Title IX issue. * The U.S. Supreme Court may indicate later this year whether Title IX protections apply to transgender students who face discrimination based on gender identity. --- Previous federal guidance in the [Dear Colleague letter of May 2016](http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201605-title-ix-transgender.pdf) considered discrimination based on gender identity to be sex-based discrimination. According to this interpretation, Title IX protections would then apply to transgender students who are subject to discrimination because of their gender identity. This would certainly not have required school employees to use gender-neutral language as a general rule, but that letter did support e.g. * a student's right to ask school employees and contractors to use pronouns consistent with their gender identity, * the school's Title IX responsibility to mitigate (to the degree that they can) the harassment of students due to gender identity. There is legal precedent (see footnote 9 in the document linked above) to suggest that persistent misgendering can be considered sex-based harassment if it is severe or pervasive: "Persistent failure to use the employee’s correct name and pronoun may constitute unlawful, sex-based harassment if such conduct is either severe or pervasive enough to create a hostile work environment" However, this interpretation - that Title IX protections apply to gender identity - was challenged in the courts in [Texas v United States](https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/files/epress/files/2016/complaint_FM.pdf). An [August 2016 injunction](https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/files/epress/Texas_et_al_v._U.S._et_al_-_Nationwide_PI_(08-21-16).pdf) bars the federal government from enforcing the interpretation of Title IX put forth in the Dear Colleague letter: > > Defendants are enjoined from enforcing the Guidelines against Plaintiffs and their respective schools, school boards, and other public, educationally-based institutions. Further, while this injunction remains in place, Defendants are enjoined from initiating, continuing, or concluding any investigation based on Defendants’ interpretation that the definition of sex includes gender identity in Title IX’s prohibition against discrimination on the basis of sex. > > > The U.S. Department of Justice indicated an intent to appeal that Texas decision, and [in November 2016](http://files.eqcf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/13772486-Appellant-Motion-Partial-Stay-1.pdf), asked for a partial stay on the injunction, arguing that the injunction should only apply to the states involved in the lawsuit. A hearing on that motion for a partial stay would have taken place in February 2017. However, the new administration's Department of Justice [withdrew that motion](http://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2017/02/Trump-DOJ-trans.pdf) just before the scheduled hearing, noting that the "parties are currently considering how best to proceed in this appeal." Shortly afterwards, the Department of Justice and Department of Education issued a [new Dear Colleague letter](http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201702-title-ix.docx) withdrawing the guidance in the May 2016 letter. Meanwhile, in [March 2017](http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2017/02/supreme-court-will-hear-gavin-grimms-landmark-transgender-rights-case-march/) the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a related case, in which they may decide whether Title IX protections apply to gender identity. This case, too, is complicated by the withdrawal of the May 2016 letter, [a move that has been communicated to the court](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C5TulfPWAAEqtq1.jpg). Upvotes: 4
2016/10/05	754	3,233	<issue_start>username_0: My PI has just asked me what she should call me when introducing me to visiting researchers. I couldn't give her a definite answer. I work in a research project where I supervise its research data in terms of versioning, formats, conversion, storage, etc. In this function I've, e.g., written a data management plan. I also (and this is the gros of my work) develop software which is used within the project but is also generic enough to target other researchers. And finally, I work on my PhD thesis, albeit not in a structured PhD programme (in my neck of the woods you can write a thesis as long as you have one or more supervisors with the right to supervise PhD theses. As of now, I've usually been introduced as the "project's programmer", which my PI finds is somewhat dismissive of my actual work and responsibilities. What would be a good title then, one that could also be printed on business cards?<issue_comment>username_1: This sounds essentially like my position: research programmer It encompasses a lot, but perhaps 80% of it is helping researchers who know what they want to accomplish but have no idea how to get there. It can include things like web scraping or cleaning up very ugly code, or translating a project to a different codebase, or writing simulations, or running models. Version control often comes into play, along with data storage - I'm often teaching researchers about GitHub or S3, for example. It also tends to involve data vis and data presentation (like on the web). It also has an element of data science, where a researcher gets access to some data that has what they want but is too big for them to know how to work with or manage. But I wouldn't call yourself a data scientist; it's a whole separate field with its own methods that often diverge from traditional research. It sounds like "research programmer" encompasses everything you're doing, but sound a bit more grand and more accurate than what you're using now. It's also one that is in official use elsewhere (in my case, the policy and think tank world), so that's a bonus. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I am sitting with some people in a similar position, their official title is research engineers. They actually follow a similar path to research scientists, including a PhD, postdocs, and permanent positions, but focused on producing high quality code and infrastructure rather than actual scientific results. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: How about "research software engineer"? There's a growing movement to recognise this as a valid academic career track - see, for example, <http://www.rse.ac.uk/who.html> Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: You could be introduced as the project's data analyst. This sounds more high level than programmer. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: When I had this position, I was a research analyst. For what it's worth, the terms listed in all these answers are virtually identical from a resume standpoint. Note that you should definitely consult with your HR department to find out what your official title is. Some places are sticklers about only using proper titles on business cards. Upvotes: 1
2016/10/05	664	2,930	<issue_start>username_0: I've been offered a PhD position, but I'm forced to decline it due to family reasons. However, once the situation becomes more stable, I will re-apply again. What concerns me most is whether it's still possible for me to pursue a research career after a long (2-4 year) break? I hope that perhaps once the crisis is overcome, I could look for part-time assistant/technician jobs in labs, which would allow me to still stay close in research before I would submit my applications for a PhD.<issue_comment>username_1: I'm not sure what your background is so this is very general. One way to go about it is to test the waters before committing to a major project. I'd say start with a smaller project (e.g. 3 months) and see how it goes. Once you've gathered some momentum, you will be in a better position to take on a PhD project. Alternatively, a part time Phd might be more suitable for you. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: 1. Please contact the dean of graduate studies at the department that accepted you and describe your situation. Various creative approaches to this problem may be possible. For example, if the first stage of your degree program involves coursework to prepare for some qualifying exams, it may be possible for you to take some of these courses at a university closer to home, with careful planning, and direct communication between the two departments. 2. If you are not already working with a counselor or therapist, I suggest that you find someone you like to get started with. When going through a family upheaval this can be helpful. Also, in the safety of the counseling relationship, you may gradually become comfortable about exploring different ways of balancing supporting your family and pursuing your own personal growth. Sometimes the stress of the situation one is living through at the moment makes it difficult to see all possible options. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: There is no need to think you cannot pursuing a research career after a long break. You can (re-)apply for a PhD or research position whenever you want. You will always have your existing research history listed on your resume. It is also not uncommon for people to first work in industry (after a Bachelor or Masters), and then return to research again. A PhD research can be a posted research project, but also a research suggested by yourself. As such, your current offer might still be a valid research in a couple of years, if it was your own suggestion. If it is a posted project, often funding and time limitations exist, which means that someone else will perform this research. In that case, your future application will have to be your own suggested research, or an application to another posted project. Of course, in your future application it is certainly useful to mention the reason of your gap in your research/working career (you mention 2-4 years). Upvotes: 2
2016/10/05	579	2,619	<issue_start>username_0: Is it possible to have a masters degree in business engineering or management engineering when you don't have a first degree? But i have more than 10 years professional experience<issue_comment>username_1: I'm not sure what your background is so this is very general. One way to go about it is to test the waters before committing to a major project. I'd say start with a smaller project (e.g. 3 months) and see how it goes. Once you've gathered some momentum, you will be in a better position to take on a PhD project. Alternatively, a part time Phd might be more suitable for you. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: 1. Please contact the dean of graduate studies at the department that accepted you and describe your situation. Various creative approaches to this problem may be possible. For example, if the first stage of your degree program involves coursework to prepare for some qualifying exams, it may be possible for you to take some of these courses at a university closer to home, with careful planning, and direct communication between the two departments. 2. If you are not already working with a counselor or therapist, I suggest that you find someone you like to get started with. When going through a family upheaval this can be helpful. Also, in the safety of the counseling relationship, you may gradually become comfortable about exploring different ways of balancing supporting your family and pursuing your own personal growth. Sometimes the stress of the situation one is living through at the moment makes it difficult to see all possible options. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: There is no need to think you cannot pursuing a research career after a long break. You can (re-)apply for a PhD or research position whenever you want. You will always have your existing research history listed on your resume. It is also not uncommon for people to first work in industry (after a Bachelor or Masters), and then return to research again. A PhD research can be a posted research project, but also a research suggested by yourself. As such, your current offer might still be a valid research in a couple of years, if it was your own suggestion. If it is a posted project, often funding and time limitations exist, which means that someone else will perform this research. In that case, your future application will have to be your own suggested research, or an application to another posted project. Of course, in your future application it is certainly useful to mention the reason of your gap in your research/working career (you mention 2-4 years). Upvotes: 2
2016/10/05	2,876	11,631	<issue_start>username_0: I have a postdoc position in my dream lab with PI, who leads the field and has very cool projects for me. The thing is, I have two small kids (youngest is 3 weeks old) and I live one hour away from my prospective place of work. I have a great nanny and a wonderful daycare, but I am still worried if I can pull off the lab work and all the writing and not abandon my children. Anybody in the same boat? Tips for survival?<issue_comment>username_1: I'm not in exactly the same boat, but mine is related. I'm working on my dissertation while working in policy research full-time and adjuncting a class, while having a 3 year old at home. My commute is only about 30 minutes though, lucky for me. The key for me is drawing a line, beginning with my daughter's play time. Sacrifices have to be made, and that includes some family time, but you never sacrifice ALL of it. I plan to play with her either for a bit in the morning before work or a bit in the evening before bed, plus have one full or nearly-full day on the weekend. Occasionally I get two days on the weekend, or both a morning and evening play time, and all the better if that happens. But I never cross over the line of one day on the weekend and either a morning or an evening on other days. Once you've decided on a (realistic) hard line for your family time, the rest becomes the standard juggling of work. Your two hours of commuting each day is unfortunate, but I assume if you could have cut that down already you would have. Can you spend it on mass transit, where you could get some work done? Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Both require lots of work, time, attention, and love. Doing both means that you can't do both 100% - In other words trade-offs will have to be made. But I think you know that already! Children grow so very fast and the first couple of years are incredibly important to their emotional development. How they "attach" in these years (more so for the newborn) will go a long way towards how they relate to others as adults. Attachment styles include: Secure, Avoidant, Ambivalent/Anxious, and Disorganized. Obviously Secure attachment is the hope for all of our children. Can the career wait... at least for a couple of years? Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm a postdoc and I work maybe 40-45 hours a week. Things that make this work: * I don't check my work email at home. I did that in the past, now I don't. I never missed something (although once in a while a colleague will call with something really urgent). * I don't do everything around the lab. I clean up my own stuff in the lab, and I will do my "chores" but I'm not going to be involved with buying stuff, reorganizing stuff, salespeople, "better" kits / reagents, saving money, discussing the who-does-what etc. * I don't do all the experiments I can do. I can think of many things that are very interesting, but some are just more interesting than others and you can only do so many. Maybe at a certain point what you can think of still fits in the time you have (and you're going to work more to do it), but in the end there are only 24 hours in a day, so you have to start cutting at a certain point. Why not now? * Related: I don't write long papers. I gather the proof, make a point, find the holes, plug them and that's it. I don't do certain experiments "because everybody does them" or "because 4 methods to prove we made a known compound is better than 2". And your "interesting side-phenomenon" will probably be moved to the supplementary info. * And the most important one: I don't expect working more is getting me ahead. Good papers are. Smart questions are. A keen eye is. Collaborating with great researchers is. Of course you need to spend the time and effort and be productive, but there's no A for effort, nobody is going to think you're a better researcher because you did 20 experiments this week and even publishing a few more papers isn't going to make a difference. Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: I imagine this might be a question where you will get different answers depending on the norms and legal context of where you live. In particular, my impression is that the United States has much less support for taking time off and flexible work arrangements after having a child, than Australia (where I'm from) and many European countries. For example, the standard approach in Australia would go something like this. The primary carer (usually the mother) would take maternity leave after the birth of a child. The duration varies a lot from parent to parent, but 4 to 12 months is quite common. When returning to work, it would also be common to come back to work on slightly reduced hours (e.g., perhaps 3 or 4 days per week; although full time is also common). Australia (and presumably many other countries) support this approach with various paid parental leave schemes and anti-discrimination legislation that requires employers to not discriminate based on parental status, birth of a child, and so forth. Such legislation and associated organisational policy (particularly in the university and government sectors) generally supports flexible work practices where possible. The benefit of such approaches is that it makes it easier for primary carers to have some consolidated time with their children in the first year (and also makes breast feeding easier). Going back part-time also helps to shape a compromise between having a work life, earning money, and having quality time with your children. Of course, there are many other considerations for families: financial, career progression, and personal interest considerations. Furthermore, the support of the university or post doc adviser in allowing for an initial period of time off and then potentially reduced hours is also an issue. In particular, because of the fixed-term nature of post docs and the nature of post doc funding, there may or may not be implications for the capacity to take leave or transition to something less than full time. And even where in principle it is allowed, post docs may be concerned that their CV will suffer or their supervisor may not feel that their contribution is as valued which may have implications for subsequent post doc positions. More generally, it seems that universities, academics and funding bodies should take on the obligation of facilitating parents (and particularly mothers) in managing academic careers with parenting responsibilities. This is particularly important given the timing of post docs in people's lives. Not that this necessarily helps you, but I think that there are issues in Australia with this and the resulting reduction in the number of women who pursue an academic career, even with the legal and regulatory context. My casual impression is that it is much worse in the United States. In terms of practical tips, it's tricky to make suggestions without coming across as trying to be prescriptive about what a good parent should do. But perhaps, if you want more time with your children, enquire about taking time off after the birth of a child, and enquire about flexible work arrangements (e.g., 3 or 4 days per week). Would your post doc be extended based on time off and pro rata-ed for the days you work? Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: To echo what a lot of others are say, I think the key is really to be present in what you do. You can't have/do everything, so treasure as much as you can because it really is amazing. Personally I consider the time I spend with my young daughter (1.5 yrs now) to be more important than the time I spend in the car and at work, and as such, I try to be completely present when I'm with her (no fiddling with emails, checking twitter, etc.). I shifted my working day earlier, so I can leave before my daughter wakes up, and get home in time to spend the evening with her, performing some of the rituals (play, dinner as a family, bathing and reading to her before bed). This has also helped with the commute (down to 1 hour each way, traffic makes it much worse). I still work longer hours than I should, and the commute is an annoyance, but I don't feel guilty for leaving on-time (and my daughter is the best excuse to leave). I love my work, and have had to make compromises to the amount of work I commit to, but with a consistent day, I am regularly more productive than my colleagues (if only for keen task management and time-boxing). I recommend you spend the commute on you. You don't get a lot of time to yourself, so spend it doing something relaxing and something you enjoy. I find it's a good time to listen to audiobooks for pleasure, or music, rather than trying to cram in studying or research. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: I'm not in the same boat, but I'll still venture as a one-time hour-and-more-long commuter: Seriously consider moving close to your university/research institute. Since you're a post-doc, you're going to be moving anyway; and since your children are small - I'll assume all are under, say, 3 or 4 - attachment to friends, kindergarten or school is not an issue for them. You might have to settle on the quality of your accomodations or pay more than you expected, but you will be a lot less tired - IMO and YMMV. Also, while some people can "power commute" and do things on the way, my experience is that trying to do so is more tiring than anything else. Do invest some of that extra time in sleeping, though. One of the dangers is being overworked and exhausting yourself; perhaps counter-intuitively, do less than you think you can manage rather than the utmost - like others have said, this will help you "be present in what you do". Another suggestion is to figure out what everybody else is doing. I mean, there are bound to be other post-docs or doctoral candidates with small kids. What arrangements do they have? I'm sure you can learn more from their specific experience than from the inspecific advice of people here on the site. Finally, where is <NAME> in this picture? I believe it's a father's responsibility to be nearly-or-as-involved in the rearing of and the caringfor his children as the mother (\) - even if you've separated, and regardless of whether you're married. So unless you feel he's a terrible influence on your kids, try to get the father more involved* and be with them more. Comments suggest that maybe he's away on business a lot; if that's the case - well, he should be away less. You should not be the one shouldering all the responsibility. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: > > I am worried if I can pull off the lab work and all the writing and not abandon my children. > > > My mother, J, saw very little of her mother, S. The few times they did see each other, J had to keep her distance so as not to mess up S's clothes and hair. There were several servants in the household, and they made sure the children were bathed, clothed and fed. Whenever J became close to one of the servants, S would fire that one. Which was incredibly damaging to little J, as you can imagine. You're not going to be like S, right? If you allow your children to be close to you, and to their nanny, they'll be okay. (Yes, you will miss them and yes, they'll miss you.) > > Tips for survival? > > > 1. Don't skimp on sleep. 2. Arrange something in your office so you can take a short nap if needed. It could be a piece of cardboard, a camping mat and a pillow. 3. Consider co-sleeping (if it's comfortable for you, and if it doesn't affect your quality of sleep). Upvotes: 2
2016/10/05	5,144	20,926	<issue_start>username_0: I am a math major grad student at a big public school, and we need to do TA every semester. I got assigned to lower level classes last couple semesters, and it's been quite difficult for me. Even though I am a pretty nice person in general, I have so much trouble tolerating my students' sloppiness, arguing for more points when they don't deserve, and just explaining very simple things to students again and again in general (for example, why log(a + b) is not equal to log(a) + log(b)). I am sure many will think my attitude is wrong, and probably I need to hear that. I am also a "harsh grader", as my students would probably call me. The way I was raised, it's very hard to accept people not working hard, but feeling entitled to good grades. I have students coming to me asking how they can get extra points without doing any actual work. I feel offended by that. Let me know what you think about teaching in general. I enjoy doing research in mathematics and want to be in academia in the future. However, I feel this could be a problem for me if I hate teaching so much. Should I think more positively about this?<issue_comment>username_1: Personally I found that it got better as the years went on. It was irritating when students barely a few years younger than me were complaining and begging for grades, but as you get older the students become so young that they're cute no matter what they do! Also, you need to assess your situation objectively. If by large public school you mean Berkeley or Michigan or others of that calibre and you're one of the strongest grad students there, teaching might not matter so much in your career (it still matters, but there will be other things that make your job worth it) but if you see yourself as mediocre, teaching matters a lot in tenure-track hiring, so you'd better get used to it. Furthermore, even some top tier schools care very much about your teaching records, even at the postdoc hiring stages, so if you do a bad job you're cutting yourself out of some jobs. Becoming more approachable and bonding with your students (which is much easier to do as a grad student) will also make it more fun. Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Yes, you should think more positive about this, and at least don't take it personal. The students are sloppy, and you have to repeat stuff. This is how people learn, don't be surprised. If they would understand everything the first time they see it, no teacher would have a job. Don't take it personal. Additional tip: if a student wants to have points for something that's clearly wrong, they can go to your supervisor. Don't draw out the discussion. The students want to have free points. Of course, everybody wants to have free stuff. Don't feel offended, and just grade the way you think is right. There should be no problem telling adults that they're not getting something. The idea that this behaviour is unfair, offensive or disrespectful is just in your head. You cannot expect everybody to work as hard / be as smart as you are yourself. Think about how bad you would do in a Chinese language course (and what you would ask the teachers if you really had to pass this course). Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Yes, you do seem to have a bad attitude toward it, but I suspect you knew that. I would suggest trying as hard as you can to put yourself in their shoes: 1. Not everyone enjoys the same things you do. What's a subject you had to take in school but didn't enjoy? Can you imagine not putting as much effort or showing as much respect to it as someone going to grad school for it? 2. It's totally rational for someone to try to maximize their grades. I think everyone finds it annoying when students push for every last point they can, especially when you don't feel they've earned it. I like to remind myself that it makes perfect sense to try to get the best grade you can for the least amount of effort. That doesn't mean you give in to their exhortations, of course, but if you understand where they're coming from then that's not incompatible with both helping them and keeping your sanity. 3. Everyone is busy. A lot of undergrads are adjusting to life away from home for the first time, are taking on responsibilities for the first time, and are probably swimming in social and extracurricular activities. That's what they're supposed to do; just keep in mind your class isn't the only thing on their plate. 4. The things you find easy, others find hard. You specifically gave some logarithmic rules as an example. To you, that's trivial. You can't understand how it's not trivial to someone else - I mean, you probably even just told them it was trivial! But I bet you can think of a field where you struggle with things an expert finds trivial. Foreign languages are a good example for me - I can hear how to say something in a new language repeatedly, and it just goes right out of my head a minute later. That said, you suggested you "hate" teaching. If you really do, maybe it's not for you. On the other hand, you're here asking about it, so maybe you're interested in changing. To do that, try hard to put yourself in the shoes of your students, and remember that they're just trying to get by. Some will fail, and that's okay. But you can help all of them, even those who won't ever get your subject, without resenting them. Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_4: First, as others have pointed out, the students are behaving rationally according to their own preferences, in an "economics" sense. Unless they have sufficient incentives to do otherwise, why should they do otherwise? But this broaches a more genuine problem, namely, that it may seem disproportionate to give them bad-enough grades to communicate effectively... and thereby make them ineligible for their desired major program, students loans, etc. Second, and relatedly, "teaching" required-course lower-division courses, and even some upper-division "required" courses for math majors and so on, is not really so much about the mathematics (although it is officially so), but about testing/filtering students for somewhat-broader purposes. "In real life", most students have no need of "pre-calculus" or "trig", but their major programs often require that they take such courses (and get a sufficiently good grade) as a filter on prospective majors in not-very-mathematical subjects. Not so that they'll know some odd bits of elementary math, but to see if they can show up on time, follow instructions, do things that are required even if they don't want to, and so on. So, oddly enough, "mathematics teaching" is mostly testing the general competence (and perhaps willingness to conform to inexplicable rules imposed by authorities) of students. And, notably, this function is what allows/causes math departments to be so large, and effectively underwrites the research we do. Seriously, the monetization of "research in math" is not so vigorous, but teaching lower-division math as filter is a reliably remunerative job. Supporting our "hobby" of research. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Here's how I've been able to ju-jitsu this situation for myself. An enormous number of people are in great, desperate need for learning mathematics. It is a great challenge and responsibility and honor to help them, and instruct them in what real college learning is like. It's pretty clear that math is the hardest limiting factor in almost anyone's academic aspirations. I'd argue that almost any other subject can be watered down to meet an institution's desires, but not math. It is essentially a buzz-saw of truth. As JFK said, we do these things "not because they are easy, but because they are hard". For me, I think of this like being a doctor (or at least a triage medic): Diagnosing what in the world has gone wrong in their heads. You'll learn to spot some common general patterns. But, there will always be rare and unique cases popping up with things you never imagined in your wildest dreams. I'm always learning and getting better at detecting what people don't know, or what incorrect bit in their brain caused a cascade of problems, and helping them fix it. I find it endlessly fascinating. Personally, I have no problem with your being a "harsh grader" and not tolerating student sloppiness. I think that's well-phrased on your part, and is among the most important things we can help them improve at this level; attention to syntactic detail, and the fact that every symbol counts in our language and grammar (and, truth be told, every other language; perhaps we are the only discipline that assesses the student on structure in this way anymore). To me this sounds like you are maintaining high standards, and we need more people in education committed to that. The real frustration is if you get to an institution where administration doesn't want to allow that. Now: I'm a dedicated lecturer and I don't have to do any research. I'm pretty happy with that position, and not sure how I would balance adding research on top of that (4 classes per semester). But the teaching alone became really fascinating once I came to view it as diagnosing a spectrum of crazy ailments. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Some comments, in no particular order: 1. I don’t think you have a bad attitude. And, high expectations are a good thing. 2. It's important to explain domains and codomains. Explain that log : ℝ>0 → ℝ. Make sure the students understand that log(x) doesn’t mean “log times x.” 3. Not everyone’s brain is wired for mathematics. Some people need to see log₂(1)+log₂(1) = 0, log₂(1+1) = 1 a few times before it sinks in. It's worth spelling out the obvious: we've just seen that log₂(x)+log₂(y) = log₂(x+y) doesn't work for those particular values of x and y. Ergo, it's not a universal law. Okay - it doesn't hold for all possible value of x and y. So it's not a valid rule. So if we've got log₂(x+3) written down somewhere, we can't just replace it with log₂(x)+log₂(3), because we don't have a universal law available guaranteeing that these two expressions are going to be equal. You might find [this](https://math.stackexchange.com/q/630339/42339) discussion helpful. 4. If many students are making the same mistake, your job as a TA is to start the tute by explaining the stuff that people are getting wrong. And, you may have to do this repeatedly, and really spell it out. See (3). 5. Don’t be too hard on sloppiness. The reality is, it’s not just the students’ mathematics that is sloppy. Your mathematics is sloppy. Mine is, too! Unfortunately, the mathematical language we've inherited isn’t sufficiently excellent to produce non-sloppy mathematics. Maybe in 2066, things might be different. Probably, mathematics will be computer-formalized, and therefore every bit as precise as programming is now. But that’s not currently the case, and if I were sitting in one of your tutes, I could probably point out dozens of ways in which you’re being sloppy. So just go easy, okay? The idea is to teach, not to punish. 6. Never show any contempt for the student. Ever. Personally, I mainly reserve negativity/contempt for the textbook, the textbook writer(s), the notation, and the general sloppiness of mathematical convention. But I'm never contemptuous of the student. If need be, a firm "no, you need to work harder if you want better grades. I know you can do better" is all that's needed. Mathematics is already frustrating enough, so just be friendly, helpful, approachable, and if necessary, firm. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: (On phone so there might be some formatting quircks) Personally I don't have any problem with you maintaining a high standard. "If you don't work for it, you don't deserve a good grade" seems fair and can be a valuable lesson. People have to start working for something at some point in their lives, and if that starts at high school in math class, it seems like the perfect place. That being said, you indeed sound harsh. The example you gave ( log(x + y) ) can be really hard for some people. Not every person has a brain that works in such a way that they can solve plain, boring stuff like that. E.g. I was one of those people, I almost dropped out of high school because of mathemathics, even though I worked my back off and took way more math classes than I was supposed to. Now 5 years later, I'm a junior PHP software engineer (how ironic), make a decent salary and can even start thinking about buying my own home. Just because a student can't solve an assignment, doesn't mean he doesn't work to do it. I've met a Dutch math teacher who would punish mistakes, but still grade answers alright if the calculation with the errors was correct. For example, you can earn 5 points per assignment and there are 10 assignments. A student accidentally flips an operator ( + -> -), but completes the assignment without further errors. That teacher would then give 3 out of 5 points: minus one for wrong answer and minus one for sloppiness. But since the student has shown he knows how to do the calculation, he still gets more than half the points. Maybe this could be some solution? Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: There's a wide gulf in America between "good" math students like yourself, and "bad" math students (most others) and very little in between. Probably more than in other subjects. That makes it hard to for the good math students to relate to the bad ones. Even so, having the good ones do "TA" is part of the drill of making sure the bad ones don't get even further behind. Once you realize that it's part of the "social contract" that helps fund your own studies, you will be able to deal with this better. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: (Continuing the thought of @stanri.) When I was studying, I took lectures and seminars sometimes without getting points, grades, or certificates, just for the purpose of learning something exciting. Do try to motivate your students similarly. Tell them the following story, for example: * Don't mind the grades too much; they measure your progress with respect to the expectations of a huge machinery called the state. * Do mind what you have learned. * University time is the unique opportunity to study; in general, there will be no second chance. Use this time. Later, when I was a TA and the students asked me for better grades without doing something, I viewed it as my fault: I have not motivated them enough. You could think of doing the same. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: Honestly, as a current mathematics student, I really needed the tough graders. When the graders would give me unreasonably high scores on the homework, I thought I was doing okay, but would fail the exam. On the other hand, after receiving several very low homework grades, I'd learn where I can improve and this reflected in high grades in the exams. In mathematics, it's quite difficult for a first year undergraduate many times to understand where they went wrong and how to write a proof. Therefore, tough grading is a must in my opinion. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: The most extreme case of arguing for another point on a homework, that I ever experienced, as a TA in a field that involved a lot of math and proofs, was in an upper level graduate course. I graded homework and exams, and was available for posted office hours. One day one of the best students in the class came to see me to get his grade changed from 99 to 100. I have never seen such stubbornness as that student's. I think it came from anxiety. He was an international student, from a country where he had had to prove himself to be the crème of the crème many times over in order to get to the U.S. for grad school. He was used to working very, very hard, and doing very, very well. Okay, now on to what you can do, to be more effective in your teaching. 1. When a student comes to office hours unhappy about a grade, put the focus squarely on making sure the material has been well understood. Show that you are glad the student came to office hours. Encourage the student to come see you for help with the next assignment, before finalizing it and turning it in. You will earn students' trust if you show that you are available to help when they are struggling with the material. 2. You can walk the student through checking whether log(a+b) = log (a) + log (b). Don't do it on the blackboard in your office -- have the student do it on paper, with you giving suggestions as needed. You may write things down, but do so on paper, and make sure the student takes these notes home to be able to refer to later. 3. Elicit more student interaction during class. A correction made by you (e.g. log(a+b) <> log(a) + log(b)) is so much less effective than a correction made by a fellow student. (Of course, make sure that students are respectful with each other.) 4. Set the tone by being respectful yourself. 5. One way to elicit more student interaction is by having everyone write one of their homework solutions on the board. This works best if you have several blackboards in the room, and can have everyone write on a section of blackboard at the same time. 6. You can ask the students to create homework problems, and then assign the student-created problems to the whole class. 7. Sometimes, make an assignment that must be done in a small group. Don't wait until the semester is almost over to assign group work. The main point of this, in my opinion, should be to encourage the formation of study groups. When students are learning from each other, you won't have to repeat yourself so much. 8. Ask each student to hand in a short autobiographical sketch, to help you get to know your students. Ask them to describe their learning style in the sketch, to state what their strengths and weaknesses are, and to tell you about their life goals. 9. Don't wait until the end of the semester to do a class evaluation. You can do a short evaluation three times in the semester. 10. If you have lecturing duties, take the time to prepare well. (My son's Calculus II teacher would try to make up example problems on the fly. Sometimes he would have to abandon an example problem after wasting 20 minutes on it.) 11. Try videotaping yourself while teaching. When you watch the videotape, check to see if you are audible, if your chalkboard work is clear, if you are being careful not to stand in front of what you just wrote on the board, if your speaking voice is effective. 12. When you draft an exam, ask a colleague to take the exam to test it out. 13. Observe other instructors and keep a journal, noting what you see the instructor doing, what you see the students doing, what's working well and what's not working well. 14. Work very hard to catch any glimmer of a good attitude, good work ethic, or creativity, in a student, and provide positive feedback. In other words, catch the person acting like a good student, the sort of student you can enjoy working with, and reward that behavior. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_12: Teaching in general: I do feel like you need to focus on the students more, - having to explain things "again and again" just means you didn't explain clearly a process - Complaining about this - is complaining about doing your job (To teach) You need to make math accessible to them through language and logic in a way THEY understand, giving them the math tools to break problems down. You haven't achieved this if they don't get it (so stop punishing them for this with your attitude) roll up your sleeves and find a new way to explain Math can be interesting for everyone when the steps are clear enough and the teaching versatile enough to be able to communicate the same process to appeal in many ways People love to learn - You have a skill at math. But the genius of being a teacher its to find many ways to impart the same skill, requiring a great depth of knowledge and versatility in communication skills. I would suggest to maybe look into <NAME>, a really great teacher - his advice to students, and I believe it to be true - There are no bad students only bad teachers This is a very important part of the Michel Thomas Method. Full responsibility for learning lies with the teacher, not with the pupil. This helps to ensure they can relax, and feel confident, so allowing them to learn effectively. (His course deals in teaching french) but the same is true for any skill - when something is well explained - then it is learnt. (If a student cant remember it - it wasn't learnt or understood as a concept) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8jhy7ZQC38> On grading - grade for what they have achieved, it is to show what concepts they are having trouble with and what the need you work on with them) Upvotes: 0
2016/10/05	1,320	5,700	<issue_start>username_0: I am a contract-limited faculty member in the United States. My subfield is small, but known for its warmth and intimacy. A friend of mine in a different country recently sent me a job posting advertised by another institution in the United States. I have absolutely no idea where he found it. I didn't even know that this school had a department in my field, frankly. The deadline is in three weeks, but the job posting has not made its way to the central repository of job ads in my field, nor hit any of the major mailing lists. Yet it's a coveted tenure-track position that seems legitimate, described in a Word document hosted on the webpage of the department in question (though not directly linked to from it, as far as I can tell). I've never seen a job more poorly publicized. I suspect that this department is hiring someone in my subfield for the first time ever, so I can understand not knowing about the appropriate mailing lists, but beyond that it seems awfully odd. Anyway, my question is about ethics and competition. The first thing I wanted to do was to send the job posting around to a circle of colleagues who, like me, are looking for long-term academic employment. Of course that brings with it the risk that the job could be given to someone who wouldn't have heard of it otherwise, but I just can't get comfortable with the idea of sneakily keeping it to myself. Not when the support of my colleagues is one of the major reasons I was able to get to this level. I'll probably apply for the job, of course; but if I don't get it, I want people I like to be in the running! Or is that utterly foolish and naive? I guess I'm trying to figure out where the line is between being helpful and being so generous that I'm shooting myself in the foot. In this case, I can't find it by intuition alone. Would appreciate input. Thank you!<issue_comment>username_1: You are not obligated (unless by your own moral principles) to facilitate the distribution of job ads. You could take a broad self-interested perspective. In this case, you decide whether and how much you want the job and get a sense of your chance of getting the job without further distributing the job ad. Then, you think about how much you value others you care about getting the job and how much you value the profession as a whole making a better selection decision, and how much more likely that is to occur if you were to distribute the ad either to colleagues or to broader mailing lists, and also a sense of the cost in terms of your chances of not getting the job. From there, you can see what most aligns with your values and goals. In general, I would think of job applications as a domain of life that is often governed by the principles of fair competition. By fair competition, I mean the idea that it's okay to focus on yourself. You shouldn't go out of your way to hurt other applicants, but that equally there is no expectation that you will help other applicants also (especially when you are competing for a single prize). Thus, if you learn information that might help your application (e.g., interests of the employer, what they're looking for, etc.), you are under no obligation to share this with other applicants. If you know about the job, and others don't, you are under no obligation to share it. The assumption here is that it is a domain of life where the ethics of competition operate. The assumption is that other "competitors" in some sense are also operating by these rules. Anyway, these are two perspectives. My sense is that if you're very keen on getting the job and you think that you have a reasonable shot at getting it, that it would be reasonable to keep it to yourself. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: My own thoughts, having recently obtained a job by similar means (albeit a lecture position): if the posting exists somewhere, opportunity exists to find it, and unless it is an emergency posting from a rural or small-city college, websites are going to be checked by someone, e.g. a newly minted graduate wanting particular areas to work or faraway professor with family nearby. Additionally, your friends may themselves have connections you may not have that they aren't revealing - a colleague in the know, or a friend similar to yours, for example. So, unless you and your friends have some kind of pact to play the field equally with respect to one another, then go for it. In almost a decade of experience, including being on hiring committees, positions sometimes aren't posted to the usual websites intentionally, if there's an internal lecturer or adjunct they're looking to "bump up," especially for states who require posting the job for a set time regardless of whether the department has someone in mind beforehand (but, again, I'm not at a tenure-track higher education institution, so take this with a grain of salt). The lack of broadcasting the job on the usual channels may indicate that they have someone internal or orbiting the college in mind, or, worse, indicate a scrambled or weak administration, so be circumspect if you do land an interview, and watch for signs of significant need for improvement in the institution's administration. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Apply for the job. Do not spread the word, partly because you want to get the job, and partly because you're not even sure if the job really and truly exists. When you are well established, you can be altruistic and share job leads. This is similar to the instructions given on airplanes: in the event of a loss of air pressure in the cabin, put your own mask on first, and THEN put the mask on the child. Upvotes: 1
2016/10/06	757	3,437	<issue_start>username_0: I'm wondering if it is ethical to withdraw an accepted conference paper because the registration fees exceeded my budget? The fees were only announced after the paper submission deadline thus I didn't know the fees would be so high when I submitted my paper. Now when it got accepted to be presented, I don't think I will be able to attend the conference. I have not submitted the camera-ready paper yet and the registration deadline is in a month. I'm thinking of withdrawing my paper, but would it be ethical to do so? What are the consequences of doing this?<issue_comment>username_1: I'll leave a discussion of the ethics of withdrawal to someone else, but the main consequence of withdrawing your paper will be just that: Your paper will be withdrawn. It's unlikely to be something that's held against you. It may be a slight inconvenience to the organisers, particularly if you were accepted for an oral presentation, to have to find someone to replace you (or to leave a gap in the programme) but part of taking on the role of organising a conference is accepting that these things happen. You say that you've not submitted the camera-ready paper, so the proceedings will not have been completed. Therefore I'd suggest that there'd be no real damage done if you withdrew. To summarise. It might be a nuisance for the organisers (one they may well have accepted as par for the course), but there's no real harm been done. Edit: This isn't in answer to your question, but if the issue with the submission is simply financial then it may be worth contacting the organisers to ask if they know of any financial support that might be available, as well as conducting your own search for funds, before withdrawing. Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: No, withdrawing a paper in the situation you describe is not unethical. By not announcing the registration fees in advance of submission, the organizers left you having to make an ill-informed decision about whether or not to submit. It turns out that you made the wrong decision but you couldn't have known that in advance, so it is not your fault. You should contact the conference organizers. Explain that the registration fees are higher than you expected and ask if there is any financial support available. There often is. In future, though, if you're considering submitting to a conference where the registration fees haven't been announced before the submission deadline, you should ask the organizers for an estimate of the fees. Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Organisers usually expect some program changes; in this case they should expect more as they've provided insufficient information for you top make an informed decision. Conference programs often appear first in draft form. The final version often has some sessions finishing earlier than would be expected (this is particularly obvious when there are parallel sessions) as this is better than leaving holes in the program if a session can't be (re-)filled. Organiser and atendees have to accept this. There are plenty of reasons an author may submit with every intention of going, then not be able to go. A major one that's had questions here (or perhaps on travel.se) is that they can't get a visa. A conference I was at recently had a talk cancelled at the last minute when this happened to an invited speaker despite their best efforts. Upvotes: 2
