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2017/01/06
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<issue_start>username_0: So, this just happened recently - I and my colleagues were cited in a scientific, peer reviewed paper (our article was published in a scientific journal as well). The author summarizes our findings (to a degree) and then concludes that because of two failures, we compromised the study's validity. However, those two "failures" were correctly addressed in our paper. I guess the author did not bother to read the complete article and, thus, highlighted the supposed "failures" that were accordingly addressed.
I have the e-mail address of the author, but I don't know what good would it do if I explain the situation. I'm not happy with this citation, since it (wrongly) presents our study in a bad light.
Since the article was already published, is there anything we can do? Thanks for suggestions.<issue_comment>username_1: If it is a really big issue, perhaps the journal has the possibility of publishing a short letter as a response. But these are rarely found nowadays. In general, the public will have to choose, who to believe - you (since you say that you addressed this topic well) or the criticizing author (presumably other people will read your paper in full. On the other hand, you may be biased and you really did not address the topic sufficiently and many more people will believe the criticism. Do better next time. Usually such things are discovered during the review process, so perhaps the journal did not do good job of choosing the reviewers (which would criticize your insufficient coverage of the problem, and you could then improve the paper in response to them).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: So your study was (by design) limited in scope, they're researching something outside of your scope, and your approach fails to provide a solution in their problem area. It sounds like you and they agree.
Take a close look and see whether they actually said that your study was compromised, or whether you simply got defensive because they said your method failed when they tried to use it.
Your discomfort may be caused by the fact that you've failed to look at it from the perspective and scope of their paper. They have to prove that there's a problem, and that existing approaches (including yours) don't solve that problem, because that motivates the solution they present. If they aren't making any claim that your approach doesn't work within the scope you claimed, then while you may have preferred that they used verbiage such as "Our problem is excluded by the approach described in user67334's groundbreaking work on (other problem)", they didn't.
Instead they used words which are descriptive from the perspective of the problem they're discussing, and since that's a limitation you already explicitly acknowledged, doing so doesn't actually detract from your work in any way.
Upvotes: 3
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2017/01/06
| 1,086
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<issue_start>username_0: I understand that postdocs can be too busy to even sleep, but if we put this aside - would US school allow a postdoc (full time appointment) having his/her own business in spare time? If so, what kind of regulation is applied here? Also, would the mentor be annoyed/alerted by this kind of planning?
I guess the field of the business also matters. For example, if the business is related with research the postdoc is doing, it is probably highly restricted; while being a landlord is something completely different.
Any thought? Thank you in advance.<issue_comment>username_1: Typically, in the US, a postdoc's employment contract specifies that the postdoc must get permission to have additional employment.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Answer for *Germany*, based on my experience:
* Legal: employees need to inform the employer, but the employer must grant permission unless they have specific grounds to restrict a side business.
An obvious rule that you cannot start competition with your employer. However, as most universities and at least basic research institutes do not offer their services on the market, this is often unproblematic even if your side business is related to your research. Applied research institutes who offer industry services would be different - but then they may be interested in having a spin off, see below.
When I formally asked for permission at my (Leibniz) research institute, they just pointed out that I need to take care not to violate the maximum working hour laws and that it stays small enough side business to not hamper my performance working for them.
* Whether a university/research institute is happy or annoyed with this depends on circumstances.
+ They may be very happy if your research leads to a spin-off. There are even [funding programs to help with founding university spin-offs](http://www.exist.de/EN/Home/home_node.html). They'd sell this as a huge success, even better than a bunch of patents, and worth many papers.
+ In my experience, they are often less happy if your business is totally unrelated to the research, say, you're computer scientist running a grocery store side business (they cannot list that as achievement as they'd try to with, say, a software spin-off).
+ I'd expect "landlord" to be relatively neutral.
* You'll have to be careful about IP rights. E.g. over here an employment contract usually means that whatever software you write, as long as it would be useful for your employer *they* automatically get the commercial rights.
So you may need to negotiate changes in your employment contract.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: We try not to give legal advice on this forum, so the legal question of whether or not (and if so how) you can have a business on the side is one that you probably need to ask a potential employer.
But I do want to comment on a separate point. As you point out, being a postdoc is a tiring phase of your life. In essence, people who want to be postdocs do so because they aspire to getting faculty positions in their next career step. I suspect that that is the same for you.
The reason why being a postdoc is so tiring is because you're *competing* with others for these few faculty positions: it's not necessarily that your job description *requires* you to work 60 hours a week, but that you feel like you *need* to because you see all of these other postdocs crank out 3 or 4 papers a year, and these other postdocs are your *competition*. So, if you are thinking of running a business on the side, then you need to be aware of the fact that that curtails your productivity compared to other postdocs, and that that in itself curtails your chances to get a faculty positions because you will have less to show on your CV.
If you know that your chances of getting a faculty position will be significantly diminished, and you still keep your side business, then you ought to ask yourself why you want to become a postdoc.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: I take issue with the idea a postdoc has to work 60+ hours to be successful. I actually think that is ridiculous. Spending hour upon hour in the lab doesn't mean your experiments will work or you will find something publishable. Doing the "right" experiment is what matters, not just spending tons of hours doing experiments. Have a life, have a family, start a company. When you sit down to do your postdoc work, think very carefully about your question, think through your experiments, make sure you picked the most efficient and feasible method and then go for it.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/07
| 3,152
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<issue_start>username_0: I finished up a final exam right before the holidays, it was 10 questions, fully mathematically explained questions, and just after the holidays, I got an email from my professor saying that I am being investigated for cheating and have a meeting with my professor next week.
Apparently the guy I'm being accused of cheating from is a guy that sat in the same row as I did and he had some questions that had NEARLY the exact same text. This guy was my friend, but that's because we entered the classroom and sat in the same row, I had absolutely no plans of cheating,
I don't have that kind of thick skin and would never pull that mess - especially in college. Apparently my friend and I had some similarities between questions that suggested that we cheated, whether it was a collaboration or whether one cheated from another.
The problem is that I have no clue if my friend looked at my paper or was trying to cheat from me but I can be sure that I was not cheating from his work. I was doing my own thing during the exam period. If I get the exact same test with the same questions, I would get about 90-95% of the same answers I did for that final exam if I remember my material still, which I hope I do because I actually studied my best for it.
Anyways, I'm just curious, what exactly should I do when confronted - should I just tell the professor everything I just wrote here - Like what was going on. I'm getting anxiety over the fact that I might fall in to deeper pit if I sound aggressive or say things that might turn against my favor. I am willing to retake the same test in front of the professor on the spot to prove to the professor that I will get more or less the same result. On top of that, the professor allowed everyone to bring in a double sided piece of paper with information about the course on it to help us (like a legal cheat-sheet) during the final exam, and my cheat sheet covered about 9/10 questions on the test. What fricking reason would I have to cheat off of someone else?!
On top of all that, I took 3 different courses last year that pretty much covered 90% of the math course I took this year, and a lot of people didn't take those courses in my field. I took a course that covered probability, another that covered linear algebra and another course that covered proofs, all of which combined to create 9 out of 10 questions from that test. I knew all my material going in. What should I say or do? I don't want to spook the professor in to contacting the dean because this is phase 1 in the scholastic offence book - to contact the student first before deciding anything else to make sure there is enough evidence to continue further. Should I just say everything I wrote here?<issue_comment>username_1: If you didn't cheat, then you don't need to worry. The professor will probably summon both suspected cheaters to his office in order to understand exactly who cheated and who did not (or, whether or not they collaborated together).
Just talk to the professor and tell him you didn't cheat (not by copying other people's answers nor by letting others copy from you). It is usually easy (for the prof) to learn from this conversation which student knew the material and which student did not. However, the Prof may still wish o verify you did not "help" the other student cheating from you.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Unfairness and wrong accusations make the blood boil, not just yours. The more it is important that you cool down and stay polite and collected. Now accumulate evidence that supports your case.
The things you write here make a good start.
1. Bring the "legal cheat sheet" with you and explain that you wouldn't have to cheat in any case with everything that was on there.
2. document that you took extra courses which covered large parts of the material
3. offer to give a test (unlikely that they will take it up, but who knows)
The things would demonstrate that you have no incentive, and probably no need to cheat. Of course, you can say "hell" and "sh\*t" and "fr\*cking" and all these things, but what you need is proof which these pieces of evidence provide. Do you have other indications that support your statement?
What reasons do they have to assume that you copied from him? Is he usually better? Are you usually doing worse? Do you suspect he told them you copied? As Ran asks, did you help the other student? (because that can create a problem, too)
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Let's assume that the two exam papers are similar to a degree that is highly unlikely or impossible due to chance. From the professor's point of view, there are two possibilities:
1. Collusion between the two students.
2. One student copying without the knowledge of the other.
However, it is difficult for the professor to distinguish between these. Further, if one student is innocent, it is difficult for the professor to know which one.
It is difficult for the professor to resolve these issues through a conversation. Some professors may try, so it is reasonable to have a plan; however in the end an innocent and a guilty student could say the exact same things.
The only truly decisive outcome of such a meeting is a confession. That is what the professor is hoping to achieve. Since you are innocent, you need to persuade your "friend" to confess to copying, AND to say that you did not know about the cheating. If you and this person both give this same story, you may still get out of this mess without any consequence. Point out to your "friend" that a full confession might lead to a reduced punishment.
If your "friend" refuses this request, and denies cheating, then I am afraid it is likely that you will both be punished. As for the nature of the punishment, that depends on the university policy, as well as the professor, as well as the professor's judgement. Taking the test again is a possibility, but by no means assured.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: You need to explain yourself to the professor as best you can. It would be extremely useful if you can keep your cool during the meeting - try not to become agitated, raise your voice, use impolite language etc. Keeping calm will leave you with the largest amount of mental resources to argue your case, and will minimize the risk of antagonizing the professor (which could lead *them* to become agitated and start making irrational judgments) and escalating the confrontation.
In addition, you might want to consider asking the professor if you can bring a friend to the meeting - someone whose presence can help reduce your anxiety, and who is well-spoken and can help advocate on your behalf in case you become lost for words or are having difficulty putting your points across during the meeting. At my university students accused of academic dishonesty can ask for a hearing, and they have a right to bring a friend (or in extreme situations even a lawyer, though I wouldn't advise that in your situation), so I think it's likely that the professor will recognize that this is a reasonable request if you ask politely.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: **tl;dr:** Meet with your professor, bring your cheat sheet, keep your cool, **don't** offer to take another test.
---
Bear with me, I have a point here. In a course I taught almost 10 years ago I had two suspected cheaters for the final exam. Actually, it was painfully obvious that one (guy) cheated off the other (his girlfriend). Here's why:
* They sat next to each other.
* There were two versions of the final exam and they took the same one. They were supposed to take different ones since they were sitting next to each other, and they knew it. (Realistically, this was hard to police because there were just 3 proctors in a room of about 200 students, but IIRC they were the only two who had this little mix-up.)
* She showed up to almost every class, he missed almost every class. Similarly, her performance throughout the semester was good, his was not.
* Some of his answers were erased and changed to match hers. (This was a Scantron test.)
* Some of his scratch work looked way too similar to hers and in some cases didn't make sense with answers he chose. (They had to turn in their scratch work also.)
* Their final exam grades ended up being almost the same and they matched her overall course performance much more than they matched his.
Here's the thing. Based on all this (and just knowing them from teaching all semester), I *knew* he copied off of her. I explained the situation to my course coordinator. He agreed. We even called both of them in to talk to us about it, [but he couldn't make it](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/82795/falsely-accused-of-cheating-in-college#comment205898_82796) since he was already "gone" for vacation. She showed up to talk to us, although it was pretty much pointless. We didn't have any hard, irrefutable evidence, so we had to let it go in the end. We did have enough to pass it up the chain but my coordinator figured it wasn't worth it since they would almost surely get away with it anyway, and our lack of hard evidence meant we could've been wrong (although I'd stake my rep on it that we weren't). Plus he was a very staunch believer in the "let them cheat; it'll catch up with them eventually" philosophy.
My point is it sounds like we had a lot more than your professor does on you and we still had to let it go. Now obviously everybody and every school is different, but I think the point stands that the case against you sounds flimsy at best, especially if you don't have a history of academic dishonesty and if your final exam performance matches your performance throughout the semester. Furthermore, if you guys studied together (which is a reasonable assumption since you're friends) then it's not such a crazy thing that your proofs/explanations are somewhat similar.
Definitely bring your cheat sheet to the meeting to show how useful it was for the test. Of course the prof may not believe you and may say you made it after the fact, but that's on the far end of cynical and I still think bringing the sheet is better than not bringing it.
Also, I understand that you're upset about this but do work hard to keep your cool when meeting with your prof. Maintaining a professional demeanor goes a long way in situations like this.
Finally, **do not** offer to take a similar test. It proves nothing and can do more harm than good. What if you don't do well on the test for some completely unrelated reason? Your professor likely won't go for it anyway since it would mean s/he'd have to make a new test, and trust me, most of us don't like the idea of doing that for just one or two people.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: You don't know it is about answers similar to a person that happens to be a friend of yours. If you voice that it makes you look bad.
>
> I got a good grade because I know the material. Here is my cheat
> sheet - it covers 90% of the exam. I have the following background
> classes. Exactly what I am being investigated for?
>
>
>
I would not even discuss this with your friend. If you are asked if you discussed this with your friend you want to be able to say no. For sure don't ask your friend if they copied off you. If asked you want to be able to say I don't know.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: J. <NAME>, the physicist who headed the technical side of the Manhattan Project during WWW II, talked himself out of a charge of attempted murder of one of his professors while at Cambridge; see <NAME>. (2008). Outliers (Amazon Kindle ed.). New York, New York: Little, Brown and Company. He did it by AVOIDING confrontation, which is what you must do also. Go in with the attitude that you want to help the professor get to the bottom of the situation. Ask him what you can do to help him solve the problem. Also, you need a knowledgeable friend: Your parents certainly, a lawyer who has worked with the school in similar situations, the Dean, a favorite professor, a school counselor; research it, Google or Bing it. Don't go in unprepared! If the thought of paying a lawyer for help scares you, then think of the consequences if they expel you or even put a cheating charge on your permanent record. This is real; this is a part of your life. Take it seriously. If you enter a field for which there exists professional help, like an illness or DUI homicide charge, then you would seek professional help. Now is no different.
One last thought, remember what the college and its staff want. They want to educate you -- to lead you out into the world of adults with the skills and attitudes to solve problems. In a very real sense, these people earn money in proportion to what their students learn and can use.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/07
| 1,599
| 5,888
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<issue_start>username_0: I have to write an Extended Essay as part of my IB diploma, and I'm writing mine on the episodic adventure game of *Life is Strange* as an English EE. One of the issues I've encountered during the writing process was citing the game correctly.
After consulting online sources, these are the two citations I ended up with for two versions/episodes of the same video game (it has 5 episodes in total):
Square Enix 2015, *Life Is Strange: Chrysalis*, video game, PlayStation 4, Square Enix.
Square Enix 2015, *Life Is Strange: Out of Time*, video game, PlayStation 4, Square Enix.
Are these correct? I looked at how the cited it in Wikipedia, and looks quite different:
Dontnod Entertainment (30 January 2015). *Life Is Strange*. Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360. Square Enix. Level/area: Chrysalis.
Dontnod Entertainment (24 March 2015). *Life Is Strange*. Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360. Square Enix. Level/area: Out of Time.
The guideline I followed, however, was the one I found from the Harvard citation site, which states that I should include: *Publisher year of publication, Title of game, video game, Console type, Publisher or Distributor in Australia if different to publisher, Place of publication if known. Any special credits and other information that might be useful can be noted after the citation.*
I still have several issues that I can't find the answer to from the site though.
Firstly, should I include the developers in the citation? Dontnod entertainment was the developer of the game, but I'm not sure if it fits within the category of "special credits or other useful information".
Second, how do I go about making an in-text citation for a specific chapter/part of the game? Would it be acceptable to have something like (Square Enix 2015, ch. 4)?
Third, if the year of publication is the same for all episodes, how do I make their in-text citation so that a person could differentiate between the two? For example, if I wanted to make an in-text citation for the two games cited above, they would both be (Square Enix 2015) would it not? What should I do so that a person would know that I'm citing two separate episodes? My guess is that I should add a letter after the year i.e. (Square Enix 2015a) similar to how a letter should be added when someone is citing two different books from the same author and with the same publication year, but I'm still uncertain.
And... that's about it. Hopefully. But yeah, I would really appreciation it if someone miraculously has some of the answers to the questions, because the librarian at my school isn't experienced with referencing a video game, and I really want to have all my citations done correctly.<issue_comment>username_1: Check with your instructor/advisor. Offer to them that you researched how to format the reference, and can't find something exact. Offer that \_\_\_\_ is the closest you can find. See what they say.
It is likely that they will accept it.
In my opinion/experience, There are two real purposes for citing in a specific format - a) they want you to learn how to cite references well, b) it will be automatically checked. (or c) they are OCD or a jerk...)
As an instructor, our department standard was MLA, though, I would accept it if it was close.
Per [Harvard Style](http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm), for a computer program downloaded from the internet, the required elements of a reference are:
>
> Authorship/Organisation, Year. Title of program. (Version). [computer program] Distributor/Publisher. (if available) Available at: [Accessed date]
>
>
>
Example:
>
> Adobe Systems Incorporated, 2013. Adobe Air (3.8 beta). [computer program] Adobe Labs. Available at: <http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashruntimes/air/> [Accessed 30 August 2013].
>
>
>
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: First, figure out what citation style you're supposed to be using in your Extended Essay, or if there is no particular recommendation, select one of the major ones and ***be consistent*** with it. That is, if you decide to use the Harvard style, use Harvard throughout your WHOLE essay and with every source you cite. Wikipedia doesn't have a house citation style, so what you're seeing there is going to vary from article to article.
You're spot-on with your research for the bibliography entry in Harvard style. You're also close with the in-line citation - just note that Harvard style doesn't use "chapters" there. Your reader doesn't *need* that information to locate the resource, so it isn't included. In your case, the in-line citation would simply be (Square Enix 2015a) or (Square Enix 2016b) if you end up citing 2 Square Enix titles. See [here](http://rmit.libguides.com/c.php?g=336211&p=2262356) for another example.
If your teacher recommends that you use a different citation style, here are a few resources to get you started with citing video games:
* [MLA](http://www.lcc.edu/library/help/citation/mlaprintmedia.aspx#videogame)
* [APA](http://askus.library.wwu.edu/faq/116850)
* [Chicago](http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Documentation/faq0089.html)
Final thought: don't worry too much about the particulars of the citation for something as unconventional as a video game. If the answer isn't immediately apparent to you with a simple Google search, it won't be to your outside grader either. They're likely no more experienced in academic referencing than your school librarian. And no matter how much time you put into your essay, they're still only paid to spend the absolute minimum time possible reviewing it... The last thing they're going to notice is a misplaced comma in your bibliography.
So focus your energy on the good stuff - the content - and just keep the rest consistent.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/07
| 884
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<issue_start>username_0: This is the first time I use Stack Exchange. Here are my backgrounds. I am a first-generation poor male immigrant from China to America. None of my members have education beyond middle school. So they cannot help me. Because I was 19 years old, I was too old to go to high school. I attended a community college, transfered to Berkeley to study nuclear physics. I am now a Physics PhD student at MIT. I am now a naturalized U.S. citizen. I applied for all fellowships that I am elligible such as NSF, DOE CSGF, DOE SSGF, Hertz, Soros, Ford, SMART, and NDSEG. I get rejected by Hertz for two cycles and NSF, Soros, DOE CSGF so far. I still have 5 fellowship application pending (DOE CSGF and DOE SSGF are not submitted yet).
I just wonder how to win (or even just get honorable mention or even just move to the interview) these fellowships. I have similar experience when I applied for REU. I applied to about 20 REUs and got an only one REU because the PI was Chinese. I suspect there are connections requirement for some fellowships, which I obviously do not have. Do you think you have any suggestion for my future career in academia if I end up with not getting any fellowships. I also attach the comments of my reviewers from NSF GRFP here. [NSF GRFP Comments](https://i.stack.imgur.com/PIb2C.png). Thank you for your inputs.<issue_comment>username_1: Most physics graduate students at MIT (and elsewhere) are not supported by fellowships. Certainly, a fellowship would not hurt, but whether or not you get a fellowship will have very little impact on your future career. What will matter in the long term will be the quality of your research.
As a graduate student, both your research output and faculty members' evaluations of your research skills will be important. As you advance further, it will be your personal research quality that will most matter. Other factors, like the quality of your teaching and presentation skills, will affect whether you get good jobs, but whether you had a prestigious fellowship in graduate school will be basically irrelevant.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The undergrad REU is a very different species compared to graduate fellowship, and if I were you I would not draw too much parallel between them.
From the NFS reviewer's comment you linked to in your question, I think the problem with your application is not with your technical background, but it has more to do with a lack of "soft skills" and a clear understanding of the funding agency's requirement. Remember that fellowship application is not just a numbers game. If you make the same mistake in every application, then the chance of rejection is going to be correlated.
As others have made clear, a one time failure in fellowship application is not the end of your career, but I think the failure is nonetheless a revealing experience that should be taken seriously. My suggestion for you is that you should find people with experience in fellowship application and seek out their advice on the appropriate style and scope of such applications. Specifically, you should read the reviewers' comments very carefully to understand why exactly your application is rejected. A broader suggestion, based on your bio, is that you should socialize more with your colleagues who have a better handle of the American culture. As one reviewer for your NSF application pointed out, some statement you made in your application suggests certain language habit that some may consider to be naive and lack in sophistication. Although this is probably not a make-or-break problem for your career, knowing how to put things in a diplomatic way will certainly reflect well on you in the long term.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/07
| 656
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<issue_start>username_0: I received my bachelor's and master's degrees from university A. I was then supposed to do a PhD at university B in a different country but relocating did not work out (I did not start in the program). Some time later, I took a temporary research assistant position at university C. I was hoping to do a PhD also there but having considered the topic/group I think it is not a good fit for me.
I have discussed about returning to A but not signed a contract yet. Would it be disadvantageous to get all degrees from the same university?
I had very high expectation for the PhD since I was a very good student at A. However, I have now had two attempts going elsewhere and neither succeed. I am not sure how much support I would get for further applications.
Should I stay at A and try again after the PhD? The thing is, A is not very well-known university.<issue_comment>username_1: The most important part about where you do your PhD. is not so much about the standing of the university, but about the reputation of your PhD. adviser. Your name will be (forever) linked to his name and his reputation. If he is a well known researcher in your field, then you will carry this positive reputation with you. If he is not well known and he has issues getting funds, then in this case this might make your PhD. harder. If I were you, I would not worry about the reputation of University A., but about the reputation of your research group.
On another note, sometimes it can be problematic if you have done your Bachelor, Master and PhD. at the same institution. In this case, you will have experienced research in a single environment and this can be detrimental to your candidacy when applying for faculty position or etc. However, if you do a post-doc in another research group later on, you can mitigate this aspect. Like I said, if you feel the research group of University A has all you need and you like the work environment there (which is crucial to succeeding in your PhD.) then go ahead :)!.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: In my experience in the social sciences, the reputation of the university department is crucial if you want to go on to become a professor at a research-based university. I would not stay at your original university because of their lack of notoriety in the field, and because your education will not be as complete if you stay at one place. Do not be discouraged, and keep applying at other locations. Oftentimes, rejections are more a matter of timing and fit, not your personal attributes.
Try researching specific other professors with whom you would like to work and build connections with them. You can also ask the advice of professors at University A. They may know good places where you can apply.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/07
| 1,612
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm not used to writing covering letters for journal submissions, and I believe this is pretty standard in maths. However, I got into a conversation with a friend in biology, who said they expect to write about a page explaining why the paper is so great.
To me this seems an unhelpful practice: a paper should be judged by the quality of the paper, not by the quality of some other document.
We came round to the question:
>
> How would an editor of a biology journal react to a paper submitted with a covering letter that amounted to 'here it is'?
>
>
><issue_comment>username_1: All journals I have come across their guide for authors require a cover letter. Although it's probably partially a remnant of older times, where letters and manuscripts were mailed to the journals, it does have functionality.
The cover letter is a quick way for the editor to decide if it's even worth opening the full article. For this reason, arguments on the novelty, findings, importance, challenges and perspectives of the work should be demonstrated. In practice, it might not be much different than the abstract (different structure of course), but some journals also ask for specific questions to be answered.
It also helps the editor, who might not have the same expertise as the manuscript, to decide whether it's worth sending the manuscript to external reviewers. It also saves him a few hours of work from reading the whole article to understand its value.
It also adds a degree of personal communication between the corresponding author and the editor, rather than being a automated, impersonal submission process.
Finally, I usually add sentences like "all authors have agreed to submit the manuscript in this journal" or "no conflict of interest" etc, which adds a signature under the statements.
In the case a cover letter would only say "here it is", I think the editor would probably drop it in the trash bin, unless:
1. The title (and the abstract) conveys a subject so important that any editor could not bear not to check it out more thoroughly.
2. The corresponding author, or one of the co-authors, is a really big name in the field, that (even if the article is not that important) the editor cannot just reject it.
So, in mathematics, maybe just saying "Here is the solution of the problem X" and everyone knows the problem and die to see the solution, then you don't need to add much. But in sciences where a problem doesn't have a name, a more detailed explanation might be required.
Lastly, the manuscript is indeed evaluated by the manuscript itself. However, a good cover letter might make the editor check your submission more thoroughly, out of the tens or hundreds of manuscripts they may receive.
I think of it as the trailer to a movie. If you like Batman and you see Batman on the title, you will check the movie a little more before deciding if it's a crap movie or not. If you see a movie is directed by let's say Spielberg (and you like him), you may do the same. But if you are unsure about the title and you don't know the actors and directors, a trailer might convince you to watch the movie.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Mathematics and Biology have polar opposite cultures, and much of this is due to what's practical. Some of the top Biology journals receive tens of thousands of manuscript submissions each year. For example, Nature receives 200+ manuscripts each week. They send maybe 30 or so of those out for peer-review. They can't read 200 papers in a week, and likely wouldn't understand them anyway. So they must assess their significance without reading the paper. The cover letter is written so that any reasonably well-educated lay-person can understand why the paper is important, even though the paper itself (even the abstract) maybe too technical. This is actually a somewhat reasonable test to show how important the paper is. It's really hard to sell the importance of an obscure unimportant topic in layman's terms.
As one moves down the food chain of journals (e.g. journals with lower impact factors, that are eventually accepting 25+% of what gets sent to them), the cover letter becomes less important. The journals are less broad, and the editor can assess the importance of the paper from the abstract.
In addition, there is just a culture in mathematics of being slow and methodical about peer-review. Editors actually read the paper. Reviewers will spend a year checking your proofs to make sure they are correct. So the added time it takes the editor to read your paper is epsilon compared to the review process. I'm a mathematical biologist, so I get asked to review both applied math papers and biology papers. The math journals usually give me a deadline of 2-3 months to get my review back, the biology journals usually give me 1-2 weeks. Biologist reviewers aren't repeating your experiments, like mathematicians are checking between the lines of every sentence in your proof [or scowering their brain for counterexamples]. So if in biology it takes 1-2 weeks for the reviewers to get their reports in, the time it would take the editor in chief (EIC) to read every submitted paper would be a significant percentage of the review process, and would really slow things down.
The cover letter is for statements like "We performed the first-ever controlled experiment validating ..." or "We perform the first explicit assessment of the accuracy of method X from paper Y (Y has been cited 1,390 times since 2015, 382 of those citations are from papers in Journal Z [the journal you are submitting to]) and find that 82% of papers in the field are using the method inappropriately."
These are the types of sentences that would be extremely weird to write in a paper or abstract but would be useful information for an editor to have. As the journal becomes more specific, the cover letter is generally more about why the paper fits well in that particular journal, rather than why its the greatest paper on earth (which might be what you'd say if you were submitting to science or nature).
To answer your question about a bland cover letter, like "here it is". While this would likely lead to an immediate rejection at a journal like nature or science or PNAS, at more subject-specific journals it might not end up hurting the paper's chances. The cover letter is to point out things that may not be obvious to the editor in the abstract. Things about citations to papers you are building off of, some more tenuous implications of your work that are too uncertain or controversial to say in the paper, how your paper relates to other papers published by that journal. If you think the importance is clear from the abstract, and you don't have anything additional to add, the cover letter isn't all that important, even in biology. I know several handling editors who say they never read cover letters (although presumably, the EICs do partly to select the appropriate handling editor).
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I am interested in a PhD program and would like to work with a particular advisor. He is 69 years old now, and I am wondering whether he will retire soon, but I am not sure whether this is not a bit rude to ask. What can I expect, generally speaking? Shall I email him and ask him directly?<issue_comment>username_1: Feel free to ask.
You might get a specific answer like "in 2 years" or "when my retirement condo is paid off", or they may not know.
They might want to keep going until they can't any longer. This is quite common.
Unless they say something like "at the end of this year", then work with them if they are willing to work with you.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: By asking, "are you accepting PhD students in the coming academic year?" you will find out not only whether they are openly planning on retiring soon, but also critically whether their docket of students is full. You can do this via email without risking offending them. In your email, also justify why you are interested in working with them.
I personally have experience with this, and unfortunately the person I contacted was retiring in the next year, and they told me so when I emailed them.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2017/01/08
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<issue_start>username_0: I have talked with a friend that was the best in class PhD student at a top-200 university in USA, but she couldn't find any position as assistant professor position or fellowship in a top-20 university.
* Is it even possible to do this transition?
* What is taken under consideration when one makes such application?<issue_comment>username_1: **What is taken into consideration:** the PhD thesis.
Unless the thesis is a "top 30" caliber work (a little leeway), you probably won't get a "top 20" appointment. Many of the PhD graduates from "top 20" departments will also end up a lower ranked places. Those top departments produce far more PhDs than they hire!
Rank 200 to rank 20? It has happened. But rarely.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Graduating a PhD program is completely different from previous levels. Potential employers in academia are looking for someone who would add prestige to their university. If this is a research university, this means someone with lots of highly ranked publications and a history of bringing in grant money. After that, you need a good professional reputation (and the strong recommendation letters that come with it), and an affable personality.
GPA or individual ranking within the PhD program does not matter. At all.
This is based on my experience on a hiring committee for an Ivy League institution in the USA. I would add that at this particular institution, they would only entertain applicants who had earned PhDs from the top 10 or so universities in the field. Overall university rankings were not important; only within the same field.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I'll assume you are talking about tenure-track positions, due to the reference to an assistant professorship. If you are talking about postdocs, then it really depends on how your field works (e.g., how many such positions there are and how they are distributed among different types of universities).
It's certainly possible to get a job in a much higher-ranked department than the one you graduated from, but a little arithmetic shows that it's very unlikely, assuming departments in your field aren't growing dramatically.
Let's assume a steady state, in which departments are neither growing nor shrinking, and let's make the simplifying assumption that they are all the same size. Of course these assumptions aren't quite right, but they can generally serve as a first approximation.
What does it take to get a job at a comparable department to the one you graduated from? In a steady state, each professor will eventually be replaced by one new hire, but they will typically train multiple Ph.D. students. This means that there's just enough room to hire each professor's best student ever, over their whole career. Of course the hiring won't actually work out that way, since the top students are not uniformly distributed among professors (and there will also be competition from students who attended higher or lower-ranked schools). However, this sets a lower bound: if you aren't at least as good as the career-best student of a typical professor from a top X department, then you can't realistically expect to get a job at a top X department yourself.
Going up in the rankings is even harder. The number of people who are their advisor's career-best student at a top 200 department is ten times the total number of positions at top 20 departments. This means that 90% of them will fail to get such a job, since there just aren't enough positions to accommodate them. In practice, it's even worse than these numbers indicate (generally much worse), but the point is that simple arithmetic guarantees at least a 90% failure rate even for these highly successful students.
So you shouldn't be surprised that your friend failed to go up in the rankings by a factor of 10: that requires either exceptional luck or exceptional accomplishments.
>
> What is taken under consideration when one makes such application?
>
>
>
It's really no different from any other application, with no special requirements or considerations. You need to make the case that you are a better choice than any other available candidate. Applicants from low-ranked department often face some initial skepticism, but hardly anyone would be silly enough to obsess over rankings while disregarding visibly superior accomplishments.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: You need to at least have a postdoc from a University of the same rank. I'm not sure where the ranking of top 200 came from, are there even 200 PhD granting institutions?
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_5: Echoing some points from other answers, and from my comment to the original question:
In my experience, in mathematics at an R1 place in the U.S., people on postdoc or hiring committees do not think in terms of "rankings", either of departments or of students within their graduating class. Nor grade-point average.
Rather, to some degree, they do look at the *substance* of a candidate's work, although probably stopping short of reading the thesis or papers. Rather, most often, they/we look at the letter writers' appraisals. These are most persuasive if the letter writers are personally known to the committee, or are well-known in the mathematics research milieu, and are expert in the subject at hand.
However, in any case, there are far more PhD's being produced by "the top 200" programs than there are positions available in the "top 20". As already observed, for similar raw numerical reasons, most graduates of the "top 20" do not get "top 20" jobs.
In the past (e.g., pre-internet), there was also a common disadvantage that the level of awareness at "top 200" places might have been very different from that at "top 20", affecting the nature of the projects attempted or completed. It appears that this effect is diminishing, also due to the eflux of new PhD's from the most active research centers to nearly every branch university branch campus in the U.S.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: Like many other students in a lab where interaction with the lead Professor is very limited, most of my time is spent with the graduate student who is working on their dissertation/publication project.
This student is a Ph.D. candidate (Ph.C.) and will have their degree by the time I apply to graduate school. Whether they will secure a faculty position or post-doc somewhere is unknown, but my question is whether it is okay to ask them for a recommendation letter since they will have earned their doctorate degree by then, despite having worked under them when they, themselves, were still students.
Will this be frowned upon by the admissions committee?
\*This is for Social Sciences<issue_comment>username_1: I wrote one or two recommendation letters as a graduate student, though only after encouraging the students to find someone else if at all possible.
My experience is in math, which may be different, but it's been that a letter from a PhD student counts for somewhat less. Prestige of the letter writer matters a bit, as does experience, and a PhD student generally doesn't have either.
It would be common in your situation, I think, to have the lead faculty member write the letter, but consult with the PhD student about what to say. (Or even to have the PhD student write portions of the letter and have the lead faculty member complete and sign the letter.)
When students have done a research project but the supervising faculty member doesn't write a letter, that can be a red flag. A letter from a PhD student helps, especially if it explains that they did most of the supervising, but it still raises questions.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: How seriously a letter from a graduate student (or very recent Ph.D. graduate) will be taken will vary from institution to institution and from person to person. At some places, a detailed letter from a student might be of value, if there is simply no way to get a comparable detailed letter from a faculty member. However, I know from talking to application readers from various institutions that at some places, there is a semi-official policy that letter from grad students are given extremely little weight. (Most memorably, I was told by one of the professors on the graduate admissions committee in the physics department at MIT that they did not take letter from students seriously at all.)
Of course, there are valid reasons to take letters from students significantly less seriously than letters from more senior people. Students do not tend to have enough experience to provide a good evaluation of a given undergraduate, relative to the population of other undergraduates. In some cases, having a letter from a grad student may not really hurt an applicant, but in other situations it may be very bad for their application; and for this reason, I always strongly advise students against getting recommendation letters from grad students.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I don't think it will be frowned upon by the admissions committee. This person was, for all practical purposes, a co-worker, or a supervisor. It's perfectly reasonable to include that person on your list.
The person might have a very good reputation among people in your field. It might be foolish not to include that person.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: **It's totally OK to ask a graduate student or recent graduate for a letter of recommendation when applying to graduate student school.** Just make sure you ask for one from faculty as well.
There are two main things that matter about letters of recommendation:
1. What do the letters say? Do the authors know you well? Do they think you are absolutely fantastic? Do they think you have a wonderful career in research ahead of you?
2. Who are the letters from? Does the reader know, trust, and/or respect the person writing the letter?
Ideally, all of your letters would come from incredibly well known famous senior faculty and they would all say that you walk on water. Of course, that rarely happens for folks applying to graduate school. As a result, you often need to compromise between the two things.
A letter from somebody who has worked with you more closely but who might not be as well known or whose credentials might not inspire as much confidence might (i.e., less good at 2 above) can still be useful if it can provide details about how hard you work and how smart you are (i.e., 1 above). Indeed, if your other letters are from more senior people that are going to be thinner on this kind of detail, it might be a good move to ask for a letter that can complement these.
You could also try to find some compromise. Here are two ideas:
* You might be to coordinate with the senior person (i.e., the PI in the lab of the graduate student writing the letter) to let them know that you're also asking the student. Although you can't force it, it might means that the PI can say, "I think the student [you] is great and you should really take my word of my incredibly trusted former student who is writing a letter as well."
* It is rare (but not impossible) for the senior person to collaborate with their (former) graduate student to submit a dual-authored letter. You might want to make this suggestion to the PI and/or the recent graduate.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am following a graduate mathematics course. While in class, I noticed that my classmates notes almost sliding off her inclined desk, and I whispered to her that gravity was a bitch. I think I saw the lecturer, a woman, react to this but I am not sure. I am now worried that our lecturer thinks I called her a bitch. I have the utmost respect for her and I'd hate for her to think otherwise. How can this be fixed?<issue_comment>username_1: I think the best course of action is to explain what happened and apologize to the instructor. After that it is up to her if she is willing to accept your explanation and apology. Natural you should avoid repeating this attempt at joking in a classroom setting and save it for more informal environments.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: It's generally not wise to use the word "bitch" around women. If you're certain that she noticed and was likely offended, you should apologize for being too...colloquial. It's generally not wise to use any questionable terms in mixed groups.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I'd say, forget about it (easier said than done, I know). Most likely, this is a non-issue.
Upvotes: 1 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I was wondering what type of questions an applicant should expect from a Skype interview for a postdoc position (in theoretical physics). I understand they must depend on the interviewers. But I am looking for a generic answer. Here are some specific questions that I have in mind.
1. How long will it be?
2. Will it be a Q&A session? In that case, what type of questions are usually asked?
3. How to react if the position is offered directly and the applicant wants some more time to decide?<issue_comment>username_1: From my experience, a Skype interview is not different at all from an in-person interview. Most importantly, you should be prepared to precisely explain why you see your future in that particular research group, and why the group will benefit from hiring you. The rest will depend on the circumstances. But to address one of your questions specifically:
*How to react if the position is offered directly and the applicant wants some more time to decide?*
Since accepting a job offer has far-reaching professional and personal consequences, it is only reasonable to **ask them for some time to decide**. If they still rush you to make a decision, this is actually being rude/a red flag.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: There are no defined "rules" for what a Skype interview will look like. However, to give you some pointers:
>
> How long will it be?
>
>
>
You should ask the interviewer. I have had Skype interviews between 15 minutes and a little over one hour. If the interview would go significantly longer than that, I would assume you would have been told.
>
> Will it be a Q&A session? In that case, what type of questions are usually asked?
>
>
>
Presumably there would be Q&A, yes. Questions could be any kind of typical interview questions, i.e., they could relate to your research, your teaching, how you advise students, what grants you are interested in applying for, or anything else really.
>
> How to react if the position is offered directly and the applicant wants some more time to decide?
>
>
>
"I am very happy about that. However, I will need to get back to you within [X timeframe] as I need to discuss this decision first with my wife."
(no, no reasonable PI should expect an answer from you *right now*; even though they may indeed offer you the position immediately, you are under no pressure to accept immediately)
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: Let's say someone is named <NAME> applied for a job claiming that he was graduated from University X. How would an employer confirm that the applicant is <NAME>, who also has the degree from University X? Wouldn't it be incredibly common for someone else to have the same name from the same department?<issue_comment>username_1: Many universities have a degree verification service. For example:
[Confirmation of University of Toronto Degree](https://degreeconfirmation.utoronto.ca/degree/online)
The simplest way to eliminate the possibility of an incorrect match is to search using the student number. However, in this case the date of birth can be used as well. The surname, year of graduation, and degree are also required. Note it does cost money to check (20 CAD in this case).
There are also checking services which apply to groups of universities. Such as:
[UK Higher Education Degree Datacheck](https://hedd.ac.uk/)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Most of the time, **employers trust that potential applicants have the degrees that they claim they have**. When applicants apply for jobs, they are frequently asked to attest to the fact that everything they are submitting is truthful. There can be enormous legal and reputational consequences to lying.
If it emerges later, for any reason, that an employee lies about a degree, they run a very strong risk of being fired and having their reputation and credibility destroyed. In some case, fraud can lead to criminal changes. Because the consequences can be enormous, most people will not lie about something like the conferral of a degree.
**In situations where employees needs to verify a degree, there are many options.** Employers might request a copy of a diploma or a transcript from applicants (I was asked to do this by an Academic HR department at my current university to finalize my appointment). In some cases (e.g., when applying to graduate schools) it's routine for the degreeholder to request signed and sealed copies of academic transcripts that are sent directly from the registrars to potential schools or employers. Some universities and fields have automated systems that employers can use to verify that an applicant has the degree they claim.
Although it's possible that a university or department might have multiple students with the same name, you won't have two students with exactly the same experience. Two identically-named students will not likely have started in the same department at the same and ended at the same time (information that would normally be on a CV). Registrars will often have systems in place to ensure that they only individual students can grant access to their transcripts (e.g., by requiring less public information like a password, birthday or, government-issued ID number) which acts as another form of evidence.
If an employer was incredibly skeptical, they could just ask an applicant basic things about their experience in school. Who did they take classes with? Which professor did they have the best relationship with? Then send an email or call and see if things check out.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Every University has a degree verification phone number that employers can call and it only takes about 5 minutes. Just type the name of the university, degree verification into Google and the number will come up.
I just put the degree verification on my resume beside each degree. This way the hiring person can see that it is legit and they can call to verify.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: A considerable portion of emails that I send to professors abroad to see if they have any position available remains unanswered. Not receiving a response, I can not imagine if they didn't attract to my CV or they simply forgot to open my email. In this way, I am wondering if it is normal(not rude) in academia to use email tracking softwares that inform you when the receiver opened your email. Actually, It is not very hard for them to check if the sender has used such software specially if they block the images in their received emails.<issue_comment>username_1: My sense is that the vast majority would not notice one way or another but that some potential advisors might and would find it intrusive and and inappropriate. In many other cases, (like myself) professors use text-based email clients or systems that that block this kind of tracking. In these cases, folks won't think you're rude but you *still won't know* if I've read it. For that matter, I may have opened an email but not read it carefully. In some cases, people will notice and and think it is rude or unethical.
Critically though, **I can't see why knowing whether your email was opened will help.**
The reality is that many professors receive between dozens and thousands (really!) of emails from prospective students. [This](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9542/is-ignoring-emails-acceptable-in-academia) [has](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/75998/what-can-i-do-when-my-e-mails-to-professors-go-unanswered?noredirect=1&lq=1) [been](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/78212/3-follow-up-emails-over-2-weeks-and-the-potential-supervisor-still-wont-respond?noredirect=1&lq=1) [discussed](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5330/prospective-phd-contacts-potential-supervisor-but-receives-no-answer-after-2-3-e) [at length](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/76586/non-of-the-supervisors-i-contacted-responded-to-me/76587#76587). Many answers on this site explain why it's just not possible for everybody to reply to every email and there are **many** reasons why people do not. They might not reply because they are overwhelmed by teaching. They might not reply because it's simply not a good match. They might not reply because they don't have funding to take on new students this year.
My advice is to pick a small number of **perfect** potential supervisors. Read their papers. Write emails that make it clear that you're not just mass-emailing anybody you can find but that you want to work with them. Send an email. If you want, send a follow-up after a week or so. In either case, I don't see how knowing that the email has been opened helps.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I guess the underlying assumption is that the sender is entitled to consideration and/or an answer, and so OP is trying to enforce this entitlement.
In email correspondence (academic or not), this assumption is usually wrong unless there is an established relationship (eg within a company), and trying to force it is indeed considered rude - or even intrusive/threatening.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I guess most people won't care about or notice the tracking (after all, we are OK that virtually every website tells Google about each web page we open), but if your e-mail happens to trigger an alert in their mailer or anti-virus, it won't do you any good.
It should be noted that e-mail tracking techniques are spectacularly bad at their primary purpose: reporting whether an e-mail has been read. Some people (like myself) configure their mail clients to never fetch online content, so you'll never see the notification. Other configurations may result in images being automatically downloaded, so you'll see a false positive.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> A considerable portion of emails that I send to professors abroad to
> see if they have any position available remains unanswered. Not
> receiving a response, I can not imagine if they didn't attract to my
> CV or they simply forgot to open my email.
>
>
>
What difference does that make to you? Do you react an differently to the two? If so, please specify how, and we maybe be able to help you better.
My advice is simply to keep your own records, manually. That way, you will probably get a more exact record (it will certainly be in exactly the format which you prefer), and you do not risk offending anyone.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Suppose, that I (total stranger to you), would hack into your computer, circumvait your protection measures, spy on you, all before I would presentr myself to you and then I would ask you to get even better access to your environment.
Would you protect yourself up to applicable law, or would you accept it and put me in your friends and grant me better access to you? (And if you would just out desparation from longliness, would you do, even if you would be target of such approach daily, while occupied over your head with existing real relations?)
**That is (from my point of view) exactly what are you asking about.**
(If tracking would hit, than it would be when the email is opened, before adressee is able to read first line - and cannot find, if the email was actually read, most it can do is tell if it was opened. And it nearly make sure you will be ignored and emeail deleted without reading at the best, (if it is discovered), more probabelly resulting in some worse case, from automatic rejection, maybe blacklisting, maybe contacting your school/employer, up to some official actions))
Not that such approach would work against myself, as I have all emails sorted first to apropriate directories (Family, Friends, lists/ConferenceA, lists/ConferenceB, ... Partners/A, Partners/B,... reports/A, reports/B ... reports/unimportant/A,reports/unimportant/B, ... Spam ...) and what is left (not met by any crieria) in Inbox I consider possible spam more than anything else.
And I did set my email client to not automatically confirm delivery nor opening email. And to shouw only plain text (if email is only in HTML or other format, then it is presented as empty and usually deleted under assumption of being spam/malware/virus anyway without any attempt to see the content - except for a few manually explicitely named exceptions). And even if I open HTML attachement, it is not allowed to access internet (no images/css/flash ...) and of course all flash/(java)scripts/similar are baned from being run. And I would not run/install any program from email.
I reported back to authorities a lot of such emails as being unwanted and offensive. Some of such actions indirectly helped to the court and fine for the sender.
---
If you want to get positive answer from me, then I suggest (as other stated here) make your email as simple to deside on as possible.
* use short, but descriptive subject
* start with short (like one line/sentence/ short paragraph) summary in neutral tone ( I look for position as XXX, have this school/grade, I participated on YYY, more in email and on my website htpp://my.web.site/folder)
* then write the "full official" body with addressing/greating, describing why you are sending this (read about free position there, wanted to participate on this, interested on that field ...), what you archived yet (if you have something related) etc, etc - just the letter you wanted to send.
* if you send Curriculum Vitae, documents and such it is possible to include them as attachements, if they are short and important (and you can mention them in the email too)(longer document should be saved on web and provided by links to them - nobody wants have its email filled with multimegabytes messages from strangers), it is better, if the name is descriptive for the receiver (my\_name\_CV.doc, my\_name\_awards.html ...) then just common(CV.doc), as the professor probabelly have tons of CVs. Surely do not name it from your point of view (CV\_for\_proffesor\_this\_and\_that.doc), even if you store it with such name on your comp (still is better to make directory on your computer named by this professor and store it there with your name on this, in case he/she would later ask you about 3. paragraf in my\_name\_CV.doc, then you can simply find, which CV it is and what exactly was there. The same, if you are later asked to resend that, maybe because it was accidentally deleted)
* end the letter with your full name, email address and any other contact informations you want to share (including the website about yourself) - it is better, if the message is printed, saved/resend, that all contacts to you are included (as email headers can be stripped, or your email would be resend many times and finding, who is the author is difficult/impossible)
All other rules of proper coresponding also applies, but you surely know that.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_6: I had used them since I began the applying process, however, today, in a telegram group that guys who are applying to Canadian universities exchange their experiences, several people said after they decided to stop using these kinds of trackers they have better responses. One guy said that his emails sent to spam inbox and another one copied an email from a professor who said: "I figured out that you use email tracker and suggest to unable this before contacting other faculties. Most of the professors find it an invasion of their privacy, and we never accept a student who uses such a program." As a student who has used this way for months, I don't suggest you apply trackers either. They are useless. It will not help you to find out if a professor has read your mail or not. Furthermore, you can never be sure because many professors use blockers. It isn't worth to use to even one potential supervisor by using these trackers.
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: Emailing the authors of a paper is a [common way](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/51940/452) to obtain access to the paper when it is behind [paywalls](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/80496/452). However, publishing contracts may forbid authors to send their paper by email.
Is there any research/study/survey that tried to quantify how often authors are not allowed to send their paper by email upon request? I am especially interested in papers written in English.
---
The RoMEO Journals database contains thousands of journals, labeled with their archiving policy ([preprint](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preprint)/[postprint](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postprint)/publisher's version):
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/i6bbO.png)
Except of the database:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/DmXru.png)
That gives an approximate lower bound on how often authors are allowed to send their paper by email upon request, since if an author can upload a preprint/postprint/publisher's version to a repository, they are most likely allowed to send it to someone by email upon request.
---
Looking at the publishers might give a decent approximation but journals from the same publisher may have different policies, e.g. <http://www.nature.com/news/gates-foundation-research-can-t-be-published-in-top-journals-1.21299>:
>
> A spokesperson for Nature’s publisher, Springer Nature, said that most Springer Nature journals do comply with the Gates Foundation policies. (Nature’s news team is editorially independent of the journal Nature.) But a “small number”, including Nature and some Nature-branded research titles, do not.
>
>
>
Related: [Am I allowed to share a final copy of my published paper privately?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/56495/452)<issue_comment>username_1: I will speculate (and I'm guessing that a speculative answer is the best you'll be able to get to such a question) that the answer is effectively **never**. Specifically, I have never heard of a journal attempting to impose such a draconian restriction on authors, and moreover, I can think of two quite strong reasons why they would not do so:
1. Any journal that attempts to impose such a restriction is very likely to be blacklisted and boycotted by authors.
2. The restriction is unenforceable, since email communication is private and therefore a violation could never be detected by the publisher. In the world of dealmaking, savvy dealmakers know\* that it is completely counterproductive to insert unenforceable clauses into a contract, since they will surely be ignored and their only effect will be to antagonize your counterparty and drive them to deal with a competitor instead.
\* Okay, I don't actually know for a fact that "savvy dealmakers know ...", but since I know it and I'm not a very savvy dealmaker myself, I expect that it is even more obvious to savvy dealmakers than it is to me.
To summarize, if there is a journal forbidding authors from sending their paper to colleagues over email, it's a reasonably safe bet that the journal is a nonentity and can be safely ignored.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: You will have better luck by looking at this from a publisher level rather than at a journal or conference level. In my field, Computer Science, most if not all publications are done through the ACM or the IEEE. I know for a fact that anything published through either of these institutions can be freely shared by the author, because it's part of their copyright release. Thus, I'm confident saying that most if not all authors of Computer Science articles are freely allowed to share their work.
[All ACM publications must bear the following notice:](http://www.acm.org/publications/policies/copyright-statement)
>
> Copyright © 2016 by the Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.
> (ACM). Permission to make digital or hard copies of portions of this
> work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided
> that the copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial
> advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on
> the first page in print or the first screen in digital media.
> Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must
> be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted.
