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<issue_start>username_0: I understand that it is best to give a good oral presentation supported by slides with minimal text. Questions like this [have been asked before](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/55120/how-much-information-should-i-include-in-my-lecture-slides), but in the context of a "normal" presenter.
My ability to communicate in front of an audience is however so impaired by my nerves during a presentation that I think I can communicate more information by making nearly self-explanatory slides.
What is your advice on this in case of unusual limitations or problems of the presenter? Problems such as:
* nervousness up to the extent that language gets incoherent,
* people who do not speak the language required for the presentation well,
* people with voice problems.
I understand this question can be a general debate of taste or style. But in general the objective in communication is the exchange of information by means of imperfect/corrupt media. If it’s difficult to repair or replace the media, it seems to make sense to change the mode of transmission. In an academic setting such as a conference presentation, or even a keynote, how acceptable is it to make the talk supporting the slides, in stead of the slides supporting the talk?<issue_comment>username_1: Slides with a lot of text or equations aiming to be self-explanatory **tend to**:
* visually overwhelm the audience and don’t provide visual guidance – which is more relevant in talks than in written text as the audience needs to multitask to some extent, listening to the speaker and reading the slides at the same time;
* contain more information than the audience can digest in the given time – regardless of what the speaker does;
* have overly small text and graphics;
* be read verbatim (which usually is a bad idea).
Mind the *tend to:* Neither are these issues inevitable, nor are they tied to the slides being self-explanatory. Rather, they are what often happens if an inexperienced speaker tries to make slides self-explanatory. In fact, I would consider most of my own slides self-explanatory and I am rather confident that my talks do not suffer from the above problems.
Hence I think your strategy to make your slides self-explanatory is fine – if you avoid the above problems. In detail, I recommend:
* Avoid complete sentences, as they are bad for discontinuous reading such as usually done in talks.
* Make sure that the main structure of each slide is easy to grasp.
* Find a reasonable trade-off between not putting too much information on one slide and showing slides long enough.
If possible, use some test audience to ensure that your slides can be comprehended within the allotted time.
* If a slide is complicated, build it up step by step in pieces that can be assessed by the audience within seconds.
Be careful not to overuse this feature, e.g., by uncovering a list item by item.
The audience likes to read ahead, in particular if you are rhetorically challenged.
* *Self-explanatory* does not mean *containing all the details.*
In most cases, you barely have sufficient time to communicate your main message – only show what is essential to this message or at least make sure that sidenotes are visually distinct.
For example, if there is a standard way to choose the temperature at which you conduct your experiment, you usually don’t need to write this on your slide.
If you know that there are some people who cannot stop themselves from asking about this or it may be interesting for some members of the audience, give this information on the slides in a smaller font size or visually separate (and don’t talk about it).
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: One additional idea to consider—you may want to treat what you're going to say as a "script" and memorize it. There's a lot of research that shows that reciting a speech (or similarly, acting or singing on stage!) uses different parts of the brain than normal everyday speech. You may find that it bypasses your nervousness and allows you to get through the talk.)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm not sure if this is an academia specific question, but a general question about presenting. I'd strongly recommend against using more words on slides than necessary, which is what it sounds like you want to do.
As someone who has sat through lectures containing slides with big paragraphs in 12pt font, it's a surefire way to make sure you audience doesn't pay attention. You will lose their interest very quickly. They could, after all, read this on their own. What do they need you for? In addition, whether it's true or not, it could potentially appear lazy.
So ultimately, it's up to you whether you do this, just be aware that the majority of your audience will most likely tune you out.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I think you should be mindful that some of your audience members may have disabilities.
Some may have trouble hearing and / or may be deaf and you many not be aware of this: such an audience member relies on you writing enough material on the chalkboard / in your slides to follow along. OTOH, some may have trouble seeing / or may be blind, and you need to verbalize enough of the material for them to follow your lecture.
So, basically, it's not all about you, it's about the audience's needs, too. That may sound harsh, but perhaps that could help you forget about your own nervousness and instead focus on the audience being able to receive the information.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> If you have severe problems with speaking, is it okay to use more text and equations on slides?
>
>
>
Sort of: to be more precise, it's only "okay" to the extent that it may be the *least bad* option available to you or in general to a speaker who has the sort of difficulties you alluded to. But sadly I think that there is no such thing as "self-explanatory slides" -- the closest thing is called a "paper", and is something people can consume without going to a talk. **The whole point of a talk is to use the medium of speech to communicate ideas in a completely different, and potentially much more efficient, way than through static, written material.** To hear other people present their ideas through speech *is the reason people go to talks*.
Note that I am not trying to belittle your difficulties. I understand that just telling you you have to speak when maybe you can't is not helpful, so that's not what I'm doing. I'm just saying I think a talk with almost no speech is seriously unlikely to end up being a good talk no matter how hard you try, since you will be trying to use the wrong medium for the format to convey your ideas. It is like trying to play tennis with a ping pong paddle -- it can be done perhaps, but not well.
>
> What is your advice on this in case of unusual limitations or problems of the presenter? Problems such as:
>
>
> * nervousness up to the extent that language gets incoherent,
> * people who do not speak the language required for the presentation well,
> * people with voice problems.
>
>
>
My advice is:
1. If the problem is completely, hopelessly unresolvable, e.g., due to being related to a medical condition, then just do your best with the text and equations and any other tricks you can think of. Also consider giving fewer public talks and trying to build your reputation more through interaction with small groups of collaborators and students, and written communication media such as papers, emails, blogging etc.
2. If there is *any chance* that your speech difficulties could be resolved someday, even if it might be extremely difficult and require years of therapy, voice practice, intensive language tutoring, or even surgery or other medical treatments, I think you might want to consider making the effort. Presenting your work in public is an integral part of academic life (and certainly one cannot hope to get a job that involves teaching, which are 99% of academic jobs, if one cannot demonstrate having that ability at least at a reasonable level), so your prognosis for a successful academic career with very limited public speaking skills would not be a great one, unless you are a genius of Ste<NAME>'s caliber. Sorry I can't sound more optimistic, and good luck.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: >
> how acceptable is it to make the talk supporting the slides, in stead of the slides supporting the talk?
>
>
>
In line with what username_5 said, I think you need to think about what the point of a talk is. Here's a non-example from a conference I was at:
The speaker began by apologising that they were not really comfortable in English (understandable, not itself a problem). They then brought up their paper on the screen, and proceeded to read it out in a mutter (bad. very bad.).
As a result, people either got on with some other work, or sat pondering what they would have for dinner. I doubt anyone was interested in further interaction with the speaker.
Instead of trying to make the slides give the talk you don't feel able to, **I suggest thinking about how best to use the talk time given the skills you have**.
Eg.
* Most people try to put too much into a talk anyway, so cut it down to
a small number of key points. If you want to pass on lots of details,
provide a handout that people can read at a more suitable time if
they want to. A talk is not for that purpose.
* Design the slides to help reduce your nerves. I like having slides
because they remind me what I was planning to talk about, so I don't
have to worry so much about remembering (or otherwise).
* Use diagrams that show what you are trying to communicate, and add
the explanation of it verbally.
* Depending on the context and the topic, you might be able to make good use of audience participation. Set a question that helps the audience understand where the problem arises when you try the obvious solution; or shows up the bias many people bring to the question; or helps the audience see how your topic affects them. Achieving a good outcome this way won't be easy, but it could be worth the effort.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/09/13
| 344
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<issue_start>username_0: I am an assistant professor of linguistics. In order to get promoted to the associate professorship one of the things I need to do is write a book or a book chapter. I was wondering how I could write a chapter in a book to be published. Where should I start? Who do I get in touch with?
Many thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: In my discipline in the social sciences, book chapters are typical outcomes of workshops or of (repeated) conference panels. The book editors usually organize the workshop, which includes funding, establishing contacts and sending out invitations or an open call for papers. As a participant (rather than organizer), it is difficult to know from the outset whether the workshop will result in any form of collective publication, but sometimes the intention to work on a publication is specifically advertised. As an organizer, this is in your hands; and it of course leads to several follow-up questions (how to edit a book etc.) that are beyond the scope of this answer.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: One good way to interact with other researchers in your field is to be the **editor** of a book. Perhaps there is an existing series of monographs in your research area. If so, you could contact that person with the idea for a research volume which would encompass your field of research. You could then provide one of the chapters (in addition to an introductory chapter!), and you'd have the opportunity to invite others from your discipline to contribute chapters as well.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/09/13
| 510
| 2,232
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<issue_start>username_0: I am about 1 year away from finishing my PhD (hopefully), and have recently seen a few advertised postdoc positions that I think would be perfect for me. Most positions indicate that the start date is around 3 months away. My question is: how early is too early to apply? Is it worth applying for these positions and indicating in my cover letter that I wouldn't be able to start for another year? Is it OK to email professors directly and inquire informally about open positions in their labs at this stage?<issue_comment>username_1: You certainly *can* apply early - the worst they can say is "No", which is functionally equivalent to what happens if you don't apply. It's also a perfectly fine time to start asking around.
The answers will depend very much on the postdoc. For example, right now I have a postdoc position in my lab where "A year from now" is 1/3rd of the way through funding, so it likely wouldn't be acceptable, as I needed a postdoc working right away. On the other hand, there are other positions where starting would be considerably more flexible.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The right time to start approaching potential postdoc advisors is once you have a good sense of when you're finishing up. Even though an advisor may say the funding will start in three months, there may be delays, or someone might end up staying longer than expected, or the hiring process may run into issues (especially for foreigners). So making sure you start the conversation with enough lead time is always better than waiting until you're just a few months away from finishing.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Emailing professors is good. Applying for a postdoc starting in three months when you still have a year to go isn't worth it, though there is no harm in it either. Most postdocs you find will have hundreds of applicants, many of them good, so it is unlikely that they will hold the position for you. I suggest just applying to the ones that come up closer to when you are finishing.
The exception I think is if you are an excellent fit for a position that is specific in its requirements. Then you should at least contact the professor and see what they think.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/09/13
| 4,254
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<issue_start>username_0: I just started my freshman year of high school, and one of the electives I'm taking is a year long research project where we can choose any topic, do an experiment, and write a paper about it. I chose to do a research project with mathematics, specifically a *really* cool subject called class field theory.
I understand the topic, most of the current papers and literature I've read on it, and I have done an experiment on a certain cause/effect. The problem now is to analyze the data I've gotten and write a paper. It looks really promising, but I will occasionally have questions on certain topics that are **really** hard to research online. For this, I usually try to contact a researcher who is knowledgeable in the subject I'm researching and just ask if they would be interested in giving some of their time to answer some of my questions.
For example, the way I structured my last email (that spurred this question):
>
> Hello Dr. \*\*\*\*\*,
>
>
> My name is \*\*\*\*\*. I'm 14, and I live in South Carolina. Recently, we were assigned a year-long research project, which I chose to do on Hilbert class fields of global function fields. In one area of my research, I encountered a problem with [short, general topic of problem].
>
>
> I see that you have taught a lecture on class field theory (including Hilbert and ray class fields). I have studied the lecture notes and it has given me a lot of clarification, but I still have a few questions that I feel most of the resources out there do not address.
>
>
> I've also read some of your work and it seems right up my alley.
> I appreciate your concise yet poignant and very understandable way of explaining things. I was wondering if perhaps we could start a short correspondence to help me understand what I'm writing about, and to gain more knowledge of class field theory.
>
>
> With gratitude, \*\*\*\*
>
>
>
The response I got to this, and unfortunately to the majority of responses I get to similar emails, is condescending in tone and treated me as a child. Of course, I understand this, as I *am* a child, but in this specific area I would not like to be treated as one. I tried to just not tell my age, and I got much more enthusiastic reactions, but what was suggested to me was to "talk to my advisor" or cited other resources that are not available to me as a highschool student.
Is there something I'm doing wrong in my emails? I've never been part of the whole "academia culture", so this is just me trying my best to sound professional. In any case, what can I include in my correspondence or generally do to be respected as a young researcher?<issue_comment>username_1: It is somewhat surprising that this is occurring in mathematics, where there are a lot of prodigies running around!
There might be a few things you could do differently in your emails to people working in the field:
* If you are attending a well-known "magnet" school in math and science, this could be mentioned.
* You could explain in a bit more detail why you chose your topic.
* Alternatively, you could explain the problem in a bit more detail.
All of these would be to get the reader to realize that you aren't wasting their time with a "crank" email, but are seriously asking them for assistance.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The sentence "I understand the topic, most of the current papers and literature I've read on it, and I have done an experiment on a certain cause/effect." does not inspire confidence. How on earth would one do an "experiment" on a "cause/effect" in class field theory? I'm a professional mathematician who knows something about that subject, and I'm scratching my head right now.
I think you're focused too hard on "respect". I personally don't deal with *undergraduate students* as equals, and I almost never interact with kids who are younger than that. I think you should dial back on your expectations.
The suggestion that you speak to your mentor (which you've admitted you have) is a good one. While sometimes faculty are willing to answer technical questions from strangers (if they have time and the questions are sufficiently interesting), it is unrealistic to expect them to devote a lot of time to mentoring you. If you've really exhausted the resources available at your school, I would talk to your teachers and the professor who is already mentoring you and ask for introductions to people who could help you. Approaching strangers by email is rarely a useful strategy.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Researchers tend to be very busy advising their *own* students, and often don't have much free time to commit to supervising others. Recognize that you are asking someone who is very busy to spend some of their limited time on something that (1) may or may not be interesting to them, (2) is not part of their "official" professional responsibilities, and (3) is likely to take time away from their "official" professional responsibilities. (That is why "talk to your advisor" is a common response; they aren't brushing you off, so much as they are redirecting you to someone who is personally responsible for helping you, and has committed to investing that time in you.)
For this reason, emails to researchers asking questions that they don't feel *personally* responsible for answering, often go unanswered.
You also wrote that you believe the answers to your questions are not going to be immediately obvious, even to an expert:
>
> I have frequent contact with a professor at my local university, who has taught a class on this subject but has not published any papers or done any research in this area. He and I worked on a few of my questions and were able to solve them, but he couldn't figure out any of my other ones. Although that doesn't preclude "common knowledge to any expert", I am pretty sure it isn't.
>
>
>
which suggests that you are asking for a fairly substantial time investment.
And you are asking for an open-ended commitment in your email:
>
> I was wondering if perhaps we could start a short correspondence to help me understand what I'm writing about, and to gain more knowledge of class field theory.
>
>
>
I would be *extremely* reluctant to say "Yes" to this without any clue of how advanced you are in the topic, what you are expecting from me, and whether it would be an interesting or useful correspondence for me.
It would, however, be appropriate to send a short, actionable email, on a question that is directly related to the researcher's published papers. For example:
>
> Hello Dr. \*\*\*\*\*,
>
>
> My name is \*\*\*\*\*. I'm 14, and I live in South Carolina. I am working on a research project related to Hilbert class fields of global function fields.
>
>
> I was wondering if you could answer a question about your paper, [name of paper]. [Specific question that you are looking for an answer to.]
>
>
> With gratitude, \*\*\*\*
>
>
> P.S. Would it be OK if I asked some further follow-up questions on this subject?
>
>
>
See
* [When asking research-based questions, what are some good practices to maximize the rates at which people reply to emails?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/356/when-asking-research-based-questions-what-are-some-good-practices-to-maximize-t)
* [Increase chance of reply when e-mailing an eminent researcher?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/13734/11365)
for additional suggestions
For questions that are not related to a specific paper, but are more general questions about the field or your own work (that you and your advisor are unable to answer), I suggest [Mathematics Stack Exchange](https://math.stackexchange.com/). People are more likely to invest time in answering a stranger's questions for no professional benefit on a platform where that's what they *do*.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: Good luck with your research project, it sounds really cool. I'm a math professor and occasionally get emails from people asking me for help, and in fact recently entered a brief email correspondence with a high school student who asked me some questions. So I think I may be able to offer some useful insights in connection with your question.
>
> Is there something I'm doing wrong in my emails?
>
>
>
No, I think the email is very well written. I can't think of any way it can be improved (except maybe tone down the flattery a bit, but who knows, that might appeal to some recipients). Certainly, as you may already realize, lying about your age or misrepresenting your circumstances to try to get people to give you a more helpful answer than they would be inclined to give otherwise is a very bad idea, and is likely to backfire in some unpleasant and potentially damaging way.
>
> In any case, what can I include in my correspondence or generally do to be respected as a young researcher?
>
>
>
As I said, I can't think of anything else you can do in your correspondence that you're not already doing. But if I'm reading between the lines of your question, I get the sense that you have an expectation that your doing the right thing should somehow guarantee the positive outcome you are wishing for. That is not the case.
Let me explain: the reason professors aren't taking you up on your offer to enter a correspondence *has nothing to do with you doing something wrong*, and everything to do with the fact that professors are very busy people, who aside from having almost all their professional time occupied with their teaching, research, and other duties that simply cannot be ignored, are also constantly getting bombarded with unsolicited emails from complete strangers asking for advice, help, or trying to interest them in various projects. No matter how exciting or interesting each individual offer is (and trust me, most of them aren't), there simply isn't enough time in the day to give each one the amount of attention it is asking for.
In addition to time being a very scarce resource for a professor -- much more scarce than my 14-year old self could have ever imagined, so I will assume you will find it difficult to imagine as well and hope that you will not find this assumption condescending on my part -- there is also eye strain and physical fatigue to consider. Myself and most of the professors I know spend much too much of our days typing on a keyboard and staring at screens. It is unhealthy and leads to physical discomfort and sometimes pain or even injury, and yet we continue to do it, because (a) much of our work duties that we simply have to do involve those activities; (b) we really enjoy our work and are passionate about it; and (c) after finishing our work we also enjoy doing other things that normal people do on a computer (like facebook, chatting with friends, posting on StackExchange etc).
Now let's go back to your situation. When viewed in the context of what the life of a professor looks like as I described above, do you see how an offer to enter an email correspondence with a 14-year old to help him or her understand an advanced area of mathematics, which is something that would be very difficult to explain even in person to an adult with plenty of background, simply isn't appealing, and is not something that the typical math professor would consider an efficient use of his/her time and other limited resources? It's really not your fault, it's just the way things are.
Let me conclude with some positive advice to offset the somewhat pessimistic opinion above. I think there are in fact plenty of people who would be happy to talk to you *in person*, at least for a limited time, if you could find an opportunity where you are both physically present in the same place. And moreover in many parts of the U.S. there are all kinds of programs catering to talented youth who are interested in mathematics. I'm not very knowledgeable about this subject (and specifically about South Carolina) so I'll leave it to others to comment about, but generally speaking I think you are on the right track, and in particular the idea of talking to professors at a local university near you, as you seem to already be doing, should be a very good way to help you and connect you with useful resources. Good luck!
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: Your draft dwells on *your* motivations. Try to appeal to the *other person's* interests. This is general advice from <NAME>'s *How to win friends and influence people*, a book that helped me.
We assume the professor is proud of their teaching and wants to help students into their field, but is a busy person who can't commit to a ongoing correspondence.
Perhaps
>
> Dear Professor X,
>
>
> Your lecture notes in super theory were a great help to me—I'd love to take a course of yours in person one day. After re-reading, there's a couple of intricacies that still elude me. No doubt you could explain them clearly.
>
>
> Can you help?
>
>
> ...
>
>
> Thank you for reading.
>
>
>
That gives the professor opportunity to confirm their reputation by answering your questions, without committing to an ongoing correspondence. If they don't reply, it must simply be that they are busy.
If you respond gratefully and sincerely "*Thank you so much. This helps with my work on Z* [now you can mention it]. *I appreciate your time*", you've built rapport so that you can write to them again in future (perhaps for advice on admissions?). If you bother them too much, they will stop replying.
Best sleep on the message before sending it. In my experience, at the point I finish writing an email to a professor—or just after I send it—I realise my error in understanding!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I think the main problem is this line:
>
> I was wondering if perhaps we could start a short correspondence to help me understand what I'm writing about, and to gain more knowledge of class field theory.
>
>
>
Despite the word "short", this sounds like a *huge* endeavor -- I'm happy to send a few one-off answers, but I don't really have time or interest in committing to a lengthy correspondence. It may be better to just put your top 1-2 questions right in the initial letter; this may lead to a correspondence, or he might just answer the initial questions; either way, it's a better outcome.
This line also rubs me the wrong way:
>
> I've also read some of your work and it seems right up my alley. I appreciate your concise yet poignant and very understandable way of explaining things.
>
>
>
This is a bit vague (why is it *right up your alley*?) -- try citing a *particular* reason why you chose *this* professor -- they are very unlikely to reply unless they think that you really need to talk to them in particular, rather than just any math professor (the concise/poignant is a good start, but a technical reason would work better).
Finally, I would be a bit more concise -- in the sciences, brevity is an art form. Maybe something like this:
>
> Dear Dr. \*\*\*\*\*,
>
>
> My name is \*\*\*\*\*. I'm working on a project involving Hilbert class fields of global function fields. In one area of my research, I encountered a problem with [short, general topic of problem].
>
>
> I read your paper about \*\*\*\* and found it very helpful. I was hoping I could ask you for a few clarifications -- I'm still in high school, so no one at my school really knows anything about this. My main questions are:
> (1) \*\*\*\*
> (2) \*\*\*\*
>
>
> I'd really appreciate any insight or advice. With gratitude, \*\*\*\*
>
>
>
Finally, you will likely have much better luck at local or less well known schools than at "famous" top-10 schools.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: * Make your enquiries specific, clear, relevant (to the academic's academic research, or to a past publication), and concise. In the subject line of your message, ensure that the nature of your enquiry is clear (e.g.: "[research enquiry] clarification on X in your article '[name of article]'").
* Ensure your message addresses the academic with appropriate formality: a salutation such as "Hi" or "Hello" is inappropriate; you should use "Dear Prof. [surname]," and close "Yours sincerely".
* Show the academic that you have already "done your homework" (e.g.: "I have already read A, searched online resource B, but could not find clarification on point X"), and ask him/her whether he/she can point you to any relevant literature you have not already read (explain that you do not JSTOR access &c., but that you are willing to buy a few relevant texts if they are highly recommended).
* Show the academic that you are genuinely knowledgable and interested in the subject (your credentials, or lack thereof, are less important than tangible engagement in the field: if, for example, you find a mistake in someone's paper, people will take you seriously no matter what your age).
* It is probably better not to mention that you are minor, although you should acknowledge any limitations in your knowledge of a topic.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/09/14
| 1,868
| 7,807
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently a Graduate student.
I had the opportunity to do some research as undergraduate for which the professor seemed very busy. I tried my best to "bother" him as much as possible with emails of when to meet up, questions and guidance for my research. The research didn't go far as you can expect from an undergraduate without any guidance (the type of guidance like a weekly meeting or reading material or direction for the research) I ended up asking a recommendation letter from him in which he butchered me and destroyed all my chances of getting in almost any college. This was after he happily agreed to write me a recommendation letter and was so happy to write all positive words. After I shared with him that I got accepted into a college. He later went on to explain that I "wasn't involved enough". I felt at one point that I was starting to harass him by sending emails every 2 days and stopping by his office hours uninvited. If anything I would expect the opposite kind of complain. That made me feel bitter and do some self-criticism, and be more persistent in the future.
Problem is that I am in a new college (as a graduate student) and facing the same issue. The professor I am doing research with doesn't meet with me, doesn't respond to my emails. And the research hasn't even properly started yet. I am highly-motivated and can take self-initiative but without direction I don't know what to do or focus in. I feel again that I might be repeating the same mistake... so I really don't know what I can do better or if there is a misunderstanding from my part. I have send a chain of 5 emails that went without a response over the course of the last 2 weeks.
* How do I approach the professor and what do I say?
* Is there a limit to the emails or office visits? Do professors take this as genuine interest or am I being exhausting them?
* Is this a way for a professor to kindly stop research or any ongoing projects?
* What am I doing wrong?!<issue_comment>username_1: If this kind of thing happened once, then I might chalk it up to chance (not everyone is friendly or professional). But if it happens twice, then I think it is more likely that you are either not reading the situation correctly or are behaving in an unprofessional or at least strange way (and probably don't even realize it). But it is basically impossible for strangers on the internet to figure out what precisely is going on. After all, we've never met you, seen how you interact with people, etc.
The only real solution is to speak with people you trust (friends, mentors, etc) who actually are eyewitnesses to what is happening and ask them for their take on it. Even more importantly, trust them if they tell you ways that you need to change.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I tried my best to "bother" him as much as possible with emails
>
>
>
This will not be appreciated. Professors tend to be very busy, with tons of duties to juggle and overflowing e-mail inboxes. Generally, we wish we could handle everything that comes our way promptly -- but this tends to be difficult. Emailing is okay, but back off somewhat.
For a humorous take on this from a busy professor's point of view, I highly recommend <NAME>'s [The Email Event Horizon](https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=388 "The Email Event Horizon").
>
> without direction I don't know what to do
>
>
>
Get used to it, as a researcher you're quickly going to have to learn to find your own direction.
Do *something*. Read books or papers related to your research area. Attend seminars and colloquiua. (And ask questions after the talk!) Talk to your peers. Pose problems and attempt to answer them. And so on.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: First of all, *take a deep breath.* A PhD is a multi-year long program. You will not 'fall behind' if you are left unattended to for 2 weeks.
1. "Is there a limit to the emails or office visits? Do professors take this as genuine interest or am I being exhausting them?"
If you feel like you have to ask this question, perhaps you should tone down your communication for a bit. You have mentioned yourself that you have been dropping in uninvited to office hours and sending continuous chains of emails. You should ask yourself this question: If what I am doing right now does not work, should I keep doing it?
2. "Is this a way for a professor to kindly stop research or any ongoing projects?" A professor has to advise multiple students, he also has commitments to teaching, departmental duties, reviewing, editing, etc. They are often more busy than you think. Perhaps he may be trying to ignore you and avoid giving you a project, however this seems counterproductive if he has chosen to accept you as his student already. It could be possible that he simply is too busy, or has no good ideas at the moment (they are not inexhaustible sources of projects), or wants to simply spend more time considering before giving you a *suitable* project.
3. "How do I approach the professor and what do I say?" Email him first, and then find a way to meet him in person if he does not respond. Perhaps he simply did not see your email. Be clear with what you want. "I would like to have some guidance on what my first project will/should be. Do you have any proposals in mind or suggestions on what I should do?" You can even help guide him by saying some topics *you* may be interested, or areas where you are strongest in.
As far as I can see, you have three options, in rough order of desirability.
1. Let your advisor know in clear terms what level of assistance you expect as a student. Ask him if he can provide that level of guidance. If he says no, then its a clear sign you should switch groups and keep looking, but at least you did not waste your time staying with the group.
2. Adapt to how your advisor works and try to do the best under your circumstances. Perhaps you may learn to thrive under this kind of environment. Perhaps you may not. Some students prefer a hands-off advisor and might even dislike too much micromanagement.
3. Keep emailing your advisor and haunting him outside his office. If he is an advisor who is hands-off and does not provide guidance, hope that by pestering him you can change how he has been operating for the past decade(s). (No, don't do this.)
Being motivated and eager is great, especially if you can maintain it throughout your PhD. Finding how to channel that energy into something productive, even without direct outside guidance, and learning how to be an independent researcher is an important part of PhD training.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Some people like to be communicated via emails, some people prefer you popping up on their office. I recommend asking your professor directly how does he prefer to get your questions next time you see him, or go to his office for a quick question. For all we know, maybe your new professor is just bad keeping up with emails.
You should also ask his other students how to best deal with him. For example, if I have several small questions for my supervisor, it is better to send them in a few separate emails, or he may only respond the first and forget about the rest. Other people may prefer a single, conglomerate email instead of a flurry of small ones. Personally, when I supervise students, I don't think I have a preference, but I am sure they have noticed which pattern gets them better answers, even if I am not aware of it, hence why is important to ask other students.
I agree with username_1 that since it happened twice, there is likely something on your side of communication, but the simplest explanation (and easiest to fix) is that you are just using the wrong format for them.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently a grad student in a moderately large department. I share an office with a few other grad students, and I get along with all of them fairly well. However, one of my officemates is rather loud and unfiltered with what he says in and around the department. The office walls are very thin, they are movable partitions, and the professor next to us clearly dislikes the noise and behavior. I'm very concerned with how this may be affecting my reputation around the department. I like my officemate, but the immature behavior is very noticeable.
How should I deal with this situation? I can't really ask for a new office, but I don't want to be associated with the poor behavior. I've talked to him about it, but I don't want to constantly remind him to be quiet or conscientious of other people. I am at a loss with this situation. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.<issue_comment>username_1: I don't see why you should feel associated with this person's actions, just because you share an office. If they are speaking loudly, those who can hear will recognise their voice.
While it may be that your office mate is simply immature, among grad students it may well be that something else is going on. It is possible that repeated reminders to be quieter would be the right thing.
Alternatively, if they start talking to you, you could say 'Let's go find somewhere we can talk without disturbing other people,' or you could try having an office agreement of fixed 'silent times' when everyone gets on with their own work without any discussion.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: If your only concern is for your reputation, I think any such concern is entirely unwarranted, and your best course of action is to do nothing and simply not worry about it. You are in no way becoming "associated" with the other student's poor behavior by occupying the same office as him, which you have been assigned by the department. The student's behavior will not reflect well on *him*, but unless you and him are identical twins or just happen to have extremely similar voices, which I find difficult to believe, as long as you do not emulate his behavior or egg him on in some conspicuous way, I don't see any chance that anyone will think you have a role in the way he behaves.
If the student's behavior bothers you for reasons unrelated to protecting your reputation, or if you are unwilling to accept the advice in my first paragraph, some options you may want to consider are:
1. Remind him again that his behavior bothers you, perhaps pointing out that you noticed that the professor in the office next door is unhappy with the noise and are concerned that his loudness may hurt *his* reputation.
2. Send an email to the department chair pointing out the student's loudness, and ask to be assigned to a different office and/or for the chair to do something to make the student improve his behavior.
3. Send an anonymous email if you prefer that it not become known that it was you who made the complaint.
4. Talk to your other officemates to try to get their assistance in getting the loud student to change his behavior. (Peer pressure can be a powerful inducement agent.)
5. This is a defeatist option that I would not recommend, but if all else fails you can stop coming to the office (or at least minimize your presence there as much as possible) and find some other place to do your work.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/09/14
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<issue_start>username_0: 
I am currently at my brother's graduation ceremony at Adelaide University, and in the Professor's/Post-grad seating area, sits a man fully in green. What does this special gown mean?