2016/10/06	2,078	8,842	<issue_start>username_0: "Prependum" clarification: -------------------------- Strictly speaking, the supervisor has no actual authority in this decision (I think)-- it is between myself and the course convenor. However, I feel that `overruling' my supervisor by appealing to the convenor is unprofessional, and would inevitably affect the working relationship. This could be very counterproductive, and make an extension somehow pointless without the willing agreement of my supervisor. More importantly, they are the only potential academic referee (who knows me well) for use in a PhD application. --- I know there is a similar question [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/52244/should-universities-give-extra-time-or-related-accommodations-for-students-with), but I am looking for advice in my particular hairy circumstance. --- The Issue --------- I am currently writing an Honours Thesis in an Australian university due in less than a month. Since the end of last year, I have suffered from severe depression (been to hospital; self-harm; seeing a psychiatrist; etc) and have made this known to the Honours convenor who has pre-approved any reasonable extension I might ask for. The problem is with my thesis supervisor. They are highly averse to extending the project, as they are a very busy person. I understand this; it is not their responsibility. However, they also believe that obtaining an extension would be inequitable for other Honours students. I have made them fully aware of my condition, and stressed to them the magnitude of the impact it has on my studies. For instance, I (conservatively) estimated that I work less than half of the amount of time I would be able to if not afflicted. I also have had a meeting with them with several visible cuts on my arm. Their response to my concerns is that regardless of my condition, I have made significant progress. They believe I am capable of obtaining a High Distinction with my current progress. It is apparent from their other comments that they do not understand what depression truly is (i.e. "everyone gets nervous at the end of an Honours thesis"). At this point, I feel very pressured by my supervisor into submitting my thesis on time, but I do not think this is fair. I think that regardless of their perception of my academic performance, I have had dramatically less opportunity than other students due to my severe condition. However, it seems that mental illness is so poorly understood in this situation that what I think is a reasonable and fair extension (i.e. 6 months onto a 6 month thesis) is probably never going to happen in my institution, despite my gathering of evidence over the last six months in the form of letters from a psychologist. On one hand, I recognize that it's not fair to ask my supervisor to continue supervising for the duration of an extension (and neither do I think they will willingly). On the other hand, I have been open and clear about the possibility of this happening from the very beginning of my project, and I believe they are seriously wrong about what they deem equitable. Their claim that an extension would be inequitable makes it clear to me that they are judging my condition based on my academic performance rather than on the actual opportunity I have had. --- The Question ------------ I'm really unsure what to do in this situation and would appreciate advice. Here are options I've considered: * With the aid of my psychologist, push for a significant extension that I believe to be equitable. This is problematic, as it is difficult even for me to judge how long that should be. Furthermore, my supervisor probably won't be available. If they are, they will be so reluctantly and perhaps begrudgingly. * Concede to my supervisor's wish for me to finish on time, and possibly end up with ~HD anyway. * Obtain a short extension (~1-2 months) and spend that time refining my thesis without the aid of my supervisor.<issue_comment>username_1: As you say, it sounds like your supervisor does not understand depression at all. Or at the very least, he or she doesn't realise that what you're experiencing is depression and not just typical thesis stress. That's very unfortunate, but all too common (in the general population, not just supervisors). You have every right to an extension. However, given that you are depressed, you may not be the best judge of your own progress right now. Even students who aren't depressed have difficulty accurately assessing the progress of their research and thesis. Your supervisor has a lot of confidence in you, and seems to think you're "almost done". I'm reading between the lines a bit, but it sounds like your supervisor is a good supervisor apart from being clueless about mental health. I think it might be worthwhile to have a meeting with your supervisor, and with someone who will be in your corner on the mental health issue (the Honours convenor, perhaps?). The three of you can then put together a plan to finish your thesis. Try to keep an open mind. I don't mean that you should let yourself be pressured into taking on more than you can handle right now. I just mean that there may not be as much work remaining as you thought. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: It depends a lot on the university's policies. I know of one Australian university where extension decisions are not in the academics' hands. Find out the extension process for your university, get medical certificates and make sure you follow the process. If you miss deadlines for applying for extensions, you can get into difficult situations. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: The answer from @username_1 is very good and I have upvoted it, but I wanted to share some thoughts that won't fit in a comment. My son has Tourette Syndrome, OCD, ADHD and anxiety. We had the experience last May that his accommodation for extra time to turn in assignments was suddenly and arbitrarily removed from his accommodation plan. Overnight, his anxiety went sky-high. He got so nervous about the turning in of the homework assignments, that he couldn't think straight any more. Two weeks of this, and mercifully, the principal (director of the school) notified me that the teachers were going to continue to allow him to turn things in late, on an informal basis. As soon as I conveyed this to my son, he relaxed and started to be able to do good work again. So, based on this experience, I would advise you to negotiate a reasonable extension, enough to take the edge off the anxiety. Of course, even with the extension, you will probably have some anxiety. But it would be best to keep your anxiety to where you can still function and do good work. You may find that having the extension in place gives you the peace of mind you need, and you are able to complete your project without actually using the extension after all. You never know! Work with your therapist during this time, to check whether a sense of perfectionism is perhaps getting in your way. This is something that I have seen in my son. I have seen him not turn in homework assignments because he had skipped a couple of the problems. You may want to share your draft with your therapist, in fact. Regarding your concern about maintaining a good relationship with your thesis supervisor -- (a) What are your mid and long-range goals in terms of continued collaboration with this person? If you do not plan to continue the collaboration beyond the Honors Thesis, then it might be helpful for you to start detaching emotionally. Are there some other people in your life whose good opinion of you is important to you? (b) The beauty of working with a Student Disability office is that they can help the professor understand what adjustments may be needed. I was glad to read that you are looking into Access & Inclusion. Please let us know what you find out. Also, try to find a support group for students, or people, with disabilities. (c) Don't assume your supervisor noticed your injuries or understood them. Take the time to explain things to him or her. (In general, it is, in my opinion, better to explain your condition and how it affects your studies, with words rather than by displaying your injuries. I'm not saying you have to use long-sleeved shirts. You don't have to hide injuries or scars. But at the same time I wouldn't want you to fall into exhibitionism. I wasn't sure from what you wrote, whether there might have been an element of this. Also, keep in mind that a person can have a handicapping condition, without there necessarily being any self-harm going on. In other words, please don't ever feel that you need to harm yourself in order to get people to take your difficulties seriously.) (d) Don't take it personally if someone doesn't "get" it. Upvotes: 2
2016/10/07	2,344	9,955	<issue_start>username_0: I am five weeks into a two-year MS program in statistics at a public university in the US. To be honest, I do not think my graduate program was the right choice for me. I am struggling a lot with the work. I do not find my instructors helpful in class or in office hours; what is taught in class is difficult to relate to the homework and is often a different focus than what's in our textbook. Although I want to do more data science/research analysis work as a career, I picked a program that included both applied and theoretical courses because I thought the theory was good to know. But now the theoretical side feels like a burden. I still like stats, and I'm not sure if my unhappiness is my particular graduate program or being in grad school at all. The question is, how soon is "too soon" to know to quit, and is there any way to tell if I would be happy or not in another, more applied program? I have spoken with my parents (who are funding my graduate education) and we are all agreed that I should at least finish out this semester. Do I quit then and look for jobs? Do I wait until the end of next semester and see if different professors make a difference, and if not, go to a different program or get a job? Or is it silly to do half of it and not finish the MS?<issue_comment>username_1: I think that it really depends on how much you're struggling. Are you failing your problem sets? Are you merely unhappy with the courses? I expect that there will be huge variations with the answers, but personally I would advise you to finish out your MS. The reason being that there actually is a huge difference in terms of your career (salary, promotions etc) when you have an advanced degree, so usually an MS is a worthy investment (as an aside, there are studies that suggest that having a PhD does not offer a lot of extra advantages compared to an MS, so if you are already unsure of your MS, I could advise against a PhD). Another reason is that it would not look too good to your employers to show that you dropped out after just a semester in your program. Perseverance is a very strong quality that is appreciated by many people. Furthermore, your experience depends largely on your professors. I would talk to other students to see if there are particularly popular professors who teach courses that you are interested in, and try to take those classes next semester (and while you are talking to your fellow grad students, you might as well ask them about your current feelings and ask if this is common). That being said, I suggest that you talk to your program director, because maybe your program is notoriously hard, and there are many students feeling this way. You may walk out of that meeting feeling reassured, or maybe that meeting will give you a very strong and concrete reason to drop out of your MS. Or maybe the program director could suggest an alternative MS program that can still credit this semester towards the degree (for example, it sounds like an MS in computer science might have been a better fit than an MS in statistics, but I can easily imagine an MS in computer science requiring some statistics courses). Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There is no right answer. In my university, most drop-outs simply have a job and no time or energy to finish their studies. Though their workplaces sometimes make effort to speed up their employees graduation, with less work, but some just encourage the students to become full time workers. In my university one can change their subject. Many of the completed classes are valid for other programs. It could be that if there is CS-department, you could become machine learning expert, which is basically the same, but not as rigor as pure stat-math. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: "how soon is "too soon" to know to quit" It really depends on your personal convictions-what did you major in for your undergrad? You have to be sure you've given it your best shot-it seems like you still enjoy the stats but lack the support you need with your coursework, etc. Graduate studies can be very difficult initially especially if you're not used to that style of learning. Stats can be difficult if you haven't majored in a quantitative field. Why not get extra help from your tutors? Perhaps watch online lectures from other "better" lecturers about the topics you're struggling with (MIT, harvard, etc all have free youtube videos). You may also wish to get a private tutor who may be of some assistance. Back to your question of "when to quit" All in all, I think you have to be careful not to allow too much unexplained gaps in your resume. If having put in 100% effort, you still don't think this is the right course for you, leave early and find something else to do. Besides, a masters degree is not a strict requirement for a data science career and there are many paths into this field. You may wish to read more about the various paths to data science ([Do I need a Masters/Phd to become a data scientist](https://www.quora.com/Do-I-need-a-Masters-PhD-to-become-a-data-scientist)) Best wishes. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: Imagine yourself 20 years from now, a dean in a department. One of the students in your department feels a mismatch with the program of studies, but doesn't tell you or anyone else in the department. The student drops out after one semester. You feel frustrated because you think that some of the problems could have been solved, if only the student had let you know what was going on, before getting past the point of no return. What I'm getting at here is that you and your parents are putting in huge amounts of time and money. You must inform someone at your university of exactly what you wrote here. If you are not comfortable talking to the person who is normally the point of contact for a problem such as yours, then pick someone else in your department. Or go to someone higher up, who is not in your department. Sometimes it is helpful to ask a nice secretary, or an empathetic fellow student, for a recommendation of whom to talk to. If it is easier for you to have this needed conversation with an administrator by having a friend or relative participate, then do. You can arrange, for example, for your parents to be part of the meeting, via Skype, for example, if that would be helpful for you. You have taken the first step -- self awareness. Now, share your self awareness with your university. Give them the opportunity to try to help you figure this out with you. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: That is definitely a tough question. Do you think that grad school itself is not for you right now, or do you just want a different program? First of all, whichever you do, it has to be seated deep within you. If you quit, for instance, and it ends up coming up at a job interview, you're going to have to answer that question with confidence. There are good answers for every choice you can make here--you just have to believe in them enough to defend them without shame. If it's mainly the program, talk to your advisor and talk to the department chair. That's what they're there for. They had to choose their own fields and they know you do, too. They can explain your options, of which you may have more than you realize. Also, if they're not supportive, that's a great reason to pick a different program. You can also talk to the graduate advisor of record and/or the department chair for a department you are more interested in. I went to grad school about four years after graduating undergrad, and I quit a few weeks in because I hated it so much. All my anxieties came back, I felt like I was failing miserably, and I was already struggling to make myself do any homework or go to school. It was hard, but I actually had to redefine my self-image in a way that didn't rely on my education level. That sounds obvious, but it turned out I was really wrapped up in that. I had to be okay with hearing myself say, "Maybe I don't actually want a Ph.D." (or Master's, in your case). Until then, I hadn't realized that graduate degrees were something you could want. To me, they were just something you did if you were worth anything. 10 years later, I'm getting my Master's in May and I'm waiting to hear back on a Ph.D. program I'm excited about. A lot of things have changed in the meantime, but mostly, they're very particular to my situation. The important thing that changed is that I realized what I'd always thought I wanted to study wasn't as interesting as I thought. It was close, so it wasn't obvious that it wasn't the right field for me. But I came to peace with that, and I did end up finding something that really was of great interest, and here I am. I was excited when I submitted my application and I was excited when I sat down for my first class, even though I hadn't been in school for 15 years by then and I struggled very much in undergrad. I'm just as excited now--I'm actually having fun. I encourage you to hold your experience to a high standard for what you want in your life. One last point--if you're really miserable, taking care of yourself is important, and the right decision may be not to wait out the semester. If your parents are worried about the money, consider offering to pay them back over a period of a few months or years depending on how much it is. Consider also that if you wait out the semester, you won't get any credit for those classes in the job market. You may be able to apply them to another program later but it's iffy. The money is already sunk, so it shouldn't weigh too heavily. However, if you're doing okay and just not satisfied, I'd say, finish the semester. Maybe you'll have some insight and change your mind. If the semester ends and you're still not sure if you want to switch or quit, you can apply for a break for one or two semesters, usually. Upvotes: 0