>
>
>
I'm sure a lawyer could debate me on this, but it sounds to me like the ACM is not just giving the author permission, but anyone permission to make personal copies and distribute them on a per-person basis where there is no commercial incentive. This presumably includes the fostering of research collaborations.
[The IEEE language in their contract is similar:](https://www.ieee.org/documents/ieeecopyrightform.pdf)
>
> 2. Authors/employers may reproduce or authorize others to reproduce the Work, material extracted verbatim from the Work, or derivative
> works for the author’s personal use or for company use, provided that
> the source and the IEEE copyright notice are indicated, the copies are
> not used in any way that implies IEEE endorsement of a product or
> service of any employer, and the copies themselves are not offered for
> sale.
>
>
>
Here the language is actually a little simpler than the ACM case, because under their language the author can make as many copies as they like and the only real stipulation is that you cannot offer the copies for sale. Under the ACM wording it's not necessarily clear what constitutes a commercial advantage or what constitutes a personal use.
Note that restricting your search to just "may the author email a copy of their own work" might be misleading. My last ACM copyright release specifically provides that I may:
>
> (iii) Post the Accepted Version of the Work on (1) the Author's home
> page, (2) the Owner's institutional repository, or (3) any repository
> legally mandated by an agency funding the research on which the Work
> is based.
>
>
>
Nowhere in this document do they specifically give me the right to email a copy of my work to other people, so whether or not I'm technically allowed to do that is a matter of interpretation of the contract. However, if someone emailed me and asked for a copy I could 100% satisfy that person by providing a link where they could download it from my website rather than email them directly, and I 100% stay within the actions specifically allowed by the contract.
The IEEE has an exactly analogous statement about distributing through personal webservers.
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/01/08
| 906
| 3,676
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<issue_start>username_0: Like many others, I did not get a tenure-track position right out of grad school. I have been moving from university to university across the US for the past few years, sometimes in the capacity of a postdoc, and sometimes in a junior (non-tenure-track) faculty position. (Many of these universities have top math departments, at varying levels; some in the top 10.)
Alas, as I move from one university to the next, my spouse is finding it harder and harder to get a full-time position each time we move. I am currently earning well, but not enough to support a spouse and kids. We're seeing our savings not-so-slowly disappear.
My question is -- what sort of "odd jobs" can someone in my position do to earn money on the side, while my spouse finds his or her bearings (yet again!) in the new location? Note that it is important that these be jobs that are sufficiently flexible that I would be able to do them while still functioning in my current university. I have excellent research (though not sufficient to have gotten a tenure-track position by now), and excellent teaching skills. While I do research in abstract Mathematics, I am also reasonably proficient in statistics and programming.
Are there natural answers to this questions that I have not thought about? Ones that are specific to people in our community? How should one go about getting these odd jobs?<issue_comment>username_1: There are plently of online jobs in big data, market research (statistical), etc. you can lookup the following links and chose according to your strength.
and all the best.
<https://www.freelancer.in/jobs/Statistics/1/>
<https://www.google.co.in/search?q=online+jobs+for+statisticians&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b&gfe_rd=cr&ei=hTpzWK-2Osjk8Aeng7j4CA>
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Universities (especially if they're large R1 universities, almost certainly if they're in top 10) usually ask its department members whether they are willing to teach a calculus/lower-level math courses in the summer for extra pay. These are often accelerated and they are over in a couple of months. Teaching one class, in my estimate, should earn you an extra 5-10k, depending on your institution. You can easily pick up two of these classes over the summer. If there is more than one university in your area, you could also try teaching at the other universities.
You could also tutor students. This is admittedly a little awkward when you are a faculty member, but as long as you are not teaching them, there shouldn't be any problems. This works especially well in an affluent area; I'm told that some people, given good credentials, can support themselves completely on tutoring students.
Sometimes, websites dedicated to math education, such as Art of Problem Solving, hires online graders. The flexibility of the job means that you can pick it up on top of being a postdoc.
Lastly, remember that you're on a 9-month salary contract. This means that you could be an intern at some large company using your statistics/programming skills during the other three months, and earn a huge paycheck.
These are not really "odd jobs", but probably the easiest to get given your situations. Of course, you should keep in mind that these will take away from your research time, which might make finding a tenure-track job more difficult (I totally sympathize with you; the system that we have is far from perfect, and it puts so many people in your position. But this is the reality and you should be aware of it when you're contemplating taking up another job on top of your postdoc position, which is already more than a full-time job).
Upvotes: 3
|
2017/01/09
| 716
| 3,032
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<issue_start>username_0: Suppose publication Smith (2016) had a study that investigated whether professors liked apples, and found that they did.
Now suppose that I wish to have my own study that investigated whether students also liked apples, and to what degree would this be compared to professors.
Would it be necessary for me to ask Smith for permission to show their numbers when I am making the statistical comparison between my data and Smith (2016) data?
If I reference Smith (2016) when presenting my work, do not claim the data on professors to be my own, and use the same inventory of questions (which Smith (2016) themselves used from another source), I would assume that this would not be considered plagiarism and I would not have to receive permission, but I wasn't entirely sure.
In other words, is it okay for me to show some other publication's data for data comparison reasons without prior permission if I properly reference/cite their work?
\*This project, as it stands, only has intentions for conference presentations and not publication if that changes anything.<issue_comment>username_1: Utilization of data sets (acquired from other **academic** resources) is fairly common; specially when you need to compare your analytical method with the other one's in view of performance, precision, etc. In such case, people often try to use a pre-assessed data set of their own or some other study. All you need to do is referencing the used data set, carefully.
Answer to question #11, [here](http://www.mtu.edu/gradschool/administration/academics/thesis-dissertation/copyright/faq/), says:
>
> **Data cannot be copyrighted**, so you are free to use data to create any figure you like *[or any analysis you need]*. **The source of the data must be properly acknowledged**
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Be aware: the legal answer may be different for just citing data from a table, as opposed to reproducing a figure or image, even though there is little ethical difference (in my opinion).
Figures, unfortunately, are often under copyright by the journal, and journals will have stated figure re-use policies. (Look for "request permissions" or something like this on the article's website.) Often this re-use will be free, but you will still need that permission.
Because of this copyright situation, I have had to request permission from a journal in order to include *figures I created* within a review article. This is silly, but necessary in many cases.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: As long as you're not reproducing their figures or tables, it is perfectly acceptable to use the data and properly cite it without permission. If you are "adapting" a figure or table, you may need to solicit permission (for the copyright holder, which is often the publisher), or follow the mandate for whatever open-access license the document was published under (depending on how close the new work is to the old work, and your publishers level of comfort).
Upvotes: 1
|
2017/01/09
| 619
| 2,568
|
<issue_start>username_0: Working on some journal paper, it has pseudocode-ish/equation-ish demonstrations of the way some equations play out, along with actual reference values in the example proper; along the lines of:
**i = i + 1**
i = 2
*Note: please assume the actual demonstrations are much more complex than this and actually require the reference values.*
What is the correct formatting here? I have had it suggested to me the first line should be underlined, whereas I find putting the reference value in brackets more obvious - like so:
**i = i + 1** (i = 2)
with the bracketed content right-aligned.
Suggestions?<issue_comment>username_1: Utilization of data sets (acquired from other **academic** resources) is fairly common; specially when you need to compare your analytical method with the other one's in view of performance, precision, etc. In such case, people often try to use a pre-assessed data set of their own or some other study. All you need to do is referencing the used data set, carefully.
Answer to question #11, [here](http://www.mtu.edu/gradschool/administration/academics/thesis-dissertation/copyright/faq/), says:
>
> **Data cannot be copyrighted**, so you are free to use data to create any figure you like *[or any analysis you need]*. **The source of the data must be properly acknowledged**
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Be aware: the legal answer may be different for just citing data from a table, as opposed to reproducing a figure or image, even though there is little ethical difference (in my opinion).
Figures, unfortunately, are often under copyright by the journal, and journals will have stated figure re-use policies. (Look for "request permissions" or something like this on the article's website.) Often this re-use will be free, but you will still need that permission.
Because of this copyright situation, I have had to request permission from a journal in order to include *figures I created* within a review article. This is silly, but necessary in many cases.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: As long as you're not reproducing their figures or tables, it is perfectly acceptable to use the data and properly cite it without permission. If you are "adapting" a figure or table, you may need to solicit permission (for the copyright holder, which is often the publisher), or follow the mandate for whatever open-access license the document was published under (depending on how close the new work is to the old work, and your publishers level of comfort).
Upvotes: 1
|
2017/01/09
| 6,403
| 26,889
|
<issue_start>username_0: January seems to be that time of the year that I ponder this question often. After the grades have come out, I always get a few students with very low grades (D or lower) coming to talk to me, and wondering whether this grade will have an impact on their future ambitions of going to a top graduate school and becoming a professor.
Another related event that happens in January is that it's the interview season for tenure-track positions in my field. The market is getting increasingly tougher, and plenty of very strong postdocs that I know don't have any interviews.
Watching these things always makes me wonder if it's a bad thing to be discouraging to the students.
Sure, technically it's true that even with a couple of failing grades, you can still gain entrance to a top graduate school, given glowing recommendation letters. And sure, I'm sure that some researchers weren't phenomenal in graduate school but they flourish in their later career.
However, in today's tough market I think that these things are becoming rarer, and in general, unless you stay on top of the track you don't really succeed in becoming a professor/researcher. So I often wonder if it's better to tell the students a bit more of the honest truth. That their ambitions are possible to realize, but that the competition is tougher than they could ever imagine. That they should definitely have a plan B in place. That even if they succeed in becoming a professor, their life might be very different from how they imagined it to be (struggling with a two-body problem, working for a university that you never dreamed of, and so on). I, for one, might have appreciated an honest answer, and maybe that would have changed my career trajectory. And I think enough people with doctorates work for jobs that they could have gotten before going to graduate schools.
So, as an educator, it is bad form to be discouraging. But I wonder if it's actually in their interests to really know what's in store. Do you do this? That is, do you tell your weak students with unrealistic goals that their goals are unachievable?<issue_comment>username_1: I think you need to balance brutal honesty with treating students with respect.
If I find a student who will have a difficult time in getting into grad school, I would tell them that I believe they will have a challenging time finding a graduate school to accept them based on their current credentials. I would also attempt to explain what I think would make her case stronger, without being too harsh in describing the situation. You can also describe your own situation and the realities in the academic community as a whole in a similar manner.
Ultimately, it boils down more to *how* you say it, not so much *what* you say.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I am a student so this is coming from a student's perspective.
I think you ***should*** be honest with them regarding what going into graduate school entails. For my case, none of the professors I initially talked to encouraged me to go to graduate school, and for good reason. Each of them stated what the cons were to going to graduate school and how the academic job market is now much more competitive than when they were a fresh Ph.D. graduate. Was this discouraging at first? Yes. However, it also helped me in cognitively organizing why I wanted to go to graduate school and I was able to set a firm goal and stick with it.
Those professors often told me that the reason why they would encourage students to take a gap year and think long and hard about the next step is precisely because students often make the assumption that Ph.D. is the obvious 'next step' when it very well might be the exact opposite of what they wanted.
Coming from a student's perspective, I appreciate honesty from professors because it helps me to realize the reality of going into graduate school and potentially what kind of sacrifices I need to make (e.g. a good chunk of my youth, vacation time, etc.). However, I never found it appealing when a professor, who I aspire to be like, tells me that I'm not good enough to ever do what they do *without additional feedback*.
In my case, when I first approached those professors about my plans to go into Ph.D. to become a professor, my main advisor looked at my records and told me what to expect, where I currently stand, and what I can do to improve should I wish to stay on that path. I think the last bit is the most important piece of feedback I received. The first two parts can help me in deciding if this is the correct next step for me, but the third part is what will help me achieve that step despite the challenges.
So all in all, if I were one of your students, I would appreciate honest commentary on my goals as well as the additional feedback on what I can do to improve so that the choice of pursuing a Ph.D. is still ultimately my decision. This also helps students to develop and mature, I think.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: >
> So, as an educator, it is bad form to be discouraging. But I wonder if it's actually in their interests to really know what's in store. Do you do this? That is, do you tell your weak students with unrealistic goals that their goals are unachievable?
>
>
>
As university teachers, we have the luxurity of working with adults who can and should make their own decisions. As such, it inherently feels "wrong" to me to present a student with a more rosy view of their situation to keep them on a track that you suspect they would have already left if they had all the information. It's also important to note that the short-term "encouragement" the student may currently feel if you tell her/him that (s)he may still get into MIT will turn into bitter disappointment and discouragement once (s)he finds out that (s)he won't get in. Even though as a teacher you should be encouraging, you don't necessarily need to choose a path that's maximally encouraging *right now*, without any considerations of future prospects.
**Edit:**
Regarding *being honest with students about the realities of life in academia* I would say you should definitely do that. However, don't just focus on the negatives - also explain why you *like* doing what you do, and why you think it is right for you. I think there is currently a trend in academia to be overly negative with everything, and I don't think that helps anybody. I feel the best course of action for me was always to be very honest with my students on what I am currently working on, applying for, and struggling with. That way my students get a good, direct view on what life looks like for a junior PI, and can themselves decide if that is something that they want for themselves or not.
**So I think that ultimately, we *do* have an obligation to be honest to students about how we we see their prospects.**
However, there are a few things to keep in mind:
* You should not just tell students that their current dream is unachievable, but offer them useful alternatives to think about (and offer some good, plausible encouragement why the alternative is also very worthy). A student may not realistically go to MIT, but maybe a less excellent school is still within reach? A recent graduate may currently not be competitive for a tenure track position at an R1 university, but would they also be interested in a postdoc or a temporary staff scientist position? These things may seem obvious, but sometimes people get so hung up on their "dream" first choice priority that they forget that alternatives exist that maybe would not be too bad for the student.
* You should always critically examine if you *really* have the student's best interest in mind, or your own. It's not important whether *you* consider teaching at a community college as a step down from graduating from your institution - if you can see the student be happy in a pure teaching position, you should encourage her/him to explore it even if it would not be the right choice for you. Similarly, you should not think about your tenure or promotion case while deciding about what to tell your student about his future prospects.
* Choice of words as well as timing is of tremendous import if you want to be encouraging. Make very sure that the idea that you transport is that the student should be persuing the second-best option, and not that the student failed and should now be scrapping for some sort of semi-viably backup plan. Whatever choice a student makes, frame it positively and don't focus on what (s)he has not achieved to do. For instance, if a recent graduate will leave academia entirely for industry, your conversation should circle around what the student has learned and achieved, and not on that "he could have gotten this job also without a PhD". A good part of being encouraging is simply to be a "glass is half full" person.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: I would be honest that low grades will make it difficult (though not necessarily impossible) to get into their dream grad school. And in fact getting into such a school and not being up to the challenge wouldn't be good for the student.
If the student insists on wanting to go straight into a doctoral program, I would suggest that they apply to some 'back ups' as well as their top choices.
But I would also advise them to consider doing a master's degree program that is rigorous enough to prepare them for a Ph.D.
program later.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Yeah Its Coming from a student's perspective, I never found it appealing when a professor, who I aspire to be like, tells me that I'm not good enough to ever do what they do.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_6: While I don't have a definite and complete answer, there are a few points I would like to make.
* I consider part of my duty to help students get the right information to choose their path, and in France, it is actually listed in our official duties (this is relatively recent, was added less than a decade ago). So honesty is in order, really.
* Before speaking the brutal truth, one should look into oneself for possible prejudice. One might overrate the importance of one's lecture because one feels it is the most important thing in the universe, while excellent grades in other lectures might make the student's record not so bad. One usually is influenced by common prejudice in our societies, and should be careful not to discourage female, working class or visible minorities students more strongly than wealthy white men. In some rare occasions, one might even find relevant to actually encourage some students who feel they can't do it while they are extremely bright and doing great (our students are usually subject to the same prejudice as we are, and it might be directed against themselves).
* That said, given the toughness of the market to get a permanent position in academia, I now give the following advice to all but the very very brightest students, even if they do stand a chance: assume you enter graduate school, do a very good PhD, and then don't get a permanent position. Would you be ok with that, or would you regret spending these years in academia? If you can accept to move on after PhD, you may try it. If you'll regret it in case you don't land a job, I strongly advise you search another path. I give the same advice after PhD to young people deciding whether they should take post-docs (and how long they try): only take the post-doc you will be happy to have worked for itself.
* It is also part of our responsibility, when we sit on admission committees or when asked to supervise a PhD (note that the system is different in France than in the US), to decline applications we do not believe firmly in. In France, there is relatively little recognition of the PhD in the private sector, and because of this I actually think we currently train too many PhDs.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_7: I suspect that this question hasn't been asked by a professor in social science. I say this because I think the OP has little regard for the various factors and complexity which may influence a student's track record.
A student may not perform as well currently, in a certain university and country, doing a certain study, in his current socio-economic and medical situation; but may perform staggeringly differently in another time and place.
Further more, what "top graduate schools" are, is a matter of debate and continuously changing.
Therefore, if you want real intellectual honesty, one should admit to your badly-performing student that you can not predict his future academic track with exact certitude, simply because there are so many chances. Keeping this in mind, there are more diplomatic and intelligent ways to encourage learning in your student's mindset, e.g. telling him that the better he wants to be, the better he will become. His studious attitude may even be rewarded 20 years later when he starts to study Y instead of X. The student might even re-start the same study X 30 years later: you simply cannot know.
Treating your students as if you are 99.9% sure of what they will become seems like treating your students as if they were inanimate objects, of which you can calculate the trajectory using equations from an exact science. I think this way of thinking about students show that professors who teach, should actually get to know something about pedagogy. Because one can know an awful lot and be an expert in his/her subject, but have no clue about good ways of teaching (on a pedagogical and motivational level).
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_8: **Totally. We're talking about years of someone's life, here.**
By way of elaboration, let me tell you a story. I applied to postgraduate research positions at three universities after I graduated. One was rejected. One, the one I wanted most because it aligned most closely with my research interests, I didn't hear back from. The one I wanted least I was invited for interview and got the position.
Several days after accepting I got a letter from the institution I most wanted to attend offering me a place. The professor apologized for the late reply and offered some excuse (I forget what). But he said he knew one of my tutors and was happy to accept me on the basis of personal recommendation. Because I already had a position and it was literally days before the start of a new academic year, I felt honour bound to stay with what I had already accepted.
During my first few months of postgraduate life I discovered that my tutor was seen as a liability by the rest of the faculty. He was ill-tempered, physically threatened his students and had almost zero concept of how modern research was conducted. He spent most of his supervision time with me telling me off about minor errors of grammar and spelling in my lab reports. When challenged or asked to provide scientific guidance he would grow increasingly angry to the verge of violence.
I asked various people who'd been part of my interview process why they hadn't warned me when they had ample opportunity. They all apologised and said they were all too scared of the professor in question to risk telling me the truth.
I flunked the course after two and half years of misery with almost no material for a dissertation.
Truth be told, I might have flunked any PhD course. It may be I just wasn't dedicated enough or good enough at benchwork (my theory was fine!) to make the grade. But I wasn't given the opportunity to find out whether that was true because I was lied to about the quality of course I'd enlisted on. Those lies cost me two and half years of depression and the chance of a doctorate.
Even if I'd had a better tutor, they could have done me a huge favour by warning me upfront that academic life is hard. That it requires lots of out of hours work and enormous dedication. That it requires skills you've likely only touched on briefly as an undergraduate and that it's totally different to undergraduate life. That even an good to average student might not cut it in this world. That postgraduate life is structured and administered differently from undergraduate and that there are far more personality clashes and far fewer quality checks.
I might not have listened had a nicer tutor told me these things. But at least I would then be certain I only had myself to blame. Failing to be upfront about the academic life and, specifically about the academic life at your institution can cost people years of their lives. You own to them to be totally, unequivocally, honest.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_9: One thing I don't see mentioned yet is that you might be able to provide some hard data for the student. Statements like "academia is very competitive" are vague, because people have different ideas of what competition means.
Suppose a student really wants to be a research professor at a top-10 or top-20 school. In their past they have been in the top 10% of their class in high school and the top 10% of their class in college. They think they should be able to pull off being a top 10% grad student as well. This person has been very competitive and academically successful their entire life, so telling them that the job market is competitive doesn't really convey useful information. They might not realize that the position they're shooting for will have them competing against the top 1% in the nation (and consequently, they might not realize that academic scores don't mean a lot up at that high level).
In my field, Computer Science, we have a publication called the [Taulbee Survey](http://cra.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2015-Taulbee-Survey.pdf) which gives very good data on all of this. According to them, the field produced 1,780 PhD's last year. Of those, just 140 got a tenure-track position in a PhD granting department in North America. That's enough of a baseline to say that only 10% of PhDs end up as research professors in my field. If a student wants to be a really high-power research faculty then they're going to be competing for something like 20 possible slots in the US.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_10: While being (reasonably) honest is certainly important (offering a hopelessly pessimistic view may be honest, but not reasonably so), I would like to emphasize an aspect that does not seem to be covered in the answers. The OP is an advisor to students, so, obviously, one of his/her main functions is to advise them:-) An advisor does not have to give a yes or no answer even if the question seems to require that. There seems to be a problem with students that they often do not know much about careers outside of academia, and this is often a (bad) reason to have an ambition to become a professor. What is worse, their academic advisors often don't know much about non-academic careers either, as they often spend their entire life in academia. It so happened that I did not find a position in academia after my post-graduate studies and started to work in industry, and it was quite interesting, view-broadening, and requiring much of the skills I acquired gaining my PhD. After I worked there for 6 years, I was invited to work at my alma mater (based in part on what I was able to do in the industry) and worked there for another 6 years. Some people here complain that they lost years working for their PhD, and I am not sure that they just wasted their time. PhD is a step in our studies, and the skills you acquire while studying are typically applicable in many areas. So maybe advisors should also tell their students that the latter study to prepare for life, not just for academia, and they should try to gain a broader view of their future careers. People mentioned Ramanujan here. I would like to mention Tsiolkovsky (<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konstantin_Tsiolkovsky>) and Grassmann (<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Grassmann>), who worked as school teachers.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: I'm also a student.
Be very honest. **You have information that they don't have that will be useful for them.** I would rather tell them what you know and have them make the decision for themselves, rather than let them keep doing what they're doing and seeing them fail.
A quick personal story: I was an undergraduate student about two years ago, getting top awards in the math department that I graduated from, was well-respected in the department, and told my advisor at the time that I was thinking of pursuing graduate school full-time after a gap year of working in actuarial science, to eventually become a professor of statistics.
My advisor was involved in the hiring committee at the time for the math department, and she had a lot to say about this. To paraphrase what she said to me: the market is extremely competitive (and I understood what this meant, considering that I previously was considering to be a musician full-time), she was disturbed at how professors seem to always suggest that their top students go to graduate school, and she strongly suggested that I spend some time exploring my options in the job market.
**This was the best advice that I'd ever had in my four years as an undergraduate.** I did what she said, and yes, I did have my struggles. But I am very happy with my life only two years later, including the fact that I'm working full-time in a job I love while working on a graduate degree part-time. I hear from my peers who are in Ph.D. programs full-time who are considering dropping out, most of whom I consider to be very intelligent people. I hear about the things that they are doing in their programs and their morale, and I prefer my life of being able to pay for my graduate-school expenses and developing professional experience over the life of being a Ph.D. while TAing courses of students that do not care for the material.
**Dreams need to balanced with reality.** In my college career, I wanted to be a full-time musician and a full-time professor. **It is easy to be lost in what you're doing if that's all you're doing for 40+ hours a week, especially if you're a student.** Students who are spending many hours on their studies and other obligations often don't have time to be doing their own research on the job market itself. In most cases (judging by my peers' experiences), they often don't know where to start.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_12: Having thought about this issue greatly for both mentoring and as a research question, I believe the solution is: quantify it. Answer in terms of **time**, **effort**, and **personal sacrifices**. Those are really the trade-offs.
It's relatively straightforward to have a student review some CV's of recently accepted grad students, or whatever other goal position that a student has. It can then be quantified a bit: how many publications are they behind? How many awards? How many skills/fundamental courses are they behind their competition? How much studying would it take to get their standardized test scores at or above average? How good are their writing skills compared to the average? Unless a student can demonstrate themselves to be certifiably brilliant even in brief conversations or through some singular achievement, they're going to need a good body of work. This is not a great measure for excellence or slam dunks, but it is definitely a good measure of being able to have a fighting chance.
At that point, it is possible to estimate the amount of time that would be needed to reach the average level of the competition who is being accepted. Are they already around the average? Three years behind the average? At the point where they are behind the curve, it is reasonable to ask if they are willing and able to do a regular pace of 80h+ weeks over some period to reach an average benchmark (if sufficient time even still exists for their CV to make weight even with unwavering effort). If they have already been pulling 85h weeks and they're still behind, I would say to go for it (they're obviously determined to) but to have a good fallback plan. If they're not yet maxed out, it's a good time to have them re-evaluate their effort and grit.
The kind of effort needed to play catch-up in academia is fairly brutal, which should also be communicated in terms of personal sacrifice. Social outings can be scarce, family commitments limited, relationships stunted or sacrificed. Work-life balance will become a Globetrotters-Generals match. Perhaps worse, if they do catch up and can keep pace (but at that effort level) they will then be hired on the expectation of results and corresponding effort level. Or, put simply, they could be working 80h+ weeks for the rest of their life. I have to imagine that divorce rates go up at least 1% for each hour/week over 80h, as well. At any rate, if they're going to reach, they're going to need to love it- because there may be little time for other things that they love.
So I think there is no need to discourage them. Be honest. Ask them to be honest with themselves. Let them set their goals and track their goals. When confronted with a barrier, some may strive to overcome it and others may change course. Both options are acceptable: that is their choice. But they should be shown the hurdle before they crash into it. A few of them might surprise you (a *Rudy*). Most won't surprise you, except perhaps in how quickly they lose pace on their new regime of extra effort.
Note: One exception to this rule is if your field is so overfilled that PhD students do not receive fellowships and go into debt to complete them. In that case, tell them to run (don't walk) away from graduate work in your field. If there's one great rule, it's that if people can't afford to pay a grad student a modest stipend to do research, there's almost certainly not any decent jobs on the other side either. The one exception to this one exception rule is if they're independently filthy rich.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_13: Very simply, **tell the students the truth.**
When people enquire with me about doing PhD, I always tell them that it is "blood, sweat and tears", using exactly these words. This is not entirely true for the PhD in general, but it is true if one wants to **excel** in its field.
Excelling during PhD is necessary condition for them to be even marginally employable in academia (as you are noticing, the *academic market* is increasingly tightening), so this may be relevant to your question.
I also sometimes tell people that the PhD is like they have been cruising casually until now, but with PhD they will ride a rocket into an asteroid belt, with me helping to avoid the asteroids, but with them actually steering the rocket.
You may find those two analogies helpful :) It may weed out the people whos PhD would be a waste of time.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am sorry if this is already repeated but it is a very urgent need of mine.
Actually in my CV for graduate applications, I put my industrial internship period as May to June 2016 and research internship period as May to June 2016. Actually it is may to June 2015 for industrial internship period. I didn't notice this mistake till now and I have already submitted my applications. What do I do?<issue_comment>username_1: Correct the dates on your CV, then check the admissions website to see if there is any information about submitting corrections or amendments to your submitted application. If there is not, email the corrected CV to the admissions office or department with a very brief line, along the lines of *"Hello, I submitted my CV with my applications but later noticed I put the wrong year on one of my internships. I've corrected it in this version. Thank you for your time."* Include any relevant reference information to your application.
I honestly wouldn't expect it to get replied to, or possibly even noticed - admissions offices are very busy this time of year. But this way if it does come up you can refer to your earlier email with the corrected version.
I also wouldn't fret about it over much. It's remotely possible it could hurt you against an otherwise identically-qualified candidate who didn't make mistakes on their paperwork, assuming anyone even notices the discrepancy. But even that seems like a very small detail against a good candidate. The other thing I would suggest is that you proof read the whole thing carefully before you submit it with this correction; if you didn't proof read it well the first time and missed this mistake, it's possible you missed others too.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I think you should find out how to submit the corrections and then submit them. That's precisely what I would do because it's important to avoid the appearance of lying. The overlapping dates could make you appear to be a "superstar" when, in reality, you might only be a "shining star". :>)
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: My institution uses Moodle as online learning platform. I am enthusiastic at Moodle capabilities, and suspect this had a positive effect on my class. Would like to prove it (or disprove it) by looking at all possible ways students interact with the platform. My understanding is that Moodle stores internally its data through a database powered by MongoDB. Anybody knows how to access that database directly? Would like to avoid having to gather all independent data piecs from separate GUI clicks.<issue_comment>username_1: For those with admin privileges in moodle they can access the log features to see anybody's activity in moodle. For a teacher this feature is available to see student activity at the course level only. The activity can be viewed by student and or by the activity selected (forum, assignment, etc). The information provided isn't very deep. Just a time stamp with the student and what they did. However aggregating this info can provide some insights.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: After logging into your Moodle account, choose on the course you wish to download data. Click on the Gear icon to the top right, you will find 'Backup'-> now you can check all the student data and download to your local drive. Use the same menu to import the backed-up file for future use.
Refer to [Course Backup](https://docs.moodle.org/37/en/Course_backup)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: There is a really cool way of working out in this regard.
Please check <https://docs.moodle.org/37/en/Configurable_reports>
Dabbling around with just a little, you will be able to do it easily.
Do let me know if you need additional help. Initially, it is a little frustrating. But after you get the hang of it, it is a piece of cake.
Knowledge of SQL is important.
Best Wishes,
JSP
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: If you wish to see the way the interactions are done to your course, you will find the log that Moodle generates informative.
Just go to the gear icon for the course of choice and view the logs. Filter the same to your requirement.
If you export the logs to a spreadsheet, much greater analytics can be got.
Best Wishes, JSP
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Last semester, I was teaching a class where
there is a small assignment (~2% of the total course assessment)
that students need to submit every week.
Unfortunately, some of the students joined the class late,
due to add/drop forms that needed to be signed manually,
or for other unknown reasons.
Is it fair to give zeros to students who missed early assignments
because they added the class late?
There were a few students who may have missed 3 or 4 weeks of assignments.
### Response to comment
*Q: Were the students not able to physically be present?
Were the students not able to predict that they would take your class?*
They were physically able to be present.
Some students may not have been able to predict
that they were able to take my class.
For example, one student had to add the class after the add date deadline,
because he was admitted late to the university.
### Edit
After thinking things through,
I checked that the last date for adding the course is the Monday of week 2,
and the first weekly assignment is also assigned and due in week 2.
I found in the data that there were several students
who did not attend in week 1,
but all of these students attended and submitted
the weekly assignment in week 2.
Consequently, all of the students in the course
were registered by week 2,
and would have been able to submit all the weekly assignments.
Thus any students who did not submit a weekly assignment
deserve to get zero for that assignment,
unless they have a reason to be excused.<issue_comment>username_1: No, it is not. Some accommodation must be made, either in how the grade is generated, or preferably, with an opportunity to make up the work. The latter discourages gaming your calendar.
Three or four weeks, though, is ridiculous. If they were in the class by all but their official registration, they should have found a way, or you should have found them a way, to turn in assignments.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes, it absolutely is. Assuming this is a taught course, students who join three or four weeks late have missed substantial instruction. In the U.S. four weeks is more than a quarter of a semester.
*However,* you must set the date of the first assignment at least a couple of days later than the official drop/add date. Students who join during drop/add may have to scurry to catch up, but they ought to expect that.
Of course, I've made the assumption that there *is* an official drop/add date, and that it is reasonable compared to the duration of the course, *e.g.* seven days for a 16-week semester. If not, that's a large problem, and one to take to the Faculty Senate or a similar body. Having students join a class at arbitrary times during a term seriously compromises the quality of instruction for the entire class and abuses the instructor.
If there is not an official drop/add date or the drop/add period is long compared to the duration of the course, then you must make accommodation for students who enter late. As username_1 has already written, that should be to allow time to make up the work, not by changing the grading plan for those students.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: At most institutions, the last day to add a course is set up by the institution, not the professor. We have an obligation to honor that, which means allowing students to enroll, with full full privileges, up to the last day they're allowed to.
Giving 0's for assignments they've missed is inconsistent with that. I prefer to simply ignore previous assignments of the sort you're describing - if their score for that part of the class would have been based on 13 weekly assignments, now it's based out of 11. (Sadly, this can be a little hard to administer depending how you calculate grades.) Alternatively, they can be asked to make up the work; it *is* the responsibility of students to keep up with the courses they've enrolled in, either by auditing them while deciding or making up what they missed, so it's reasonable to ask them to do the assignment on a reasonably short time scale (I usually like two weeks, which should be enough time to avoid excessive overlap with any other commitments, but one week would be appropriate if the assignments are short and it's not an exam-laden week).
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: Giving zeros to late-joiners is only fair if you have it stated in the syllabus (or otherwise communicated it in a way accessible to them).
A better solution, balancing fairness to the student and the professor, is to give them the same amount of time to complete all overdue assignments *starting with the enrollment cutoff*. For example, if four one-week assignments have been graded and a fifth is announced at the start of week 5, then give all new students one week to finish all five assignments and be caught up.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: In general, I would say "no", it isn't fair. Further, you may be promoting the appearance that you are penalizing someone for wanting to take YOUR class, even though that might not be your intent.
The school policy, apparently, allows students to add classes late. Your policy makes it appear you are contradicting the school policy.
In general, I believe this policy makes you appear unreasonable. Students will come and go, but you will remain and so will your reputation.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: My solution to this is to have a certain number of low or missing assignments dropped from each student's weighted total at the end of the semester, and to have this number be at least as many assignments as in the add/drop period. So then I think it is fair in this case for late-adds to get zero on those assignments; they can still conceivably get top marks for the course, but they're working without a safety net. And the rule and processing is uniform for all students. I don't recall any major complaints after I explain the drop policy to late-adders.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_7: Yes, it is absolutely ethical, **if and only if** students have access to the necessary resources, including this homework policy, from the beginning of the semester, regardless of whether they are officially registered.
I've had an "adding late does not excuse missing homework" policy in my syllabus for years, partly as a defense mechanism against the long waiting lists my classes usually start with, and partly to avoid students missing important early material that they will need later in the course. Moreover, I prioritize the waiting list by the initial homework scores, and I actually remove students from the waiting list if they don't submit homework.
In short, if you want to add my course late, you must demonstrate that you have engaged with the early course material, because otherwise, you're going to be totally lost later.
But to make sure this is fair, I release all my homeworks on the public course web site (not behind some stupid password-protected LMS), along with lecture notes and recordings of the actual lectures. Moreover, the TAs and graders do not know which students are officially registered; they grade everything that is submitted. The additional work is a minimal burden on the course staff, which quickly fades out as registered students drop out and active students take their place in the official roster.
Being officially registered for a class is a mere administrative hurdle. It has no bearing on the students' ability to do the work.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_8: Even if there are no problems at all and all students do all the assignments and sit the exam as planned, it's not 100% fair, because assignments and exams are an inaccurate way to assess students' capabilities. So, the usual system is already a compromise, but it's the only practical way we can teach and evaluate how well the students have mastered the subject. So, we must not pretend as if any particular system we use for assignments and exams is the perfect gold standard such that upholding that gold standard becomes the main goal. This mistaken attitude leads to this whole idea that you could give students zero points for missed assignments, even if missing the assignments was beyond the control of the students.
The students are there to master the subject, the Prof. is there to teach the students. The system of assignments and exams exists to help facilitate this, we're not there to religiously uphold the rules, to make the rules the main issue when fixing problems. If there are problems with the assignments, you have to go back to basics and think about how you can best assess how well the students are mastering the course.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: In the light of students being able to exploit the late entry to avoid having to do assignments, it sounds fair to the rest of the class who had to actually do the work, that late entries be given zero.
Trying to find the middle ground, e.g. having the due date after the late entries cut-off date, or handing out the assignment to the new students with a few days to get it done, sounds like a good idea.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: It's not fair to allow new students to add a class but then penalize their grades; you need to give late adds a reasonable chance to make up the work that they have missed. (In addition, this will let them catch up on learning that they have missed.)
Another answer suggested that students should do the work speculatively while waiting to be formally added to the class, but this may not be feasible: if I'm on the waiting list for 9 different classes I'm not going to do 9 different assignments just in case. (This is especially problematical if I'm on the wait list for multiple classes in the same time slot -- I can't even sit in on all of them.)
If there is critical work that students will have missed if they add the class at the deadline then ask the university for an exception to the late add policy, and be prepared to have your request denied.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_11: I'm not instructor, but I am a recent student so I'll throw my opinion into the ring.
Based on the following:
* Whether or not students are physically capable of attending the class is case by case, and may (almost certainly will) depend on factors outside of your visibility or the student's control
* Students trying to take high-demand classes will often wait for slots to open post-kickoff because of enrolled students dropping the class, and it's not usually reasonable to expect students to do classwork for several extra classes while waiting for such a chance to appear
* I don't think I have ever met anyone in my entire educational career who waited to register for a class in order to deliberately get out of doing the early assignments
* Since it's before the add drop date, it may be out of your hands anyway, check university policy or ask other instructors
* It doesn't really reflect life after school. Most companies' hiring processes are agnostic to concepts like application windows
* As an instructor it's your job to teach the students the material, and judge them fairly based on how well they know it, so from that perspective, it doesn't make a lot of sense to penalize otherwise possibly bright students for missing some sessions before adding the class.
A compromise is your best option. If they miss a very small portion of the class assignments, less than a few percentage points, perhaps just drop those grades from their average. If they miss a larger amount of work, consider allowing them to complete those assignments (or similar ones that cover the same material) for some amount of credit.
Anecdotally, when I was taking classes, most of the instructors with large class sizes (often the physics and mathematics courses, which are required for many majors and where there were sometimes 100+ students per instructor) had just such an alternate version of each homework assignment planned out in advance for just the occasion of students missing work due to circumstances outside of their control (late add, emergency travel, etc)
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/09
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<issue_start>username_0: I am applying for academic promotion and as part of my case I would like to argue that having published x FOCS, y STOC and z SODA papers is impressive. However, I have been told by our head of department that those on the promotions panel will never have heard of FOCS, STOC and SODA and so this will just be compared with the number papers people publish in any other venue. I have further been told that I should provide checkable evidence that these really are important conferences.
>
> How can I do that?
>
>
>
I could quote acceptance rates except I don't believe they are particularly low in these conferences due to self selection.
One might also have thought that recommendation letters would be the best way to judge the quality of someone's work. Sadly we first have to pass a first filtering round in the promotions process before they are requested.<issue_comment>username_1: The site [Conference Ranks](http://www.conferenceranks.com/) helpfully compiles conference rankings from three sources. Two are "objective" (based on the citations) and the third is "subjective" (based on the opinions of people in the field). (Personally, I think the latter is more meaningful in this case, but your institution might disagree, so it's nice to have both.)
More generally, there's something strange about your situation. Your institution is, surely, aware that publication venues vary widely in quality and must have dealt with this problem in the past. This may be a case where asking a question just the right way will get a more helpful answer: instead of asking what you should do, it might help to ask what previous people have done, and how publication venues have been evaluated in the past.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I have been told by our head of department that those on the promotions panel will never have heard of FOCS, STOC and SODA and so this will just be compared with the number papers people publish in any other venue.
>
>
>
I find this stance outrageous. It is the promotion committee's *responsibility* to understand—at least at a high level—the publication landscape in the fields in which candidates publish. Moreover, if the committee is outside your department, it is your department chair's responsibility to *educate* the committee on the publication culture in your field.
Aside from the conference rankings that username_1 mentions, there are other less official rankings of [CS departments](http://csrankings.org/) or just [theory groups](http://projects.csail.mit.edu/dnd/ranking/), based on publication output weighted by prestige. (The rankings themselves [should not be taken seriously](https://lucatrevisan.wordpress.com/2014/10/23/an-alternative-to-the-seddighin-hajiaghayi-ranking-methodology/), but they do provide a window on what the community thinks of the conferences.)
Another method that might be helpful is to gather evidence about where strong theoreticians actually publish. Select a handful of successful theoretical computer scientists in top CS departments and *show the committee where those people publish*. To pick out a few random DBLP pages off the top of my head: [<NAME>](http://dblp.uni-trier.de/pers/hd/b/Blum:Avrim), [<NAME>](http://dblp.uni-trier.de/pers/hd/c/Chekuri:Chandra), [<NAME>](http://dblp.uni-trier.de/pers/hd/r/Rao:Satish), [<NAME>](http://dblp.uni-trier.de/pers/hd/v/Vempala:Santosh). Choose whatever experts you consider to be your aspirational peers in your subsubfield.
Alternatively, bypass the ["prestige"](http://dilbert.com/strip/2014-10-24) question and argue directly that your work is strong. I assume you are provide the review committee with a research statement. That statement should provide direct evidence that your work is important, visible, and highly regarded. How often is your work cited, and by whom? (Only your subsubsubfield, or a broader set of researchers?) What followup work has it inspired by other researchers? What do other people's *papers* say about your work or the problems it addresses? Have you received any research awards (for example, Best Papers or an NSF CAREER) or more indirect accolades (for example, invitations to program committees, journal editorial boards, or Dagstuhl workshops)? Are you in [<NAME>'s list](http://www.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il/~/oded/my-choice.html), or in <NAME>'s [annual top 10](http://11011110.livejournal.com/322718.html)?
I'd also recommend asking your department head whether the pre-letter evaluation is merely a sanity check, or if it has real teeth. My university's promotion process includes a preliminary stage, where the Promotions and Tenure Committee decides whether to request recommendation letters, or not to put the case forward at all. But at least for tenure cases, this stage is essentially pro forma; a decision *not* to request letters requires a compelling case for failure.
If that's not the case at your institution, I'd **strongly** recommend pointing the committee to CRA's Best Practice Memo on [Evaluating Computer Scientists and Engineers For Promotion and Tenure](http://cra.org/resources/best-practice-memos/evaluating-computer-scientists-and-engineers-for-promotion-and-tenure/). In particular:
>
> The primary direct means of assessing impact —to document items (a) and (b) above —is by letters of evaluation from peers. Peers understand the contribution as well as its significance.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I committed to a decision to attend graduate school starting the semester of Fall 2017. I made this decision around mid-December. I started applications 2 days ago and to my surprise, many of my schools had deadlines of December 15th or January 5th.
I don't feel I badly managed my time. This was just when I felt comfortable committing to this direction in my life. I took the GRE about 5 months ago so that 'future me' wouldn't have to worry about it if I decided to attend. I also saw that some schools had an admission deadline of March 1st, so I figured most universities would follow this pattern it would be ok if I stopped focusing so hard on work and side projects to enjoy the holidays with my loved ones. I'd rather not wait an additional year to attend grad school.
Is it (generally speaking) worth my time and money to apply to these programs so far after the deadlines? Fall 2017 is 8 months away after all. I feel I should still have enough time to get my name into the figurative hat.<issue_comment>username_1: I would not apply if the deadline has passed simply because this is a graduate program you are applying for. Assuming it is competitive, the school will look down upon your application thinking that you applied on a whim. I would apply again next year. In the meantime, I would pursue a job in the field that you want to pursue graduate school in. This will show that you have interest in the profession and that you took a year to learn from industry and now want to apply that in conjunction to what you will be learning in academia.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: You are less likely to get into a program the closer to a deadline the application is, because most schools have rolling admissions programs and will have already started accepting people. Applying late can give off the false impression that the application is an afterthought, and with so little time, you will also be rushing letter writers, trying to get transcripts, and more likely to make an error that cannot be corrected in time.
GRE scores are good for five years. You would likely be better off finding an internship or work experience than applying this late in the cycle.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: You could try contacting the graduate administrator for programs you wanted to apply to, and ask them if it is too late to apply. I would consider doing this before I'd start throwing hundreds of dollars in applications to programs who wouldn't consider my app at all, anyway. However, most programs I've dealt with have online applications that are all marked as closed and won't allow any new applications, even if you wanted to apply, if it is after the selection date.
I don't personally know anyone who has tried this, but I suppose the most it will cost you is a polite email.
In all honesty though, I really don't expect anything other than a "you are welcomed to apply next year" response. A few graduate programs with deadlines in December have already made their decisions, some have contacted students for interviews, and some haven't started reviewing files (but admissions has still been processing their files, ensuring everything is attached, etc). Those that haven't started may still not allow any new applications.
You can ask, but most likely you will need to consider alternative plans, such as looking at programs that have spring admissions, dates that haven't passed, or just waiting until fall of 2017 to apply for fall of 2018. Good luck, regardless!
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2017/01/09
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<issue_start>username_0: I graduated in 2014, and my situation is that I have been out of school for three years (as of fall 2017 it will be three years). My first recommendation is from an undergraduate research advisor who I've worked with extensively, and who I published with this year, so it's current.
My second is a research advisor from 2015 when I received a fellowship to do to research abroad. He is in a subfield that I want to do my grad research in.
My third is my undergraduate major advisor, who knew me well and who I worked as a TA for for two semesters. We've kept in contact over the years and he's been a real help in helping me receive scholarships/fellowships when he wrote me letters in the past.
My question is this: I had a research experience in the summer of 2014 at a national lab, but I have not asked my advisor there for a letter for most of my schools that only require 3 letters. The research was not in the subfield I'm looking to go into, but it would be the next most recent item on my CV, and more importantly, it would be a research reference. It's not a case of being on bad terms with this person. He is able to write me a strong letter, as I explicitly asked this of him for schools that required a fourth letter (and he easily agreed), but I genuinely think my third letter writer as indicated above is stronger. That professor was instrumental in designing many of the courses in my major department (and so has intimate knowledge of the curriculum and what my grades actually mean in those courses), and is known for writing excellent letters. Additionally, the national lab internship was only for three months, which is a very short amount of time.
I have read on here that omitting such a letter could in some cases be a red flag to admissions committees, especially if it is recent, but I'm wondering if perhaps this case is a bit different. I already have two referees who can speak strongly to my research experience, and they're directly in the subfield I'm interested in. I don't think the other research referee would say anything that these referees have not already touched on, but I do think having the undergraduate advisor, who I've worked for and who has known me for a very long time in an academic context (but non-research context), would be valuable.
What should I do in this case?<issue_comment>username_1: the short answer to your question is no. The longer answer is that the applications committee will look - holistically at your application including your reference letters. Speaking from the UK context, the recommendation letters do matter but **they do not matter as much as you may think.** By all means think about whom and how many letters you need but that is not going to prove decisive in your PhD application. Your track record; grades; potential and demonstrated ability for research etc - in my view - matter more.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: It is not a requirement that you include letters from *every* research advisor you've ever worked with as part of your graduate application. Since you already have letters from multiple research advisors, you can choose your third letter accordingly. If you believe the letter from your academic advisor is more helpful to you, then you should continue to use that letter. For example, your third advisor could more helpfully comment on your teaching abilities, if that is something you feel is important in your application.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2017/01/09
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<issue_start>username_0: Many academic institutes are routinely evaluated by an advisory board. In addition to the public performance metrics, such as publications and funding, the board usually goes on site to meet the personnel and get a better picture of the institute, its culture and its performance.
As a panel member, what information should we try to obtain in priority during the site visit? How should we evaluate what we see and hear, and how much importance should we give it?<issue_comment>username_1: I have been on two such panels, both for departments in my field,
one at a 'sister' university within the same system as my own, and
another at an unrelated institution in another state.
My first observation is that you need to understand who will receive,
evaluate, and perhaps act upon findings and recommendations of your
panel, and what criteria they will use. If you are not personally in substantial
agreement with stated institutional goals, you should probably decline the
opportunity to serve on the panel. You might be able to 'score a few
points' for an alternative institutional policy in the panel report, but typically
these reports are not made public and it is unlikely a lone voice will have
much effect changing goals. Also, there may be an element of unfairness
in judging a program by goals at odds with stated institutional goals.
Before your visit you will probably get a huge packet of information about
faculty achievements, student and researcher outcomes, enrollment and employment trends, and budgets.
Beware that the most important information may not be highlighted, and
look for obvious gaps in this information. Omissions and inconsistencies
can be a guide as to what questions to ask when you get to campus. Of course,
the institute, school, or department under review has a right to present
its best case, but you will do your best job if you look beyond the PR gloss.
Focus on what is actually going on, as well as historical information and
stated goals for the future. It is easy for a faculty member or researcher to claim
a passionate interest in various trendy fields, but you should look at what she/he
has actually published in the past few years and evidence of current activity.
It is easy for a department to claim increased student and staff diversity as a goal,
but you should look around to see what is actually happening. You should
have as many one-on-one meetings with faculty, staff, and students as possible.
Ideally, some of these meetings will not be pre-arranged. On your own,
have a slice of pizza at a local hangout; sometimes that can give you more
information (or clues to search for information) than prepared binders of documents and fancy receptions with carefully chosen people.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I would like to guide you on this errand. However, my answer is applicable from the point of view of a student of life and not indicative of this specific evaluative experience. Firstly, one should not indulge oneself in mystery shopping in such a position. That means one must formlly ask the host at the beginning for each required data point / meeting and should not walk into these places looking for hidden secrets. Such responsibilities will likely be part of larger teams by accreditation agencies. Evaluations should also rely on one to one meetings and in the little time possible build trust with the agents being interviewed. Its not very hard to make your interviews about the other person's comfort and realising his grounded point of view. Then one can proceed to realising if they set the right objectives and how much they can and indeed do achieve. Most of your evaluation report would thus like to be positive while pointing out real improvements required and you can choose to be critical exactly where it needs to be said. Also, you should probably want to work in smaller groups and not alone in discusing issues within the evaluation team and probably initiate a discussion to firm up each sub group's responsibility.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm asking this question for a friend as he is not very familiar with SE sites.
**Context:**
My friend, let's call him **A**, has a physics teacher, which we will call **B**.
**A**, as the rest of the class, had a mid-semester exam 1 month and a half ago. He thought he failed, as some of other classmates.
A month passed, with Christmas holidays, and **A** had completely forgotten the whole exam.
However, yesterday, **B** gave back the corrected exam. My friend, and 1/3 of the class got a <25/100. However, not a lot of students are between 25/100 and 65/100.
**A** has his final physics exam from **B** tomorrow. So, he had two days to review and correct his mistakes before the new exam.
As it's the finals, tomorrow will be a big day, accounting for 20% of his entire semester. He feels that the entire situation is “completely unfair”.
**Questions:**
* Was it ethical/fair that **B** gave the grades two days before the exams?
* How could **A**, if it has to happen again, handle the situation?
* Could **A** talk to **B** about his feelings?
* Should **A** report to **B** superior about the situation?
* Should, as a student of another class, handle the role of a “mediator” between **A** and **B**?
**Comments:**
**A** is in a small french university, where the teachers and students, and the administration know each other really well (think about 90 students in the whole building).
**A** is in his first year in the university, and will probably have this teacher again next semester and next years.<issue_comment>username_1: There is a general expectation that students will receive a reasonable amount of feedback from instructors in a timely matter. If a student feels that they are not getting the kind of feedback they need to master the course material then they absolutely should talk to the professor about it. If your friend's only goal is to communicate the situation to the instructor then a good place to note this kind of thing is in faculty feedback and evaluation forms.
If your friend feels like their grade is unfair then they could first raise the issue with the instructor. If that is unsatisfactory then most schools have policies in place to handle grade disputes. However, this is going to be extremely tricky for your friend- relatively few schools have specific policies on the timeliness of grading, and those that do tend to be vague. [One faculty manual I found online](http://www.auburn.edu/academic/provost/facultyHandbook/chapter%204-Instruction.php#conductingclass) states:
>
> [Each professor has the responsibility] To grade and return
> examinations within a reasonable period of time.