(Apologies for the awful picture)<issue_comment>username_1: It is conventional in many places for faculty who participate in a graduation ceremony to wear the regalia from the university where they got their degree. Some universities have more... elaborate regalia than others.(See e.g. [Etiquette of wearing the wrong academic robes at graduation as a lecturer in the UK](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/48143/etiquette-of-wearing-the-wrong-academic-robes-at-graduation-as-a-lecturer-in-the), especially [this comment](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/48143/etiquette-of-wearing-the-wrong-academic-robes-at-graduation-as-a-lecturer-in-the#comment111376_48143). And [this](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/44330/11365).)
Others sitting on stage in your photos appear to be wearing the [Adelaide University regalia](http://www.gowntown.com.au/gowns/adelaide/doctor-phd) - maybe that's where they did their doctorate (or they did it at a university that uses the same regalia), or maybe they don't have the regalia from their alma mater and just wear this one.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I asked this question on the [Facebook 'Academical Dress' group](https://www.facebook.com/groups/991333104293186/permalink/1463696113723547/), where <NAME> was able to find out who the figure in green is:
>
> It is Polish. The gentleman in question if Prof. <NAME>. His qualifications are listed as MSc, PhD and DSc (Dr habil), all from A Mickiewicz University, Poznan. So I'm guessing the gown is either the PhD or the DSc.
> [http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/.../03/content\_5448095.htm](http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-08/03/content_5448095.htm?fref=gc&dti=991333104293186)
>
>
>
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/E5533.jpg)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NhwAu.jpg)
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
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2017/09/14
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently writing a paper that I wish to publish in a mathematics journal. During the course of my research, I have discovered a result that is aesthetically pleasing, i.e., contains a form of symmetry in its definition that can be seen by some as "elegant", and moreover connects several distant theorems together. However, this result turns out to be useless for practical use, furthermore it adds nothing to the other proofs and theorems presented in the paper. Is it worth publishing/mentioning, even as a corollary?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, this is fine. Math papers very often contain results just because they are interesting or instructive, even if they do not seem to be "useful".
You could mention this when introducing the result, with something like "The following theorem may help to illustrate the connection between blah blah blah..."
Authors also sometimes signal this sort of thing by describing a result as "pleasant", "amusing", etc, though "elegant" is probably a little too egotistical.
If the referee feels it's too much of a digression, they might suggest you take it out. But I don't think this would be the difference between acceptance and rejection.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Absolutely. Not just because, to many, the point of science and mathematics is understanding and appreciating the beauty of reality, but also because it might become practical in the future! I doubt the people who worked on number theory foresaw crytography, for instance, or the esoteric probability theory making its way into machine learning now.
Also, I think tying together distant theorems *is* a practical application in some sense. Or at least an educational one for practitioners who might be trying to understand something, and realize something useful based on your theorem tying it to something else.
As the other answer says, I think it makes sense as long as you make it coherent with the rest of the paper!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Engineer here. I marvel at all those math papers that contain nothing but "hey this looks cool!" I really like those. Some of these are even easy enough for me to understand :-) And do not fret about applications. You are doing math. You are doing theory. It's the engineers job to find an application for it.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: To add to username_1's correct (and useful!) answer and to <NAME>'s sarcastic quip highlighting the same point, one should keep in mind that **pure mathematics is, by its very definition, the part of mathematics that seeks to study mathematical structures for the sake of the pure intellectual and aesthetic value of the mathematical ideas one is trying to discover.** Yes, it helps that a lot of pure mathematics has turned out to be useful beyond the wildest dreams of the people who discovered it -- a [totally weird phenomenon that no one seems to understand](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unreasonable_Effectiveness_of_Mathematics_in_the_Natural_Sciences) -- but that is not the primary concern (or even the secondary or tertiary concern, usually) of the pure mathematician.
**Lack of (caring about) usefulness is a feature, not a bug.**
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: If your result "moreover connects several distant theorems together." I'd like to know that. You may not find a useful application of that result, but knowing what you just stated may help me to come up with something useful.
So publish it.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: This is perfectly fine. Academically, mathematical research is done for its own sake, not for its practical usefulness. Mathematicians are not concerned with how the information they have will be used anymore than engineers are concerned with how the information they used was discovered.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: (pats OP on the back)
Congratulations, you're now officially a Mathematician! Publish away.
On a slightly more serious note: Spend time working on a good introduction that communicates the pleasing elegance of your results (or rather the lack of pleasing elegance without them). If for some reason the journals/conferences think it's totally useless, they'll reject.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD student and I have been given the opportunity to teach a course over a three weeks period (2h per day, 30h in total) at an institution overseas. I feel competent in the field of the course I will be teaching, but in practice it will be my first time **preparing** and **delivering** a course (which is not the same as doing tutoring, or being a TA).
What strategies can I put in place to be an efficient teacher? In particular, I am afraid not to have enough materials to cover 2 hours of time for each lecture (but then I realize that if I am thinking that, it means I'll probably be waaayyy too fast, so that's not good). I am also afraid of being unable to read the classroom, and of losing the students' interest too quickly.
Of course, I can prepare a lot of material to cover, then just go on my way, see where I end when the two hours are over, and start from there at the next lecture. But this might be too unstructured for the students, and I have very little time between two lectures to reorganize the material, since I am teaching every day for three weeks.
If you can share with me tips from your experience, I'd be very happy.<issue_comment>username_1: Because of the format of your class, you will need to prepare ahead of time. It really isn't possible to prepare two hours' worth of material every night if you're teaching a course for the first time. There's just too much effort involved.
That said, you're also going to need to be somewhat pragmatic in your lecturing. I prepare my material by writing out a "script" (*Vorlesungskript*) that reads more like a textbook. I find that I can cover about eight to nine pages of notes written in that style in a two-hour lecture. Anything more than that and I'll have "spillover." (Also, I schedule my two-hour lectures as two fifty-minute segments, with a ten-minute break, because I find holding students' interest for two hours is just too tough.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Rather than simply preparing material and plowing through it, I strongly recommend taking a "backward design" approach. You can Google that, but the basic idea is to start by thinking carefully about what it is you want students to have learned by the end of the course, and working backwards to what lectures, activities, and assessments contribute to this end. I've found this to be very useful, both for myself and for the students.
As a general idea, keep in mind that teaching and learning aren't equivalent; it's easy to deliver material, but that doesn't mean that it's absorbed or understood, and it's worth thinking about what classroom activities make learning more likely. Your (present) university probably has some sort of teaching consulting group, who are probably worth chatting with. Good luck, and have fun!
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2017/09/14
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<issue_start>username_0: It's really hard to admit, but I have a crippling anxiety when it comes to criticism from people of authority, especially university professors (at least I think so). This is currently negatively impacting my performance writing my thesis, as I would rather postpone indefinitely sending my thesis supervisor anything that could be wrong than face criticism, which makes me look lazy. Especially if I have encountered something that I don't know how to approach, I'd rather keep looking for answers myself for an impossible amount of time than ask for help (as I'm irrationally scared that I should be in a position to finish said task, since it was assigned to me).
I doubt that there is anything he can do, and I don't want to impose or require special treatment, but I feel like I have to be honest about why I'm not meeting deadlines as of late. My problem is that I don't know how to remedy this issue, and even if he knows about it, it's not magically going to stop impeding my work.
In addition, in case that I get anything along the lines of "I don't care", I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to handle it and I really don't want to give up my degree.<issue_comment>username_1: Your advisor is responsible for you, for good and for bad. This also means that if you have problems that are not of "technical" nature, that he still has to deal with it. It is in the advisors interest as well to find a solution for this, as he wants you to successfully finish. Hence, if you trust your advisor well enough to talk about this, then I would definitely recommend to talk to him. Even if you think he cannot help you, he should be still aware of the situation. Maybe he knows a way how he can at least make it a little easier for you.
Independently of this, I would suggest you to seek professional help. If you are at the level where such a problem has negative effect on your life and you don't see how you can solve it on your own or together with friends, then asking a psychologist is the right thing to do. Unlike what people commonly believe, they do not usually deal with "mad" people, but mostly with people who struggle with this or that problem in their lives, that they cannot find a solution for.
Though a word of advice: a psychologist is a person that you have to trust. You will be talking of problems that you might not talk about even with close friends. Hence, if you have even the smallest doubt that you can trust the psychologist you have chosen, look for another one. Do this, until you find someone whom you can fully trust and talk about everything that you want. And under no circumstances be afraid what the psychologist might think of you when you switch to another one. This is part of the game and everyone in this line of work knows it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I don't want to impose or require special treatment, but I feel like I have to be honest about why I'm not meeting deadlines as of late.
>
>
>
I think this sentence should be the major theme of your conversation with your advisor. Awareness usually helps, and while you might not want to use the word "crippling" (at least not right away), stating that you're having anxiety that is currently beyond your control will put you and your advisor on the same page.
The rest depends on the advisor's personality. He might help you identify the best way to move forward, suggest potential resources where you can get help, or just give you some space to figure it out on your own. In any case, be reserved when sharing your concerns, but do inform him about the source of the delay & make sure to communicate your intention to complete the work.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/09/14
| 478
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a second-year graduate student in applied mathematics looking to apply for fellowships for this upcoming year. It also happens to be the case that I am a Caucasian male. Would it be more advantageous for me to select "Prefer not to respond" in applications that ask for my race and gender (especially applications that give preference to women and minority students), or is that generally considered to do more harm than good?<issue_comment>username_1: Technically, I see nothing wrong with not reporting your race/gender. However, I suspect that if a fellowship gives preference to a specific group, putting "prefer not to respond" puts you outside of that group by default. Therefore, it would make no difference if you were a Caucasian or unidentified, you would still not gain the selection benefit for minorities. Hence the net benefit would be zero.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Please don't do this. Race/gender information has two purposes: 1) understanding the demographics of the applicant population, and 2) ensuring that strong candidates from underrepresented groups are not overlooked (i.e. some degree of affirmative action).
Most descriptions of 2) that I have heard essentially provide benefits to people who are underrepresented, or have in the past been discriminated against. Listing yourself either as a Caucasian male or as [decline to state] is likely to take you out of that population. [Caveat: I don't review fellowships myself, this is only based on what people have told me about admissions committees, etc.; for a given fellowship, the details of this may be publicly available.]
However, if a large fraction of Caucasian males decline to state their race/gender, the statistics that the NSF/whoever collects on their applicant pool will be biased. This will lead the NSF to have erroneous conclusions about whether their efforts to encourage diversity are working.
In essence, doing this is poisoning a well - corrupting a public source of data for negligible personal benefit.
Upvotes: 4
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2017/09/15
| 1,165
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a freshman, and over the summer I found out about a professor at my university who has recently published a book. Curious, I bought a copy and ended up falling in LOVE with this man's writing. As an aspiring author myself, I would be honored to receive advice from him.
But would it be too weird for me to go up, introduce myself to him and be like, "Hey, Dr. \_\_\_, my name is Jenny. I read your book and loved it. Is there a time we could possibly get together and discuss it? I just have a few questions."
I'm asking because I'm not sure how common it is for students to do this. I know it would be one thing if I was in his class, but I'm not. Unfortunately, I will not be able to take his class for several years, as he only teaches upper level courses.
I just don't want to seem annoying to him, or like too much of a fangirl. But like I said, I was mesmerized (cheesy as that sounds) by his book. I thought it was incredible, and I'm dying to talk to him about it. I definitely wouldn't want to sound demanding or anything; I'd ask him if he would be willing, and at what time.<issue_comment>username_1: There's nothing wrong with approaching a professor whose work you are interested in and asking for an appointment. The worst that can happen is that the professor will decline to meet with you. However, most professors (like most human beings!) will be appreciative that someone enjoys reading their work, so I'd think you're more likely to find the professor will agree than not.
That said, I would probably change what you'd say. Rather than just say "I have a few questions," I'd say "I'd like to know more about X and Y." This shows that you're serious in your request.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: I would encourage you to do exactly as you wish and approach said Professor.
There are two main things to consider here: Motivation and being specific. If you think about it, the reason he became Professor was most likely to aquire and share knowledge. Writing a book which is understandable by undergrads seems to confirm that. Since he is per se motivated to share knowledge, he might be willing to do so also in person.
On the other hand, he might probably not want to spend his time sitting there with a girl admiring him as a person. So in order for him to agree talking to you, you would need to make your motivation very clear.
Here comes the point of being specific into play. In order for him to know that he wouldn't be wasting his time, you need to be specific. Let him know what you liked about the book and the subject and give him something to judge on whether it's worth discussing with you.
Instead of *"I read your book and loved it. Is there a time we could possibly get together and discuss it?"* you'd probably want to tell him what exactly you loved and more importantly, what you want to discuss.
Possibly, *"I read your book and loved it, especially the chapter about \_\_\_\_. It made me realize that \_\_\_\_. In that chapter you say that \_\_\_\_ , to which I have a question: How can we know that \_\_\_?"* (Or, *"why is it that \_\_\_\_?"*) *"Could we meet at some point to discuss this?"*
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: This is perfectly acceptable, few people would object to being admired. You may want to take care about when you do it though- don't impose yourself on them by taking up their free time. You may want to send an email asking if they would be willing to discuss their work some time, or find their office hours and stop by their office when they arent busy (dont get in a line, or interrupt their students though.)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: The earlier answers are correct and there is no problem with approaching the professor, but there's something you may not know about: **OFFICE HOURS**. Most universities require professors to have "open office hours" so students can ask them questions - literally the professor sits in their office with the door open, and tries to do something productive while waiting for any students who want to stop by. Those students are usually from their classes, but I don't think any professor would turn away a younger student. They are genuinely surprised whenever any student shows up. And it would be a lot more comfortable for them than meeting somewhere else.
You can probably find his office location and hours on the department website or on his personal page. That will also include his email, and you can send him a quick request along the lines of "Hello professor (professor's last name) I read your book (title) over the summer and found it very interesting. Are you available during your office hours on (whichever day)? It inspired a few questions, and would appreciate if you could set aside some time to help me understand more. Thank you, (your name)"
Upvotes: 4
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2017/09/15
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<issue_start>username_0: I have an accepted manuscript published in an Elsevier engineering journal. The status of the article on its sciencedirect page is "In press, corrected proof". For now the article can be cited using its DOI and year of publication (2017). However, the journal is now working on two volumes: the December volume of 2017 and the January volume of 2018. I have noticed that some articles accepted after mine have been assigned to the January 2018 volume, while my article and some other articles accepted within the same week (1-7 July) are still in the corrected proof status.
So I have two question:
1- Can the article get assigned to the January 2018 volume considering that it is now cited as an 2017 article?
2- Is their any priority criterion for publishing? Topic? First submission date? ... etc?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't think there is a uniform consensus on it - academic publishing has a long and rooted traditions on what is "right", but they do not explain what to do in the Internet era, when almost every result is first available as a preprint online.
However, I believe, we normally don't put a year on a paper unless it is published. I've seen something like:
>
> A. Author. *The greatest paper.* In preparation.
>
>
> A. Author. *The greatest paper.* Submitted to J. Cool Research. Available at ArXiV:1709.XXXX.
>
>
> A. Author. *A nice paper.* Under review in J. Cool Research. Available at ArXiV:1709.XXXXv2.
>
>
> A. Author. *Another paper on cool topic.* Accepted in J. Cool Research. Available at ArXiV:1709.XXXXv3.
>
>
> A. Author. *Another paper on cool topic.* J. Cool Research (in press). doi:1701.10/xxxxx.xxxxx. Available at ArXiV:1709.XXXXv3.
>
>
> A. Author. *Another paper on cool topic.* J. Cool Research vol X, pp. yy-zz (2018). doi:1701.10/xxxxx.xxxxx.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Re. 1 - Yes. I have a paper that was published "epub ahead of print" in one year, and later published normally the next year. Both versions have different year numbers when cited.
Re. 2 - I would expect they do it in chronological order normally, but sometimes journals publish "special issues" on a specific topic that result in postponed or quicker printed versions. Also comments/replies to specific papers often get published in the same issue, suggesting that those ended up in print version quicker.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2017/09/15
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<issue_start>username_0: This question is not about PhD students, but about professionals with PhD degrees. To narrow down the scope even further, let my subject be a computer science PhD seeking a job in Europe. (I'd include the USA as well, but I'm afraid the dynamics are not the same. However, feel free to include relevant comparisons and data in the answers when needed.)
The salary of such a professional, if they stayed in academia, will be probably lower than if they chose to get a job in industry.
What is the economic incentive behind the university policy to not have higher, more competitive salaries when compared to industry?
I know that state institutions are (at least partially) on the government budget, so they arguably have little say in the matter. However, private institutions are significantly more independent in their organization. Basically, isn't it in the institutions' best interest to have the "best pick" of PhD graduates, instead of competing against the lure of a higher pay?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't know about other countries, but in Germany, you will have some other benefits from staying in academia (at least if you can get a position as a professor) that you will not have in the industry (google "Verbeamtung" for more details). One of them is the security that your company (the university) will not suddenly decide to fire, replace or transfer you, so you can be rather sure that you will have this job for the next 40-something years; something that might be nice for long time planning. There are other benefits, like health benefits, etc. - if you are interested in that feel free to google it.
So you have to decide between possible high income, but with risks, or lower (but still quite good) income that is rather secure.
That is, of course, only one reason. There might be many different reasons to go into industry or academia, there might be as many as there are people in both areas, but as you explicitly mentioned the money, I think risk vs. security might be a big point to make up for this gap in payment.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I highly doubt university salary policies are based on "economic incentive", especially in European countries where universities are directly funded by the ministry of education. Generally, political, not economic reasons prevail.
That aside, competition for academic positions is already fierce - there is simply no need to offer higher salaries to attract candidates. Currently, candidates are attracted by reputation, the thirst for knowledge, and similar non-monetary considerations. It is by no means clear that higher salaries would attract better candidates: you would have to argue that someone who simply follows the money would make a better researcher than someone who is willing to put in long hours at low pay for the dream of someday being allowed to put "Prof. Dr." in front of their name!
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Do not think that salaries in academia are low or fixed. Getting a good salary in academia is definitely more difficult and takes a lot longer than in industry. Basically anyone below a professor is not paid what he/she is worth. But then, the dynamics work quite a bit differently. As others have pointed out the number of people applying for academic positions is much higher than the number of positions. Especially at prestigious institutions. Once you reach a professor position, your salary depends highly on which country you are in. The span for tenured position salaries in Europe ranges from about 30k€ per year to 500k€. Though the latter is only possible if you are at the level of a Nobel laureate.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: **TL;DR: more money does not in general buy better researchers.**
Your question is based on the premise "more money buys better researchers than less money". I would like to argue that, aside from the obvious fact that more money costs more money and therefore comes at the expense of other things, the premise itself is simply incorrect (I mean it is not *universally* correct; there are specific contexts when it is correct however).
The thing is, different kinds of people are motivated by different things. Some people are highly motivated by money and less by a passion for some specific professional calling. You can find a lot of them in finance and other very lucrative industries that are not known for being especially exciting. Other people are highly motivated by the passion for doing something very creative and/or with a high potential for societal impact. Academics tend to be those sorts of people.
Now imagine what would happen if universities suddenly started advertising professor positions that paid $1M a year. What I think would happen is that a lot of money-driven people would suddenly decide that academia is a good place to build their careers, as opposed to, say, finance or tech. Some of those people are quite talented and would be able to build impressive resumes that enable them to get a share of those lucrative jobs, driving out some more passion-driven academics.
However, in the long run academia would suffer. To do really good science, you have to have a great deal of passion - more than some of the money driven types would be able to muster for long term success or for making groundbreaking, world-changing discoveries (as opposed to just for building a good enough resume to land a tenure track job).
My example is a bit exaggerated, but it illustrates a general principle that I firmly believe is true: by offering less money than industry on average, universities not only save money, they actually select for a particular kind of person, who is in fact a better kind of researcher for fulfilling the mission academia is trying to accomplish.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: A few thoughts on the disparity between academic and private industry salaries:
1. **In some cases, they aren't**: It's hard to get broad level comparisons as many companies are fairly cagey with their salaries and it's not something people often talk about, and there's a difficulty in a 1:1 correspondence between academic positions and industry ones, but I've talked to enough people to be comfortable saying that while industry positions *often* pay more, this isn't *universally* true.
2. **Universities aren't a free market**: Often, universities have salary guidelines set by the legislature if they're public, different compensation schemes to promote people trying for full professor, other constraints, etc. that mean their salary determination is not just "What the market can bear."
3. **They may not need to**: Getting a PhD is already something of an ode to opportunity costs, and there's a fairly heavy selective pressure towards people not necessarily being fully motivated purely by the number on their paycheck. For example, while financial considerations came up in my own job search, they were on the level of "This needs to not be a financial disaster for me to take the job" not "Coming in at a higher salary is what will determine my choice". That means offering more money may not actually yield better recruitment prospects.
4. **Academic freedom**: By and large faculty members have a considerable amount of autonomy over their research agendas, and are free to switch those agendas in a way that industry researchers are not. For example, if a drug company abandons working on drugs to treat X, it doesn't matter how interested you are in X, that's not what you're working on anymore. That freedom (which is, admittedly, constrained by things like "Can I get funding for X?") is valuable to people.
5. **Other soft factors**: Some people *like* being professors. I set my own hours, and if I want to not come into the office one day, and work from 10 PM to 5 AM on something, I'm fully free to do so in a way most people in private industry are not. I am, by and large, not directly supervised by anyone. Even when I was a postdoc, and had a direct supervisor, what I did with my day was mostly up to me.
Especially in fields where there is not a lot of movement between academia and industry (for example, in biomedical fields, leaving academia often means its hard to come back), one could view the higher industry salary as what has to be paid in order for people to give up the largely non-monetary "perks" of academia.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/09/15
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a third-year Ph.D student of computer science and engineering (I joined a direct PhD program after my bachelor’s in computer science). I am working on theoretical computer science.
In the first two years, I did the course work plus some survey of the field called theoretical computer science. To get anything published in XYZ is more challenging (as well as requires more time) than the abc. I am more interested in the ABC than the XYZ. It is not that I am not interested in ABC side, I am very much. In the first two years I have explored XYZ side. I also did three to four courses related to ABC techniques.
Now my supervisor is saying that I should “be open to both XYZ techniques as well as ABC techniques”. I am confused what to do. Is it normal? I have not started my thesis yet.<issue_comment>username_1: Speaking as a combinatorist, you'll be better off being open to both subfields from a knowledge point of view.
Remember: what you choose to write your thesis on does not determine what you'll study for the rest of your life. Especially when we are talking about two subfields so closely related.
If you want to be at a university the state of the fields now matters pretty little, comparatively to the date of the fields in 10-15 years. If you want to enter industry, it's unlikely that the subject of your dissertation matters much at all (field, sure. But subsubdiscipline? Not at all).
Listen to your advisor.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: It's really important in research to be open to whatever techniques will be useful in the problems you're working on. Of course that doesn't mean you can or should be an expert in everything, but you should be aware of at least the fundamentals of topics closely related to what you're working on. Maybe some aspect of the problem will be much easier from a different point of view, and you won't have to be an expert in that field just familiar with it. Or even just knowing what kinds of problems experts in that field can solve can lead to knowing when to collaborate.
My feeling from reading your question is that you've misunderstood your advisor. It sounds like you think you need to suddenly drop all the stuff you've learned and instead become an expert in a different area. I doubt that's what your advisor is saying. Your advisor said "be open to both techniques" not change your main area of expertise.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/09/15
| 470
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<issue_start>username_0: I am writing a paper which will include concepts from statistical mechanics, quantum mechanics, relativity, information theory, and thermodynamics. Potential readers will probably not be familiar with all the different fields. I need to find the right balance between assuming that the reader knows all of the concepts, and explaining all the concepts from the beginning.
Any tips on how to find this balance?<issue_comment>username_1: Write the introduction to the paper last. Start with the content: the data, the proofs, the discussion of pseudocode, whatever it is. Then think about your target audience. Who read the kinds of journals you are hoping to publish in? Who attends the kinds of conferences you are hoping to present in? Then add whatever perambulatory context those people need to understand the paper. Hoping to accommodate everyone who might be interested is hopeless.
Let's say you want to make your paper accessible to general knowledge physicists. You can assume that they all have a good understanding of undergraduate physics. You probably can't assume that they've kept up with all the coursework they did as PhD students, but the kinds of things covered in the first year or so of classes should be pretty common across disciplines. You're reminding people of the content from those courses, not teaching them. But anything that's at an advance graduate level or research level probably isn't something someone is going to know, unless that's their field.
If this is being published in a journal on GR, you can give less but deeper GR context because readers of GR journals know more about that. Spend more time and less depth presenting the thermo or QM topics.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Proposed solution.
Add an appendix. Appendices are designed to allow authors freedom to go into levels of detail that are not appropriate in the main section of the paper.
The best policy is to assume the reader is familiar with the concept (if they're not, then can always read the detailed description in the appendix, after all), and reintroduce the relevant conclusions necessary for the paper.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/09/15
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<issue_start>username_0: I like to learn things even outside my university degree and I wonder if it is moral to read articles found online on blogs and other sources?<issue_comment>username_1: There's nothing morally wrong with reading blogs and most online sources, so I'm going to assume you mean published articles and books.
When it comes to journal articles and books, it depends. Many articles that are freely available online are legally published / published with the author's permission. Others are not. Obviously papers posted on the author's website, or websites like arXiv are okay, but for other listings it's a lot less clear. It's up to you to make your best judgement as to the legality and the morality of the access you have.
This also of course presumes that you think it's moral to support closed-access journals. Some people feel that closed-access journals are a bad thing and should be opposed. To those people, doing anything other than seeking out illicit versions would be morally wrong.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Note that many journals allow authors to post preprints or even the "official" full text on their websites. In such cases, there's clearly no ethical dilemma involved.
In cases where such behavior is prohibited by the journal, then there is a bit of a dilemma. The "fault" is shared, between the person who posted the infringing content and those who read it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: If you're talking about research papers, there is absolutely no ethical reasons why you should buy the access to them. In fact, publishers like Elsevier are taking advantage of the power they have to gain money on what's free and open : Knowledge.
Research papers are never meant to be sold but shared so the unethical part comes from publisher. If you want to find free research paper, go on Sci-Hub!
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: Reading things on blogs is fine, it's what blogs are for, but you shouldn't cite them, blogs are not peer reviewed. Well, maybe you can cite them as "personal communication", obviously you shouldn't plagiarise them.
There are a number of legitimate ways to get PDFs on line, for example if they were published open access (the journal or conference lets you have it for free, probably because they charged the authors or their universities already), or if the authors put a pre print online (this is entirely legal) or if the authors or someone else put the final version illegally on line.
This last, being illegal, is as such at least somewhat immoral; it is theft from those who hold the copyright. The next question is, are you culpable for reading such a PDF, or indeed obliged to figure out whether a PDF you find online was "liberated" illegally, or whether it was circulated legally? Even if you decide or know that the PDF is illegal, if you are a utilitarian of some form you might ask: is the good that would come from you reading it greater than the (probably negligible) harm you do by reading it? Of course, other forms of ethics never accept that the ends justify the means.
Thrown into the mix, it has long been legal and common practice that if you ASK an author for a copy of their paper, they will just send you an offprint. In recent decades, this is a PDF. So you might also consider starting to read a paper, deciding whether its good, and then asking for a legitimate copy that way. Or you could decide the good you would do by asking he author is outweighed by the time you would cost the author, and keep on reading the PDF you already have.
As an academic, if I find out about a paper that I can't read, I both ask the author for a copy AND ask my library to buy access to the journal. That's because I think it's far more moral for publishers to charge for reading than for authoring an article, but I also think the reason I accept a low university salary is to be in a university with access to knowledge. That's another way to read articles legitimately of course – go to a library!
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: There is the concept of open access wich many journals are starting to focus on more. There are many quality peer-reviewed papers that are open access. I think most easy way to reach those quality papers is through scholar.google.com. As far As I know when you see the PDF or HTML link in the scholar.google.com, they are open access and you can find most of the paper's abstruct there even if they are not available. If you are interested on those, you can mail to author as said above. In short, If you find open access journals, you can read them, to find legal, open access articles, you need to choose your websites carefully or you can ask for full text articles that you can't find online.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/09/15
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<issue_start>username_0: Two years ago a colleague and I conducted a full-text analysis-based systematic literature review regarding a specific topic in information systems. We’ve done it in the time span of three months. After that, we wrote a paper and submitted it to an information systems conference. Unfortunately, it was rejected. The blind review was comprehensive and we get really good advice for improving the paper. However, sequentially, at two other conferences, the blind reviews were positive, but due to the high competitiveness (<30% acceptance rate) the paper has also been rejected. We’ve included the responses from the reviewers into a new version of the paper.
Now, two years later, the literature review is out of date. A large set of relevant papers (>50) have been published since we conducted the review. However, we do not have enough time resources to update our full-text analysis. We have collected the new papers in our own literature review database. But to read each paper and to do a full-text coding is impossible, due to other projects that take place at our chair.
Now, I’m thinking about putting the review results into the wastebin, because I do not see any opportunity to get my results published. Needless to say, that this is very unsatisfying to me. I think, a justification that the literature review has been done in 2015 in the paper, will not be accepted by future reviewers.
So my question is:
Are there strategies to update the results of a full-text analysis without conducting a completely new analysis? For example, is there some kind of methodology which combines full-text analysis of older sources with a delta analysis or something else? Are there methods the reduce the time efforts?<issue_comment>username_1: I recommend that you find another co-author who is willing and able to spend the time that you cannot. An good candidate may be a supervisee (PhD student, postdoc) who needs to get more familiar with the topic anyway. A fresh view may also help to address possible problems with the paper.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I was taught very early in my doctoral studies that "every article has a home". Not necessarily the home you initially target, but any genuine scholarly article can eventually get published somewhere. Most of the time, when you have trouble publishing something, it is because you are shooting for a publication target with relatively high standards, but the high-standard targets don't accept what you are trying to publish. So, the simple solution is to lower your standards. The not-so-simple question, then, is how low you are willing to lower your expected publication standard. Here are some various thoughts:
* First and foremost, I recommend to just publish your old article as soon as possible before it gets older rather than hoping to get it updated. Yes, ideally, that would be the best thing to do scholastically, but practically, when I've been in the situation you've described, I've ended up with work 10 years old and never published.
* No matter what you decide to do, I recommend that you immediately publish what you have on [SSRN](https://ssrn.com) as a working paper. (It takes about one hour if it's your first time.) I try to publish all my work-in-progress in semi-complete state on SSRN. That way, people can easily find it on the Web and benefit from the knowledge while I decide or finalize whatever happens to the article. If eventually nothing happens to the article, at the very least it counts as a non-peer-reviewed publication. However, some of my SSRN working papers have been very well cited, which encouraged me to eventually put in the work to finalize and get them published in regular journals.