2016/10/07	547	2,266	<issue_start>username_0: I'm going to apply for an assistant professor position in a European university's campus in China. The problem is that I do not have any formal, class-based teaching experience while the job specification says that I need to teach four courses. The university also asks for a teaching statement. What shall I put in that statement? Please advise and thanks in advance.<issue_comment>username_1: Most universities require a "teaching statement containing your teaching philosophy". Just because you have not taught does not mean that you do not have a teaching philosophy. That being said, I see two serious problems with your question. 1. They will most likely ask for a teaching reference letter, and you do not have that since you have never taught. You can try to get a letter by offering to teach one of your colleagues' classes (with your colleague in attendance). He/she will observe your teaching, and they can write a letter based on this. 2. I find it shocking that the only reason you seem to want to apply to this position is because "it is good in terms of remuneration" (a statement that has since been deleted from your question). As a researcher myself I do not teach a whole lot, but if you are already of the mindset that you are teaching because of the money, I think that this attitude will come through at some place or another, and I am not so sure that this job is right for you (or that you are right for this job). Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: > > I do not have any formal, class-based teaching experience > > > The way you wrote this suggests that perhaps you have some informal teaching or tutoring experience. If so, you can write about that. You have years of experience observing teachers at work. Think about what made the good ones effective, and what the bad ones did wrong. You can use this analysis to create your draft teaching philosophy. --- If you do not get this particular job, and you decide to continue applying for teaching jobs, then I suggest you get some teaching and tutoring experience under your belt as soon as possible. It's okay to volunteer -- as long as you treat your volunteer teaching as seriously as you would treat a paid teaching or tutoring job. Upvotes: 1
2016/10/07	1,281	5,496	<issue_start>username_0: I'm writing a referee report on a paper. This paper is interesting and, if correct, would be worth publishing. However, I believe they have a major mistake in their method which invalidates their results more or less entirely. I am 90%+ confident that this method is in error, which will affect their results in (possibly unpredictable) ways. How should I address this in the rest of the paper? I could write the rest of the referee report assuming that they haven't made this mistake - but I think that could be a waste of my time (and their time, since it'll take me longer to do). If a referee had this sort of problem with your paper, what would you like to happen? Edited to add: One of the major concerns I have with just rejecting, focusing on this point (as recommended by Raghu and others), is the (time and $) cost of re-running things. Saying, "This is wrong" but not going through the rest of the paper could lead to a second referee report where they've fixed the error and re-done everything. If I then say, "Also, Experiment B doesn't mean what you think it does," re-running Experiment B may have been a waste. How much consideration of these factors do you think a referee owes the authors?<issue_comment>username_1: If there's a "major mistake in their method which invalidates their results more or less entirely" it seems pretty clear that you should explain this in your review, and not bother writing much else. (This seems so obvious, I wonder if I'm misunderstanding your question.) Why on earth would you "write the rest of the referee report assuming that they haven't made this mistake," if you're quite sure that the mistake exists, and that it invalidates most of the paper? What purpose would it serve, for the authors or future readers? Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: The answer to your question depends on whether you think the mistake can be fixed with reasonable efforts (i. e. without redoing the work from scratch). This can be discipline specific, for redoing the analysis of a painstakingly assembled dataset is not the same thing as overhauling a purely theoretical work. If in your view it cannot be fixed, this provides ample grounds for rejecting the paper. Otherwise the referee should help the editor answer the crucial question whether to reject the paper or to request a major revision. In this case the rest of your review report should provide the clue whether the paper is worth revising and whether the authors are fit for this task. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: It might be polite to write something like the following: > > In Lemma 3.2.5, it seems that the authors assume that the ABC is XYZ, and that this is critical to most of what follows. But after studying the argument carefully, I don't see why this is necessarily the case. Could the authors please clarify? > > > In other words, give them the benefit of the doubt. If the authors are not cranks, then this will do as much good as claiming that they made a mistake, and will potentially cause fewer hard feelings. (And if they are cranks, you don't much care either way -- so may as well assume they're not!) There is no need to continue with the referee report. Just send something like the above to the editor. The authors might withdraw the paper, or devise a workaround, or explain why their method is in fact correct. In any case, editors appreciate careful checking and you don't need to worry that such a brief message will make a bad impression. Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: Personally, you are the referee, and thus by definition, you are the expert the editors and publisher are relying upon to deal with this sort of thing. Go with your gut. You should probably write out just what you wrote above bluntly. There seems to be a mistake that makes interpretation difficult until the matter is cleared up. If the journal asks you not to put any recommendations for publication to the author directly, but they ask you for your opinion on the matter, you should make it clear in the confidential section that you believe any revision would require additional review. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: If I were in your place, I would write to the editor explaining that I have these doubts on the manuscript, which I cannot verify based on my knowledge/experience, and you let the editor decide based on his experience and the other reviewer(s). At the same time, I would mark it for rejection, propose my theory and make it clear that if they can answer to your concerns adequately, the manuscript is worth resubmitting (and possibly publish). Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: I agree with Raghu's answer that you don't need to go through the rest of the paper until the error is addressed and with username_3's answer about how to phrase things. But if it were me I would also tell the editor something like (assuming this is what you think): > > The results are interesting and important and would merit acceptance in this journal (after minor edits) if they are correct. So I'd recommend that the authors revise and resubmit if they are able to clarify the above point or replace this with a different argument. > > > Basically you want the editor to know whether they should be encouraging resubmission of a corrected version. You want to be clear that it passed the initial "are these results interesting enough" screen before you got to the harder "are they correct" screen. Upvotes: 3
2016/10/07	393	1,536	<issue_start>username_0: For the application of remote sensing, a satellite imaging of an urban land cover is required. The image I require is readily available in Google Maps. Who must I contact to receive permission to include a portion of the map as a figure in my paper?<issue_comment>username_1: Why, of course you should [contact Google](https://www.google.com/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=oUP3V_CDEO_W8geJxaSwBQ&gws_rd=cr#q=permission%20to%20use%20google%20maps%20image). More precisely, the [Google Permissions](https://www.google.com/permissions/geoguidelines.html) page states that it is okay to use Google Map images for the purposes of research assuming that you provide proper attributions. Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You may need to discuss this with your publisher as well. My own papers never include any diagrams other than self-made line-drawings so I'm not super-familiar with journal requirements. However, I've noticed in passing that they usually seem to require explicit written permission from the owner of any copyrighted material you include in your paper. [Google's permissions page](https://www.google.com/permissions/geoguidelines.html) says that Google will not give explicit written permission, which could be a problem. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Is there a reason that it must come from Google maps? You may have better luck using Open Street Map. OSM has [fairly liberal licensing](http://www.openstreetmap.org/about), all you need to do is credit OSM Contributors. Upvotes: 2
2016/10/07	2,799	11,388	<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD Student in computer science. During my my first 2 years I developed an algorithm that seems to work fine in a certain field of applications. My adviser recently told me that he is starting a spin-off with a colleague of a different department and that he plans, in a couple of years to use my algorithm in it. Now, considering that: * I am not interested in joining my adviser spin off as an employee * My advisor can understand the outcomes but not the 100% of the logic of the algorithm * In the future I want to make my own company based on that algorithm I am quite worried. How fair (and common) is that an advisor plans to use the code of one of his to students to make money (none of which will finish in my pockets)? The fact that he will use my algorithms, will limit in any way me to use them in the future for the same scope (in a different field)? May talk to him be a good way to solve this problem? I don't know how to deal with this fact.<issue_comment>username_1: Taking a slightly different tack from @ff524's comment on your question, I strongly recommend you consult with university legal staff. A previous advisor of mine owned a business outside of the university. He had made particular legal arrangements with the university to ensure that no IP (intellectual property) was being taken between the two businesses, and any IP that was being used was documented and accounted for. Neglecting to do this puts your advisor on the path to lawsuits, and suffice to say, "thar be dragons." I won't even try to comment on your own liability in this situation, because I Am Not A Lawyer™. This is a legal matter; consult a legal expert. Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Your university will have an office that deals with the transfer of intellectual property. You need to talk to them. You need to research your agreement as a student with your university. In many cases, the University is the assignee of your intellectual property. This doesn't mean that you are not the developer, and that you're not entitled to any proceeds/licensing fees/etc. that might result. It means that your share might be predetermined by agreement, and you might not have any say as to what the university does with the intellectual property. My suspicion is that it's likely that your adviser is not entitled to use your code without some licensing agreement with the university, though the university might choose to issue him that license at no charge as part of their spin-off agreement. I'm not sure if your agreement with the university allows you to just pick up an algorithm that you developed as a student and use it. You might need to license it from the university as well-- in which case, your interest involve making sure that any licensing agreement between the university and your mentor is a NON EXCLUSIVE license. I am not a lawyer. If this is valuable stuff, I suggest you hire one. In any case, I strongly recommend that all this stuff gets hashed out ASAP, for the benefit of you, your mentor, and the university. For all concerned, this needs to be bulletproof, and the software will need to be able to hold up to a licensing audit. Nobody would like a lawyer to come in and shut down a business with a cease and desist. If you used significant non-university resources to develop the algorithm (i.e., your own computer, a compiler you paid for, etc.) you should make a list of this and keep it handy. This is tricky. I suspect that if things go as routine, the university and your mentor's company might not make this bulletproof, leaving them open to legal action on your part. Just by bringing it up, you might force them to cover their bases, and hurt your own interests. Once again, if this is valuable, you need to hire a lawyer, and I suggest you do it BEFORE approaching the university. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Actually, I do not really understand your general strategy: If the code is published under MIT license and the details of the algorithm are published, then pretty much anybody can use this code or algorithm for his/her own company (as far as I understand the license, I am not a lawyer). So it is perfectly fine for your supervisor to use this code. It is also perfectly fine for you to use this code in any company you found (again, as far as I understand the license details). Probably, a scientific algorithm will only be a tiny part of software that you want to sell or for which you want to consult. So I would not worry too much. Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_4: Taking another angle based on your comments, having released the code under an MIT licence means that anyone can utilise it for commercial or non-commercial uses ([see this other stackexchange question](https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/178486/what-exactly-does-the-condition-in-the-mit-license-imply/178493#178493)). However, they must include proper attribution and inclusion of your license in any distribution. Namely, there shouldn't be any ambiguity over the creation of the algorithm and your name should be included in their company's distribution (as included in the license). If this wasn't the case, that would be a legal issue. If you were to implement it separately to your advisor in years to come, you'd have as much right to it as them, as long as you didn't infringe on any of their implementations. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: File a patent first, and then submit your paper for review. If your algorithm is published before the patent filing, you can't patent the code and use it for profit; this is the case unless your algorithm has been public for less than 12 months. In the USA, there is a 12 month grace period between public disclosures and patent filings. I believe, but do not quote me on this, that the EU has no grace period post public disclosures. I had a professor publically disclose a material/scheme/application that myself and a few others conceived. The intellectual property was lost because of this motion. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: If you look at it from purely economic perspective, you have two viable choices here: 1. To start a company as fast as possible and beat your advisor to it. 2. Innovate and improve your algorithm over the next two years so the current version becomes obsolete and then use the new version for your business. Do not waste time and money on legal squabbles. Even if you patented your algorithm or published it under proprietary license, it still wouldn't be worth fighting a legal battle with your advisor for it. Why? Because if there is really any value in it, 10 more companies will gracefully clone your algorithm and flood the market leaving you and your advisor behind. On top of that, suing someone over software patent infringement rarely pays off. This [wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_patents_under_United_States_patent_law) can give you a sense of what it's been like. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: My reply is based on the premise that the results of scientific research work should be made available, without restriction, to all of humankind, and thus no one - neither your advisor nor yourself - should be able to benefit financially from monopolizing such an algorithm or restricting its use. That is not to say that you, or him, or your university, should not start companies which do commercial work based on that research (\) - but certainly don't base them on restricting access to knowledge and insight. You could further improve your algorithm; you could develop useful products based on it; you could offer services involving it; and so on. As for your questions: > > How fair is for an advisor to use his student's code to make money (none of which will finish in the student's pockets)? > > > If that code is publicly accessible - as fair as it is to "make money" in general. That's doubly true if the algorithm was the result of funded research (which, if you're a Ph.D. candidate, is most probably the case). However, if most of the effort towards making that money was actually producing that code, then it becomes less fair - but then it's more likely that it's not fair for any of you to make money (since you're probably doing it by patenting or close-sourcing etc.) > > How common is for an advisor to use his student's code to make money (none of which will finish in the student's pockets)? > > > It happens occasionally, in my experience anyway. That's not nearly the worst thing advisors do to their advisees. > > The fact that he will use my algorithms, will limit in any way me to use them in the future for the same scope (in a different field)? > > > It shouldn't - but just check the licensing. You should do well to publish the code someplace like on GitHub or BitBucket and with a [nonrestrictive license](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html); then if a bunch of people are using it, the cat will be out of the bag and even if someone has some legal argument to make against the public use of this code they'll likely not try to pursue it anyway. Set your code free! > > May talk to him be a good way to solve this problem? > > > The thing is, the question of whether there's a problem at all, and if so, what the problem actually is, is not clearly and consensually resolved, and people who don't agree on nature and the very existence of a problem are unlikely to "solve" it. --- (\) - That's another question on which I have strong views which are beyond the scope of this question. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: You wrote an algorithm and published it, and wrote code to implement it with one of the most permissive use licences available - there is nothing you can legally or ethically do to prevent your professor from using and profiting on it. By using the MIT licence, you effectively said that you are releasing it for free use, without concern for how others use it. Open-source licences aren't a cudgel to prevent others profiting. --- Regarding your actual questions: > > How fair (and common) is that an advisor plans to use the code of one of his to students to make money (none of which will finish in my pockets)? > > > Not very fair. But fairness doesn't come into this. > > The fact that he will use my algorithms, will limit in any way me to use them in the future for the same scope (in a different field)? > > > No. You made all the code public so you can use it however you want too. Although if the field is related enough that the algorithm can be used, he may have a better product or better market position. > > May talk to him be a good way to solve this problem? > > > Probably not. There is no problem to discuss. > > I don't know how to deal with this fact. > > > Move on. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: This depends completely on the laws your university operates under. In some legislations it is the default that it is the university that owns any legal rights, but in some others it's not true but rather the teacher / researcher who owns those rights exclusively. The fact that the code has already been published could be more of a worry in the case the local laws are so restrictive that the researcher or groups are not in power to make those calls on their own. Upvotes: 1
2016/10/07	270	1,066	<issue_start>username_0: One of my papers has recently been accepted! We received an e-mail informing us that we have a short time frame in which we need to do a bunch of work to get the paper ready for publication. In particular, one of the components which we need to submit is a brief author biography for each co-author. I have had a few papers published before, but none of these papers has required me to provide a brief author biography. What information should I include in this biography? Can someone provide a sample of his/her biography for me to use as a reference or template?<issue_comment>username_1: My experience in this field is the next. 1. Bio should include main things dealing with you as a researcher: * name * university and specialty that you graduated * your current position * awards * scientific interests 2. Usualy, it have to be a very-very short version of your bio (several sentences). Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Can't you look at author biographies from other papers in that journal? Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
2016/10/07	1,497	6,567	<issue_start>username_0: I recently graduated with a BA in physics. Towards the tail end of my undergrad career I took the Putnam exam (scored 28 w/o having taken any upper div math), and subsequently took a couple core math courses (one quarter of real analysis, one quarter of proof-based linear algebra). These were the probably the three most enjoyable learning experiences I've had in undergrad, and for the past month or so I've been trying to think about how I could possibly switch to a research career in mathematics but it seems very unfeasible due to the small amount of core classes I took and my inability to do any substantial math research both due to lack of knowledge and lack of faculty connections. Right now I am taking a gap year working in a physics lab. I am technically able to audit more core math courses at my undergrad institution but wouldn't reasonably be able to do more than two (maximum three) more. I could self-study but am worried about the lack of grades to reflect my learning (although I could take the math GRE and hope for the best). It's my understanding that I'd need a strong foundation in analysis and algebra before being able to do any sort of meaningful research, so my hope is now to get into a master's program where I could fill in my gaps and start working on research, but even these programs require a much more thorough foundation than what I'd be able to build on paper. Is there any way that I could switch to math at this point, with the goal of entering a math PhD program, or is my best bet to try to do theoretical physics and segway that into mathematical physics? Thanks in advance for your time and answers.<issue_comment>username_1: Sure; apply to a graduate program in math. Most such applicants have no publications so far, so that will not hold you back. Take the GRE. Mention your Putnam score. If you are in the US and are applying to a US school, you have a good chance of admission... not Harvard or Berkeley, perhaps, but at many good schools. You may be asked to take some make-up undergraduate course work at the start; but with your Putnam score I am thinking this will easy for you. And many math programs will let you do that after admitting you as a graduate student. Write what you wrote here in your application. Another thought. Maybe try your own university. You have met some of the faculty already. Email the math department, see if there is a recruitment committee for new graduate students; talk to one of them and see what they say. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Besides applying to a master's program, which as another answer as suggested is a perfectly viable option, you could also consider a post-bac program. I believe both Smith and Brandeis have such programs. They are year-long programs and they are intended for students like you: who have a weak pure math background but are interested in pursuing a graduate degree in math. You would take most of the standard undergraduate math courses, and likely some of the lower master's courses. At Smith, I know they are also focused on bringing in frequent speakers, so you'd form strong connections for apply to a graduate program afterwards. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: There are two things you need. 1. An excellent math GRE score. You have little to no track record, so this is absolutely vital. It's less vital for those with already good track records, although the GRE can certainly kill otherwise good applications if the score is terrible. I can't emphasize enough how important this test is, even though I think it's absolutely moronic. Start studying now. Some searching and sleuthing will reveal quite a bunch of available resources online. Free too! 2. Three excellent letters of recommendation, at least. Preferably from senior and well-known senior faculty in mathematics, who can attest to your "ability to not just survive, but succeed in graduate school". I think there's a lot of the drivel said in letters of recommendation these days, a la "strongest student I've had in the last X years". The same writer will then proceed to say that next year, and the year after that, etc. But you need this drivel regardless. (How in the world can I know if you'll be the next Grothendieck? I can't.) Don't hate the player, hate the game. How do I get these letters of recommendation? Great question! I've found that the best letters of recommendation come from either 1. somebody you've done a reading course with where you've produced an outstanding piece of written work for them, usually an expository paper, 2. someone you've done undergraduate research (or as others might call it, undergraduate "research") with, where you hopefully have solved some minor open problem, or 3. someone's who's (upper-division undergraduate or graduate) course you had the highest or so grade in that had competitive in-class exams (none of this take-home exam nonsense). (I cannot emphasize enough having at least one letter of recommendation coming from someone who satisfies my third criterion above. Unless you did your undergraduate at Harvard or Princeton and are out of this world amazing, a letter of recommendation that can say this will be vital. Indeed, many of us faculty have observed that there is a strong correlation between strong competitive exam takers and those who have a very strong grasp of the basics.) How can I get the attention of those elusive senior and not deadwood faculty and get them to love me enough to write me an excellent letter of recommendation, especially for my first and second criterion above? Send an email, show up to their office, catch them somewhere in the math department building, having prepared for such a meeting quite a bit to show you know your stuff. It would be a lie to say they don't bite, some certainly do. But I would say a useful elaboration of "bite" would be "is making sure they're working with someone up to their perhaps quite high standards, and that they're indeed actually learning and coming closer to attaining mastery and not just performing to impress". Sure, mathematics is ultimately about beauty, not jumping through the right hoops, but getting into a good mathematics graduate school is no easy feat these days. Once you get regular meetings going with a faculty member, whether it be for a reading course or to discuss your progress on research, you should prepare for every meeting as if you were expecting an oral examination on the relevant material. I'll add a bit more later, if I have the time. Upvotes: 2
2016/10/07	1,363	5,837	<issue_start>username_0: I am a university level student of Computer Science. I like to know what really differentiates Bioinformatics from Computational Biology in terms of the core area of study and the nature of subjects and curriculum. In addition, which discipline is more Math/Stats oriented or in other words which one requires sound foundation and skills in Maths and Statistics and what level of Math/Stats is desired? I am including these links here so that everyone can look into the right definitions of these interdisciplinary fields of study: 1. [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioinformatics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioinformatics) 2. [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational\_biology](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_biology) 3. [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical\_and\_theoretical\_biology](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_biology) Looking forward to professional academic information and advice. Thank you<issue_comment>username_1: Sure; apply to a graduate program in math. Most such applicants have no publications so far, so that will not hold you back. Take the GRE. Mention your Putnam score. If you are in the US and are applying to a US school, you have a good chance of admission... not Harvard or Berkeley, perhaps, but at many good schools. You may be asked to take some make-up undergraduate course work at the start; but with your Putnam score I am thinking this will easy for you. And many math programs will let you do that after admitting you as a graduate student. Write what you wrote here in your application. Another thought. Maybe try your own university. You have met some of the faculty already. Email the math department, see if there is a recruitment committee for new graduate students; talk to one of them and see what they say. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Besides applying to a master's program, which as another answer as suggested is a perfectly viable option, you could also consider a post-bac program. I believe both Smith and Brandeis have such programs. They are year-long programs and they are intended for students like you: who have a weak pure math background but are interested in pursuing a graduate degree in math. You would take most of the standard undergraduate math courses, and likely some of the lower master's courses. At Smith, I know they are also focused on bringing in frequent speakers, so you'd form strong connections for apply to a graduate program afterwards. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: There are two things you need. 1. An excellent math GRE score. You have little to no track record, so this is absolutely vital. It's less vital for those with already good track records, although the GRE can certainly kill otherwise good applications if the score is terrible. I can't emphasize enough how important this test is, even though I think it's absolutely moronic. Start studying now. Some searching and sleuthing will reveal quite a bunch of available resources online. Free too! 2. Three excellent letters of recommendation, at least. Preferably from senior and well-known senior faculty in mathematics, who can attest to your "ability to not just survive, but succeed in graduate school". I think there's a lot of the drivel said in letters of recommendation these days, a la "strongest student I've had in the last X years". The same writer will then proceed to say that next year, and the year after that, etc. But you need this drivel regardless. (How in the world can I know if you'll be the next Grothendieck? I can't.) Don't hate the player, hate the game. How do I get these letters of recommendation? Great question! I've found that the best letters of recommendation come from either 1. somebody you've done a reading course with where you've produced an outstanding piece of written work for them, usually an expository paper, 2. someone you've done undergraduate research (or as others might call it, undergraduate "research") with, where you hopefully have solved some minor open problem, or 3. someone's who's (upper-division undergraduate or graduate) course you had the highest or so grade in that had competitive in-class exams (none of this take-home exam nonsense). (I cannot emphasize enough having at least one letter of recommendation coming from someone who satisfies my third criterion above. Unless you did your undergraduate at Harvard or Princeton and are out of this world amazing, a letter of recommendation that can say this will be vital. Indeed, many of us faculty have observed that there is a strong correlation between strong competitive exam takers and those who have a very strong grasp of the basics.) How can I get the attention of those elusive senior and not deadwood faculty and get them to love me enough to write me an excellent letter of recommendation, especially for my first and second criterion above? Send an email, show up to their office, catch them somewhere in the math department building, having prepared for such a meeting quite a bit to show you know your stuff. It would be a lie to say they don't bite, some certainly do. But I would say a useful elaboration of "bite" would be "is making sure they're working with someone up to their perhaps quite high standards, and that they're indeed actually learning and coming closer to attaining mastery and not just performing to impress". Sure, mathematics is ultimately about beauty, not jumping through the right hoops, but getting into a good mathematics graduate school is no easy feat these days. Once you get regular meetings going with a faculty member, whether it be for a reading course or to discuss your progress on research, you should prepare for every meeting as if you were expecting an oral examination on the relevant material. I'll add a bit more later, if I have the time. Upvotes: 2