>
>
>
Clearly, waiting half a semester to return the midterm is not a reasonable period of time. However, the other top hits on my Google search did not include any language about timeliness at all. If your school has a policy in place such as this then it would be a clear basis to request some kind of re-test or extra credit to improve the grade.
If the course provided a syllabus it would be worthwhile to read it. Sometimes instructors will do something unusual with grading on purpose, and if they state at the start of the semester that he doesn't hand back graded tests then your friend had no expectation of it. For example, lots of instructors will grade exams but keep the physical copies, and leave it up to the student to come examine the test during office hours. I have had a few students surprised in this way because they missed class the day we went over the exam, and they simply did not ever care to come find out their grade.
Beware that college students are generally expected to be self-motivated. Students are generally aware of how well they understand the material, regardless of evaluations by instructors. While it's true that your friend might not have known just how poorly they understood the material, they certainly knew that they did badly.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Was it ethical/fair that B gave the grades two days before the exams?
>
>
>
I find it unfortunate. However, the question about fairness or ethics does not have a definite answer, as it depends on what was announced in class. If, for example, it was announced that the mid exam was to give the students feedback on their progress, such a large delay was not appropriate. If, on the other hand, the purpose of the exam was to give the instructor a feedback on how the students digested the material, than there is nothing bad about such a large delay. I, personally, would find the latter a bit weird and think that a mid exam which is corrected but not handed back to the students timely is a waste of time for everybody.
>
> How could A, if it has to happen again, handle the situation?
>
>
>
**Ask in advance.** Ask what the purpose of the exam is. Ask when you can expect the results back (and explain that you value the feedback and that he feedback will be helpful for your learning).
>
> Could A talk to B about his feelings?
>
>
>
I don't think that feelings should be discussed. However, A may bring it to the attention of B that it would have been easier for A to get the feedback earlier (or not at all), and explain how a timely feedback could have been helpful and so on.
>
> Should A report to B superior about the situation?
>
>
>
Not unless B had violated some rule. A prior discussion with B is better.
>
> Should, as a student of another class, handle the role of a “mediator” between A and B?
>
>
>
If A is too angry to discuss the matter properly, a mediator may be a good idea. However, I think that this would look rather unprofessional and that it would be better if A could calm down enough to discuss the matter themselves.
What could be a good idea, is to gather more information from the rest of the class, i.e. what they think about the situation, and then let one or two representatives discuss with B. These guys should be well prepared (e.g. with notes from the discussion of group) and try not to speak for themselves but for the whole group.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: If the feedback inherent in the corrections of the a mid-semester exam is the main instrument for A to know what to study, then yes, it seems like a raw deal. But I assume that there were lectures, exercises, set textbooks to study and so forth, and these were clear from the outset. In which case A's dependence on just this paper cannot be overwhelming. (Unless it is an open secret that the final paper is a slight permutation of the mid, but that is a whole nother story.)
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am writing a project report for my master degree in STEM (U.S.). I have to cite a large paragraph of others' work. This paragraph describes some basic stuff (For example, a duck has two eyes and two legs). I did not change a word in that paragraph.
I have already cited this paper at the end of my report. Is there anything else I can do to avoid plagiarism?<issue_comment>username_1: When you use someone else's words verbatim, you must either
* put it in quotation marks, or
* indent the paragraph (make it a block quote)
to indicate that those words are not your own. (Most style guides recommend block quotes for long quotations.)
You must also indicate somewhere near the paragraph (e.g. in a footnote, parenthetical reference, or other kind of inline citation depending on what citation style you use) which source in your reference list it comes from. (You must do this - indicate what source it comes from - *any* time you use someone else's ideas or material you found in a reference, even if you summarize or paraphrase it in your own words.)
In general, a rule of thumb for avoiding plagiarism:
* For any idea or information that isn't your own work, clearly indicate where it comes from. (Excluding facts that are "common knowledge".)
* *Additionally*, make it clear any time you use words or images that you didn't write/create yourself. (For example, with quotation marks, block quote formatting, or image credits in the caption.)
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Although rules tend to be more lax in Master Theses (at least the ones I've come across), what you did was indeed plagiarism.
Just adding the citation is not generally enough when you copy a text verbatim, as you might have a conflict with the copyright of the original source.
In order to avoid plagiarism, you should take the information and re-write them in your own words, i.e. the way you understand them and the way they contribute to your subject.
Then you must add the citation right after the text or as a footnote. You should also have it in the bibliography section (as you have done).
Edit: I propose you go to the wiki page on [plagiarism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism) and the subsection "[Common forms of student plagiarism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism#Common_forms_of_student_plagiarism)" and try to avoid all these forms of plagiarism. Case 8 is what you did.
Upvotes: -1
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2017/01/10
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<issue_start>username_0: This is a follow-up question to [a previous one](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/82641/10643) asking for the potential impact of the typesetting tool (at the review level) on the chances of acceptance for a given paper.
I'm interested in the general case where reviewers will get a "feeling" of the way the article is presented, be it the writing style, British vs. American English, English from non-native speakers, choice of font, or like in the linked question, typesetting and any other criterion that is not related to the content of the work presented.
To be clear, I'm not asking about the more obvious or well-documented sources of bias, like the sex, name or geographic location of the authors. This can possibly be addressed by double-blind review.
As an example, I'm used to journal submissions in the form of a PDF with the least possible amount of formatting: plain text, typically not justified on both sides, lines numbered, usually double-spaced, figure captions at the end, figures concatenated at the end by the electronic submission system. Where I publish, typesetting is a journal's thing and as an author I'm happy to delegate that hurdle.
I once reviewed conference proceedings where the submission was very informal and couldn't help but having a "feeling" from the looks of the submissions. Authors who used LaTeX, which is unusual in my field, didn't look like they had a lot of experience publishing in this field.
I think that ideally this feeling should be silenced and I tried to do so as much as I could. However, reading comments and answers on this other thread made me wonder if that was a sentiment that others shared. My question then boils down to:
**Do reviewers have a duty to try to ignore their biases or is the "gut feeling" an important part of the review?**
As a final note, I'm not looking for arguments in favor or against the use of LaTeX in general, or in the specific case I mentioned. I find LaTeX to be very well suited for the applications it's intended for and I simply used that example to illustrate something that is not content but could (and apparently [does](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/82902/10643)) induce a bias.<issue_comment>username_1: I think the gut feeling is helpful during the evaluation process - one can probably not fight it anyway, so I think one should just accept that it is there. However, **the gut feeling must not hinder a review based on the content of the paper**.
So, what should *not* happen is, e.g.:
* Stop reading after a few pages because you don't like the look, typesetting, language, variable names… (you may, however, stop reading if the style *hinders your understanding*, which is something completely different). Even if you hate Times New Roman or Arial, be professional and keep reading.
* Keep worrying about issues as above when it comes to write the comments (with the exception of the language, but I am always very careful about comments on language). Comments should mostly address the content of the paper, especially your recommendation should not be influenced by gut feeling. So once you read everything carefully, form an opinion not based on the look of the paper, but on the content (which you have digested at that point and hence, you should be able to evaluate it without taking the look into account).
One exception is **figures**: If figures are poorly formatted and don't allow to extract the information, this is a serious issue (too small font, pixel graphics with poor resolution, colors that are indistinguishable for common color blindness…). But also here it is more about "can I extract the information" and not about "do I like the look".
Be extra careful with gut feeling if you review something which is borderline for you field. As can be seen in the above comments, the styles of submission vary greatly between fields (extreme example: Some field have all floats, i.e. tables and figures and such, on extra pages at the end of the documents, other field have submission that basically look like a final article, some fields use double spacing, some don't…).
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: **Reviewers should care about matter of text, not aesthetics.** Most things you describe belong to the editorial board and editorial staff competences.
That said, I believe that, most of the times, there are some guidelines that a submission must fulfill in order to be passed for review. I find it a basic decency towards reviewers to hand out a properly formatted document. And usually it's not the author who does so.
I would say it's not a matter of pedantry but rather hygiene. It's simply easier and more pleasant to read a document with basic consistent type setting. You can focus better.
>
> "Authors who used LaTeX to write a 5-pages article with 6-7 equations and 10 citations felt like pedantic undergrads with too much time on their hands. Or at least it didn't look like they had a lot of experience publishing in this field."
>
>
>
I don't know, but my personal experience is that it's easier to write in latex anything more than 3 pages, or with at least 1 equation, especially if you have some experience. You do not care about anything else than the matter. You get free bibliography and cross-references. Very easy. And it looks half decent, you get basic type setting for free too. I guess it's just a matter of workflow.
Your sentiment can be turned around very easily. Would you be happy if students handed in assignments written on scrap paper? Probably not. Would you say, with out reading, the content is flawed. Also probably not.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: We're supposed to review papers, not authors. But, even in fields with blind review, things like formatting can reveal (or just suggest) a lot of information about the author, which we should try to ignore.
If it's a feature of the formatting which is actually going to disappear in publication (like font choice or number of columns) it's genuinely irrelevant: it tells you nothing about what the published article would be like, so any reaction is personal judgement about the author rather than the work.
Formatting decisions that will remain, like some features of figures and tables, are harder. Those, I think, should be treated like any other expository feature: if you don't like it, you make yourself focus on the question of whether it actually makes the paper less clear or harder to read, or is merely unpleasant. In the former case, you hold it against the paper, in the latter you don't.
One thing to keep in mind is that we don't want to reject people from nearby fields with different writing conventions who have something good to say. Many of the signals your seeing are mostly indications that the person is an outsider to the area, which really shouldn't be held against them. (Note that an outsider is already at a disadvantage, because conventions that matter to the refereeing, like how to organize a paper; how to handle that is, I think, a more difficult question.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Much of this is down to the journal not the authors. The authors' usual favourite journals will affect what they submit elsewhere.
Taking a journal in my field as an example: the combination of a tight page limit and the submission system means that all authors use the journal's template (LaTeX or word). The LaTeX template makes both a journal-article-style version and a double-spaced, single column, figures at the end (but still fully justified) version available to reviewers (authors can also download these). My understanding is that starting from word you get something close to the latter. In this case, while the journal does some formatting, the authors are expected to provide something quite formatted. In particular the figures should be publication-ready at the first submission.
An author coming from that background to a conference with a much less formal style may well take the same approach -- I would. And yes, I prefer LaTeX even for writing letters -- *for me* it's quicker and easier to use, even more so if there's an equation or two, or even a single citation (as I use a master bibtex file). Other people prefer other tools, and much more of the variation in the aesthetic quality of the work is down to the author than the tools they use.
Many people struggle to hit "informal" without feeling like their submission is sloppy, so will try harder than is necessary, or they go for quite a formal style by default. Even quite closely related disciplines vary significantly in their levels of formality in style (at an engineering conference I saw suits and ties, but equations made by abusing normal text formatting in the abstract book; an applied physics conference was quite a contrast on both fronts). The most intersting talks at a conference are often those from the edges of the discipline -- just the people who might be expected to miss the house style a little.
Now as a reviewer, obviously failure to follow simple instructions is hard to ignore, as is general sloppiness (e.g. if figures are expected to be publication-ready and they look like a school project drawn in paint). It can also be hard to draw conclusions as to the quality of the content if it's presented really badly. But the specific tool used are irrelevant.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Research is a human activity, and humans always have biases. While we should be aware of our biases and try to minimize their impact, we can never avoid them entirely. Trying to consicously compensate against biases ofter leads to overcompensation or undercompensation.
If you fail to adhere to the social norms in your field, some people will be biased against you. Writing papers that look different is one way to break the norms. If the paper is a clear accept, the biases will probably not matter. The effect will be more significant for borderline papers, which are accepted and rejected based on the gut feeling anyway.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Most people I know use a "fail-fast" strategy when reviewing papers- depending on the size of the conference/journal and the field you may be asked to review many papers, and you might be asked to review multiple times a year. It takes hours (for argument, let's say four hours) to really deeply read and understand a paper. Let's do some math: if I'm asked to do 10 reviews and I spend four hours on each paper that's 40 hours of work, or an entire work week on top of other obligations. That's never going to happen. If I find a good reason to **exclude** a paper early, I'm going to stop and reject it. If nothing is obviously wrong then I'm going to settle in and read the paper more closely.
Common reasons to exclude a paper are:
1. Paper's language is so poor that I have to work really hard to just understand what is being said
2. Paper is not in scope of journal/conference
3. Paper is incremental
4. Major technical flaws or incorrect statements
To be clear- nobody has a checklist of reasons that they use to immediately reject papers they don't want to read. These are basic problems that just jump out at reviewers and cause them to not want to read the rest of the paper.
To answer your question- bias can definitely contribute to a feeling of "I'm busy and I just don't want to review this paper." This sounds harsh, but I guarantee you that the odds are very low that someone manages to produce quality technical content but cannot master basic things like typesetting. If you combine that bias with a good fail-fast reason it can absolutely kill your paper before it's really considered. Tracking down all the typos and typesetting errors is tedious, but it's the easiest and simplest part of writing a paper. If they can't get that right, I don't have high hopes for the rest of the content.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: What I usually tell to my students is the following.
Let's suppose that you have written a weak paper. And you *will* write a weak paper one day or another. If, in addition to this, your paper is also full of grammatical errors, badly formatted, with an incoherent structure and poorly drawn figures, your chances of being published will be next to zero. Because not only will you likely annoy the reviewers, but also because the few positive parts of your work will remain hidden.
If, instead, you do your homework and do your best to prepare a well-written and formatted manuscript, the reviewers will be probably more willing to give your manuscript a second chance. Even if your work is weak, its positive sides will be more evident. Of course you will likely have to do a couple of rounds of major revisions, but that's far better than being rejected right from the start.
With a bit of practice, writing a well-formatted paper takes roughly the same time than writing a badly-formatted one: why taking the risk of spoiling months, possibly years, of work?
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: My perspective on many of these questions: The goal should be to evaluate the science behind the paper, not the authors of the paper *so long as these things do not interfere with the clarity of the paper overall*.
>
> British vs. American English
>
>
>
Don't care. The biggest issue for me is that British vs. American English starts me guessing where the paper came from in double-blind review, which I have to avoid.
>
> English from non-native speakers
>
>
>
I only comment on this when it's sufficiently off from native English that it's actively hampering the comprehension of the paper.
>
> Your LaTeX example
>
>
>
I'm actually in the same boat you are - for me, LaTeX or other typesetting tools are very much not the standard in the field. The appearance of that, or some other things that aren't "normal" for the field (for example, reporting regression coefficients rather than effect measures) are indicators that someone is coming in to the field from the outside.
That doesn't necessarily mean I'll judge their paper more harshly, but I may end up suggesting it come back to field standards for reporting results, make sure the results are applicable to readers of the journals, etc. To use a common example, a proof, no matter how correct, is almost useless to a clinical audience.
>
> Do reviewers have a duty to try to ignore their biases or is the "gut
> feeling" an important part of the review?
>
>
>
I think this is a little bit of a false dichotomy. Some of these biases can serve as useful heuristics in evaluating a paper, but yes, you need to be vigilant that "Clearly not native speaker, therefore bad paper" doesn't start creeping into your reviews.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: This answer deviates from the typesetting aspects and deals with the more general question in the title.
There were two cases, where I accepted an article for other reasons than its content. The first was a long article, where my impression was that it is correct and difficult, but the question was absurdly artificial, in the sense that it appeared to be invented for the sole reason to get another publication. As the journal was pretty good, for me this was a reason to reject the article. Then I noticed that the article was written by some demi-god, which had for some reason escaped me up to then. A quick literature search showed that he had not that many publications, and all of them had a great impact (not in the bibliometric sense). So my impression changed from "artificial" to "too deep for me", and I accepted.
The second case was an article which was full of errors, but this article was an invited article for a special issue celebrating a person A, and the author B was a good friend and collaborator of A. Usually I would have rejected the article, but out of respect for A I sat down and pointed out the flaws, received a revision with lots of new errors, wrote another report, and finally the article got published.
In both cases I think the deviations from the "pure" procedure were justified.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a statistician working at a research institute. We work with data from patients with a certain disease. I am getting paid by the institute, but a part of the money comes from a research grant a doctor brought in. The doctor does not work at the registry, but at a hospital and is working closely together with statisticians of the institute (including me) on research questions.
Together we are doing research on a project. I am doing 100% of the statistics, but all the research questions and ideas come from the doctor. She is also the one writing a manuscript for a paper currently.
Now she wants to put me as first author and herself as last author (as supervisor). The idea comes from other researchers who do something similar, but they usually have medical PhD students and not statisticians as first authors. So basically the reason she wants to put me as first author is to put herself as last author.
**I feel uncomfortable being first author and would prefer being second author**. I am probably the one putting the most hours into the project by preparing all the data, doing the statistics and explaining the results to the doctor. The statistical analysis will be a big part of the paper. But the research question is not my idea, I have no medical background, the doctor is writing the paper. I am basically getting paid to do the analysis. While I think it is interesting research, I do not identify with it and I do not agree fully with all the conclusions. So far I worked under the assumption to become co-author and the idea of making me first author came up recently.
My opinion is that I should only be first author of my own research, which would be in statistics, not medicine.
I guess it is very odd to reject being a first author =).
My next step will be to talk to her about it, but I was hoping for some perspective or opinions from the community. Is it harsh/unusual to insist on being co-author only?
Who would you suggest should be first author in this case?<issue_comment>username_1: In medicine, as in most biological fields that I know of, the first author is the person who did most of the hands-on work, while the last author is the one who had the idea and planned the project. From what you've said, then, it would be appropriate for you to be first author and the doctor to be last.
That said, if you don't feel comfortable being first author (and especially in light of your comment that *I do not agree fully with all the conclusions*) it's also appropriate for you to request to not be first author -- some middle position (second author, or whatever) is also perfectly suitable for your contributions, from the sound of it.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: As a reader of scientific literature, I will think that either is your work or that she is your advisor/mentor. Now, I agree that If you don't feel comfortable don't do it. However, It would be a waste. Probably this doctor has more publications so he doesn't care about 1st author publications.... but for the sound of it, you are new in this world of publishing.
Also, it is your research "line or agenda". If you don't want to be strongly associated with the output maybe is also a good idea to put you in a second. But, if it is our you considered it "your research" and you plan doing things on this subject in the future maybe is good that you put yourself in the first place.
Good luck with the article!
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: Answering this from the perspective of a biomedical researcher who is often in the position of "We had this question, and this data...can you make something of it?"
First, the conventional view of authorship positions":
* First author: The person who did most of the work
* Last author: The senior author on the paper. Usually a conceptually guiding force, and the type of person who could be summed up as "Without X, none of this would have been possible..." even if they wrote no code, swabbed no samples, etc.
* Others: Everyone else.
From what you're describing, it sounds like there are only two of you. As such, it seems like the logical ordering is you as first author and the doctor as second author. Both of these are relatively prestigious positions in terms of authorship, so putting her last isn't a negative drain on her career. It indicates exactly what's happening - she's running a lab and directing research.
>
> So basically the reason she wants to put me as first author is to put
> herself as last author.
>
>
>
Her reasoning is correct.
>
> I feel uncomfortable being first author and would prefer being second
> author. I am probably the one putting the most hours into the project
> by preparing all the data, doing the statistics and explaining the
> results to the doctor. The statistical analysis will be a big part of
> the paper. But the research question is not my idea, I have no medical
> background, the doctor is writing the paper. I am basically getting
> paid to do the analysis.
>
>
>
If there are only two authors, her reasoning is entirely correct, and first author is the logical place for you to be.
>
> While I think it is interesting research, I do not identify with it
> and I do not agree fully with all the conclusions.
>
>
>
This is marginally more concerning to me than whether you are first or last.
>
> So far I worked under the assumption to become co-author and the idea
> of making me first author came up recently. My opinion is that I
> should only be first author of my own research, which would be in
> statistics, not medicine.
>
>
>
I would be extremely confused if you were last author on this paper, and would make assumptions about what that meant regarding the project that were much more inaccurate than the ones I'd make if you were first author.
>
> Is it harsh/unusual to insist on being co-author only?
>
>
>
This would only make sense if there are more people on the team, and even then...
>
> Who would you suggest should be first author in this case?
>
>
>
You.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/10
| 467
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<issue_start>username_0: I have already been enrolled in a PhD program and published a couple of papers. When I eventually get the certificate, it will state that I have a PhD in Computer Science. However, I can submit a request to change that to whatever I find more appropriate. I am asking here to be better informed before I raise the issue with my supervisor.
My research paves the way for machine-learning based solutions to be used for solving a particular software engineering problem.
I find (PhD in Computer Science) too broad of a description and (PhD in Software Engineering) too narrow. I also find (PhD in Artificial Intelligence OR Machine Learning) not to be an accurate description of what my thesis is actually about.
Should I, for example, use (PhD in Applied Artificial Intelligence) or (PhD in Applied Machine Learning)? Other suggestions will be appreciated.<issue_comment>username_1: First, it depends on what kind of PhD your institutions offer. Also note, that the number of different types varies by country. In general I would advice to choose some title which is likely to be meaningful in a few years/decades from now. For example AI was a great hype some decades ago, went out of fashion then, and is top notch again now and maybe nobody will be interested in "Machine Learning" a few years from now. So I would go with the broader field, in general.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Many employers and recruitment agencies use either automated searches or low skill human readers to select resumes that meet specific requirements. Only those resumes will be viewed by a human with knowledge of the job etc.
If you pick an unusual subject designation for your PhD you risk your resume not being selected for jobs that require a PhD in computer science. It may never be seen by anyone who understands that "Applied Machine Learning" is just as appropriate for that job as "Computer Science".
If your resume passes the filter it will be read by someone who can evaluate your specialization from the text and the publication list.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
|
2017/01/10
| 322
| 1,504
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<issue_start>username_0: From what I have seen, academic position usually have 1-2 months deadline.
I know that for non-academic positions if a suitable candidate is found, the position may be filled in advance.
Does applying one month or some weeks before give particular advantages? Is it risky to apply close to the deadline?<issue_comment>username_1: Can be both ways. For some positions, applications are evaluated after the deadline, some positions are open until filled. My impression is that if a position has a strict and close deadline and a formal application procedure, it is usually of the former kind.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: In general, all applications are reviewed together after the application deadline. Thus, there isn't any particular advantage to applying months or weeks early, nor is there any particular risk to applying close to the deadline (although it's always good to aim to be finished early in case unforseen delays arise).
It is a good idea to contact people you are applying to work with before the deadline, but this typically doesn't require a full application to be submitted.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Surely country dependent. For **Germany**: There is no difference in applying early or just in time. The review process for all applications does not start before the deadline is passed. I you are one day late you may or may not be considered - I think more often than not you application will not be considered if too late.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/10
| 2,104
| 8,825
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am currently studying computer science in a University in Canada.
I have just received my Schedule for the semester, and I have noticed that, during the finals week, 3 of my 6 courses put their final exams in the same day.
Specifically, I have an exam from 12:30 to 15:20, another one from 15:30 to 18:20 and the last one is from 18:30 to 21:20. All three of those exams are Worth 35% or more of my grade, therefore are very likely to be decisive in my success or failure this semester.
This really seems unreasonable to me. I do not expect, no matter how much sleep I get and how much coffee I drink, to be able to perform at my best for 9 hours straight, without even a chance to eat dinner.
So I have two questions:
First, is this standard practice? I'm only starting my second semester, so maybe I just got Lucky the first time that all my exams were the only one of the day.
And Second, if this is not standard but rather a very unlucky setup, do I have any recourse? Is it rude to ask some of the professors or higher-ups in the school to change the Schedule a little?
It is also important to know that I am taking the classes in the standard path (? I am not a native English speaker, but I am referring to the grid thing telling me the recommended courses to take every semester in order to complete the program in the fewest number of semesters) for my program. I am not taking any special classes that are not expected to be taken at the same time. This means that a lot of people probably have this exact Schedule for this semester, and it's not just me because I made weird choices.
EDIT: Thank you all for your input. I will accept one of the answers now, but to be honest, they were all pretty enlightening. I had already sent an email to all concerned professors AND the faculty 5 days prior to asking this question, and I still haven't received an answer. I will probably forward the same email (it is as polite as possible, asking about what are my options in the context, etc) to some more administration adresses in the hopes that someone can give me the exact policy, or at least tell me who can.
I am very glad that everyone seems to agree that they can **usually** do something about it, this makes me less stressed. In the worst case, nothing changes, and as one answer mentioned, if lots of students have a worse grade because of this setup, then the playing field is even.<issue_comment>username_1: Whether this is a standard practice or not highly depends on your university. However, the attribution of these exam period is an automated process and some situations like yours are bound to happen.
If I were you, I would consult the specific rules of your University. I know at that my previous Canadian University in Montreal (École Polytechnique), there was a rule that limited the amount of exam hours you could have in a 24 hours period, ( I believe it was 6 maximum per day). If such a thing occurred, you could ask for the exam to be moved as this was judged to be unfair.
You can also consult with your student committee (of your department or your faculty) and your department since you say that you are following a standard path. In that case, there will be many students in the same situation and they should prove to be understanding. The student committee can usually present a uniform front and defend the entire class as a whole concerning this issue. There is absolutely nothing impolite about this if you proceed politely and you act as soon as the semester begins. The sooner you handle this issue, the easier it will be to solve.
I believe you are right in saying that this will not allow you to perform to your full potential, and you are right to ask for a more humane schedule.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I do not have experience in Canada, but I cannot imagine a university anywhere doing this intentionally. It's very easy to see how it could have happened unintentionally.
I would reach out to the professors as soon as possible after receiving the syllabus. The reason I say after is that one or more of the professors may already be planning to hold their exam outside of the regular schedule. Explain the situation to the professors, as well as the fact that you believe a large number of students are affected.
The professors have just as much interest as you do in the exams being an accurate test of your ability, and I cannot imagine they are happy with the situation. They're the ones who either 1) have the clout to get the administration to reschedule, or more likely 2) have the ability to schedule an alternate time.
Finally, an anecdote: This happened to one of my courses back in undergrad. The administration was unable to reschedule the whole exam because it would have given some people two exams at once- the professor was apoplectic. He eventually scheduled a second sitting of the exam- one open to those who had a conflict.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: You might want to bring this up with one or two of your professors - show them the curriculums and the times you have tests scheduled, and see if you can work something out with them so that the times don't run into one another.
It's entirely possible that the professors don't expect students to take these courses all in a row, so you might just be unlucky - but it's also possible that students aren't *supposed* to be taking all these courses at once (perhaps a mistake in setting up your curriculum), and a professor could spot that right away.
At the very worst, you'll find inflexible professors who refuse to help you - and it'll be no worse off than if you hadn't tried.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Well if I were me, I'd get off the web and start studying ASAP.
No, in all seriousness there's often nothing you can do to change the schedule. If there are special circumstances such as bereavement or illness many Universities do allow you to submit for "Special Consideration". The best thing to do is do the best you can and they will scale your results accordingly (based on your assignment grades) if the situation has impacted on your exam performance.
Bear in mind a lot of other students in your institution will be tackling similar workloads and issues (exams early in the examination period or on the same day): you're competing for them for placement in higher degrees and scholarships so it's an even playing field. If one exam has particularly poor grad averages (do to poor schedule or an unusually tough exam) the class scores will be scaled up.
This is why it's advisable to *study throughout the semester* rather than cramming for exams. Generally, in my exams it was only a recap and practice questions if I had the time. The bonus is that you ought not to have many exams in the days leading up to it so try to eat well and get plenty of rest so your brain performs as well as it can.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_5: I had this happen to me when I was in college, I would suggest first talk to the professors and see if any of them are willing to make a special exception for you. If all 3 say no then check with the university to see if there is anything they can do to avoid it. Worst case scenario is you have to take the exams or consider dropping one of the courses. Keep in mind you also lose the benefit of last minute cramming on the last or even second final on the same day.
I remember when I was in your situation my brain was completely dead by the third exam and I did not do well in that course (I received a B on the midterm, thought I can get by on the final). Luckily my university had a policy where we can retake the course one more time if you received a failing grade and it will replace the failed grade in GPA but the failed course still shows on the record, easily received an A when I retook it the next year.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: What everyone else has said is great, I would suggest that that you follow their advice before mine as i feel mine should be last resort.
I have known a situation that was a lot less extreme than this (I think it was 2 exams back to back) but due to the exams being set by an external body there was nothing they could do about rearranging them. The solution they came up with was that the person taking the exam would have a break between them, staying in exam conditions but would not actually be taking an exam. Admittedly this meant longer in "exams" but they had some time to recompose their thoughts, have a drink and quiet food they brought into the exam.
I would like to emphasize this is a last resort and you should try the other things suggested here first, but if none of that works, what I have suggested is better than leaving it as it is (in my opinion)
Good luck
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/10
| 515
| 2,253
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<issue_start>username_0: I have a question and I searched a lot but couldn't find its answer. I write in English and there are a few books which are originally written in German and French, and unfortunately there is no English translation of them. I don't know these two languages but can read the Arabic translation of these books. How can I include them in the bibliography, according to APA or ASA citation styles?
I think I should transliterate the titles and then I don't know if I should put their original titles or the English translation of the titles or maybe both of them.
could anyone please help me?<issue_comment>username_1: Unless your specific field indicates otherwise, I would consider German and French to be more widespread as scientific languages than Arabic. Thus, the primary version to cite should be the original. To safeguard against potential mistakes through translation, you can add a note that you accessed the Arabic translation.
As there is no English translation of these books, translating the titles into English would be massively misleading. Don't do that.
[I am not familiar with APA or ASA citation styles, so this is just a "common sense" answer.]
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If you are citing something as an origin of the idea or because it discusses a certain point, feel free to cite the original. These are unlikely to be lost in translation. (Of course, if you think they have been lost in translation, cite what you have read.)
If you are citing something because you are relying on the precise contents of it, cite whatever you have read and are using. This might be the precise definition of some concept or a philosophical argument relying on the used vocabulary, a result in mathematics, or something else that depends on the particulars of how it has been written.
In the bibliography you can probably add a note which mentions the original work.
Citation format
===============
It seems that in APA you write in the original title (transliterated) plus an English translation of that, in a particular format: <https://penandthepad.com/cite-work-foreign-language-apa-12087187.html>
I did not find information for ASA, but using similar ideas should not go terribly wrong.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/10
| 583
| 2,535
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<issue_start>username_0: I was announced as a recipient of a scholarship from an organization outside of the university, and the organization doesn't seem to be honoring the scholarship.
The announcement was made months ago (October, when the scholarship was supposed to be awarded for the fall semester in the first place), and the recipients have still not been issued checks or university account credits.
Without being thankless, what are a recipients options in this situation? I am not sure if there is an implied legal contract by award of scholarship funds or not, but given that it is coming time to pay tuition for the Spring semester and that the scholarship is significant in relation to tuition charges, what are a student's options?<issue_comment>username_1: You can speak with a lawyer since this organization could be falling into the area of "false advertising". I assume you have a paper trail of your interactions with this organization, as well as how/why you qualify for this particular scholarship. Documentation could help you if you decide to sue this organization.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Since this is an organization *outside* of your university, maybe talk to the organization first and find out what's what?
You should have been given some sort of contact when they first awarded you the scholarship, so I would go back to that person via email (to give them a chance to respond) or phone them directly if the timing is more urgent.
If you know any of the other recipients, I would recommend combining your efforts together or seeing if they've already taken some steps to find out what's going on.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I would speak directly to the organization. Since this is outside of your university, it is unlikely anyone at your university can be of any help. **Be sure to be polite and not sound accusatory.**
Do you know the organization has given a scholarship in the past?
Something similar happened to me a few years ago. I won a very large scholarship in May and was expecting the payout to hit by fall semester, but I didn't hear back from them.
I sent them a polite email and they responded saying that it was the first time they had run a scholarship contest and were having trouble organizing the payment to my 529 account. It took a few weeks (and it was past fall), but they did pay out. The following year I won the scholarship again and they paid out just before fall semester, so it did seem they had hiccups the first time 'round.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/10
| 2,217
| 9,565
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<issue_start>username_0: I started teaching as a part-time hourly paid lecturer in September at quite a prestigious school. I had no classroom experience and had just returned from a long break off career with depression (even did bar work to get back on feet). I am completely over depression and a new person (in early 30s and more confident).
It was also a return to a subject I had not done properly for 10 years but had conducted research in a different area when working (and in the 9 months preceding teaching). I did desperately want to go back to the subject though having done very well at it when younger.
The university was short staffed so gave me 8 groups (118 students) to teach and also the chance to lecture in a subject I have never studied before (the lectures being masters level!) I had to design my own lectures - this was all hourly paid.
I taught the first 2 cycles of classes (16 2 hour lessons) without meeting the course leader for any guidance nor even introduction/welcome. I was just emailed handouts with the questions on.
I was neither issued a contract for the first month (written one) and asked to work without one on grounds I'd be paid later due to admin delay (I was paid!!). Due to this I had no library access, ID card, printing nor login to university facilities. This made it hard to teach.
I was there 2 months and taught 5 cycles of seminars to 8 groups (a lot of teaching). Also delivered lectures in the subject I have never studied (and they didn't give me a textbook for this and I had to borrow one off a friend).In the meanwhile I got a full time job at a less prestigious university (usually lucky given hard job market and timeout).
I felt like my teaching was always very good in the second week (last 4 groups) of the circle, but the first two groups it went badly and I learnt from teaching the first groups and remembered more knowledge as I went on (noticed more what questions needed). Most the students never prepared either which did not help.
When I said I was leaving some groups said 'you cannot, why?' and I received a few thank you emails when I left.
I logged into my uni email today (not cut off yet and I needed to access it to write a student a reference). I saw an email sent to all students on the courses saying 'all' my lessons would be repeated and taught again by the other two (more experienced staff) apart from one of them with the polite note 'for obvious reasons as discussed with you all in the last lecture'.. This lesson was my strongest for sure.
I've just found out basically my teaching was considered so crap they are teaching everyone again, but worse of all they didn't warn me - if my first lessons were awful, then complaints will have been made earlier.
This didn't happen overnight so I am embarrassed nobody said anything to me so I could try and resolve it or just step in and help me (easier than reteaching everyone).
Some students really did like my class although it was hard returning after time out.
I am worried about my reputation. Obviously I won't apply for a job there in future and I had no awareness that things had come to this and feel I should have been warned or told. They must have been discussing me (negatively) with a large group of students.<issue_comment>username_1: Well, the basic (but difficult) decision to make is if you really want to know the truth.
Currently your embarrassment seems to be more an interpretation of events than based on facts and should be seen barely as such.
Once you have decided, you should stick with your decision:
If you decide to want to know the truth, approach your former head or one of the other teachers about it and find out what happened. Or wait for a coincidence. It might also work to ask one of the students who appreciated you, at least they might be very open about which "obvious reasons" became apparent in that lecture. On the other hand they might lightheartedly share with everyone that you asked, which might add to your embarrassment.
If you decide not to want to know the truth, drop all thoughts of self-doubt and interpretations which lead to embarrassment, as they're just arbitrary guesses about something you just don't know well enough.
I tend you think knowing the truth would be better for you, no matter what it is. Although your interpretation of events would probably give interesting insights into your self-image if you didn't ask.
As I remember university, there are always some students who would complain about you, no matter how well you've been teaching or even all the more if you've been teaching really well. Depending on other circumstances they might easily convince the "more experienced staff" that they need to be taught again, maybe even just out of laziness. Repeating everything could then be a barely political decision by your former head to avoid legal difficulties if some student fails the exam while being able to prove he wasn't taught by a professional.
You should also consider the possibility that your former head bent the truth in front of your former students to avoid difficulties for himself, in which case you probably wouldn't be welcomed with open arms when asking about details. It's a delicate issue.
Of course there is also a high probability that your teaching really wasn't world-class at least on the scientific level. Most likely you can't have a lot of experience and in-depth knowledge about the subject and all the interesting details, and teaching master students shouldn't be a piece of cake by definition.
On the other hand, even if it comes to light that nothing was wrong with your teaching, which I still see as a feasible possibility, there would probably be a conclusion you'd make: It's okay to teach a subject if you feel ready for it, even if you've never formally studied it or passed an exam, but your insight into everything should be strong enough to at least rate yourself reliably with regard to how you're doing. "Strong enough" meaning that incidents like these wouldn't trigger a lot of self-doubt.
This is not intended to be a moral sermon. I'm just pointing out that you were obviously taking a risk when you accepted that challenge, and in this very case it seems things might have gone wrong. It's fair, no problem. That's what risks are about. You can take responsibility for it, it's not the end of the world, there were other people who also took that risk after all, it's not your fault alone. You might take the chance of learning something really valuable for your future career if you ask what happened. By doing so, however, you'd be facing another risk too, that is the risk of making things worse. It'd be okay to decide against even trying.
I guess if you feel confident with the things you're teaching now at your current school and you're not genuinely interested in the subject you were giving lectures before, you should move on on that basis.
If you feel the thing is making you insecure or affecting your work, you're planning to pull a similar stunt again (and obviously want to avoid former mistakes), or you're really just curious, go and ask.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Consider that it may not have been the quality of your teaching that was the issue.
From your description it sounds as if the course was a shambles (probably best not tell us what university this was). Asking an inexperienced teacher to create 32 hours of Masters-level lectures, from scratch, to a large-ish class, without (from your account) any significant discussion of curriculum or assessment?! And hourly paid? There are circumstances in which each of these would be semi-reasonable, but your account paints a very disappointing picture.
It's quite possible, for example, that the ‘obvious reasons’ are that the course leader/convenor/chair discovered after the fact that you'd omitted to cover a topic that was deemed vital for that course – perhaps the curriculum is constrained by pre-existing assessment or other course dependencies – but which the course leader had never told you about.
The above is of course speculation, but it might be useful for your peace of mind if you can discover if the issue was the quality of your teaching or some other organisational issue. If you are sensitive enough to your teaching, and to its reception, to be able to detect that it improved notably between the first and second cycles, then I would guess that it was at least OK.
Bear in mind, however, that if the real problem was that the course was badly organised, and you badly briefed, then the course leader and their colleagues might be rather sensitive or defensive about it, and you might have to bear that in mind when discussing it. Also, bear in mind the possibility that – unfortunately and very discreditably – the course administration may have dealt with the problem by blaming the conveniently temporary and now-departed teacher: ‘an inexperienced teacher...; I'm sure I told them what to cover...; anyway, they never asked me....’
If anything like that is true, then it seems unlikely to me that there'd be any longer-term comeback to you. It's even possible that they think of you as someone who was placed in an impossible position but still managed to achieve something.
If you only want to find out details, rather than complain, then an informal setting for a chat might be more informative than a multi-person meeting; and if you know any permanent staff who taught on the course, they might be more usefully indiscreet than the course leader.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/10
| 1,369
| 5,881
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<issue_start>username_0: My school is currently on a 14 week schedule where we're supposed to have 14 Mondays, 14 Tuesdays, etc. each semester. Because of various holidays, that's harder than it sounds, and so we have a couple days that have to get adjusted; for instance, tomorrow is a calendrical Wednesday, but an academic Monday.
This has some drawbacks: some students have outside commitments (for instance, jobs) which don't shift just because our schedule does, and because the modified days always happen on short weeks, compliance is limited. (For instance, it's already hard enough to get students to stay around for classes on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, but it's *really* hard to get students who have class on Friday to realize when they make Thanksgiving plans that *Friday* classes meet on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.)
How do other institutions deal with this, and are there any particularly good solutions to it?<issue_comment>username_1: Make up days at the end of semester
-----------------------------------
The solution that I saw used is that for certain subjects, where one of "their" days fell on a holiday, the semester was one week longer, i.e. the break was shorter. Your described solution was not considered feasible - transferring a Friday class to Wednesday would fail because (a) there would be some students who have also chosen the Wednesday class and would have to be in two places at once; (b) there might be also a similar collision for lecturers who teach multiple classes and (c) there weren't enough facilities to host all the usual Wednesday classes plus all the usual Friday classes at once.
Skip them
---------
Another reasonable possibility is to reduce the number of lectures. If it's known well in advance, it's no problem for a lecturer to take a course that usually is split in 14 lectures and teach it in 13 - and they can shift part of that material to extra reading and homework in the "empty" week where the lecture doesn't happen but students do have the rest of the week available.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: First of all, let me re-iterate what thisismynamenow wrote in this his now deleted answer - **if you are in a position to do so, re-consider whether this requirement is important enough that you are willing to go through administrative and managerial hassle for it**. Like thisismynamenow, I think most schools just live with the fact that some classes in some years "lose" a session or two due to public holidays.
You should also note that one reason why students don't like this solution is that it essentially "punishes" them for having a public holiday - *"hurray, Friday is off, so now we need to get the same classes done in 4 days"*. In a way your current planning removes the point of having a public holiday - you are just moving classes so that students don't need to sit in class on a public holiday without actually reducing the workload on students in this week. Essentially, if for example Friday is a "day off", the students now spend more time than regularly in class Monday to Thursday, and maybe then need to catch up on their homework and assignments on their "day off" because they did not get to it as much as regularly during the week.
If having a fixed number of classes per course is *really* important to you, you should at least communicate these changes to the schedule differently. Your current way to phrase this seems ungodly complicated to me:
>
> tomorrow is a calendrical Wednesday, but an academic Monday.
>
>
>
Why not just announce (for each class that needs to be moved) that the *class planned for week 3 has been moved to Monday (same time) due to the public holiday on Wednesday*, rather than messing around with "renaming" days?
This of course does not change the fact that students are encumbered by your change of schedule, and I really don't think there is a good way to fix this (other than announcing all moved sessions as early as possible, i.e., at the beginning of the semester, which I expect you are already doing).
If these class changes happen frequently enough, it may make sense to discard the notion of a fixed weekly schedule entirely. In my alma mater, for smaller advanced classes, we basically had no fixed weekly meeting time. Instead, some weeks did not have sessions at all (replaced for instance with more time for projects, home work, or self study) while others had longer sessions (e.g., when we presented semester projects, classes would last at least a full afternoon). The weeks where we had regular sessions did not necessarily all happen at the same time and day, but were scheduled individually based on availability of rooms, course requirements, and, for small courses, taking individual student constraints into account.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: My institution (a small private college in the US that uses semesters) does it this way:
1. Most Federal holidays happen on Mondays (e.g., Presidents' day, MLK day, etc.) but we're a private institution, so we ignore them for purposes of instruction. That means there are instruction days which support staff have as holidays.
2. Each semester is 15 calendar weeks with 14 weeks of instruction. That leaves one week of break each semester. In the spring, it's a contiguous week ('Spring Break'). In the fall, we have a Monday and Tuesday "Fall Break" around the middle of the semester, and then Wednesday through Friday off at Thanksgiving.
This strategy gives a standard 14 days of instruction per semester for each day of the week. We do occasionally have campus events that cause classes to be cancelled (we inaugurated a new college president last fall; we typically have a day to showcase student research in the spring; on very, very rare occasions we'll have a snow day), but we don't try to make them up in any formal way.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD student in computer science, and chose to specialize in a research area that was interesting to me personally, but not interesting to most tech companies. I am approaching graduation and I am not sure where to find a job. What do I do now?<issue_comment>username_1: The specialised research area of your PhD topic probably has a wider range of related fields which are relevant to prospective employers. I suggest identify those fields and use them to build your own resume, and also to identify prospective employers. Search those terms in job sites and identify employers that way.
Unless committed to specifically continue research in a focused line of investigation, then in most cases, I believe that job seekers in your position are really looking for work which utilises the broader skills that they have generated through their post-graduate degree. Try to take a step back to think of the skills you have gained.
The more generalised skills such as general subject knowledge, investigation, research community networking and research are more likely to be of value to your prospective employer than your expertise in your own specific topic.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In most cases, people don't specifically use their PhD after graduation (unless they go on to work for a university or government research department). Most people don't even directly use their Bachelor degree. So your problem isn't the end of the world.
The first year of work usually consists of your workplace showing you how they do things, and you learning their methods and procedures, their ways of dealing with clients, and solving problems that university didn't prepare you for.
So sell yourself as someone who works well with people, is willing to continue learning, and is humble enough to work under others without assuming you know everything just because you have a PhD.
Also, don't expect to skip the lower paid positions straight to the top due to your education; the Bachelor degree graduate who has been at the company for 4 years while you studied your PhD has probably picked up a lot of company knowledge and is more useful than you will be in your first month. You'll likely get a bit of a wage boost over a bachelor graduate, but not straight to the top. Set your expectations appropriately and workplaces will be more willing to give you a shot.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: My university requires all written work (essays, reports and dissertations) to be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word format. At my previous university, PDF was also acceptable (in fact, recommended).
In the UK, where I study, assignment length is determined by the number of words (not pages, as is usual in some countries).
As a LibreOffice user, submitting in Word format regularly results in formatting issues for which I can lose marks. The university has sympathised with this, as well as my ultimate preference of being able to use LaTeX, but insist it is not possible to accept PDF files because they can't easily do a word count.
Looking at other UK universities, it seems that a majority accept PDF submissions either exclusively or in addition to other formats. How do they deal with the issue of assignment length?<issue_comment>username_1: My only direct experience with this kind of academic word limit has been with my Master's and PhD dissertations. In both cases the official submission was in hard copy. Under those circumstances, I find it vanishingly unlikely that anyone did a word count -- I suspect that at my university, the word-limit rule would only be invoked if someone submits something that's *blatantly* too long (e.g. a 500-page MSc thesis).
I would guess that other universities deal with the issue of PDF word counts either by not caring much (as in the case of my dissertations), or simply by counting the number of words in the PDF: despite your university's insistence that this is impossible, there are dozens of free tools, both web-based and downloadable, which can accomplish this task. Even without those, Adobe Reader has a "save as text" function which produces an easily word-countable plain text file.
Another possibility is that those universities set the limits in terms of pages, not words.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: To answer the titular question, my old UK department asked students to include the word count at the end of the assignment. While assignments had word counts, they were not part of our marking scheme. I don't think we could apply a penalty to short assignment or ignore a portion of a long assignment. Technically, we might have been able to say the assignment failed to meet the stated requirements and there would not be marked. In all my years, it was never an issue so we never need to verify the number of words. If we had to, we would have figured it out.
I think is your real question is how to be allowed to submit a PDF. You need to understand why they will not let you. You say the department
>
> insist it is not possible to accept PDF files because they can't easily do a word count
>
>
>
My old UK department came very close to requiring electronic submissions in Word only. The non technical arguments revolved around word counts, TurnItIn processing of "non-text" PDF, and electronic marking. These all have different solutions. You can offer to include the word count or find a TeX friendly faculty or post grad student to do the count for you. You can show them that TurnItIn works with PDF. In terms of electronic marking, you need to understand there system. This likely means finding a tech savy faculty member and becoming "friends".
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: Let us think about this question in my online application.
>
> Personal Statement:
>
>
> Please describe your specific area of academic interest, and explain what motivated you to choose this area.
>
>
>
In my case 100% true answer would be the following,
>
> I am interested in Image Processing.
>
>
> When I was searching for a supervisor, I met one of the most prominent research professors of the XYZ University Prof. xyz who works in the area of Image Processing, Computer Vision, Graphics and so on. I was interested in Computer Graphics and proposed his a topic. He told me that topic was not fit for MSc thesis to be completed in 4 months. That would actually take more time may be up to a year. Since, I didn't have any other topic in my mind, I requested him to propose a topic for me. He then proposed a topic related to Image Processing. I found that topic very interesting and saw a huge opportunity to learn about the area of Image Processing from the inside.
>
>
>
Is that a good answer?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, the Bob version of your paragraph is a good start. But if you want to make an impact on the admissions committee, you're going to have to find out a lot more about your topic, so that you can speak about it in more detail.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: You should always tell the truth. But you are not in a court of law. You don't have to tell the whole truth, all the time.
Your area of academic interest is image processing. So: Explain why you are interested in *that*. Right now you are telling a story about how you got a thesis topic. Once you have told that story, you can explain how you are happy to have found a professor who provided you with a thesis topic related to your area of academic interest, but with a scope matching a Masters thesis.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Starting from January 1st this year, access to all scientific databases and publications have been stopped for Slovak universities and Slovak Academy of Sciences. The reason is simple, the authorities have not paid the bill even for the access in year 2016. Of course, we can ask friends or authors for sending us requested publications, but this is a step back, and we don’t want to bother other people.
What could you advise for researchers in Slovakia, what can they do in this situation?<issue_comment>username_1: **Individual access**
[This question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/51923/ways-to-get-free-and-legal-access-to-research-papers-as-a-researcher/) details a few ways to access scientific publications, without resorting to now-unpaid subscriptions.
**Collective access**
Research into ways of influencing your government's decisions that are legal in your country.
* Writing an open letter to a relevant person in your government (that'll likely be your Minister of Education / Minister školstva) and distributing it through Slovak Academy of Science / Slovenská akadémia vied for other scientists to sign could be a good start.
* Depending on what is legal in your country, organizing a protest march / a picket could also be an option.
* You are likely not the only person annoyed by these changes: find others who will be willing to join your cause.
If there are people high up in the hierarchy of Slovak Academy of Science that sympathize with your cause, they are likely to have some influence on your government.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There is a possible legal solution, but **I AM NOT A LAWYER AND CAN NOT PROVIDE ANY GUARANTEE**. Be sure to talk to a lawyer, before you try to do anything.
So the obvious answer is using [SciHub](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sci-Hub) and [LibGen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_Genesis), but they are not legal. What as far as I know is legal is using peer-to-peer networks, such as torrents, because here the Slovak (and European) legislation should be a few steps (maybe even kilometers) behind the reality. So the solution would be to set up a peer-to-peer network for distributing articles (yes, just like torrents). Every user would join in and offer the access to his articles (authored by him) and could on the other hand get article authored by anyone else in the network for free. This would be just like writing an email to the author, except very automatic.
Since Elsevier, Springer mostly gives the authors right to share their work with colleagues, friends, etc. this would maybe even comply with their policies.
Unfortunately I do not know of such network.
Update: for anyone interested, there are at least promises that the problem will be solved, see [this article](http://www.cvtisr.sk/aktuality/pristup-k-vedeckym-databazam-bude-v-kratkom-case-obnoveny-1.html?page_id=18045).
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I have recently decided to enter a grad school in one of the Japanese universities (namely, TiTech). It seems that the general recommendation is to start as a non-degree research student first and prepare for entrance exam while being a research student. After reading [this](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24031/what-is-a-research-student) question, I still don't understand what is expected from a research student. On one hand, it is a first step before doing a masters degree, on the other - I find the explanation very confusing. After all, the word "reasearch" in "research student" is there for a reason, right?
My question is - do I have to come up with a research proposal before contacting my potential academic supervisor? I have found a professor doing a research in field I am interested in (inductive and abductive logic programming in AI), but the problem is that this is not something you can get experience with in undergraduate studies. It doesn't come up in an undergraduate curriculum, so I have only a general understanding of the topic. Starting a novel research (if that's what research student should do) without some background will be very hard. Yet I cannot get this background unless I get at least an Ms in AI first.
This is especially worrying given my background. I graduated from my university 10 years ago and was employed all this time as a software engineer. I have a good GPA (4.99 out of 5), and I lived and worked in Japan for 6 years and got a JLPT N2 certificate. However my bachelor thesis was about image processing, not about AI, and in any case it is not particularly relevant after so many years in industry.<issue_comment>username_1: I was a research student at the University of Tokyo for one year.
As the answer to the other question states, a research student has literally no responsibilities whatsoever. The apparent point is to allow foreign students time to study for the entrance examination for the formal graduate program. They might give you as little as four months (roughly) or as much as a year before the exam is held.