* I'm not sure why you are only targeting conferences. In information sytems, journals are terminal publications and conferences don't usually count very highly in most hiring, promotion and tenure review committees. (Incidentally, I am an information systems professor.) I know that it is recommended to first publish in a conference before publishing in a journal, but actually, I think what is really useful is to submit to a conference (whether accepted or rejected). The reviewer comments you've already received in your rejection are probably far better than the comments you would get if you presented live, so you have the necessary feedback to improve the article for journal publication. For several reasons, I would target a journal immediately rather than a conference, which leads to my next point.
* In information systems (and I suspect the same for many other disciplines), conferences are often not ideal targets for literature reviews. One primary reason is that conferences have low page limits, whereas literature reviews usually need longer-than-average page limits. It is harder to do a thorough review in the space allotted. So, literature reviews often get rejected quickly. (I speak from personal experience, both as a review author and as a rejecting reviewer.) What is more, conferences don't offer "revise and resubmit". Their tight deadlines mean that if the initial submission could be improved on, they would normally be rejected, not for lack of potential, but for lack of time in the conference schedule. All of this to say: just because you got rejected from multiple conferences doesn't necessarily mean that your review article is that bad. You might do better at a good quality journal.
* Unfortunately, a high-quality journal would probably not accept an outdated review. However, some lower-quality journals might do so. So, depending on what your institution accepts, submit to lower-quality journals until the article gets accepted. I don't know if they would appreciate the "endorsement", but I've found [Inderscience](http://www.inderscience.com/index.php) to be a good publisher of this kind of journal: legitimate peer-reviewed journals with respectable integrity and just one or two rounds of feasible revisions, but not too demanding and so high acceptance rates for legitimate scholarly work. You can find a journal from that publisher on almost any field in STEM, business or economics. Most of their journals are not highly ranked, though. (One caveat, though: stay away from new journals: only publish this kind of work in established journals, or else you risk publishing in a journal that won't survive.)
* One of the other answers suggested finding a co-author like a doctoral student or post-doc to help you update the review, but this isn't always practical, and they don't always do the work you want. I've tried such things in the past myself, and it never quite worked out as I had hoped. So I've learnt that I need to take full responsibility for the publication of my own articles. Unless you yourself are paying someone just to do that kind of work, delegation of research rarely works. So, I recommend not wasting your time with that hope, unless you have the budget to hire an assistant just to do that, which I suspect from your original post that you don't.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: In my statement of purpose(for U.S. math graduate school), I said something like: "compared with my classmates, I believe I am more capable of ..."
One of my professors pointed out it should be my referee's job to compare you with others and I should stay modest. So I am a little confused in here. Is it appropriate for applicants to compare themselves with their peer in the statement of purpose?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, it would be arrogant to compare yourself to others, and it's not informative. What exactly are you trying to accomplish?
If you're just trying to say "I'm good at math" then you shouldn't- an admissions committee will look at your transcript and make their own judgments. You're not competing against your classmates for admission to graduate school, you're competing against the best students from every school. Everyone who applies is going to be better than 90% of their classmates. Saying that you're better than your classmates just does not accomplish anything.
If you're trying to say "I want to get a math degree because that's what I'm good at" then don't say that either. It's a lame reason to go to graduate school. Ideally you want to be able to say that you're personally invested in getting a PhD. If you really can't come up with a better reason then at the very minimum you should be able to say something like "I want to pursue research-oriented jobs that require a PhD", or "I really liked my topology class and I want to do topology that nobody has ever done before".
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: This would be a bad idea and will likely have the opposite effect you want it to have. Especially in mathematics, people are turned off by bullshit.
Let me relate an actual exchange I heard a few years ago between two rather famous mathematicians:
Person 1: "I have an amazing theorem to tell you about!"
Person 2: "Slow down. You tell me the theorem, and I'll tell you if it's amazing."
This illustrates I think an important principal of social interactions in academia (and probably elsewhere too, though I gather that eg in politics and business this is not true). Namely, people are very unimpressed and skeptical when someone comes out and says how great they are. What you have to do is tell them factual things that force them to draw the conclusion for themselves that you are great.
In other words, the old adage about writing holds: show, don't tell.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
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2017/09/16
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<issue_start>username_0: I have noticed from different published articles that mathematical equations may or may not be ended by a comma or a period (depending on their position in the text).
Which is the best practice?<issue_comment>username_1: The practice I'm familiar with is that equations are part of the text, and end with a period if they are the end of the sentence and with a comma or other punctuation mark if the sentence continues and calls for it.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: In-line formulas are punctuated as required by the grammar. For displayed formulas there are two conventions: punctuate as required by the grammar; or no punctuation. See if the journal specifies this in their style (most don't). Example
>
> [](https://i.stack.imgur.com/6yMlR.jpg)
>
>
>
[Jahnke & Emde, Dover Publications]
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Yes it is good practice. You should read the papers of people are well known to be excellent expositors like Serre and his students Atiyah and Grothendieck (who also had quite a few students). They all endorse commas and periods. Perhaps the best guide to mathematical writing is <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECQyFzzBHlo> (Serre). Let me emphasize how authoritative Serre's opinion is: he is easily the most influential mathematician of the postwar period.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/09/16
| 616
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently applying to graduate schools, all of which request 3 letters of recommendation.
Schools currently accept letters submitted by a recommender on an online service, or sent through postal mail.
Since the recommendation letters that are submitted on my behalf are similar for each school, my recommenders have to go through a sisyphic process:
* Get the email from the school
* Click the link
* Find the recommendation letter file
* Upload the file
* Submit
* Rinse and repeat for each school
**tl;dr**
What I hope to discover is a service where my recommenders can upload their letter ONCE, and then have that service dispense the letters to all the schools, instead of having the recommenders themselves do it for each school separately.
Does such a thing exist?<issue_comment>username_1: Although such a service could save lots of time for the letter writers, I assume there is no popular service of this kind for a genuine reason. There are two types of letter of recommendation.
* **Generic:** in which the writer describes his/her own perspective about you (both personally and professionally).
* **Tailored:** in which the writer tells the target committee how and why you fit the requirements of the position (e.g., a specific PhD program) you applied for.
The first type can be in the form of *To Who It May Concern*, and you can upload a copy whenever you send an application.
The reason that the writer is directly asked for the second type is that s/he should write his/her recommendation based on the request considering the position under consideration. This means s/he may recommend you for a position but not for another one. For instance, s/he may believe that you are an excellent candidate in a specific PhD program, but your skills do not fit with another one (people tend to make shifts in their academic education). A tangible case is your previous experimental/theoretical skills when applying for a program with an emphasis on theory or experiment. In this case, there is no point to store a generic letter of recommendation and send it to different committees.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Many schools offer such a service. For example, [UC Berkeley](https://career.berkeley.edu/Letter/Eligibility)
>
> The Letter Service will send letters to educational institutions to support your admission to graduate and professional school. We will also send letters to educational institutions for the purpose of supporting your applications for academic/educational and research employment, i.e., teaching positions.
>
>
>
You should check with your school/department to see what is offered.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/09/16
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently a sophomore in high school looking to work with a college professor in the near future. I'm interested in the computer science field, and I was wondering how much programming I should have under my belt before contacting a professor for research/internship opportunities? I'm currently studying Java, but I know for a fact that it's not enough. I've gotten the fundamentals down (classes, methods, arrays, etc.) and I've just scratched the surface of GUI programming. At what level would you guys deem it appropriate to get into contact with a professor? Thanks for your help!<issue_comment>username_1: There isn't any general rule about the level of programming required to work as a research assistant in computer science. There are many different subfields in computer science, and in many of them, doing research does not involve any programming at all. At the other extreme, some research projects might only be suitable for students with highly specialized knowledge in a particular kind of programming.
Even the *same* professor might have multiple projects, some of which require prior programming experience and some of which don't.
I am a researcher in the field of computer networks, and I work with high school students in the summer. I don't require any prior programming experience. Some of my students have prior experience, and some don't, but none of them have experience in the specifics of my research area, anyway. In general, for students with no research experience, I am looking for general qualities - learns quickly, responsible, punctual, good at taking feedback, good at writing notes and documenting their work - rather than any specific kind of technical expertise.
(P.S. I do not hire high school research students who contact me by themselves - I work with students who apply through a high school summer research program organized by my university. I encourage you to look for opportunities like that.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: There is no hard and fast rule for this. It depends on the professor's requirement. If he decides to employ you outside the framework of the academia, he can employ you anyway.
If you are interested in working with him for a longterm career, go through his previous works: researchers, publications, academic works, and so on. You will get an idea regarding what level of knowledge you actually need to have.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/09/17
| 888
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<issue_start>username_0: I’ve read that PhDs are almost always funded, and being accepted into a PhD program without funding is equivalent to a polite rejection.
Is this also true for undergraduate research? For example, many universities have a fund for undergrads to do one or two semesters of paid research, but students must look for other funding sources after that.
Is it wise for undergrads to offer to do research work for free, or does it devalue the undergrad’s work in the eyes of a PI?
This question assumes the setting as an R1 university in the United States, for a student in a STEM field like computer science, mathematics, or electrical engineering.<issue_comment>username_1: If you are a student who is getting something of (educational) value out of your research, and don't need the money, it's not necessarily a bad idea to do undergrad research without getting paid for it. (If you weren't a student, this would probably be a [very bad idea](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18083/nonpaid-volunteering-position-in-a-lab), though.)
Personally, however, I will only supervise students who are either getting paid or getting some kind of independent study credit. (I'm not the only supervisor I know with this policy.) I don't want to put time and effort into supervising a student who is only very loosely committed to the research project.
I encourage you to consider that option - independent study or thesis credit - for undergraduate research.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It would have to really be worth it; here are some examples of what I think would be worth doing unpaid research work for a semester / summer / or even longer:
1) if the lab is prestigious and you otherwise couldn't join them because there's no funding for you,
2) the research goals coming from your advisor are clear, and you are *really* interested in achieving those goals,
3) your advisor's going to steer you in directions that you wouldn't be able to do on your own, and he / she could do that probably better than most other professors at your university, because perhaps you have heard from others that he's great at teaching, research, mentorship, etc
4) he hands you a research paper or two that much of your unpaid work will be based on, and there's little chance you would have known about this paper on your own, and this paper genuinely excites you and is published in a good journal,
5) you get to join weekly group meetings that would otherwise be private from you, and in these meetings there are superstar researchers that you would likely otherwise never get a chance to even say hello to, let alone discuss research work with in a small, intimate, casual group meeting.
So ... be honest with yourself and do be careful about what you're getting into. *Don't* be a monkey coder for a professor. If much of what I listed above applies to your current R1 research setting, I would say go for it; it could be a life-changing experience, regardless of whether you stay in academia.
A meeting or two with your potential advisor will be a great chance for you to list the pros and cons of working for them for free. You know what you are offering - free labor - now see what they are offering.
Lastly, you should be aware that the advisor is likely to be just as skeptical as you are; he/she would worry that you will quit in the middle of the project, or not be as committed as they are, and this wastes everyone's time. It's your job to convince him / her to take you on as a student researcher.
(If you can't afford to do this, disregard all of the above and get something that is funded.)
Upvotes: -1
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2017/09/17
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<issue_start>username_0: I am working with an advisor, but I don’t really understand him. He replies to my questions and suggests things. He also provides documents to help me in my research.
However, when it comes to publishing (which is important), he excludes me from his papers. I feel like my name is a shame if appeared next to his name. Last time he clearly said: “Try to publish by yourself.” What does this mean? How to handle such a situation? All I want is to take my degree and end this struggle.
Edited:
Thanks all for your answers. As many asked if I did contribute something and my advisor took the work without mentioning my name? No, this did not happen. But, I have done research work by myself and came up with conclusions supported with experiments/simulations/derivations ... etc and I feel like they are publishable. I am, I compare my work to recently published papers in the same area and I see that, sometimes I have better quality. But, my advisor is a perfectionist and it takes him years to write something which is absolutely unusual in my area of study. Plus, he doesn't have enough funds.
So, I have two scenarios in my mind: 1: He is afraid to perish his name with me 2:He doesn't have money to pay for publication fees/charges
Both scenarios are bad. Again, I can't clearly ask questions. The advisor is impulsive person with everyday mood. Not friendly at all.<issue_comment>username_1: His papers are his. Only if you considerably contribute to a paper should you be included as an author.
Apparently you like to start a joined project with him, and he does not. Do not take this personally. Profs are busy people, and they need to prioritize. Maybe he works best alone, or your subject is not his primary interest, or...
So if he says you should publish yourself, then that is what you should do. Maybe, you can find an experienced PhD student or postdoc to collaborate with.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Consider the possibility that you are seeing things emotionally rather than rationally. Additionally, you should critically reflect whether your expectations of the operational principles of doing a PhD are realistic. Based on the little information you provide, it appears that your supervisor is doing a fairly good job. He is answering questions and helping you out in your work. In a nutshell, this is the kind of support you *should* expect.
It is *per se* not your supervisor's job to "include you in his papers". This has almost certainly nothing to do with him being "ashamed" of you. Authorship in papers is not a courtesy that is, or should not, be granted based on friendship, but due to intellectual contributions. If you are not contributing to these papers, why would your supervisor add you to the author list?
Of course you could ask the question why your supervisor is not inviting you to help with his papers. This may be because your expertise is not necessary for the papers (which is not the same as that he does not respect you!), or maybe the papers have developed from a longer ongoing collaboration. You should not fault your supervisor for not warping his projects just so that you can fit in them somehow.
>
> What does this mean? How to handle such a situation?
>
>
>
It means that he wants you to be an independent researcher, as you should be. Why do you think there is something to handle, other than to heed his advice and look into publishing your own papers?
In many disciplines, it is fairly common that PhD students are expected to publish their own research without their supervisors. Have you actually attempted to do so? Have you talked to your supervisor in what capacity (helping with experiments and arguments, structuring and presentation, reviewing drafts?) he would be willing and able to help should you go ahead and publish your own work?
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: Generally, and regardless of supervisor-supervisee relations, the rule for authorship is:
>
> **Whoever made significant direct contributions to the research findings presented should be listed as an author.**
>
>
>
Now, when someone is supervising you, they have enough of an influence on what you do and how your work develops to justify their being added as authors to most publications you are writing "yourself". Thus in many (most?) institutions and most disciplines, **your advisor gets to be an author on your "own" papers** (for an example of when this is not the case see [this answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/651/65)). At the very least, you need to ask your advisor what's the customary thing to do. I wouldn't ask him/her "do you want your name on this-or-that paper?" because then, saying "Yes" sounds kind of vain.
The other way around, i.e. an advisee having his/her name added to a paper of his/her advisor without significant contribution - is unlikely to occur and is basically unjustifiable. If you didn't contribute directly to something your supervisor is doing, you should not be listed as an author of a paper about it, nor should you want to be. Doing so would basically be lying to people - pretending to have done something you didn't.
If we're talking about research work that you *have* contributed to, then it is a grave ethical and moral offense for him *not* to add your name as an author. But since you referred to "his" papers, I'm assuming that's not the case.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: It is not clear what was meant when the PhD student states, "he excludes me from his papers... All I want is to take my degree and end this struggle". I am not certain, but from former experience I suspect the concern is that the PhD student did a considerable amount of research or time spent gathering data/articles and/or performed research that was used in the professor's publication(s). And therefore, felt that he (the PhD student) should get credit (as a co-author) for his contribution.
Unfortunately, It is common practice for Professors to use Graduate-Student(s), PhD-student(s), as low-paid clerical labor to do much or all of the grunt work. And consider the graduate-student's efforts as merely that of a contract-laborer. Accordingly, It is common practice to not give the Graduate-student/PhD-student any credit in the professor's publications.
Professors frequently regard themselves as the brains behind the project/publication. And, therefore he/she justifies taking all the credit for him/herself... whether right or wrong.
The professor is clearly in a position of power over the PhD student which can be, and is often, abused. My father was in this situation, while working toward his PhD degree. My father had an advisory professor at UCSD who had a multi-year Department of Defense (DOD) contract awarded to him (worth several hundred thousand dollars) to do certain research.
The professor wasted most the time and money doing little or nothing to fulfill the contract obligations. In comes my father (a Graduate-student/PhD-student) at the time, who was told to perform all the research work and complete the contract requirements.
My father had to set aside his PhD work, for several years, and perform all or nearly-all the work necessary to complete the contract. Upon it's completion, The professor took all the credit and my father (who did all the work) got none.
Meanwhile, my father was no further ahead in the completion of his PhD degree... putting him further behind in Life and further in debt with more money to repay his ever-increasing student loans.
Hence, the author's comment..."he excludes me from [from co-authorship in] his papers [while I do much of the research/work]... All I want is to take my degree and end this struggle".
Upvotes: -1
|
2017/09/18
| 1,218
| 5,431
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<issue_start>username_0: Usually, professors need to see students' statement of purpose before they write letters of recommendation for them. However,
(1) The most important part of LoRs is the comparison of the applicant with their classmates/peer, which is normally [not shown in the statement of purpose](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/96059/is-it-appropriate-to-compare-myself-with-other-students-in-my-statement-of-purpo).
(2) Professors often talk about students' strengths in LoRs, but they are not supposed to use the strengths mentioned(or boasted of) in the students' statement of purpose when the strengths are unknown to professors before they see the statement of purpose.
(3) Professors may want to know students' experiences, interests and plans for future. But such things are already mentioned in students' statement of purpose and they don't have to repeat them again in the letters of recommendation(professors are not supposed to know students experiences, interests and plans for future better than students themselves, right?).
So my question is, given (1), (2) and (3), why do professors need to look at students' statement of purpose at all when they write LoRs for them? How does the statement of purpose help professors to write letters of recommendation?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't look at students' statement of purpose when I write letters of recommendation for them.
My primary source is my one-on-one personal interactions with the student, supplemented by any records I have (incl. grades) from courses they took with me. I also ask for a transcript, to understand where their courses with me fit into their overall undergraduate experience.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I think you may be underestimating the importance of item (3). A good letter of recommendation should be convincing an audience that the recommendee will be successful in the position they are applying for.
The letter writer hopefully knows some of the student's strengths, but knowing their goals is helpful in formulating the argument that strengths apply to those goals. Grad programs can be interdisciplinary, and accept interdisciplinary students, so the name of a program and knowledge about a students' undergraduate degree don't necessarily translate to graduate school.
A recommendation letter would look weak and out of sync with the student if it implies the student has different goals than what they are telling the committee - that could suggest that the letter writer doesn't actually know the student as well, or reduce the impact of their support.
Of course not every letter writer will need or want to rely on a statement of purpose, but it makes sense for a writer to request one just in case it is helpful, and they might realize from reading it that they have some other questions for the student as well.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: The statement of purpose is helpful to me in writing a letter of recommendation for a student because I can say things in the letter that relate to the specific plans that the student has beyond the more general plan of entering a graduate program.
For example, a student might ask me to write a letter of recommendation for admission to a PhD program in applied mathematics at University X. Knowing that the student plans to specialize in a subfield (say computational optimization) gives me the chance to write into the letter that the student is well prepared for graduate study in this area because of (whatever factors might be relevant, including specific courses taken, programming languages the student knows, etc.) Those same experiences might not be relevant if the student wants to work in a different subfield.
Another reason for me to want to see the student's statement of purpose is so that I can provide helpful advice to the student. Many students are naive and prepare draft statements that won't help and might actually hurt their chances of admission. If I've read the draft statement I can suggest changes. If it's really bad, then I might decide that I'm unwilling to write a recommendation letter for the student because it would reflect badly on me.
Ultimately it really doesn't matter why the recommender wants to see your statement- you're not in any position to demand a letter of recommendation, so you should provide whatever information the requestor asks you for.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Primarily, we've looked at applications and letters before, and if we have a fairly whole view of a recommendee's package, we can identify the thin spots and patch them where we can. Having the statement of purpose makes this easier.
Also, it really helps to personalize the letter, as it makes it read less like a form letter, making it less likely to be discounted.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: Nobody knows you better than you do. You can give the recommender helpful information that s/he he may not think of on her/his own. Plus the recommender may appreciate a memory jog.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: My practice with letters is similar to username_1's. The statement of purpose does not help me write them.
However, I still ask to look at them. In my experience, a good SOP won't have much of an effect on grad school admissions, but a bad one can really hurt. If I see any red flags in a student's SOP, then I warn them that it should be changed.
Upvotes: 1
|
2017/09/19
| 504
| 2,207
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am doing a small survey-based research project, where I need to setup surveys online. I was wondering if I needed full IRB approval before I can setup the surveys online on Qualtrics/RedCap/Google forms? (I'll of course wait after approval before sharing the survey with any human subjects that would fill in the survey)
Addenum:
It's social science research, it's a few questions from a validated survey we will be using. I'm pretty sure the protocol will be accepted. There is a visiting student for the month here and to gain time I thought he could setup the questions on Qualtrics. Would this be acceptable?<issue_comment>username_1: You should have IRB approval **as soon as possible**. One of the aspects of IRB approval is approving your protocol - how can you set up the surveys if you don't know if the protocol has been approved?
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: To necessitate IRB approval work must involve human subjects and be considered research according to the following definition:
>
> [a] systematic investigation, including research development, testing and
> evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.
> (Department for Health and Human Services, obtained from irb.purue.edu)
>
>
>
Working on the design of your surveys and testing it yourself are acceptable (i.e., taking the survey to be sure the data is being recorded as you expect). However once you move into sharing with others for research, even a pilot or feasibility administration, you should already have secured IRB approval.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Yes, this is quite standard. There is nothing special about setting up the survey in Qualtrics that requires IRB approval. Just be prepared to make any changes the IRB requires/recommends during the approval process.
Note that you should not SEND your survey to human subjects using Qualtircs. But taking it yourself or working through the bugs with an RA would be fine. Think about it this way - if this was a "paper survey" you would be allowed to type your survey before handing it into IRB. But you wouldn't be allowed to mail it to any subjects.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2017/09/19
| 1,194
| 4,402
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<issue_start>username_0: Background: I was born and raised in the United Kingdom and have a number of GCSEs and A-Levels. I am now living in the United States (by marriage/green card), and am looking to apply for jobs. Some of the jobs that have just caught my eye was Tutoring either Writing or Study Skills, at a community college. One job has the following requirement:
>
> Documented two-year degree from a regionally accredited institution or its equivalent (junior level status at a college or university)
>
>
>
So, I am wondering, *could my A-levels could be considered the equivalent of a US Associates degree?*. I realise this is somewhat ambitious (especially as I only have two A-levels and a one-year BTEC roughly equivalent to an AS; but I do have other educational work experience)
I am aware there is no **official** rulebook for equivalency, the US Department of Education states it ([source](https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html)), but I am hoping there may be some unofficial but persuasive equivalency out there - like an agreement made by all the Russell Group universities or their US equivalent, or a court case, or something else quite decisive.
A summary of my reasoning and research so far is as follows:
**Arguments For A-Level = Associates**
* The University of Michigan will accept Freshmen who only have 5 GCSE's ([source](https://admissions.umich.edu/apply/international-students/requirements-deadlines/requirements-country)), putting the beginning of A-levels on par with beginning a Bachelor's as a Freshman. (However they add that "IF A-levels are being taken", give predicted grades...)
**Arguments For A-Level = High School**
* A-Levels are completed at 18 years old, the same as the US High School Diploma
**Arguments For A-Level = Something In Between High School and Associate's**
* UCAS in 2013 listed the US High School Diploma as being equivalent to GCSEs, but gives UCAS points for US Advanced Placement Tests anywhere between 20 and 120 points (on the old UCAs system, 120 was one A-level at A grade, [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UCAS_Tariff)), without giving points for Associate Degrees (presumably because they are too high?) ([source from University of the Arts, London](http://www.arts.ac.uk/media/arts/colleges/lcf/courses/application-forms/int-quals2013.pdf))
* Various students have stated that their institutes have treated A-Levels as being **equivalent to US Advanced Placement** courses ([anecdotal sources](https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=881528))
* Chavagnes Private School (UK) states without source that **UCAS treat AP as A-level**; and also mention that a student with A-levels could expect to find themselves discounted for some of the first year's work of a 'university'. ([source](http://www.chavagnes.org/news/Info_for_US_families.shtml))
* A US Associate's Degree is listed as being equivalent to a UK HNC, that is, equivalent to the *first year* of a UK Bachelor's Degree. ([source from an e-learning provider](http://www.thedesignecademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/NARIC-SummaryGuideToHNCHNDQualifications.pdf)) That is, **above A-levels, but not by much**.
I have asked my American wife, who completed two AP's while in high school, what the different grades and groups for the Advanced Placements, given in the UCAS document, actually mean, and she doesn't know.
If there is any more evidence I can use in addition to the above fragments, especially statements by a university like my one from Michigan, I would be very grateful for them to be provided.<issue_comment>username_1: The short answer is **no**, you cannot use A-levels to establish equivalency to a junior college degree.
A junior college degree, or having junior status at a four-year university, is equivalent to two full years of study at the college level (typically about twenty classes). Three A-level courses, if they're treated as the equivalent of AP courses, would likely equate to less than two semesters of study.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: A-level is always considered as a 12th class completion degree. In any university, in the USA, you can find references regarding this equivalency.
The example you have given regarding the University of Michigan is a special case which is, of course, the university's internal policy.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/09/19
| 1,237
| 5,184
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a new (and hence young) faculty member, in a city where I don't really know anyone. I also really enjoy swing dancing.
The university has a swing dance club. I don't think there really is an issue necessarily, it's a public space in full view of a large group. However, because it is dancing, that means you are in contact with your dance partner (i.e., a student)...so it's giving me pause.
Looking for gut reactions, others who know their school policy, etc. Yes, I could just ask someone, but I really enjoy it, I sort of don't want to get an official school "no"...
Didn't know what to tag, ethics/policy seems the most appropriate?
EDIT: An update. On advice of one of the answers below, I did reach out to the club's admin. They said that it is open to any faculty/students who wish to learn/do some swing dancing.
Further update, HR passed me to dean, dean said they have no issue, and that he knows other faculty are part of various student clubs too.<issue_comment>username_1: The short answer is that this really does depend on the strictness of your institution's conduct policies.
However, I would think that in such circumstances—in particular, it's a club where everybody knows physical contact is required—it would be understood that such contact would take place. Therefore, so long as the contact is limited to what is appropriate for dancing, I don't see why there would be an issue.
(You may also want to look for off-campus swing dancing opportunities—getting away from campus may be helpful for work-life balance.)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: If you are in the US, then it is typical that university clubs have formal elected leadership -- a president, and possibly other officers as well. Generally, they are quite serious about this -- indeed, in graduate school I remember a conversation with a foreign student who joined the ping pong club, and was struck by how earnest the officers were about fulfilling their roles.
I think the club president would be a good person to whom to address your questions; you can probably find out who the president is by Googling, or by seeing if the club has a Facebook page.
Incidentally, I went to university club-sponsored dance events as a graduate student myself, and I remember at least one faculty member who regularly showed up.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I attended a student swing-dance club as a postdoc, and a non-student one where students were present as a lecturer. None of the students I actually taught were present, although there were students who were friends with ones I taught, and they were able to identify me.
I asked my boss about this. The response was that it's ok. However, I did keep an eye out for my students attending. I dance both lead and follow, so if one student had come I would have switched over to avoid dancing with them. If several had started coming, I would have had another think.
As I understand it, for this level of relationship the key point is being aware of any conflict of interest. If you are in a position to affect the academic outcome of someone in the group, someone with more authority than you should be made aware of the situation and respond accordingly, so that everything is *seen to be* above board.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I joined a student swing-dance society as a postdoc (in the UK). There were a couple of other postdocs in the society, but no permanent faculty. The swing dancers ended up being my main social group in that town.
I was doing some lecturing, and one of my dance friends was in a class I taught a couple of weeks of. I told my boss that I was friends with that student and so would prefer not to be involved in any assessment of his work. My boss said that was fine and if necessary I could sign a 'conflict of interest' form. He was not all bothered about me being friends with one of my students. I think that in small university towns it would be really unreasonable to bar university staff from joining student-led organisations, because those tend to provide most of the activities available in the town.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: As a student leader of my college ballroom dance club for several years I'd say go for it. You've mentioned that club is open to faculty/staff so there should be nothing stopping you, we had several faculty regularly participate. The club would honestly probably love to have your participation and support on campus. As for having pause about being in contact with your partner/student: I'd frankly be more concerned about you. The modern dance community places no sexual connotations on dance so if you, your administration, or the students you dance with do there's really a bigger problem. That being said, I'd recommend caution, it is an intimate activity and people can read too much into it. You're always allowed to turn down a dance if you think someone is going to far and I'd keep the club leader abreast of all your concerns just in case. At the very least, the campus club should have connections to the broader dance community in your area for you to "widen the pool."
Upvotes: 2
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2017/09/19
| 418
| 1,864
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<issue_start>username_0: The Springer template is by far the most bizarre out of all of the LaTeX templates I've seen so far. There is no problem as long as you stick to the two-column option, but the appearance of the single column option is just crazy.
The main problems are the following
* The right margin being outlandishly wide compared to the left margin.
* Smaller font size in main content
* Bigger font in reference section
These issues *can* be corrected to make the format look identical to the published papers in the same journal. However is it necessary?
I would especially like to know from people who have published papers in Springer who have submitted it using the standard LaTeX template provided by the publishers.
This is particularly about Multimedia Tools and Applications, but I've noticed this problem in other journals sections that use the same template.<issue_comment>username_1: No. I don't recommend changes to the template. That is because the journal can easily update the template to the style they prefer for publication. Your changes to the template won't affect the eventual look of the manuscript.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Please, don't adjust the geometry of the page to your liking. It will change where the lines cut, potentially causing multiple overfull and underfull boxes, especially if you are using long equations, graphs or table. Use the template as is and don't worry about the margins.
The only reason I see to change the template would be if the template is not adapted to the final version. But in that case, it's the editor's problem, not yours.
Source: It's my job to check the layout of article and sometime authors put their source in A4 (while we publish in a format close to A5), giving me a lot a work to cut their A4-wide equations and tables correctly.
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/09/19
| 567
| 2,483
|
<issue_start>username_0: Institute II is setting up a benchmark project under the lead of main-author MM. 20 other developers participate, run their methods without having access to ground truth data and also MM contributes with his methods results.
A paper is written by MM. Is it the right of one or all of the other 20 developers (results have been submitted to MM already, so there is no reason that tuning/overfitting can happen) that he gets access to GT data to check if the analyses of the results are reasonable?
The best source for publication ethics known to me is [Cope](https://publicationethics.org), the Committee on publication Ethics. They have a document for author guidlines ([PDF](https://publicationethics.org/files/Authorship_DiscussionDocument.pdf)), where it is recommended that an author submits "A declaration that that person takes responsibility for the integrity of the paper".