2016/10/07	1,046	4,842	<issue_start>username_0: In our research I had many meetings and discussions regarding our work (i.e., solutions, implementation, related work, etc) with three other researchers. When I wrote the papers, they were also responsible for reviewing the manuscripts and making decisions together about anything related to them (publishing, editing, assessing comments from journal reviewers etc). These contributors were my coauthors in every paper I wrote for this specific research. They are all researchers, PhDs and teachers in different institutions. There are still two papers left: one in the process of being published and other brand new. However, one contributor simply stopped contributing. He didn't say that explicitly, but every time I write a new paper version and our reviewing process starts, he either does not respond to e-mails or takes too long to answer or finish his duties. Usually, the reviewing is only partial (e.g. "I couldn't read all the paper, so here is my comments regarding the first two sections"). My question is, even though this person contributed to our overall research and for the papers in the past, should I put his name in the next paper, assuming he is not going to contribute anymore (while the others will)? How would you deal with this situation?<issue_comment>username_1: Things to consider: * What are the standards for authorship in your field, and for the type of journals you expect to submit to? Some fields and journals have much more demanding criteria than others. They may, for example, require that they not only make meaningful contributions to the research (it sounds like he did), but also meaningful contributions to the actual writing and final approval of the article (questionable). Others may expect significantly less. * Is author order important in your field? There's always the possibility that he gets demoted in the ordering, or that any arrangements you made regarding varying the ordering of authors on each paper can be taken into account (maybe he was in the lower importance positions on earlier articles but contributed highly to those, so you just count those towards his higher positioning on these and call it even; or he's in the low importance positions now and that's consistent with his contribution). * Did you and your collaborators discuss the conditions for being listed as a coauthor, or the loss thereof, at the beginning of the project? If not, the lesson here is that this is usually considered a very good idea. If you did, does he meet them or not? * Very importantly: Have you recently discussed this issue with the other collaborators? You can't make a decision unilaterally, and they may see the matter as a bigger or lesser problem than you do. You will also need to address how you're going to broach the topic with the colleague that's at issue. He has to be made aware in a professional manner, otherwise if he finds out you've cut him out he may contact any journal you submit to and cry foul play, potentially getting you into a whole heap of trouble. Collaborations can go awry for lots of reasons, and people getting busy is one of the most common. That's why you often see the suggestion here to discuss authorship issues at the beginning of the project, instead of at the end. Sometimes practical realities force you to accept concessions regarding authorship that you might otherwise be opposed to. Best to start talking with your collaborators on their opinions and advice. Keep a record of conversations about the writing of these articles as well as discussions concerning authorship. Even if you think he's made no significant contributions to the actual writing of the article, that he has provided any feedback at all may be usable as proof that he did. A broader record that puts his "contribution" into context, and makes it clear that you aren't trying to hide things, is likely to help your case if problems should arise. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: If you plan to change anything in your authorship agreement, you should bring this issue up as soon as possible. You could politely ask if the person is still interested in working on the paper, e. g. ask "I've noticed that your responses for this paper come slowly. Probably you are busy with other things. To complete the paper I would need... from your side. I could also try to finish the paper without you, but wonder if you still want to be a coauthor." (Just a first shot for a formulation...) You don't know the motivation on the other side, so it may well be that the coauthor is really busy, but feels obliged to continue to work on the paper and they would be happy to say "I'm out." I have they can't work on the paper but insists to be coauthor, that is another topic for which your field plays a large role. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
2016/10/08	976	4,090	<issue_start>username_0: I am writing a paper that illustrates a technique that is superior to a technique presented in a separate paper that I am citing as part of my work. The technique in the prior paper is not wrong, but it has several major drawbacks that my results address. My question is, what is a polite way to point out the problems in the initial results, and then demonstrate why my results address these problems without coming across as insulting to the original authors? I would prefer an explanation of how to actually point out their drawbacks, rather than one that avoids it altogether, because I think it allows me to give a more clear and cohesive explanation of my findings. For example, I would prefer not to resort to just saying, "My technique is , which has , and advantages", because I think that pointing out drawbacks of earlier techniques will highlight and clarify the advantages of this new technique. I would fully expect (and hope) that someone in the future would come along and point out the drawbacks of my approach, and how they improved upon it. It just seems to me that if I don't point out the drawbacks in the previous approach, I'm being both intellectually dishonest, and unfair to the reader who would have gained a deeper understanding of my paper had they had the full context.<issue_comment>username_1: I think, the principle Show, don't tell. applies and suffices. You don't need to point out flaws and drawbacks, you just show the points where you made improvements. State facts, back them up, avoid opinionated statements and you should be fine. This way "being polite" is not necessary, since you will not come near some "impolite" statement. Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It is somewhat case dependent of the state of the art, and how your paper and the previous one fit into it. However I think that you could use some variation of the following structure: > > The <NAME>'s method + something good about it + . Until now the x y z isues have not been solved. In this work, we propose a method which address the points ... > > > The idea behind this is to state that <NAME> has made some progress in his good work. So <NAME> is a good scientist. Problems remains to be solved because no one in the world solved them yet. This sounds different from "<NAME> did not solve x y z when he tried to solve general problem" (which is of course the terrible truth!). Make personal the advantages of <NAME>'s method and impersonal the drawbacks of his approach. Of course all the above should not be necessary, but many scientists tends to be very sensible (and insecure) people as regards their ego. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: You can start by stating the advantages of their method and the problems that adressed. Then you can show the main disadvantages that (maybe also) led you in developing the different approach. You should be clear and write in the same way that you would like someone else to comment on your method. I think it's easy to avoid being rude, but other than that, everything else should be fine. And if you feel on the limit, you could suggest disadvantages of your approach that future research would/could solve. It's also a good idea to show the text to someone else. From the field or totally outside would help read with a clear mind. In general, science is also about improving each other and move forward. But in a way, i understand your concern, as it's very probable the reviewer is one of the authors. The problem there is that no matter how you present it, your approach will be scrutinized (or worse). You can only hope they will be reasonable and try not to have any holes in your study. Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: In mathematics, I've sometimes seen something like: > > This lemma was stated in [1]. We give an alternative proof here, since we were not able to follow the proof given in that beautiful paper. > > > I take it as an euphemism for "the proof in [1] is wrong/contains serious gap". Upvotes: 1
2016/10/08	654	2,625	<issue_start>username_0: I am in a bad situation with a professor. He shared my grades and my classmates grades with the class. He had our names and everything put up on a projector!!!! He even scrolled through it slowly so we could find our name and see what we are getting in the class... It was like everything...I was horrified. Basically he took all of his classes and put them into one file and then put that on a overhead projector to show us our grades. I think he did this for each of his classes... All of our names, etc... are in there too... so we can see who got what for all of his classes. there have been lots of problems... he is very forgetful and makes a lot of mistakes in grading. Students catch him all the time... and he fixes the stuff but we have to catch him. I don't want to go on about this, but mostly sharing our grades with the class... I'm sorry if this is confusing. I'm very flustered!!! English is also not my best language. I don't know what I am supposed to do. Is this okay? I felt very uncomfortable and upset when this happened. I thought my grades were private? Thnx for help!! edit The proposed duplicate is a different situation with a favorable outcome. Additionally it was something he could stop. This has already happened and IDK what to do.<issue_comment>username_1: This is a clear violation of FERPA. Bring this up to your department head or a dean of your college. To prevent this from happening, any identifying information should have been removed. Your name (and if were there, a student ID number) should have been redacted. As this has already happened, I would promptly report it to the appropriate campus administration. Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: That's terrible! I'm quite sure that showing students' names and grades to the whole class is a violation of FERPA, the federal laws in the U.S. that protect student privacy. (I assume "American" in your question title means "U.S.") See for example <http://www.emich.edu/registrar/registration_info/FERPA/Faculty%20FERPA.pdf> Moreover, it's pretty obviously a bad thing to do, for reasons of student privacy, interactions between students, etc. What should you do? You could (1) talk to the professor, or (2) contact the department head. As a professor, I'd prefer (1) if it were me -- though I can't imagine being as clueless as your professor! However, I have to instead recommend (2), to preserve your anonymity with respect to the professor. Inform the department of what has happened, and politely note that the professor may be unaware of policies and norms about student privacy. Upvotes: 3
2016/10/08	1,457	5,674	<issue_start>username_0: I have seen some of the PhD holders sign as "Dr. [First Name] [Surname], PhD". Is it academically correct to write "Dr. <NAME>, PhD"?<issue_comment>username_1: I'm sure this must have been dealt with in previous questions, but the short answer is: This is correct if you are both a medical doctor and an academic doctor. But just being an academic allows you to write Dr. (name) XOR (name) PhD. Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: There are two important points to note about name markers that refer to academic titles: 1. You can have more than one of these markers in your name: <NAME>, PhD, MD indicates a person who is both a doctor of philosophy and a doctor of medicine. 2. The marker Dr. can very often be used as a variant of the post-positioned markers. If both of them are equivalent markers in your country, you can choose either marker to refer to your academic title. These two observations make the suggested name form Dr. <NAME>, PhD rather ambiguous. Does it refer to a person with two doctor titles because there are two markers? Or do both markers refer to just one doctor title? But if so, why is that doctor referred to twice in one name? This may even lead to suspicion: Does the name bearer use two markers which refer to the same title with the intention to sound more impressive than their academic distinction actually warrants? This ambiguity is avoided if you use only one title marker per title. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Dr Jones if he has a medical degree. Mark Jones, Ph.D. or Dr. Jones, if he has a Ph.D. Never Dr. Jones, Ph. D. Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: In the US, at least the title doctor doesn't imply a medical doctor, though it includes that. My students would usually refer to me as Dr. username_4. Someone not knowing that I hold a doctorate might call me Mr. username_4, but Dr. username_4 is more specific. If I wish to list my degrees after my name they aren't being used a title like Dr. or Ms. So, being pedantic: Dr. username_4, BA, MA, PhD. is just fine. In Germany, and places with a related academic culture, degrees are used more as titles so it is a bit different: Herr Doctor Professor username_4. Medical doctors (again in the US) insist on being called Doctor and have no difficulty with Dr. Foobar, MD. It would be extremely uncommon for them to be listed any other way. Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: If you have Dr. NAME only it might cause some confusion. I was once caught in a situation where I was asked to be on standby for assistance during a medical emergency because my boarding pass identified me as Dr. MYNAME. I had to explain that the Dr was for a PhD and not for medical practises. In my opinion the academic the title should be Dr. LASTNAME or Dr. LASTNAME M.D. for a medical practitioner Dr, LASTNAME PhD for an academic qualification Dr. LASTNAME HC for an honorary doctorate (honororium causa) Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_6: I think in the US anyway, you can sign your name however you wish. In my case, I am a DVM and I have a Masters degree. I want my business cards to say Dr. MYNAME, DVM, MS. I have seen multiple DVMs that write their name the same way. I think it's good to know what kind of Dr. I am, and this helps others to know it also. Even if I didn't have the Masters degree, I would likely still want my business card to say Dr. MYNAME, DVM. Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: As you can see from some of the answers here, there is substantial variation in use of academic titles and suffixes for degrees. It is certainly okay to use the suffix PhD if you have a PhD, and it would be hard to mount an argument that it is "incorrect" to use a suffix for a degree you actually have. There is wide variation in what is common practice in academia, but what is most important is to consider the following practical issues: * IMPORTANT --- avoid confusion with medical doctors: In most places, in an academic context the title "Dr" is fine for someone with a PhD (though in some countries they are distinct). However, in contexts outside academia it can cause confusion. In particular, for a person with a PhD who is not a medical doctor, it is often desirable to avoid using the title "Dr" in contexts where it might cause people to think that you are the appropriate contact person in a medical emergency ---e.g., "Dr O'Neill, this man is having a heart attack - do something!" So, for example, when I am checking into a plane, or in similar circumstances, I try to ensure that I am booked in as "Mr" not "Dr", notwithstanding that the latter title would apply in an academic context. * Academics rarely use the degree suffix: Because the PhD is so common among academics, we would rarely use this suffix outside of a CV. It is common for academics to use titles (e.g., Dr, Assoc Prof, Prof, etc.) in descriptions such as a signature block, staff page, etc. It is uncommon (but not incorrect) to additionally add the suffix "PhD". The main reason most academics leave this part off is because the degree is common among academics. * Dual use might clarify or it might confuse, depending on who is reading it: If you use both a title and a suffix for the same degree, that can potentially help to understand the source of the title, or it can look awkward or cause confusion. This really depends on the audience. In most cases, if you use the title "Dr" and the suffix "PhD" then people will assume that the title comes from the degree specified in the suffix, which is accurate here. It is perhaps a bit unusual to use both, but it is not unheard of. Upvotes: 0