Your advisor may or may not recommend that you sit in on classes and learn how the university works. If you are in the sciences, there's a good chance that you will be assigned to a research team in preparation for entering the college. If you are in the humanities, it's likely that your only responsibility will be to try to pass the examination. If you are already familiar with your field, you will have an extreme amount of free time.
"Research student" is actually kind of a misnomer. During my pre-acceptance year I did independent research on my own initiative (mostly because I was bored) and had two papers accepted for publication, but my advisor did not ask what I was doing, and my office did not know I had published papers until after I was accepted as a masters student.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> It seems that the general recommendation is to start as a non-degree research student first and prepare for entrance exam while being a research student.
>
>
>
This recommendation is for people who go to Japan on a Japanese government scholarship, and is due to the fact that the scholarship only covers your airfare when you go to Japan *after* having been admitted to your desired program. Thus, if you want to directly enroll in a masters (or doctoral) program, when you go to Japan to take the entrance exam you do so at your own expense, whereas if you start as a research student there is normally no need to go to Japan beforehand.
In your case, since you're probably not going to Japan on a government scholarship, coming as a research student first does not seem really necessary, unless you really need some time to prepare for the entrance exam to your desired masters program. Keep in mind however that without a scholarship, enrolling as a research student does cost money.
As I said in the linked question, *all* the details of what you will do as a research student are to be agreed with your supervisor. Of course, no reasonable supervisor would expect you to be able to do original research straight out of undergrad...
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I recently received a referee report on a math paper in a mid-tier journal.
In this paper I proved (to give an example avoiding technicalities) that all dogs are cute.
But the referee claimed in his report that I claimed that all animals are cute (that is, he claimed that I proved something much stronger than what I really proved).
There is no way to understand the more general statement from my paper, and my guess is that the referee simply did not read the paper carefuly.
Now, the referee recommended acceptance, and the editor accepted his recommendation.
Should I do something about it? should I explain this to the editor?<issue_comment>username_1: No, you don't have to do anything.
However, if you have the chance to do a minor revision, try to see where the misunderstanding of the referee came from and rewrite these parts so that it is clearer, that you are really only proving things about dogs and not all animals. In addition, I would not suggest to put such a clarification in the title or abstract, but only in the introduction (or wherever in the text this is appropriate) - I think an abstract that stresses that you do not treat a case and that you never intended to, may read strange in the end.
The case would be different, if there is an actual serious error in your paper that the referee did not catch. If that would be the case, e.g. if the proof of your main result has a gap, or the result does actually not hold, you should stop the publication of the paper by withdrawing the paper.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: If you care about being a person of integrity (not everybody does), then **yes, you should explain this to the editor**. Your paper was accepted based on a misunderstanding of its contribution; do you really want to have this "achievement" on your record, and forever have to feel a pang of guilt every time you discuss the paper with someone and they ask you where it was published and then nod with approval when you tell them the name of the journal?
The ethical thing to do is to clear up the misunderstanding. Hopefully the result that all dogs are cute (far from an obvious fact if you ask my opinion ;-)) is impressive enough that your paper will still be accepted, and then you can have the satisfaction of knowing that this happened for the paper's actual merits. And you will score major points with the editor and referee for your honesty, which may offer its own practical benefits someday.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Yes, you should explain this to the editor.
Science publishing **should not** rely upon taking advantage of a referee making a mistake. Your ultimate goal should be the advancement of science, not how many papers you can push through the refereeing process at any cost.
If the referee approved your article based on an improper understanding of it, it invalidates the entire purpose of refereeing in the first place.
A referee is not an *obstacle* to conquer at any cost. It's an allied, a colleague, pursuing the same goal you are (or at least should be) pursuing.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I would probably mention it, but not make a big deal out of it. The referee here was lazy (by not reading carefully), the editor was lazy (by not looking at the main result of the paper), so my plan would be to be lazy too. I'd write an email back with the final revisions and mention casually in the text of the email "just to correct the record the referee wrote animals, but they must have meant dogs which is what's actually in the paper." Odds are the editor won't read your email carefully and won't even notice your comment, but you'll feel better.
Peer review is such a random crapshoot anyway, and you obviously thought this journal was appropriate, so there's very little actual harm here. You can be sure that at some point the same thing will happen in the opposite direction and you'll have a paper unfairly rejected by a referee who didn't bother to read the main result and the editor almost certainly won't do anything to correct the error.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: Before you decide, get a second opinion or two.
Select one or two people knowledgeable in the area, and ask them to evaluate your paper. If one of them comes up with the same inflated wrong view of your claim and proof, then you have a problem and need to think about bringing it up with the editor, rewriting, etc.
If the second opinion is that the paper proves what you think it does, and that the paper is worth publishing in the target journal, then you can rest easy and look forward to seeing the project in print soon.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: Would you have explained to the editor when the referee made a mistake that would lead them to reject the paper? If yes, then I think you should do so here as well. Then it's up to the editor to leave this be if he/she would have done the same in case of a reject.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_7: Are you sure that the reviewer made a mistake? As a reviewer I usually say something like "The author proved that all animals are cute, which is interesting." or "The author proved that all dogs are cute, which is boring because cats are much more interesting." The editors cannot be expected to understand the difference, in particular if you submit to a general journal, so in the first case it is not necessary to give too much detail. The author on the other hand wants to know why his article got rejected, so in the second case I have to be much more precise.
So if the short description is followed by a list of small remarks, then it might be that the reviewer was deliberately vague. If there are no detailed remarks, the reviewer either didn't read the article or your style of writing is outstanding.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am working on a mathematical topic that is basically my own concoction. I have days where even the simplest thing takes ages to do and I realize that's because, deep down, I am terrified that things might not work out. This is in different way: I am scared my topic might not be novel enough, appreciated etc. ; I am also scared that checking parts of proofs will reveal catastrophic mistakes.
I rationally realize that this is part of the game and I do my best to take mistakes I find as good news that my work is improving, but at times I am just paralyzed and unable to do things.
I am also bothered by the presence of colleagues in my office, afraid they might judge my work (and at the same time going to a hidden place in the library helps a little but is also very annoying and uncomfortable).
I am sure this must be, to a different degree, experienced by many PhD students.
What are some strategies to fight fear as you work?
Note that I realize there really is a deeper confidence issue and I am already seeking help for that. I'd be happy to hear considerations on the possibility of therapy or counseling and how it worked for you as well as day to day tips and strategies.<issue_comment>username_1: What you experience is essentially what all grad students feel, though few of them talk about it. I would bet that 3/4 of the full professors on this list felt like that at times when they were grad students, and may still do. I can certainly say that for the first few years of being a professor, I periodically had the thought that I'm just a normal human and that the world would end if my department ever found out -- all while doing, what I believe, good work.
So you're not alone in having these feelings, though you may feel them more severely than others if you find that it occasionally paralyzes your ability to move forward. (Though, even there, I would say that all of us had weeks where we got to work, opened a browser and studied the world wide web for most of the time until it was time to go home.)
The best way to get over it is by talking to others, both your peers and your advisers (including the department's graduate adviser) about these issues. You will find that everyone, even those you think must be sooo much better than you, has these issues. I think it will help you put yourself in perspective. They may also share their own strategies to deal with things.
My strategy if I get stuck on something is to do something else -- work out the part of your thesis for which you already have results, write them up, do the copy editing -- and come back to the open questions when you're in a better place again.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: **What are some strategies to fight fear as you work?**
Answer: I'm an engineer. Engineers frequently experience concern about performing calculations correctly because death to innocent(s) could literally result from a bad design. Learning how to deal with your fear is in order, either by yourself or with the help of another. You must study your fear and truly find out what the cause is and then evaluate whether or not the fear is rational. What is probable? What is improbable? If you don't find a way to direct and attenuate your fear for constructive purposes, it will eat you alive and perpetual unhappiness will be the end result.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> I realize there really is a deeper confidence issue and I am already seeking help for that.
>
>
>
Glad to hear it!
>
> At times I am just paralyzed and unable to do things. I am also bothered by the presence of colleagues in my office, afraid they might judge my work (and at the same time going to a hidden place in the library helps a little but is also very annoying and uncomfortable).
>
>
>
What you are describing sounds reminiscent of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It might be worthwhile to do an evaluation, if you haven't done one yet. Filling out a symptom checklist to take along to the evaluation can be helpful. Here is one from Tourette Canada that my family has found helpful: <http://www.gapacademy.ca/files/checklist_ocd.pdf>
Not all mental health professionals are trained to evaluate for OCD. The [International OCD Foundation](https://iocdf.org/) can help you find someone with the right training. Try the "Find Help" section of their website; you can phone them if you get stuck.
As the Tourette Canada [factsheet about OC](https://www.tourette.ca/uploads/File/ResourceLibraryDocuments/Tourette_Canada_OCD_Information_Sheet.pdf)D says:
>
> Possible treatments include behavior therapy like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and exposure and response prevention (ERP), and medication.
>
>
>
For a description of my experience coaching my son in ERP therapy, you may be interested to read [this answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/78073/32436). It's just a small example intended to provide encouragement.
***And now for something completely different:***
It is sometimes surprising what type of activity can boost a particular person's self-confidence, in a general way. It's just a matter of trying things out to see what works for you. Here is some brainstorming of possibilities:
* martial arts
* theater
* being a volunteer tutor
* sports
* dance
* Eurogames
* sharing your expertise about something in an online forum
* political activism
* volunteering for community building projects
The sky's the limit, really.
***And finally, the academic side of your question:***
Some projects are more cutting edge than others. You and your advisor may want to think about whether this particular project provides the right level of objective confidence that it will give you a PhD within some reasonable number of years. It is *allowed* to postpone a particular project if it feels a little too risky for the particular juncture you are at in your life.
I'll give you an analogy. If a medical student knows he is bipolar, and knows that being short on sleep tends to trigger a manic phase, he might decide to choose some other medical specialty than, say, emergency medicine, where he may be expected to work at a 24 hours on, 24 hours off rhythm.
**Edit**:
As requested in a comment, some quotes from the above references:
>
> Obsessions are unwanted thoughts that happen over and over again
> causing a lot of stress or anxiety and ultimately resulting in attempts to
> either ignore the thoughts or to make them go away *(fact sheet)*.
>
>
> * Is unable to get started.
> * Continues to “doubt” answer.
> * Reassurance Seeking.
>
>
> *(checklist)*
>
>
>
**I must stress that the checklist is not designed to be used for self-diagnosis. It's a tool that can be helpful in an evaluation *process*.**
Having watched my son go through the evaluation process, and from reading about OCD, I learned that one of the things evaluators are looking at is the degree to which the person feels impaired. For example, a good writer edits and polishes his writing. But if one is getting stuck often, for long periods -- then the perfectionism might be an impairment, rather than just being an asset.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: To some degree or another, the feelings you describe are common in graduate students (and other people). Here are some comments from around the Internet, for example:
>
> FEAR !!
>
>
> I self diagnosed this of myself just this week to explain my behaviour for the last 6 months . I called it boredom, annoying , painful etc but actully I am afraid to progress because someone might say”not good enough”. I am engaged in a systematic review and all I have to do now is read (albeit systematically) but simle right ?
>
>
> I just applied for some funding and as I drew out my timeline for the project I thought “will I or can I actually do this”? The answer of course is I can but if my will is left up to me I am fearful I’ll self destruct !!!! There I go again fearing!!
>
>
>
([<NAME>](https://thesiswhisperer.com/2010/11/23/phd-paralysis/#comment-178244) on Thesis Whisperer)
>
> I just can't do it. I've spent the last month rewriting the first paragraph over and over. Yet, it is still not good enough. When I sit in front of my computer I usually feel paralyzed with fear. This might sound bizarre, but it is true. Yesterday I felt more courage than the average day. I worked on my thesis for hours. Yet, at the end of the day, I was still in the first paragraph. I didn't used to be like this. Believe it or not I was an outstanding student. Now I don't even dare to discuss science with my colleagues, I might say something stupid.
>
>
>
([jesuisperdu](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAcademia/comments/3eb7aa/after_eight_years_of_phd_im_consumed_by_fear_i/) on reddit)
>
> I have sweated in the fear of failure, and all I can say is that this fear continues even after you have passed the doctorate. In fact, that’s when the fear of failure can be worst! Because now you have to take your research and creative work out of the sheltered workshop of the academy and impress not just a couple of examiners, your supervisor and an academic panel, but people who will put down money (hopefully) into your ideas and research.
>
>
>
(On [100 days to the doctorate & beyond](https://100daystothedoctorate.wordpress.com/2014/05/25/impostor-syndrome-overcoming-the-fear-of-doctoral-failure/))
Many of the fears described by you and the people I quoted above, are about how you may be perceived by others. One thing that people with this kind of fear sometimes find helpful is to identify when they are feeling fear of being judged, then remind themselves about the *realistic* standards by which people in their position are judged. In your particular situation:
* Nobody\* expects you or others in your position to *never* say or write something that is mistaken or uninformed.
* Nobody\* expects you or others in your position to have a thesis topic that revolutionizes the field, to win a Nobel prize for your thesis.
* Nobody\* expects you or others in your position to constantly dazzle with your brilliance.
* Nobody\* expects you or others in your position to win every award you are put up for, to rack up hundreds of citations on your published work, to get the highest possible scores on student evaluations of your teaching... you see where I'm going with this.
You may also find some of the material in this [Perspectives on Perfectionism](http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/resources/infopax.cfm?Info_ID=52) series helpful. (Even if your fears are not exactly perfectionism, they are similar in many ways and similar strategies may help you.) In particular, the exercises in [Challenging my Perfectionistic Thinking](http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/docs/6%20Challenging%20my%20perfectionistic%20thinking.pdf) (such as the "Thought Diaries") and [Adjusting Unhelpful Rules & Assumptions](http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/docs/7%20Adjusting%20unhelpful%20rules%20and%20assumptions.pdf) (especially worksheet on Page 8) may be useful.
---
\* Nobody *reasonably* expects this. There may be some people with unreasonable expectations, but it's really not worth concerning yourself with what *they* think :)
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: In **researcher** life there is no word like "**Research failure**". My supervisor told me that if you try to do something with some methods and you become competent in doing so then you can say that:
>
> This thing can be done in this way
>
>
>
but if you can't accomplish it despite using sound methods, then you can say that
>
> This thing cannot be done in this way, most likely due to these reasons.
>
>
>
In both cases, there is good and bad research and but there is no research failure. In both cases you create knowledge and point out the possibilities and results which are worth considering and approving. You should support your findings in both cases, defend them, accept them and own them. This is an easy way to accept "failure" which is actually your part of your learning and success path.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: This is probably not an answer to your question, because I am no expert and just want to share some personal experience. Its a little bit long to fit in a comment, so I put it here.
First, let me just say your situation is far better than mine back in my phd years. I was constantly worried about possible failure in my research (and occasionally had panic attack) during my phd study, for multiple reasons: my supervisor did not supervise, but despised me instead (I guessed he expected me to quit soon); my only colleague was one of those entitled top students and despised the idea of working with me; my research direction is decades old and I was supposed to make progress with modern mathematics (I am a mechanical engineer); even my parents expected me to fail. And just because my supervisor despised me, almost all the students in the class I TAed despised me. So you see, all the more worse than your situation.
In China, we have a phrase 众叛亲离, which roughly means you are forsaken by everyone. And this was how I felt for all those years during my phd study. This inevitably had a huge impact on my confidence which was already pathetically low after I was devastated by an extremely low quality undergraduate education. And in China, we don't really have counseling center in universities back then.
I guess I even went crazy for a while, stopped working and started hiking hundreds of miles in the mountains, just hoping to pull myself together. I thought about quitting, and I told this to a much kinder professor than my own supervisor. He told the (maybe one of) most important lie in my life: Come on, you are doing just fine.
**What worked for me:** After that, I slowly recovered and started working persistently. Its just one sentence of approval (most probably out of kindness), and it worked for me. Now as I look back, hiking also helped a lot: it's not only for having a momentary peace by staying away from the people that have negative influence on you, but also for cultivating persistence (hiking on your blisters is a blessing...just kidding). IMHO, doing phd, for people without talent (like me), is all about persistence. Besides, I may also benefit from lowering myself to a point that does not allow myself to have any excuse of not working hard and persistently. And alas...I also benefited from massaging my supervisor's self-ego, and consequently starting to receive supervision and approval (this might not relate to your case since you didn't say anything about your supervisor).
The story for me ended like this: I got my phd degree using almost six years, from a 2nd/3rd class Chinese university. I didn't get to publish on top journals in my field (in fact I submitted one but it was rejected). I published something on one of the top journals in my field 6 years after I got my phd degree. So I guess persistence does pay off.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I have two studies that are related to each other (The second paper depends on the first one, but it is another study.) I want to submit them simultaneously to the same journal.
Is this acceptable? should I notify the editor in the cover letter that I have 2 papers?<issue_comment>username_1: The problem is the part of "depends on each other" - if they are separate works, they should stand on their own, as they are going to be reviewed (and potentially read/published) separately. If one cannot stand without the other that's a pretty easy reject for each paper.
Now, it's perfectly acceptable to have two papers that build upon each other. I think I've personally seen a maximum of 3 papers, which end-to-end build upon each other, and were all presented at the same conference.
The key is that each paper must be worthy in its own right, and you must frame each acceptably. I'll use an example from what I witnessed working:
Paper 1: Establish a method fully described in Paper 1 to decide if a person is thinking of Object A or Object B. Mostly theoretical, describing machine learning algorithms and with only a small sample of data to establish if it worked.
Paper 2: Extend method described in 1 to an experiment with human participants, in two experiments which used different approaches of applying the method and tested on a good sized sample of participants. Starts to show potential practical applications of this method, and also highlights issues of accuracy, confusion, how to design objects that are more easily discriminated, etc.
Paper 3: Use methods from Paper 1 and lessons learned in Paper 2 and apply them to a live video game controller scheme, and report the findings on how it worked and what participants thought of the system, which was interesting because the system wasn't all that accurate and it made the games harder.
Each paper had their own unique contributions, and other than a similar intro, listening to all three talks was fascinating, and each paper was it's own accomplishment. If any of the three papers were rejected, the others would still have been appropriate for publication, and you didn't really need to read them in order or all of them to appreciate each one.
So, in the end it is fine if you submit papers that are improved by each other, and which are intimately linked, and even which are better together but which have a different focus and are better written up separately. But if both papers are inextricably linked and truly, strongly depend on each other, that is grounds for rejection of both of them (at least in fields I'm familiar with). This could vary by field, of course.
Ideally, you could make each one sufficiently self-contained as to stand on it's own merits, and still reference each other, making it clear how the papers are distinct and the focus and/or experiment is different. If that isn't possible, I don't know how approaching the editor would help as I haven't seen such a situation, so I'll have to leave it to someone else to advise about that.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: My answer takes into account your comments (that you believe the two papers should be published separately from each other, and that you want to submit both papers as soon as possible):
Whether or not this is acceptable depends on the journal. Some might explicitly state that it is not acceptable in the author submission guidelines. Others might not list this policy outright, but will raise the issue if you attempt to submit the second paper while the first is still under review.
I recommend that if you can't find anything in the author guidelines, you should submit the first paper now, and then email an editor with an inquiry regarding their policies on submitting the second paper.
If you do decide to submit both papers to the same journal simultaneously (which I don't recommend in my experience, though I do understand that some journals may be okay with), then you should address your reasoning for doing so in the cover letter.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Since semester started, a female student has been attending classes scantily clad or wearing clothes that are too revealing, like a sport bra without shirt on top, booty shorts, semitransparent silk blouses without a bra, or even a bikini (this situation happened only once.) She does this once or twice every month and, apart from wearing revealing clothes, she behaves as any other student. My university is located in a fairly liberal country and I'm not a prude. There is no written dress code. During summer, crop tops and shorts are the norm.
[In a previous question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17739/should-professors-intervene-if-a-student-is-wearing-offensive-clothing-in-their?noredirect=1&lq=1), someone brought about an issue regarding a student wearing an offensive shirt, but the answers to that question doesn't apply here. First, what the student is doing isn’t illegal like wearing a racist slogan and she isn’t underage; second, in the linked question, the TA was a female who feared becoming a victim of aggression. In my case, I am the male and I fear the if I tell the student I am not comfortable with her clothing, she might consider it harassment; third, she does this in plain view, not only in my class, and not during office hours [(like here)](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/72672/female-students-coming-to-office-hours-in-overly-revealing-clothing) so I don't have reason to believe I've been somehow targeted be her.
This situation is disrupting the teaching environment - students start talking and leering instead of following the class. I have noticed that my students' level of attention and the class speed is significantly lowered when she comes wearing revealing clothes. It may cause issues outside the classroom, too. Recently, during my office hours, one student asked me my opinion on her, to which I replied that, as a TA, I had to remain non-judmental (and that he didn’t have authority to ask such questions.) Then the student told me rumor has it I haven’t intervened because I enjoy watching the student expose herself. You get here the subtlety of my situation: **If I intervene, the student may consider I'm harassing her; if I don’t, I could become that perv who likes peering at his student.**
The department’s head says that I can let the bikini pass once, but that he will intervene if it happens again. He cannot do anything regarding silk blouses or sport bras, though. He will intervene only if the situation escalates, but I have authorization to intervene by myself to guarantee the class objectives are achieved.
Am I overreacting? If I let things go on as normal, will my students eventually assume I don’t care? **If I'd have to talk to the student, how is the best way to address the situation considering gender issues?**
**EDIT:** It's true what StrongBad says, that the other students have their part in disrupting, but I'm certain that the student wearing revealing clothes also wants to elicit a reaction (whether it is disrupting the class, I don't know.) We are in winter now, so she comes fully clothed, changes her clothes once in the building and always sits where everybody sees her. Outside classes, she is fully clothed. Her behavior is 100% intentional and she knows that when wearing that kind of clothes the environment of the class will accordingly change.
**UPDATE:** I’m a bit surprised that none of the upvoted answers address any of my questions. Most of them are on the line of **“do not be judgmental and tell the other students to behave”, which is what I have done:** My approach has been not to brought additional attention on her. If someone is giggling, I would call his attention in general terms, but I would never expose the student in front of her peers with a sentence like “Stop looking at her clothing and pay attention to me”. That would be harassment. It’s also true that the student has the right to wear whatever she wants, and that other students should behave, but human concentration has its limits and I cannot blame anybody for that. **If a disruption is too constant and obvious, students will eventually fall.** <NAME> made an analogy that I'll borrow here: “Everybody is within their rights not to shower. But if someone stinks so badly that other students cannot concentrate, I would say the instructor should attempt to change that one person's behavior - not expect that the entire rest of the class adapts their utterly normal reaction.” <NAME> has also a good point when saying “the instructor can actually talk with the student and get her to understand why what she's doing is almost certainly not in her own best interest”. That would save the student some headaches in the future and allow me to appropriately teach my class. Furthermore, my department's head is well informed about the issue and has given me authorization to talk with the student. So now the onus is on me. To avoid starting a bureaucratic storm, most classroom problems (I think almost every problem in an academic or business settings) are solved in a bottom-up fashion. First TA intervenes and if it doesn't work, you escalate to the next level.
**RESOLUTION: After many months, I'm writing again to tell what happened, but I can't give many details. After finals the student offered sex to another male TA. We had all made complains by then and got writing answers; we had our \*ss covered. The student has been suspended. Moral of the story: get instructions in writing**.<issue_comment>username_1: Unlike my answer [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/72672/female-students-coming-to-office-hours-in-overly-revealing-clothing/72697#72697), your problem does not seem to be about the clothing, but rather the disruption. Assuming the student is not breaking the university dress code, then it is not her who is disrupting the teaching environment, but other students.
You have not provided examples of how the response of the other students is disrupting the teaching environment, but the solution really doesn't matter that the cause of the disruptive behavior is the appearance of another individual. Simply remind students that the disruptive behavior (talking, hooting, leering, taking photos) is disruptive and will not be tolerate. If the students continue to be disruptive, throw them out of class.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: I think that it is useful to view your dilemma from a worst-case scenario perspective.
Trying to intervene and the student then complaining about harassment/freedom of expression/etc., may (conceivably) lead to adverse professional consequences for you. For example, she might make a formal complaint with the risk that you are not employed again as a TA.
On the other hand, not intervening leaves you open to the somewhat indirect accusation that you didn't do something because you enjoyed her dressing as she does. I too would hate to think such a view was incorrectly held about me, but it is hard to see how much can come of it. Particularly, because one can easily imagine that your head of department, etc., will have no difficulty in understanding why you didn't intervene.
There are, of course, consequences for your students too, but as @username_1 suggests they are responsible for their leering, not you. If they genuinely feel strongly about her dress, as opposed to it being a source of entertainment, and they can articulate a good reason why they do, then they can complain to someone up the hierarchy who may be in a more secure position from which to intervene. You might even consider subtly encouraging them in this direction.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: **Am I overreacting? If I leave things go on as normal, will my students eventually assume I don’t care? If I have to talk to the student, how is the best way to address the situation considering gender issues?**
Answer #1) Yes. You are overreacting. As long is she's not breaking any school rules or the law, she is free to do what she wants to do in a free country. You may not like it, but that's the nature of a free country.
Answer #2) Your students will think thoughts as they so choose because we live in a free country.
Answer #3) DO NOT talk to the student. Talk to your boss who has already said that help will be on the way in a certain circumstance. Don't be foolish. You could get into a hell of a legal bind if you act outside of the rules and/or the law.
Three thoughts occurred to me. Is it possible she's a stripper? Is it possible she's conducting an experiment for which she might have approval? Is she possibly mentally ill?
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: You say that you've talked to your department head about this; make sure you get the answers in writing to protect yourself. A student who changes into a bikini once she enters the building is a very different situation than a student who wears normal but revealing street clothes to class - make sure this information is included in your letter to your department head.
As you are aware, there is a fine line in enforcing dress codes -- nearly all school dress codes focus on limiting the freedom of female students to protect male students from distraction. Your bikini-wearer is deliberately pushing the boundaries. (I can't imagine that swimwear is allowed in class -- perhaps the situation has never come up before?)
If your male students ask privately, simply say that you're unfortunately not legally allowed to intervene. You may want to suggest to the most distractible students that they sit in the front rows to avoid having the bikini in their line of sight.
Does this student wear revealing clothes to other classes, or just yours?
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: Meet the problem head on. Take a couple of minutes to talk about it. Remind your students that in this country (whatever country that is), students have the right to dress as they please, and if anyone has a problem with that, it's *their* problem, not the person with an unusual outfit's problem.
The most important thing is to convey a firm commitment to individual liberties and gender equality, and your expectation that everyone in the class behave in a supportive way to all their fellow students.
If you want to include some gentle humor to break the tension, that would be okay. For example, in my case, I might share a memory of <NAME>. who expressed his individuality by wearing a suit and tie, on teaching days and office days, alike: three-piece, dark wool generally, but with a switch to light blue seersucker on Memorial Day. That was just his style. To each his own, and who am I to tell anyone else how to dress?
Or you could mention that if <NAME> paid her tuition and met the prerequisites, she would be welcome in your class, along with her entire collection of shoes. (1220 pairs!)
(Ignore the rumors. There will always be silly rumors about instructors.)
**Edit, having read the edit to the question**:
You are apparently considering speaking to the student one on one, to attempt to guide her towards a more conservative outfit in your class. But you commented:
>
> I would never expose the student in front of her peers with a sentence like “Stop looking at her clothing and pay attention to me”.
>
>
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Correct. That wouldn't be constructive! When speaking to the whole class, it would be better to first convey your personal commitment to diversity in education, with an I-message, and then, if you're comfortable, allow some natural humor about the situation to surface.
I've read quite a bit about Tourette Syndrome, a neurological disorder that manifests as bizarre behavior. One of my favorite [fact sheets](https://www.tourettes-action.org.uk/storage/downloads/1473075007_tourettes-action-key-facts-for-teachers-Sep2016.pdf) about Tourette, published by www.tourettes-action.org.uk, says:
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> Try not to respond too much to tics as this can normalise them.
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> However, often tics are humorous and it would be unnatural not to recognise this.
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My son has Tourette's, and we've learned that the best way to help other people deal with his unusual behaviors is to explain to them what's going on, in a matter of fact way. But, as the fact sheet says, some of his tics are funny, and I have found it helpful to allow myself to acknowledge this -- without giving the child too much positive feedback (which would encourage even more expression of the tics).
Humor is a great way of defusing tension.
You asked:
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> If I were to talk to the student, what would be the best way to address the situation, considering gender issues?
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I would not advise doing this.
I just got a brainwave, and realized that perhaps you are not from the US, but are attending a university in the US, where you are a TA.
Perhaps there are some cultural differences at play here. If so, please pass the problem unequivocably to your department administration.
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(When I wrote my original answer, I don't think I had understood that you are a TA. TA's are apprentice instructors, and should not be left to their own devices to meet such major challenges on their own.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: I am pretty sure she is somehow violating the student code of conduct. Give that a thorough read.
Also, I am pretty sure that blatant disrespect of the instructor would be grounds for removal from a class at any place of higher learning, so create a dress code for your class, something simple like "no see thru clothing, no swimwear," etc, and email it to your students. If the behavior continues, drop the student.
Heck you could even add to your syllabus that "This is a college course, not a hangout spot, dress accordingly."
I shall explain this last one: A professor I am an intern/Lab Assistant for this semester operates in a server lab environment and has had to put up instruction sheets on the walls near each station stating boldly "your mother doesn't live here. Do not leave any trash." As well as a couple of other statements.
One would ass+u+me that picking up ones garbage would be obvious, and something learned by college, as would be things like putting chairs back when you leave. This has not been the case. I see no reason not to add things not to wear to certain courses to these styles of per classroom dress-codes.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: The best thing you can do is the escalate the problem to your superiors, which you already did. Note that in disputes like this (when there is a bad and a worse choice, like you being accused of being either a harasser or a perv) the important thing is to let know your employer that there is a problem. That may be very important for your defense if you are forced to intervene if she starts to behave even more provocatively. So make sure that you have indisputable proof that you notified your superiors of a problem early.
Perhaps I would go even further. If you live in a liberal EU country, you may have dedicated university services taking care of sexual harassment, gender equality and similar. If **you** feel uncomfortable with her behavior, turn the tables on her, and go to the sexual harassment counselor and notify **them**. *Gender equality goes both ways*! If you (or your male students) would come into class in spandex swimming trunks, exposing the outline of your genitals, I believe the women in the audience would rightly feel this is inappropriate and constitutes harassment. So go to the counselor and report the situation. The counselor will have perhaps more knowledge how to tackle this or even she (it is probably a woman) will take the matter into her own hands.
As with your superiors, this may protect you if the girl starts acting even more unreasonably and you will have to intervene on short notice.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_8: Ignore everyone here and *ask your higher-ups* what to do. Then do it.
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And get at least some of the responses **in writing** so that you can point back to them.
I believe this is the only correct and safe way to proceed. End of story.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_9: Generally in professional environments, there is either an implicit or explicit prohibition on men commenting on how women are dressed. You are encountering that in the answers you are getting. That being said, this update to the question caught my eye:
>
> We are in winter now, so she comes fully clothed, changes her clothes
> once in the building and always (clothed or not) sits on the first row
> so everybody sees her. Outside classes, she is fully clothed. Her
> behavior is 100% intentional and she knows that when wearing that kind
> of clothes the environment of the class will accordingly change.
>
>
>
To me this implies that the student is explicitly behaving the way she is in order to elicit response, either from you or the other students in the class. The fact that you mention a student asking about the situation implies that other students are noticing the disruption from the classroom norms.
Unfortunately as [<NAME> mentions](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/83110/7269), directly counseling the student on the fact that their behavior is against their own best interests even if it is explicitly permissible is very difficult to do without a lot of practice. I would advise you bring the situation up with the department chair and relevant university authorities to guard against an potential complaints against you. Additionally, you may want to reach out to your colleagues to see if one of them can approach the student to see if they can find some insight into why the student is choosing to dress in such a matter.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_10: "The school doesn't have a dress code, we simply expect students to conduct themselves professionally. Unfortunately it appears that you come to class occasionally dressed in a manner which distracts attention from the lesson to you. I've discussed this disruption with my superiors at length. We don't want to infringe on your personal expression. We also don't want the other students to be distracted. We don't believe the distraction is intentional, and perhaps you're surprised to learn of it now. Regardless, we have to come up with a solution that is reasonable and fair for everyone."
From there the discussion will depend on what she says. I doubt you'll need to prompt her to contribute her perspective, but if you do you might ask whether she needs help understanding the cultural norms of those attending the class, or simply ask her what her thoughts are.
If she becomes defensive, it sounds like the university doesn't provide you with much support in this case. It might be best to simply say, "I understand you aren't breaking any rules, and I cannot ask you to change your behavior. I"m hoping you understand the issue, and I will continue discussions with school officials to find a solution."
If she is amenable to change you might consider solutions such as sitting in the back of the class. If she wants to help but simply doesn't understand what outfits are distracting you might be able to come up with a word or action (putting a pencil on a specific spot on the table or lectern in front of you, for instance) that would encourage her to move seats if she actually is causing a disturbance.
Without specific knowledge of the university's policies, though, there's little else that can be recommended.
Having the discussion and understanding whether she understands the situation and is interested in changing is probably the key to the type of discussion you're hoping to have.
I'd strongly avoid mentioning specific outfits, or trying to draw lines between appropriate and inappropriate. Always keep the discussion away from boundaries and focus on the fact that it's disruptive to the class. You should be prepared to explain what the class does in response to her outfits that demonstrates the disruption.
If the situation doesn't improve, and you can't simply wait out the semester, discuss further options with your superiors. You should be able to take some actions for the benefit of your class at your discretion, for instance having assigned seating throughout the class.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: I'm somewhat surprised this hasn't been stated yet.
**Wearing a bikini to class is inappropriate.**
Period.
Just as wearing shorts, sandals *and nothing else* would be inappropriate. The classroom is not the place for swimwear.
This should have nothing to do with sexism, or with harassment (though I certainly understand why you're worried about that). It has nothing to do with "the students are at fault for noticing". It has nothing to do with "but men could do it" (no, they couldn't). It is not a case of "it's the mens' fault for suggesting that she was asking for it" (ridiculous).
Wearing bikinis, or transparent tops, or just bras is so obviously not okay. If I were in that position, I would feel quite within my rights to invite the student to my office and explain that she is in a semi-professional environment and is expected to dress accordingly. Besides everything else, she should be showing a little decorum and a little *respect* for you, the teacher. If she feels that's "harassment" then, frankly, bring it on. I can't imagine you'd lose that fight.
Whether that's something that works for you, in your culture, at your institution, in terms of the risk of fallout, I cannot possibly say.
But think of it this way: what would happen to her if she wore that to work?
Go from there.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_12: Arrange with a female TA to be present at the time you ask her to meet you in your office or some other appropriate space "for a couple of minutes."
When she arrives, simply tell her that you are in a difficult position, because the way the other students react to the way she dresses in your class makes it hard for you to teach effectively. **Tell** her the objective measures to support this: the class pace, etc. **Acknowledge** that she has the right to dress the way she wants. **Ask** if she could help you. Understatement is your friend here.
In the U.S., I would probably say "I'm guessing you're not surprised that, sometimes, other students are very interested in looking at you, because of the way you *sometimes* dress. But you might be surprised to know that when that happens, the class goes more slowly, and the other students don't pay as much attention to the lesson they're supposed to learn. **My job** here is to give them the best chance to learn what I'm teaching. I"m not trying to tell you what to do. I am just *asking* you to please help me out. I would really appreciate it. That's all." Then I would indicate non-verbally that I had nothing else to say, and she could reply or not. Adjust for whatever is culturally appropriate where you are.
You are a person with a problem, and you're asking her for help that she can easily give. There's no guarantee she will, but it's a respectful place to start. You might be surprised by the huge percentage of people who will do what you ask, if you simply ask them for help.
The female TA should preferably be sitting somewhere at a slight distance where she's not obviously participating, but can obviously hear, reading.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_13: When I was the head tutor of my college, I had a couple young girls who were barely 18. They were on my staff and dressed similar to your description (though no bikini's). Very attractive younger girls who wore very loose tops that... enabled things to be in view when they would bend over to help. Also wore fairly short shorts, and mini skirts that were slightly too mini. They also happened to like the see through silk tops. Though they never came in just a sports bra, they were still fairly distractive to my tutoring center and other students were definitely taking notice.
The situation is slightly different in that they were being employed by the school to be tutors but the distraction still applied. I took them off to the side one day and told them about how their clothing was not work place appropriate. This was their first job so I decided to help educate them on what would be work appropriate. In their case, they didn't realize that the clothing was an issue. Both of these girls liked to dress stylish and why they dressed the way they did. However, I had to inform them that this style of clothing was not okay for work.
They understood and changed to more professional looking clothing. Still wearing dresses or skirts but that were not super revealing and more modest. Totally okay by me. The damage was already done though because unlike your situation which does not seem to involve aggressive males, my school and in particular my frequent student visitors happen to have a decent amount of military men. Now don't get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for the military and I mean this in no disrespect to them, simply building the environment for everyone to imagine.
Unfortunately for one, he was a narcissist who also was more than likely dealing from issues with PTSD. He happened to take a liking to one of the girls and used his predatory nature to harass this girl (mind you this guy was also twice her age and married).
It started out with pet names like calling her beautiful or sweetheart and other things to lure them in with kindness like most predators do, and this made her feel very uncomfortable. He also was following her around acting like "a very friendly guy who wanted to be a part of her group". So She approached me about it and I made a mention to this gentlemen that his words to her are making her uncomfortable and that I understands he is "friends" with her but that she would like it if you didn't follow her around every where she goes. His excuse was "I am from the south this is the way we talk". I told him that this was understandable but his word choices and the way he interacts with her is making her uncomfortable and I would like for him to choose other words. He didn't like being told no and made a big stink about it as well as stating that... "if she didn't like it, she should tell him herself." Much easier said than done for anyone who is more passive/submissive walking up to someone who is highly aggressive and easily agitated.
It was also during this time, we started documenting incidents in Incident Reports so that if this became elevated, we had documented proof and witnesses because I had a feeling something was going to escalate more. A few days later, he came by again and went right to the girl who was sitting down at a desk and put his hands on her desk and leered over her demanding that she tells him what I told him to his face. Pretty much intimidating her when this girl is barely 80 lbs wet (she was actually 86 lbs for the record) and very tiny and he was well over 6 feet tall. I was not in the room at the time as I was TA'ing for another class but one of our fellow students stepped up to him in which the aggressor threatened to put that student on the ground. It was at this point, I received a text message about what was going on and excused myself from the class to come in to help settle the situation. I asked him to leave and when he refused, the librarian (who was a very strong woman and the person who oversaw the tutoring center as my boss) came in and told him he needed to leave.
He then used his narcissist mentality to turn from aggressor to victim and told us he was going to the dean because we are not allowed to kick anyone out or refuse students from entering the tutoring center and he was "just trying to get help for his class work". After the dean saw reports of the situation and talked to the witnesses, it was decided that this student was no longer allowed to be in the tutoring center while she was working. She was also escorted around the campus to her classes and TAing blocks by myself and other larger males to make sure he didn't interfere (which there was several times this gentleman tailed us or tried to walk right into me while escorting the girl). She was also provided security guard escorts as well when ever we needed it.
TL;DR: Moral of my story, a girl may not realize her dress is not appropriate. her wearing of yoga pants could be because she intended to go to the gym after class and didn't want to change this particular day. The see through blouses might be because bras, especially in the summer time, can make the girls get a little hot and uncomfortable and she might have been feeling warmer that day. You can't assume that she is intending it for attention though it does appear to be this way. However attention seeking would be done a little more frequent than once or so a month in my experience. It would be best though to approach her so that she doesn't end up having any aggressive, possessive males try to corner her like I explained in my story. Unfortunately other people shouldn't dictate how you dress, but some times a level of professionalism, and personal safety need to be considered too.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_14: What I am missing here is the situation what the superiors should do to prevent any repercussions if they must fear that protests arise.
In the best of all worlds people would comprehend that behavior diverting attention in a student setting is detrimental and should be avoided. Living in a world which is presumably not the best it is always possible that someone tries to escalate the conflict.
To prevent that they should work out a solution in case it escalates which cannot be regarded as unfair.
1. One thing is a **consistent dresscode for both genders**: Opaque torso and opaque short trousers/skirt. While it allows much freedom to dress, it prevents the worst offenders. It is a pity if only one person is responsible for the introduction of a dress code, but if a rule must be introduced, it must be general. And an university has every right to set up rules for everyone to allow undisturbed teaching.
2. Another solution (also for other problems) is the right for both professor and students to **initiate a secret poll** if someone should refrain from a *preventable (!) behavior*. If the majority agrees, continued behavior will lead to expulsion from the course.
Once a hot topic escalates and interested parties with different viewpoints use it to propagate their agenda, experience shows that trying to discuss it out is a foolish course of action. What most of the time happens is that the actual problem and its development are neglected and the fights are about values (x-ism) centering the topic. As the current discussion already shows, there are many viewpoints and worldviews which are quite convinced that their viewpoint is the only valid one and other people must be not only wrong, but malicious to disagree.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_15: At the risk of stating something you might have considered and rejected, don't talk to her at all, even with another TA / employee who is female deliberately placed as window dressing. Tell HR you are uncomfortable, and ask them to discuss the matter with her. HR is responsible for uncomfortable conversations about social situations, and if you are fortunate, there will be one or more *female* HR employees who will be chosen for the meeting, thus cutting out the "If a bloke says anything like that it's automatically sexual harassment" subtext.
And as an added benefit, I'd think HR might have the best shot at following up with your school's counseling center. The behavior you mention is suggestive of past sexual abuse and boundary violations, same as the Onion article with a title like "Strong woman overcomes years of childhood abuse to become a successful porn star."
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_16: Some easy solution that missed in the answers: **Tell the whole class about clothing etiquette in general without pointing at her as a small excursus on practical professionality.** ("Clothing serves more purposes than keeping us warm: It has a communicative function --think of motto shirts. It also conveys a message of respect: Nobel laureates are expected to wear a tailcoat at the ceremony as a sign of gratitude for the honor and respect. Even if there is no written dress code it does not mean that these effects of clothing don't exist. We are still supposed to use common sense. For example, as we don't expect the nearby river to flood the campus during my lecture, we don't appear here in swim suits. As a rule of thumb, dress yourself similar like others in your situation do." -- something like that in your particular teaching style.)
Leave it to her to infere that she may have done something inappropriate. As it is a general lesson, you may also teach it when she is wearing appropriate clothing. You may even do this intentionally to avoid harsh embarrassment for her (of course at the risk that she may not get the point).
Rationale: The students are there to learn something for their future job. But their academic skills will be useless if they can't "sell" them due to their lack of etiquette. As a TA, it's your job to help them in this aspect, too. Not doing this can even be against bona fide.
Note that there are in fact people that are quite smart at their profession but simply don't see their shortcomings in terms of correct clothing, punctuality, table manners etc. This is not malicious. They simply need the help of others, patient teaching, then they'll get it.
I do not encourage fear of harassment accusations. An academic environment needs the freedom of teaching. Rational teaching is never harassment nor crimethink. Don't let the terror in your life. This is not Soviet Union. If you are really afraid of temptation, simply don't invite her to your office but only talk to her if others uninvolved are within sight.
As an academic yourself, you are also free to decide self-responsible how to fulfill your obligation to give the students the academic and soft skills for their career. So you can do this even without asking any superiors. Again, this is not Soviet Union.
As it is *only* about etiquette, there is no other intervention legally possible. So it's not necessary to involve the department head any more. If she insists on wearing only underwear, it is her freedom to misbehave and she has to bear the gossip on her own. As you will have stated publicly your discomfort with her revealing clothing, this gossip will not concern you.
I once experienced a professor expressing his discomfort to the auditorium about too sloppy emails of some of his students ("Hi" as an opening). This was OK. Some students simply didn't realize that emails are letters (well, technically postcards) and not messages on a web chat. Now they know and it will help them in their future career.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_17: Find a female colleague who'd be willing to jointly (with you) and gently discuss with the student the inappropriateness of her clothing choices in an academic environment.
Yes, the student has the right to wear what she likes. But she's a presumptive adult, and her choices should be adult ones. Unless she's *quite* dim, she knows very well that she's behaving inappropriately for the environment, and should be called on her game-playing behavior. Preferably by a female TA or professor who will be immune to any protestations of innocence.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_18: With people showing provocative or manipulative behavior sometimes, the main possibilities are:
* ignore their behavior
* congratulate them honestly when they display the behavior you wish, to reinforce this kind of behavior.
I strongly suggest that if you intend to meet the person separately from the class, you do not do that face to face, but with a third person (silent witness), to avoid risks of being accused of... something else.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/11
| 4,601
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD student in Europe, currently in my second year, and I have some attitude problems concerning my work. I really want to work on my problem, that's fine, but what bothers me is the following. I struggle with "impostor syndrome", so I always think that I know nothing. This leads me to the thought that it's not worth meeting with my advisor, because I am afraid of saying stupid things (which happens!), asking stupid questions (which has led, after all, to the solution of many important problems!), not knowing things which I should know (but if I don't ask, it will be even harder for me to learn these things), and am just afraid of wasting my advisor's time.
You see that I know that I know that my thoughts are completely irrational, but they just won't go out of my head.
Now my advisor (currently abroad for several weeks) sent me an e-mail that he thinks that I should be more modest and that we should meet more often. While I agree with the fact that we should meet more often, I disagree with the statement that I should be more modest. Not being modest means for me (in this context) thinking that I don't need my advisor because I can do everything on my own (correct me if I misunderstand his statement). But the opposite is the case.
Should I tell my advisor about my thoughts about not being good enough, as described above? If yes, should I respond to him via e-mail (note that he's abroad for some time), or should I prefer to talk to him in person about these issues?<issue_comment>username_1: Only guessing, but, very likely the fact that you are hesitant to meet, hesitant to ask questions, etc., gives the impression (quite contrary to your interior image) that you are over-confident. Somewhat ironical, yes. A responsible advisor will hope that students meet with them and ask questions... unless there are no problems and great enterprises are already completed?!? Since there *are* inevitably difficulties and great projects are rarely quickly and effortlessly completed, the state of *not* meeting, and *not* asking questions, is most reliably assessed as a failure mode, whatever the underlying reasons.
A misguided "immodesty" might mean many things, after all. "Modesty" might mean being willing to make a mistake, at least to be discussed with your advisor, etc. Inhibition about making slightly public errors usually leads to inactivity and dysfunction, rather than "perfection".
EDIT: to directly answer the question about whether you should "tell your advisor about your attitude problem", I think it is more to the point that you should respond exactly by explaining your misunderstanding about how the situation functions... and that you would like to have regular meetings from now on, and that you will be sure to ask questions about obstacles you find. To communicate this in person, in a minute or two, just popping in to your advisor's door, is good, but/and a longer (but not too self-indulgent, breast-beating rant...) email would be good, too, especially if it's not easy to find your advisor in person very soon. That is, prompt responses are good... infinitely better than non-responses.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> My advisor sent me an e-mail that he thinks that I should be more modest and that we should meet more often.
>
>
>
Your prompt answer:
>
> Sounds good!
>
>
>
Nothing is gained by getting defensive.
(Do you know what meeting rhythm your advisor has in mind? What often works well is a standing, weekly meeting. If you have no progress to report, that's okay -- it can be helpful to establish a habit of meeting regularly, rain or shine.)
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: I am just going to point out a few things that I have noticed.
Imposter Syndrome is just a term used to describe the feeling that you are a "fraud" and everyone will eventually find out.
I am not saying that there are no issues with having these feelings, due to the fact if you do not address these issues, they can lead to real disabilities, such as depression.
I personally would not bring up Imposter Syndrome insofar as saying it is something you suffer from. The reason for this is that you would be claiming you are suffering from the effects of an unrecognized emotional/psychological disorder. This would not be sending the message you actually intend to be sending. It could actually come across as you are trying to make excuses.
I would however, address the situation by meeting with your advisor, in person, and discussing your concerns, starting at the point in your opening after stating "i suffer from the imposter syndrome." Everything from then on an advisor would understand and could help you with.
Also, I would strongly suggest finding any mental health support you may have access to. Be it counseling, or a support group. Keeping these things bottled up is the wrong way to address the problem. This is from first hand experience.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I have similar problems and it has indeed led into problems. I'm dealing with it as best as I can. It's hardest to cope with when dealing with people who are negative towards others, but in general I have it mostly under control.
I suggest trying these in your everyday life:
* Be concise and to the point. You probably want to blabber (as do I) and you have to restrain yourself from doing so. Just answer the immediate question with a short but accurate answer. You may spend a moment to think about the most efficient answer. I've always been too nervous to blurt out something and nowadays I always take a small relaxed breath before answering *anything* at all.
* telling something and laughing might make you feel like a fake even if it's really a funny thing. I've had the tendency to comfort myself after a joke by laughing but I've seen that simple smile will suffice. Or even being super serious and lifting an eyebrow after something meant for a joke. The laughing part has always been my problem and makes me instead very uncomfortable.
* Accept appointments, because running away from them makes you feel worse. Let the other people do the talking. Answer the immediate question and if it's not enough, answer the following question etc.
I've traced my problems to the feeling that I'm being more lazy than the others. I often feel guilty about reading articles while working etc. but I've seen others do it as well which comforts me a bit. Then again I'm doing so many things that I usually sleep less than I should on weekdays. I usually want to do my own things until it's very late, but I've had to arrange some time for sleeping as well. Being well rested makes it easier to feel that I'm giving my best. Also when serving in the military I noticed that my 'shaky' tendency wasn't an issue at all when I was doing a great deal of physical exercises. Same still applies.
I don't know how to summarize this. It's probably not "just be yourself", because you probably get excited when dealing with people and start acting how you think they expect you to act instead of how you normally do things. I do that and that's a defensive thing. I feel I need to defend myself. I'm better with subordinates than those who I see as my superiors because of that. Maybe you should think about your interactions that "you should be in charge" rather than "you should explain yourself".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Premise:
========
It isn't necessarily the case that you should talk to your academic advisor *at all* about these particular issues.
Some people have a kind of coach-athlete or personal mentor-mentee relationship with their thesis advisors and some people don't. What all people *should have* is a relationship where they receive academic training from their academic advisors.
Answer
======
In answer to your question as worded:
```
Should I tell my advisor about my thoughts about not being good
enough, as described above?
```
Going just from the question, it doesn't seem like your relationship with your advisor has these non-academic advising features. But regardless, your response should be professional. Something like:
>
> When can we meet next? What's a good day of the week to meet regularly?
>
>
>
There's absolutely no need (and little justification) for arguing with your advisor about whether you need to be more modest. Similarly, given that his current view is that you do need to be more modest, it seems a little unreasonable to think he's the right person to talk to about your imposter syndrome feelings.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: The first thing to realise is that you and your adviser are on the same team, that you want the same outcomes, that you are pulling in the same direction.
The next thing is to realise that the world is divided into two groups of people, those who admit to suffering from impostor syndrome to some degree, and liars. Oh, and perhaps a tiny 3rd group consisting of <NAME>, <NAME> and half a dozen others.
Accept the appointment with your adviser. Confide in him that not only do you feel you are not up to the work, but also that you find meetings difficult, and you observe that that has obviously distorted implicit communication in the past, as the one thing you do not feel you need now is more modesty. If you find it difficult to enunciate what you perceive to be your issues, then you could do worse than send him a link to this very Q/A. You have put them quite eloquently to us. Talking to a third party often helps focus.