This is like always in Ethics only a recommendation, the journal obviously has to do here the final decision.
In my opinion I can try to get access to the GT by writing MM a mail, nevertheless if not granted, I cannot personally assure the integrity of the paper and have to retract my authorship. Or I get in contact with the editor of the journal if MM is not cooperative and let him decide.
Am i right about my conclusions? Are there other strong widely followed ethical guidelines about this issue?
Thanks for further recommondations.<issue_comment>username_1: The co-author certainly does **not** have a *legal claim* over the data.
With regards to ethics, it strongly depends on the communication beforehand. Was it made clear that the data was not accessible to co-authors? Or could it have been accidentally implied they will get the data? One way or another, this is something that the authors have to discuss. The owner of the data should give a good reason why the co-author cannot get the data.
It is likely, though, that the co-author will be disappointed or upset that they do not receive the data.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: In order for the benchmarking exercise to be convincing to readers, it will ultimately be desirable to release all of the data (and presumably code) so that the comparison can be replicated.
There's no reason that the ground truth data couldn't be revealed to all participating researchers after they've done their analysis and the results have been frozen but before the submission of the paper.
Upvotes: 1
|
2017/09/19
| 352
| 1,372
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am writing my thesis (computer sience) and wonder how to refer to an algorithm which i reimplement as a part of the thesis.
There is a paper describing the original algorithm and I am only implementing this algorithm in my thesis.
I considered to refer to it as 'baseline' or 'reference algorithm' but 'baseline do have a different meaning in data mining and in my opinion (as a not native english person 'reference algorithm'
sounds like the algorithm completely differ from mine. The algorithm itself is not named and the paper is having a name that is too long (i.e for the TOC)<issue_comment>username_1: Here are some other options:
* "original algorithm" (yours is the "new algorithm")
* "traditional
algorithm"
* "Smith's algorithm" (Substitute the name of the researcher
who first published the algorithm for "Smith".)
But "reference algorithm" seems OK to me too.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: First, give the algorithm (since it is your thesis, I assume that you have enough space). Then, name the algorithm. If it is named already, better to use that name. Else, caption the algorithm
>
> Algorithm 5: Managing big data with minimum spanning trees
>
>
>
Then, in the text, you can refer to this algorithm as
>
> We have implemented Algorithm 5, and we compare the results with our
> algorithm.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2
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2017/09/19
| 2,472
| 10,549
|
<issue_start>username_0: This question deals with letters of recommendation written for students in the humanities, and in particular for those on the job market or those submitting to dissertation grants and fellowships. The question may also apply to letters of recommendation in the sciences.
On this site and in conversations with current faculty members, I have surmised that letters of recommendation are usually written in a kind of "code" (one post here described these letters as a "second language" you have to learn). Since most letters are invariably positive, I suppose that the code is just a subtle way of signaling the true value of a candidate's work or the true extent of their potential. Those who know the code are able to see through any hyperbolic language and decode a letter-writer's real estimation of their candidate.
A common warning about asking for letters of recommendation is: make sure you ask someone who already knows how to write them, or they could end up doing more harm than good. It makes sense that, if someone doesn't know the code, that person won't be able to communicate whatever it is that committees want to see in the letter.
This is all just my ignorant explanation of what I've observed, however, and I would like to ask for more information. I am especially interested in knowing:
-Is it true that letters of recommendation are written in such a clandestine way?
-If there is a code, what is it like? What kind of signals does it have? How do you know when you are reading about a candidate who really is great, versus a candidate who is just fine, when their letters may contain similar language?
If it turns out I am off base on this, I'd appreciate hearing about that too.<issue_comment>username_1: My experience is in the sciences and engineering, not the humanities, but I'm not aware of any such code.
Many professors believe that a recommendation letter has to be an honest evaluation of students, not just a list of highlights. Honest letter writers are highly valued, and people eventually see through dishonest (sugar-coating) writers that don't tell the full story. Sugar-coating a mediocre student does a disservice to all the other great students you could write great letters for.
Thus, if you ask me for an academic reference as a classroom teacher, then I'm obligated to discuss our entire history and not just the classes you got A's in. That's not me trying to sabotage anyone, that's a reckoning between your future desires and your past performance.
It's critically important that a student asking for a letter as well as the letter writer have a common understanding of what will go into a letter. The letter writer should be upfront about their evaluation and what they can or can't say in the letter. If a writer doesn't feel they can write a strong letter then they need to tell the student this and why. If the writer does not tell them this then the student needs to ask clarifying questions until they are satisfied that the letter will accomplish their goals. There is no shame for the writer or the student to suggest that perhaps the student ought to ask around for someone who can write them a really strong letter if they're not satisfied.
Edit: I will note that there are many subjective evaluations of students, perhaps moreso in the humanities, [that would be subject to coding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_(semiotics)). In the same way that badly outdated houses are called "quaint" or "homely" there is a vernacular that develops about students. The goal here however is not to be clandestine as much as it is to save face and put the best positive spin on a student. Such coding is highly subjective and not a reliable way to convey intent however, so it's best to stick to specifics. For example, if I say that a student "works really hard and stays late most evenings" that could mean that they're (1) a diligent worker or (2) they take twice as long to finish things compared to a normal student. Moreover, I don't know which way that someone reading my letter will interpret that statement, so it's better to leave it out and be precise: "diligent worker, stays late when necessary".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I am writing from the perspective of mathematics in the United States.
To the best of my knowledge there is not really any "code" for recommendation letters. However, there is a quite large amount of **inflation**, enough so that writing without an awareness of the current levels is a bit like Dr. Evil holding the world ransom for one million dollars.
The process abets this inflation in many ways. Many grad school recommendations have a bunch of questions asking for the candidate to be numerically rated on a bunch of different metrics -- including things like "honesty", "integrity" and "leadership" -- and you can say things like "The best I have ever seen," "In the top 2%," "In the top 5%", and so forth. It's more than a bit silly, but having both written the letters and read them I can say that most successful candidates are getting top or nearly top marks in every category...no matter the fact that in most interactions with students, things like honesty and integrity are more conspicuous in their absence than their presence.
To get a sense of the inflationary regime it is very helpful to compare letters written by (many) Europeans to letters written by (most) Americans. Recently someone whom I have a substantial professional relationship with applied for a postdoc at my institution, and afterwards (he didn't get it, but he got a good one elsewhere) he asked for feedback. I told him that one of his letters was essentially only one paragraph long (and I told him which one!). That paragraph was uniformly positive, and I can't point to any specific, factual thing that was missing from it. However, at the current state of inflation, most letters are **two to four pages long**. A one paragraph letter just won't do. It is *not* necessarily code for "the candidate sucks". It might also mean: "I am too busy/selfish to write the letter that I know the candidate needs", "I am not familiar enough with the current state of inflation to write an appropriate letter" or even "In my part of the academic world no one natters on for pages at a time; is it different in yours? What's wrong with you people?!?" In this case, I would suspect the latter.
**Added**: Inspired by some remarks in @username_1's answer, let me mention that there are certainly things that will be read in ways that may not be what a naive writer would intend. I wouldn't call this "code," but others might. Some examples:
* A good letter must explicitly mention that the candidate is both intelligent and talented. In the absence of this, any other praise may be read as a nice way of saying that the candidate is *not* intelligent and talented. Saying that someone is a hard worker without saying they are bright will be read be many as meaning that they are *only* a hard worker.
* Praising someone's teaching must be done carefully, lest it sound like you mean to say that the candidate does not take their research seriously or even does not intend to further pursue their research at all.
* Female candidates are often praised for being team players while male candidates are often praised for being brilliant, individualistic and perhaps even iconoclastic. You should keep this in mind when writing and reading letters for female candidates. When describing a strong female candidate I make a conscious effort to use the "good male words" like brilliant, gifted and so forth...and also to back them up, of course.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> Is it true that letters of recommendation are written in such a
> clandestine way?
>
>
>
"Clandestine" seems like a very strong way of putting things. But yes, letters are often written in a way where two letters that would both be identified as "positive" using something like sentiment analysis might still have very different meanings.
>
> If there is a code, what is it like? What kind of signals does it
> have? How do you know when you are reading about a candidate who
> really is great, versus a candidate who is just fine, when their
> letters may contain similar language?
>
>
>
In my experience, there are a couple types of signals:
* Superlatives: The use of particularly strong phrasing. "I am writing to support" vs. "I am writing in full and enthusiastic support"...
* Specifics: Talking about someone in vague generalities is probably a bad sign, even if those generalities are positive.
* Phoning it in: If it feels like the letter was somewhat perfunctory, that's also a bad sign.
* Damning with Faint Praise: Anything where the reader would come off feeling somewhat tepid, even if the language itself is fairly positive. "X's work is solid..." is not a ringing endorsement.
* Comparisons: "My best student..." vs. "Among the best..." vs. "A valuable member of my lab..." can help provide an informal ranking of applicants - presumably hirers want to be pulling from the top of the pool. This also shows up in things like highlighting where they were singled out for something.
* Qualities: For tenure track jobs, lots of language emphasizing their ability to work independently, generate new ideas, etc. are good. Things like "X is a hard worker..." aren't good, because you're not being hired *into* a lab, you're being hired to run one.
There's also more insideous code that creeps in, either intentionally or via implicit bias, like describing a female candidate as having "an impressive track record for a woman."
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: On a note related to username_2's answer about "inflation". I have heard that another thing one should take into account is what happens when you start writing many recommendation letters for different applicants to similar positions over the years. Academia is a small world, and you are bound to write letters of recommendation that will end up in the hands of the same people.
What can happen is that the committee members can keep old letters of recommendation and compare them with the new ones. Even if the new letter doesn't mention past applicants at all, if it is more glowing, or less, this will color the committee's perception of the new applicant. For example if you wrote in 2015 that applicant A is "peerless" (or whatever) and in 2017 that applicant B is merely "a fine researcher", they might wonder what's wrong with applicant B.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: Would this be considered at all, or is this not even important? I am not talking about fields which have these foreign languages as their object of study, or where it is obvious that the language would help (if I were to study French Literature, knowledge of French would obviously be important).
But what about fields which are primarily English, so say I want to do my PhD in Political Theory. There are probably a few articles in foreign languages I could make use of, but English seems just fine. Would knowing a foreign language still be an advantage, or not really?<issue_comment>username_1: I'd say that if the programme(the course) does not include or require any other language than English, the knowledge of the other languages "might be"(so it does not have too much chance) taken in consideration. This probably also depends on in which country you are going to study your PhD. But they focus on mostly the subjects related to the course, and the degree you have graduated with. But I think it would help you getting a job after your studies. After all, if you learn a new language you don't lose anything but gain knowledge of a different culture (unless you consider the time spent for learning is lost and was not worth).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: In many countries faculty, especially new faculty, are not expected to know the local language(s). They communicate in English (or some other language) with the locals and collaborate in that language. Hence, knowing foreign languages that are present in the faculty would be useful, as it opens up more choices for advisors.
Otherwise, if the field uses many sources or articles in foreign languages, then people might give some weight to knowing those foreign languages. English is a typical useful foreign language in many fields.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/09/19
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<issue_start>username_0: I just have graduated university and currently am applying for a master degree and various positions on different labs as I am eager to go deeper into science. I have been asked for two references together with other documents. As I had two different internships I have asked my former supervisors to write me a recommendation later, one of them wrote me a very good reference but my bachelor thesis supervisor besides explaining what experience I have gained in a lab wrote not a very positive reference stating that the analysis of data I have done were hard to understand and not on time. In my defense she never (in two years) gave me actual requirements for data analysis or dead-lines. So I guess it all was just pure miscommunication that was not solved on time. At the end of reference she wrote that in order to avoid such mistakes I should communicate more with my future supervisor and complete all tasks in time.
My questions are:
a) is it such a bad reference and situation as it seems to be?
b.1) is it likely that a very good reference from another internship supervisor will outweigh the image to my benefit?
b.2) Shall I still include reference if it is lowering my profile?
c) is it better to ask a reference from another lab colleagues and not include reference of my supervisor at all? Most likely it would raise a question why I am not providing a reference from my former supervisor instead :(.
d) shall I send only one reference?
It is such a pity that I can not rejoice the great deal of experience I have accumulated during two years work with this supervisor because it seems to be more as an obstacle rather than a step closer to my further academic career.
Thank you for your answers in advance!<issue_comment>username_1: The bad reference is given to prevent you getting the position, it is a warning to whoever might supervise you. From what I have seen, it is quite common for far more subtle and hidden negative messages to be put into an academic reference than what you have described. In these cases the references are not used because the letters are there to convey a warning. That's not to say I know the right answer, but my feeling is that a bad reference gives you no chance whereas a single good reference gives you at least a shot.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The way you describe it seems to me more like an evaluation, criticism and recommendation which is directed towards you, rather than a reference for an application of any kind. I personally feel like stating these specifics in such a letter is unprofessional on the part of your supervisor.
However, to answer your question: I think you should definitely NOT include that reference but see whether another of your lab collegues can write you another one. If you were specifically asked to provide two references, you should do that. Maybe you can also ask one of your professors (even though they have not worked with you in a lab maybe), most of them are willing to do it in my experience.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
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2017/09/19
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<issue_start>username_0: I am preparing for my PhD oral defense in engineering. It consists of two parts: first, a 40-minute long (public) presentation; then, Q&A with the jury.
**Question:** Is it advisable to give a handout with presentation slides to the jury?
In such a document, there would be 2-3 slides per page plus a large margin so that the jury could take notes, as well as the bibliography with references I cite in the slides. There are about 30 slides, which are very illustrative (i.e. without complex equations, but rather made of diagrams with little text).
The ***pros*** would be to make it easier for the jury to take notes, follow the slides (slides are projected above my head in the amphitheater) or go back if they missed a step. Moreover, most of the jury are not native speakers, and both the slides and the talk will be given in English.
The ***cons*** would be that they could be tempted to 'fast-forward' and/or get distracted instead of concentrating on my talk. (Even if I do acknowledge it's hard to be fully concentrated during 40 minutes straight.) They would also not benefit from the explanations (i.e. the step by step construction of diagrams using beamer's slides).
---
There are no fixed rules, neither by the University, nor by common practice in my sub-field. My supervisor has no opinion on the topic.<issue_comment>username_1: Since it's a PhD oral defense, I would say no. The jury has read your entire thesis and probably took notes from the text. They don't need additional material.
Note : This answer is only applicable for system where the jury received the thesis before the defense (obviously).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Providing slides is probably excessive, and as you suggest, may be distracting. You've already avoided several potential issues by minimizing text and equations in your slides. That being said, if your goal is to aid your audience in following your presentation's flow, provide a single-page outline instead of all slides. (Or, even better, incorporate such an outline into the presentation and skip the printouts.)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: In my department, students usually give out a handout with slides to members of the committee. Many seem to find it helpful - they use it exactly as you said:
>
> to take notes, to follow the slides (slides are projected above my head in the amphitheater) or to go back if they missed a step
>
>
>
They also use it in other ways - for example, if they want to ask you a question about a previous slide, they can refer to the handout to say "Can you please go back to Slide 5" instead of having you flip through the slides one at a time and saying "Stop!" when you reach the one they're looking for.
Some don't use the handout at all.
In all of the defenses I have attended, I have never seen a committee member get distracted by the handout, or read the handout instead of paying attention to the speaker.
So, based on my experience I would consider the handout to have some potential benefits, and very little or no disadvantages.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: **My answer: do provide the handout.**
There are two cases that I considered before giving the answer:
**Easy case**
The answer is easy if handouts are traditionally provided at PhD defenses in your department. You do not want to spoil the mood of your committee by taking away something they are used to. They will not fail you over this, but who knows how they come up with any extra work they want you to do before signing the dissertation.
This is the case in my department; traditionally, each member of the committee is given a handout with six slides per page and a pen.
**Harder case**
If handouts are not traditionally provided in the department, I would still opt to provide them. To me, the pros you provided outweigh the possibility that a committee member gets distracted. Every professor in your committee has sat through hundreds of academic talks; if they want to pay attention, they will be able to do so.
**Final note**
Make sure that the handouts look good; this may mean making a separate version of your presentation for the handouts. Specifically, make sure that any animated slides show up well in the handout. Depending on presentation software used, animated slides tend to either get compressed into one slide on the handout, or split into dozens of them—either case is usually not what you want and needs to be fixed.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: Print the handouts, staple them, put them somewhere visible on the table at which the opposition panel are to be seated, facing up.
If the opposition panel members want them, they'll take them. If they don't, they won't.
Problem solved without even deciding whether they should or shouldn't have them.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: No one in our department ever handed out printouts. I did not hand out printouts and did not experience any issues.
To address some of your pros:
**The pros would be to make it easier for the jury to take notes**
-- In my experience, the jury takes notes just fine on the notepads (which I'm sure they'll have if they are interested in making notes). Additionally, making comments on particular slides is easy to facilitate by including slide numbers in the corner of the slide (I have to imagine there is an easy option in the Beamer package to do this).
**follow the slides (slides are projected above my head in the amphitheater) or go back if they missed a step.**
-- The will ask you to show them something again if they are curious about it
**Moreover, most of the jury are not native speakers, and both the slides and the talk will be given in English.**
-- But they are working in an environment where english is being spoken, right? I'm sure this is not their first defense or scientific talk, I think they will likely be ok
I think some of your cons are likely. I think they will indeed be tempted to look ahead and may miss some of what you're saying while they are flipping through it. I think **for sure** it will give them extra time to scrutinize your printouts, which I definitely would not want. I also think having the papers there and seeing my jury flip through/ahead while I'm speaking would have been very distracting for me as well.
Unless it has been standard practice for other defenses in your department, or you have some compelling reason to provide it, I would skip them. I will echo what someone else said. If you are going to do this, you'll need to make a special "slide printout" version of your presentation. Slides that reveal things bullet by bullet (especially if each bullet reveal is a new slide, which for beamer I imagine it is), will need to be compressed into a single slide. This will also be confusing then, because they'll say go to slide #5, but it won't actually be slide #5 for you, leading back to just not providing printouts.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/09/19
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm writing a mathematical paper. In it, I use a lemma. The lemma is not hard to prove and I have verified it myself. The proof is too tedious to include in the paper, so I want to just include a citation. I found a paper that includes the result. However, that paper does not actually include a proof. I cannot find any other place where this lemma appears.
I see three options:
1. State the lemma without proof or citation.
2. State the lemma without proof, but cite the paper (that states the lemma without proof or citation).
3. Provide a proof of the lemma.
Which is most appropriate? Option 1 is easiest, but might annoy some readers who don't believe me. Option 2 seems like a cop out. Option 3 is safest, but I don't think it's necessary, as the proof is really just a long and boring calculation.
ADDED: To be clear, the lemma is basically an integral. The proof consists of splitting up the domain of integration to remove absolute values, evaluating each of the parts (easy enough for symbolic integration packages like mathematica), and then joining them back up. This is "obvious", but messy because the expressions are quite long. My writeup is two pages.
Maybe a better way to phrase my question: The result is trivial -- I think so, the authors of the other paper think so, and the journal they published in thinks so. Should I still provide a citation? Is it misleading to cite the other paper without clarifying that it doesn't provide a proof?<issue_comment>username_1: Citing the other paper seems necessary in any case, as they have stated the lemma before you. This is for **attribution**. Citing the other paper for **evidence** seems not appropriate, as there is no proof given there.
If the lemma is not rather obvious (say the obvious proof strategy works in < 5min), then stating it without proof would be very bad form. Put in an appendix if you don't want a boring lengthy proof to spoil the otherwise elegant paper, but put it somewhere people can find it.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Just say you have discovered a truly marvelous proof for it that won't fit in the confines of your paper's length restrictions. ;)
No one will mind, right? They can always work out the proof that you had in mind....
---
I recommend including a proof in the appendix, if none has previously been published.
---
A proof without proof is just a statement. If you feel you shouldn't just state something without any proof at all, then don't state "there is a proof" without any proof of *that* statement.
The historical example I've alluded to is a good illustration of the problems that can arise from the unproven assertion, "I have a proof for this."
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: If the result is basically trivial (as you say it is), I think how you proceed should consider how standard this type of result would be in the field.
You could put something like:
>
> The following result can be established by standard (but tedious) computation.
>
>
>
if it's the sort of thing you could expect an early graduate student in the field to do as a homework question, or
>
> The following result, which is stated by (Author) in [(paper)], can be established by standard (but tedious) computation.
>
>
>
otherwise.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I suggest not including the proof in your paper.
If you need to, cite the other paper which states the lemma Then, since you have determined that the proof is "obvious", simply state that.
For example;
* "Lemma 2 is stated without proof by Bloggs (2007). The proof is trivial and not included here" [The wording "and not included here" is optional, since you won't provide a proof];
* (If you want to provide some pointer on how to start the proof)
"Lemma 2 is stated without proof by Bloggs (2007). If one starts by splitting up the domain of integration to remove absolute values, the proof is trivial."
Any competent mathematician will understand your point, since it is fairly common practice in mathematical journals.
If they so desire, the reader will be able to derive the lemma on their own. In fact, some mathematicians will enjoy doing exactly that as an exercise - why deprive them of that enjoyment?
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: Cite the paper when you state the lemma. Then write:
\begin{proof}
Split up the domain of integration to remove absolute values, then evaluate each of the parts.
\end{proof}
It's a waste of everyone's time to have two pages of a calculus exercise. But it's also a waste of everyone's time to have to guess how the proof goes. The above is the best compromise that makes it clear how the proof goes in the least amount of time.
If the proof were one paragraph instead of two pages then I'd say include it all.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: Could you just give the reader an idea of the tediousness by showing just a part of the proof?
Maybe showing the verbosity of just one part of it is the best way to convince any reader that your omission is fully understandable and justified.
Alternatively, if feasible, you could link to an URL containing a (sketch of?) proof, either in LaTeX or, e.g., as a Mathematica nb file.
I would cite the other paper in any case, for attribution, as suggested by others.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/09/20
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a new faculty and I have serious conflicts with my chair because she has taken two of my grant proposals (putting herself as the PI) and a conference research proposal and tools I developed for my study (she put a senior faculty and herself as the first and the second author before me).
There is another new assistant professor in my department: she is American, but originally from a country in the Middle East. She comes to my office for a closed-door conversation once a week before meeting with the chair. Then she asks a list of questions regarding my situation and about other colleagues. Also, she asks me when I am going to leave this position.
At the beginning, I thought that she was my friend, as she seemed she cared about me. However, I realized that she reported my words to the chair because, for example, the chair brought to me what I said only to her as an issue and I heard what she said to the chair—it was what she asked to me—when I walked near the chair's office.
So I began to ignore her and phone calls. Also I do not smile when she comes to my office anymore. Also I told her indirectly "stop". However, even still today she came to my office again and kept asking questions again.
How can I make her stop doing that, smoothly and without any conflicts?<issue_comment>username_1: You should consider posting this at the [workplace](https://workplace.stackexchange.com/), as your situation is not specific within the domain of academia.
With this said, having a colleague who isn't necessarily discreet isn't the end of the world. It is a formerly unknown variable whom has revealed their true colors. At the end of the day, you decide the direction of where your research will go. Remain professional and cordial in your dealings, there is no need to be impolite towards your colleagues, instead approach the conversation and steer it in such a way where if you are asked compromising question, laugh and say sorry but you don't feel comfortable answering that. In time, prepare to set sail for other harbors if you don't think your current institution isn't a good place for you.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: While I acknowledge that dealing with department chairs and other senior professors can occasionally be fraught because of the power differential, at the end of the day, you are all *adults*. Talk about things.
Behavior such as "not smile", "not want to talk", "I thought she was my friend", "ignore her and her phone calls" is not how adults behave. Adults sit down and tell each other things like this:
>
> I'm happy to talk about these things, but I would really like it if that doesn't get to the chair.
>
>
>
or
>
> I know you're my chair, but these are *my* research ideas and I think that I should publish them under my name so I can build up a portfolio that can get me through the tenure process.
>
>
>
The point being that you should *communicate about issues as adults do*. If you have an issue with someone, talk to them, explain them what you don't like, and propose solutions. "Not smiling" is not a solution -- it's a kindergarten approach.
Upvotes: 4
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2017/09/20
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<issue_start>username_0: I have submitted a paper in a physics background journal about eight months ago. However, I have not received any status updated of the paper yet. I sent email several times to the Editor, but I have not received any reply. Five months ago, one of the journal staffs informed that they are waiting for the referees' comments. Does long 1st decision time indicate higher probability of acceptance ?<issue_comment>username_1: It is difficult to say so. Usually it means that the journal is having many papers to handle, referees are not responding in a timely manner or cannot find referees that are familiar with the subject of paper. Of course, I am putting aside the possibility that the journal may have a bad review process as it is usually uncommon for well-known and prestigious journals.
As a matter of fact, I had a paper that I had submitted with a prestigious journal. It took one year to have a first decision and the decision was rejection. In this case, the journal editor told me that the review process took a long time because they had difficulty with finding referees that were familiar with the particular subject of my paper.
This question is also somehow related to yours: [Editor rejected my paper stating that reviewers had refused to review it long after submission...?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/36458/editor-rejected-my-paper-stating-that-reviewers-had-refused-to-review-it-long-af)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: It depends. From my experience, any submitted papers will be under screening first. If an editor finds any obvious mistakes or is simply not interested in your paper, he will quickly reject the paper (often within a month) so that you can submit it to another journal.
If the paper can be under review for several months, it means that the editor is interested in your paper and serious about it. But this does not guarantee the acceptance of the paper. Sometimes reviews could take a longer time and rejection is still possible.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Below are two examples of a table, with different orientations of the *trial* header.
The number of the trial represents the chronological order, but there is no relationship between all the Trial 1's, for example.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/0pydM.png)
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/VjJA7.png)
Which variation would be more preferable, and why?
If you have another, more preferable variation, please suggest it.<issue_comment>username_1: I would prefer the first table. It would be natural to add a column with average±stddev, which you would generally need to draw some conclusion from your experiment. In the second table, it would be more awkward to include this, due to having to span multiple rows.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Anything as complex as this I'd prefer to see in graphical form. Do you really need to show 4 significant digits? Can you create a barplot or something with these data and still get the idea across?
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: This is how I would do it (essentially your first example):
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/yzoiU.png)
My rationale for this is as follows:
* It allows for including the average over your trials – which you have to compute and probably show anyway, and here is the best place to do it, as it can be compared with the data from the individual trials.
* Your reader usually wants to quickly assess the following:
+ Do the individual trials for a given length agree with each other or with the average?
+ Do the average values agree with some information outside this table (theoretical expectation, figure, official solution)?Both are not very comfortable in your second example: You either have to check groups of three that are not well separated visually or you have to go over the data in steps of three.
* The structure of the table is more easy to grasp.
Each direction is only used for one purpose – in your second example, going vertical could mean increasing the length but also going from one trial to the next.
* The least import information you have is the trial number; in fact it shouldn’t matter at all.
The suggested layout avoids it dominating the information and repeating it – if you show it at all.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
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2017/09/20
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm writing a detailed review article (for submission for publication) that aims to survey the various proposed explanations for a particular biological phenomenon. I'm aware of one explanation (that was proposed 20+ years ago), but a number of papers since then have pointed out fatal flaws in its logic. The original paper was published in a respectable journal and has been relatively well cited, since many papers on this phenomenon include some form of survey of the proposed hypotheses. However, it has not received any (published) support, experimental or otherwise.
**At what point can we, as researchers in the field, consider the matter closed, and cease to refer to the refuted hypothesis?** It seems a waste of space to spend a paragraph detailing one argument, only to spend the next paragraph explaining why it is flawed, and then not referring to it again. On the other hand, does it damage the credibility of my review if I omit one of the hypotheses without any justification?<issue_comment>username_1: Given that you are writing a *review* it is probably better to mention the old paper: if it was so well cited, readers of your review are likely to come across it and it will help them greatly if your review says they are better off looking at more recent theories.
With that being said: it is *your* review so you can write it in the way you like. If reviewers think you should have mentioned the older paper they will let you know and you can still include it in a revised version.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Based on the background you gave, particularly that you are writing a *detailed* review article, then I think you should **definitely** include this article.
Part of the function of a good review article is that it documents the history of scholarly thinking on the topic of question. From your explanation, this article presented an idea so apparently true that not only did some intelligent researchers study it and present it as fact, but it even passed peer review in a high-quality journal and was cited by subsequent researchers (though, of course, many people might have cited it to contradict its results). This indicates that it has played an important role in the evolution of knowledge in the area.
Think of it this way: suppose some researchers read your review article that omits this idea, and then they independently get that same idea as their own original idea. Without knowing that it has already been refuted, they waste their time conducting a study based on their ideas, and probably get negative results, to their disappointment. (Or worse, they get positive results, submit them for publication, and then get slammed in peer review for not knowing the literature.) By documenting the full body of knowledge, you can spare these hypothetical researchers all that pain.
Although my area has nothing to do with biology, I still remember in secondary school biology class learning about [spontaneous generation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_generation) as an early theory of genetics. I was deeply impressed by the explanation of how such a popular theory was eventually refuted by better science. That case was an important educational milestone in developing my scientific thinking. By including the refuted work in some detail (in correspondance with the amount of scholarly work spent developping and then refuting it), you could help your readers in a similar way.
Upvotes: 4
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2017/09/20
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a Ph.D. student who decided to change the direction midway. At a high level, I work on combinatorial optimization under uncertainty. In my proposal, I had said that I would use a technique A and its variants to tackle my problem. But now I have become uninterested in this direction.
1. I want to broaden my combinatorial optimization problem to P' so that I can consider a technique B which is totally unrelated to A, and since I broadened the problem I cannot directly compare the results from A.
2. Furthermore, I want to make some more changes in the problem to P'' and then use a technique C.
Now I have problems P,P', P'' which are variants of same combinatorial optimization problem under uncertainty but the techniques A, B and C are completely different and the results cannot be compared directly. Though I will compare A, B and C with techniques from literature separately. The underlying link is that all these problems are characterized by uncertain information.
Can I rope this into a thesis? Please note that I have finished my work with P, A and am starting to think about P', B. My concern is that there is a gap between these sub-topics and my Ph.D. thesis might lack cohesion. Suggestions/advice requested.<issue_comment>username_1: Ask your advisor. In most places, they de facto alone decide whether or not a thesis satisfies the program' requirements.
Even if, in your place, they don't, the can give your valuable information as it is their job to advise you.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In general, there is nothing wrong with having a thesis with disjunct topics. How well it is received does matter on the field. In theoretical computer science it is rather common. We just had a defense last week with 3 completely disjunct topics. And the guy got a summa cum laude.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: From your description there seems to already be a fair amount of cohesion in your research. No need to apologize for it not being even more cohesive. If you spin it the right way, it is likely that no one (but you) who reads the thesis will think that there is anything at all odd about it.