2016/10/08	1,073	4,546	<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD candidate. My advisor told me to make and organize a lecture course, for which he is formally listed as the instructor, but he has little knowledge about what the lecture course will deal with. I have more knowledge than him. Students attend class two times per week. * One day, they give presentation about paper reviews related with this course. * The other day, I conduct the class and give them knowledge in order to understand papers. In both days in a week, he does nothing. I don't think it's normal. Even though he gives me many thanks for conducting the class, my feeling isn't going well. Even worse, I don't get paid. However, because of a (de-facto) vertical relationship between him and me, I don't know what should I do. I am not sure an ethics committee can protect my privacy.<issue_comment>username_1: Main thing here is that you provide work that is not paid. (Assumption: studying and working in academia is not volunteering or philanthropy. Not quite clear what culture would have to do here. If you feel wrong about the situation, seems that you agree with this assumption, and you're not confusing exploitative situations for real opportunities.) If that's an opportunity that's offered to you, the local unit/department/centre/faculty ought to offer remuneration for the work you provide, either for preparation work only, or for both preparation and delivery. In other words, the staff member should (have) arrange(d) the practical and financial details for the opportunity. A 'research ethic committee' has little to nothing to do with the situation you describe, as the situation does not relate to your doctoral research activity. The situation is not about research ethics, it's about professional ethics. Have you talked to your local administrators/support staff to enquire informally about the affluence of the local unit? Simply, is there money somewhere to cover for the work you contribute? Can they afford to provide you a remuneration that is a fair reflection of the work you provide? Have you talked to your head of department about the situation? Colleagues might not be aware of the situation, and might disapprove, and help you out, of it. Last but not least, are there union reps on your campus that you could approach for informed advice? Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Here's a different perspective. I'm going to assume that the course you're teaching is a graduate-level course from the description that you've given, but what I'm about to say applies even if it isn't. I have actually seen this happen in top-tier American schools too. In this case, things were slightly different. Namely, a postdoc supervisor was listed formally as an instructor for a graduate-level course, but when you actually went to the class, someone else would be there to teach the course (and often the professor would not even be present). In this particular case that I'm thinking about, it happened because of bureaucratic reasons (certain postdocs were not formally allowed to teach high-level courses), and although they were not being paid extra for it, the fact that they were allowed to list this on their CV as a "teaching experience" was enough for the postdocs to get into this arrangement, even without the extra pay. So if you think about it, things are fairly similar between you and these postdocs. You are both teaching a course that is not credited to your name, and you are both not getting paid. Most likely you are not allowed to formally be an instructor for a course for graduate students if you are a graduate student yourself. Given the fact that you did not claim in your original post that the advisor is trying to take all the credit for your work, maybe he is trying to give you some solid teaching experience (which is important if you are planning on looking for academic jobs). In fact, this experience (assuming that your advisor allows you to put this on your CV; I don't see any signs of why he wouldn't let you do this) is going to look fantastic in the future. It shows the tremendous amount of trust on your advisor's part, and he believes that despite being junior, you are fit to teach graduate-level courses. So, it's good to stand up for yourself and make sure that you aren't being exploited, but unless you see true red flags, it is also good to trust your advisor before everything, because if there is one person in the academic world who wants you to succeed the most, it is your advisor. Upvotes: 2
2016/10/08	2,847	11,464	<issue_start>username_0: As a professor, are you permitted to prohibit Ph.D. students from joining your research group if you know they have a boy/girlfriend, are married, don't come in on weekends, who don't stay late, etc...? The professor does not intend to make them work on stuff related to his/her research outside of normal working hours. Rather, the supervisor would like their students to be driven enough to study/read publications and books about topics outside their particular research program during those times. That way, supposedly, by the time they graduate, they will be very well rounded, and also develop their own research programs in meaningful ways. Since I observe this behavior with a certain professor I know at a US university, I was wondering if that professor is liable for legal charges, which I could bring up to the dean. One way I hear about how he "weeds" out the normal people is by telling them how much work it takes to succeed, and gives examples of previous "successful" students, and what their lifestyles were. I suppose he says something like: "this is how much you know from being an undergrad, this is how much you need to know to succeed in this field, here is a humongous list of topics you should know before you can competently do research with me, come back to me when you're ready." But I don't think that's all he does.... I think he intimidates prospective advisees with his demeanor, and so this fact along with his reputation leads to him select students who work day and night everyday.<issue_comment>username_1: A disclaimer: I'm not an attorney. My opinion is my own but I'll give you my sources. *Here in the US only,* universities are probably not prohibited from considering otherwise protected status in admissions, c.f., [Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/14-981_4g15.pdf), which upheld racial preferences in admissions. But under [Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964](https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/titlevii.cfm), as amended, once the question becomes one of employment (e.g., they work for you and get paid a stipend) you cannot discriminate based on any of the factors you cite. You should also carefully avoid asking questions that suggest you're even thinking about it, c.f., ["Federal Laws Prohibiting Job Discrimination Questions And Answers"](https://www.eeoc.gov/facts/qanda.html) and ["Pre-Employment Inquiries and Marital Status or Number of Children"](https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/practices/inquiries_marital_status.cfm) on the EEOC site. Added: I agree with username_2. Even if you think you can get away with it, perhaps because it's not illegal in your country, I also think it would still be wrong. Added: *If you are the victim* of unlawful discrimination in the workplace, HR is not your friend. A priori, their objective is to make sure discrimination complaints don't happen. But after the fact, their objective is to circle the wagons and make sure a complaint dies without the institution having to pay a settlement or admit that any wrongdoing has ever happened. A great outcome for HR is that you just quit and the problem goes away. From your latest performance reviews and interviews with your co-workers, it's clear you were unhappy and have been for months and it's been showing up in your work. So you quit. Poof! Problem solved. Separately, they'll figure out what to do with the others involved. *If you think you may be a victim* of unlawful discrimination, you should go first to your own attorney for competent legal advice, not HR. Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Whether or not this is prohibited depends on where you live. In the United States, almost certainly yes (+1 to username_1 for her answer). My own personal belief is that what the professor proposed is wrong, whether or not it is illegal where you work. It also demonstrates an misunderstanding of how people's relationships affect their work ethic. It has not been my personal observation that single people outwork those in relationships on average. Indeed, I know people (both men and women) who are not only married but also actively raising young children, and who work incredibly hard in their discipline. One may choose to take only those students who demonstrate talent, hard work, and/or drive. I recommend that professors do their best to judge these traits directly, rather than by how they conduct their personal lives. Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: As others have pointed out, we cannot comment on the legality of such discrimination without knowing the location. However, even if it is legal, it seems like a terrible idea. Much of the following has been covered in the comments, but I just want to summarise what I see as some major false premises stated or implied in your question: > > Single people have more "free time" available than those in relationships > > > Being single does not exclude someone from having other hobbies and interests, or from spending time on the dating scene. And indeed, it may mean that certain day-to-day tasks are more time consuming as there isn't someone else to help do the cooking, cleaning, etc. etc. > > Single people are more "driven" in their work > > > I don't get where this comes from. I guess it's true in a few cases that some people are single because they are obsessed by their work and don't have time for relationships, but this is by no means universal. Also, someone in a relationship might be driven by the feeling that they need to support their partner/kids. Importantly, relationships can provide emotional support and stability that, if lacking, might in some cases lead to a loss of motivation. > > Spending more time working is inherently more productive > > > I think this has been fairly well debunked. Rest and variety is very important to remaining productive. > > Being in a relationship makes one a less well-rounded person > > > ?? Why would this be the case? > > Accepting a student who is currently single will ensure that they remain relationship-free for the next 4 or more years. > > > Is the student going to be dropped if they start dating someone 6 months into their studies? Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: You don't mention a jurisdiction, so I get to choose. What you're suggesting would be illegal in Germany. In Germany, PhD students are employees. First, it is illegal in the EU to select employees based on anything other than whether they possess the skills necessary to do the job. Second, it is illegal under the EU working time directive to make somebody work more than 40 hours per week as part of their ordinary duties. Even if it's legal in other jurisdictions, it's dumb still. The people who cope best with difficult situations are the ones who have a good support network outside work. The best possible support network is a partner. Time off is important. Relaxation is important. Your proposal is to hire only the most fragile students who will be worst able to cope (or the students who can be made most fragile and worst able to cope). > > That way, supposedly, by the time they graduate, they will be very well rounded > > > No, by the time they graduate, they will be exclusively focused on academic research in whatever specific subfield of whatever field of whatever subject they did their PhD in. They will be lonely and have no interests outside the lab/office. That is the exact opposite of "well rounded". Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: A lot of these answers interpreted your question as "is it legal?" or "is it ethical?" or "is it beneficial to the PI/lab?". However, let's get real here, you actually asked "is it permitted?", which is to say does it actually happen, and is it allowed to happen by the top most levels of authority in the hiring process. And the answer is a resounding 'yes'. Of course, it goes without saying I think it's totally disgraceful, counter-productive, and most likely illegal, however, it is permitted and there's very little anyone can do about it. We had an applicant recently who was overtly gay. On paper he was fantastic, all the students who interviewed him thought he was one of the best choices out of all the applicants. Unfortunately he was not allowed to continue his PhD after the 3 month trial period, because none of the PIs wanted him. My PI said it was an awkward situation because "you never know what you're going to get from a CV. They might be a good fit for the lab, or they might be, you know, loud, draw attention to themselves, and unprofessional." This particular guy wasn't unprofessional. If anything he was better dressed and far more respectful and tolerant than I am. What my PI was saying of course was that in the very conservative atmosphere of a research institute, his attitude really stood out, and no one running a lab wanted to take a risk on him. I appreciate i'm likely to get a lot of down votes for pointing out this hypocrisy even though I am myself against it, however ask yourself the following questions: 1. Why do we have interviews in the first place if all the relevant information can be gained from e-mails and a CV? 2. Why are photos required on applicant CVs? 3. Why are people given trial periods? Surely if you don't meet your contractual obligations then you get fired. What are you assessing during the trial period that would be bad but not break contract? And finally, ask yourself this - are there some personality types that are, genuinely, disadvantageous to hire? Personally I think questions of ethics should be banned on academia.stackexchange because it inevitably results in the hypocrisy of "No it doesn't happen because that would be unethical!", but then you do a PhD and you see unethical situations all the time. Unethical situations that will never improve if we all insist it isn't happening. Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Morally, it is not permitted in my view. I would not permit, nor allow, it to happen in my university or institute. This community seems not to permit it (again, morally, and judging by the other answers). Also, who comes in on weekends anyway (Unless you have occasionaly time-critical lab experiments I mean)? Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: I can't talk strictly about the legality, but I will tell you I have seen that and much worse. I would say in my experience it is very unlikely anything would happen to the professor unless it is very brazen behavior. Universities are highly opaque and protective and will absolutely go to the mat to defend professors ([example](https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/ucla-spent-45-million-on-legal-costs-in-sangji-case/7872.article)). Grad students occupy a strange place between education and employment. Although often paid, grad students are not considered full employees by many universities (often euphemisms like "[apprentice personnel](https://grad.ucla.edu/gss/appm/aapmanual.pdf)" are used). Although NLRB recently ruled that grad students are employees in some sense and therefore can unionize, it is probably a legal gray area as to whether grad students are employees for other purposes. Thus rules like non-discrimination, minimum wage, wrongful termination etc may or may not apply to grad student workers and universities can very effectively navigate this ambiguity. Upvotes: 2
2016/10/09	954	4,004	<issue_start>username_0: I am a second semester PhD student. I have no publications until now. In the lab I am currently, we use some sort of academic journal to keep track of our progress. Due to classes and TA workload I did not make research progress for two weeks. When I saw my advisor I had not properly structured my journal update. To make things worse when he asked me how much time I did spend on non research activities I was unable to answer as I did not keep track of time. This discussion ended up with my advisor saying that he might have to convert me to a master's student if I progress like that. He fears I may not be able to make any research progress within the semester with the current rate. He mentioned this warning will be given only once. He said that I should have adapted to the lab's pace until now. I recognize that my progress was not appropriate, neither was the way to report this through the journal. However, I felt that being converted to a master student is something I really want to avoid. Therefore I want to try really hard as my goal is the Ph.D. However, doubts have clouded my head and I felt I may also have a collaboration issue. I may need to look for another advisor too, although I still believe that if I don't improve something like that may happen again regardless of advisor. I believe my advisor is a really good and experienced scientist and I respect him, but: * He has converted other PhD students to Master status in the past. * Also, he is very busy and it is not possible for him to discuss research with me for more than 20 minutes per week. * Other students of the lab manage to make appropriate progress but most of them seem stressed. * My advisor encouraged some students to publish survey papers. However afterward he mentioned that they can not yet graduate as the 6 papers he wants us to publish can only be research-related and not surveys. In this post, I tried to give both my failings and my worries. What are your suggestions for my situation? Should I ignore all these and just try harder or should I change my course of action? Or do both?<issue_comment>username_1: It is normal this issue makes you upset as it will have a huge impact on your future. Everybody has doubts, and it is good to explore them and not to rush into things wihtout thinking. First, about your advisor : he seems to be a respectable person (as you say it yourself) so what he is saying needs to be heard. Maybe you are not meant to do a PhD and it will be better to do a master. You need to ask yourself why a PhD is important for you?, is it mandatory for the professional goals you want to achieve? Are you willing to sacrifice (hobbies for examples) and work more for it? If you think your advisor doesn't spend enought time with you, you should say it to him and ask him to provide help : by himself or to appoint to you a more senior student. Final question you should ask yourself and maybe the most important one: besides your advisor, the puplications and other things, do you enjoy studying/working on the content of the PhD? Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: You have identified both strengths and weaknesses in your advisor, and pros and cons to staying the course. This is constructive. One important thing I couldn't find in your assessment, though, was an overview of what the alternatives are. In other words, are there any other professors that would be a good fit for you? If not, then I suggest, first, that you find some additional mentors, since 20 minutes per week, on an irregular basis, is not much. Second, that you get really good at writing those journal entries. On weeks when you have some extra stuff to report, file it privately, so you have something to pad your entry with on a week that might not look very impressive. (If yes, then take a class from the other possible advisor, to get to know him or her. And don't burn your bridges prematurely with your current advisor.) Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]