Bear in mind that the least accurate diagnoses one can make are self diagnoses. Do not insist that you have diagnosed correctly, but take your feelings as a starting point for a discussion with your adviser about the communication between yourselves, and your feelings of academic competence. It sounds like discussing the work itself is beyond you for the moment.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: You don't "have" impostor syndrome - it's a trait, not a disorder. It sounds like you suffer with anxiety, which can lead to experiencing impostor syndrome, but you also have misunderstood the term "modest".
To be modest, means to be humble, and not overstate your own capabilities. If your advisor (the person who is employed to give you advice) tells you to be more modest, it means you're probably showing arrogance. The fact that you've essentially disregarded this advice only confirms it the case.
And to be honest, if you were suffering from impostor syndrome you already be displaying modesty as it is essentially a case of being **too** modest to congratulate yourself on anything.
I understand the anxiety of social interaction, but the straightforward answer here is "Say yes and eat some humble pie".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: It's likely that you've avoided meeting with him because of your worries, but that he's interpreted this to mean that you think you don't need his advice.
Ideally, you would meet with him in person to discuss this, but if he's going to be out of the country for several more weeks, getting this cleared up soon should take precedence. Could you arrange to speak with him on the phone or by video chat?
Anyway, in your meeting/phone call/email, you should (a) get on the same page as him about how frequently you should be meeting, and (b) ask him to clarify/elaborate what he meant about modesty. You're asking for feedback. Asking for feedback is normal!
I would recommend saying something like this: "Could you explain what you meant when you said I should be more modest? I worry a lot that I'm not good enough, so I'm not sure how to interpret this feedback." You should phrase/say this calmly, so he knows you're not just being defensive. (This is why it would be better to talk in person--so you can make sure he understands your tone, and in case it requires a bit of back-and-forth.)
It's fine to let your advisor know that you feel inadequate and you know it's irrational. Ask him if he has any advice for coping with it! He may well have experienced the same thing at your level, and if not, you're hardly the first student to have this problem. See if he can help you!
Side note: I do recommend being careful about making it sound like you have a mental illness, which some of your phrasing here kind of implies (but it might not in whatever language you use with your advisor). Depending on how stigmatized mental illness is in your country, what kind of disability and health accommodations kick in for mental illness, and a whole host of other factors, that might open a can of worms you don't want.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: We are all our worse nightmare and biggest critic and I can definitely relate to how you feel. Meeting with the teacher is definitely a good thing! I would not be afraid to do this even if your internal demons say so. It seems that the teacher may have picked up on some of your issues and wants to try to help.
The whole "Be more modest" isn't necessarily telling you to all of a sudden think you are Einstein, but rather they want you to be more sure of yourself. Everyone still needs help. Just because you are more self confident doesn't mean you don't need help. He just wants to see your thought process change from, "I am not smart enough" to "I can do this". He hopes that with frequently meeting with you, I assume his goal is to demonstrate to you that you actually have ability and help you to be okay in acknowledging this ability.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_10: Find counseling (psychologist, or even psychiatrist). Perhaps your condition has deeper grounds in undiagnosed depression (that's why I would suggest a good psychiatrist which is also a good therapist - not all of them are. You definitely don't want to end up popping pills without someone talking to you at least once a month).
This condition is between you and your counselor (whoever he/she is) and there is **no need to explain this to your advisor**, because:
1. It is not his job to help you with this
2. He does not have training to address your issues
3. He might interpret this in a wrong way (e.g. you are incapable of study, that is, interpreting your psychological problem as a personality problem)
If the therapy helps (whatever it is, psychotherapy or psychiatric consultations with or without medication), your advisor will just be happy that you dealt with your problems.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_11: You're puzzled by his request for you to be more 'modest'.
You'd like to comply, but you don't know how, as you're not sure what he meant.
This is seriously distracting you.
At the next meeting, ask him what he meant and discuss how to resolve it.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_12: All the other eleven answers (at this time), as well as the OP, misunderstand what the professor meant by "be more modest". This has nothing to do with OP's personal qualities, and nothing to do with working alone vs. asking for the advisor's help. Most likely, if the professor knew about the OP's impostor syndrome, the professor would be mortified and apologetic by this choice of phrase.
In this context, the phrase means "be more modest in your immediate scholarly goals", i.e. "be less ambitious with what you're trying to accomplish as the next step". See the fourth [definition](http://www.dictionary.com/browse/modest).
For example, if someone tried to prove the mathematical theorem that every whatzit is blue, a more modest goal would be to prove that *one* whatzit is blue. That's a good first step, and might lead to another intermediate result (e.g. infinitely many whatzits are blue), which in turn might lead to the desired final theorem.
So, to answer the question, it is probably not necessary to mention impostor syndrome to the professor, since the whole thing appears to be a misunderstanding. However, depending on how serious the OP's reaction was, it might be worthwhile to have a discussion to avoid similar issues in the future.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_13: I recommend you ask you advisor to go into more detail. Go to a meeting, tell him you're not afraid of any criticism, and you will try to consider what he says. Ask him to come up with specific examples of the sort of thing he means.
Then, consider his words with care: this is *advice* about your professional behaviour, not an order. You are allowed to interpret his advice for yourself and hold it against all the things that your advisor doesn't know about you.
The main thing to remember is that **he is commenting on your behaviour, not your person**. He doesn't know where the behaviour comes from, that's for you to figure out. And he is of course fallible; he may be cherrypicking examples, you may have had a bad days the last few times you met him, just by coincidence. Who knows.
He does, however, have one thing you don't have: an outside perspective. That means he sees you as you can't see yourself. This is probably the last time you will have a person in your life that will tell you about parts of your behaviour that you might want to change, but that you can't see for yourself. A bit like someone who will tell you that you have bad breath. Almost everybody will avoid the conflict, but your supervisor has some obligation to make you aware of these things, since it affects your professional life.
Finally, bear in mind that your impostor syndrome was clearly a big deal before your supervisor sent you this email. You then immediately connected his words to that state of mind, because that's what you've been dealing with, and possibly obsessing about (I know I did). But consider the possibility that your supervisor was talking about an entirely different kind of modesty. Perhaps he was suggesting you moderate the way you voice your opinion. Perhaps you told a joke to a co-worker that went a little too far. Perhaps you've been dressing a little provocative. Perhaps you just hurt his feelings by not agreeing with him.
The point is, you were already worried about your impostor syndrome, so you've interpreted his words in that background. He may have meant something entirely different from what you thought. So, find a good moment, and ask him to elaborate.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_14: Clearly you should ask your advisor what he means by being "more modest" for three reasons: One, nobody here seems to really know what your advisor means. Two, because impostor syndrome and being not modest doesn't seem to fit together well; I would expect that someone with impostor syndrome would appear *too* modest to others. Three, because I can't see "modesty" as something that is a positive trait for a PhD student, so I would expect a comment like this only directed towards a PhD student who is an insufferable show-off.
All in all, there seems to be a great likelihood that there is some severe misunderstanding going on here.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/12
| 1,429
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<issue_start>username_0: I know someone who is finishing a postdoc in mathematics and is in the thick of the tenure-track job search. He had something like 15 interviews at the Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM) last week. At the moment he has four invitations for on-campus interviews. Of these, exactly one is one of his very top choices. He sent me a list of seven institutions at which he had JMM interviews, has not yet received campus interviews, but would prefer them to some of the places for which he has received but not yet accepted interviews. He is getting worried that he could book too many interviews at these less desirable places and then be boxed out of later interviews to come. By the way, I think he is excellent and unusually broadly appealing, and I absolutely expect him to get more on-campus interviews than he now has. I don't think I have heard of people who have actually booked so many interviews that they have no slots left, and I am tempted to tell him not to worry so much about that -- the calendar is full of days -- but I suppose it could happen in his case. What do you think he should do, e.g. how should he respond to two on-campus invitations that are less desirable than many of the JMMs he's waiting on?
Here is what I said so far:
1) Contact all seven desirable places, let them know the situation, and see if he can shake loose interviews from them or at least information about timing of the interviews.
2) Countenance the possibility of cancelling a job interview if he really does get booked solid.
I am not really sure about 2). Clearly you should cancel all interviews once you've accepted a job, and cancelling interviews when you already have an offer in hand makes just as much sense. I'm not sure about the ethics of cancelling an interview *to take another interview instead*. Is this commonly done? Would it annoy people or look shady to some? If this is going to be viewed as dishonorable behavior even by some, I think he would really like to know that: he is as "fully honorable" as anyone I've known.<issue_comment>username_1: I know the hiring process in Math is a little unique. My answer is based on the assumption that an "interview" means a 1.5-2 day campus visit and that interview season is 10 weeks. Further, I assume that when contacted about interviews a candidate is typically given 3 choices of dates and that departments are interviewing about 5 candidates.
As long as you avoid campus visits on Wednesdays, you can fit two visits in a week. This means there are about 20 interview slots in a season. As the number of interviews approaches 10, the likelihood that the 3 options offered for one of these interviews will clash with previously accepted interviews. To calculate an exact probability you need to know the rate of Wednesday campus visits. At 15 it is very likely for a clash and at 20 you would have to get very lucky.
I think in this particular case the post doc is looking at 11 interviews at most and has already gotten a few rejections so likely fewer. This means that the post doc might need to tell a school that none of the dates work, but would still be able to offer 10 alternatives dates within the prime season as well as early and late visits. On the hiring committees I am familiar with providing a wide range of alternatives would not indicate disinterest. The likelihood of the availability of one of these dates depends on how busy the department is, but I would be surprised if none of them worked. If in fact there is a clash, and the school is highly desirable, then the post doc would need to cancel (or reschedule) a previously scheduled interview. Again, contacting a school to reschedule an interview is not a sign of disinterest, but rather a reality of job searches.
The real problem is not scheduling, but the ability to do a large number of interviews. The number of "slots" can be drastically reduced if the post doc has teaching requirements. Similarly, having a campus visit on Monday and Tuesday, traveling to a new city on Wednesday, and having another campus visit on Thursday and Friday is tiring. Doing that for weeks on end is the craziness of the job search. I know lots of people who have managed 10 interviews in a season with a 1 class teaching load. I don't recall anyone getting to 15.
>
> I'm not sure about the ethics of cancelling an interview to take another interview instead.
>
>
>
As I said above, I would suggest rescheduling prior to cancelling. If there really is a clash, cancelling is the only thing you can do. Cancelling the less desirable interview (after factoring in likelihood of getting a job), is the only sane thing to do. Some search committee members will complain, but no one will hold it against the post doc for long.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> He is getting worried that he could book too many interviews at these less desirable places and then be boxed out of later interviews to come.
>
>
>
1. My doctor's office reserves some slots for "same day appointments." Perhaps your friend could leave two slots unbooked, so as to have a place to absorb a late-arriving invitation.
2. How about scheduling at least half of the less desirable visits towards the tail end of the season?
3. If a conflict arises between an already committed trip to a "less desirable" place and one to a plum institution, then I would suggest letting the less desirable place know that a conflict has arisen and asking if it would be possible to reschedule to a later date. It that less desirable place has not found the right candidate yet, it will be glad to have your friend visit after the big wave is over.
4. Perhaps the bulk of the less desirable interviews could be set up for a Skype interview -- at least at the preliminary level. Your friend could say he is trying to keep down his carbon footprint.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/12
| 2,033
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a student who is completing a course where the major assessment is a Project where you work in a team of four to complete it in different deadlines (Draft and Final).
However we have been informed that two of our group members have dropped the course and no considerations will be made. We are expected to work as a team of two when everyone else has a team of four (with some that I know of experience one person drop outs).
Would it not be ethical to make some sort of consideration? Maybe splitting my two person group and placing us in other groups that have had one member drop out?
The Lecturers reasoning is that "If someone is sick on your team you are still expected to make deadlines". However I know that if I had a deadline for a project and half of my team was off the entire time with some sickness then some sort of consideration would be made.
Is this ethical or am I looking at this wrong?
Thanks.
EDIT: The students are **NOT COMING BACK**
EDIT:
I just got back talking to him. He does not plan to change anything, stating that some people only have one person in their group now.
I said I would be happy to take them into our team but he said that was not an option. I emailed my unit coordinator as I believe this is unfair but I doubt anything will come of it.
At this stage we are just pushing on ahead but I am keeping my emails in case we fail and need to apply for a review.<issue_comment>username_1: You have right to be worried about the future, but the lecturer's reaction might stem from such matters of which you're not aware. For example, the sick students have probably announced him that their sickness is something trivial and they will be back soon to be involved in the process again. You say that the project is the major item for the final assessment so those absent students are, probably, thinking to get back not only for their commitment to work with you on a shared project, but their own survival from a potential failed score!
I believe that you better talk to the lecturer again and reasonably posit that the project's workload was planned to be shared between 4 persons but their absence is overshadowing the project's progression, dramatically. It will hopefully drive the lecturer to initiate a plan B for you.
If she is still ignorant about your reasoning, you can reflect the problem to your coordinator and announce that this kind of treatment is not only unfair and decreasing your passion to continue but may lead to dissension between you and her. They are experienced to handle just situations.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: The teacher does make a valid point in terms of work place environment though. Say you are working on a project for company ACME. Rough times have hit the company and now your team has went from 4 people to 2 people and the client is still expecting the project to be ready by the same date. You wouldn't be able to go to the client and ask for an extension because it can be taken as a lack of ability. If you tell the truth, the company recently let go 2 employees on the team, it shows the company may have some financial instability and the client may pull the project all together.
It sucks, I have experienced this in my previous job where I was on a development team of 10 and was chopped down to 4 while we were still expected to complete all the new projects while maintaining old projects all at the same time.
I have also experienced something similar with my senior college paper that we had to write as a group of 4 about 100 pages worth of information or about 25 pages each. 2 of our members decided the class was not worth their time and slacked off writing barely 10 pages each leaving much of the work to myself and another. We approached the teacher and luckily for us, the grade was based on our individual parts you did and not as a whole group.
This though, is not as practical as my experience I first described to you because in the real-world, a client isn't going to go to an individual worker and say hey! this project was terrible, but your part was great! They are going to go to your boss and say, this project is not what we agreed to, and not what we paid for. FIX IT. and you all get in trouble.
So while this may be a really lame situation, the teacher is actually preparing you for real-world situations that may come up. Of course if you still feel strongly that you should be given consideration/moved to a new team, there is always the option of talking to the dean or department head to find out what they can do. Usually though, they will stick to the teacher's choice.
With proper time management and understanding the priorities, you will find a way to get it done. Don't try to tackle it all on at once, but break it down into segments. if it is a 10 part project, talk it over with the remaining partner and sort them out. Which parts are you stronger at, which parts are they stronger at. See if you can balance out your weaknesses with their strengths and vice versa. From there see what is left over to do and see of the ones that you guys have mutual weaknesses on, which one of you feels MORE Confident in taking on one of the parts. From there just get working on it. You both know what you need to do, both know when they are due. If you cannot move forward with a part until they get their segment done, work on a non critical path item that you can do on the side that is not waiting for a pre-req to be finished.
Edit: To the person saying comparison to the business is silly and can always rehire... this is not entirely true. If a company let go people, the chances of them hiring anyone to take their place so you can get the project done is very unlikely. Rehiring in general is a long process that can take months to fill in the gaps. Are the workers just suppose to stop and wait for the new hire and blow all deadlines? No. That doesn't happen. Even if they start rehiring right away, you need at least a month or 2 just for interviews alone. New hires may not be able to start right away due to still being at old job or the have a prior commitment and cannot start for a time period. Working at jobs that isn't Mc'Donalds takes time to find suitable replacements with applicable experience. Again assuming that there is no hiring freeze which there probably is one due to being let go. not fired. there is a difference between let go and fired.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: You have another option. Drop the class yourself.
The comparison with a business is silly as a business could hire new people to jump in and help out or they could reallocate resources. Your teacher cannot hire new students to take the class and seems to be unwilling to reallocate the teams.
Another way you could approach this is ask your teach to have a chat and explain to them your fear. That now a team of 2 has to do the work of 4 and that this could have a significant impact on the project as well as your final grade. Perhaps the teacher already has some thoughts on how she/he will mitigate these concerns.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: I've seen this happen before. What ended up happening was that <NAME> ended up being allowed to do an individual assignment on par with the level of effort as a member the group assignment.
Losing members does not change deadlines. The same result is expected, i.e. a paper is due on a deadline. That shouldn't change, even though your group has changed. Half a group doesn't mean you can get twice as long to work on it, mostly because deadlines rarely move as a result of group changes, and practically because the schedule won't account for it.
**What has changed is the amount of work you can realistically accomplish.** Instead of having four person-units to work with, you have two person-units to work with. You will not be able to make the same effort as four people, but I highly doubt the professor will expect you to be able to meet that level of effort, simply because asking a human to fill in as two humans rarely ever works in the real world, at least not for long before that human breaks down.
Do not expect to change your deadline. Expect to change how much work you will complete by that deadline. Talk with your professor about how much effort the two of you will need to apply to meet his expectations, as opposed to whether or not you will meet his deadlines. Does he expect you to perform as much work as four students will do, or just meet the same timeline?
If he also wants you to do twice as much work as other students, then I'd have issue, but if he only wants you to meet deadlines, and will take into account that you're short 50% of a normal group, then I wouldn't find any real merit to saying the deadline is unreasonable.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an undergraduate student who was asked to TA this semester for a class that I have wanted to TA for for a while. Duties would likely involve basic grading of exams and projects as well as answering questions during office hours, but no recitations or other classroom teaching.
However, a close friend of mine will be taking the course with the professor who asked me to TA. The course started this week (TAs will be finalized soon and start within a few weeks) and my friend has already asked me a few basic questions on the topic, which I answered. Additionally, I met with him to assist him with the introductory assignment. It was only after this that I was asked to be a TA.
I wanted to know how to best conduct myself, both from now until I am officially made a TA as well as after I become a TA with regards to him in this course. Should I simply say that any questions should be saved for my eventual office hours and deny any additional assistance, so as not to give an unfair advantage? If he were to send me a bug (cs course), would it be improper to assist outside of any office hours, even on trivial problems?<issue_comment>username_1: It sounds wise to steer your friend towards your office hours, although there's probably no need to *insist* on this.
However, I would not give additional assistance with debugging beyond what you would do for anyone else. The most important thing is for your friend to learn how to do his own debugging!
There's one more thing you can do: fill your professor in on the situation before the semester starts. And then, as the semester unfolds, if any specific dilemma or uncertainty arises, ask the professor for guidance.
*That is my offhand take on this. However, when you speak with the professor, s/he may have more specific guidance.*
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I think fairness is the key here. As long as you are willing to assist others outside of office hours, do the same with him.
Being close friends with people should not disqualify anybody from a teaching position. However, you should clearly demonstrate fairness in how you handle the grading and assistance.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: What are the potential consequences, if any, of being rude and abrasive with the lecturer of a course I am taking? Could I face disciplinary action? Could it affect the way my work is evaluated? Is there a serious risk of me alienating myself with other people at uni, if the lecturer speaks badly of me?
---
Context.
I wrote to the lecturer and course responsible for a course which I am attending. The email I wrote contained a simple request, presented with common courtesy: could you help me determine whether I am eligible to take the exam in your course? The answer to this question would depend on the quality of the work I have submitted, feedback on which I have not received from our class instructor since I could not attend some classes due to scheduling problems with my part-time job. This I explained to the lecturer in my mail, in which I also added that feedback on said work was not present on the course website either, as is usually the case, and that I would've asked the instructor, except you have not presented us with any contact information for him (and during the classes which I did attend, I did not think of asking the instructor for such info, since I expected it to be on the course website if need be).
To my surprise, I received a rudely brief reply. I was merely told that this is my own problem, as I have decided to not show up for classes, regardless of what reason I may have, and that I should find a way to sort it out with the instructor.
I have some previous experience with this lecturer from another course, and as my perception of him is that of a lazy, unprofessional and unambitious external lecturer who probably only is in his current position due to the unfamiliarity which the administration and other key professors in my department have of the content he teaches, I couldn't stop myself from responding rudely. My reply was short, but it did contain sentences such as "*let's hope the instructor has more of a clue of what's going on in this course than you apparently do"* and *"since my request bothered you so much, perhaps you should learn to use the basic functionalities of the course website. It's actually fairly simple stuff, but if you can't figure it out, I'm sure the office ladies in the administration can clue you in".* I also said that I would make sure his rudeness would be reflected in my course evaluation.
Note.
I am not asking whether he really was being rude here, or whether my response was appropiate. The question(s) is(are) as stated above. Your opinion on my behavior or his is irrelevant.<issue_comment>username_1: No, we cannot answer the question without evaluating your behavior first. Your behavior was, simply said, stupid. Let's go item by item:
1) Are you enrolled in the distance-learning program? If not, then lecturer perhaps **has** the right to request that you attend all of his classes, unless there are valid and provable reasons (e.g. medical). In that case, scheduling conflicts mean that either you drop your part time job or you drop the course. I, as a lecturer, am extremely annoyed when someone presents part time job as a reason not to attend class, since the government in my country pays about 5000 EUR a year for his education. Being "free" for the students it does not mean that nobody pays, taxpayers do.
2) On your comment that the lecturer has his position only because no one else is familiar with the subject he teaches. Well, this is perhaps the reason why they tolerate him, and you should acknowledge this: the school thinks that this subject is important part of the curriculum and perhaps the lecturers familiar with the subject are difficult to find. This is one more reason not to annoy him, because he is clearly valuable to the school, although you may think otherwise.
3) Your comment was rude, because of the items 1) and 2) (especially due to 1). Perhaps everything you were asking him was clearly explained during the lectures you were not present at. Lecturers in higher educations have relatively large freedom of modifying and adapting their course as they see fit, even beyond the "official" requirements that are set on the web page. It would be perfectly normal if the university **in general** requires students to be present at the lectures, but the individual lecturers are less strict -- but then suddenly, due to low attendance, at a start of the next year, decide to enforce the rules.
**Now on to your answer.** What can happen in this case? Any lecturer has the freedom to ask you anything related to his course during the exam. Yes, he may ask you questions from the lectures you have been absent from, and then give you bad grade if you struggle with them. It is very rare that lecturers would go for any kind of the administrative action against the student, because their freedoms in lecturing and exams allow them to pursue more *efficient* means of retaliation, if they want to.
So you could only hope that he is 1) forgetful and will not remember the incident or 2) he is above the average professional and will examine you without prejudice even if he remember the way how you treated him.
And please note, it is very difficult to claim a prejudice and report him to administration - he has the **right** to ask you the questions from the lectures you missed - some will even argue that it is understandable to check whether you master the matter that you did not hear during the lectures, and assume that you know the rest.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: "Your opinion ... is irrelevant" - well, following your response strategy of responding to rudeness with same-level rudeness, a potential valid answer would be "Your question ... is irrelevant". In fact, one of the responders above seems to think so, indeed.
Quite apart from that, if actual aspects of the OP's personality shines through in these posts (which, of course, I cannot judge, email/blogs are notoriously unforgiving at casting hard shadows rather than giving a fully-fleshed soft-contoured picture of a person), then lecturers are well advised to avoid having anything to do with a student that acts like that.
This can mean that they may, where they have the freedom, avoid working with the OP (e.g. avoiding accepting the OP for projects), give the OP only minimal required contact time, not have the quick helpful chat in the corridor that other students may enjoy.
Some may be tempted to put a record in the OP's file, but I would say this is atypical, as it requires a vengeful personality coupled with extra work, so I consider it very unlikely. However, the OP may have just reduced the number of possible recommendation letter writers from people who know them by two. And yes, sometimes people with a bit curt (and frankly, the response looks curt, as the one of a very busy person - it is not the OP's job to evaluate whether they are busy! - but not really rude; they tell the OP what the OP's responsibility is, rather than their own) responses write good recommendations.
All in all, the consequences of this are unpleasant, but may be manageable in the protectedness of the academic environment, but I think, as a **bottom line** it provides a lesson for OP to **control their retorts**: something like that in a job context, and they are preparing their way out.
As a manager, I have tolerated rude and exceedingly self-confident people in my group, but only if they were outstandingly brilliant (of course, conditioned on whether the strategies to make sure they were able to work in the team worked). However, there is absolutely no excuse for rudeness if they were not.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> What are the potential consequences, if any, of being rude and abrasive with the lecturer of a course I am taking? Could I face disciplinary action? Could it affect the way my work is evaluated? Is there a serious risk of me alienating myself with other people at uni, if the lecturer speaks badly of me?
>
>
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I think the likely consequence of the email style you described would be:
1: People might tolerate a *brilliant* jerk like a necessary but bitter pill.
2: If you are an *ordinary* jerk, the reaction is likely to be disdain and avoidance.
2a: Except that some iconoclasts and fellow jerks may be drawn to you.
2b: And except that somewhere along the way a masochist will probably attach him or herself to you and then you'll be set up for life in a mutually destructive relationship.
Enjoy!
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: I have developed a software to meet a specific requirement in a research field. There is only one such software developed so far, mine is second.
In the thesis, I explain the implementation of the software. However, I feel like I also need a "Results" chapter. Most of the master theseses I have gone through from various disciplines have such a chapter. Looks like it is a must.
My software generates tangible models, storing a specific information, to be manufactured with various methods, such as CNC or 3D printing.
Output of the software should be considered as results. However, I don't want to conduct a cheesy case study with a bunch of people and publish it as a scientific result. An extensive, thorough study is takes more than 6 months and neither I have that much time nor the the knowledge/experience to conduct such a case study.
For example a friend of my implemented a software for twitter clustering and analyzing. The results are quite straightforward with his software. Run the tool, get the results and interpret them. Done.
I am not sure how to evaluate the results. Models are manufactured successfully, whereas that does not look like a result to me.
How would you approach this question for a possible solution? What my alternatives can be?<issue_comment>username_1: If someone asked you: "does your software work"? How would you prove to them that it does? How did you test the software and proved to yourself that the software works as intended? That could be the basis of a results section.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The goal of your thesis was to create a tool that meets certain requirements. Consequently, your evaluation should **show that your tool satisfies these requirements**.
One way to organize your thesis is to have a section called "Requirements", where you walk through all requirements detailedly. For example, you could have following requirement with sub-requirements:
* **R1: Generate 3D cat models**: the tool can generate 3D models from 2D cat images
+ **R1.1: Brown cats**: the model generation works for brown cats
+ **R1.2: Black cats**: the model generation works for black cats
+ **R1.3: Checkered cats**: the model generation works for checkered cats
Then you have another section called "Validation" where you walk through the requirements a second time, this time discussing for each requirement how you satisfied it.
* **R1**: The cat model generation was implemented in the *catgen* component of the tool that uses the XYZ algorithm to build the cat models.
+ **R1.1**: for 4 sample cats, the tool was able to produce a model (see Fig. 1)
+ **R1.2**: for 5 sample cats, the tool was able to produce a model (see Fig. 2)
+ **R1.3**: for 3 sample cats, the tool was able to produce a model (see Fig. 3)
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: Do tenured faculty get to micromanage clinical professors and other non-tenured instructors with respect to the classroom?
Shouldn't clinical professors be allowed control of their own classrooms and operate with intellectual freedom (in general)? Let us just assume for the sake of simplicity that we are talking about a clinical professor who has done a good job in the classroom (good student evaluations, good DWF rate, hard working, dynamic, puts in a lot of effort, meets course description, etc.).
"Micromanage" includes things like forcing someone to adapt a communal exam format, removing the ability to emphasize/de-emphasize certain topics in the classroom, etc.
Also, do lecturers, adjuncts, and teaching post-docs (all with PhDs) get the same (or similar) set of rights? Let us assume the same set of circumstances as I listed above for clinical people. What would be the potential consequences of simply saying "No, I won't participate in being micromanaged." and fighting for your right to intellectual freedom?<issue_comment>username_1: There is a fair amount of variability across departments. It is not uncommon for the faculty, or a faculty committee, to make *recommendations* regarding exam formats and the relative emphasis on different topics. These recommendations might then be voted on at faculty meeting. Depending on the department, clinical faculty, lectures, adjuncts, etc may not be consulted or given a vote.
While as an instructor you might see these recommendations as micro managing, in some ways they are macro managing. Typically, the faculty are most worried about the core courses, but sometimes they can have specific ideas for an upper level elective. It may seem like they are targeted towards an individual, but in good departments, it is targeted towards the course.
Intellectual/academic freedom typically focuses on research. There are aspects of teaching that a Dean and Faculty Senate are going to say fall within the scope of the department and others that fall within the scope of the instructor. Imagine you were assigned to teach *Introduction to Good Clinical Practice* and the department decided they wanted to use the textbook by Jones. Clearly teaching a curriculum that would more likely be considered *Advanced Statistical Analysis* is going to get you into hot water (and potentially eventually fired). Even teaching *Introduction to Good Clinical Practice* but using the textbook by Smith could result in getting you fired.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: It's is very common for certain core multi-section classes to be coordinated or standardized in some way. For example, the textbook and sections covered are fixed, or there is a single final exam for all sections. Such arrangements apply to all instructors in that class, no matter what their title. Often there is a "course coordinator" who has some of the responsibility of enacting these department policies. It is not unusual for the coordinator to be tenure-stream research faculty and the other instructors not to be, but it's also not unusual for experienced lecturers or clinical professors to coordinate. (It would be quite unusual for a postdoc or other less experienced person to coordinate.). The level of micromanaging varies by course and department, but usually applies equally to all instructors regardless of title.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: I see three questions here
1. who decides how classes are taught,
2. how many decisions about how classes are taught are reserved for individual instructors, and
3. should tenured faculty have more independence in teaching than other faculty.
Regarding 1, it's quite common for authority to ultimately lie with the tenured faculty (collectively, or as delegated to a committee or an assistant chair or something similar); it would be strange for random tenured faculty to issue dictates to individual clinical faculty, but normal for the Assistant Chair for Teaching (or whatever the position is called) to do so. (In a healthy department, I think the clinical faculty would at least be consulted, if not extensively included, in major decisions, but even then they might not get a vote on final decisions.)
Regarding 2, there are basically no decisions about teaching that are guaranteed to be reserved to the instructor. (I was told by one person that the centralized directions for his course included when to tell a joke during lecture; I'm not certain he was kidding.) The decisions you mention - common exam format and authority to tweak the syllabus - are pretty typical ones to have centralized, because they directly address how much the course varies across professors. I'd say dictating a communal exam format is common when many people teach the same course, while not allowing individual instructors to emphasize/deemphasize topics is uncommon but not unreasonable if there have been issues with some instructors deviating too much.
Regarding 3, it would be unusual to dictate course structure only to clinical faculty, while allowing more freedom to tenured faculty teaching the same course. However, because tenured faculty are hard to hold accountable, it can happen that some of the tenured faculty get away with refusing to teach in the specified way, where non-tenured faculty would likely be risking their job by doing the same. Also, lower-level courses with many sections are the ones most likely to be heavily standardized, and they might be primarily or entirely taught be non-tenured faculty. (Note that one consequence of standardization is often that the best people lose some flexibility even as the average improves. The question is written from the perspective of a clinical faculty member who is succeeding at using the freedom previously allowed, but it might be that new rules are directed primarily at other faculty who were using it less well; the department might have decided it was easier to tighten the reigns on everyone than to supervise individual faculty more closely.)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: If, from your perspective, "things like forcing someone to adapt a communal exam format, removing the ability to emphasize/de-emphasize certain topics in the classroom, etc." count as micromanaging, then in all departments of my experience, the answer is "yes." Those are normal decisions for the institution of a department (which is, of course, embodied by its faculty) to make on a centralized level. Generally, the content of lower-level classes is carefully thought through to prepare students for upper-level classes or even classes in another discipline, and it would create chaos to let any instructors add or drop topics, etc. under the guise of "control of their own classrooms." At my university, communal exams for big classes in subjects like math and language are so well-established, they have their own special time slots to avoid conflicts with other classes.
As for *the potential consequences of simply saying "No, I won't participate in being micromanaged." and fighting for your right to intellectual freedom?* that depends a lot on the context and personalities of the people involved. There was something of a cause celebre at Berkeley a couple of years ago where a lecturer was not renewed (in my interpretation) mainly for not following these sorts of policies (he had a much more dramatic interpretation where he was being fired for teaching too well and making the permanent faculty look bad; that did not strike me as especially plausible). Presumably, they would be within their rights to fire you if you refused to follow their policies, but I think that would only be after trying very hard to convince you that you should just follow them.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Course directors generally get to manage courses as they see fit. If this means asking a clinical professor involved with the course, so be it. If a young assistant professor is directing a course, he or she gets to manage every participating faculty member, even tenured full professors.
Now, what does "manage" really mean here? It means that one can ask for whatever they want, and hope people cooperate. Some will, some won't. Non-cooperation can result in a number of things-- loss of future invitations to participate in the course, if one has the luxury of having more than one person able to do the job; griping to a chair; obtaining a reputation of being "difficult"; etc.
Of course, the requests of the course director might be perceived to be nitpicky, over controlling, etc., and indeed they might be. However, the course director may be more plugged in to the review system than other faculty, and understand past course deficiencies, needs of faculty teaching future course modules or higher level coursework that use the information in this class as prereq material, previously identified shortcomings in the student body, or some other tangibles.
The course director should feel responsible for how the course is received by the students. It looks like a more organized and professional effort if all the course info is received in advance, if all exams have the same basic look and feel, etc. If the requests are at all reasonable, there's not much reason to ignore the course director's wishes. Of course, if one thinks the course is being run in a bad way, one can always volunteer to direct the course!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: As a tenured professor, I do not pretend to know everything about teaching, nor do I expect that my approach is the best one; I only know what works for me. I certainly wouldn't interfere with my colleagues' methods, except insofar as they cover the syllabus. For example: Last semester, a young instructor came to me with a question about whether one of his students should be allowed to take a make-up exam. At first, I started to explain what I would do, but then I thought better of it, and so I just listened to the instructor and asked enough questions so that he finally realized what HE wanted to do with the case. I was happy with how we both handled the conversation, and that's how we left it.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I have a classmate who frequently disrupts class by asking nonsensical or unrelated questions, or by making nonsensical or unrelated interjections to the professor. He is autistic, and all the professors I have shared with this classmate (he and I are the same year in the same field of study) have followed the same pattern of humoring him to an extent by attempting to answer his questions, or by thanking him for his interjections, but eventually just ignoring him. I'm sure he has good intent (thinks his questions and comments are relevant or useful) but he doesn't seem to catch on when the professors no longer reply to him (and all of his classmates are rolling their eyes and shaking their heads).
Today in lecture, he sat at the far back of the auditorium (there were tens of empty rows in front of him) and then asked the professor to speak louder. The professor responded by asking my classmate to move closer, as he could not be loud enough to be heard in the very back. My classmate replied by stating that he was comfortable, and then asked a series of questions about whether the lecture material was available online, in the textbook, etc., all of which had been covered in previous lectures anyway, and were on the class website and syllabus.
It has become apparent (after three years of being with this classmate) that the department and/or professors do not have any intent of trying to encourage acceptable class behavior with my classmate. Is it safe to assume that they are aware of his disruptive behavior, and are simply not addressing it due to his mental condition, or should I bring it up with the professors or the department? Would such a report be frowned upon as insensitive due to the classmate's mental condition?
### Edit 14 January 2017
In regards to the [linked question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/68113), the student is not actually being offensive, just disruptive. Being offensive (specifically in regards to racial slurs) would merit additional discipline.<issue_comment>username_1: It sounds like everyone who's dealt with it decided the student's behavior was a minor annoyance at most, or even that their questions were valid and worth answering. Repeating material that was covered in previous lectures, in the syllabus, or on the website is...well, part of the job, and many professors explicitly welcome questions about past material or any general course questions of that nature. It is generally assumed that students aren't tape recorders with perfect memory, and if a professor is really bothered by it they are free to answer with "that's covered in the syllabus". Off-topic questions are typically easily handled with "that's beyond the scope of this course, so questions like that would need to be asked in office hours/email/someone else." If the professor goes off on 30-minute tangents about meatballs because a student asked a question about them that has nothing to do with the course, well then you'd have a valid issue to raise with the professor.
Based on your descriptions, all the past professors found minimally disruptive ways of handling less-than-perfect questions - such as limited answering, ignoring comments that did not need a response, etc - and found a way to move past it. If there is regular behavior by another student that rises to the level of such a disruption that you feel you are materially harmed in your education by being subject to it, by all means bring it up to the appropriate faculty/administrative contact.
However, I must point out that there is a baseline reality that standard deviation in the human population is greater than 0; people are not all the same. This means that your standard of behavior will not be followed by everyone, and others will have different standards of behavior than you do. It often pays to first ask yourself: "is this so far out of line that it I really need it to be dealt with?" If it's just an annoyance, or something that really isn't really that big of a deal, empathy and patience might be a more useful strategy than complaint.
As to how a potential complaint would be received, that rather depends on what you are complaining about. If you complain that a fellow student asks questions about the class that are already covered in the course materials, some professors will agree (they wish students read the syllabus too), and some will think "that's a weird complaint, I wish more students asked, because it sure isn't like the ones that don't ask actually read it all". If you complain that the student is a bit odd, well, yes, they probably got that idea by now. If you complained that a student was, as an example, [yelling racial slurs in the middle of class](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/68113/special-needs-student-with-disruptive-behavior-racial-slurs-towards-teacher), then that would certainly be seen as a valid complaint, while another complaint about a student with tremors shaking and you find that distracting...not so much.
So in the end, I would advise you to consider the seriousness of your complaint. If you feel that what you've witnessed/experienced is materially harmful and wish to make a complaint, make sure you specifically address exactly what is the issue and what you would like done about it, such as: "a student regularly asks questions that are not pertinent to the course, and the professor allows the distractions to cut into class timer, or ignores continued talking and comments instead of telling the student to stop."
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Today in lecture, he sat at the far back of the auditorium (there were tens of empty rows in front of him) and then asked the professor to speak louder. The professor responded by asking my classmate to move closer, as he could not be loud enough to be heard in the very back. My classmate replied by stating that he was comfortable.
>
>
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There's no guarantee of success for what I'm going to suggest, but here goes. Have you tried making some friendly overtures? It would be much easier to model desired behavior and guide this young man if you and he had an established rapport. You are probably modeling desired behavior already, but if he's not tuned into you yet, then your modeling is probably not making as much of an impact as it might.
If you two get in the habit of arriving a little early and having a brief greeting and chat, maybe he will be comfortable sitting near you (not in the back!).
(In the long run, what would help him would be to jot down his questions. But it might be difficult to teach him to do that.)
It might be helpful for you to think a little bit about what sorts of relationships and connections make inclusion work in a classroom.
Here is a series of videos about inclusion that I have found helpful in my own learning: <http://worldofinclusion.com/videos/>
Maybe it's time to invite him for to have a cup of coffee with you after class? Or go for a little walk and talk around campus?
I hope you will keep us posted.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I know this situation because I'm exactly such one, and it was diagnosed by medical professionals.
Making a humor, or "avoiding" by neglecting; would not give any positive outcome if your friend is unable to understand unwritten social norms and what you "pretend" with your neglecting.
**Tell him; straightly yet friendly; the professor and some people in the class is not liking it.** Best if you can friendly **explain**, exactly **where** exactly why you/the professor are feeling it irritating. May be the professor forget what to tell when the question is coming. Or may be the friend's voice is loud, Or may be the professor have an ego problem (might be; a bitter truth. Everyone do have it). Avoid sign-languages and gestures to talk with her/him.
If a question seems very stupid or irrelevant to you; maybe the question is actually on-topic; and you/ your professor failed to realize why it was linked to topic. Or maybe you and your professor simply failed to go out of track. Unique-most questions look silly. Such as "Of an empty, white, coverless notebook; Which would be the front side and which one is back-side?" or for say "Why two light-beams cross each-other without any collision?" or "why roundish is used as most arbitrary shape?" or "[is your red same as my](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evQsOFQju08)?" or "why bicycle doesn't fall when the wheels rotate?"
In fact, Newton's question, why the apple fall to down; was funny enough, at least to me. Who doesn't know apple falls to down. Why he didn't thought to ate the apple. And it is that only-difference between our kettle and [James Watt's kettle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Watt#Watt_and_the_kettle).
Or even not on-topic; the question do have some value to the asker's own.
You may suggest that friend to **write the questions,** but that would not solve the student's problem because soon he was going to ask about. That will cause a great misery to the student. Suggest him **to develope some brief/symbolic/graphical notation so that he can quickly write it down**. In fact. I had to and have to do this. There exist more modern option... Record the lecture with a smartphone/ electronic recorder, if the student can afford it and the institute permit it using in the class. Then the student could more calmly write down the question, and if he miss a portion of lecture, that portion could be later on found from the recorder.
---
It's gone what could we do about that student. Now what can we do about US? Is it the the student's fault? Actually it is our-fault. But what is a problem of mass, is considered as "normal". Only what is a problem for rare group of people (and sometimes not at all a problem); it could be "distinguished" (and as a problem, by norm).
In the above case (as told by OP); we the majority actually doing some mistake:
1. **We're forgetting that everyone here in the institute, is for learning**. It may apparently seems to "the student is interfering our learning". Actually it is opposite... we are learning less... only what the teacher is saying, and just passing-by the class for the day. But the autistic student in OP is simply want to learn much more than us, in his own way; **and actually we're interfering that student's learning**. (with providing a disrespectful and wrong (opposite) feedback).
2. We're getting 'irritated' so easily when someone doing a 'silly question'. That means we're not only intolerant to slightest disturb, we're unable to think about links between subjects or topics. In other hand, that student alone is tolerating the angry professor, the angry classmates, and attending the class everyday; just to learn.
3. If we the group-of-animal can't tolerate another group-of animal's inability to learn customs rituals and and mannerisms; it is plainly our fault. The other group of animal is constitutively different.
4. Many soft-teachers too sometimes doesn't allow students to interfere in lecture, there is a cause. If we start give the right to everyone to interfere the professor's talk; only that one autistic student would use it properly. Many other will really use to make disturb. If we allow bring electronic recorder to class; only that one autistic student would use the time to note the question. Many-others would start gossip or start practice inattentiveness. So, simply, even if the case is this; the problem is not of that 1 particular student. The problem is inside the mass.
So the one and only positive solution is, if we all could change ourselves instead changing or manipulating that one.
**I know; this solution might not be possible to implement**, but it is the bitter truth... only 'positive' solution.
---
There are some intermediate solutions ; where, we too can accept our fault as well as could request some compromise with the student.
>
> "all the professors I have shared with this classmate (he and I are the same year in the same field of study) have followed the same pattern of humoring him to an extent by attempting to answer his questions, or by thanking him for his interjections, but eventually just ignoring him."
>
>
>
1. If the professor do not listen the questions by the students carefully; then certainly the professor is bad as teacher; maybe excellent as researcher. Research and teaching is not exactly same thing. But We can't blame for it to the professor- just because it is the biological-nature of that professor- just like the uniqueness of the student. We can tell this fact to the student. So we can request the student to study the behavior of the teacher,and behave accordingly, so that the student can continue "taking" from the teacher without going into conflict with the teacher. Especially in a research-institute, professors are usually employed for only the research-quality or research-talent. So very unfortunately, sometimes the teaching-psychology and sympathy get disconnected from academic-practice. *But there is no reason for you to think what the professor is concluding, is ultimate. If the professor advocates for not to do questions, that is surely harmful.*
2. For an autistic person; it is really difficult to understand/ predict some-other person's behaviour. So best if the student get some support about interpreting tonal-languages (talk-tones, pauses, speed etc) and body-language, etc, from a professional and good counsellor/ psychologist expert in autism. (in fact I would suggest this as the must-to do. Because this include clinical-professional advise). For him; than behave correctly; it is much more important to understand and predict the others' behaviour; at least to some extent.
---
No-one in this universe is more sillier or smarter than any other. Maybe, whom we all are thinking as silly; contains ability to flourish into wonderful one. It depends upon the rest of the world (including all of us) , that whether it will flourish, or ged destroyed with time.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: I definitely can understand and relate. While I was reading it my first thought was this student must be autistic and thought maybe you didn't know. Saw the following line that you stated he was, so at least you know! That is very important. I have also been in a class that had an autistic student. No one was made aware, nor was the teacher informed due to this student apparently being the son of someone who had to maintain a political image. Unfortunate that parents care about their career over the right help for the child. Anyways, he too would randomly outburst in this class. Usually quoting a star trek episode right down to saying the name of the episode and which episode number it was. He meant it in good form trying to provide the class lecture to something he can relate to as a way for him to learn. Some times though he would go completely off topic with talking about BBQ foods. I think the class enjoyed the break to discuss food because hey who doesn't like a good BBQ?
Was it annoying and disruptive? yes very. Did he slow down the class? yes. I felt bad because some days our class mates would be laughing AT him due to his tendencies. One time he hit his knee on his desk and ran out crying and everyone kind of just sat there not knowing what to do.
It honestly is a sensitive subject. But sometimes, there are things that even teachers cannot do. If he isn't listed as having a disability, it really handcuffs the school on what they can do. At the same time, they don't want to deny him his right to education just like everyone else. Usually handicap and or students with disabilities get extra test time or will take the tests on another day in a supervised testing hall but that doesn't mean they cannot be a part of the lecture. It sucks being in class with this situation, but ultimately all you can do is go to the deans or someone higher up and explain how you are not getting the proper level of education and see if they can either transfer you to a different class time for the same subject or at the extreme drop it for a new semester. But like I said, there isn't much the school can do because everyone has equal right to education regardless of their mental health.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/12
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<issue_start>username_0: My Ph.D. research is related to both computer-science and economics. I collaborate with researchers in both these disciplines, and naturally submit papers to journals of both disciplines. Now, while looking for an academic job, I find out that departments count only the publications published in journals of their own discipline. This is true both in the acceptance decision and in the tenure decision. So, whether I go to CS or to economics department, in expectation, I have only half the number of counted publications of a one-discipline researcher. What can I do about it?
* One option is to choose one of the two disciplines and only send papers to its journals. But, this means I will have a hard time collaborating with researchers from the other discipline, since they will probably want to publish in "their" journals.
* Another option is to work twice as hard and publish twice as many papers.
Is this true that an two-disciplinary researcher should work twice as hard to attain the same career status as a one-discipline one?<issue_comment>username_1: I collaborate with, and work on projects, involving human health, animal health, ecology, and the occasional bit of applied math.
Should I work four times as hard?
The simple answer is *no*. Because it's both impossible, and rather unlikely that you're even capable of that.
Instead, the answer is unfortunately that if you wish to be doing interdisciplinary research *you should not be looking at those departments*.
Because not all departments do this. Right now, my unit is hiring people working in health economics, and we've been very mindful to put their work in the appropriate context, including asking field experts what "counts" for them. We're doing similar things with other people we are hiring - for example, right now, we have representatives from at least three departments sitting on a committee for interdisciplinary hires.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I find out that departments count only the publications published in journals of their own discipline. This is true both in the acceptance decision and in the tenure decision.
>
>
>
While it's certainly possible that some departments would adopt a foolish policy of this sort, which is effectively tantamount to a decision not to have any interdisciplinary researchers, I think it's also possible that you are misunderstanding what the statement that "departments count only the publications published in journals of their own discipline" means. When interpreted in the right way, this statement may be a lot less troubling than you might think.
Specifically, the way promotion decisions typically work for researchers who have a joint appointment in two departments is that each of the departments does its own review of the researcher's work, and the input from both departments is then reviewed by a higher campus committee and taken into account to reach a final decision. Moreover, each of the departments doing the review knows full well that it has only partial "ownership" of the candidate's time. So, to take an example that I am familiar with, a researcher who has a 50% partial appointment in a math department and a 50% partial appointment in a biology department will have published some mixture of math papers, biology papers, and papers that are about both math and biology. Now, it is true that in its review, the math department will "count only the publications published in journals of its own discipline", in the sense that the math department doesn't have the expertise to evaluate work in disciplines other than math and will only be seriously looking at the math papers. But the math department also knows that the researcher only has a 50% appointment in math, so all its expectations regarding the amount of math research the researcher should have produced will be weighted accordingly. The biology department will apply similar reasoning. The end result would be that if the researcher is *overall* as productive as a typical single-discipline researcher, the promotion review will have a successful outcome. (In fact, because of the existence of papers that can be appreciated by both departments, there can even be some amount of double-counting that may lead each of the departments to conclude that you are producing *more* research than they were expecting you to produce -- this will probably be a weak effect, but note that it will work *in your favor* rather than against you!)
I would encourage you to ask at any department where you are considering applying for a job whether the above interpretation of the promotion process is a faithful description of their approach to evaluating the work of interdisciplinary researchers like yourself.
With that being said, I should add that from my observations I find it very true that interdisciplinary researchers have to work *a little bit* harder than everyone else. Being a member of two departments is a big headache: you have twice as many colleagues to get to know and to get along with; twice as many administrative processes to get used to, department-wide emails to receive and respond to, etc.; and, most importantly, when you come up for promotion you need to find a way to effectively communicate your research to two groups of people with very different backgrounds and research cultures. Perhaps there will indeed be times when you feel you need to work twice as hard as everyone else, but as a general rule saying that you need to work twice as hard *all the time* is a wild exaggeration -- as others have noted, this is both physically impossible and a highly illogical expectation, considering the fact that I strongly doubt you are paid twice as much as other researchers.
Finally, on the positive side, you should remember that working in two disciplines can often also be twice as much fun!
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2017/01/12
| 369
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<issue_start>username_0: About two weeks ago, we submitted a paper to a Taylor & Francis journal that uses the ScholarOne manuscript-submission system. We also received an e-mail confirming that the submission process is complete and that the editor is considering the paper for publication.
Today, I checked the status and it has now changed to ***Draft Status***. I have never seen something like this in my previous submissions. I would be very grateful if someone could possibly tell me if I need to contact the editor or do something specific.<issue_comment>username_1: We were recently informed that the manuscript exceeded the word count set by the journal and therefore was unsubmitted. We were asked to revise and re-submit the paper.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: In addition to the reason stated in the answer by @username_1:
I had submitted my manuscript (in PDF) to one journal in Wiley using ScholarOne (ManuscriptCentral) on July 8.
Today, on July 10, I received the email from the editorial office saying the same thing and status being changed to "Draft".
**Reason:** In the submission site, it was asked to submit a single PDF during INITIAL SUBMISSION (Latex file is not required). But, still, they needed the editable source file to be uploaded as "Supplementary File for Review".
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: This's a common status for Taylor and Francis publisher. Your manuscript requires some changes in its body style before sending for the peer-reviewing process. Recheck your style and bibliography format to finalize your submission.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/12
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<issue_start>username_0: The grad school I'm applying to accepts extracts from longer essays. I want to send an extract from my strongest (and rather long) essay, but I'm unsure how to go about it. Is it acceptable to take an extract from the middle and send it with a cover note? Or should I keep an introduction and/or conclusion? I'd be grateful for any advice.<issue_comment>username_1: I would suggest to focus on the most important part of the essay, i.e. the part you feel the strongest about and where you really get into the details of the topic, and leave out introduction & conclusion for the most part and instead write an abstract which summarises these points. Of course do keep bits of the introduction & conclusion to lead into & out of the topic, but that might only be a sentence or two and mainly for readability.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: You don't mention the field. In some fields you might want something that is relatively complete. But in some others, it may be that all that is wanted is a writing sample to show that you can write intelligently. If that is the case, just select something that demonstrates your skill in writing, or argumentation, or whatever is relevant to the field.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/12
| 426
| 1,826
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<issue_start>username_0: I just submitted my SoPs for PhD programs in Earth Science and I realized I wrote "for these reason" instead of "for this reason". I also wrote "this inquiries" instead of "these inquiries". Now, I am worried that I'm not going to get into any grad school. I am an international student, valedictorian and I gained great research experience in my country and the US. Do you think these mistakes are going to hurt my application?<issue_comment>username_1: The only case I can imagine these two mistakes seriously hurt you is when **(1)** you apply in linguistics, philosophy and related fields (where natural languages are what counts a lot) or when **(2)** you are evaluated completely equal with another candidate and someone in the committee is nit-picking on grammar mistakes.