In the introduction you could perhaps say something like: "In this thesis we explore 3 methods for optimization under uncertainty. The methods are used to solve 3 variations of problem ...". In a summary chapter you could explain *why* A is appropriate for P, B is appropriate for P' and C is appropriate for P". That type of thing might be important to know. For example, it is useful to know that a greedy algorithm works for the generic minimum cost spanning tree problem but is not appropriate when there are constraints on the maximum degree of the nodes in the resulting tree (since the latter is NP-hard).
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
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2017/09/20
| 2,335
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<issue_start>username_0: I have a math-related PhD but currently work as a software developer. One day, when I retire from software development, is it possible to "join" a local university's math/cs department as an independent scholar? All I need is a PhD student desk and access to the libraries. I can fund my own travel & overhead fees. Has this ever been done before? I just don't want to move around for a job and face the immense pressure of publish or perish.<issue_comment>username_1: Depends on the work you aim to do and your previous track record, of course. You should get in contact with a research group leader and see what is possible. Independent people do sometimes work as visiting scholars, and they can be amazingly capable. Academia should be open to possibilities like that.
Of course, you need to find a host in your field of interest. I should add, in case you are accepted, the university will have to appear as your affiliation in publications of interest (also software publication, where applicable).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: If you know someone at the university, you can discuss getting an adjunct appointment, which is probably the closest thing to what you're looking for.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Is this US or another country? In US it can be typical to have adjunct faculty position which is similar to what you describe. (No pay, but 'connected' to the department and perhaps spending occasional time in the department. However, an adjunct position in principle means that the outside person can use up resources (from space to the university library resources to computing resources), and these resources are not cheap. If the adjunct is actually spending occasional time collaborating with an experimental group, there could be quite real liability issues if they accidentally screw up or are negligent.
So, typically the adjunct position is a formal position that is put up as an agreement and is reviewed every few years. It would be set up because the adjunct faculty appears to provides some useful experience/expertise that was expected to trickle out to faculty or students because of their closer than normal relationship with the department. Sometimes it might just be an outside researcher who talks regularly to a particular research group or faculty member and so they wish to formalize that arrangement. Perhaps the adjunct is someone who the department wants to keep on tap to occasionally teach a particular sub-specialty course.
Many departments value an 'industrial' contact being tied into department formally via an adjunct position. But, it does still come down to the department believing there is some benefit to its students or faculty before setting up an adjunct position.
Basically, make some collegial professional connections with people in the department and then ask them.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: If you really want to do this I suggest that you look at what sort of research people are doing at the university you have in mind that might interest you. If it does interest you and you are prepared to work at it then you might just possibly be able to get involved. If (a big IF) that worked out then it might be possible to get some sort of visiting position afterwards, but it would not be guaranteed.
I think you should ask yourself a question..
'Do I really want to do programming or research?'
If you want to do programming then that is great and you should put you best effort into that
If you want to do research then you might want to look out for post-doc positions in your area or something related, but that would probably mean relocating unless you are lucky. The most post-doc positions are fixed term and to make a career out of research you probably have to do teaching as well plus do all the other stuff etc. etc.
hope things work out
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: I've seen a few arrangements like this in mathematics (US) without being privy to the details. The position title was usually something like "Visiting Scholar," but it was created especially for that individual, and in all cases I know of, it lasted at most a few years.
These "positions" were created because someone influential wanted that person around for some reason. And they were always at wealthy private schools--state schools don't generally have spare resources for random people. So it's possible, but not something to count on.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: You're probably looking for an “*Honorary Research Fellow*” position. These exist in the UK, Australia & New Zealand, Canada, Hong Kong, and I suspect some parts of Europe. (I'm fairly sure this is a feature of academic institutes in most Commonwealth countries or ones that based their university sector on the UK model and the european model.[citation needed/speculation])
Here's the page for the policy surrounding these types of appointments from two Australian institutes. [UOW](http://www.uow.edu.au/about/policy/UOW058705.html) and [UWA](http://www.governance.uwa.edu.au/procedures/policies/policies-and-procedures?method=document&id=UP07%2F263).
From my experience, knowing the Honorary Fellows from my institute, these appointments are not made in isolation. You usually need to have some form of collaborative relationship, be it research or teaching, with the department or research group of interest *beforehand*.
You can probably get the gist of the appointment from sections 5-7 in the UOW document, i.e. roles, responsibilities, what the role actually means, how they're appointed.
I think the key points are (from the UWA document):
>
> "Honorary" included in the title means:
>
>
> * no remuneration of any kind will be made by the University
> * appointments which include persons employed by other bodies who are not necessarily on leave from that employer during the course of the honorary appointment.
> * appointments will normally be for periods from a minimum of one month up to > three years.
> * appointments are renewable subject to the continuing contribution of the appointee, on the recommendation of the Head and the approval of the Dean (or equivalent).
>
>
>
Usually to, the appointment required the individual to have a higher degree, PhD or equivalent clinical experience for medical fields or other performance based fields. From the UOW document:
>
> An honorary academic appointment is offered to a person with a distinguished career whose academic and/or professional qualifications, experience and expertise will complement the teaching and learning, research, research related commercialisation and entrepreneurship and other scholarly related activities of the University through contributions, mutually beneficial association and collaboration.
>
>
> ...
>
>
> Visiting and honorary academics must have appropriate tertiary qualifications (usually a higher degree) and/or significant experience and expertise in a profession, industry government or the arts.
>
>
>
---
*Comment*
---------
I've seen a number of comments and answers about *Adjunct* positions. In Australia at least these are *paid* and essentially always *teaching* positions.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: Keep in mind that you don't actually need an official connection to a university to contribute meaningfully to academia. Consider the experience of theoretical physicist [<NAME>](http://platonia.com). <NAME> briefly profiled Barbour in his book The Trouble with Physics. Barbour's papers have been published in mainstream peer-reviewed journals, and he and his collaborators are respected throughout their fields for their solid work.
From the link above:
>
> Since completion of my PhD in 1968, I have worked outside an academic environment, though I have collaborated with several researchers in academia. The picture above shows me at my home in north Oxfordshire, England. Much of the work with my collaborators has been done there.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: In the Netherlands' [CWI](https://www.cwi.nl) (national institute for Math and Computer Science), there's an arrangement called a "facilities agreement", in which you get essentially just access to the facilities (building, office space with a PC, computer system access) with no salary. While it's probably rare for someone to have this other than past a contract as an employee, it's not impossible if you convince the head of a relevant research group. This doesn't have anything to do with your being super-important, super-rich or super-anything.
I assume this kind of arrangement exists elsewhere (and other answers suggest it does, in some way or another)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: I attend university in California, an undergraduate in the Mechanical Engineering department, and know several who are employed as "Lecturers": they teach 1-2 courses, and that's pretty much it. They get their own office, all the resources, and the two I know are involved in companies on the side, moreso than the university. They aren't professors, but get much (if not all) of the benefits.
Landing a role like that sounds great, and if you don't want to lecture: I had one class that was entirely online except for the midterms/finals, which were done by the TAs. The professor even took a two-week vacation to Europe mid-quarter! Due to your background, you could definitely work with that.
Such a position would allow you to be an "independent scholar" in exchange for relatively minimal contribution to the institution.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: You might want to look into an interesting book on how independent scholars can associate themselves with universities - or not - and still provide valuable research. The book is "The Independent Scholar's Handbook", a paperback published in June, 1982 by <NAME>.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/09/20
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm working in a lab as an undergraduate worker. Can I ask one of my lab member who is a postdocter candidate for a recommendation letter?<issue_comment>username_1: You can ask, but he/she might not be knowledgeable in writing nor in a position to give you a recommendation letter. You should ask the professor leading the lab, their words would have greater weight when it comes to review boards.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes. Especially, a postdoc that has worked closely with you, and may have a different perspective than your professor. Whereas the professor may be involved in broader planning and thinking, the postdoc may have spent many hours with the student in the lab, analysing data, etc. Therefore, letters from professor and postdoc could complement each other and work very well.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: You can absolutely ask a postdoc (or even a PhD student) for a letter of recommendation! It happens pretty frequently :)
If you're debating between asking the postdoc or the professor (PI) in charge of the lab, it depends on your interactions with each of them and what you think they might have to say about you. A letter from the professor may hold more weight due to their reputation--if they can actually say something meaningful about you. If you think they would just give you an obviously impersonal form letter, it might be more valuable to get one from the postdoc who actually worked with you and can provide a more detailed and personal recommendation.
If you're applying for a position in the same field as the postdoc, also consider whether that postdoc is already making a name for him/herself, or if the professor is new and hasn't developed much of a reputation... that might further weight the value of each of their potential letters.
I'd suggest asking the postdoc who they think would provide a more valuable letter, as they will know your research field and professor much better.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/09/21
| 1,535
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<issue_start>username_0: Many journals do specify that cover letters are optional. From my experience, most people write cover letters in journal submission, but I am also aware that articles can also be published without the cover letter. Therein arises the question: why are cover letters written if they are not necessary for the publication process? My guess is that perhaps it helps to prevent the desk-reject from the editor.<issue_comment>username_1: Depending on the journal and/or field of research the title and abstract may not indicate clearly the topic or area of interest addressed by the submitted paper. Also consider that the editor may not be expert in the area that the paper addresses.
Are you submitting a paper to a journal that publishes a range of topics?
Are you submitting to a journal that publishes exclusively in one field?
Are you submitting to a journal that publishes exclusively in one area of one field?
Highly sought-after journals such as Nature and Science publish across a wide range of fields, so you would need to provide some specifics as to why you seek to be published in that journal. Also, why they should consider your submission (is it ground-breaking?).
You could submit to a journal that publishes exclusively for one field (physics, biology, chemistry, education...) but with so many areas of research in these fields you could not expect the editor to just *know* whether your paper is relevant, or which reviewers to assign.
So a cover letter can help define this for the editor - why you have selected that journal, the importance/relevance/originality/defining outcome of your paper, why they should publish/consider publishing your paper. It gives you a chance to give an outline with detail that may not be relevant in the abstract but goes towards background information so that they don't need to read some/all of the entire paper to make a decision.
Actually, if they need to read the whole paper first they may reject it without review, since at the least they may need to read title, abstract and introduction. A cover letter can save them time, which will be appreciated and help your chances of getting the paper reviewed.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Cover letters can be used to specify information which is relevant for the editors, but doesn't belong into the title and abstract. For example, if the paper is submitted upon invitation for a contribution to a special issue, that goes into the cover letter.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Prior to online submission forms, cover letters let the authors communicate information to the editors. Information I have included in covers includes:
* Why the manuscript fits into the journal (if i recall correctly, *Ecological Indicators* explicitly requires a statement of what "indictor" you are addressing in the manuscript)
* Potential reviewers and blocked reviewers
* A statement that the manuscript is not under review elsewhere
* Other pertinent information for the editor such as why the manuscript is timely (for example, perhaps you are studying a species that is under consideration for listing as an endangered species, and the information may be public, but not widely known)
* Responses to reviewer comments
* How I am meeting the journal's open data/open code requirements
With current online journal submissions, all of this information *can* be captured in online forms. Hence some journals either no longer require cover letters or outright do not allow authors to upload them. Conversely, I have seen other journals that still require cover letters.
I suspect journals use of cover letters depend upon the history of the journal, their current online publishing system, and the culture of the editorial team and office.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: I like to see the cover letter as the 'meta' part of your paper. What constitutes as meta is essentially anything beyond the purely scientific aspect of the paper, which can be easily gleaned by reading the abstract (in theory).
This is your chance to speak to the editor personally about your paper. Most basic advice about cover letter writing is emphasizing writing about why (1) your work is important and (2) why it is suitable for this journal in particular.
Even if your handling editor is an expert in your sub-field (and in my experience it rarely is - this is especially the case for general-interest journals), it is not always immediately obvious why your results are important, or even interesting. All scientists know about the 'hot topics' in their field, usually because they are published in high impact journals. But how did these topics get published in the first place without getting the recognition first? Usually some degree of convincing is needed.
There can also be other reasons for including a cover letter. Perhaps you may have spoken to the editor at a conference and you want to remind him that this is the paper you were talking about for submission. Or perhaps your paper was transferred from another journal and you want to inform him about the comments from the reviewers there. The cover letter can also be the place where you recommend reviewers for your paper.
It is easy to think for the writer that the merits of one's paper is obvious, or why waste your time? But this is not immediately obvious for the editor, who generally has a limited time to make a decision.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> I am also aware that articles can also be published without the cover
> letter.
>
>
>
The cover letter is not intended for the reader.
>
> Therein arises the question: why are cover letters written if they are
> not necessary for the publication process?
>
>
>
There is far more to the publication process than what sees print.
The point of a cover letter is to introduce your paper to the editor of the journal and (potentially) the reviewers. It helps to frame the paper - why you think it's interesting, *why you think it's interesting to that journal*, and if there's any relevant information that might weigh on the decision to publish, or how to go about publishing it - for example, in biomedicine one might occasionally make a request for expedited publication for information relevant to an ongoing outbreak, or attempt to coordinate a publication's release date with the presentation of the paper at a major conference.
Some journals also use cover letters as a place to put in some boilerplate assurances, like the paper not being under consideration elsewhere.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: **There is no point** in these letters per se.
I presume they are there because of historical reasons, where people were actually submitting the manuscript with a physical letter, so obviously, you would need, back then, to have a cover letter to explain what is the intention of the parcel. But now we can communicate the same information with an email or an electronic form, serving by itself as a cover letter, i.e., giving possible important information to the editor in charge.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/09/21
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD student and I hate my supervisors. they are bossy, do not allow me to explore my ideas because they have their own agenda and vision. Force me to publish in mediocre conference. Force me to cite all their friends and other students even if their work is irrelevant. They do research to further their academic careers rather than the love for science.
I have followed them and have finished 2/3 of my PhD life successfully. They have given me good feedback in recent yearly reports.
But I suddenly realise that this is not for what I started my PhD. I started my PhD to learn and explore Science. Gave up a top position in a company as a scientist to educate myself more and see myself stuck doing nonsense.
Now I am considering leaving my supervisors and alter my direction of study with someone else. Which implies I might have to work doubly harder and spend more time and probably eat up all my savings.
Should I live the hateful life and just get done with my PhD or should I take a bold step and do what I am passionate about. I have no interest in academia. I want to work in industry. I have come here to learn.<issue_comment>username_1: I'm addressing your particular goal of "I wish to change the direction slightly and explore more relevant techniques to solve the same problem I am dealing with".
One particular suggestion is to use a kind of "red herring" strategy: Work on two directions in parallel. The one direction is the boring/phony stuff that your supervisors want you to do, and that you will mainly discuss in meetings, thus giving them the impression that you buy into their game. The other direction is the direction you actually want to follow. The time to first mention this direction is when you have made some substantial results - you may then calmly announce that you plan to submit them to a specific conference.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: PhD times can be very frustrating; still, it's crucial to set aside frustration and clear your mind in order to achieve your goals. Please bear with me as I go over a few points:
You "Gave up a top position in a company as a scientist" but need a PhD to get the job you want (I guess that corresponds to a "top job") in industry? Clearly something is missing in this picture. Do you need that PhD or not? If not, you can stop reading here.
If you really need a PhD to get the industry job you want, then all you have to do is to learn what most of us learn too late in life: compromise.
Yes, in academia as in industry the professors/managers set their own agenda yes they have their supporters and work mostly with them to achieve what is sometimes new science/value-added in the company, and sometimes personal interests/career goals.
That being said, nobody "forces" you to work on some goal off your working hours. And yes you can define "working hours" even as a PhD, they're just perhaps 50% longer :)
Arguing over your own ideas without showing at least a proof of concept won't lead you anywhere. Trust me, I have done the same mistake a million times. Go back home, study your own ideas, experiment with it, and come back to your supervisor only when some results (not ideas) are mature enough. Or if you prefer, take your former supervisor and work with him in parallel. Nobody is going to object if you use your spare time to explore your ideas, as long as you keep churning out stuff for your current supervisor.
If you accomplish something along your independent line of research, surely someone will notice and make room for it. But I insist: to accomplish is not just to have a brilliant idea: is to work its details out until it's clear that it's original enough and carries potential.
If you do that, you can 1) get the PhD title you need 2) get the positive feedback and recommendation letters you might need in the future 3) learn and do all the science you care and need.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: It sounds like your advisors are risk-averse. This may be a good tactic if your main goal is to finish your PhD. However, you may still be able to sway them to your side by using an incremental approach.
One of my favorite advisors had a lesson she would impart to students eager to switch to a "new and exciting" topic. They idea was: don't come to me saying you have a brilliant idea and want to switch your research agenda. Instead, say that you have spent 2-3 days looking at this and feel the project is feasible and promising for the following reasons. Then ask for a specific length of time to generate "proof of concept." After that the right course of action will be self-revealing.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/09/21
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm an established, normal, non-stellar postdoc in computer science, several years after my PhD defense, and am going now for higher-rank academic positions. A particular university in the US offers both assistant and associate professor positions in my subfield. These are two different positions, but the announcements are copy-and-pasted with small adaptations. I would like to apply for both, since I wish to maximize my chances at a small additional cost (about an hour of adapting the cover letter and submitting).
* Is it normal to apply for two positions simultaneously?
* Is there anything particular to be paid attention to in the application documents (cover letter, research statement, teaching statement, reference list, publication list)?
* What are the typical pitfalls of job seekers in such a case?<issue_comment>username_1: First of all, are you sure you have a clear idea on the distinction between an assistant professor and an associate professor at a US institution, and in particular at *this* US institution?
The majority of associate professorships come with tenure, so that's the first thing to find out. To go from a postdoc position to a tenured position on arrival is possible but really rare -- this is something that happens to someone because they're a superstar, not because they went the extra mile in applying for more positions. To apply for both a tenured position and an untenured position sounds a bit weird to me: are you qualified for and desiring of tenure on arrival or not? If the associate professor position does not come with tenure, it is not completely clear what the advantage to you in taking it is. At all US institutions I know, the responsibilities and rights of all tenure track faculty are essentially identical (exceptions include certain faculty votes). Moreover, in my department the average salary for assistant professors is sometimes higher than that for associate professors, because the annual raises do not keep up with market value. At most institutions I know of you get a fixed, automatic raise upon promotion from assistant to associate and from associate to full, so arriving as an assistant professor with a short tenure clock might be more lucrative than arriving as an associate professor.
I would recommend against doing this "just to economize." To address your specific questions:
>
> Is it normal to apply for two positions simultaneously?
>
>
>
It is not so abnormal, anyway. I have often seen people apply for both postdoc and tenure track assistant professor positions. Actually though this makes more sense to me, because these are both natural continuations of a PhD or postdoc position. But I can't think of anyone who has applied for two positions and been awarded the higher position. (I applied to my present institution for a postdoc the year before I applied as a tenure track assistant professor. I didn't get the postdoc position, but I did get the tenure track one the next year!)
I think most people's reaction to that will just be to consider you for whichever of the two positions seems most appropriate to them. Conversely, if multiple positions are available and you apply to one position, if those who read your application think you are better suited for another position, they may invite you to apply for it or even just carry over your application.
>
> Is there anything particular to be paid attention to in the application documents (cover letter, research statement, teaching statement, reference list, publication list)?
>
>
>
Presumably the documents would all be identical except for the cover letter. If you actually have a good rationale to apply for both, the cover letter is a good place to explain this.
>
> What are the typical pitfalls of job seekers in such a case?
>
>
>
The main risk is along the lines I outlined above: it makes you look a bit naive and unfamiliar with the nuts and bolts of academic jobs. But most young academics are this way to some extent, so I don't think it's a terrible risk. On the other hand, I don't see much reward either.
All of this is a great thing to talk to your advisors / mentors about, by the way. If you're really a good fit to go straight to an associate professor job, they'll know and be happy to tell you.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I'm going to answer for the general case (applying for two positions) and then touch on your specific case.
>
> Is it normal to apply for two positions simultaneously?
>
>
>
In a general sense, it is normal to apply for two or more open positions *for which you are otherwise qualified*. For example, my current position was one of two that were similar in broad strokes, but had somewhat different spins on what they were looking for. In these cases, candidates are often shuffled into the position that the hiring committee thinks is the best fit, though with the possibility of being moved around if the short list of people who "naturally" fit in Position A happen to be better than the people for Position B.
In your particular case however, those two positions are based on *rank*. Unless this university has an unusual definition of associate professor, that's a tenured or at the very least "established researcher" position, and I'd peg your odds of being able to move into that position as being indistinguishable from zero.
>
> Is there anything particular to be paid attention to in the
> application documents (cover letter, research statement, teaching
> statement, reference list, publication list)?
>
>
>
The cover letter, research statement and teaching statement need to speak to the specific position. This often doesn't have to be much, but they should not be whole-hog duplicates. For example, your cover letter should mention the specific position, and why you think you're qualified for *that* position.
In your case...you'd need to justify why you're appropriate for an associate professor rank. While there are some people just entering faculty jobs who I could see articulating such a case (senior quasi-academics in government or private industry moving into academia) I have a hard time envisioning such a case for you, given the information we have.
>
> What are the typical pitfalls of job seekers in such a case?
>
>
>
As long as you're qualified for both positions, and speak to them, I don't think there are major pitfalls.
However, if you *aren't* really well suited for both positions, you run the risk of your applications coming off as "spammy" and wasting the search committee's time, even if you might have been an okay candidate for one of them. And in your case, you'd be coming off as worrisomely naive about how academia actually works for someone expected to be running their own research program in the very near future.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> I'm an established, normal, non-stellar postdoc in computer science, several years after my PhD defense
>
>
>
Then you might be qualified for an assistant level TT position, but unless your subfield is really unique, then I do not see how you would be qualified for an associate level position. Promotion from assistant to associate usually occurs somewhere between 5 and 7 years after starting. Even in a hot field where your years as a post doc might count towards the tenure clock, I don't see how someone who describes themselves as a *normal, non-stellar postdoc* would be competitive for an associate level position.
>
> What are the typical pitfalls of job seekers in such a case?
>
>
>
The major pitfall is that by applying to both people conclude that you do not understand how the academic system works and that you are unaware of the work that it will take for you to eventually get promoted to associate. At some point, if you are "lucky" your application will be looked at relative to other associate level applications. This can result in *nasty* things being said about your qualifications (e.g., the funding record is really weak or the references make you sound inexperienced) to move you down the rankings. These statements may then carry over to the assistant level search even if they might be completely untrue at the assistant level.
Upvotes: 3
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2017/09/22
| 762
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<issue_start>username_0: I worked for a research project on the migration of a prototype to a low-level consumable solution. I am also co-author of a paper that describes the math used for that project (my contribution was not the math, but the tests used to evaluate the performance of the algorithm). According to the work agreement I signed, the copyright of the paper and the code belongs to university A (although it acknowledges the author's attribution).
I am also writing a thesis for an academic program at university B (paying the tuition by myself). The main researcher of university A gave me permission to use the algorithm as the basis of my individual research. I also have some ideas that can improve the overall performance.
If I base my work on the algorithm of university A (which was already published) and write a different implementation (even in a different language), could I still lose ownership of my thesis? (I am trying to avoid any infringement)
PS: the abstract of the paper of university A was accepted and exposed in a conference, but the final document has not been sent yet (as usually done in these kinds of events).<issue_comment>username_1: You confuse two different things: The *copyright* attaches to the written work (in your case the thesis). The *intellectual property* attaches to the content of the contribution (in your case, the algorithm).
Likely (though I'm not qualified to give legal advice), the copyright for your thesis resides with you and/or university B, whereas the intellectual property in the algorithm resides with university A.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: There are two different issues here, claims on software you write and claims on the thesis you will write.
The former depends on the jurisdiction you live in and whether the algorithm is patented or not. If you re-implement it, and can prove that you have not used any bit of the old code (which is extremely hard if you have seen the old code), then there is no copyright violation, but you might still need to pay royalties due to any patents (if your jurisdiction allows software patents). If you only have ever seen pseudo code, then there is no copyright violation as you cannot copy any code that you have not had access to. If have seen the code and you want to be sure there is no copyright conflict, ask a student who has not seen the old code to re-implement with only a natural language or very abstract description from you. Even if you are writing in a different language, if you have seen the old code, this might be constructed as copyright violation, depending on who the lawyers are and which jurisdiction you live in.
Your thesis is not covered by any copyright or patent claims on the algorithm. Copyright only covers claims on derived software. You have written a thesis which is not a piece of software. The findings in it are your own, the text are your own. Nobody can touch that. There is no patent violation either, as you are not doing anything even remotely commercial. And most jurisdictions have explicit exemptions for scientific use of patents (in others it's implicitly in the way how patents only cover commercial use).
What you should do is ask the legal department of your university to clarify this. They know how to deal with intellectual property and what is allowed and what isn't allowed in your jurisdiction. And stuff like this is their job.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2017/09/22
| 3,506
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<issue_start>username_0: An article is published and the results depend heavily on a piece of code that the author wrote themselves.
The author has not shared the code with the community, even though they have been using it possibly for years now.
If I request the source code from the author and they refuse to share it, can I "demand" to see it (for example, making a formal request to one of the journals that published one of the articles)?<issue_comment>username_1: I believe you are asking the wrong question.
**You are asking:** *Can one demand to see code used to generate an article?*
**To which I would answer:** Assuming you're in a country with free speech, you can "*demand*" the code. Just make sure you do not threaten the author or otherwise break the law with your "demand". However, you are unlikely to be successful in forcing the author to share the code with you. A "demand" for code to me would come off as arrogant and I would ignore or decline a "demand".
**I think a better question is:** *How can I get the code from an article I am interested in looking at or using?*
**To which I would answer:** It depends upon your subfield and why the author will not share her or his code. Some subfields now require/expect authors to share code and data. For example, the [American Statistical Association recommends](http://www.amstat.org/asa/files/pdfs/pol-reproducibleresearchrecommendations.pdf) sharing code to create reproducible results. Here are the steps I would follow to get the code from an article I wanted:
1. I would first try reaching out to the author and asking nicely if she or he would be willing to share their code with you.
2. If the author declined, I would ask the journal editor if they could get the code to support the conclusions article because you wish to reproduce the article's results. Also, some journals now have open code/open data requirements. Check the policy of the journals the author published in.
3. If you end up in hostile situation with the author, **and** you think they are being misleading based upon their findings, I would contact the research integrity and ethics office at the author's university (e.g., [Illinois](https://research.illinois.edu/regulatory-compliance-safety/research-integrity-and-ethics) or [Rochester](https://www.rochester.edu/orpa/training/facportal/page_06.html)).
4. If you truly suspect scientific misconduct as the reason behind not sharing code, you could take this farther by writing a response article questioning their findings and state that they refused to share code with you. For example, watch how this [author](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gYIs7uYbMo&feature=youtu.be) investigated a cancer scandal. The end result was prison time for the fraudulent scientist.
5. If the author's funding agency requires open access to code, you could contact them and request they force the author to share their code. For example, all data and code development funded by the US Government is required to be [open](https://www.data.gov/open-gov/).
I would suggest working with the intellectual property office or similar office at your institute if step 1 fails. They can guide you on what options, if any, you have.
Last, you might need to accept that you cannot force someone to share his or her code with you.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The answer to your question is very simple, but it is not the one you are clearly hoping to get: **No, you cannot demand (and hope for your demand to be met or to be seen as even remotely appropriate, that is) to see the code** the author used, either from the author or the journal where they published.
The reason is also simple to explain. Academics don't make "demands" of each other. The way academia works is that each researcher does their research and releases their work in the way that they think is appropriate, and the community evaluates them and gives them credit for it as it sees fit. Do I think researchers should release their code? [Absolutely!](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/88655/40589) I also think journals should make that a condition for any work whose validity depends on the code to be published. But I don't get to decide how journals and other researchers conduct their business.
On the other hand, I *do get to decide* whether I trust a result described in an article; whether I recommend papers I am asked to referee for publication; who to invite to give a talk at my department or at a conference I'm organizing; who to write a recommendation letter for for their tenure case or job application, etc. And I am also free to express my opinion to others that a result can't be trusted if it can't be verified. That is precisely how things should be, and the result is that people who don't release their code, and their results, will (generally speaking) have a lower level of credibility and lower reputation than those who do.
So, unfortunately you need to accept that you cannot make "demands" or force an author to give you their code when they don't want to. But you can, and should (if you feel that strongly about it), make your voice heard in your research community that you believe releasing the code underlying scientific work is a good practice, should be the norm, and should be a precondition to having the work refereed and/or published. If enough people express such opinions, we will start to see some progress in this increasingly important area.
**Edit:** here's another way of looking at this issue. Availability of code is just one of many factors that make some research products more useful than others. So I think it may help to frame the question more generally: If an author published a paper that describes their research results, but the description has a flaw that makes it less useful than it might have been otherwise, do I as a reader have a right to *demand* that the author fix the flaw? For example:
* A mathematical proof is presented with "some trivial details left to the reader as an exercise" (the author forgets to mention that filling in those details takes 2-3 weeks of frustrating calculations, at the end of which the diligent reader is still uncertain if the result is true);
* A paper is written by an author who doesn't speak English well, to the extent that reading the paper becomes difficult and in certain parts the author's intent seems impossible to decipher.
* A physics paper cites certain results from the literature in a vague and imprecise way that makes a mathematically inclined reader wonder which of the claims in the paper are theorems, which are conjectures, which are heuristic derivations not meant to be taken literally, etc. A look at the cited literature does nothing to clear up the confusion.
* Etc etc.
The answer in all of those cases is again a resounding **no**: it is completely inappropriate to demand that authors improve their papers (unless you are a referee, and even then you cannot *demand* it, you can at most make it a condition for recommending publication). Researchers already have every incentive to want to improve their papers as much as they can; if they don't do so, either they are incapable of it, or they can do it but decided that doing something else is a better use of their time. You as a reader need to have the maturity to accept that some papers you read will be useful and trustworthy, and others will be less useful and less trustworthy, and that the world is not going to bend to your demands and adapt any research study to your vision of what the ideal study looks like. That applies to code as much as to any other aspect of the research.
I'll add that after reading more of your thoughts in the comments you posted, I have to say your entitled tone is off-putting to say the least. The fact that you think authors should make available materials that *you decided* need to be released, and that if they don't do so that represents some kind of moral outrage, makes me personally think somewhat less of you (and it might make others reach similar conclusions). Since you are posting using your own name, I think this should worry you; hopefully it will also cause you to reflect about your unreasonable approach to this issue.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Reproducibility is an important issue, and there is a growing trend to make more raw data available. Many journals actually require the authors to deposit certain kinds of data in public repositories, for example when publishing a paper with an X-ray or NMR structure of a protein, it is very likely that the journal requires the authors to deposit those into the PDB database. There can be an embargo period, but in the end the data has to be public.