Other than that, we all do make mistakes, and these two ones are so minor that they shall be ignored.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There is certainly no way that these mistakes alone will hurt your application. If the admissions committee is concerned about your English fluency, there are other things they can look at: your GRE and/or TOEFL scores and your personal statement / statement of purpose. If you are doing okay on those, then you have nothing to worry about.
Even if your verbal / writing / English skills do look somewhat shaky, that still should not get your application for a PhD in earth sciences automatically tossed out. The committee would want to weigh your weaknesses there against your strengths in other areas. What would be a problem is if your writing skills were so poor that they just couldn't understand you at all. Based on the five line writing sample given by your question: this is absolutely not going to be the case.
In summary: don't worry, you should be fine.
Upvotes: 3
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2017/01/13
| 415
| 1,472
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<issue_start>username_0: I have been trying to find an IEEE publication which cites an arXiv paper.
However, it seems that electrical engineers shy away from citing anything arXiv related.
I have been looking around for a while but couldn't find any, can anyone provide a reference to a sample IEEE paper that cites an arXiv paper IEEE style?<issue_comment>username_1: I used Zotero to generate the following citation in IEEE style (see original paper [here](https://arxiv.org/abs/1612.06830)). You can manually duplicate it if you wish, but I *highly* encourage you to consider using a reference manager to make your life simpler.
>
> <NAME> and <NAME>, “CannyFS: Opportunistically Maximizing I/O Throughput Exploiting the Transactional Nature of Batch-Mode Data Processing,” arXiv:1612.06830 [cs], Dec. 2016.
>
>
>
Also see [here](https://arxiv.org/help/faq/references) for more info on how to create a reference to a specific arXiv paper/version.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Papers in arXiv are indexed by DBLP, which provides, among other things, Bibtex entries for those papers. Copy the Bibtex entry into your .bib file, and that's it. Latex will do the rest.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: A Google search on (ieee reference format arxiv) should find the IEEE guide.
<https://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/IEEE-Reference-Guide.pdf>
Search the guide for arxiv, which appears twice.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/13
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a senior who is planning on applying to psychology graduate program after a gap year.
In the past three years, I have been involved in research projects and also internships that greatly enhanced my understanding of the subject matter, and I believe going to a graduate school will definitely equip me better.
I am wondering if it is a wise move to retake a class (not a core class by the way) that I got A minus in. I have 4 other advanced classes that I am taking and I thought why not shove that A minus class in and get A. My intention is to see whether I can do better (slightly better...) this time.
What are the pros and cons of doing this, particularly when I apply to prestigious and competitive grad programs?
I appreciate harsh snaps as long as they are provided with reasonable explanations.
To add more details,
Yes, my university allows students to retake classes regardless of the past grade obtained, and while it will still be showing the retaken classes.
I am an international student from a (Far) Eastern country,
I have been studying in the U.S for 8 straight years, and I believe, in regards to psychology, the U.S appears to have the most leading programs in the world. (this might be debatable so please excuse me if my conviction is terribly wrong.)
Also, I aforementioned prestigious and competitive graduate programs.
What I meant are Research 1 universities.
Obviously, schools like Harvard and Stanford are in that long list of schools, but so do Arizona State University and University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
To be clear, my goal is to expand my knowledge and deepen my comprehension of the subject in where I have access to Professors, colleagues, connections, and resources with qualities. Eventually, I wish to obtain Ph.D but if it is too competitive and I fall short, I will go for Master first.
In completion of Ph.D, I hope to bring those experience back to my country where the discipline of cognitive psychology has been stagnant in general.
So, back to my original question,
I am wondering if I should retake the non-core class that I got A minus in my last semester as an undergraduate, when I have a room for another class to fill in. If I get that stupid A, I will be able to set my GPA to 4.0.
But that is all I get and if this works against my graduate application, I will reconsider.
Thank you all for these valuable comments.
I will take each and every one of that as a useful advice.<issue_comment>username_1: **TL;DR: Probably not worth it. Take something else and expand your horizons.**
From a knowledge perspective, you're not getting anything out of this. You got an A- in the course -- on a transcript, that should tell any graduate school that you understand the material in the course.
So any potential gain here would be for your GPA. On a 4.0 scale, [an A- is a 3.7](http://www.collegeboard.com/html/academicTracker-howtoconvert.html). If that 0.3 is the difference between a 3.5 GPA and a 3.4 GPA, go for it. Otherwise, find yourself another class and accept that you aren't perfect (nor will any graduate school expect you to be).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: My BA is from an American college and in linguistics. I did fairly poorly (as in, a B-) in a required class within my major and *even then* was advised not to bother retaking it for the sake of graduate applications. It was clear that it was an outlier among my grades, and one of my letter-writers said they mentioned it and described it as not a very good measure of my potential. Application season went well and I did my Ph.D. at my first choice of school. Not saying that this is *always* going to be the case, but I don't think a single A- would make the slightest difference, especially if the rest of your application presents a well-reasoned and thoughtful explanation of why you want to go to grad school and why the University of X is a place you feel would suit you well.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: First, your grad programs won't see the grade until after you're accepted, so it won't help your admission. Second, you'd be giving up an opportunity to take something new.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: I've worked through this problem before for myself, and it's almost always not worth it (especially if you're in a 4 year honours program).
Double check that your school (**AND** the school you are applying to) will not average your grade between the two classes!
Probably, you'd be better of spending the same amount of class hours looking for a great volunteer/experiential aspect during your gap year.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: **I would actually consider doing this a negative.**
One of the things I noticed when I started my PhD work is that the transition from undergraduate work can be a harsh one. Expectations soar, all of your peers are just as good at this as you are, and most importantly, grades become less important than learning to execute good research. Time and stress management become even more important.
The students who seem to me to struggle the most, especially in the first year, are the perfectionists. You don't mention if you're looking at a PhD or MA, but all else equal, seeing a student who felt they needed to retake an A- class to get an A would suggest a... brittle nature. Are you going to be able to cope with anything less than perfection in your graduate work? Will a setback lead you to burnout? Because setbacks are normal in graduate work and in research.
It also suggests you're more interested in achieving perfection than in actually learning, because an A- clearly means you learned the subject quite well. And yet you still retook it instead of learning something new.
**Now granted, none of this needs to necessarily apply to you**; maybe you are the rare student who can breeze through graduate work with all As, or can successfully transition to focusing on research with not-all-As. But that would not be my assumption when seeing this on an application.
My suggestion is to broaden your horizons and take something else.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: As username_5 explained brilliantly above, this seems to be a typical example of not being able to cope with any setbacks, which would not seem to be a very good indicator for doing PhD research. Being perfectionist might work for undergraduate and even for Masters but for actually doing research, where grades really do not matter at all (I'm not familiar with the US system though, so I might be wrong), being perfectionist is as useless as it can get. You'll see that you'll have inevitable failures as a researcher and you'll have to rise from your ashes many, many times (ok, I might be a tad dramatic here!) and then you'll understand that a stupid A- is as trivial as it can get for your career.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/14
| 490
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<issue_start>username_0: Anyone who has been to the Louvre knows what a zoo it is. With creaking floorboards and gawking tourists stacked up five deep in front of popular works it is not a conducive environment for study.
Are there special visiting hours at major museums for art historians and other academics that allow them to examine works undisturbed by large crowds?<issue_comment>username_1: In the case you dont get an special visiting hour in a museum you can use google popular times to avoid them <https://support.google.com/business/answer/6263531?hl=en>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Generally no, there is no time set aside for academics only in nearly all museums. Academics are members of the public like anyone else and are invited in when the museums are open. With advanced notice, researchers may be allowed to view some items in the museum collection that are not on display (depending on a lot of factors), but for items on display you are expected to access the galleries like anyone else.
All that said, many academics who work seriously on museum material and move in museum circles often are invited to visit museums at non-opening times (e.g. On a Monday when the building is closed to the public but staff are working). Usually if you are let in at this time it is for a clear purpose, such as working with or visiting a curator, and you aren't left to wander about on your own as that's a huge security risk. I've been in many museums before opening, after closing, or on closed days, for various reasons (projects, personal tours given by friends who work there, filming, etc). "Because the public is noisy" has not been one of those reasons. I do my gallery observation work during regular opening hours with everyone else.
For the Louvre, go on their weekday late night opening. There are surprisingly few people there at that time and the lighting is magical.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2017/01/14
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<issue_start>username_0: Disclaimer: not all of what follows is relevant to the question.
I am a math student currently doing a Master’s. I plan on taking a break in the spring semester because due to many personal circumstances, my mental health had severely declined (I attempted suicide twice), and I completely lost my focus.
I am really passionate about mathematics and I do a lot of extracurricular reading. I have a GPA of about 4 (from a fairly reputable school) and I have excellent relationships with the professors in my department, so I can guarantee strong recommendation letters (especially that they seemed totally fine with my current plan). Furthermore, although I am not from an English-speaking country, I have a very good TOEFL score, and to me, the GRE is pretty much a piece of cake.
Ultimately, my goal is to get into a top 5 school. I decided to get a Master’s for that very purpose. I am worried about two things: first, that I do not have an undergraduate research experience (I never had a real opportunity anyway, though I will have written a thesis by the end of my Master's); second, and most importantly, I am worried that this break which I am about to take will look bad on my application, especially that I will be having a lot of therapy sessions and that I have a lot of personal and social challenges to face, so I am probably not going to do any math whatsoever. Also, it doesn’t seem like I’m getting any job in the meantime because there aren’t many offers and most of my applications have been declined.
So my question is: would such a gap semester look bad on my application? (or at least get frowned upon by the admissions committee?)
And if so: How much should I go into details about my situation? Should I mention real-life incidents, or should I just say that I had excruciating circumstances, and I had to back off and I couldn't find something interesting to do in the meanwhile?<issue_comment>username_1: Now-a-days university's do what is considered a "holistic review". They will ask for a personal statement on why you want to be granted admissions into a particular program. There, you can write out your situation for them to take into consideration. Without that, on paper it could look bad because on paper, it shows that you did not try to work on a research project and perhaps you took a semester off because school is easy. (Again, I stress that this is what it might look like on paper.) With your personal statement, you could shed light onto your situation.
You should at least try to apply because if you don't then you will never know what could have happened. However, as with anything you apply for, there are other people out there competing for the same spot. People who may have better grades and experience. Your focus would need to be on how you differentiate from others and how you can contribute to the program in your own unique way.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I got a little lost in your projected chronology, but I'm not going to exert myself to trace through it because under the circumstances, I imagine it is hard for you to know exactly what the future will bring anyway.
I would encourage you to speak with the professors who are going to write letters of recommendation for you, and your director of graduate studies, about your concerns. It sounds like your professors have your best interests at heart.
However, in general, a good approach for applications, when health or mental health issues have caused a delay, or a gap, is to write a short statement saying pretty much that. There is no need to go into detail, and in fact you can just say "health" issues, and omit "mental."
Regarding how much damage can be done by a gap: one gap of a semester or two, in and of itself, as a blip against a strong backdrop, if handled in a way that would not flag you as a risky admissions prospect, would not have a damaging effect.
Women often take some time off when giving birth or adopting. As academic opportunities expand for women, this is getting more and more normalized. Men sometimes take some significant time off for family reasons as well.
I wonder if you might want to consider auditing one course during your upcoming treatment period? It need not be in your field. But whether or not it would make sense to do that would be a very personal decision.
I wish you all the best for your recovery.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Though the reviewers above make some excellent points, if indeed your GRE scores and academic records are as strong as you say I would not worry about this gap time. I believe resumes are looked at carefully but not quite as carefully as seeing a gap as such and tossing you aside or even questioning the reasons, especially if the rest of your application is appealing. I have learned this both as an applicant and reviewer of applications for learning programs.
The most salient point made above in my opinion is "talking with your recommendation writers". It maybe good for them to know your plans to apply to grad school and see if they will support you in advance, gap or no gap. I'm currently a doctoral student at a "top 5" school in my field, but that's not why I'm hear. I came because I thought the best people to work with would be here. Rather than worrying about rank, I would suggest you consider the exact work you would like to do and WHO you would like to do that work with. With the right community everything else, including your jobs afterward, will fall into place just fine.
For the challenges you face, life and taking care of yourself is more important than any career move. If a school does not want you because you took care of yourself then they do not deserve you - and would you really want to be there anyway knowing they only care about what you produce while not supporting you personally?
Hope you get to take a deep breath and take the time you need to get things straight. You can take care of the rest afterward, and your allies will appear to help you along the way and guide you to the next steps for where you want to go. Good luck and best!
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: I'm going to give a slightly different advice from the previous answers. I don't want to counsel dishonesty here, but I think it would be very unwise to write anything in your personal statement that suggests any mental health problems, especially if the only thing that needs explaining is taking a semester off.
I want to emphasize that I think the stigma around mental health problems is very unfair and based on ignorance. However, the people reading these applications will have probably internalized it to some degree: if you, for example, mention attempting to commit suicide, that will be the most vivid and memorable thing from your application, whereas your master's degree ending a semester early will be barely noticeable. I think you will probably be fine not mentioning it at all, but if you do, I would just say it is for health reasons, or to prepare for moving to another country (which are, of course, true). One of the primary things an admissions committee will have in mind is whether a student is capable of finishing the program, while not creating a lot of trouble for people in the department. They have had pain-in-the-butt students before, and would really prefer to avoid having any more. Mentioning "personal and social challenges" or "excruciating circumstances" (which, incidentally, sounds very strange in English; it's hard to imagine what you really mean by it) is not going to give them confidence that you won't make a lot of trouble for them.
Upvotes: 3
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2017/01/14
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm writing to inquire whether or not the order in which the names of the authors is mentioned has any bearing? Here's my case:
I started working on a project with a professor in the physics department last summer. The project is almost finalized and we're in the stage of finalizing the final draft for submission. Since I'm an undergraduate, I'm not the one who came up with the problem. The instructor suggested the problem to me (and now that I think of it, the problem seems like a very natural question to ask based on a work the said professor published last summer). He has been available for feedback all throughout the duration of the project. For instance, he helped me derive the first closed form result of the paper; he also guided me through every stage of the project -- from guiding how to approach to the problem to helping debug the code when I couldn't make it work in the initial stages.
Having said that, the professor didn't contribute directly to the project, in addition to helping and guiding me throughout the project. I'm the one who worked through most of the results and went through all the computational tasks. In addition, I'm the one has written the final draft that we have uptil now; he simply helped me edit the template once.
When I met the professor the last time around, he was editing the template and he listed his name as the first name, and my name as the second name on the paper. Naturally, I didn't say anything.
My question is: does the order in which the names are mentioned matter? Does the answer to this question vary from discipline to discipline, even from one area of research to another area of research within the same discipline.
Here's some information that may help answer the question:
The nature of the physics-related paper can be classified using the keywords: "Quantum Dynamics," "Quantum Mechnaics," "Quantum Information" and "Open Quantum Systems." We're trying to get the paper published in *Scientific Reports.*
Side note: I'm an undergraduate student. Since I'm not technically affiliated with a university (I pay to attend the university, the professor is paid to be there), does this have any bearing on the answer to the question.<issue_comment>username_1: In physics, typically the first author is the person who did the most work. The last author is the person who supervised the work. If there are multiple supervisors their names go near the end of the list.
There are exceptions, particularly in cases where the number of authors is very large.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Physics has two broad conventions: the closer you are to high energy physics/particle physics/string theory/mathematical physics, the more likely you are to see alphabetical ordering. However, within condensed matter and biophysics, you generally see "First author = trainee primarily responsible for work." (I think astrophysics is more mixed).
There is actually some empirical data on alphabetical authorship by field here: [Waltman arxiv:1206.4863](https://arxiv.org/abs/1206.4863 "An empirical analysis of the use of alphabetical authorship in scientific publishing") which confirms this general impression.
In quantum information, you might be at the edge of the condensed matter and "mathematical physics" conventions. Take a look at your advisor's other papers - are they alphabetical? Or are grad students and postdocs within the group usually listed as first?
Also, within fields where author order matters, the implication of "second of two authors" can be very different than, say, "second of five authors." With two authors, there is often the presumption of nearly-equal contributions. However, someone who is second of many may have, e.g., provided a figure's worth of data.
Your description would be broadly consistent with being a first author in most fields. (This assumes that there are not other people who contributed, who you have not mentioned - sometimes undergraduates are not given the best picture of what contributions are there.)
If this does not clear things up, I think it is fine to ask your advisor why he set the author order the way he did.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2017/01/14
| 1,273
| 5,615
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<issue_start>username_0: Sorry for yet another 'professor does not respond my email' question. I searched through other similar questions, however their context was slightly different from mine.
I am a M.Sc. graduated from Asia looking for a PhD position abroad (i.e. Canada).
About the 9th of December, I sent an email to a professor in one of the Canadian universities, asking to join his research group as PhD student. He initially found my CV and transcripts interesting and requested for some recommendations letters being sent to him.
It lasted until the 21th of December when all of my references finally sent their recommendation to the professor and then I notified him about it, however I didn't receive any response from him.
Because of the new year holidays, I found the delay normal and I waited until 7th of January (a week ago) and still no response! Then, I sent another email to him, politely asked about the status of my application and recommendations which have been sent to him and he has not answered this email too.
The professor was really positive in our initial contact, so I don't know if I should consider this type of ignorance as a rejection and move on or I need to make other decisions. Actually, I am also interested in research of one of his colleagues and If I knew his final decision about my application I could start talking to the other faculties before the deadline pass.
P.S: In this university, the admission decision is completely based on finding an advisor willing to support your research through your graduate study.
---
Update: I sent another reminder email to him after a couple of weeks, politely requested for a feedback if he received my email. I used email tracker software and I found he opened my email and still no answer.<issue_comment>username_1: In my opinion, send him a follow up email the second time and wait for a couple of weeks for reply. He may be busy or forgetful, anyhow if he don't reply it after a couple of weeks, consider yourself rejected.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: At some universities, there is a quiet period between the application submission deadline and the first round of interviews, during which faculty and applicant communication is discouraged.
As faculty, I've found such quiet periods annoying but understand the rationale which is to level the playing field by suppressing off-channel communications with a secondary purpose of limiting too much badgering on the part of applicants.
Or the professor could be skiing or preparing for the new semester. Either way, I'd hesitate to badger too much.
**update:** If I found a prospective student used an email tracking program on me, I'd drop them from consideration immediately. See: [Is it rude to use tracking softwares for the emails that you send to potential advisors?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/82869/is-it-rude-to-use-tracking-softwares-for-the-emails-that-you-send-to-potential-a)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Graduate admissions are on the bottom rung of priorities right around now; it's the interview season, so most faculty members are holding interviews and attending meetings. They are also reading files for postdoc applications and going to hiring committee meetings. I'd wait a couple of weeks from now, and just move on and contact your second choice at the university. If your first choice advisor gets back to you much later, you could either resume contact (and tell him/her that you've also been taking to his colleague) or politely decline by saying that you assumed rejection and move onto your second option, if you've changed your mind and already committed to some other option.
Although it might be slightly awkward to be in touch with several labs at one institution, nothing is preventing you from contacting other institutions, so make sure that you have a backup as well.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Not sure of how canadians do their winter breaks, but here in the USA, most teachers are unlikely to check their emails after a certain period in a class break. Usually, they will reply to emails within a few days after final grades have been posted for any questions or discussions needed but after that, take the 2 weeks just like any other student. Some teachers will reply and usually they will state this closing in on the end of class stating that they will be available for emails throughout the whole break. Unfortunately for you, you weren't in any classes being taught, and he didn't communicate that he will not be replying any time soon.
You did email him later on after the break period but you also have to remember that is also when teachers are preparing for the new semester, getting emails from new students, going through all their emails that were left from the previous class and so on. I wouldn't lose hope. See if there is someone else you can contact that may also know about the status of the application or even someone else from that group you can try to contact. At the very least, persistence shows you actually want to be a part of the team and putting in the effort to show you are serious. This could help you win the spot over someone who may be more qualified, but did little to show they are really interested in the position.
Contacting others who might end up being a part of that decision could play in your favor (as long as you don't come of annoying!). As other people said, things take time and it is annoying some times, especially when they reply quickly getting all the information they need and then leave you in the dark.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/14
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm an interdisciplinary PhD student and I've heard conflicting reports on your publication record in your early career. Some members of my host department say that you should stay focused while others outside the department say it can help. Given that my dissertation is by publication and I've got one core field and two secondary, what would a hiring committee expect my CV to look like? Would publications in tertiary field (as primary author) be looked upon negatively?<issue_comment>username_1: If you have 5 publications in 5 different areas, I would be concerned that you might become the eternal prodigy or that you are not willing to perform some long term research. However, if you have a clear focus and can document that you are working continuously on one project, then activities outside your core area indicate that you are able to work together with very different people. So you won't be hired because you have many publications, if there is no area where you are really convincing. But among applicants, which are similar in the area the position is aiming at, other activities become a significant advantage.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: There are a couple aspects of this to consider:
>
> Some members of my host department...
>
>
>
They are your host department, but you're an interdisciplinary PhD student. There is not promise that your host department now will be the kind of department you end up sending job applications to. I can tell you, in addition to my "primary" field, I applied heavily to positions in other areas, and when it came down to it, it was one of these applications that landed me my current position. Papers that are slightly off your main topic area help signal that you *can* do work outside that area. It gives people in those fields something to grip onto and evaluate while they consider you, etc.
>
> ...you should stay focused...
>
>
>
The key here is not to let side-projects distract you so much that they start obstructing your actual progress. They are, inherently, side projects. You should have some way to tie them into your main research agenda (even in different fields, what *you* do should have a coherent theme) and participating them should be holding you back. But a paper or two in adjacent fields likely won't hurt your chances overall, and in some cases may help.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: **TL;DR**: If you just start your PhD, it's better to stay focus on one topic.
You can imagine yourself as an employer (whether in academia or in industry), looking for a candidate to work on topic X. There are two CVs, one has 5 papers on X, and the other also with 5 papers but on X, Y, Z... Which one do your prefer?
After PhD, you are supposed to be an expert, having deep knowledge on a (very narrow) topic. You need to make sure that you have enough publications to prove this. If you wrote your thesis as a monograph, you would need to tell a story, and only the papers relating to that story should be included in the thesis.
I have no idea how a compilation thesis looks like, but I imagine you still need to write an introduction, which summarizes all the papers, and how they are related together.
Moreover, focusing on one field will make you more productive. If you can publish 5 papers in 5 different field, then you might be able to publish 10 papers in 1 field.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: **Everything else equal, publications outside your primary area are unlikely to hurt.** If you have a strong record — e.g., good publications, evidence of teaching excellence, a clear scholarly identity, and a great letters — publications outside of your area aren't going to disqualify you. Some departments are more method focused and interdisciplinary in ways that might even cause "side" publications to be helpful to some degree.
**Generally, publications outside your field will help much less than articles in your field.** Hiring and promotion committees will have a much easier time evaluating your work in your area. They know the prestige of different journals, for example. Additionally, publications within an area help build a consistent scholarly identity which is helpful when you're selling yourself to employers and you're fighting to build a name for yourself. Fantastic letters often say things like, "X is among the best young scholars working in the area of Y anywhere." That's hard to write if your scholarship is all over the map. You have limited time and energy to work on publications. Use it well!
**In the absence of a strong scholarly identity and clear evidence of excellence, "side publications" might be seen interpreted as evidence of a lack of a focus.** Hiring and promotion decisions are not made based on a single criteria. Although publications from an outside area are not likely to hurt on their own, they might be taken seen as additional evidence of — or an explanation for — weakness in your application. If you haven't published very much in your primary area, folks are going to think your side publications might be why. If your commitment to your discipline isn't clear from the rest of your record, publications outside your discipline won't help.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/14
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a self taught developer who was worked in the IT management field for a while. My academic background is an MBA and I currently teach classes on database development at a community college.
I want to be a Professor one day, and had been considering what to do for my PhD. Ideally, I'd like to teach either in the CS field or the business field as that's where the cross-section of my work is.
I've applied to jobs to teach at local Universities and Colleges in my state recently and I've had the feedback that I need a PhD *preferably* in field X.
Due to life commitments the only options to me that are realistic would be to do a part-time online doctorate in education (EdD) since they are cheap. I can then go publish research in my field or even get a post-graduate certificate in CS or Business to validate my knowledge.
My question is, is this even worth-while? While it may be a harder path for me to get my foot in the door, do Universities *require* me to have a PhD in my field or do they just need me to have a Doctorate of some variety and then validate my knowledge in that field (either via publications, post-grad certs, or even teaching classes in that field etc)
I already read through a similar question: [Is it possible to become a professor in a field where you don't have a PhD degree?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1131/is-it-possible-to-become-a-professor-in-a-field-where-you-dont-have-a-phd-degre) but it was very much focused on overlapping fields (e.g. finance and math)<issue_comment>username_1: Generally, you're going to need a PhD in a field very close to the one you want to teach in. Many programs make this information available to applicants, and indicate that they are looking for a PhD in field X, Y or Z. This is because these are the subjects where the information and experience that you gain during the course of a PhD are directly relevant to your ability to then teach the subject you are applying for. Simply getting a PhD isn't going to make you much more competitive for a position, unless your PhD shows that you have gained skills directly relevant to the position.
You mentioned the possibility of doing research or getting other certification of your skills, depending on where you want to be a professor, these could be a better option for you. If you can find a university willing to support your research, and get it published, this definitely shows that you have developed relevant skills for teaching in that field. Added to the fact that you have taught at a community college (indicating that you have some ability to perform a CS teaching job), and you have a much more competitive application than you started with.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Let me offer some perspective from a small "u" university, i.e, primarily undergraduate with a small number of graduate programs, none at the doctoral level. We had several faculty migrate from math to CS when we started to offer a CS major. But, we had two people come to CS, one from philosophy and one from french literature, the latter an external hire. Both were making an academic transition to CS, but, to the best of my knowledge, neither attained a graduate degree, e.g., a masters, in CS. That was some years ago now. We have hired recently (last year), and it was expressly stated that applicants must have a Ph.D in either pure or applied mathematics. So, even at this level, the requirements have tightened up quite a bit. There may still be four-year colleges that would accept a candidate such as yourself, but they are probably getting rather scarce.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: As someone soon to go into the post-doc phase and getting to know the job market: you need a lot more than a Ph.D. Sure, you don't need a Ph.D. in the subject to get a position there... but you need research. You need mounds of research to get an academic position, even a position at a 4-year college these days. If you don't have research in the field or an adjacent field, I am not sure if you'd even get an interview (in the US). And if you're going to be doing that much research in the field, a Ph.D. should be almost free!
And note what I mentioned too: the job market is a post-doc before professorship. Going straight to a tenure-track position is pretty rare these days. So you will likely need a research position (usually not a teaching postdoc) before the tenure-track position.
Given these as the priorities, I think it's pretty safe to say that a degree in education probably won't help much here. Whether it's right or wrong, people are looking for experts in the subject, not necessarily experts in teaching. And I think you'll find it much harder to publish CS research without background or guidance.
Then again, odd things happen every once in awhile, and you could be the odd one to make it work. I wouldn't count on it.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/14
| 538
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<issue_start>username_0: I am in computer science. I am currently working on an applied paper that is based on a certain algorithm, let's call it method A.
Method A has been explained deeply in a my previous paper, that now is under review. So it is in arxiv, anybody can read it, but it has not yet being published on a peer review journal or conference.
I am now going to submit the applied paper to a conference, and I have a doubt: even if the results are interesting, how affected are the chances of being accepted for the applied paper, by the fact hat Method A has not yet been reviewed/published?<issue_comment>username_1: This should not be a problem. The reviewers of the conference paper should focus on the application you treat, but since the paper is available as a preprint, they could also have a closer look at the method if they want to.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: *In principle*, this should not be a problem - the method is openly available, and the reviewers should be able to make up their mind on it based on public information.
In practice, whenever you submit a paper where a core element is a method in a separate paper, reviewers cannot evaluate in too much depth the prior work it is based on - this would ask them to referee two papers at once! Referees will use rough heuristics to determine how much criticism to apply to that method, and in some cases could decide that it is not worth refereeing your second paper until your first is published. If you have too many negative signs and not enough positive ones, you might have trouble:
Positive signs:
* algorithm applied in other papers successfully
* algorithm has rigorous mathematical proof backing it
* initial paper comes from group with strong reputation
* initial paper published in well-respected journal/conference
* algorithm seems "reasonable," i.e. not shockingly more effective than state of the art
Negative signs:
* paper makes outlandish claims of effectiveness, but hasn't been applied or discussed by any other papers
* paper has been on arxiv for years, but isn't published yet
Not all of these are good scientific principles! And if your method is interesting, and appears sensible, referees will put more time into understanding it than this rubric indicates. But I think that this predicts how referees can think about this sort of question.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/15
| 310
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<issue_start>username_0: In a typical workplace (North America), it is accepted that all communications through your work email are not personal property, and can be accessed by managers, IT department etc. Is this also true for graduate students? Assuming the student works in an university or research institute, the IT department obviously will have access to all emails. Does this also hold for advisors/supervisors? Are they allowed to, or typically have access to student emails?<issue_comment>username_1: This may depend but I believe in most cases the default answer is "no", unless there is some legal dispute or some sort of official reason. There are exceptions but my impression is that these you would know up front, i.e. there would be an induction meeting where privacy and/or secrecy rules are explained.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: What is the method of the email access? If it is provided through the university or accessed on a university-provided computer, then it may be the case that they have a legal right to those contents. This was the case at at least one of my workplaces in the USA. If you are using your own email address, and your own computer, then I don't see how they could have the rights to access it.
Either way, it is best to have a separate email for all personal/private communication rather than risk it on your school email.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/15
| 2,988
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<issue_start>username_0: I have a classroom (as opposed to online) course for which I set the date of the first exam about a week before the last date a student can withdraw without penalty, such that I can have grades returned before the withdrawal date. The date was in the syllabus, released on the first day of classes. A student has asked to take a makeup exam at a later date or to take the exam remotely. I generally allow makeup exams when there exigent reasons, and in the United States some conditions, such as military deployment, impose a legal obligation to accommodate the student. So, I asked why.
The student replied that he would be "on vacation" in connection with a later work-related trip. In other words, his job is sending him someplace nice and he wants to go early to allow some play time with the travel paid by the job.
My students, who think I am <NAME>, would never believe it, but I am torn about this request. The university's rules tell me when I *must* allow a make-up exam, not when I may. I have decided that if I do allow such an exam, it will be before, not after the scheduled time. Allowing a makeup exam will, as usual I think, be modestly inconvenient for me. I believe I need to consider the appearance of fairness to the other students, and a precedent I may set that would affect other faculty.
Are there general rules or best practices about when professors should/would allow makeup exams? What should one do in the case where a student's absence is clearly voluntary, but which is a "nice" opportunity for the student?<issue_comment>username_1: One good way to approach this kind of thing is to state a policy in your syllabus. For instance, you could have:
>
> Make-up exams will be given only in case of an emergency or unavoidable problems such as an illness requiring hospitalization. You must communicate with me as early as possible about the problem.
>
>
>
Under this policy, you would just tell the student no in this situation. Or you could craft a policy that does allow a make-up exam in this situation.
The advantage of having it spelled out in your syllabus is that it's communicated clearly, it's clear why you're making the decision you're making, and administrators will support you in your decision.
Personally, I just say no in the kind of situation you're describing. The student is making a commitment by taking the course, and the nature of the commitment was made clear from the start in the syllabus. It's quite a bit of extra work for me to write a different exam for one student and make arrangements for it to be proctored. When you're a college student, it's simply not reasonable to expect to have a week off from school with no consequences. Lots of other students would like to have a week off with no consequences.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You have to consider carefully whether to allow this. If you do, certainly I would make it be before the class. But of course it is completely your decision.
As far as setting a precedence, there is no way the precedence will affect other faculty. If a student comes up to me, for example, and says "but Prof. X made this allowance for me in the past", my answer is simply "I don't care". But you have to worry about the precedence you set for yourself. What if another student comes to you at the next exam and wants to reschedule to take a vacation? Or if you have an exam right before Spring Break, 3 or 4 students want to leave town early and reschedule their test?
In short, if you make this allowance for one student, you are committing yourself to make this allowance to any student who asks, for at least the rest of the semester. I wouldn't want to put myself in that position.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The way I see it the question, it is ultimately whether you're willing to or even should pay for a student's trip:
You're asked to invest your highly qualified time and effort to make a trip cheaper for one of your students. You might as well give him the money to travel on another date, the effect for both parties would be pretty much the same in the larger scheme of things (assuming that you're paid by time).
Thus if I rephrase the question accordingly, I see a clearer picture, which is: I'd help the student with this if in any other case just out of charitableness or personal responsibility or anything similar I'd give him a suitable amount of money if he approached me about it. This could be because of any family or health situation which makes it otherwise impossible for him to afford anything ever in life, yet alone a trip. Or any other emergency where you might be inclined to help a stranger financially with a considerable amount.
Yet, such cases are obviously very rare, and the student does have a job and seems to be okay financially etc., so for me this is a situation where the student can't normally expect this for free.
Thus I would very briefly explain this perspective to him and ask him to at least offer a compensation. I don't know if this is even possible under your legislation. Maybe he could review exams of lower semesters to save you an appropriate amount of time or anything like that. The goal would be that he realizes that he might as well work somewhere else to earn money for the trip and refrain from his request of his own accord.
Your careful consideration honors you, but I really assume that the student just has an attitude of: "It's free to ask.", I'm not sure he's really expecting you to say yes or believing his odds are high, especially if or once he's aware of the implications it has for you.
Nevertheless I think it will help everyone, you included, if you show heartfelt consideration and express some understanding for his situation and empathy for why he asked and if you turn down his request, do it in a gentleman-like way.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: It sounds like you want to do this, but have a few concerns: fairness to other students, inconveniencing yourself, and setting a bad precedent.
If you have the student take the exam early, then they don't get any sort of advantage over the other students. No one is going to be jealous that a fellow student took the exam early. There is a chase that the student will blab about the exam to other students. However, I don't think you should punish everyone because a few people are dishonest. Tell them explicitly that you expect them to keep the test confidential until after everyone else takes it, and you should be fine there.
Most universities have a proctoring system set up specifically because it's a common thing for students to take exams outside of the normal time, and using that system shouldn't be a real inconvenience. If you feel you can trust the student to keep the test confidential, then you don't need to create a separate exam. If they're taking it early, then you can grade it with the other exams. I don't see why this should be a burden on you at all.
Most students are not going to be willing to take the exam early, so I don't see this becoming an epidemic that you need to worry about. If other instructors want to be sticklers about following the schedule in their syllabus, I doubt your "precedent" will phase them any.
In short: there's no real reason to tell them no. It's not going to cause any problems. If they asked respectfully, then let them take the exam early.
FYI, I'm answering this from the perspective of a former student that has taken several exams early for similarly "trivial" reasons. None of my instructors that I ever asked have ever batted an eye at it. There *was* one time a fellow student of mine wasn't allowed to take an exam early, and the reason the instructor gave was "it'd be unfair for him to take it early." We all thought it was BS and unreasonable to turn down his request. So, in my experience, the most common and accepted practice is to allow these sorts of requests.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I honestly thought the general rule was that you *couldn't* ask to sit the exam some other time for personal reasons - like you needed a medical/legal reason why you couldn't sit it at the specified time. Maybe your university has different rules though.
Seems a bit iffy that you can just go on vacation and expect the university to accommodate you, which is essentially what kind of precedent you're setting here. That being said, if you are committed to allowing it, definitely set it earlier, not later.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: My personal experience is that you always need to have make up exams to deal with special circumstances, as there always seem to be some. I put it after the main exam to cater for students who have issues on the day. This is in fact part of my School's policy, and an administrator arranges all make up exams for a specific week after the main exam period. If you're already offering make up exam for some people you can be generous and allow this student, who has led compelling need, to sit this extra exam. If that's still inconvenient for them then I think they just have to deal with it: you aren't subservient to all their whims.
What's really tricky is when people have reasons why they can't attend either for more justifiable reasons. In such rare situations I give them a viva voce (oral exam) instead, which students generally prefer to avoid.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_1: The first thing to do is to find when this trip was booked.
a) If it is before you distributed the syllabus, then you can accommodate the student by holding the exam before the scheduled date.
b) If the trip was booked after the student had knowledge of when would be your exam, I would certainly make a point of having the exam *after* the drop date and at some inconvenient time, i.e. immediately after another exam.
(In fact, my personal position in case b) would be to give 0, let the student explain to various Deans and boffins that he/she chose to go on holidays rather than take an exam already scheduled. I realize this is not necessarily an option.)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: It sounds like the university has given you good guidance about when you MUST offer alternatives, but has provided leeway about how accommodating you may be. In my experience, following the minimum set of rules often results in
>
> My students, who think I am <NAME> ...
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If you want to go beyond the minimums, you could
* Drop the lowest exam grade for all students. It would be best to tell students at the beginning of the semester, but you could likely implement it now. The student could then skip the exam. This reduces the need to offer make up exams. If you are really generous, you could offer to let the student take the exam late and grade it so they still get feedback
* Drop the exam for this student only. Assuming that there are 4 exams weighted 20%, 20%, 20%, and 40%, you could grade the student on 3 exams weighted 25%, 25%, 50%. This has the potential to be gamed a little more, but a reasonable policy is students need to tell you about conflicts the first day/week.
* Provide an alternative assignment like an essay or take home exam that covers the same material but is easier to proctor remotely. You could offer all students the option of skipping one exam for an essay.
* Let the student take a makeup exam when they get back. Make them aware that they will not get their grade until after the drop period.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: Dunno in which country you are a lecturer but at my Austrian university, resit exams are common practice in 99% of the courses. This provides a second opportunity for students who are absent at the first attempt (or who failed in the first attempt) of course. If this is isn't a common practice at your facility, I suggest that you at least adopt it for your courses if it is possible. If not, try to convince the head of the university.
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> The student is making a commitment by taking the course, and the nature of the commitment was made clear from the start in the syllabus.
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My advice: Be careful which such generalizations as they portray you as someone that has little understanding for turbulent circumstances that students often have to suffer from in their life and thus you foster the opinions about academic ivory tower. However I may be biased because at my university exam dates are almost never announced at the beginning of a course but in a very late stage.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/15
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<issue_start>username_0: Even if the title might seem self-explanatory, I would ask you to read the entire post to understand what exactly I'm trying to understand here.
I'm from the Russian Federation. We don't have a lot of departments of pure mathematics. Most of those undergraduate programs named "mathematics" are actually aimed at people who wish to teach mathematics to engineers/IT/finance people or those who themselves wish to get into engineering, IT or finance. Actually, when I say "we don't have a lot" I mean we have two and a half. No exaggeration here. My explanation is actually a bit oversimplified, but I hope you understand what I meant to say.
The funny thing is that the most renowned of Russian schools for the quality of its pure mathematics students is called [Independent University of Moscow](https://www.mccme.ru/ium/english/general.html). They offer free education with entrance based on how you perform during the process of education itself. It has no entrance exams, everyone can attend lectures at first, but to get the status of a "student" you must do well in a first three mandatory courses. Why did I call the situation a "funny thing"? The reason is that its degree is not recognized as an official undergraduate degree in Russian Federation. So, despite being called Independent *University* of Moscow, it doesn't have an official university status in Russia !
What I wish to understand is how top graduate schools in mathematics would treat a candidate with such a degree. From what I understand, it has a good reputation in mathematics. Many people from IUM were accepted to the best graduate schools in mathematics all over the world. For example, Harvard, MIT. Some of those even had their IUM "degree" as the their only degree. That is, they didn't have any *official* Russian undergraduate degree in any field.
But IUM doesn't have a lot of alumni. So, those IUM alumni attending MIT/Harvard might look like special cases, even exceptions. Besides, all recent IUM graduates had another *official* degree from another Russian university. The latest case I know of with a man being accepted to MIT with only an IUM degree is dated 2006. Moreover, even if such a practice was appropriate in US before, it might have changed in recent years, I'm not sure.
That said, I understand there were exceptional cases of enrollees being admitted to top graduate school (in US) without any degree at all, based on their exceptional recommendations or their research. I know at least three such people, all from my country. They applied in 1980s/1990s to Harvard and MIT.
So what I'm trying to understand is how do graduate schools treat the lack of an official status of a foreign school with it being a strong academy with capable students and top-rank professors. Another nuance I'm thinking is that, from a US/Can/EU university point of view, it is an *overseas* school. I'm not even sure how to US departments verify the validity of one's undergraduate/masters degree if it's not from US or EU.
Of course, what I'm asking is purely about bureaucratic procedures within academia. I absolutely understand that to have a chance in getting into top graduate school in mathematics you must have exceptional credentials: recommendations from renowned professors or even your own research articles. But, say, one has such distinctions (for example, you can get those things during a successful process of getting a "degree" at IUM, that's the reason it has so few alumni). Yet how would top overseas graduate schools treat such a potentially strong candidate if his degree is not official in the country where it was obtained ?<issue_comment>username_1: IUM (quite purposefully) distances itself from the "officially recognised" education and relies on informal recognition in a sub-group of well-established mathematicians. As an IUM graduate, you most likely will be recognised as an outstanding candidate for your ability to do maths. You will also have recommendations of internationally renowned mathematicians. Many academics will feel themselves very reassured hiring someone with IUM credentials.
However, universities do not consist of academics only. HR departments may have their views on the process too. It is fair to say that even the best professors sometimes have only limited influence on HR when it comes to formalities. And of course, the list of recognised qualifications is one of such things.
Unfortunately, there are no universal rules which HR departments apply. It is likely that for a particular unusual situation like the one you described, the decision will be made *ad hoc* by someone in HR department. And once it is made, it is unlikely they will go back on it.
That is why many of IUM graduates prefer to also get themselves a degree from an officially recognised university. Even if it does not give them the level of education compared with IUM, the official degree always works well to pacify the HR departments, while academics will always look at IUM degrees on your CV as something really outstanding.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I think you will find that most major global universities have a bureau dedicated to screening exchange partner universities.
While the administrators of these bureaux are usually graduates themselves, they would not usually be competent to evaluate a candidate university department. Therefore many departments have one or more faculty that provide guidance on matters specific to each department's studies versus those of potential partners.
The thing is of course that each major university wants to have links with foreign universities at least as prestigious as itself, if not better. This could work for or against you depending on how prestige is defined in the mind of the academic bureau evaluating partner universities. They may grade a university more on the basis of quantity (number of students, faculty, facilities, amenities, past achievements, etc) rather than quality (highly ranked faculty, top-rank publications, recent star academics, current repute, growth rate, etc).
You might first go to IUM and ask for a list of universities that currently engage with them via their [Math Semesters in Moscow](https://mathinmoscow.org/) programme. Obviously you will not have to explain much about IUM in your applications to these universities.
You might also enquire about the diaspora of IUM graduates doing postgraduate studies in top math departments in the world. Especially those foreign universities who have accepted more than one IUM graduate, e.g. after the initial PhD was found very satisfactory and others from IUM were invited to apply for PhD studentships.
The HR aspects - e.g. accepting high type II error risk (miss hiring a very good person) to minimize type I error (hiring a bad candidate) - may not be so critical in mathematics. Talent is talent in mathematics, after all - and ambitious professors want as much of it as they can get and they are not too bothered about where it comes from.
P.S. I am surprised that Russia has so few pure mathematics departments. In the western hemisphere we associate a lot of the "New Math" we had forced on us at school with the impact of Sputnik and how far ahead the USSR reputedly was in both the content of their mathematics and their teaching methods. Most UK and Irish universities have lots of faculty and fellows from Russian universities.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Since the question is, by now, 5 year old, my answer is probably largely irrelevant to you but it might be useful to others.
1. The statement "We don't have a lot of departments of pure mathematics." (with the clarification "two and a half") is *not even wrong.* It is irrelevant (for the graduate admission purposes) if a department names itself as one of "pure mathematics," or if it is teaching *only* pure math, or if it employs only "pure mathematicians." Quality-wise, there are several high-quality and reputation math departments in RF (Russian Federation, in what follows), the ones I am most familiar with are at the Higher School of Economics (in Moscow), Moscow State University, St. Petersburg University, your institution (IUM) and Novosibirsk State University. That's more than 2 and a half.
2. What counts as "top" graduate programs in the US is ambiguous. Whatever this means, I am not going to speak for every one of these, I will describe the overall admission process as I know it:
The graduate admission process in the US involves two levels of bureaucracy: University (campus)-wide and departmental. **Neither one cares at all** if your university is officially recognized by the RF. What university bureaucracy cares about is if you submitted the required paperwork (transcripts, letters of recommendation, personal statement, GRE scores - in pre-pandemic times, TOEFL scores). They will likely also care if your TOEFL results are "sufficiently high" so you can be trusted to, say, work as a teaching assistant.
Departmental bureaucracy is usually a graduate program (admissions) committee, and, once the formal requirements listed above are met, the decision on admission is made by the math department. The admission committee does take the reputation of your department into consideration. However, what matters here is the scientific reputation of your recommendation letter-writers and not the jobs that 99% of your fellow students will get after graduation.
**Edit.** People at the admissions committee are less likely to look at your application closely, the less-known your academic institution is. There is a good chance, they will not look at it **at all** if they never heard about it or, for some reason, they keep it in very low regard. This is another way in which *reputation matters*.
Other important factors will be: What courses did you take, what grades did you get, if you participated in IMO-competitions (as a high school student), what your recommendation letters say, your undergraduate research experience (say, if you already have research papers/preprints). And yes, I saw plenty of applications from Russian applicants who already had high-quality papers/preprints by the time of graduation. Your personal statement does play some role, but less than what's listed above. What's more important is if you know names and research interests of some of the faculty and explain how compatible these are with your research goals.
3. To conclude: The official status of IUM in RF is irrelevant for your graduate application process, you should focus on other matters.
Upvotes: 3
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2017/01/16
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<issue_start>username_0: I am MA degree student. I consider to do a phd. But I have some worries. First, I do not want to take any kind of statistics course.
Second I dont want to use the SPSS programme at all in my dissertation. Do you think with these conditions, can I do a phd.
Or are these two a must?
Please help me it is very much confusing me.
Best regards.<issue_comment>username_1: It depends on your field and projects. There are plenty of dissertations out there that don't use any statistics.
Statistics is just a tool. Not taking a course on the subject may not be an issue. Not using a particular piece of software (SPSS) may not be an issue. Neither of these were required for me in computer science.
But to go into a PhD program with this type of mindset seems really strange to me. If statistics is the right tool for you to use, then why wouldn't you use it? Considering all the other hurdles with doing a PhD, learning the necessary knowledge of statistics will likely be very, very minor.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> MA degree student
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In *what*?
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> First, I do not want to take any kind of statistics course.
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Taking statistics is not inherently part of a PhD program. You could, for example, get your doctoral degree in English focusing on Utopian Fiction. Or in Architecture, focusing on 16th century French Cathedrals.
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> Second I dont want to use the SPSS programme at all in my dissertation.
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There are myriad ways to do statistics - SPSS is by no means the only way to do statistics.
However, like username_1, I find your question somewhat puzzling. What gave you the impression that these things *were* necessary? What field are you actually considering working in - because the answer will vary wildly by field. And along the same lines of his question, why are you approaching your search starting with "I don't want to do statistics, and I *definitely* don't want to use a particular software package"? If answering what you're actually interested in required statistics, wouldn't you want to be able to get at it the best way possible?
Upvotes: 3
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2017/01/16
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a postdoc in mathematics. I like doing math, but I do not feel like I belong to a community, in the true sense of the word.
My vision of mathematical research is that it should be a massive collaborative effort to solve puzzles and publish the solutions, and no one should be excluded without a good reason. Also people should be allowed to openly talk about each others' results objectively without any feelings hurt.
However, in my field, people seem to see research as a competition. They form factions and play the game of inclusion-exclusion and loyalty matters more than truth, so does pride and it is almost impossible to be sure if an error is an error in a paper without making enemies.
People also treat knowledge as private property (within their factions or to oneself) and tend to keep secrets.
There are two types of secret-keeping generally practiced in my field:
1. When working on a project one would avoid talking about what they are working on and what are the partial results etc. in fear of being scooped.
2. When the work is done one should avoid proper exposition in the paper or explanation to the public so that:
1. they can stay ahead in the competition
2. they can make their results look as non-trivial as possible.
As much as I do not want to force people to disclose their secrets, I value clear explanations and talking to people about my work in progress. But as I do not belong to any faction I seem to be taking a huge risk on my career in doing so.
The fact that everyone is expecting secret-keeping also makes me reluctant to work with them because I do not want to sign an invisible NDA and unwittingly make enemies when I discuss with others on joint projects (and it is hard to set a boundary on discussion). This is not particularly helpful to my current state of isolation.
Perhaps it is just my field that has an environment incompatible with my belief, or perhaps all this is considered normal in any field. Nevertheless do you think this is a good reason for me to seek a different career path than academia?
Is it feasible to make a career doing open research?<issue_comment>username_1: Reality is *very* complicated. It is not *one* way or the *other*, often a mixture, and lots of judicious decision-making is required. Some environments are nicer than other, some people more trustworthy than other. If atmosphere disturbs you, choose your environment and the people to suit your taste, there are more pleasant subfields than others.
Careers *do* depend on individual success, so you cannot just plainly discount people trying to keep their ideas for themselves until they are ready to capitalise on that - success, as measured by hiring committees, is individual, not collective.
Yes, a fully open community is a bit like communism - great if it works, but usually works only to a commune of a limited size, or if the work to be done cannot hope to progress more than differentially faster than the community as a whole and also if there are no "bad apples" who do not play ball and prey on the goodwill of the group.
That being said, you can encounter *very* friendly communities, but if that is a priority for you, you need to include that into your criteria for choosing a research topic.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Let me first comment on the 2 types of secret keeping you mention:
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> When working on a project one would avoid talking about what they are working on and what are the partial results etc. in fear of being scooped.
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I agree that this is common to some extent. However, I think most people aren't really that secretive. My experience is most people are willing to broadly talk about the kinds of problems they are working on, and share details with people they trust. I trust most people I know in my field, and imagine my colleagues feel similarly.
>
> When the work is done one should avoid proper exposition in the paper or explanation to the public so that:
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> 1 they can stay ahead in the competition
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> 2 they can make their results look as non-trivial as possible.
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I've heard people give this as "advice," but I've always assumed it was tongue-in-cheek. I usually try to present my ideas as straightforward as possible, but when I actually have to write up things in a paper, I find that writing all the details to make everything correct in generality makes it look more complicated than it is. When I read a paper where explanations are hard to follow, I assume it is either (i) the author was lazy, or (ii) the author doesn't realize/forgets certain things aren't obvious if you haven't spent ages thinking about that particular problem.
In fact, I've found most senior mathematicians to be quite generous with their ideas because one quickly has more ideas than time to explore them, let alone having time to steal other people's ideas.
Yes, mathematics is somewhat competitive, and some people are more competitive/secretive than others, but I and I think most of my colleagues have found it to be a friendly community where you can be open with a lot of other people. That said, there are certain fields, and I think certain countries, that tend to be much more competitive than others. It's possible you would have a better time in a different field, but I suggest talking to a couple people you trust in your area about your concerns. It could be it is an somewhat of an issue in your area, or it could be that your impression is based on a few unrepresentative experiences/misunderstandings.