I looked at the author guidelines for Nature and Science, and found passages about code in both.
[Nature](http://www.nature.com/authors/policies/availability.html):
>
> An inherent principle of publication is that others should be able to replicate and build upon the authors' published claims. A condition of publication in a Nature journal is that authors are required to make materials, data, code, and associated protocols promptly available to readers without undue qualifications. Any restrictions on the availability of materials or information must be disclosed to the editors at the time of submission. Any restrictions must also be disclosed in the submitted manuscript.
>
>
> After publication, readers who encounter refusal by the authors to comply with these policies should contact the chief editor of the journal. In cases where editors are unable to resolve a complaint, the journal may refer the matter to the authors' funding institution and/or publish a formal statement of correction, attached online to the publication, stating that readers have been unable to obtain necessary materials to replicate the findings.
>
>
>
[Science](http://www.sciencemag.org/authors/science-editorial-policies):
>
> After publication, all data and materials necessary to understand, assess, and extend the conclusions of the manuscript must be available to any reader of Science. All computer codes involved in the creation or analysis of data must also be available to any reader of Science. After publication, all reasonable requests for data or materials must be fulfilled. Any restrictions on the availability of data, codes, or materials, including fees and restrictions on original data obtained from other sources must be disclosed to the editors as must any Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) pertaining to data or materials used or produced in this research, that place constraints on providing these data or materials.
>
>
>
Your first step should in any case be to ask the author politely for the code. If that fails, you can contact the journal, if they have policies similar to the ones I quoted.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I'm actually pretty sure that sharing some particular codes used to obtain certain results is illegal, depending on the method used. Not always the code will be fully developed by the author her/himself. Sometimes people use external libraries which provide numerical methods for evaluating inputs.
I'm keeping it short with some examples from experiences of my own:
At the university I work in, we are provided with some libraries which are **paid**, and, in a couple occasions, in order to execute some of my codes efficiently, I had to recur to those libraries. There were situations where I used RK4 method ready-to-use subroutines to solve certain problems (eg. RK4 from Numerical Recipes), subroutines which I'd not have the time nor patience to develop my own, given it's not the focus of my research. Could I write a similar code for the purpose? *Of course*. Would it be pleasant and/or useful? *Not at all*. Other people have already developed much faster and more precise algorithms, and those were **sold** to us by them, by a considerable amount of money.
This example was probably somewhat *silly*, given that RK4 is such a group of simple methods, but there are much more sophisticated subroutines which would require special dedication and knowledge, making it highly unlikely that someone from another field would waste their time learning how or even have the ability to program such thing.
**Edit:** I think I probably didn't make myself clear at saying some people use libraries bought by the University inside the code, because it might sound like we just call one or another subroutine in one or another line of the code. That's not how it works. Calling subroutines and calculating external functions require a lot of time, which, most of the time, are "copied and pasted" inside the scopes of the author's code, and modified according to the author's own purpose. There is rarely an explicit library import and subroutine call, simply.
As pointed out below in the comments, it isn't really that simple to just let your code available for the public and don't worry about any legal issues.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: One problem is: even if the authors are happy to share the code, you may not be able to run it. I know a very successful software that generated dozens of papers, and came as third place in a prestigious competition. It works like the following:
* Run a Docker container which maps one folder to the folder of the host machine.
* The Docker image is more than 64GB. Nobody in the lab know (have enough effort) to install all the tools from scratch. So they use the Docker image.
* Make a new folder for the program to be tested.
* Copy some tools/data from the host machine (via the mapping folder), some tools/data from other folder within the Docker container.
* The tool itself is a combination of bash scripts and Python. It invokes different tools that were copied and outputs to different folders. Some folders are in the home folder of particular user (the intern who developed this part).
* The main script to start the tool has 7 parameters.
The most interesting thing is that: **there is no documentation** (who has time for that). So even if the authors give you the source code, you will not be able to run it. In this case:
* Should you demand the authors to make their software to run in all
machines?
* Should you demand the authors to write documentation?
* Should you demand the authors to help you to run their tool? Considering how much effort to spend on each request if this is possible.
What is the protocol to share the source code, considering IP, copyright etc? To open source a tool is not easy. My PI intended to open source a tool built by our group. After several meetings with 4 lawyers of the university over a year, they gave up.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: If an article is published which depends on software which cannot be run the results will be difficult to reproduce. The best case is you implement comparable software and eventually get the same/better results.
The worst case is when the interesting results are the consequence of an undiagnosed error in the code and will never be reproducible. There is no reason to expect the error rate in unreleased software to be better than in peer reviewed or commercially supported software.
Publishing without the code is much like publishing results without showing mathematics, data or methodology. The most reasonable response I know of to this is to disregard the paper.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/09/22
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<issue_start>username_0: I have already submitted the PhD thesis for examination. I have started to email potential supervisors yesterday to get information regarding postdoctoral positions in their departments. I am wondering whether it is possible to start postdoctorate while waiting for PhD viva.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, it is possible. I and many others started a postdoc before officially obtaining the PhD. However, your chances may depend on country, postdoc position, and field. For example, in some countries before the official defense the PhD has already been examined by the committee and hence there may be more trust from a potential postdoc PI that you will not still be focusing on your PhD.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: It can be done; I did it, and know of a couple others who did; the most recent one was around 15 years ago but I have no reason to believe the rules would have radically changed. This was in the USA and Canada; I assume that specific institutions or countries may not allow this, and your Ph.D. supervisor may not approve of it either, perhaps because of concerns that the thesis work may fall by the wayside with the distraction of the post-doc.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/09/22
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<issue_start>username_0: In my school, we have a program that allows students to do research as an undergrad with a mentor. Not uncommon. Naturally, as a participant, this is my first dive into the world of research.
I am choosing to do research on high power lasers.
The school gives us a 3 figure budget, but when my mentor heard of the laser being 5 figures, she told me "don't worry about it." And mentioned that she has something, but i didn't quite hear what she said. She kept putting emphasis on keeping on going "don't let the cost stop you", etc.
Is this common? Should i apply for a grant? I'm not sure anything 5 figures is worth undergrad research. Is this generally the case?<issue_comment>username_1: Your mentor, or prospective mentor, is telling you not to worry about the cost. Presumably, they know what they are talking about and have funding that can cover the costs. A $50,000, I am assuming US, laser could be easily covered by a large NSF/NIH type grant or start up funds. If it is a piece of equipment that the mentor needs for their lab and will use in the future, then it is no big deal. You are not taking money out of anyone's pocket. That said, you should realize that you will not be able to keep the laser at the end and it will likely stay in your mentor's lab.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: First since you didn't quite hear what she said, you should ask what it was that she said that you missed.
If she says she "has something", ask what that is--does she already have an equivalent laser you can use? Is she planning to buy one? Obviously you're not going to stretch a 3 figure budget to 5 figures by magic.
You can still make progress on your project in the mean time by writing out what you plan to do in more detail, getting more citations for your write-up etc. Once you've done that, you can tell her you're ready to use the 5-figure laser and actually do the experiment--you just need access to one. In other words: bring the future events she's telling you not to worry about into the present so that they're something you need help doing immediately rather than some future thing you're uncertain about that she can put off or explain later.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/09/22
| 1,516
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<issue_start>username_0: A constant struggle for most graduate students is how to clearly lay out research ideas in a coherent manner. We are constantly in the "weeds" reading papers, move data around, running models, and researching tiny little details. When we decide to come up for air and begin to talk about our ideas they are unorganized and unclear. We assume people know what we are talking about and so we talk right past them.
So my question is, how do you clearly and coherently lay out research ideas?
Are there books to help with this, or other resources? Are there ways to overcome this challenge as a researcher?<issue_comment>username_1: Once I had an informal discussion with my supervisor and few of my peers regarding this. Even I had this question looping over my head many a times. This is the experience from my side.
* We read a lot of papers, on an average at least a paper per day. Create a log in your machine or your research log book; that contains details about one line summary of the research paper that you read. This helps in concrete understanding on the paper. Yes of course, none can fully understand the paper, but that is how it is. You will see that you are getting better at it with time. -- This will help also in expressing ideas.
* New ideas are often seem unclear the very first time. But get refined. Try to express ideas not with English sentences first, rather with demonstration. Then, try to summarise the demonstration in sentence.
* Your idea should express the following: (1) What is the problem, (2) In which portion of the problem solution, your idea fits in, (3) Is it new or an improvement of earlier ideas, (4) Would it produce a good solution, (5) How to formalise it, (6) How to implement it, (7) What are the concrete set of tools to be utilised.
* Most important is "Can you divide your idea into smaller ideas?" -- If yes, it solves all problems during laying out the big idea.
Hope, this helps!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: **Big ideas**
* Think about breaking your big ideas down into manuscript ideas--what would be the focus of each paper you could potentially write? This helps to break big-picture research topics down into both manageable and focused sub-topics, and will help you plan the even smaller research steps needed to achieve the bigger goals.
+ So for example, if my big grand research question is *"Why are all my houseplants dying and how do I save them?"* I could foresee breaking that into manuscripts:
1. Review of common houseplants with compiled statistics on hardiness, common stresses, etc. and development of new quantitative metric for normalized houseplant stress level
2. Experimental results of houseplant responses to induced stresses
3. Application of a new methodology for protecting houseplants from common stresses.
* Similarly, break your smaller sub-projects down by what results you'd like to attain (e.g., figure comparing x and y as a function of z, calibrated equation describing x(z), etc.), then plan your work around reaching these goals.
* Keep your notebooks organized according to these big ideas (e.g., Plants Notebook).
* The front page of each of my notebooks is a running to-do list of things that are relevant *right now*, which I try to review and update at least once a week.
**Smaller ideas**
* Make sure your smaller ideas fit in under your larger research goals/plans above, and record your ideas in the appropriate subject notebooks
* Keep a "parking lot" notebook for your random thoughts and ideas that might not be tractable/relevant right now but might someday be useful.
**General**
* I like to use a digital notebook app instead of a paper notebook to keep things organized since you can move text around as needed... my old paper notebooks are full of notes on different topics all mixed randomly so it's hard to find them again, and relevant notes are often in very different places. You can keep different notebooks for different topics, but I've found it's still hard to keep things organized and the topics themselves often evolve over time.
* Go back occasionally and re-read/reorganize/rewrite your old notes. This is especially facilitated by using digital notebooks because it allows your notes to be more of an actively updated list of relevant things you're working on right now (for the most part), rather than a bunch of disjointed things you randomly wrote down way back.
* In addition to (digital) notebooks for each subject I'm researching, I also keep notebooks for *seminars/conferences/meetings/workshops* (since they're often on random topics unrelated to my research), *administrative/proposals*, *outreach*, *teaching*, *classes*, and *papers* (notes on papers I've read). Any info in one of these that's also relevant to a research project, I'll copy over to that subject notebook (this is a little clunky and would be easier if I could find a notes app that lets you cross-reference or alias pages to multiple notebooks...).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Similar to about anything in life, *practice makes perfect*.
The lack of clarity while explaining an idea to others is mostly because you never do it before you do it. In my case, while reading papers and thinking to myself, the ideas become extremely clear. But then when I want to discuss it with my collegues, I just can't proceed. My descriptions are flawed, my arguments have no supporting arguments etc.
When we discuss frequently with my colleagues, after two or three sessions, at least one idea becomes more clear, and finally turns into a good research problem.
Also, my former supervisor used to tell me
>
> We, scientists, frequently daydream. So many of us have a 200 page notebook filled with so called ideas. They are just wrong things on the way of finding the right research direction.
>
>
>
Overall,
* Frequent discussions with your collegues, and keeping small notes about meetings.
* Keeping a log of research ideas, and frequently discarding them.
* Repeating the process untill a research topic is found.
might be the best way to go in my humble opinion.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: Whilst not being the exact answer you are looking for, properly defining research [aims and objectives](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/91400/what-is-the-difference-between-aims-and-objectives-in-a-research-proposal) may help you in your endeavour.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/09/23
| 573
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<issue_start>username_0: Like the GED, which is equivalent to a high school degree, is there a test that you could obtain that is equal the a bachelor's degree? Which states in American can you take it? And what are the requirements? Is there a website? Please leave the link. Or is there some kind of online test that is equal to a bachelor's degree? If not, what would be the quickest way to get a bachelor's degree without going to college/University?
I want a bachelor's degree in Science, space science. I want to get a bachelor's degree quickly cause I feel as if I've wasted years of my life and want to get back on track. I want the bachelor's degree so I can go for a Master's degree.<issue_comment>username_1: No, there is not.
A bachelor's degree isn't a generic thing like a high school diploma. For example, it makes a big difference what institution it's from and what your major was. Unlike high school, in the US there aren't government-specified standards for what should be taught or tested for a college degree; each institution makes its own rules (usually under the oversight of accrediting organizations). So there's no way that a standard test could substitute for a bachelor's degree in general.
There are some reputable colleges and universities that offer online degrees, but it involves a lot more than a single test. You'd do roughly the same coursework as if you were physically attending the university, and you should expect it to take multiple years.
There are some disreputable "colleges" which will offer a degree based on a single exam, or your life experiences. These are scams and their degrees are worthless.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Obtaining a bachelor's degree means that you have coped with the (at times arcane) requirements of an accredited academic institution. You have learned to read, understand, summarize, spell (we write out "you" and do not capitalize "university" in English), and write for a specific subject area. Some credits can be obtained online and there are a number of more or less dubious institutions that will certify credits for you as long as you pay them. But trying to just buy a sheepskin so that you get the job that requires a bachelor's degree will soon get you into hot water, as the employer will expect you to be able to work at the level of a bachelor.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/09/24
| 3,059
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<issue_start>username_0: TAs are responsible for answering students' questions. But sometimes there are bad-mannered students who don't treat the TA with respect during the interaction. Should TAs just take it and still answer students with patience? Otherwise, they may be complained about by students. Or do TAs have a right to ask students to behave politely before answering them, or to just simply refuse to meet them?<issue_comment>username_1: The TAs in question should speak with the director of the course first and foremost - it will be important to have that person "on their side", and they likely have a better idea of what actions are available to the TA.
In a more general sense, my opinion is that you try to treat those students with a sort of detached professionalism, but you are under *no* obligation to go the extra mile to help them. And you are *absolutely* within your rights to ask them to behave politely.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Some schools have a policy that disruptive students can be asked to leave the class by the instructor. You might check to see if the situation you describe rises to such a level.
Certainly consider discussing the situation with the supervising professor and/or the department chairperson.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: First: The TA should try the best to find out the reason(s) behind such behaviour of the students. For example, (1) if the TA is very friendly with the students and has maintained a small distance with the fellow students, then the students might be thinking him as their friend in which case the formality would not come in the class; (2) if TA is not able to do proper teaching or problem solving, then students might take him as granted.
It also depends on the class size.
Second: What can be done?
As @username_1 points out, the TA should speak with the course in-charge to plan out the things to get the students in line. But, be ready with your points to discuss with the Professor as (s)he would definitely ask questions related to my 'First' point.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: As a TA, you have been granted a degree of authority from the instructor or professor that you are assisting, and in turn, the educational institution that employs you. Your mentality should reflect this responsibility that you have undertaken.
One of the things that I learned from teaching is that your own attitude and professionalism (or lack thereof) is continuously signaled to your students. That's not to say you have to rule with an iron fist in order to have your students' respect, especially in higher education. But if you act like a student that just happens to have teaching responsibilities, you could be setting up a learning environment that opens you up to being disrespected.
When I was a TA, there was only one incident where I had to explicitly establish my authority. During my recitation section, two undergraduates sitting at the back of the classroom were gossiping loudly, to the point where they were clearly disrupting the other students. I stopped mid-sentence, stopped writing on the board, turned around, and simply waited. The other students of course immediately noticed, but it took about 5 seconds for them to realize I had stopped because they were busy listening to each other. Once they had shut up and turned to look at me, I said, quite firmly but calmly, "Nobody is forcing you to be here. If you'd like to continue your conversation, feel free to do it elsewhere, but don't disrupt your classmates who are here to learn." And then I went right back to teaching.
My point is that you have power, and you should not feel shy about using it, so long as you remember that your purpose is to facilitate the education of your students. To the extent that lack of respect or disruptive behavior interferes with that goal, not only are you within your rights to exercise corrective action, I would say you have a duty to do so. However, the nature of your interactions with your students must always be professional. If there is disagreement about course topics, that's fine as long as it stays in the bounds of the concepts being taught. It's not fine if it becomes personal (e.g., "What you said was so obviously wrong! How can you be the TA for this class?" or "You're just an undergrad, and I'm doing my PhD in this stuff so I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about here").
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: From the first moment you start to feel uncomfortable, you should inform either the professor teaching the course (if you are a grader), or your supervising administrator (if you are the instructor of the course, section, recitation section, or lab).
You are part of a system -- you are a cog in a complex machinery system. Each part of the machine plays its role. Part of your job as a TA is to inform your superior when a problem arises. This is exactly one of the problems that can easily arise on campus.
The way the department will deal with the problem will depend on the context in which the uncomfortable interaction occurred -- in the classroom, in your office, in a computer lab, in the library, etc.
To help you visualize yourself as part of a complex system, with support from your department, I'll mention a few possible ways the problem might be addressed:
* A veteran TA might be asked to work quietly at another desk in your office.
* You might be asked to move your office hours to a larger group office.
* You might be advised to refer the student to the professor him or herself, who is better equipped to answer their question(s).
* The professor might email the student to request a visit to his or her office hours, where the professor might listen to the student's point of view, and then perhaps explain the basic ground rules of respectful interaction on campus.
* The student might be transferred to a different section (if the behavior was serious, or repeated).
* If the behavior was egregious, the student might face serious consequences with the university.
I think you will find that over time, as you find that you are consistently supported by your department, your self-confidence will grow, and you'll become more comfortable asserting yourself with minor incidents. But to get from Point A (fear and uncertainty) to Point B (confident assertiveness), you must allow your department to support you. Your department can't support you if you don't report incidents that make you feel uncomfortable.
Now, sometimes there's a gray area and you're not sure whether something is worth reporting. As a new TA, your motto should be: if in doubt, report. Just a simple email or stopping by a supervisor's office to make a mention of what happened.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: This is a difficult question to answer, we have to first consider the problem of "what level of respect should the students give the TA ?"
I am a docent in Europe and I have to teach undergrads in tutorials, and there are some things which I just let pass and somethings which I have zero tolerance for. Some things are so extreme that I would not tolerate them for a moment but thank goodness they have never occured.
Consider what you think is reasonable, do you want to expect the students to treat you like a god and even ignore you when you make an error ? If you expect that then sadly you will be very disappointed.
At the other end of the spectrum if a student made a comment about the appearance of a TA and made a sexual remark about them. Then I would strongly hold the view that this is totally unacceptable, as an academic if a TA came to my office and told me such a thing had happened then I would be deeply troubled and the next thing I would be doing would be contacting the HR officer for advice. I have never had a student come on to me in class, I hold a view that sexual relationships between the academic and the undergrad are an exceptionally bad idea.
I would lump racist, sexist or other bigoted abuse into the same bin of horrors which I would blow my lid at. If a student came to me and told me they did not want a white / black / asian / female / gay / muslim / jewish / christain / green / purple / whatever TA,
I would say "tough you are not able to choose the colour (gender / sexuaility / religion) of your TA. Chemistry is the same chemistry regardless of who the TA is. You need to grow up and become less bigoted"
In the middle you have a wide range of behaviours, I have had the class clown who kept on asking very odd questions such as "how long will be DVD player battery last" during a lesson on elctrochemistry (nerst equation). My advice with such people is never lose your cool, stay calm you need at least one adult in the room. One of those adults has to be you ! As long as the class clown does not disrupt the teaching you will just have to tolerate them.
The disruptive student who is chatting away on their phone or otherwise disrupting the lesson. My advice is to tell them to be quiet, and point out that they need to respect the right of others to learn. Also point out that if they want to discuss some sporting event from last night, their social lives or otherthings which are unreleated to the lesson then they can wait until they are not in the class before doing so.
I had a very offensive student who was being exceptionally rude to me and he kept saying "you do not know my name, you can not do anything about me". By chance I found out his name, the way I then dealed with the student was to walk up to him the next time I had to teach in the undergrad lab. I greeted him by name and told him I was glad to see him, I also told him that I hoped that he was going to have a productive and enjoyable day in the lab. This changed him from a horrible pest into a rather likeable little lamb.
Sometimes a good sense of humor is needed for improving the behaviour of students and making them keep their minds on the subject. I was once teaching basic nuclear chemistry to some undergrads. I had one who was swearing a lot and using the "s word". I turned to the class and in a totally deadpan way, I told them that the classic bioassay for determining exposure to airbourne plutonium is to get a feces sample, ash it and then measure the plutonium content in it. Suddenly using the s word was not quite so funny for the student. Human waste was no longer a swear word it was now something else. Sadly there are limited times when you can pull a stunt like that one to get them to focus and stop swearing.
It is important that you lead by example, if you for example want to your classroom to a cuss free zone, then do not litter your speech with colourful language which would make a factory labourer blush (I used to be a factory labourer in my youth).
You need to keep in mind that as a TA you are not there to be their friend, you are there to teach. Be friendly but try to keep a distance from the students. Never use your time as a TA to try to chat up students (ask for date) or arrange your social life with the students. I have seen some people break this rule, it results in a loss of respect from both the students and other people in the university.
One of the other people commented about make sure that they know you know their names as you have power over their grades. I would advise you to divorce in your mind their conduct in the classroom from their homework. If you grade problem sheets or homework, then ignore the name on written work. You should grade merely what is in front of you on the paper, do not care who the person is. Grade the written work in a totally fair way. One thing that this avoids, is if some horrible student who was "mouthing off" at you, conducting their social life in the classroom and calling you every dirty name under the sun spots that you marked them down becuase their were an arse in your lesson, then they have a tool to make your life harder. They now have a means of complaining to your boss.
If you grade them fairly and the student you flunk (one which did poor work) goes moaning to the head of department, the prof or whoever. If this person has a backbone they will tell the student to stop moaning when they see how you have marked their homework fairly.
You may sometimes have to accept that you might get a very gifted but lazy student. Occasionally you might encoutner a genius with a attitude problem who is lazy, unless you are in a subject such as medicine or the nuclear sector where a standard of behaviour (having the right attitude) is required for work then you will have to just put up with the lazy student who makes lifestyle choices which you disapprove of. I hold the view that the genius should use their time in a productive way rather than merely doing what is required of them in 5 minutes when most students need a whole hour to do it before doing no further productive work. But not everyone sees it the same way as me.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/09/24
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<issue_start>username_0: I am the professor in charge of a first-year course for undergraduates.
Recently, I received an e-mail from a student,
the general meaning of which is the following:
>
> Dear professor,
>
>
> I am sorry for missing the last few lectures and assignments.
> During the last few weeks, I was really sick with the flu.
> Could you please help me to get right on track with the class?
>
>
>
How should I respond to this e-mail?
Should I give the student an opportunity
to "make up" the missed assignments,
or should I give the student zeros for the missed assignments?<issue_comment>username_1: First, there may very well be policies in place to handle this, so I would check those first, in case your hands are tied in some way.
Generally speaking however, I'm fairly permissive with medical absences and helping students catch up, if (as it seems from your email) the desire is actually for them to catch up. In your case, for example, I'd schedule a meeting for the student to try and figure out a path forward.
I'm aware that this leaves me open to being exploited by the occasional student who has decided to fake an illness, but I'm far more concerned with make sure those students who *do* have major medical or life-related issues have the chance to do well in my classes, and I'd rather the occasional student get away with an undeserved extension than have someone who genuinely needed my help not get it.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: **Check with your schools policy**
Usually, such things are in general handled on a different and official level, like: bring a doctors certificate or similar. So in your response, politely point him to your schools policy.
**Official repetition exams**
Sometimes, policies allow for repetition exams for the ones who failed/were sick. This is like a second try, as if you booked the course again. Whether this is available depends on your school and usually on your willingness to prepare such an exam. This is although a more fundamental decision about how should students get a second chance? Repeat the whole course? Get a second exam?
**Exceptional cases**
Last, there can of course be exceptions from the policy under some circumstances. Test whether this is the case here (say, is there an extraordinary thing which makes it reasonable to apply special rules to this student?), but for me this does not seem to be. Also think of what the alternative for the student then may be (he has to repeat a whole year because of this but would have finished otherwise). Be careful with exceptions tough as they can create precedence cases! So choose them carefully, if at all.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: We all know the student is telling a white lie here. I think that is a decent choice of action. One thing that really matters is that the student learns. Secondly, its important to uphold timelines in order for the school to be efficient. As long as no one perceives this student to be blatantly disrespecting the timeline given, there'll be little or no damage to the integrity of the rule, making the greatest good being achieved by bowing to their request.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: We have a nasty flu going around that has left people being very sick for weeks. They would love to have had the limited version described by another person in this thread.
Why are people so quick to judge on these things?
to answer the question: give the opportunity to make up the work, but perhaps give a 5% penalty for failure to email you earlier if there's no third-party evidence coming along.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: 1. Requirement: Your duty as **human** is to provide help for that in
need (all humans next to you).
2. Requirement: Your duty as **teacher** is to provide information for that in need (students).
3. Requirement: Your duty as **employee** is to validate (check) the knowledge of the students.
Based on these requirements the solution of this is basically, that you help him out by providing him a path to reintregrate in class, because his illness could be serious. But, do not hessitate to give him small validation exams, in order to keep record of his progress. You should give him time to regenerate from illness and compensate his knowledge lack.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: This answer focuses more on addressing the issue in future semesters. If you have room to innovate, it may help to focus on your desired course outcomes and let assignment policy (and even the assignments) flow from them.
With a set of outcomes in mind, and a sequence of major assignments that (I hope) all play a role in reaching them, I knew I wanted to orient all of my policy around getting students to work hard, complete the full assignment track, and learn from their mistakes (both in coursework, and time-management/responsibility).
This orientation led me to a few specific conclusions:
* Getting students to learn from mistakes means: making sure they have room to make them, providing clear feedback that they messed up, and expecting them to rectify it.
* Unless I receive notice of a university-verified excused absence, I apply a diminishing daily late-work penalty that ensures it's worthwhile to turn assignments in on the due date, but leaves enough points on the table that it's *always* still worth completing late assignments.
* Break major assignments down into a few parts to dilute the impact of an occasional discretionary absence or missed due date.
* Require corrections on all major assignments.
* Aim for a well-distributed workload with weekly deadlines and steadily-increasing assignment weights. This communicates my expectations (and puts procrastinators on notice) with clear grade feedback while the stakes are low.
A relaxed attendance or late-work policy isn't directly compatible with some kinds of work, but I think it's a good nudge to re-examine assumptions. As long as you still make appropriate full-credit accommodations for people with officially-documented excused absences, I think it's fine to have an office-hours make-up option (i.e., same exam for half credit, much harder essay exam, etc.)
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I’m an undergraduate student, and I find that multiple times (each week), I have an obsessive need to make sure something I’m doing is allowed/accepted. I do this by asking the TA/Professor for my course in question.
It’s usually situations where it’s *almost* certain that something I’m doing is ethical, but I feel the need to ask for each instance if the professor did not explicitly state the rules.
Some examples:
* A little while back I asked my professor if thesauruses were allowed, and if I had to cite them. Based on common sense, I was over 95% sure it was fine – even on the university library website, links were given to a few online thesauruses. When I asked my prof, he said that it was absolutely fine, and that thesauruses did not have to be cited.
* My professor for another course mentioned that certain calculators were not allowed on tests (the kind of calculator I currently have). I wondered if I could still use my calculator on assignments, and I assumed I probably could since he only mentioned tests. I asked the TA about it, and he said I could.
* I was wondering if I could use my course notes while doing an assignment. I was always allowed to do this in high school, and I was 99 % certain it would be okay. I asked the TA about it, and he replied that it’s completely okay.
I want to earn a degree that was done in perfect ethical standing. I feel that if I don’t ensure every single thing I’m doing is completely ethical, then inevitably a few of my actions will be unethical over the four years.
I don’t want to have to keep pestering my professors about every single detail, as it wears on me and also (I’m sure) will wear on them. At the same time, I have the problem I discussed above. Should I just accept that it's pretty much impossible for anyone to finish a degree with a 100% ethical standing? Any advice/experience would be greatly appreciated.<issue_comment>username_1: First of all, while ethics and rules should ideally be aligned, they are not the same.
If you spent a reasonable effort to inform yourself about the rules and to apply common sense, accidentally breaking some bizarre rule is not an unethical action.
This does not only help your conscience:
Resorting to the ideal of an alignment of ethics and rules is a reasonable defence against non-obvious rules in situations where repercussions are decided on a per-case basis.
While you may face legal consequences for [importing Kinder Surprise to the US](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Surprise#United_States) without knowing about this being illegal, you will almost certainly not be expelled from your studies for something like this.
I have yet to encounter a case where somebody claimed lack of knowledge as a defence against accusations of academic misconduct where I would not consider the lack of knowledge itself to be unethical, i.e., the accused acted unethically by neglecting to inform themselves. (Note that in most such cases, I do believe the excuse to begin with.) Going by your question, you are sufficiently informed about academic rules to satisfy my ethical standards. Now, all that is left to do for you is to use your common ethical sense and act accordingly.
All that being said, some rules of thumb for cheating and other academic misconduct are:
* Adhere to the [Golden Rule](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule).
* In no situation may you present somebody else’s work as your own (plagiarism).
This in particular means that you may not let somebody else do your work.
* In exams and similar, all resources (pocket calculators, books, notes, communication devices) and communication are disallowed per default.
* Everywhere else, all resources are allowed per default.
* If there is no practicable way to prove that you broke a rule, it likely doesn’t exist.
(Note that letting somebody else do your work can be checked by having you explain your work.)
* If something’s main purpose besides learning is to prepare you for an exam (e.g., exercises), it’s your own problem if you get too much help.
* If you cannot think of any (good or bad) reason why something should be disallowed, it probably isn’t.
Regarding your individual examples:
>
> A little while back I asked my professor if thesauruses were allowed, and if I had to cite them.
>
>
>
The work contained in a thesaurus is the collection of a list of synonyms.
Using a thesaurus to find the right word to use in a text does not pass off that work as yours.
(If your task was to compile a list of synonyms for a given word, you would indeed need to cite.)
>
> My professor for another course mentioned that certain calculators were not allowed on tests (the kind of calculator I currently have). I wondered if I could still use my calculator on assignments […]
>
>
>
The reason why advanced calculators are forbidden in exams is that they can store information and completely automate certain tasks.
If you use a calculator in assignments and you still can explain how you arrived at your result, that’s usually fine by the rules.
It’s your fault if you do not sufficiently learn the respective technique (for the exam) or understand the underlying concepts (for your future).
Also, a hypothetical ban of calculators could not be enforced.
>
> I was wondering if I could use my course notes while doing an assignment.
>
>
>
Besides helping you maintain your attention, the entire point of taking course notes is to allow you to use this information when learning – which is exactly what assignments are for.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Should I just accept that it's pretty much impossible for anyone to finish a degree with a 100% ethical standing?
>
>
>
No, I find that to be a rather unreasonable formulation of your predicament as well as a [loaded question](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loaded_question). What you should correct is not your notion that ethical behavior is achievable, but rather your unreasonable idea of *how* to achieve it, and your misguided view that there is some ideal level of "100% ethical standing" that is only attainable through extreme efforts of constant vigilance and constantly pestering your professors and TAs with annoying (and unnecessary, as you yourself seem to understand quite well) questions. In general in human affairs, trying to attain 100% of *anything* is an example of what is known as a [category error](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_mistake) -- the act of attributing a concept that is applicable to one realm of thought to another realm where it is no longer applicable. "100% ethical standing" is simply a meaningless concept.
I could go on and give a detailed answer touching on all kinds of philosophical issues and giving you a crash course on academic ethics, but a more lightweight approach seems like it will be more useful here. Basically, *you just need to chill out*. Relax, trust your instincts and common sense and stop worrying about this and you'll be fine, just like the vast majority of students who just want to complete their studies honestly and then go on to make use of the knowledge they acquired.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Like username_2 I think you should just relax. But I can't understand the rest of his answer. There are plenty of areas where it is sensible to try to attain 100% of something, and often possible to achieve that - attendance at work, correct spelling, responding to e-mails, etc.
I suppose by "100% ethical standing" you mean complete certainty that you have not violated any ethical rule, even inadvertently. I think you should read the ethics rules of your university and do your best to follow them (but without constantly pestering the professors), and if you are 99% sure that something is OK then stop worrying and just do it.
I don't agree with louic, who says "Ethics are subjective (google if you don't believe me). Just use common sense." Just because people have different views about something doesn't mean they are all equally valid. People who deliberately cheat at university sometimes try to defend their actions with arguments such as "Everyone else does it," "I had to do it in order to pass," etc. They are presumably using their own judgment and following what they see as common sense, but they are acting unethically.
And I don't much like Captain Emacs' view either: "A good yardstick is: would you be happy to have your deeds being published on the front page of your local newspaper?" This assumes that everyone's conscience is basically right, or as good as anyone else's, and everyone feels shame when their misdeeds are exposed. In reality some people have stronger consciences, or stronger moral fiber, than others. But we can all try to improve.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I want first of all to follow up on a comment made by @Nelson. You speak of an **obsession** and an **obsessive need** to behave ethically in all your student endeavors. Could this *actually* be an obsession, i.e., [a mental disorder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessive%E2%80%93compulsive_disorder)? If you (and/or your close friends and family members that are familiar with the situation) feel there is any possibility of this, I recommend that you look into it, e.g. starting with student health / counseling services. The point is, if you do have OCD or something similar, then your course of action will be quite different from what the other answers recommend.
If things like OCD can be ruled out, then it seems that your problem is one of a lack of confidence in your understanding of the rules. This need not be pathological: I agree that in order to act ethically according to the norms of some particular group, you have to have a good cultural understanding of those norms. Rather than asking about every single doubt as it comes, please consider getting some more systematic help in understanding the culture of academic honesty at your particular institution. If you are at a US institution, it is virtually certain that there are people on staff whose job it is to be experts in the local culture of academic honesty and inform the university members about it. Making an appointment with such a person could (perhaps) go a long way to setting your mind at ease.
I suggest that you ask in particular:
>
> Can you list some things that I can be confident it is ethical to use when doing assignments unless specifically informed to the contrary: e.g. dictionaries, thesauruses, calculators?
>
>
> Are there any contexts in which it would not be permissible to use my own course notes when doing an assignment? Is it the instructor's responsibility to specify them?
>
>
>
I will end with two comments:
First, as a math professor I find it completely reasonable to ask whether calculators are permitted when doing homework assignments. There are times when they won't be. Asking once per course is not pestering anybody.
Second, both of my parents were English professors and there was never a thesaurus in our home. My own unsolicited opinion is: choosing the right word is a critically important writing skill. If you have it, you don't need a thesaurus. If you don't have it, then -- because a thesaurus just lists approximate synonyms without analyzing gradations of meaning -- using a thesaurus could lead to replacing a better word by a worse one and could make your writing sound stilted and artificial.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: Basically, everyone else is suggesting you should relax, and probably they are right. But it seems possible that sometimes you do not feel comfortable doing that, but still you do not want (or you can not) ask your TA or your professor.
Then there is a very simple way to be sure you do not make anything bad. If you think you might be breaking a rule even with probability 0.1%, then you can still follow that rule ; probably, there is no rule forbidding you to follow it.
Moreover, most of the time, the university will do something to enforce everyone follows its rules. In this case, you will know what you do is ethical as you do not have to hide to do it.
So that is my advice :
* in most universities, every rule that could easily be enforced by the university but is obviously not is not a rule of the university. Probably you should know if it is the case of your university.
* some rules may be possible to follow anyway. If it is obviously impossible (like your assignment is impossible to complete without a calculator), then such a rule does not exist.
* for the other rules, maybe you can ask.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: This is a problem of yourself not trusting your judgment, not a problem of academic ethics.
So if you honestly ask yourself is the probability of this being ethical 99% or more and you make decision based on that you will be fine.
Problem is that you are uncomfortable doing that, not that most of the dilemmas you face are actually hard to estimate.
disclaimer: I am not saying that your problem is invented or easy, just that this does not sound to me like a question of ethics.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I know someone very well who is a board member of a business school at one of the world’s top ranked university. This university has a great business school for undergraduates but the MBA program is not at all held in high regard.
I have my eyes on a highly ranked MBA program at another university.
My question:
>
> Will a recommendation from a board member of a
> business school improve my application or harm it when applying for an MBA program
> at another university?
>
>
>
I can see it harming my application because if I am such a good applicant for an MBA then why would the board member endorse my application for another university? Why wouldn’t he try and make me attend the MBA at his business school?
On the other hand I can see it improving my application. For someone in his position to endorse my application to attend another business school shows I must be a very good fit for where I want to go.
>
> Do I ask this board member for a recommendation letter or find someone
> else? What are some of the pros and cons of asking this board member?
>
>
><issue_comment>username_1: >
> Will a recommendation from a board member of a business school improve
> my application or harm it when applying for an MBA program at another
> university?
>
>
>
From personal experience, it makes no difference. The admissions team has to treat all recommendation letters the same, whether its from the President, or from your neighbor. Otherwise, it would offer an unfair advantage to those who have more resources to procure such a recommendation letter from someone more affluent.
>
> Do I ask this board member for a recommendation letter or find someone
> else? What are some of the pros and cons of asking this board member?
>
>
>
Certainly ask this board member for a recommendation letter. There are really no pros or cons. It's almost like when you asked high school teachers for recommendation letters for college - doesn't matter if it was your math teacher or your gym teacher.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I can see it harming my application because if I am such a good applicant for an MBA then why would the board member endorse my application for another university? Why wouldn’t he try and make me attend the MBA at his business school?
>
>
>
Because, like you said, the other program is much better. If he knows and wishes you well, he won't try to prevent you from benefiting from a better program. Also, he cannot force you to attend his business school and you may have very good non-academic reasons to prefer another place. Perhaps your partner lives there, perhaps the job opportunities are better or the school has better career services, perhaps you just want to change your environment.
>
> Do I ask this board member for a recommendation letter or find someone else? What are some of the pros and cons of asking this board member?
>
>
>
First of all, it doesn't hurt to think of a back-up plan in advance, in case the board member declines to write a strong letter.
Generally speaking, a recommendation letter from a board member of a good university should not harm your application. However, whether it will improve it depends on the capacity in which he knows you. Was he your professor in some classes where you performed exceptionally well and can commend on your analytical abilities? Does he have first have experience of working with you in the industry and can talk about your leadership potential, etc? Does he know you from some outstanding community service that you have performed? Look at how business schools describe their ideal candidates (they usually have a section like [this](http://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/Pages/who-are-we-looking-for.aspx)). You want your recommendation letters to speak directly to those qualities based on their first-hand experience and giving specific examples as evidence.
In other words, his status of as a board member can amplify an otherwise strong application letter. However, if it is going to be something superficial, then it's better to look for someone else. And, of course, you don't want to be related to that person.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/09/24
| 821
| 3,485
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<issue_start>username_0: Is there any **free** online databases where I can do literature review by
(1) giving keyword(s) that occur in **title**
(2) at the same time, sorting by publishing date from newest to oldest?
I found google scholar meets criteria (1) but it sorts by date only for one recent year. Pubmed meets criteria (2) but I am not finding option to search by (1) in pubmed.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Will a recommendation from a board member of a business school improve
> my application or harm it when applying for an MBA program at another
> university?
>
>
>
From personal experience, it makes no difference. The admissions team has to treat all recommendation letters the same, whether its from the President, or from your neighbor. Otherwise, it would offer an unfair advantage to those who have more resources to procure such a recommendation letter from someone more affluent.
>
> Do I ask this board member for a recommendation letter or find someone
> else? What are some of the pros and cons of asking this board member?
>
>
>
Certainly ask this board member for a recommendation letter. There are really no pros or cons. It's almost like when you asked high school teachers for recommendation letters for college - doesn't matter if it was your math teacher or your gym teacher.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I can see it harming my application because if I am such a good applicant for an MBA then why would the board member endorse my application for another university? Why wouldn’t he try and make me attend the MBA at his business school?
>
>
>
Because, like you said, the other program is much better. If he knows and wishes you well, he won't try to prevent you from benefiting from a better program. Also, he cannot force you to attend his business school and you may have very good non-academic reasons to prefer another place. Perhaps your partner lives there, perhaps the job opportunities are better or the school has better career services, perhaps you just want to change your environment.
>
> Do I ask this board member for a recommendation letter or find someone else? What are some of the pros and cons of asking this board member?
>
>
>
First of all, it doesn't hurt to think of a back-up plan in advance, in case the board member declines to write a strong letter.
Generally speaking, a recommendation letter from a board member of a good university should not harm your application. However, whether it will improve it depends on the capacity in which he knows you. Was he your professor in some classes where you performed exceptionally well and can commend on your analytical abilities? Does he have first have experience of working with you in the industry and can talk about your leadership potential, etc? Does he know you from some outstanding community service that you have performed? Look at how business schools describe their ideal candidates (they usually have a section like [this](http://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/Pages/who-are-we-looking-for.aspx)). You want your recommendation letters to speak directly to those qualities based on their first-hand experience and giving specific examples as evidence.
In other words, his status of as a board member can amplify an otherwise strong application letter. However, if it is going to be something superficial, then it's better to look for someone else. And, of course, you don't want to be related to that person.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/09/24
| 293
| 1,198
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<issue_start>username_0: >
> A high standard of illustration (both line and photo) is an editorial
> priority.
>
>
>
What is meant by "line" here? I am not getting this into my mind. The sentence above is taken from the "Instructions to author" part of a journal.<issue_comment>username_1: Though it depends on fields of the journal, it could mean the following:
* A line is a plot of the results in terms of a curve, a bar plot, some statistical demonstrations in such a curve (a 2D picture).
* A photo might mean the physical problem demonstration, for example, a set of steps, a set of environmental parameters available in the problem.
E.g. variation of our function *f* with the parameter *x*. (Line)
The following figure shows the growth of bacteria under several conditions of the parameter *x*. (Photo)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: "line" means "line art", and could be anything from pen drawings to graphs (plots) or other illustrations drawn with a thin pen or its electronic equivalent.
The reason line art is often listed separately from photos is that it requires a higher resolution image and usually also a different file format for high quality output.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/09/24
| 527
| 2,273
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm teaching a lot of students who are fairly unresponsive in a large class that is set early in the morning. While I'm working on ways to encourage them to respond to questions, I find that normal indicators of how one is doing are absent: they don't laugh at jokes, groan, interrupt, or give much indication at all of how they are finding the content. If I ask if people understand or have questions, I will get no responses. While I find this somewhat discouraging, a more pressing issue is that I find it hard to work out if they are actually understanding what I'm saying (or perhaps they understand, but disagree). Possibly they are bored, or tired (as it is early). Presumably I'll get feedback at the end of the course, but I'd rather fix any issues now rather than later.
When trying to evaluate myself I think I might rush sentences, and use too many crutch words, but I don't know if this is an issue for students. If it is, they are highly unlikely to say as much, to my face at least! It is even hard to gauge their prior knowledge and what sort of level of terminology I can assume will be understood. For throwaway comments I can give synonyms or quick explanations, but doing this constantly will slow things down a lot and will be tiresome for those who already understand these terms. I don't want to send out a question which essentially amounts to "do I suck?"<issue_comment>username_1: One thing that I've heard suggested is a "one-minute assignment": at the end of each lecture, ask students to write down two things and turn it in:
* A one-sentence description of what they thought was the most important point of the lecture, and
* A one-sentence description of what was most unclear to them during the lecture.
These questions give you a sense of what the students thought of the lecture, and what didn't work.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I've seen many teachers get a lot of valuable information from asking the students what they should start doing, stop doing and continue doing in the classroom.
Try using a survey or hubert.ai to collect your answer. The latter uses a chatbot to engage your students and automatically categorizes feedback to help you get a quick overview.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/09/25
| 901
| 4,058
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<issue_start>username_0: I've heard different takes on what the convention is when an Assistant or Associate Professor does not achieve tenure. Can you just remain at your existing position and continue to teach and conduct research? Can you reapply for tenure again later? Is it more conventional to leave the institution for another tenure-track position at another institution?
This is in regard to US universities, but perhaps an answer articulating what is common in different countries is best.<issue_comment>username_1: At most institutions whose procedures I'm aware of, you only get one chance at a tenure application at a given university. If you are not granted tenure, there are usually provisions for how long you can stay—usually until the expiration of your existing contract, which typically amounts to until the end of the academic year following the denial of tenure. Following that, you have to move somewhere else, whether it's an academic position at another institution or a position outside of academia.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: In my experience (in math, in the US), no you cannot remain in your current position (for long). While tenure is historically a means of protection for faculty from political forces, and thus a tool to provide academic freedom, pre-tenure periods often function as a sort of long-term provisional hiring period to make sure you're right for the university/department and getting tenure is sort of stamp of certification of your worth to the department and university. So if you fail to get tenure, the reason is typically because someone decides you're not performing well enough in your current position.
That said, the university will typically give you another year in your current position which gives you time to look for jobs elsewhere. People who don't get tenure usually move somewhere else, or have trouble getting another job.
Note: Sometimes people go up for tenure early (before the specified date in your contract). I don't know what the standards are for consequences of not getting tenure then--when I've seen people go up early, they got tenure.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Here is how it works at my US institution. (I know that some other US institutions have similar systems, and my impression is that this is in fact typical in the US.)
When hired as an Assistant Professor, the job offer includes a mandatory date for latest possible tenure consideration, normally in the sixth year of the position. (Ninth year for clinical faculty in professional schools.) An Assistant Professor can apply for tenure and promotion in any year before that; if they are unsuccessful they can remain in the position and apply for tenure again, up until that latest possible date. If they are unsuccessful at getting tenure at the latest possible date, they get one more year in the position then have to leave.
So in theory, an Assistant Professor could apply for tenure over and over again through that six-year period. In practice, that would be a terrible idea. Most people apply for tenure only once at a given institution, and leave for another institution if they're unsuccessful. I don't believe I've personally ever heard of someone applying more than twice for tenure at a given institution.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: Many years ago the state school where I taught gave two sequential one year contracts, then progressively longer ones until a person has been employed for more than 7 years, at which point he or she was considered tenured. I only lasted two years, being a terrible fit there who didn't understand the school's conservative culture, nor how to teach to the students. Learned those skills, but far too late to ever do much with the doctorate. And that's the point, this discussion is somewhat moot as (barring superstars or people in very hot or well funded fields) the chance of anybody getting tenure is increasingly remote. Adjuncts are much cheaper; in time tenured professors will be as rare as butlers.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/09/25
| 3,133
| 12,676
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<issue_start>username_0: A professor and I spoke recently (I'm a grad student), and she told me about her upcoming sabbatical, and I wished her well and was genuinely excited for her and her travel plans. But the reaction that I got from her was one of caution and displeasure, with no reciprocation of good vibes. I mostly said stuff like "that sounds amazing that you're going to Country X for Y number of months! I hope you enjoy your time there, I love Country X!"
I'm a male student. Have I possibly said something condescending or disrespectful to a female professor, by showing my excitement about her travel plans?
When I analyzed it a bit, I came to the conclusion that I would have had the same reactions if a male professor told me of his sabbatical, travel plans. So, I don't think that I've said anything sexist. But I am not 100% sure.<issue_comment>username_1: In this case, I have a hard time seeing where the sexist behavior occurred. It may be the case that the professor was made uncomfortable by your display of enthusiasm for her travel plans, and may have misinterpreted things or was reacting to something else. However, if this was just a casual conversation (waiting for the copy machine, getting coffee in the departmental kitchen, or something similar), and you don't regularly interact with the professor, I don't think it will be a big deal in the long run. If she's someone you do interact with, then you might consider tempering your enthusiasm in future interactions.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: From what you've said, it doesn't sound like a sexism issue specifically, but it might have come off that you regarded her sabbatical as a vacation rather than serious work. You might be worrying about this a bit too much--she's probably already forgotten the exchange.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_3: Well from what I see is that you're just trying to have an effective communication with your professor by giving the impression that you're excited for her plan. This is one of basic communication skills that people have to connect with others. If she reacted differently/ negatively, I don't think she understands a proper effective communication in human relations.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: Much depends on how well acquainted you are with her and whether she runs a more "flat hierarchy" or a more authoritarian style.
In the first one, I wouldn't see a problem, especially if you already worked with her for some while. However, in the second one it may be construed as "patronising" for you to dispense judgement over her choice of sabbatical sojourn.
Much also depends on tone and context, but nothing in your formulation indicates that something would be wrong with it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> that sounds amazing that you're going to Country X for Y number of months! I hope you enjoy your time there, I love Country X!
>
>
>
I'm a male, so I can not speak from a female perspective. Although I can not see anything sexist or inappropriate in that quoted text but if anybody had said that to me in a student teacher environment I would for a second be taken aback by the excitement being displayed by the student.
I think the reaction you noticed was exactly that.
Why does it sound *amazing*? Why do you have to specify the time period? Why do you have to mention your love for that country? All those statements show a lot of excitement about the news and some people do not feel comfortable enough to receive such excitement from others which are not personally close to them.
Some people like to and like others to just keep it cool and that's nothing against your statement. I think it was just that momentary pause that made you feel she didnt like it.
>
> Sounds good, X is a nice country.
>
>
>
May have been received a little better.
**Edit**
Most of the discussion on this question is focusing on the implied judgment by the OP of the professor's reaction. The professor in question did not explicitly say anything of that sort, nor did she express it by any reaction that she was disturbed by what the OP said.
OP was over excited in the first place and when the OP did not receive a similar reaction OP assumed that probably the professor got offended. There is no need to bash the professor about her lack of enthusiasm without knowing the complete picture.
There is no male/female aspect to the situation known so far to us. Just like the OP is entitled to his sudden excitement, the professor is also entitled to a cold response. This is more of an interpersonal skills question.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_6: *"As a male student, did I say something wrong to this female professor?*"
The answer is NO. You didn't say anything wrong. Also, there is no relevance here for you being male and the professor female. You cannot predict precisely human reactions and there may be many different reasons for her reserved reaction.
Viewing this interaction from the perspective of male-female power structure or feminist theory is wrong in my opinion. It is better, in my experience, not to be overly concerned about these political or social issues when interacting with actual people.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: Others have answered the titular question (no), and given some possible reasons for why she may have been unhappy with your enthusiasm. There's no cultural context in which to speculate about this, but I believe the other answers fail to point out what I see as the most likely explanation:
*You may have just misinterpreted the professor's reaction.*
I often find that students and I have very different impressions of what transpired during some conversation.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_8: There's a disconnect between the title, the actual question, and the tags you've chosen for it.
Here, I'll break it down for you.
>
> As a male student, did I say something wrong to this female professor?
>
>
>
The word "wrong" is ambiguous. There's both a pragmatic meaning to wrong ("Did I do something wrong with respect to the goal of getting along with people and advancing my career?") as well as an ethical meaning ("Did I do something morally wrong?"). These aren't the same thing. For example, in the business world, being a corporate whistleblower is sometimes bad for one's career and not very conducive to getting along with people, but it's morally virtuous and good for the economy as a whole. On the other hand, telling the boss what they want to hear, instead of the truth, can sometimes to be good for your career, but it's morally dubious and it's bad for business and it's bad for the economy as a whole.
>
> A professor and I spoke recently (I'm a grad student), and she told me
> about her upcoming sabbatical, and I wished her well and was genuinely
> excited for her and her travel plans. But the reaction that I got from
> her was one of caution and displeasure, with no reciprocation of good
> vibes.
>
>
>
People are strange sometimes. I wouldn't worry too much about this.
>
> I'm a male student. Have I possibly said something condescending or disrespectful to a female professor, by showing my excitement about her travel plans?
>
>
>
Suppose we're talking about ethics. Then we should ask the question: is it always morally wrong to be disrespectful? Assuming the answer is "no," then *even* if your enthusiasm was construed as disrespectful, this still fails to establish that you're morally in the wrong. Ergo, if the other side wishes to establish your moral wrongness, they will have to make a rather precise argument. For example, it might be of the form:
* In [specific set of circumstances], it is always morally wrong to perform an act that ends up being construed as disrespectful.
* We were in the aforementioned set of circumstances and you performed an act that was construed as disrespectful.
* Therefore, the aforementioned act you performed was morally wrong.
To my mind, this seems like a pretty tenuous line of thinking, to say the least. My point is that even if the other side did construe your actions as disrespectful, this is still a long long long long long way from establishing the moral wrongness of those actions. And, I wouldn't worry about the morality of your actions in this context. In my estimation, your actions seem perfectly ethical.
Suppose, on the other hand, we're speaking from a career advancement perspective. Well, it's definitely bad for one's career to perform actions that are construed as disrespectful by the people who are holding the reins of power. However, to some extent, you can't tell what will be construed as respectful or disrespectful. Sometimes, you will be friendly, and this will be construed as disrepectful. Sometimes you will be respectful, and this will be construed as cold and unfriendly. I think that the basic rules, for those who wish to be perceived as respectful, are:
1. Be friendly, but don't be whimsical, flippant, silly, absurd.
2. Don't exaggerate.
3. Don't come off as sexist, racist, or otherwise judgemental of the other person's socioeconomic background.
4. When people speak, listen to what they have to say.
5. If you disagree, let them finish speaking; don't interrupt them.
6. If you disagree, use phrases like "I respectfully disagree," and "I strongly object to...," which make you sound more civilized and worthy of being listened to.
Again, this has very little to do with morality; it's just a bunch of tips & tricks for appearing respectful.
It sounds like you may have violated (2) somewhat, insofar as your excitement may have seemed exaggerated or feigned. I see no reason to think (3) was violated, except perhaps in the other person's mind, and purely as a corollary of moderately violating (2). It's (2) you should be worrying about, not (3). But of course, people are strange, and even if you follow the above dot points, you will still sometimes offend people. I recommend getting used to it, since this will probably happen again, and the alternative to getting used to occasionally offending people is basically a pathetic life lived in fear, which is not something I can, in good conscience, recommend.
>
> When I analyzed it a bit, I came to the conclusion that I would have had the same reactions if a male professor told me of his sabbatical, travel plans. So, I don't think that I've said anything sexist. But I am not 100% sure.
>
>
>
Once again, people are strange sometimes, and I wouldn't worry too much about this. But the idea, implicit in the question and it's tagging with "ethics" that there's this thing called, sexism whose moral wrongness is somehow pre-established and beyond question, is in my very honest opinion deeply suspect. The word "sexism" is thrown around a lot, but in practice a lot of the people who use it can't define it, and those who *can* define it, usually define it so broadly (e.g. "discrimination on the basis of sex") that it becomes impossible to argue in favor of the position that sexism is always morally wrong, or otherwise use it to establish the moral wrongness of any given act. All they can really do is point out that certain sexist acts are morally wrong. Holding women's mathematics to a different standard than men's mathematics, for example, is certainly is certainly morally wrong, but this can be deduced from general principles of fairness, and more to the point, giving a single example of sexist act that is morally wrong fails to establish anything like a universal moral wrongness of sexism, and therefore fails to establish any viable general principles from which to infer the wrongness of any given act. So, although I do recommend avoiding sexism if you want to advance your academic career, I respectfully object to the position, implicit in your question, that there's this unambiguous thing called sexism (which there isn't), and that all instances of it are morally wrong (which it's not clear that they are).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_9: No, I don't think you did anything sexist.
Another possible reason that she didn't seem enthusiastic is that she could be stressed out about travelling, especially if she's leaving soon. Spending several months far from home requires a lot of organization, especially as one gets older and acquires more responsibilities (family, a home, etc.).
If you'd talked about how exciting California is just before I went there for five months last year, I wouldn't have thought it at all rude, but I doubt I'd've managed to reciprocate beyond a fairly flat and unconvincing, "Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. It'll be good."
Upvotes: 2
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2017/09/25
| 6,088
| 24,866
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<issue_start>username_0: I have sent the solutions of some assignments to the students of my class.
One of my students sent me a message that reads as follows (not greeting or anything, no closing, just the following):
>
> *The proposed solution of Exercise X is obviously wrong because of reason blah blah. An appropriate solution to your exercise would be such and such*.
>
>
>
Now, the student in essence is actually correct: there is a slight error (but it does not alter the essence of the solution). It is just a small wording issue that *might* raise some confusion (but the calculations are clear).
What troubles me is the attitude, which I found kind of offensive (but I might be wrong).
Is it appropriate a student to behave like that? What would be the right approach to deal with this student?
I answered as politely as I could that the student is right, thanked the student for spotting it, and updated the solution manual. But I feel that the student would create similar issues and make similar comments if some typos are found in subsequent notes.
**Note:** The actual problem might be that the student might start bad-mouthing me to other students/professors and this might negatively influence other students in believing that I am doing a bad job and consequently this could be reflected on my teaching evaluations (given also that I try to get tenured). Maybe I am paranoid (hope so!), but in relatively small classes where everyone knows each other, the power of bad-mouthing can be great. I want a way to (a) avoid confrontation and (b) make it clear that these issues are completely minor (they are) and not worthy of such *aggressive* (which they might not be, but I do not want to take chances) messages.<issue_comment>username_1: An arrogant sounding email does not mean that the person is arrogant. It is well-known that language and even the assumed personality in online communication differ from the real ones, sometimes very significantly (see e.g. [internet troll](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll) and [internet hero](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Internet%20Hero)). There may be a bunch of other reasons why a person uses an offensive language without realising it, e.g. their first language may not be English. There is also a cultural dimension to it.
The bottom line suggestion is: don't form your opinion by reading email only. Ask student in for an office hour and explain the solution to them. You can offer advice about the communication style used in academia and also get to know the student better by seeing her/him in person.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> How to deal with this?
>
>
>
Dear [student],
Thank you for pointing this out.
[1 or 2 more sentences of explanation]
Sincerely, [your name].
>
> What troubles me is the attitude, which I found it kind of offensive (but I might be wrong).
>
>
>
Maybe the email is offensive, or maybe the student just wrote an email from their phone. Maybe they are actively trying to be a jerk, or maybe they just don't know how to behave properly. Maybe they are just trying to be a troll. In all those cases, I have found the best way is just to *not engage* and write a neutral response that does not comment on the perceived rudeness.
* If it's just a regular student writing an email from the phone, this does not create a conflict out of thin air.
* If it's a jerk or troll, this does little to satisfy their hunger for drama.
* If it's a student without manners, well, you are not their parent - don't make it your job to educate them on proper email etiquette.
What I certainly would *not* recommend is "inviting" them into your office for some sort of explanation, just for writing a factually correct but unfriendly email. You are, again, at worst creating a conflict where there is none, and at best spending significant energy trying to educate a fellow adult on basics of etiquette.
>
> But I feel that the student would create same issues in case some typo is found in the subsequent notes and make similar comments.
>
>
>
So what? If they have a real concern, address them. If they make things up to feel important, either ignore the email or tell them that you do not see the issue.
Upvotes: 8 <issue_comment>username_3: There are several things which are not mentioned in the email but which can be assumed when processing such a message:
* **The student is actually trying to help everyone involved.** Otherwise they wouldn't have bothered sending the correction.
* How did the student get to this stage? It seems likely that they first solved the exercise correctly, only to find that their solution didn't match the proposed one. They might then have proceeded to **use much more time** (not necessarily wasted because of their increased understanding, but they might not see it that way) on trying to match the proposed solution, only to finally realise that they were right all along. This can be a frustrating experience, involving disappointment, erosion of (mistaken) belief in the infallibility of teachers, lost time, and opportunity cost. They then get in a bad mood. Time might be of the essence to make sure others don't repeat the process, so they fire off the quickest message they can to get closure and fix it for others.
* On a completely different tack, they might be more used to text messages or the kind of **ultra-condensed emails** that are popular in certain work places. For example, I've seen people recommend acknowledging emails with a simple "Ack" or "Got it" in the subject line, with no body at all. They might simply be trying to avoid wasting your time with niceties.
* As a software developer, this is the sort of style that I have learned to expect *(and hope for)* in **bug reports.** If that was a bug report the only bad style would have been the word "obviously".
With that in mind, you basically have two options:
1. **Respond in kind,** since that might be what they expect. "Thank you", "will be fixed", etc. They will likely format future emails in the same way.
2. **Respond using the format you want them to use in the future.** This should be a good enough hint on its own of what you expect, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Another obvious option, which I would *not* recommend, is to directly chastise them for not conforming to expectations. They will probably never report issues like this again.
Also: **Don't worry.** This wasn't even a complaint, just a correction. This sort of thing is only a problem if it keeps happening to many of your assignments, and coming from many students.
Finally, to anyone assuming that the student is either rude or bragging:
1. Research indicates that humans are really bad at judging the tone of written messages ([1](https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/minds-business/youre-joking-detecting-sarcasm-in-emails-isnt-easy.html), [2](https://www.fastcodesign.com/3036748/why-its-so-hard-to-detect-emotion-in-emails-and-texts), [3](https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/threat-management/201311/dont-type-me-email-and-emotions)).