As to whether one can make a career of "open research," I think that depends on what is meant. At this point, until you have a permanent job or attain enlightenment, you probably cannot make a successful research career of only being involved in massive open collaborations like the Polymath projects, though you can be involved in them. However, if one just means being open with colleagues about what one is working on, then yes, I know people who are very open about their ongoing work. It is certainly possible to have a successful career like this, though there may be some people you should stay away from.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Hello fellow postdoc in mathematics.
I know what you're feeling and to an extent I agree; however, I've noticed that it's very variable in which field you're in in mathematics on how competitive colleagues are. Even in subfields in my main discipline, the amount of infighting and openness varies wildly. In my experience, in the more "puzzle" type research problems people are very competitive, while in the more "theory building" type research problems people are very communicative and open to dialogue.
If you find that your subfield in mathematics is overly competitive and you dislike that feeling, could you try to go to conferences a bit out of your field and see if that new field is as competitive?
My experience is that being in an intersection of various fields, some are much more open and willing to help than others. Some feel threatened by an "outsider" wandering in and others are happy to have another person joining the research landscape as they need all the help they can get. Only one project in my career have led me to need to be less than 100% open on what I am trying to accomplish, but this is very subfield specific.
Upvotes: 3
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2017/01/16
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<issue_start>username_0: And if they should, I assume that these things should go on a resume under something like "Activities and Community Service". I mean I consider being able to sight read music to play at my Church as a significant feat (how many people can do that?) and might sway one person on an admissions committee if he or she enjoys music and understands how hard one must have worked to accomplish this.
Badminton?.... perhaps not so much<issue_comment>username_1: No.
These things are by and large irrelevant. Everyone has hobbies, and many of these may be challenging, but the purpose of a graduate school application is to understand your background *as a potential scientist*.
At best, this will make someone go "Huh, neat, the oboe..."
At worse, it will make someone assume that you're either attempting to pad out a relative lack of accomplishments, or don't really know what you're doing.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: To a certain degree, I'd say Yes if your proficiency in a particular activity increases the chances you`ll be a good scientist in the field of study you are applying for.
I.E. if you are applying for a Master in Aerospace Engineering having great skills in designing and building in RC models definitely shows that you are in possession of skills that can be useful for a scientist in that field. I first-handily know a guy whose proficiency with xflr5 and fem, obtained from a hobby, were a nice added value when applying for his PhD, which he ultimately got.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Yes. Include them under a title like you suggested. You're correct. The ability to read music in that fashion is an accomplishment and it may actually suggest an innate ability others don't have.
I've been personally convinced for a long time that artistic aptitude and technical aptitude are frequently paired in individuals. For example, I've known several people who had strong artistic aptitude who I also thought had abnormally high intellectual aptitude.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> Should seemingly arbitrary things like “play piano for Church” or “intramural badminton” go on M.S. or PhD applications in sciences/engineering?
>
>
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As long as you are succinct about it, and none of your hobbies take large amounts of time, accomplishments outside your primary field can be a positive addition to a CV or application. However, these features would be of minor importance, compared to your accomplishments in your primary field of interest.
Example of how to handle your two examples succinctly:
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> Hobbies: intramural badminton, organist for Name-of-Choir
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When I see "badminton," I think: This candidate has figured out a good work-life balance, and has resources at his or her disposal for dealing with academic stress, and staying healthy.
When I see "organist for choir", I think: This candidate can relate to other people (can get along with the choir director); this candidate may turn out to have a talent for community outreach; this candidate is smart, creative, disciplined and appreciative of beauty.
Both hobbies suggest to me that this candidate might have a talent for building community in my department.
You never know when an outside interest in going to play in your favor.
Example 1 (fictitious): You practice judo. Someone on the committee does too. S/he is intrigued and reads your application more carefully.
Example 2: A friend thought he would play a bit of chess in the café while waiting his turn to be interviewed for a teaching position (not in the U.S.). He won every game, including against the best local chess player. Word spread, and he got a big crowd for his talk. He got the job. (Of course, he wouldn't have gotten it if his talk hadn't been solid.)
Example 3: I was given permission to take computer science prerequisites concurrently when I changed fields, by virtue of my degree in music. I asked the department head why she signed my permission slip so quickly, after everyone else had said "no exceptions," and she said it was the music degree.
*Disclaimer: I have never sat on an admissions committee.*
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: I would be careful about what you put under hobbies because people on the admissions committee might react in completely unpredictable ways. This can work for or against you. An anecdote:
One lunchtime I saw some staff in the common room browsing through applications for a mathematics position. One of them, a prominent category theorist, started guffawing. "Look", he said, holding up one of the forms, "he lists herpetology as one of his hobbies." Somebody else explained what herpetology is. "Oh," said the category theorist, "I thought it was the study of herpes."
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: **Disclaimer:**
I have never been on a hiring committee, so take this post with a pinch of salt. On the other hand, I have some relevant experience so I though it would make a nice comment, but it came out way too long. Best, take it as a "common sense" advice, but shuffle it way down the priority list.
Also, a lot of it feels like obvious things, but I think there is still value in stating them, so that they can be consciously taken into consideration.
**1. The hired person must be able to do the work he or she is hired for.**
Here I assume the claims below are truthful and well understood (see point 4. for more on the matter).
Claim "can play church organ well", means that you can work hard to obtain your
desired goals, you understand delayed gratification and it is a weak evidence
that you can do the necessary work.
However, "Olympic-level swimmer" suggest there will be some additional obstacles. It means that person will probably want to constantly train to maintain such skill and perhaps go to some competitions which might collide with conferences, workshops, seminars or other scheduled activities. Unless the hiring committee goes for the special perks (like potential publicity gain), it is actually a negative signal.
If you are really serious about leading church choir, it might conflict with your work as well.
**2. All else being equal, interesting people make for a better team.**
Having an interesting hobby is a weak evidence that you may be an interesting person.
A good team is one that works well together, and having people with good skills is not enough by itself for that. Being a "team-player" is important, but there is another factor that is sometimes overlooked: it is good for the team if its members like each other and like talking to each other. Many of us like working with interesting people. The whole place becomes more enjoyable, and being at work may be a thing to look forward to rather than just a necessary routine. Additional non-work topics provide a social glue that makes team works more smoothly.
**3. All else being equal, it is better (in the long run) for the employees to have good work-life balance.**
Having hobbies (but not too many) is a weak evidence for having a good work-live balance.
Although be careful, for example it's a feat to sail around the world, but this immense dedication might also mean this person will be gone sailing exactly when its time to write down the thesis (see also point 1. above).
**4. Any statement on your resume has also indirect meaning.**
You say you can sight-read. So what, so can I (or could). Yet, such a statement does not mean anything. Even if the person reading your resume does know what it means and what it entails, there is no scale to compare yourself against.
One could say in Europe sight-reading is a given if you have any reasonable musical education. But what level of sight-reading?
If you can sight-read like my teacher could or better, then you do have my deepest respect (e.g. Scriabin studies full of accidentals, almost in tempo, and I could spot no mistakes even if I knew the piece recording well; moreover she did not do that by knowing the piece or by ear – she could play my own compositions on the spot too). Yet, how can you convey that information to another person, one that perhaps does not even know what sight-reading is actually about? For example:
* Oh, you can sight-read? Great, I can read notes too!
* That person claims he/she can sight-read?! But Chopin is so hard, nobody can sight-right Chopin. That person must be delusional.
By choosing to put some information on your resume you make a decision. These decisions may indirectly reveal something you won't like. Even tiniest details, like punctuation (see [Lessons from a year’s worth of hiring data](http://blog.alinelerner.com/lessons-from-a-years-worth-of-hiring-data/)), might matter. If you choose to claim that you "can sight-read", then the hiring committee might misunderstand it as (I am exaggerating on purpose) "puts value in unknown, obscure skills", "has problems communicating clearly" or "does not understand what skills are relevant to the position".
While I would encourage you to include information on your other skills, do so only if you can communicate them clearly without putting too much emphasis. Furthermore, remember the hiring committee will be looking at this from their perspective, in particular "leading a musical ensemble in years 2014-2017" might be more relevant that "can sight-read".
I hope this helps ;-)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: Mentioning a slightly quirky hobby can give someone with a pile of CVs a hook to remember you by. They might not remember your name but they will remember that you collect tea pots.
Also, often an interview will start with the 'Simple question to put the interviewee at ease'. Mentioning your interest in Bolivian throat singing will give the interviewer something to ask about.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/16
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a first year PhD student in Physics in a very important university in Germany. I started five months ago and unfortunately my first advisor is moving to a company. The university is important, but I actually chose to be there mainly to be supervised by her. She is well known in this field.
The topic is not my favourite one, but it is interesting and I've been working hard since the first day that I started.
However, I don't know why, the second supervisor is not considering me as a PhD student. In fact, we haven't had any meeting yet. On the other hand, I have a good working relationship with the third one.
At this point I don't know what I can do. I'm frustrated and sad since now I would like to make a different choice. Since it's my first year, I'm considering to move to another university even if less prestigious of this one. I'm here alone and I would have the possibility to be with my boyfriend.
By living this situation, maybe, I don't have the possibility to have a clear reasoning, so I need your help and advice in order to make the best choice possible. I'm considering to:
* Complete this year and move to another university next year in order to: (1) work on a more interesting topic, and (2) have the possibility to stay with my boyfriend.
* Remain here with few moral and supervised by professors that I didn't choose.
EDIT. I'm following the precious advice below to make a more general question. I remain of the idea that I'll consider only the two options above. Anyway, for me, and other PhD students in this situation, it'll be very useful to know other similar stories. With regard to this, **I'd like to understand if it's reasonable to leave a PhD when your supervisor leaves the university**. In particular, when you decided to apply for a particular university only to have the possibility to be supervised by a great professor, well known in his/her field. Unfortunately, differently from other stories where a supervisor moves to another university, in this case she leaves the university to move to a company. From other threads I understand that it's fundamental to maintain a good relationship with your ex-supervisor, since when you're already a PhD student and you decide to move, a reference letter from your ex-supervisor is critical since a transfer has to be highly justified.
Finally, I love this field and for me a PhD is the right pathway to follow, but at the same time **I'm scared because I don't know if a PhD transfer is easy to achieve**.
2nd EDIT. Maybe the bold sentences are too personal and a good answer cannot be given. So, I'd like to update the question in: **Is it reasonable to leave a PhD and apply for another university if your supervisor leaves?** In particular I'm trying to understand if the fact that you leave the PhD in a university can badly influence the application in the new university.<issue_comment>username_1: In Germany the main question is:
Is the new supervisor interested in the topic?
* has he other things planned?
* is the topic a long-thing with late payout?
Is he interested in you as a PHD student? If not, why not?
* is his standard higher?
* does he already have his people/students around him, who need funding?
To consider the impact of the result on your thesis, a lot depends on the specifics:
* is your PhD experimental -> having no support is a big problem, easily worth a lost year
* is your PhD experimental, but the direction of work (e.g. shared lab equipment, methods) are similar/identical -> you can try to cut a deal with the involved people
* is your PhD theoretical -> Do you feel that you have enough scientific interaction?
* how is the new working group? Well structured?
* do your skills make sense under the new supervisor (or did he/she bring in buddies which whom you would compete)?
* can you contribute to other peoples publications in the new group?
* How keen on publications is the new supervisor? (If he is very keen, then he does not give a shit what you do, as long as you deliver)
Is there a chair or a faculty ombudsman at the university which you could discuss this topic?
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: First thing: **There is no such thing as "PhD transfer".** (At least in Germany.)
I don't know your university, but is the cases I know, you do not start any official PhD in the first year, but only later. Usually, you make an agreements with some advisor about the PhD thesis, working contracts and so on, and sometimes you enroll as a PhD student, but in most cases there is no official file at the university (but this may change in the near future…). At some point (where I am, usually in the last year) you fill in some form with which you start the official process of graduating (Eröffnung des Promotionsverfahrens or something similar).
So, if you haven't started the "Promotionsvorhaben" formally, you can quit and start new at any point.
More practically: **You should discuss your options with your advisor.** She is the right person for this. She may have suggestions how to proceed, e.g. she knows people who would like to take you as a student, she has a direct line to these people and will get a response quickly. She may help you to judge the possibilities that you have at the university where you are and she may also know you, your strength, and your preferences already.
Finally, I find the notion of "important university" a bit odd. There are some universities in Germany with a bit more overall prestige but there also also many not-so-well-known universities which are top at specific fields. So, the university name does not mean too much.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I think you are unnecessarily complicating your decision:
1) Basing your decision in any substantial way on the location of your boyfriend is very unwise. He has not committed to you in any way, otherwise you'd at least be engaged to him. Even then, I think it would be unwise. At this point, you really have no certainty of a happy future with your boyfriend.
2) You're too "hung up" on the reputation of one individual. I'm certain there are plenty of other professors at your university who have solid reputations. You can't ride on the coat-tails of somebody else's reputation for the rest of your life. You have to establish your own reputation, and that doesn't depend upon being taught by a physics superstar. Other professors and students at the university might start to consider you to be a "whiner" if you are boo-hooing too much about the loss of your desired advisor. You may also look foolish if you move to another university because of this.
3) Your thinking about this issue doesn't seem to be very mature. "...I'm alone..." "...I'm sad..." "...My boyfriend..." "...not my favorite topic..." "...a more interesting topic..." All of these comments betray a certain immaturity on your part. It almost sounds like you've never had any real responsibility and you were spoiled by your parents.
This is my recommendation. You can take it or leave it:
Stay at your current, great university. Find a topic and advisor you can be happy with. Finish your degree and establish your reputation by working VERY hard. Meet up with your boyfriend for occasional fun weekends.
Upvotes: 0
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| 2,699
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<issue_start>username_0: [Meta-analysis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta-analysis) represents the statistical pooling of several individual studies focusing on a specific research question, ideally conducted within the context of a systematic review of the scholarly literature.
Several examples of meta-analysis are available, with the first ones already appearing in the mid '50s, despite this term being proposed first by [Gene Glass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_V._Glass).
Indeed, it appears that meta-analyses continue to have substantial success in the scholarly literature, and often appear among the most quoted types of research design. Yet, a plethora of meta-analyses of suboptimal quality is being currently published, and this unfortunate trend does not appear to cease.
Which are the main reasons for this success? And, most appropriately, is this scientifically sound and reasonable, given the epidemic of meta-analyses often of suboptimal quality ([Ioannidis 2016](http://retractionwatch.com/2016/09/13/we-have-an-epidemic-of-deeply-flawed-meta-analyses-says-john-ioannidis/)) or overlapping in content ([Biondi-Zoccai et al, BMJ 2006](http://www.bmj.com/content/332/7535/202))?
*Disclosure: I am the first author of Biondi-Zoccai et al, BMJ 2006, and I have coauthored dozens of meta-analyses.*<issue_comment>username_1: Because they offer the information prepared in bite-sized pieces.
It's the best sources that you can use if you want to generate a paper or thesis quick and dirty.
\*\* Try to understand it from the view of a writer of an usual thesis, paper or article why he/she would use such a meta analysis:\*\*
* **If the writer is a student:**
Typical students who are writing thesises are not interested in scrolling through myriads of papers to collect the information they need for writing their work. Students know that their thesises almost matter to no one, so why spending so much effort in collecting pieces from multiple papers/journal entries if you can have something citable much easier?
* **If the writer has a job in Academia:**
1. To publish just for publishing:
If you want to brag with a huge list of your publications, then meta papers are the best way to go. Just recycle their findings as much as possible. IF you can brag with a list of 30 papers, you can leave others merely stunned because they will never invest the effort in order to read all the work and probably see that a part of it is just worthles b.s. that has no added value but only stubborn citation
2. Monetary reasons:
It can happen that your (private) donors want to see quick results of their investment. I recently read an article of which the title was like "Why researchers publish papers that no one reads" suggesting that people in academia often publish redundant work in order to pretend that the donors investment shows continuous result (they have to do, because donors often think like Managers, often having little understanding how research works).
If you have to really generate such work for coin, I can comprehend that you go the easy way and just recycling findings from meta papers.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: As an epidemiologist, I'll object to the use of "epidemic" in your question - I don't actually think it's justified.
But here are a few reasons meta-analyses are highly cited:
* A single effect estimate is almost meaningless. Multiple studies, in multiple populations, have to be done in order for something to really be taken seriously. Once this is accomplished, a meta-analysis collecting this information becomes the single best source for an overall picture of the literature. This, in turn, makes it easier to cite, discuss, etc.
* A meta-analysis is also an excellent jumping off point for discussions of the state of a given effect, a summary of the current literature, and if done correctly, a means of quantifying and highlighting gaps that exist in our knowledge. That often spawns commentaries, position papers, guidance documents, etc.
Is this scientifically sound? I'd say yes. There are a lot of meta-analysis papers, possibly too many, and like any method, they can be flawed. But they also represent the best way of tackling an entire chunk of a literature at once, and subjecting it to rigorous scrutiny.
Do such an analysis correctly, honestly ask yourself if such an analysis is needed, but if the answer is "Yes", then it's both a valid approach and one likely to be reasonably influential.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: You have it backwards. Meta-analyses are not heavily cited despite frequently being flawed; rather, they are frequently flawed because meta-analyses are heavily cited.
Because meta-analyses often were high-impact papers, many people with poor training and little experience tried to publish their own meta-analyses, in the hope of boosting their C.Vs. It's (mainly) this flood of incompetent authors who are publishing flawed studies, and dragging the whole field down.
>
> The increase is a consequence of the higher prestige that systematic reviews and meta-analyses have acquired over the years, since they are (justifiably) considered to represent the highest level of evidence. Many scientists now want to do them, leading journals want to publish them, and sponsors and other conflicted stakeholders want to exploit them to promote their products, beliefs, and agendas. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses that are carefully done and that are done by players who do not have conflicts and pre-determined agendas are not a problem, quite the opposite. The problem is that most of them are not carefully done and/or are done with pre-determined agendas on what to find and report.
>
>
>
--[We have an epidemic of deeply flawed meta-analyses, says John Ioannidis](http://retractionwatch.com/2016/09/13/we-have-an-epidemic-of-deeply-flawed-meta-analyses-says-john-ioannidis/)
Eventually, hopefully, journals and authors will become more aware of this and the poor-quality reviews will be ignored, correcting the problem. As evidence for this, we see a number of guidelines and resources for improving meta-analyses becoming more widely used over the past few years:
* [IOM](http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/Reports/2011/Finding-What-Works-in-Health-Care-Standards-for-Systematic-Reviews.aspx)
* [PRISMA](http://www.prisma-statement.org)
* [MOOSE](http://www.consort-statement.org/Media/Default/Downloads/Other%20Instruments/MOOSE%20Statement%202000.pdf)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Your question is awfully loaded. So first, a few clarifications-
The proper question is not whether or not meta-analyses are flawed. But rather, *are meta-analyses more flawed than your average scientific publication*? Bear in mind that all forms of scientific publishing are inherently susceptible to falsification. When you're talking about a "flawed" publication you need to define what you mean more precisely. Ostensibly a paper that has gone through peer review and has been accepted should be free of gross defects in methodology. Otherwise, the problem is not really on the paper, but rather on the community that allows poor-quality papers to be published.
Are meta-analyses falsified more often? Are they retracted more often? You haven't said exactly what you mean by low-quality, and so we can only guess at what you mean.
However, I can answer a variant of your question:
`Why are statistical meta-analyses useful?`
Statistical meta-analysis is useful because single studies are never authoritative. **Making authoritative statements requires replication**. To see why, let's look at the commonly used *p-value*. These are used as a way to differentiate the effects of random sampling from true experimental effects between a control and experimental population. In any experiment, there is a chance that an observed effect is purely due to sampling error- suppose you're testing whether or not a chemical causes cancer in mice.
Ideally you'd use enough mice so that minor variations between your experimental and control group don't impact your analysis, but this is not always the case. Even if you use a hundred or a thousand mice, there's some small chance that you were just unlucky and happened to pick a hundred or a thousand mice that were genetically predisposed towards developing cancer. The ex post facto likelihood of this being the case greatly depends on the final difference between the two groups, and this is essentially what is measured by p-values. A smaller p-value is better, and implies there is a smaller chance that the observed experimental difference was due to sampling error.
Now, particulars aside, just know that certain fields of study use the p-value as a minimum barrier to entry for scientific publication. For example, someone might say that for an experiment to be meaningful it must achieve a p-value of less than 0.05. Suppose you run a study that achieves a p-value of 0.045. It's suitable for publication- but having a low p-value doesn't mean that you've got a bulletproof result. All it means is that the probability of your result being skewed by sampling error is "low", [but "low" might 50% or higher](http://blog.minitab.com/blog/adventures-in-statistics-2/not-all-p-values-are-created-equal).
[A recent study in psychological science was published that estimates the reproducibility of experimental effects based on p-value](http://science.sciencemag.org/content/349/6251/aac4716). The Minitab Blog [interprets this study for us statistical laymen](http://blog.minitab.com/blog/adventures-in-statistics-2/p-values-and-the-replication-of-experiments). The basic result is that people sorely overestimate the reliability of experimental results with low p-value. Even good studies with very good p-values (less than 0.001) were not reproducible over 1/3rd of the time. The bare-minimum studies that had a p-value near 0.05 were not reproducible about 2/3rds of the time. The following chart is from the Minitab Blog:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/EdA50.png)
At this point, the answer to my modified question should be clear. Modern science is a statistical endeavor, and (given the statistical tools available to us) individual studies are rarely if ever high-confidence results. **Thus, statistical meta-analysis are necessary for making high-confidence claims.** This leads to a high citation rate because it isn't the first or second paper on a subject that is authoritative, it is the culmination of several studies that allow researchers to be authoritative.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: The author guidelines for the Journal of Computational Physics [do not specify a word limit for the abstract](https://www.elsevier.com/journals/journal-of-computational-physics/0021-9991/guide-for-authors#39000), saying only that it should be 'brief'. But should I impose a word limit myself? I have heard that some indexing services can truncate overly-long abstracts, though I've not come across evidence that this is this case.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, you should limit yourself because the goal of the abstract is to be short.
Now, where to put the limit?
A good idea would be to look at recently published articles in this journal and note their length.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: An abstract should sell your paper, introduce the family of constructs/theies used and may indicate the key narrative/outcomes. It should end after that so that one needs to read the paper. The better journals usually ask for stricter limits. (Journals of ) Pure sciences probably have editors wanting to allow you to use complete sentences and sensible sentences even in the abstract so skipped the abstract word limit out of politeness..
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Results get sent around a group of biological collaborators for feedback. Comments come back from the senior members of the group about the implications of the results, possible extensions, etc. I look at the results and I tend not to be as good at the "big picture" stuff (I'm a relatively junior member of the team), but I'm reasonably good with statistics (and that's my main role), so I look at the details.
Sometimes I think to myself "I don't think those conclusions are remotely justified by the data". **How can I give honest feedback in a way that doesn't come across as overly negative?** I can suggest alternative, more valid approaches, but if those give the answer "it's just noise", I'm pouring cold water over the whole thing.<issue_comment>username_1: Science is about truth, not hurt feelings. If the data don't support the conclusion, say so. You are doing nobody any favors by dancing around the subject.
I don't know if there's office politics or something else involved here, or if this is your first real job and you're having trouble finding your place in the pecking order. Is that part of the issue? Try to speak to one of the collaborators, face-to-face, and ask about how to bring up your concerns in an appropriate manner.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> How can I give honest feedback in a way that doesn't come across as overly negative
>
>
>
Don't be overly negative. For an internal review, you should focus on both the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscript, not just the weaknesses. Obviously, you want your colleagues to know what needs to be improved, but it is also helpful to know what others think are the strengths.
You also want to be careful about how you say things. Instead of saying something like
>
> I don't think those conclusions are remotely justified by the data
>
>
>
which I view as very negative, you could let the author know that they have not convinced you of the conclusions for reasons x, y, and z.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I would suggest approaching your colleague in a humble and inquisitive way (especially since you're a junior member of the team). If you start the conversation with "your conclusions are wrong and here's why" you're going to set a combative tone for the rest of the meeting. There may be reasons that they interpreted the data the way they did that you're not aware of.
Instead try approaching the situation with something similar to "I looked at the data and came to this interpretation, can you explain your interpretation to me?" You're a researcher in your own right, so junior or not your opinion should be valued. But at least with this approach you indicate that you are open to the idea of being wrong, and hopefully that will start a constructive conversation where you can debate the merits of analysis type A over type B, etc.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: If your main role is to provide a statistics perspective to the review process, then you have to weigh in. Imagine what would happen if an outside review for publishing came back with adverse conclusions that you might have been expected to identify in an internal review.
Politics aside, I assume the collaborators want their names on a well received paper, and they will appreciate that you are making an effort to get into the groove of working with them. If you start off without assuming someone has made any fundamental or conceptual mistakes, you will have them listening to you more easily.
Keep in mind that, in general, when you don't come to the same conclusion that your colleague came to, it may be just as likely due to a poor choice in how the material was presented rather than a fundamental error in thinking. This is especially true in an internal review prior to publication. I would assume that you provide a set of eyes that are unbiased from having been buried in the production of the paper and, as a reviewer, you can find areas where the communication of the concepts has broken down, if that happens to be the case.
If at all possible, you should arrange to discuss it with the collaborator who is closest to the issue that you are concerned with. That person should be already aware that you are experienced in statistics. (If not, you may have to introduce that point to them.) You might suggest that this may be presented in a way that you are not accustomed to (that may be true or not), and that you have consequently been unable to draw the same conclusions. Let them have a chance to present their concept while you ask questions related to your expertise.
If that person is unavailable to discuss it, at least make sure you have communicated to them that you have questions specifically about the statistics and *how they are presented*. Then try to discuss it with one of the other collaborators In the same way. (Do it in this order to avoid any objections that you bypassed the key collaborator on the matter.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: **General feedback rules apply.**
Here are some of them:
* There is no need to criticize any person.
* Stick to facts.
* Describe
things, especially describe what you think about things, e.g. don't
write "the assertion is not justified by the data" but "I can't see
how this is explained by the data" (and probably give an example of
some claim which you find equally "unexplained" by the data).
* Don't be negative. Instead, make a suggestion for something better.
* If you don't know an improvement, ask a question (e.g. "I could not
figure out, how this conclusion was drawn, could you please
clarify/provide further explanation").
Last tip: Sandwich your criticism, i.e. start with something good, end with something good and put the meat in between.
(You may also want to google "feedback rules" or "how to give feedback", but there are some rules/tips which may not apply…)
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_6: It would be nice if statistics was always about the truth, and there was a right answer or method to every question. That simply isn't the case though, and many elements have room for debate. I'm an economist, and I've seen this first-hand in three different areas.
First, I did some interdisciplinary empirical research where I worked with a **sociologist** for a while. I was struck by how our assumptions ran contrary to each other; a few times I suggested things that were completely standard in the field of economics, only to discover that he couldn't fathom why we would do it that way. Then at least three times it was him proposing standard methods in sociology that *I* couldn't fathom.
Second, I moved into the **policy research** field. Holy cow, the policy field does things with statistics and econometrics that would make an econometrician roll over in his or her grave, *while they were still alive.*
And then it just got worse, because I started working alongside some **data scientists**. I won't even get started, except to say that they accepted as completely normal things that made *me* roll over in my grave.
My point in sharing my anecdotes is to suggest a more humble approach than "I don't think those conclusions are remotely justified by the data." Offer criticism, certainly, but don't be the person in the department who is a complete pedant about every statistical detail. My points were mainly about what I ran into when venturing outside of my field, but I think the lesson is still relevant within your primary field. Be particularly cautious about things you find objections to that are, regardless, widely used in your field.
**None of this is to suggest that you should just ignore things you find incorrect.** Rather, try statements like:
* "I'm familiar with using method A as you did here. The issues raised in (somepaper, someyear) look possibly relevant, so you might want to address their points here too."
* "What made you decide to use method A over method B? Maybe method B would be a good robustness check?"
* "A line or two about how you verified the data fits with assumption X might be good here."
**In short, approach it as if you're *assuming they know what they're doing*, then asking helpful questions to lead them to your desired points.**
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_7: Help them prove the truth
-------------------------
You are on their team, so to not appear "too negative", act like you're on their team - help them.
For work in progress, a preliminary conclusion will often be a hypothesis that is not yet fully covered by analysis or even the available data. "I don't think those conclusions are remotely justified by the data" would be something that a reviewer can reasonably say about a finished paper. However, you're not a reviewer for this, and the paper is not finished - what you *should* do instead is use your knowledge of statistics and describe in very specific terms what analysis and metrics would be required to properly support or deny that hypothesis which they're targeting.
It may be that this requires additional data. It may be that this requires simply a more thorough analysis. It may be that this particular hypothesis cannot ever be verified with the process and type of data that you're gathering, so there need to be significant changes - in any case, it's better to start handling this early, instead of waiting for a formal review.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: **tl;dr**: Do not aim to prove their way wrong; aim to find the right way instead.
Do not make yourself a remote verifier or something like that.
If you write *I don't think those conclusions are remotely justified by the data.* You are stating that their approach is wrong. Period. You don't need to wrap it in nice words either.
I can read from your question that You were hired to improve usage of statistical tools in your team. Do your job.
1. Do not be rude.
State your concerns and points without mocking them or using rude words tec. During chit-chat you can mention where you were wrong etc. Some people are offended when you use overpolite and defensive language - they want hard facts, not digging out them from 2hour monolgue. Some people are crushed by emotionless facts - they took their work personally. Allways try to find something right and mention it.
2. Try to understand.
Ask them to explain their work to you. You all will find why they come to that conclusion, that the conclusion is wrong, why it is wrong and you can suggest different approach. Ask appropriate questions: "What does that mean..." "Why was this parameter neglected?"
3. Help them.
Suggest different approaches and methods. Offer them your assistance with such tools.
4. Be open.
Be ready to say that You did't get their picture or made wrong conclusion. Sometimes the deeper discussion reveals all the hidden points that were missing in the text, because they though "it is easy to see", but it isn't.
---
On the other hand, if you want to help them to prepare for a conference, the colder and nastier questions and notes you have he better they will be prepared for the actual questions from the audience.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: **"If I were a reviewer..."**
The easiest way to accomplish this is to frame the critique as something a reviewer would want to know. In this way, you are positioning yourself as a very valuable team player, who is protecting the team from an imaginary adversarial reviewer. I frequently give critiques like this:
"if I were a reviewer, I would want evidence that this couldn't be the result of [null model X/violated model assumption Y]."
or
"I can imagine a reviewer wanting [some robustness check] -- let's just run it"
or
"if we get a reviewer in [academic subcommunity], they would probably want [some more rigorous technique]"
Everybody loves to hate reviewers, and anticipating all of the horrible things reviewers complain about is usually seen as a valuable and helpful contribution. (Incidentally, it's a good exercise to ask these questions of oneself as well. It's easy to get locked in to one perspective on the research and it can be a good skill to empathize with a skeptical reader.)
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_10: >
> Hi Senior Member Bob,
>
>
> I have been working to improve my skills at reconciling the data to draw accurate conclusions but I keep on getting stuck at conclusion XYZ for this set of data. This troubles me because I see that you've concluded QRS. Would you have a few minutes to show me how to arrive at QRS?
>
>
>
Now, let Bob speak and try not to interject. If he is professional then he will want to hear you out on XYZ after you hear him out.
This is a classic example of "seek first to understand then to be understood"
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: I have - unfortunately - found that in many cases people tend to be very resistant of conclusions that *you* have made and are offering them, almost universally, while being much more likely to accept the exact same conclusions if you give them the chance to make the last rhetorical steps. In other words:
>
> Is B true? Yes, it is. This is due to the fact that A->B and A.
>
>
>
is likely to get you responses like:
>
> * "How can you say something like that?"
> * "You're being overly critical"
> * "There goes OP again with his/her outlandish claims."
> * "You're just saying that because C"
> * "You are a terrorist/communist/chauvinist, we should expel/fire you"
>
>
>
while if you write, or say, something like:
>
> So, I've been thinking about the question of B. I think the fact that A is something we need to take into account.
>
> ...
>
> I was talking to X about the B question, and she reminded me that A->B holds. I think she makes a good point. But where does that lead us?
>
>
>
and then you get the:
>
> * "oh, oh, wait! I've got it! B! B! I knew it all along!"
> * "You know, since we're stuck, let's just try assuming B and seeing what happens."
> * "Hmm, I suppose B could be an option"
> * "I have always known that B, and I've said it all the time."
>
>
>
kind of responses. It sounds dumb but it just happens a lot when B is something that's not easy to stomach - socially, psychologically, politically etc.
Now apply this to your specific case :-)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_12: I have been in a similar boat (doctoral student working with faculty), on a project I was working on. It was working with a colleague with a different disciplinary background, with different norms about what was considered convincing evidence. Based on the standards I was used to, I wasn't convinced of the results, and didn't think reviewers with backgrounds like mine would be either. I did use a bit of the future reviewer argument, but also had to say that I wasn't *yet* comfortable putting my name on the paper - that I would need to see X, Y, and Z. I had to do a lot of that myself. One thing I wanted to know was whether the selection of controls had driven the results (of an archival study), since there were many researcher degrees of freedom there. I had to write a program to run the models with every possible combination of control variables to convince myself that we hadn't just subconsciously played with combinations until we got something we liked (I was actually surprised at how robust the results were - though of course that isn't proof, but it does rule out one concern). My co-author actually proposed adding an experiment to the study, which made the results even more convincing. I don't think anything less than expressing my discomfort with putting my name on the earlier version would have yielded the result I'm now comfortable with.
Other thing I did, to give myself legitimacy: I had to learn a *lot* more about the methods he had applied - which was not easy. Some of the commands were part of a widely used (in his field) macro incorporating algorithms based on some older methods papers. I had to go back and read through several of those papers until I actually understood what the algorithms were doing (and it did seem like something that could be useful in my own field, with more transparency). A detailed understanding was required to *express* why I wasn't yet convinced. It's easy to say, "I'm not convinced by this." It's more convincing to others if you can explain what explicit sources of bias exist, or which specific assumptions are violated.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm TeXing up a paper right now and I would like to ask for a sanity test about proper form.
In the paper, there are some statements which seem too simple to be called a Proposition or Lemma, let alone a Theorem. I use the word Remark for those. However, roughly speaking, there are three kinds of Remarks:
1. Ones whose proofs are fairly easy or standard, but not completely trivial, so I put a short argument after, using the standard `proof` environment.
2. Ones which I think are completely obvious in context, for example they just summarise some exposition directly above, so I simply put a qed sign at the end (I sometimes do the same with Corollaries).
3. Ones which have very simple proof, which may not be entirely obvious at a glance, but I believe a minimal (say, one short sentence) explanation is enough. In this case, putting the short explanation in the `proof` environment seems to be a waste of space and makes the whole thing look too important. Instead, I just put the short explanation in a parenthetical comment, which I append to the body of the remark, and follow that with the qed sign.
This system seems to be logical to me, but I would like some confirmation that this is OK, particularly the last kind.
I would also be interested in alternatives, with their pros and cons (I am unlikely to change the style in this paper unless I'm convinced that there is a big problem, but I may try to do something better in the next one).<issue_comment>username_1: Maybe this is "opinion based", but here is what I prefer, and I think it is pretty standard.
I would *only* use the QED box at the end of a proof environment (which started with *Proof*) which is preceded by a numbered Theorem / Proposition / Lemma / Corollary etc. That way, there is a clear statement of what is being proved, and the statement is clearly distinguished from the proof. Subconsciously, I think of *Proof* and as matched delimiters.
I don't think "too simple" is the main consideration for whether to use Proposition or Remark. Rather, I think Remark should be used only for statements or discussions which are a digression from the main argument of the paper. If you have a statement which is important to the paper, even if the proof is very simple, make it a Proposition or Lemma or Corollary (with a number), and follow it with a *Proof*. (You might be able to get away with saying something like "we have the following proposition whose proof is obvious", and then omitting the Proof environment, but this can be annoying.)
In a Remark, if discussing a particular claim, you might include a short proof or sketch or outline. Generally this would be written into the prose of the paragraph and not set off as a separate proof, and I would not use the QED symbol here.
>
> **Remark.** The previous result raises the question of whether every snark is a boojum. In fact, the answer is yes, and this can be seen by noting that cheese is green and the sky is mauve. However, it is still not known whether every boojum is a snark.
>
>
>
This would be an alternative to:
>
> **Proposition 6.37.** Every snark is a boojum.
>
>
> *Proof.* Cheese is green and the sky is mauve.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: A **Remark** is a strange mathematical specimen: if you read a bunch of math papers, you will see different people using it in different ways. With that in mind, I would say that I don't think I've ever seen "Remark" used the way you do: as an especially small theorem.
Whether a remark should be done via a theorem environment at all (thus e.g. appearing italicized) is also a point of contention. I remember getting a paper rejected from a very prestigious journal, where other than "not good enough for the journal," the main comment we received was that remarks should not be italicized. But really, formatting of remarks is all over the place.
I think most people agree with @username_1 that Remarks should be "statements or discussions which are a digression from the main argument of the paper." However, exactly what that means is a bit up for grabs. For instance, some people think that you should call something a Remark if you're never going to refer to it again in the paper -- in other words, literally you could take the Remark out of the paper without disturbing anything else. Other (and more?) people think that the point of setting something off as a Remark is so that you *can* refer to it later: if it's really completely disposable, why not just have inline in the text, or in parentheses, or in a footnote? I think that in my mathematical writing I have come around from the former use to the latter use...I think.
Anyway, fundamentally I don't buy that something can be too simple to be either a Proposition or a Lemma but it still needs a formal statement and a proof. That's *exactly* what Proposition is for: like a Theorem, only smaller. Even Lemma and Corollary have other uses: a Lemma comes just before a bigger result and a Corollary comes just after it. The point of using these terms is to make the logical flow of the paper visually apparent. How does using "Remark" for "not even a Proposition" help the reader more than "Proposition" followed by a two-line proof?
The right usage of a Remark is subtle, but it's roughly **contrapuntal** to Theorems, Propositions and so forth. In a Remark you step aside for a moment and place something outside of the direct logical sequence you were following (though you may call on it later). Thus for instance Remarks may belong at the end of (sub...)sections as commentary or summary on what has come before.
Or so it seems to me, anyway. Again, different people do things differently here.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: **On markers immediately after statement:**
Sometimes, after a number of lemmas and theorems you need to write some further remarks to highlight some things that will be useful later. To avoid breaking the flow, I found it useful to put a statement that could be referenced only at the end of that part, usually as a corollary. The problem I had was that frequently the preceding paragraphs would include the proof, but in some cases the statement was too involved and needed a separate formal proof. Although this is not standard (yet), to make clear whether the reader should expect a proof or not I choose to include a special sign (a distinctively smaller version of QED) that I would put after statements with no proof environment.
```
\newrobustcmd{\xsmallsquare}{%
\text{\fboxsep=-.2pt\fbox{\rule{0pt}{4pt}\rule{4pt}{0pt}}}%
}
\declaretheorem[name=Corollary,sibling=theorem,style=definition]{corollary}
\declaretheorem[name=Corollary,sibling=theorem,style=definition,qed=${\color{black}\xsmallsquare}$]{qedcorollary}
```
For consistency there was a small diamond shape after every statement for which there should be no proof, like definitions. It became very useful for complex statements that included enumerations – it made really clear where these ended, while the mark was small enough to avoid distraction. It had the additional benefit for the (rare) cases where there was a paragraph of text between the theorem and its proof to explain how the proof will proceed and present some intuitions which would made no sense before the formal statement of the theorem.
I never received any negative remarks on that style, and there were some positive comments. Also, please bear in mind that many journals and some conferences have editorial guidelines to which you should conform. Furthermore, while this might look great in a bigger work (book, thesis, long tech report), in a short paper that is a part of a bigger collection it usually will be just distracting.
**On remarks:**
I agree with @username_2 and @username_1. They have put it more eloquently, so I will just skip that part.
**On proofs in parentheses:**
Although I love using parentheses, I would strongly advise you against putting proofs in there. Note that it still might be ok to remind the reader about something in parentheses, for example a lemma that makes the statement in context a direct corollary. However, please do not do so in statements – almost always it is possible to mention that lemma immediately before or after the statement. The only non-math parentheses in statements I use are for pattern-matching like "we will call a X left-nice (right-nice) if Y is right-nasty (left-nasty)"
or referenced theorems "Theorem 42 (Famous Researcher [42])."
**On obviousness:**
Let me quote from a really nice post by [<NAME> on MathOverflow](https://mathoverflow.net/a/16194):
>
> I don't agree that if something is obvious, then it is obvious that it is obvious. When an author declares in a mathematical exposition that a fact is obvious, or says "of course" or something with a similar meaning, then it is a signal that the reader should be able to find a very easy reason justifying the statement, rather than a complex one. This is useful information for the author to signal, and I for one as a reader have often been grateful for it.
>
>
>
Furthermore, including lots of trivial statements and their proofs will make the paper unreadable. Theorems and their proofs are some of the most important parts of a math paper, but one should emphasize the main results rather than simple observations which frequently are community folklore.
Finally, you should be really careful that things you deem obvious really are obvious. In practice I often do write down the proofs and only decide against including them. This way you can reduce mistakes and choose actually for better clarity (with a small useful bias because one does not want the work being wasted). It takes more time, but at least for me it is worth it.
I hope this helps ;-)
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/17
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<issue_start>username_0: I have been admitted to a PhD at an american university. The practice there is that the university provides the fellowship for the first year and thereafter the group you are working with gives you the stipend.
I have 4 years of relevant work experience in my area of research. I believe that I should get a stipend that's higher than the minimum requirement set by the university. How should I go about doing this at an american university?
(Note: I have already accepted the offer)
---
I came across this related question which is for a German PhD where he succeeded, but he had multiple offers which he used to negotiate this.
[Safely negotiate a salary for a PhD offer - Germany](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18950/safely-negotiate-a-salary-for-a-phd-offer-germany)<issue_comment>username_1: >
> I believe that I should get a stipend that's higher than the minimum requirement set by the university.
>
>
>
In a context such as this, the word "should" carries very little meaning. To a very large extent, what "should" happen is what you have the power to negotiate.
>
> How should I go about doing this at an american university?
>
>
> (Note: I have already accepted the offer)
>
>
>
Unfortunately, by accepting the offer you have given up essentially all the [leverage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leverage_(negotiation)) that you had. You may be able to threaten to un-accept the offer, but this would be a rather dishonorable thing to do (with potentially negative consequences for your reputation and future academic career) unless you were in a situation where the increase you are seeking to your stipend was absolutely crucial to your well-being, and would likely also be perceived as an empty threat unless you also had other offers (from PhD programs or from industry). So, I would expect that your chances to have your stipend increased at this point are very low. You might have better luck if you wait a year until you have already entered the program and demonstrated to your PI that you are an unusually talented and hardworking student and are providing their group with great value for what they are paying you; even then, your leverage would be low, but leverage isn't necessarily everything and your PI might be receptive to moral and reputational considerations, such as the PI's desire to have other people know that they are treating their students fairly.
With that said, I believe asking for pay commensurate with your skills is a very reasonable and acceptable thing to do, so it can't hurt to try, and can pay off (either by having the request succeed, or failing that, simply by signaling that you are a confident person who knows his worth, which may earn you a small bit of respect) if done in a professional manner. The way to do it would be to write an email (phone, skype or a face to face meeting would also work obviously) to the graduate program director communicating your request politely and including any relevant information on how much money you were earning, how much other similar positions pay (specifically, if you can get information showing that other PhD positions at universities with a similar profile to yours pay more than what you have been offered to people with your level of experience, that could be helpful), etc. The better prepared and explained your request is, the higher the chances of success, though as I said I think they are still low. Avoid formulating your request in emotional, accusatory or drama-laden tones, or implying that you have some moral entitlement to being paid more. And make sure you get the details right -- asking for a stipend that's considerably higher than what your experience suggests is reasonable will only annoy the people you are trying to negotiate with.
Finally, I should add that I don't have any specific experience of incoming PhD students negotiating higher pay, but I have certainly heard of departments improving the terms of an offer to students they want to attract (typically before they have accepted the offer and when they have competing offers, alas). Note that in many departments the pay is standard and dictated by university policy or various union-negotiated labor contracts that are fairly rigid and do not allow much room for paying different students different amounts. However, even in such cases where the department can't pay you more there should still be some flexibility, in the sense that if they really want to help they may be able to offer other improved terms (such as access to funds for traveling or buying equipment, or replacing a teaching assistantship with a research assistantship).
Good luck!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I have 4 years of relevant work experience in my area of research.
>
>
>
This may or may not be relevant. It will very much depend on your cohort - for example, there are programs where *everyone* has work experience.
>
> I believe that I should get a stipend that's higher than the minimum
> requirement set by the university. How should I go about doing this at
> an american university?
>
>
>
Your belief, as noted, doesn't necessarily carry any weight. There are a couple things you can do to strengthen this position:
* Have other offers - the best negotiating position is being able to show someone else thinks you're more valuable, and that you can go with them. As noted, given you've already accepted the offer, this is now somewhat harder.
* Apply for additional fellowships, etc. *Demonstrate* value.
One thing to keep in mind is that the university may be constrained. For example, they may be working off NIH pay scales, which are relatively inflexible. The money for funding you may be coming at a certain rate, so paying you more not only means spending more, but spending precious unallocated funds. And there may be rules - for example, while writing a grant I was told I had to lower the amount I was paying myself because graduate students were only allowed to make a certain range (to keep things fair).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I must say that I am surprised with the answers here.
I am willing to bet a fair amount of money that you will not get a raise from your institution. And I can think of a million reasons. Here are a few big ones.
A part of my reasoning stems from my personal experience, where I had multiple offers to top-tier US universities, and also from a slightly lower level US university, which offered me a salary that was almost 10k higher. When I took this offer to other top-tier US universities, they shrugged and said, "Oh well. You can't have everything." Also, in my experience, the top tier universities offered similar amounts that were not worth negotiating.
Another reason is that grad students are *very* replaceable. You may have some relevant experience, but they can easily fill your seat with someone else (and never know what they're missing out on, because you haven't demonstrated any of your academic and research abilities yet) so it's not really worth it to the admission committee to try and negotiate your salary.
Also, note that you may not have been admitted without your relevant work experience, so you may have already "cashed out" from your experience.
Then there's the fact that a lot of grad students are admitted each year (as opposed to a couple of professors/postdocs). If the administration tried to negotiate salaries with 20+ graduate students a year, it would be a nightmare, not to mention that it would seriously hurt the morale of the student population to compare salaries and realize that there is some sort of a ranking amongst the grad students. Being in grad school is already damaging to your ego; can you imagine the student next to you getting paid a lot higher salary, and realize that you're not as wanted as her?
Anyway, I have never heard of grad students negotiating higher pay (unless you count getting federal funding, or research support from your advisor, or extra summer teaching etc.), and combined with the fact that you've already accepted your offer, I really don't see your institution increasing your salary. In fact, I wouldn't even try, because you're already committed to going there, and the people will remember you for trying something like that (OK, maybe it wouldn't hurt to ask once, but I wouldn't try very hard).
That being said, I am aware of a few cases where the grad students had two-body problems, and the institution was willing to accommodate that, but only in the cases where at least one of the two applicants were stellar.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: I agree with username_3.
I don't think PhD stipends are negotiable. In the US, the grant of a research group is actually controlled by the university. Every time the PI wants to spend it on something, (s)he has to make a request. In most case, these requests are just formality, and are always approved. But I doubt that (s)he can request for his/her PhD student a salary which is higher than the norm of the university.
I think this is also the case for postdocs, and I'm not aware of any PhD students/postdocs who can negotiate their salary.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I would like to submit a manuscript which has 5 co-authors. But one of the co-author is presently not working anywhere. So what could be the affiliation of this author? Is it Okay, if I provide the author's last affiliation address?<issue_comment>username_1: Check and see if the author's last affiliation consents to being cited as affiliated; if so, I don't see why it would be a problem.
If not, then simply list the author as "Independent Researcher" and provide home address. Or leave field blank. There's no requirement for an affiliation for academic papers.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If this is not forbidden by the former affiliation, one of the possibilities is to use the affiliation where the work has actually been performed ("The work was performed when the author was at XXX"). Or it could be "Formerly at XXX".
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/17
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<issue_start>username_0: At our institute it is not common to upload a pre-print of your submission to arXiv. I got told by a friend that it is basically a no-brainer and there are virtually no downsides in doing so. I checked with the journal I want to publish in, they even allow submitting arXiv links, so I am safe from there.
Since nobody at my institute seems to upload their pre-prints, should I ask my advisor before doing so? He is also co-author of the paper.
My field of research is materials science (and to some extent more general physics).<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, you should check with any co-authors before publicly posting a preprint of work that is not yet published.
They may prefer that you not post it at this time (e.g. if they have a particular timeline in mind for when they want to publicly share the work, given other related things they are working on). Even if they have no reason to object, you should check with them as a courtesy.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It looks like you are afraid that he would refuse, so you are asking us whether you should ask him, when you could have asked him directly in the first place.
Since he is the co-author you should definitely ask him. Perhaps the question you should be asking us is how to persuade him that uploading pre-print to arxiv is a good idea.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Submitting to ArXiv is a form of publication. You *always* need the consent of *all* coauthors to publish *anything*, *anywhere*.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: About "virtually no downsides": the following is a real story. A mathematician proves his best theorem ever. Writes the paper, sends it to a very good journal, and uploads to the arxiv. The very good journal takes a year to referee the paper, and rejects it (happens all the time, at least in my area). During that year, a group of other mathematicians read the paper in the arxiv, worked on it, proved a generalization, and got it published in a journal. So, a year later, the original paper is virtually unpublishable, and our friend has to scrap it.
As you can imagine, this person never again uploaded anything to the arxiv.
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a third year undergraduate majoring in Software Engineering ,and hope to continue studies until a PhD.
I am from Sri Lanka.I intend to go for USA or New Zealand to do my masters and eventually my PhD
My High school subjects were Computer Science, Accounts and Economics.I didn't select Maths since I didn't like the subject at that time(although now I regret it everyday)
While doing undergraduate studies I did a maths course and scored poorly and didn't actually learn since they teach a lot of concepts in maths in a very limited time.
When I watch MIT opencourseware videos on Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence,I realized that the maths they use are Greek to me.I knew I had to do maths if I ever am going to have a career in academia after this.
Is it a smart move to take a semester break from undergraduate studies to study maths or is it possible to continue studies till a PhD without actually taking maths?<issue_comment>username_1: If you really want to continue till PhD, good math knowledge is a must have.
As iam not from the US, i wonder that you were able to even come that far without advanced math. At our university, the freshmans gets a pre university course which wrap up all high school math, as the first year is full of different (math and non math) courses that based on high school maths or even extend this kind of high school math concepts a lot.
Anyone who struggles with the high school maths in the wrap up course get the advise to improve in math.
I would suggest you to do the same.
As you already notice a lot computer science subjects relays on the mathematics concepts.
However i would suggest you to pick up a extra day the week (f. e. Sunday) and teach your self advanced math, rather than break of for one semester.
Maybe there are weekend courses for math at your local city. (Some institues over here even paying students to hold such courses( as a free service for the undergrated) as they strongly suggest good mathematic skills)
DISCLAIMER:
Obviously it depends on your future subjects. I guess there might be a way to some how dodge advance math at all, but i wouldn't suggest it as you limit your self.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: It is a bit hard to say, because whilst you say you don't "know" math, you must know - some - from your Sofware Engineering undergrad and Comp. Sci. pre-university education. My background is AI, a very wide field that can involve all kinds of mathematical formalisms - from Tarskian Semantics to Calculus and most researchers aren't an expert in all of the areas AI makes use of, some are completely unknown to some researchers (in my experience). So your question, "do I need to know maths", depends on what you want to do - you don't need to know ALL of our current mathematics (no-one knows that anymore in any case).
So my first suggestion is to read some Software Engineering papers and see how much mathematics they use and what kind. If you want to do quantitative research you will need to know statistics. If you want to develop formalisms to support Software Engineers you will need to know some logic and basic ways to prove theorems, and so on.
My second suggestion is to think carefully about the Masters you do in order to encompass the areas you want to learn about. But, it is perfectly possible to learn much of this on your own - at first it'll seem difficult, of course.
To try and give you some encouragement, maths is often Greek to people, because of all the Greek letters, but in my view it is also possible to pick up the necessary parts. I taught (during my PhD) students coming from a wide range of backgrounds some elementary formal logic and Artificial Intelligence techniques, most of them picked it up fine and I think from there they would have been able to pursue a PhD in AI - I have also met people coming from non AI, Comp. Sci. or similar backgrounds that have pursued a PhD in AI.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Do not despair. Pick a couple of state institutions including a good community college, such as Montgomery College, and check what math courses are required for a degree (Associate's or Bachelor's) in computer science. Then read the course descriptions and if they are posted, the syllabi. Look at the college bookstore for that institution to see what the textbook for that course is. Then preview the book in Amazon. Your goal is to try to match up what you are already familiar with, against a particular course or textbook, or a portion thereof. Do not hesitate to work your way back through the prerequisites as far as you need to until you find YOUR level. This is just you, doing this, and you can be honest with yourself during this process. It can be helpful to use a community college website for your analysis because they frequently work with students who have gaps in their previous studies.
You will see that, [for example at Montgomery College](http://catalog.montgomerycollege.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=6&poid=977), the three-course sequence of Calculus courses. I won't get into a big explanation for why this is frequently the case, but I will say that many fields in computer science never use that kind of math. So take that one with a grain of salt.
Once you have an idea where in the standard math sequence as taught in the U.S., update your question or write a new one, to get specific advice about filling in your gaps.
The other thing you might be able to do, is to make an appointment with the math department at your current institution, to get a placement test.
Have you heard the phrase "Knowledge is Power"? Applied to your studies: knowledge of your current level is power.
Anyone can learn math. As long as you don't jump in the deep end before you've learned the beginning parts of swimming.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/17
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<issue_start>username_0: Are control theorists (electrical engineering) considered mathematicians?
* If so, would they receive a Fields medal if they make a breakthrough in control theory?
* If not, is there a prize similar to the Field medal for control theorists?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't have references on the demographics but, traditionally, many and probably most control theorists are engineers by formation and it's in the field of engineering (electrical, mechanical, aerospace, etc.) that most of control theory applications reside.
However, control theory is really a broad interdisciplinary subject comprising engineering, mathematics and, to a lesser extent, physics. For mathematics, topics like algebra, graph theory, dynamical systems theory, optimization theory, and functional analysis are fundamental for the development of control theory, and mathematicians have provided outstanding contributions, as username_2 well explained.
My interpretation of your question, however, is whether a control theorists who is engineer by formation is considered a mathematician. I don't like barriers between disciplines, and exceptions always exist, but in my experience engineers are seldom considered pure mathematicians, and their contributions to mathematics are usually far from the mathematics of interest to win a Fields medal.
Thus, there's no Fields medal for control theorists, at least in your probably intended sense, but IEEE awards prizes (e.g., the [IEEE Control Systems Award](https://www.ieee.org/about/awards/tfas/controlsys.html)) for outstanding contributions in the field.
But you don't choose a field for the prizes, right?
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: While it seems true (based on my own quite sketchy observations) that many if not most control theory researchers may be employed in engineering departments rather than mathematics departments, I find the suggestion that control theory is not a branch of mathematics, or that control theorists are not mathematicians, both laughable and offensive (although I'll concede that probably some control theory experts have more of an engineering background and care less about proving theorems, and may not care to define themselves as mathematicians). Some important points to keep in mind are:
1. Control theory has wide applications to many areas of engineering (mechanical, aeronautical, chemical etc), not just electrical engineering, so certainly OP's description "control theory (electrical engineering)" is inaccurate. In fact the field predates electrical engineering: [the first detailed study of a control theory system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_theory#History) was published by <NAME> (of Maxwell equations fame) in connection with a purely mechanical control system used in steam engines.
2. One of the other godfathers of control theory is [Lev Pontryagin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Pontryagin), known for the so-called Pontryagin's maximum principle, a fundamental result in the theory. Pontryagin (who incidentally was blind for most of his life) is regarded as one of the great pure mathematicians of the twentieth century. I am sure he would have laughed at the suggestion that his work on control theory was of a different nature than his work on algebraic topology or harmonic analysis because it was "applied" or "not mathematics but engineering".
3. I know of at least one notable contemporary counterexample to the claim that control theorists are not "considered mathematicians". [<NAME>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_J._Krener), a leading expert in control theory, is a former professor and chair of my department -- a mathematics department -- and now a professor of mathematics at the Naval Postgraduate School. He is a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society. He has won many awards for his work in control theory, most recently the [IEEE Control Systems Award](https://www.ieee.org/about/awards/2016_ieee_tfa_recipients_and_citations_list.pdf) in 2016. I would be offended on his behalf at any suggestion that he is not a first-rate mathematician.
Upvotes: 4
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2017/01/17
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<issue_start>username_0: I am preparing the draft of a scientific article which greatly benefits from the well known quote:
>
> "The whole is *other* than the sum of its parts"
>
>
>
However, I am unable to find the correct citation for it.
According to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology):
>
> This principle maintains that when the human mind (perceptual system)
> forms a percept or "gestalt," the whole has a reality of its own,
> independent of the parts. The original famous phrase of Gestalt
> psychologist <NAME>, "The whole is other than the sum of the
> parts" is often incorrectly translated[4] as "The whole is greater
> than the sum of its parts," and thus used when explaining gestalt
> theory, and further incorrectly applied to systems theory.[5] Koffka
> did not like the translation. He firmly corrected students who
> replaced "other" with "greater". "This is not a principle of addition"
> he said.[6] The whole has an independent existence.
>
>
>
To the best of my understanding, since I am using it as a quote, I am required to cite it. I have tried finding the source of the quotation using Google, but have been unsuccessful thus far. In such a scenario, is it appropriate to cite the 6th citation from the Wikepedia page, i.e,
>
> <NAME>. 1977. Cited in Dewey, R.A. 2007. Psychology: An
> introduction: Chapter four - The Whole is Other than the Sum of the
> Parts. Retrieved 4/12/2014.
>
>
>
?<issue_comment>username_1: It sounds like you are effectively asking if it is OK to cite a secondary source, if the primary source is not able to be located or retrieved. This varies by publication style guides; for example, in IEEE secondary sources are (at least in theory) [prohibited](http://guides.lib.monash.edu/c.php?g=219786&p=1454303), though as far as I'm aware there are no Grand Inquisitors enforcing this rule, so if you do it I don't know that anyone would think that an adequate reason to suggest rejection of your paper...but I haven't tried it.
As you mention Psychology, I'll note that in APA format, the answer is: yes, it absolutely is [OK to use secondary sources, so long as you keep them to a minimum](http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/apa/citations/secondarysources). However, your use of the brackets makes me think you might be using an ACM/IEEE style, in which case [you are not supposed to use secondary sources](http://libraryguides.vu.edu.au/ieeereferencing/gettingstarted#s-lg-box-wrapper-9928704); either you find a primary source, or you simply do not cite it at all.
If ACM/IEEE is your style, I would tend to suggest you just say something along the lines of, "in the words of the Gestalt psychologist <NAME>, the whole...". And then you just don't cite it, because it's clear you are using someone else's words, you don't have a primary source, and it would seem weird to me for a reviewer to object to there not being a citation to that unless your work absolutely depends on <NAME> having said those words (which would make no sense in a field that uses ACM/IEEE).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I've been looking into this as well.
And despite Jan's answer being plenty adequate to your question and extremely informational beyond, I may be able to add this;
The first mention of this saying was supposedly by Aristotle, but he said "greater than the sum...". Where Koffka's version is "other than the sum..."
I believe the key here is that Koffka's way of seeing things was distinctively different from how Aristotle phrased it. Thus wanting to change that one particular word to make it fit his vision. The subtlety probably made him feel real clever about himself.
To this conclusion, I'd suggest researching the difference between the two versions and decide which one is more for you. Quote that.
Then again we are 2 years, 9 months further from your post - so this information now only matters to whom it may concern.
Godspeed, or whatever fuel you're on!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It is possible to find the quote on Koffa's book "Principles Of Gestalt Psychology", page 176:
>
> It has been said: The whole is more than the sum of its parts. It is more correct to say that the whole is something else than the sum of its parts, because summing is a meaningless procedure, whereas the whole-part relationship is meaningful.
>
>
>
[Here the link to the digitalised source](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.7888/page/n191/mode/2up)
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/17
| 1,666
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm planning my first course, and I'm starting to realize that it's actually broken into a long string of smaller topics, and that each smaller topic is unlikely to fit into a single lecture. Teaching each sub-topic as a lecture would either make my lectures run short or too long. I'm considering planning out my lectures in a continuous way: rather than write up a plan for lecture 1, 2, and so on, I'm thinking of just writing out all of what I want to say for each topic, all of the examples and so forth. Then, I just start at the beginning and keep going, ending each lecture at an appropriate place in the notes.
Is that a bad idea? Are there any best practices I should follow?<issue_comment>username_1: Planning it in a continuous way and not lecture by lecture gives you more flexibility in the classroom as questions or other issues might interfere with your planning and therefore your planning doesn't work out anymore. On the other case, there is a chance that you won't plan enough for a lecture, so a continuous plan enables you to "fill" a hole, in case you'd advance faster than you have planned.
A lecture by lecture plan may be helpful as well, maybe not on a very detailed level. But writing down which topics you'd like to cover within which lectures helps in setting up an underlying structure of the course, showing the coherence of the smaller topics.
Going further, I'd like to add, that if you plan to write down what you are going to say, you might ask yourself the question if it is helpful for your teaching or the students learning if you hand out some form of lecture notes at the beginning of the course. I, as a student, enjoy having to take less notes and being able to focus more on what the teacher is saying. As a teacher, with lecture notes, I know for myself, that my lesson is carefully planned and that I have already done a good amount of work for next year. If you are concerned, that with lecture notes students attention may decline, I suggest that you leave out certain type of content, in mathematics e.g. examples.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There is one very big drawback with the continuous approach as you've described it: **the students get no direct positive feedback from attending a lecture**. That means that the effort of turning up to a lecture goes unrewarded for a long time, which may seriously hurt the attendance and motivation.
I like to spend at least a little time considering for each lecture how the students will feel afterward. I remember best the lectures where I really felt like I had learned something. A kind of feeling of exhaustion and exhilaration at the same time. The sensation that you now know [more cool stuff](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSlRd6MnDv8). I feel if I can achieve that feeling in my students I can keep them coming back.
Moreover, people have a natural attention span of [about 20 minutes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJUblvGfW6w). It's best to plan your material in chunks of 20 minutes, and plan for a small distraction in between those chunks (some interactivity, or a light video).
Finally, it really helps students to [give a layout of the lecture beforehand](https://vimeo.com/101543862), so they can plan their attention levels. If they have no idea what's coming, how long you're going to be talking about X, and why it's important to know before you move on to Y, they'll lose focus. It's very hard to maintain your focus when you don't know what you're supposed to be focusing on.
If you don't give some thought to where you want to end up after each 20 minute chunk in your lectures, there no way to achieve this, and most likely you will just drone on for an hour, eat in to the break, and end up losing student's attention, and then students.
Of course, the flip-side of a rigorously planned lecture series, as others have pointed out, is that you lose the flexibility to adjust to how well the students are absorbing the material. Here's how I would start:
* Make a list of learning goals: what should the students absolutely learn, what would be nice for them to learn.
* Plan your course requirements (exam, report, practicals, everything that adds to the grade) to reflect these learning goals and their relative priorities.
* Create a preliminary series of topics on the basis of the learning goals. Make sure to focus on the information required to achieve the requirements. Chunk each lecture into 4 20-minute sub-topics.
* Make sure to check at every opportunity whether the students are following along, or falling behind. Ask plenty of questions during the lectures (for instance, between these 20 minute chunks), and try to talk to students one-on-one whenever possible.
* If you find out that people are falling behind, re-adjust *between lectures*. Adjust the planning, scratch some of the minor learning goals. But change the plan you had, rather than not having a plan to begin with.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I would recommend a very firm day-to-day schedule in advance, and (as in software) a "top-down" approach to developing it. E.g.:
Will you have a final exam? Then the skills desired on the final should be drafted (or obtained from the department) first. Will you have midterm exams and assignments? Then these are your "tentpoles"; ideally they should be scheduled before the semester starts, and the necessary skills must be covered before the exam dates are reached. Assignments need the skill presentations complete beforehand; and also time to submit, grade, and give feedback before associated tests. If you give weekly or daily quizzes, then the required skill scheduling gets even more granular.
Establish coherent topical "chunks" of your semester (a few weeks between exams or assignments), and then make a schedule filling in between them day-by-day. If you find that there's an extra or missing part of a day in a block, then commit to cutting or expanding the subject within that topical block. (Sometimes an extra 30 minute span provides the best opportunity for an extra related topic that tickles your fancy and no one else covers.)
It's far easier to squeeze or expand lectures by 5 minutes each day than it is to get to the last week of the semester and realize that you haven't gotten to 5 chapters of the book. Krantz in *How to Teach Mathematics* recommends having lectures that can be adjusted by a few minutes each day (I do this with a list of in-class exercises).
As most of us know, time-management is among the top priorities working in academia, and this is a reflection of that. My guiding principle is: *schedule uber alles*; after a few semesters of teaching a class, I can usually dictate from memory what's happening in every 30-minute time period all semester long.
I haven't taken education courses, but the "top-down" design method works for me, and I've tangentially heard that this is what's recommended in courses on pedagogy.
Upvotes: 3
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2017/01/17
| 536
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<issue_start>username_0: I applied to one Masters program in Biology which is a course-based program. Now the application is under review and will get the results at the end of next month.
However, meanwhile , I am also looking for other schools/principal investigators to contact about my interest in their graduate programs.The reason is that I am not guaranteed an entrance to the initial school and I don't want to miss another year just because I only put all my eggs in one basket.
Is it bad to apply for multiple schools ( by multiple I mean 3 schools total)? and how do students normally get around with requesting the reference letters from their referees for more than one application? Not all referees like writing reference letters.<issue_comment>username_1: As Compass said, it's fine to apply to multiple programs. I applied to two programs when I entered graduate school, and three when I was transferring to university. The letters that are written by your letter-writers are usually cut and paste, with appropriate parts tailored to the specific program.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: It is absolutely accepted - and usually strongly suggested - that a student apply to multiple programs for grad school. Strong programs tend to be "competitive", which is a way of saying that not everyone who applies will get a spot so you aren't guaranteed to get in just because you applied. The amount suggested varies, but I've not heard anyone suggest less than 5-6, and some suggest more like a dozen (especially if some of those are departments with a very small admissions rate). So there is nothing unusual about you want to apply than more than one - you definitely should!
Reference writers usually write one letter, then make only small modifications depending on what program you apply to. I know it can feel weird to ask someone to take time for you in this way, but it's part of the job and part of what they agreed to when they agreed to write a letter for you. Be appropriately grateful, but do not hesitate to apply to a program you'd like to be able to attend for this reason. Any sensible person writing a recommendation letter *wants* you to get in somewhere you are excited to go, and would very much enjoy hearing a positive result for you, and are generally happy to do their part - even if it does take them a little extra time to submit letters to a few extra places.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/18
| 486
| 2,018
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<issue_start>username_0: I am working on a project for school and would like to know if it would be in the public domain.<issue_comment>username_1: If your country is a signatory to the [Berne Convention](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention), then you automatically own the copyright to anything you write, from the moment you write it, with some exceptions:
* If you're being paid to write it, the work may qualify as "work for hire", in which case the copyright *may* be owned by whoever is paying you. Ask a lawyer (but not your employer's lawyer).
* Some universities (for example, [MIT](http://web.mit.edu/policies/13/13.1.html)) claim ownership of "Intellectual Property" developed using university resources (for example, the campus wifi network). Whether this claim applies to schoolwork is unclear. Ask a lawyer (but not the university's lawyer).
In any case, unless you (and/or your employer and/or the university, if they claim ownership) release it into the public domain, it isn't in the public domain.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I don't know a university that has good written policies on school work. In the US, it is likely that you own the copyright on the work. I think the assumption is that by handing in the work you are essentially agreeing to a copyright transfer agreement with the professor/department/university. The extent of the transfer must allow copying and distributing the work because the professor reasonably needs to be able to give it to a grader and make a copy to keep for the school records. It might need to be passed through a 3rd party plagiarism detection app. It might be eventually bundled with other students work as examples of past answers (and possibly sold for a profit). There may also be a tacit agreement that you will not distribute your work without the departments consent (i.e., not post your solutions online or hand it in for another class). As I said, I doubt any of this is written and most might be covered by fair use.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/18
| 959
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<issue_start>username_0: I am in a top master's program for my field of study. I completed my first semester last month and got back my grades. When I was offered admission at my current school, I was offered a partial fellowship, most likely based on my GRE scores, which were much higher than the school profile average. The only condition that I needed in order to maintain that fellowship was to maintain at least a 3.0 GPA. As a new student last semester, not knowing which courses to take, I took only the courses that were mandatory for students in my program.
I honestly did not enjoy many of my course subjects, and the one course that was required of all first-semester students was my least favorite. It was a theory-based course for all students regardless of major (whether they majored in the same thing in undergrad or something else). My undergrad major was different from my current major. This course made me feel depressed because it was in the same format as an undergraduate course with one lecture and one discussion led by a PhD student. For most of my courses, when I would inquire about grades, I would get vague responses. In my program, C is the lowest grade that could be given. I am still in good standing, which in my program is a 3.0. My GPA is a little bit higher than this, so I am able to keep my fellowship. But, my GPA is what disappoints me.
What is considered a good GPA in a master's program? Are there wide variations depending on the program of what is considered a good GPA? How important are master's program GPAs? I don't plan to move on to a PhD program. I read different responses on other sites like how a B is similar to an F.<issue_comment>username_1: If you do not plan on pursuing a PhD then a "good GPA" is one where you can complete your courses and graduate with your Masters. When you go into industry from academia, no hiring manager will care about your GPA - your experience matters more and your master's degree will be icing on the cake. Many graduate programs require at least a 3.0 GPA (B average) to maintain a good status and not be put on probation. So that might be your goal.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> "The one course that was required of all first-semester students was my least favorite. It was a theory-based course for all students regardless of major. This course made me feel depressed because it was in the same format as an undergraduate course with one lecture and one discussion led by a PhD student."
>
>
> You ended your first semester of a master's after changing fields with a gpa slightly higher than 3.0, which is the threshold value to keep your fellowship. You were disappointed.
>
>
>
Part of your question is
>
> How important are master's program GPAs? I don't plan to move on to a PhD program.
>
>
>
Your gpa is one indicator of fit -- fit between you and your new field and fit between you and the program you're enrolled in.
But it is not the sole indicator. Here are some other good questions:
* Did the required class prepare me well for the courses to come in my new field?
* Are the instructors in my program supportive of my learning?
* Am I comfortable enough here to do satisfying work?
>
> "For most of my courses, when I would inquire about grades, I would get vague responses."
>
>
>
You are entitled to clear, useful feedback about your own work in a course, and you are entitled to information about grade distribution in a course. If the instructor doesn't answer your questions, you may ask a department administrator.
Tip: ask in as neutral a tone as possible. There are students who come across as believing themselves entitled to an A at all times, and it wouldn't be helpful for you to give this impression. (I'm not saying your question here gave that impression -- just warning you about a possible pitfall.)
Upvotes: 0
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2017/01/18
| 845
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a first-year PhD student interested in working with a professor at my university. I have had two nice meetings with him and liked the project ideas we discussed.
But a student told me that he thought the professor's work was derivative and mostly hyped. I asked my academic advisor (a professor who suggests courses to take, answers questions, etc.), who agreed. The thing that stood out from his answer was: "Yeah. Professors talk about other professors, and ..." Which suggested to me that this was not a solitary opinion. The advisor's point was, without being primed, essentially the same as the other student's: the work often seemed like a rebranding and slight modification of other people's work. FWIW, my academic advisor is the research advisor of the student who first warned me. I didn't tell them what they each said, but I can assume they have talked.
Anyway, now I am wary. How can I better judge for myself, given that I am too junior to honestly know if the work is derivative. The professor is quite young but has been publishing in the top journals/conferences in the field.<issue_comment>username_1: First of all, every academic has their own opinion of others' work. Just because a student (or your advisor) thought that someone else's work was not significant does not necessarily mean that it is the truth. Although your advisor cites "others" in relaying his opinions, maybe your advisor and the professor in question hate each other, maybe the department places little importance on the professor's work, etc. On the other hand, note that if the professor is publishing in the top journals, then there are some people who think that your professor's work is great also! The point here is that most of the time, opinions are subjective.
There are a couple of ways that you can judge someone's work, being junior.
The first is to see how their students do after graduation. Look at their recent students and postdocs, and see how many remain in academia. Did they manage to secure good positions? Are they productive with research? These are good indications of whether your professor's work is derivative or original.
Secondly, talk to the older grad students or postdocs. They have been around the field long enough to understand what work is important, but not long enough that they are straightforward with you. Talk to a lot of them, and see if there is a consensus, although it would be difficult to get a fair sample!
But most of all, do what interests you! It is good to have an influential advisor, but unless you really believe in your work, I don't think it matters too much whether your research is important or not.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: **Publications at top journals/conferences** are a major accomplishment and an indicator that his work is seen as significant, at least by the community of his research area.
People from other areas may be generally inclined against that area for various reasons, including a more fundamental/pure stance of their own area ([relevant XKCD](https://xkcd.com/435/)). But that is a fact of life that one can easily live with, especially since the academic job market does not show a particular trend towards more fundamental/pure research.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> How can I carefully find out if a professor's work is well-respected within the department?
>
>
>
Talk to the dean or director of graduate studies in your department. Your department has a responsibility to guide you in choosing an advisor.
Upvotes: -1
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2017/01/18
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<issue_start>username_0: **Question**
What exactly is the definition of a *scientific* publication or journal?
**Background**
What fueled this question in particular is the current rise of predatory publishers. [<NAME>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Beall) had a list published online of suspected predatory publishers, but his blog has [very recently been discontinued](http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/01/mystery-controversial-list-predatory-publishers-disappears) ([cached copy](https://web.archive.org/web/20170111172306/https://scholarlyoa.com/publishers/), 11 Jan 2017). [Speculations of this disappearance](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/01/18/librarians-list-predatory-journals-reportedly-removed-due-threats-and-politics) include threats and political motivations.
Anyway, predatory publishers are characterized by any or all of the following:
* They appear suddenly and generate a host of new journals that cover a wide range of topics;
* They are open access and charge high fees;
* They have rudimentary, faked, or even no review process at all;
* They spam about every researcher with a publication record asking them to publish in their journals;
* They spam researchers to join their board of editors or become a reviewer.
For more backgrounds on predatory publishers see the [wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predatory_open_access_publishing).
Now still these predatory publishers profile themselves as being scientific publishers, e.g., [Scientific Research](http://www.scirp.org/) and [Austin Publishing Group](http://www.austinpublishinggroup.com/).
Access these links at your own risk. I would not call this class of journals scientific, as pretty much *any* author willing to pay a few grand can make it in there.
So what makes a scientific journal scientific? How exactly is this defined? I long thought a peer review process guarantees scientificness, but it can be faked or even absent, yet publishers claim to be scientific.
Where this question becomes particularly relevant is in the role of teaching - when I tell students only to use 'scientific literature' then what is it exactly? Would it be more a matter of what it is *not*?<issue_comment>username_1: There is no general definition for *scientific journal*. The [Wikipedia definition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_journal) is as vague as reality is. This is because there is no clear definition of *scientific*. It is a case-by-case distinction - not only for journals, but also for individual articles in a journal or one method described in an article. Additionally, *scientific* and *predatory* are not mutually exclusive.
Your instruction to your students to only use *scientific literature* is the key to the answer to your question: What is scientific and what is not depends on the concrete content of an article or the applied method. To distinguish between these two is the first step towards scientific thinking.
An answer on a list of predatory publishers can be found in this question [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/83764/with-bealls-list-gone-how-can-i-tell-if-a-journal-is-spam).
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Science (in the broad term) differentiates itself from - say - astrology or black magic by the holistic and transparent way it passes judgment on its own content. By definition, and unlike secret societies, there is no oath of secrecy and people are actually expected and encouraged to openly share the basis for their knowledge.
By extension, a scientific journal will be one where the evaluation process will be transparent (even if the evaluators may remain anonymous):
1. the submission will be handled by a known and reputable editor (or delegate), who functions as guarantors for the legitimacy and competence of the referees whose opinion is sought,
2. the guidelines to referees will be known to all,
3. referees will be given a reasonable of time to form a fair and unbiased opinion of the originality and correctness of the submission, and also assess its value to the community.
4. There will be transparent rules to appeal a decision if the authors disagree with the judgment if the editor.
5. For their part the authors agree to submit all relevant data for examination, not withholding information that could mislead the referees.
The key is transparency.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: A scientific journal is one that publishes articles on some scientific subject.
Beyond that, the entire question seems to have arisen because the asker incorrectly conflates "reputable" and "scientific". It's perfectly possible to have a journal devoted to history or literary criticism that uses peer review, doesn't spam and so on. Such a journal would be reputable, but not scientific.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/18
| 339
| 1,486
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<issue_start>username_0: I sent many emails to prospective PhD advisors looking for a position in their research groups. Recently, I got two offers from professors in different universities and I choose one of them as his research interests fit more with my experience. Now, I have to apologize to the second one that I won't to be able to work with him. How to do that without leaving a bad impression ?<issue_comment>username_1: The best thing you can do is be honest and explain the situation. You thank the second professor for the offer, explain you accepted another offer and wish the second professor well with their future research.
This is a common situation and the second professor should be understanding.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: There is no need for an apology - there may only be a need for an explanation (and maybe even not that, as username_1 said, this happens all the time). The other professor will not be offended in any way if you take another offer, but he may be interested in an explanation. So you could write something like "Thank you very much for you offer. However, I have chosen to accept another offer for a position which does fit my experience better." and you should be fine.
Also note that "I won't be able to work with him." is not necessarily true - in principle you could still start working with him remotely if both are interested and if time permits (e.g. it does not conflict with your work at the new workgroup).
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/18
| 395
| 1,732
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<issue_start>username_0: I have always wondered about the differences between one having "training potential" versus him/her not with enough professional knowledge.
For the F31 fellowship and many other PhD/Post-doc grants, NIH seems to care a lot about whether or not the applicants have training potential. I understand that, but if I say I would need this grant support so that I can learn C++ in the near future, wouldn't the reviewers can naturally argue: if you don't know some C++, how can you manage this project like you proposed to?
In another word, how should I phrase my training potential to make it not misleading please? Thank you.<issue_comment>username_1: The best thing you can do is be honest and explain the situation. You thank the second professor for the offer, explain you accepted another offer and wish the second professor well with their future research.
This is a common situation and the second professor should be understanding.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: There is no need for an apology - there may only be a need for an explanation (and maybe even not that, as username_1 said, this happens all the time). The other professor will not be offended in any way if you take another offer, but he may be interested in an explanation. So you could write something like "Thank you very much for you offer. However, I have chosen to accept another offer for a position which does fit my experience better." and you should be fine.
Also note that "I won't be able to work with him." is not necessarily true - in principle you could still start working with him remotely if both are interested and if time permits (e.g. it does not conflict with your work at the new workgroup).
Upvotes: 1
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2017/01/18
| 1,284
| 5,591
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an internal candidate for a tenure-track position at a major university in northern Europe. I think I have an excellent chance, however I am slightly worried about negotiating a startup packages. Here's why:
1. My department chief has insisted that I ask for my own salary
in funding applications. This seems crazy to me - why would a
funding agency justify paying the salary of a PI in a tenure-track
position?!
2. As far as I can tell, no other recent tenure-track
hires in the department received any startup funding, or equivalent
funding for PhDs or postdocs. Whether this was because they did not ask I do not know.
I have a strong impression from colleagues that I am the favoured candidate, and I am sure that, to some extent, asking for startup funding would make me look ungrateful for the opportunity. On the other hand, I cannot conceive how the department might a) expect to be internationally competitive if it does not provide incentives to new hires, and b) expect these new hires to achieve anything useful without any resources whatsoever.
Is this standard practice? Should I try to squeeze blood from the stone?
Many thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: In my field (biological sciences, US), receiving no startup funding at all (at least for lab space and basic equipment) would be unusual. Maybe I could see a case where departmental overhead is sufficient to start a lab but I would still think of this as "startup money" even if established professors have access to the same pool.
However, asking funding agencies to pay your salary would be the usual course of business and the expectation by the funding agencies is that they would cover the portion of your salary corresponding to your effort towards the project: if the project is going to be about half of your work, it would pay at least half your salary.
If you have a gap in extramural funding, the expectation is that the institution would pick up your salary in the meantime, though this may come with other institutional responsibilities attached like an increased teaching load or some administrative work, especially if you have more than a brief interval without outside funding. I would be greatly worried if the institution isn't willing to contribute in this circumstance, but it is reasonable for them to ask for you to look outside for funding.
Funding for students in my field would also typically come from extramural grants: you would ask in a grant proposal that the work fund a graduate student to complete the experiments. Direct departmental support for students to do research is uncommon, but they may be supported by other external fellowships such as institutional training grants or grants directly to that student, or through a teaching or project assistantship through the department.
On a side note, I could see the situation for startup funding being a little different as an internal candidate, that is, if the institution is expecting you to continue working in the lab space you are in (i.e., if you are a postdoc or scientist, taking over some space from your current PI) and grow your independence over time.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: There is a lot of variability in academia. Further, Europe is a big place. This means that generalizing in difficult. I used to work in a STEM department at a UK university.
Typically, UK and EU grants do not cover salary of permanent faculty, while fellowships, which cover salary, are only available to non-permanent staff. My former department used to hire assistant professors on an odd split contract to make them eligible for fellowships while providing them job security. Basically, they were given a 3 year fixed-term contract starting immediately and a permanent contract starting immediately following the fixed-term contract. So, it does not seem so surprising to me that a department would expect new faculty to apply for grants to cover their salary.
My department also tended not to guarantee startup funding. Decisions about departmental studentships and post doc fellowships were made on a candidate-by-candidate basis. We were not supposed to consider the faculty mentor in the decision. New faculty, could often obtain support for a student or two. Lab space was guaranteed and renovations (and some equipment) would be provided. The faculty member, however, was not given a budget for this.
As for some of your questions about how the department might
>
> expect to be internationally competitive if it does not provide incentives to new hires
>
>
>
This really depends on the competition and what other universities are providing. At least in the UK, the speed of the job search, coupled with its competitiveness, makes it unlikely the applicant can negotiate from a position of power. Couple this with the personality of Brits, and departments do not need to offer much to get the best person available.
>
> expect these new hires to achieve anything useful without any resources whatsoever
>
>
>
Again, in the UK, expectations of new hires are fairly mundane. The UK is driven by the [REF](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_Excellence_Framework) which requires something like 4 good papers over a 6 year period. New hires can often get a reduction in the number of papers.
>
> Should I try to squeeze blood from the stone?
>
>
>
You should talk (not negotiate) with the department chair or a trusted colleague in the department. They are the ones who are going to know the specifics of the department and the search in particular.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/18
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<issue_start>username_0: Am interested in learning more about student publishing. Is there a list of courses where students are publishing their work instead of just turning them into their TA and professor?<issue_comment>username_1: Although this might not be exactly what you are looking for, I recently learned that a course at my institution publishes student work in a free online journal, [found here](http://jass.neuro.wisc.edu/index.asp).
Certainly, publication in this format does not have the same prestige or distribution of a typical journal, but the studies are original even if they are not ground breaking. The works are reviewed by several faculty members and give the students an opportunity to produce a professionally formatted research paper, and give them a citation they can use to demonstrate their research/writing ability as they move forward in their careers.
Personally, I think this sort of approach is excellent experience for undergraduates. I don't think the level of work that you can expect students to put into a course could ever be expected to result in a publication in a mainstream journal (in a large enough sample size there could be exceptions, of course), though work produced in a course could certainly motivate a project that is publishable in the future after appropriate elaboration.
---
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with the course I link to, though I am an employee at the university.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: **Disclaimer**: As I've only been a graduate student at the university I'm currently attending (USA) I can only comment on my individual experience at this university in my particular field (computer science) and the classes that accompany it.
**Experience**: I have a publication currently accepted that is the direct result of a course I took.
Throughout my time as a graduate student I've observed several class formats as far as expected work goes, typically involving some combination of homework, exams, and projects. Those involving projects, particularly when greater emphasis is placed on the project, are those rife with opportunity for publication. An additional indication of this is if the faculty member is teaching the project-based course in his/her area of research.
If your intent is to take a class with the hope of turning your work into a publication I would recommend taking a course where the above align (project-emphasized course work being taught by a faculty member whose research area is the same as that of the topic being taught). Additionally, I would recommend:
**1)** Choosing a class that aligns with your own interests and research.
**2)** Speak with the professor prior to the start of the class about your intention of turning the project into a publication. The professor should be able to comment on whether their project is a good opportunity for such an endeavor and perhaps be able to provide you with advice on how to be successful in completing the project and turning it into a publication.
**3)** In discussing with the class instructor, it would also be a good idea to discuss project expectations, particularly as they relate to (a) working with other class members and (b) the criteria that will be used to grade your work. Regarding (a), not all class members may be interested in going the *extra mile* to turn a project into a publication. Having this discussion with the professor up front will mitigate the chance of encountering "snags" related to this (e.g., you be given an exception to work on the project by yourself). Regarding (b), the criteria used to grade your project may be slightly different than what it takes to make a publication. Granted your intent, and what will almost certainly entail a greater amount of work, some leeway may be granted to you if tasks to create a publication and those needed to earn full marks on the project don't line up entirely. This, of course, depends on the instructor.
**4)** Getting [at least] some preliminary idea of the course material and ongoing research in the area of the topic of the course, prior to its start, will help. Furthermore, having some project idea (i.e., research idea) in mind, would be ideal. This can also be discussed with the professor.
I'm sure there are points and recommendation that could be made here, as well as other scenarios, which may vary by field and university, but for me, in my own unique experience, these were the highlights that led to my course-based publication. Best of luck!
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/18
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm applying for a PhD program which lists "Two references" in their required documents. The general university online application portal lets me submit details of more than two referees though.
I really want to provide three references for this course. Technically I do have two technical referees in the system already, but while quite ok, I expect their references to be a bit flat and generic - given we worked together not that much, two years ago and in a different field. I know academic references have priority over professional ones. However, my technical project manager in my job (software), I know would write me an **absolutely smashing** reference (because I saw their annual review feedback of me). The PhD is in robotics so software experience is not irrelevant.
Is it acceptable for me to add this one more referee to the application, even though the program requires only two?
UPDATE: I've emailed the program people and they've replied that 3 references would be very much ok, especially if I think it will paint a clearer picture of me as a candidate!<issue_comment>username_1: >
> However, my technical project manager in my job (software), I know would write me an absolutely smashing reference (because I saw their annual review feedback of me).
>
>
>
You should be really careful about interpreting this. In industry annual reviews are for internal purposes. They reflect on both the person being reviewed and the reviewer. Many companies forbid employees from writing references and hand reference requests off to HR who produce a boiler plate reference stating the dates the employee worked at the company and that there were no disciplinary problems. Employees who are not forbidden to write references still only write bland (aka awful) letters.
In the US, it should be fine to submit more than the minimum required references if the system allows you to. In some countries, it might be problematic and the admissions committee might randomly select the required number of references and ignore the others.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: It's usually best to carefully read the application's supporting materials (FAQ, 'help' section, explanation pages, etc.), as some programs I've seen explicitly say "please do not send more than 2 [or usually 3 in the US]". Some programs require 2, but allow 3 (I've seen fellowships accept up to 5, but not a PhD program that does that).
However, I mainly answered to suggest you carefully consider how you pick your two "guaranteed" reference letters. If you are going into a program that is friendly towards industry practitioners, and your job and experience is relevant, and if your industry writer would be in a position to talk about relevant aspects of your application (technical skills desirable to the program, work ethic, reliability, etc), then it is possible that such a letter is actually better than a bland academic one by itself. This varies heavily by field, but if the program explicitly says something about how to professional references are OK (often with a stipulation that at least 1 be from an academic), then I think there's a case for you to go with one academic and one professional letter. Then you can put the 3rd in, if the system allows it, as your additional academic reference.
This can be very field and program specific, so I'd advise you to try to get some more guidance from someone closer your target program to give you there advice. But some fields - especially in applied areas of computer science, like many robotics programs, software engineering, etc - are far more appreciative of certain kind of professional reference letters than others.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2017/01/19
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<issue_start>username_0: For a teaching demonstration for an academic job interview (in mathematics, if that matters), **should I bring worksheets to my interview, and hand them out to my "students?**"
My teaching demonstration will be in front of a search committee rather than an actual class of students. I wanted to demonstrate what I actually do with real students, which is hand out worksheets to them at the start of class. I was wondering if it will be appropriate to print these out and bring them to my interview and hand them out like I usually would to a real class.<issue_comment>username_1: How can you demonstrate your teaching without your teaching materials? I believe that you should for the duration of the teaching demonstration treat the search committee as if they are students. I doubt this would be condescending to the committee because they asked you to teach to them rather than actual students.
Off course the committee will not actually do the assignment but it will give them a chance to see what you do as a teacher as well as the quality of your materials. It also allows them to see the interaction between the materials and your teaching.
If you are really nervous, just ask them before the demo if they actually want the materials. If they say no you wasted a few bucks on photocopies. If they say yes you were ready and thoroughly prepared.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Oh, I would bring them along, and if you get the search committee to actually fill out the sheets, all the better! I much prefer this to printouts of the slides some applicants pass out.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Yes, absolutely, do bring them! Having been on both sides of teaching interviews in mathematics, I can definitely tell you that the whole purpose of such a teaching demonstration is to get an impression of how you're actually going to teach. Not all schools can put a candidate in a real class with real students (for whatever reason that might be), hence "mock" classes in front of faculty posing as students. But you still should be to be as authentic and true to your teaching style as possible. Moreover, when you get your materials out, the search committee will see and appreciate the effort you put into preparation. It will be one of those possibly little things that do add up in your favor.
And don't be surprised at faculty trying to play their part authentically too! There's a chance that some will pretend to be not-so-good students, just to test how you can handle situations and questions that can occur in a real class.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/19
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<issue_start>username_0: I was interviewing for a faculty position in a large city. When I was done I took a taxi to the airport... the wrong airport! I ended up taking another taxi to the correct airport and catching my flight. However, the second taxi ride was around $100.
Should I include this when asking the school for reimbursement, or just pay out of my own pocket since this was my mistake and makes me look like an idiot?<issue_comment>username_1: Assuming they liked your presentation, and consider putting you on the shortlist, but are not sure at which position compared to some other candidate; now, reflect, which impression this makes.
1. You made a nontrivial mistake which is also quite costly.
2. You ask them to cover that mistake of yours.
Even if they would be willing to do so (and assume it would be eligible at all, which is also not clear - why should they reimburse you for your mistake?), consider how this comes across.
Unless you really are in *dire* need of the money (and it's not clear you are going to get it anyway), it's probably the wise thing to let things be.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Considering the importance of the interview for your career and the amount of money involved, I'd suggest you pay it yourself. You probably earn that amount of money in less than 1 day (correct me if I'm wrong), and getting a new interview may require more time than that.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: When do you need to submit your expense report by? Is it possible to delay submitting your expense report until after they have reached a decision? This may allow you to submit the expense report with the expense without it impacting your ability the secure the job.
Looking at whether the expense is valid is an interesting question but in my experience, things like this are a cost of doing business. The University always has the option of not accepting your expense report if they don't think it is a valid expense.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I actually made a much worse mistake when interviewing for the job I currently have (I booked the plane ticket for the wrong month), and paid a few hundred dollars out of pocket to make the change. I don't actually think it would have made a difference, but I was honestly too embarrassed to even try to ask for it.
The risk/reward difference is such that it's probably better to just keep your mouth shut, but I do find the other answers oddly ignore a crucial issue: there is no unitary "they" who is both making a decision about your job and the reimbursement. Of course, it comes from the same institution, but not really the same people. Your reimbursement will probably go directly to a secretary, and be signed off on by the chair without her/him even really looking at it. At my own institution, I doubt anyone would even notice if you sent in both receipts (maybe the secretary would think it was odd for a moment, but s/he has other stuff to worry about). Of course, there is some chance that it would be questioned, or go over some limit, and then maybe the secretary would mention it to the chair (or the chair might notice the bill being unusually high), and maybe the chair would mention it to other people in the department. That is the risk.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: Under the circumstances I'd say the extra cost should be paid by whoever booked the cab. If you booked it, it's your error: having them pay for it seems neither fair nor advisable. If they booked it, it's their error: having you pay for it is not fair.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/19
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<issue_start>username_0: For me, publishing results only when they are final, complete, and positive is more of a tradition than a necessity. I would find it valuable if others were able to publish what they have tried, even if they have not achieved what they (initially) aimed for. Unfortunately, this is very often not possible, at least in peer-reviewed journals.
I always pity the results that are lost because of this; in particular, when reviewers ask for additional research that is feasible in general, but infeasible because the authors are busy with other projects, moving to a different institution, leaving academia, or whatever other reasons. If I were an author in such a situation, I would probably share this reason with the reviewers to explain why additional work is not possible. As a reviewer, I might consider this in my recommendation. My question is: how relevant is this? Does this happen a lot? How likely is it to influence the reviewers' decision? And will the editor care?
These questions are very hard to answer, so good answers might be based on experience rather than hard facts. I would very much welcome those.<issue_comment>username_1: The way I see it is as follows: the reviewer's primary job is to judge whether the main claims made in the paper are borne out by the evaluation. The editor's primary job is to fill the conference/ journal with the papers that had the most interesting claims and passed review.
If you send in a paper, and the *reviewer* complains that additional research is needed, you actually have two options: you can add the research, or you can reduce the strength of your claim. If the *editor* complains that the claims are not interesting enough, you should look for a less prestigious venue.
So in short, it's perfectly fine to publish unfinished or negative research, but you need to be very honest about it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: It is not a reviewer's business why an author did not expand their research in any of a dozen different directions that invariably good research can be expanded in. Perhaps the author intends to do this in the future, perhaps at this point they are more interested in other research directions, perhaps they are about to leave academia, are suffering from a terminal illness and busy writing their memoirs, or whatever the case may be. None of this information ought to have any effect on the reviewer's decision.
The reviewer's job is to evaluate the *actual* paper and what it *actually* contains, and decide if it is correct and good enough research for the venue it is being considered for (or potentially could be made good enough with a small amount of extra work). It is also helpful, but not strictly required, if the reviewer can also offer useful feedback to the author.
In other words, "moving on" is completely irrelevant in the context of peer review.
And as for your "pity [about] the results that are lost because of this", it is understandable, but also irrelevant for peer review decisions. In any case, personally I don't see great cause for concern; researchers are human and lead human lives, with all the complexity and messiness that that entails, and research threads that were not pursued to completion by one researcher will, if they are interesting enough, eventually be picked up by other people.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I think a lot of this is ultimately up to the editor, not the reviewers.
If the reviews are mostly positive but are suggesting additional work that would elaborate on a particular conclusion, the authors could suggest to the editor that they merely add a suggestion for that research in the future and clarify where they are speculating vs. concluding; it would be up to the editor to decide if the paper in this state is still a good enough fit for the journal.
On the other hand, if the additional work is necessary to correct a major flaw or a control experiment to verify the absence of a likely confound, then it seems the authors must either complete the work or abandon the paper.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Appealing to "the graduate student left" or other sorts of "moving on" can be successful, but only in response to some referee requests.
There are two common types of referee comments:
1. To prove your claim X, you need supporting data Y [e.g. added control, missing step in proof.]
- To make this a better paper, you should do Z. [e.g., study more populations/animals, identify a biochemical mechanism, etc.]
Type 2 also comes in the flavor: "To make this a paper interesting enough for [Journal A], you must do something like Z."
To answer comments of type 1, you must either do what the referee says, or successfully argue that it's unnecessary (e.g. that control is already covered by our data in a different context, etc...).
Though this is not ideal, comments of type 2 are much more common in my experience. And the critical point is that a comment like this are mostly resolved by *negotiation* between the authors and referees, with the editor making the final call. This is where I think context like "moving on" could be useful. If a referee asked you to do something that would be a good idea, but take two years, that would not be reasonable (and I have seen this explicitly rejected by editors). Even without mitigating circumstances, this is where authors often write, "We believe this is outside the scope of the current paper, and plan to address it at a later time." In the same light, as a referee I would take into account a response like "This would take a major investment of time which is not currently possible because the graduate student now has a real job." There is a cost/benefit tradeoff to some revisions - and the referee does not know all of the costs!
However, as with claiming "outside the current scope," if the referee or editor believes this is *truly* essential, this can lead to rejection. This rejection is also more likely to occur in fancier journals. ("The graduate student left" isn't going to fly at Nature, or even [Field] Letters, but it might work at your default society journal or PLOS ONE.)
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/19
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<issue_start>username_0: In most Australian universities, the engineering degrees contain three explicit MATH courses which they cover one and two variable calculus, linear algebra, complex numbers, statistics (probability, random variables, etc), Fourier series, differential equations and Laplace transform. For electrical engineering students, they will obviously learn more mathematics but it is usually a part of the electrical engineering subjects and not explicit mathematics subjects. I believe an Australian electrical engineering student does not study topology, group theory, real and functional analysis and other advanced mathematics simply because those topics are not a part of an electrical engineering degree in Australia.
I think (but unsure) that the undergraduate electrical engineering programs in US require students to take much more math subjects.
Let's suppose that someone completes his electrical engineering degree in Australia and he applies for a mathematical research area of electrical engineering (signal processing, control theory) in graduate school in USA. Suppose that he is a good candidate overall; will graduate admission committee be concerned about Australian students mathematical ability? How do electrical engineering graduate school make sure that the Australian applicants have the required mathematical skills to complete the graduate program successfully?<issue_comment>username_1: I think it really depends. I've seen EE majors do much of the math someone majoring in math. At the junior-senior level, some EE students will take a semester of advanced calculus, matrix theory, and numerical analysis. It really depends on the university and their degree requirements.
For students outside of the US, admissions committees do try to review the student's background as carefully as possible, comparing it to their requirements. Certainly it will help to have as much math as possible if you want to stand out. In particular, try taking some "applied" courses - partial differential equations, numerical analysis, optimization, stuff like that. Some "pure" topics like real analysis (perhaps up to introductory measure theory, this is really not a big thing in my opinion) and complex analysis will help too.
If you plan to apply to a US university, I suggest talking to someone in graduate admissions in the department that you are interested in.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: In the U.S., electrical engineering programs (as well as those in "applied and natural science, computing, engineering and engineering technology") are accredited by [ABET](https://www.abet.org/accreditation/), formerly known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.
ABET publishes its [program eligibility requirements](https://www.abet.org/accreditation/what-is-accreditation/eligibility-requirements/) as well as an annual update of the [criteria](https://www.abet.org/accreditation/accreditation-criteria/) by which it judges programs.
For the [2021-2022](https://www.abet.org/accreditation/accreditation-criteria/criteria-for-accrediting-engineering-programs-2021-2022/) school year, the ABET criteria for baccalaureate programs related to electronic, electrical, computer engineering state:
>
> The curriculum must include probability and statistics, including applications appropriate to the program name; mathematics through differential and integral calculus; sciences (defined as biological, chemical, or physical science); and engineering topics (including computing science) necessary to analyze and design complex electrical and electronic devices, software, and systems containing hardware and software components.
> The curriculum for programs containing the modifier “electrical,” “electronic(s),” “communication(s),” or “telecommunication(s)” in the title must include advanced mathematics, such as differential equations, linear algebra, complex variables, and discrete mathematics.
>
>
> The curriculum for programs containing the modifier “computer” in the title must include discrete mathematics.
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> The curriculum for programs containing the modifier “communication(s)” or “telecommunication(s)” in the title must include topics in communication theory and systems.
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>
> The curriculum for programs containing the modifier “telecommunication(s)” must include design and operation of telecommunication networks for services such as voice, data, image, and video transport.
>
>
>
Electrical engineering graduate students who received their bachelor's degrees from an ABET-accredited institution can be assumed to have studied the above topics.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/01/19
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<issue_start>username_0: I used to host some code I'd written for university assignments publicly on my GitHub account (after the deadlines had passed, of course). Before long, I received an email from the dep't asking me to take it down due to fears of plagiarism (if students were given the same or similar assignments in the years subsequent).
I did so, but recently I've been thinking - my university uses Turnitin for plagiarism detection, which as I understand it means that my code is already in the Turnitin database as shown in the below excerpt from [this FAQ](http://turnitin.com/en_us/resources/blog/421-general/1644-top-15-misconceptions-about-turnitin):
>
> **Misconception 7: Every student paper submitted becomes part of the Turnitin database--forever.**
>
>
> ***Reality***: Turnitin has many options--including the ability to offer students an "opt out" of the database and the option of having an institutional database of student papers. Student papers may be removed only by request of the instructor of the class.
>
>
>
I don't recall opting out of anything, so if my code is in the Turnitin database surely *undetected* plagiarism wouldn't be an issue? Of course, the morality of providing a desperate student with both the temptation and means to plagiarise is another issue entirely.<issue_comment>username_1: Those plagiarism checkers can only detect certain kinds of plagiarism. They will detect for example if text parts are the same. They won't detect missing references or plagiarized ideas.
So if you host your assignment there then others can be "inspired" by that, and if they rewrite everything in their own words and change the code in certain ways but don't cite your GitHub project then it would be a plagiat. But Turnitin might not recognize it as such. Especially since I guess you would need to set the detection level quite low, because for such assignments there will always be a certain overlap in the results if everyone solves the same problem.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In such a case I don't think it would be copy-paste plagiarism that would be an issue. It's just that students could read your work and know exactly how to solve their issue, and they wouldn't need to cite your work and just play it off as if they figured it out on their own.
On the other hand, I don't think it's a very good way to handle things, especially in coding assignments. Part of it is just the nature of coding, where learning to read others code is very important, and it's even more important to learn to adapt existing code to new and different purposes. Only small changes would be needed in the assignment to make it so students couldn't just use existing work, so it seems like the concern could be overblown, but I can't say for sure without knowing the exact nature of the assignment and grading methods.
The other issue is that just by asking you to take down a public, equally shared resource, where both students and faculty could be equally aware of the work, doesn't mean students won't pass around past years versions of work anyway. Except then only a limited subset of students will have access to the resources (ones in particular social groups, etc), and it is unclear who has and who hasn't seen previous solution sets.
I know many instructors would love to have their students be sufficiently proud of their work to want to share and have other people read it, and especially to have struggling students study the work of such students and see how they do things. Seems like a great outcome, really. And it seems to be pretty well accepted that in this highly-connected point in history, that you can't rely on simple secrecy in tests - you need to tweak and change things each time so that students can benefit from previous years work, while at the same time still needing to perform their own new work.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I am a three-time loser on applying for a job at TurnItIn, so I don't know if they are smart enough to mark computer source code as needing special treatment. A stupid plagiarism checker would be defeated by global search and replace on variable names.
Upvotes: -1
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