2. Sending a private message to the lecturer is pretty much the least bragging/bad-mouthing way possible to ensure the issue is fixed. The lecturer is free to correct the mistake in any way they see fit, and to credit the student or not. Conversely, universities have plenty of public forums where the student could have posted a similar message, which could have been justified by it then being fixed for everyone ASAP, but which could be interpreted as bragging and/or criticising the lecturer. The student showed good judgment by handling it this way.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: The message was written in a **minimalist** style, and that is okay.
(Perhaps the *obviously* could have been omitted, but even that is not a huge deal.)
Now, that said, in the modern world of email, it is all too easy to get into unproductive, anxious wondering cycles of doubt about all kinds of email messages that one receives, and also about one's own email messages (is this too blunt, is this too flowery, etc., etc., editing and un-editing and starting fresh, until 2 am). So, when in doubt, by all means, *do* ask colleagues, friends, Academia StackExchange (probably the Chat would be the best place for this), so you don't waste your time spinning your wheels about an email.
(I support the suggestion already given, that if it is not an online class, get to know your students better in the face-to-face arena, if possible.)
---
I realized, after reading Patricia's helpful comment, that I forgot to say:
>
> Promptly email a corrected solution to your class list, giving a brief credit to the student who brought the mistake to your attention. That might be a good opportunity to let your students know (as I hope you have done previously) that their corrections are much appreciated and you are always glad to receive comments and feedback.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: I do not see the student's email as arrogant. I can see how someone could assume arrogance in it or think that there could have been an arrogant mindset, but the email itself is not blatantly arrogant.
If you make a mistake, and a student catches it for you, that benefits you, that student, the rest of the class, and possibly future instances of the class if you re-use the material. You should say thank you.
However, because of the low amount of diplomacy and tact in the student's email, I would not try to seem overly thankful. After stating "Though the process was correct, there was indeed a mistake in my wording." you can simply say "Thanks." or "Good catch, thanks." or "Thanks for pointing that out." or similar.
As for the use of "obviously," which seems to be the balancing point for most people here, please realize that the word usage could go either way: polite or rude. It could easily be that the student thought "I don't want to offend my teacher, so I will toss in the word 'obviously' to indicate that it is a minor mistake on their part that they would agree with me on, and not that I am questioning their ability." Or, obviously, it can be read as "I doubt this teacher even cares about us or this work since he made such a trivial mistake that is obviously wrong." It can be read as either very polite or very rude; you just cannot know.
---
About your concern of this student spreading bad news about you; there is nothing you can do about that. I recall both from my days as a student and my teaching days that this was bound to happen no matter what you do. If you are truly a good teacher, then usually there will be less of it, but you cannot avoid it entirely. I saw some awesome teachers, much better than I was, who still received some complaints and persuaded students to avoid their classes. It is sad that we have to deal with this unfortunate truth, but there is little you can do about it other than minimizing it by doing a good job.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: Having the confidence to challenge your professor when they've made a mistake shouldn't be under-estimated. Many people will be scared that they'll just look stupid. Likewise, standing up infront of 500 students and saying you made a mistake also takes confidence.
I would take a leaf from their book and stand up to the class and highlight the mistake. They won't feel angry that you did it; and if anything will be relieved that you highlighted the issue, as they were getting stressed that they might not be understanding the topic.
After that - who cares if a student is arrogant or not? Why does that matter to you? Your job is to teach them the subject not manners; so your reply should revolve around that. If they really are arrogant and they step on someone's foot, later they'll learn another way that it's bad.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: You state in a comment that this is "Theoretical Computer Science". The student makes a point of handing in a complete correction and suggestion.
This is not "English Studies" or a "Communication Major" where basic interpersonal skills are part of the skill set for admittance as well as graduation.
So putting in a lot of guesswork I consider it likely that you are dealing with someone without useful grasp of social skills, for example one with traits of Asperger's syndrome. It *is* quite likely that the mistake will lessen his opinion of you *disproportionally.* However, that does not put you in a worse light/position than everybody else. I would not *worry* about that.
I don't think that you can do much better, for both yourself as well as the student, but to respond graciously which apparently you did. It's quite likely that this student will keep being troublesome while also being at the top of the class: being friends with numbers and computers and being friends with humans are different skill sets and there are people bad at managing one to the detriment of the other.
Don't go out of your way to either accommodate or discipline that student: neither is likely to be effective anyway and may backfire. Even while I might be misdiagnosing the problem, doing less rather than more is usually the safer course leaving you more options later on.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: After reading the student's email several times, I think the student is neither being arrogant nor aggressive (as you say), but concise: in a "WhatsApp" like style. They go directly to the fact and its correction.
It is true that some words could be selected in a more polite way ("obviously erroneous"), but in this context and after the first answer has been sent, it is not the moment to remark on this (I always suggest **humor** for these kinds of issues: *Thanks for pointing out this issue, it is more difficult to catch these editorial or minor errors than mosquitoes in the summer even if they are "obvious" as you say ...*).
I must however remark a contradiction in your text "*The actual problem might be that the student might start ...*". I'm sorry, but if it is a "might start" it is not an "actual problem" but a "possible hypothetical problem". A teacher must always act taking into account facts not feelings nor opinions.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_9: We have a policy - never assume an attitude in email. Some people are very direct people and while they don't mean to sound arrogant - that certainly could be the case in an email.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: I try to tackle issues of this sort by reminding me of the following points:
* There is no **tone of voice** in written communication. If some tone is being heard, this is in the reader's mind, and such tone is actually owned by the reader. Sometimes I feel that my reading is loaded by some situational reactivity of mine.
To keep this in check, I read the text aloud by faking exaggerated versions of the way I perceived, once by exaggerated excess (say, an extremely annoying tone delivery) and once by exaggerated defect (say, an extremely soothing one). This is a calibration exercise, to clear the biases of the moment.
So I try to avoid projecting my state of mind onto perceived attitudes of the counterpart (unless I know him/her so well that I am reasonably confident that it's no projection, rather established knowledge of the other's self and mine)
* In written communication, it is the **word choice** that shows the perspective of the writer, with due consideration for what he/she could, would, might, should do with writing --- a rich playing field indeed, sometimes so vast that it is unreasonable to dwell on assumptions and hypotheses on the situations at point of writing. Above a certain critical mass, however, these speculations get liable to Ockham-razoring.
Rather, it is up to writer to decide whether a core message should be buffered by, and anchored to, context information. But that's style, and outside the reader's control --- at least, until the tables are turned and the reader writes about his/her reading experience, of course, perhaps ad infinitum...
As a result of this, I come to realise that most probably there is neither insult nor injury in what I read. Also, when the tables are turned, I try to use these guidelines to allay the feelings that my writing has awakened, provided the counterpart has bothered about sharing them. In that situation, I review my word choice and put forward corrections or confirmations based on what I get to understand from the feedback.
A useful first-aid resource to frame these communication questions are the Grice's maxims:
* [https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/dravling/grice.html](https://www.sas.upenn.edu/%7Eharoldfs/dravling/grice.html)
* <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_principle>
The assumption of this is that there is willingness to communicate. Not answering is also an option. But interpreting absence of signals is much more uncertain, and can even be taxing depending on the expected value of an answer. Intriguingly, this value is often revealed by the tone of voice we read the incoming messages with.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: In these kinds of situations, it's important to distinguish between pragmatism and ethics.
If someone acts disrespectfully toward their superiors, this will undermine their academic and career potential. Ergo, it unpragmatic; it doesn't work. But it's not at all clear that being disrespectful towards one's superiors is morally wrong. And some philosophies (I use this term as loosely synonymous with "worldview") hold that hierarchy is unethical despite its current ubiquity. Further to this, it's easy to relate to someone whom holds that being disrespectful towards one's superiors is morally obligatory, whether or not we agree with this position. I think it's good to keep that in mind.
>
> Is it appropriate a student to behave like that?
>
>
>
The word "appropriate" is ambiguous. It sometimes means "ethical." Other times, it means "consistent with the norms of a particular culture, in a particular time or place." In my opinion, these aren't the same thing.
>
> What would be the right approach to deal with this student?
>
>
>
Treat them like they're an intelligent, rational being, potentially with a strong distaste for hierarchy, but good inside nonetheless.
For example:
>
> Thanks for point this out.
>
>
> However, I found your email a little too pointed for comfort, and the tone, though ambiguous, could be construed as disrespectful.
>
>
> I think an important ethical principle is consistency. If, for example, you wish to reserve the right to write with whatever tone you like, fine, but if so, you must forfeit, in all circumstances, the right to object to other people's tone as fair consequence.
>
>
> Assuming you don't wish to forfeit this right, I'd like to ask you intentionally go out of your way to soften your tone from here onwards. As a general rule, I think that going out of our way to speak and write with an intentionally respectful tone goes a long way towards making this world a nicer place for everyone.
>
>
> Also, I respectfully disagree with the position that the given solution was "obviously wrong." You're correct that the phrasing was a bit weak, but [whatever you want to write here.]
>
>
> In any event, I appreciate that you reported this and I'm strongly in favor of the willingness to report such things in future. A lot of people wouldn't have the courage to bring something like this up, which is a shame, because it means problems take longer to fix.
>
>
> Good luck with the rest of the assignment.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_12: I wouldn't take this as obnoxious or arrogant. If there is an error, you've just found a way to spot which students are able to see it, and capable of saying so. In many disciplines those are skills worth having. Positive features.
Nobody's work is immune from mistakes and pointing them out (even tersely) isn't a hostile act.
As an educator and mentor, why throw cold water on them, and discourage them from engaging with the material, to the extent they sound like they are doing?
You have a range of replies that will work fine, but unless you know more about the students attitude to show a real problem, this is the one I'd choose.
* Thank them as you would any helpful colleague (even though a student you can use the tone you would to a colleague), and assume a motive of trying to give useful feedback. *"Thanks, well spotted! Extra marks and its been fixed"*
There is a second reason to handle it differently than you are thinking:
Think how it may be felt by a student: suppose the student gets a message that is negative in tone, will they think that they have a teacher who, when a mistake happens, doesn't want to acknowledge it and is annoyed at the person who noticed it. The student may worry about how they are seen, with more good reason (their future life is in your hands!). Perhaps the student will think "maybe the teacher doesn't like me now, and will unfairly mark my work negatively". Now you've created a bad impression and worry for both of you. You've also taught them "if you see a problem or someone doing something wrong, keep quiet".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_13: It seems people are not liking you for questioning the student's intent....but I definitely understand how you can interpret it the way you are. As a former student who used to correct teachers when errors would arise, I would have to usually write according to the teacher's personality because teachers have this expectation of being cordial towards them and tend to get offended if you don't write as they expect you to write.
Many find that calling them out on an error with a problem is challenging their credentials, even if it is indeed a valid critique. This is where it is a bit unfair to the students. Not everyone has an agreeable personality. Especially when it comes to the science and math domains. We, (people in that aspect) tend to lack personality and why we gravitate towards fields in which our interactions are with non living objects or superficial through e-mails.
I have a friend who writes similar to your student and they do intend to correct for the sake of self gratification that they know more than others under the guise of "wanting things correct". It's actually gotten so bad that no one really wants to hang out with him anymore, but that's a whole different story.
Point being, you should wait for a pattern to arise. If he constantly e-mails you in a way that feels attacking, send him an e-mail or request to talk to him a moment after class if he has 5 minutes to spare. Let him know that you appreciate him helping to correct issues he finds.
I had a teacher that always told students that they are more than happy to have students find errors and let him know. So make sure the student understands, that act in itself is not an issue but that his e-mails give off the vibe of being arrogant or condescending and that you would appreciate it if he used a different tone.
No one should accept being talked to in a arrogant/condescending tone just because it's "their personality". Many people forget that just because they are an instructor doesn't mean they are not human all of a sudden.
So for all the people telling you that you are over-reacting. I do NOT agree with them. People say you can't take emotion from written words, but then please explain why novels can bring people to tears, anger, laugh. Written words do have tones and emotions. Using words like "obviously" in a statement to the teacher has only one purpose... to state that the mistake he found was very obvious to anyone who is "of his level". I think that if the error was that egregious, the teacher probably would have already corrected it before presenting the problem and/or shortly after presenting the problem.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_14: It could be that the student has an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) such as Aspergers, in which case it is likely that ther is no arrogance or rudeness intended, just direct factual language. It is worth academics having a reasonable understanding of the communication issues arising from ASD as it is not uncommon in maths, science and engineering. It is important that we don't discriminate against them because we over-interpret their overly-direct communication and read a subtext into it that is not there. The reply sounds fine.
Try not to worry too much about errors in teaching materials. We are all only human and no matter how hard you try, there will always be imperfections. In my experience, students are quite forgiving of mistakes, provided you "own" them (rather than minimising their importance) and are eager to fix them when they are detected.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/09/25
| 413
| 1,642
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<issue_start>username_0: How do you describe your Research Support (part D of NIH's biosketch) if you've never been a named member of a grant? For junior researchers, NIH provides [helpful guidance here](https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm) on parts A (personal statement) and C (contribution to science). Certain applicants can skip the Research Support section (high school students, applicants for predoctoral or postdoctoral fellowships, applicants for dissertation grants), but what if you're none of those? I don't want to leave it entirely blank, but I don't want to mislead reviewers.<issue_comment>username_1: I'm going to answer this by looking at my early biosketches and seeing what I did.
Basically, I very much doubt your research support section is *blank*. Research support is *not* necessarily just the grants you were the PI on, but any grant you have ever been funded on - so for example I listed the training grant I was on as a graduate student.
If you've never genuinely been funded in *any way*, then I would say leave it blank.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I disagree with @Formite's answer. My perspective is mostly related to NSF grants and faculty applications, not NIH proposals, but it's *very* common and not at all bad for new faculty to have nothing to list for external support. Many people list their university start-up funds -- this is a good thing to do, since it shows university commitment. I think it *would* be seen as misleading to write down grants for which you weren't a PI, for example things that funded you as a graduate student or postdoc.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2017/09/25
| 2,625
| 10,595
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<issue_start>username_0: What is the best email to use as corresponding author when publishing academic papers as a graduate student, postdoc, pre-tenured faculty or other potentially non-permanent position where your email address may change in the next few years? I know many academic institutions will let you turn your email address into a forwarding address, but in cases where this is not possible and your email address will cease to exist when/if you leave, what is the solution? Using something like a gmail address seems practical but rather unprofessional--or is it?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't think Gmail is unprofessional. You could also spend the money to set up your own domain and email address - something like <EMAIL> - which may seem more professional. By having your own website, you could also update with your publications.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Many people I see use gmail by now, however, the majority still uses temporary institute email addresses despite losing it at some point - those who want to reach you will still find you, as long as you stay in academia.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: It has become quite obvious by now that most researchers are on precarious employment for an extended period of time when starting their career.
As mentioned by username_1 and username_2, it is very common to find gmail email addresses in scientific publications. I believe that nobody would find that objectionable.
Tips, anyway:
1. Do not use `<EMAIL>` but a variation on `<EMAIL>`.
2. The issue of perenniality remains: GMail deletes inactive accounts after some time. Check their tools to address this issue: <https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036546?hl=en>
3. Self-hosted email (i.e. `<EMAIL>`) is also subject to cancellation if you don't renew your domain/email host.
4. If you maintain a web presence, your email will be easily findable in the future.
As a kind of "non-requested bonus", I would advise to register an ORCID and have your paper include it (most publishers will include it by now). The ORCID is a unique permanent researcher ID, see [their website](https://orcid.org/). On your profile, you can have a list of all your publications and also of your web page. You can include several URLs, meaning that you can list your current institution homepage, your personal hosted homepage, your google scholar account, etc. The ORCID page will be permanent, easily findable and you can update it.
EDIT: you can also list an email (at [your preference](https://support.orcid.org/knowledgebase/articles/124518-visibility-settings)) on your ORCID profile.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: I'll go against the flow and advocate that **using gmail or any third-party email is unprofessional**. It is widespread, common, and won't offend anyone, but I believe it is unprofessional nevertheless.
I understand unprofessional as against the regulations and policies, conforming to, for instance, the way the [ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct](http://www.acm.org/about-acm/acm-code-of-ethics-and-professional-conduct#sect2) phrases it:
>
> 2. MORE SPECIFIC PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.
>
>
> 2.3 Know and respect existing laws pertaining to professional work.
> ACM members must obey existing local, state,province, national, and international laws unless there is a compelling ethical basis not to do so. Policies and procedures of the organizations in which one participates must also be obeyed. […]
>
>
>
But will also argue that it can go against the natural operation of your institution, and lead you to delicate situations.
I - It can be unlawful, or disapproved.
---------------------------------------
University's policies (that huge booklet you were asked to read) can be weird, go against the usages in your domain, but they still bind you, as an employee.
Some examples:
[Auburn University's Employee
and Student Email Policy](https://sites.auburn.edu/admin/universitypolicies/Policies/EmployeeandStudentEmailPolicy.pdf) reads
>
> The use of non-Auburn email for sending confidential or sensitive Auburn University information is prohibited.
>
>
>
[Regent University Electronic Mail Policy](https://www.regent.edu/it/infosec/policies/email.pdf) reads
>
> Staff are required to utilize their university provided Email (<EMAIL>) account for all business or educational related communications to and from all other university representatives (faculty, staff, students), business partners, and educational partners.
>
>
>
[University of Southern California](http://policy.usc.edu/employee-email/) says
>
> When using email to conduct official university business, employees must use USC email exclusively.
>
>
>
The [Use of Third Party E-mail Systems at UCSF](https://it.ucsf.edu/policies/use-third-party-e-mail-systems-ucsf) reads
>
> The practice of using a third party email service by UCSF faculty, staff and students is not approved by UCSF
>
>
>
II - You can be held responsible for a loss, but don't have any control
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
You have no control on the way your professional identity will be managed, and yet might be held responsible if something happens. If your third-party get hacked, *you* can get into trouble for using that address instead of the one provided by your institution. If your institution gets hacked, dealing with the problem will be the responsibility of the institution, not yours. The fact that your institution might more prone to be hacked than the third-party is irrelevant to that point.
III - You are subject to change of clauses
------------------------------------------
Remember that you have no control over third-party emails. If the third-party decide overnight to go bankruptcy or to impose a $50.000 to access your email, you're screwed. As an employee, you will always be provided an email.
IV - Your are not a product
---------------------------
From an economic perspective, it's not the job of a third-party to provide you with an address: remember, if it's free, then you're the product. And in that case, you were given, as an employee, an email by your institution, so you don't have to look for a free alternative. And providing "brain time" to a third-party on your employer's time can be frowned upon.
V - You are a public person
---------------------------
From the point of view of the outside world, you represent your institution, and using the email they provided shows that you are a full member of that institution (I know that some statistics can be based on the domain of the email you provided to register).
---
So what?
--------
About the practical aspect, I recommend to use the email provided, and when / if you leave, to
* Ask the institution you left to forward your emails (you don't know for sure that they won't provide this facility if you don't ask),
* Inform your contacts that you changed your address (prospective readers trying to reach you can email your co-authors as well),
* Update your CV, website, and every professional account you have (including ORCID).
If someone try to contact you using that email and gets an error, a quick search (title of the paper + you name) will give them your email if you have a properly done webpage / professional account.
In the end, I believe that, [as this similar question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/55413/196270), the answers you'll get will be primarily opinion-based. [This one](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/2872/19627) is also strongly related.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: One option would be to use a permanent alumni e-mail forwarding address provided by an earlier institution you were associated with, in particular the one you got your degree from.
Eg: [MIT](https://alum.mit.edu/help/EmailForwardingFAQ#a1), [Oxford](https://www.alumniweb.ox.ac.uk/secure/page.aspx?pid=1617) ...
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Your name is known as it is written on the paper. Everybody can google your name and will find your latest website within seconds. I don't think that a no longer valid email address is an issue.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: Some professional associations like ACM or IEEE provide email forwarding services or full mail accounts (like IEEE). It's not free as it comes with the subscription costs.
I used one of those emails on my business cards as the likelihood of changing institution was high.
Personally, on papers I use the email of the institution that paid me while writing the paper. If I moved in the meantime, I would hope that anyone who really wanted to contact me is able to google my name.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: Another option that I have not seen so far is the use of an email alias. Many academic institutions will allow students and other university community members (including faculty) to obtain an alias that they can use after they leave the institution. These addresses are not email accounts but can be used to "point" to existing email accounts elsewhere. Thus, you can list one address—your alias—and have it point to your active account wherever that might be.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: Google is an inappropriate email address to use, regardless of precarity
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please don't use a GMail on your papers, it is inappropriate, as it encourages and legitimizes use of that platform.
You see, Google has been verified to pass the contents' of users' emails on to the US government's intelligence agencies, as part of the [PRISM intelligence gathering program](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_(surveillance_program)). This was one of [Edward Snowden's revelations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance_disclosures_(2013%E2%80%93present)) in 2013.
While the wide-spread use Google's email service is a fact of life we must contend with - as an academic, you must hold yourself to a higher standard when authoring paper than as a mere individual user, and at least not-encourage your readers to use/communicate with GMail accounts.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_10: I'm a member of the (UK based) Institute of Physics and they provide an email forwarding services that any emails sent to <EMAIL> is forwarded to my yahoo account. If you are re you a member of some similar professional organisation, check that they provide this service.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/09/25
| 524
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<issue_start>username_0: This is about a non-academic issue I've had with a student, who is outside of my department, and I would like to know if I should pursue it or just let it go.
I recently moved to the US for a postdoc and I sublet a room for a student over the summer. All interaction between the student and I was friendly and I enjoyed staying in her place. At the end of my stay, she told me that she would not give any of my deposit back and the reasons she gave me were, frankly, ridiculous. There was no damage to the apartment that needed to be paid for. After explaining to her (politely) what the purpose of a deposit is, she eventually gave back half of my deposit. This was just a check in the post, with no explanation of why she withheld the rest of it. I asked her to give me a breakdown of what she kept me money for but she has ignored all my emails since sending the check. Without evidence of what she has kept my money for, I see this as blatant theft.
So, my options are, do I go to her department and make a complaint because I have no other way of contacting (after moving out she asked me to only contact her via email), or do I let it go? If I make a complaint about her, could it backfire on me professionally?<issue_comment>username_1: No, this will not backfire on you professionally (unless it somehow makes it into the media, and that's unlikely).
As one of the commenters mentioned, this is a purely legal matter outside of the academic setting. However, unless you have some proof (or she does), it will be a "you said, she said" argument. You could take it to small claims court, but the big question is if it's really worth your time and money to get back the other half of the deposit.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Since you are aware of the need for an itemized deduction, take a moment on how to write a demand letter, send it via certified mail, and then check if the apartment complex allows for subletting (which I doubt).
If there is truly no reason for the deduction, implying legal action through small claims as well as involving the agency should have the individual reconsider their action.
Upvotes: 1
|
2017/09/25
| 450
| 1,828
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a European Union citizen living in EU and applying for an assistant professorship position in US. The application form asks the question
>
> For purposes of compliance with The Immigration Reform and Control Act, are you legally eligible for employment in the United States?
>
>
>
I know too little about U.S. immigration laws, and the text of the mentioned act looks complete gibberish to me. Could anyone say what the standard answer to this question would be and why?
Remark: this question is *formally* different from the one stated in a [question on general eligibility](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/79290/answer-to-will-you-be-able-to-provide-proof-of-your-identity-and-employment-eli) (first, here the context is a particular legislation act with its own terminology, second, there the question contains "presently", and, third, there no answer refers to IRCA explicitly). In law matters, this difference may be important.<issue_comment>username_1: The IRCA basically lays out what is required to establish that immigrants are able to work in the US. The question is unclear for foreign citizens: until they arrive with the appropriate visa, they are unable to work legally in the US. So you might want to check if they mean that you'd be eligible for a visa, or if you already have one.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: As far as I know, these clauses in application forms, are there for legal and nominal reasons only. The university is legally obliged by law to put this clause. This does not mean the committee will actually take this into consideration, and my experience is that they don't.
You should thus write that you are not eligible to work currently in the US, as indeed you are not. But this should not constitute a cause for concern.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/09/26
| 440
| 1,887
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a postdoc in the physical sciences. I have recently decided to start applying for some faculty positions. One open position in particular was recently brought to my attention, and I want to apply for it.
If I compare myself to other people I know in my field who are getting offered faculty positions, I'm a little bit on the young/inexperienced side but I do have a comparable publication record, so I would estimate my chances of landing this job are very low, but nonzero.
I discussed this with my former PhD supervisor when asking him for a reference, and he encouraged me to apply and advised me to send an informal enquiry to the head of department before preparing my application. I have seen similar advice elsewhere. My problem is that I don't really understand what kind of thing I should write in such an informal enquiry. Should I directly ask "would you like to me apply for this job"? Is it like a cover letter?
What is the style and content of a "good" informal enquiry for a faculty position?<issue_comment>username_1: The IRCA basically lays out what is required to establish that immigrants are able to work in the US. The question is unclear for foreign citizens: until they arrive with the appropriate visa, they are unable to work legally in the US. So you might want to check if they mean that you'd be eligible for a visa, or if you already have one.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: As far as I know, these clauses in application forms, are there for legal and nominal reasons only. The university is legally obliged by law to put this clause. This does not mean the committee will actually take this into consideration, and my experience is that they don't.
You should thus write that you are not eligible to work currently in the US, as indeed you are not. But this should not constitute a cause for concern.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/09/26
| 790
| 3,205
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<issue_start>username_0: This is my story. I did my PhD in neuroscience (took me 5 years), with no publications during my PhD, but got my PhD thesis published 2 years after graduation as a first-author Nature Medicine paper and a Nature Communications coauthorship. I also have a few other coauthorships in smaller journals. I had a very bad experience during my PhD, mainly due to my supervisor and neuroscience research dynamics in that particular field, so I quit science and took 10 months of holidays after my PhD (I was very depressed and had enough savings). Nevertheless I always loved science. For many years I have been interested in evolutionary genetics, and even during my PhD I was reading more on evolutionary genetics than on my own PhD field. By the end of my long holidays I got the opportunity to do a postdoc in evolutionary genomics in a small research group (this was 2 years ago). I was not convinced because I thought I would have a similar experience as during my PhD. Finally I took it. I learned programming, data analysis and bioinformatics from scratch, following tutorials on internet. Now I am extremely happy and I feel that I found what I was looking for all these years. We are about to publish a PNAS paper (where I am first author) and I am thinking in applying for another postdoc in this field in a big lab to start in 1 more year. I would really like to get a faculty position in this field some day, and I don't care if it is not in a top university (I also cannot, most likely). But I am 35 years old, so by the end of my second postdoc I could be 38-39. So my questions are:
1. Am I too old to start a second postdoc, considering my story?
2. How much can changing fields affect my chances of getting a faculty position in the middle term?
I am sure there are many people around the world with so different stories, so I would really appreciate to read some opinions.<issue_comment>username_1: Ask your coauthors what they think. Clearly you have the chops in your chosen field to first-author a publication in a top-tier journal. You're already doing what you want to do. I'd say put yourself out there for faculty positions and see who bites. Use your coauthors for references.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Ask yourself what the trade-off is. There are basically three possible outcomes: (i) You quit now and do something else. (ii) You take the postdoc but don't get a faculty position after that, so do something else. (iii) You take the postdoc and do get a faculty position after that.
The way you describe it, you love doing what you do. So options (ii) and (iii) involve doing something you really enjoy, with the possibility of being able to do that for your entire life. In the worst case, you only get to do it for a few more years.
Options (i) and (ii) involve having to find a different job. The only reason why (ii) would seem to be a bad choice would be if you think that the job you can get *after* another postdoc is worse than what you could get now. But I don't really see why that would be so. So the long-term prospects for (ii) are no worse than for (i), but (ii) involves doing something you enjoy.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2017/09/26
| 811
| 3,525
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<issue_start>username_0: I have been invited for a postdoc interview. After reading some questions and answers, I noted that sometimes the applicant is required to give a presentation/talk. In my invitation, nothing is mentioned about a presentation or talk during the interview. Now I am not sure: should I prepare a presentation because it is the norm?
(Of course I have some presentations from my previous talks/conferences. I just have to review it and do some changes.)
**Edit:** after a short email, they replied that presentation is not needed<issue_comment>username_1: At least in my field and country, giving a talk about your previous work is pretty common for the hiring process of any academic position. But that does not mean you should prepare a talk.
Nobody can seriously expect you to know this and automatically bring a talk to a job interview just because it’s the unwritten norm (and you probably do not want to work with the people who do).
Moreover, it is impossible for you to deduce the desired length, audience, scope, and other aspects of the talk.
Instead, you have to estimate how likely it is that this aspect was just forgotten in the invitation (e.g., going by the other details it contains).
If you think that there is any non-negligible chance that this is the case, just ask them.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: There are two ways you can handle this, and both of them are good options. But quite frankly, if I were in your place, I'd take the second option.
First, you can ask them now whether they will want you to be ready for a presentation. This will start presenting you as a good communicator, and that is a big plus. This also takes the guesswork out of the process. Most likely they will give you a definite answer (although I would not), and the question will be settled.
Second option, and in my mind the most desirable, is to go in loaded for bear. Be prepared to give a full presentation, a short presentation, and a summary of your previous work which is most likely to be of interest to them, and at least a thorough summary of any other work you have done. They will inevitably ask about your past work. At which point you can say, "well, I think project x would be most interesting to you. I can give you a quick summary, a short presentation, or a full presentation, what would you prefer...". They will be impressed with your preparation, and might be non-committal with their answer. Unless they tell you exactly, go with the short presentation and adjust up or down in detail as you see their interest peak or wane.
One of the big things in any interview process is to have some WOW! factor, something that sets you apart from other applicants and leaves your interviewers unable to forget you. The fact that they have left the need for a presentation unspecified gives you a great opportunity to have a big time WOW! Why erase that by asking ahead of time?
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: In my field (theoretical computer science) either way is normal: some interviews include a presentation, some don't.
If they haven't told you that you'll be making a presentation, the natural assumption is that you won't. But there's no harm at all in asking them in a short email. Obviously, you'll spend some of the interview talking about the work you've done so far, but discussing your work is completely different from giving a presentation and it would be a waste of time to prepare a presentation that isn't going to get used.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
|
2017/09/26
| 921
| 3,769
|
<issue_start>username_0: As a young researcher, I find it disheartening to find how much of a cut of total grant awards are taken by a university. Sure, there are overhead costs, but 40 - 60%? Come on. This seems like a terrible deal. Especially in some fields, such as software research, where faculty do all the work, rely very little on physical infrastructure, power, depreciation costs of facilities and equipment, administrative costs, etc, it makes such little sense to me. Why on earth would a modern researcher obtain grants and give up half to an aging academic institution rather than working within the realm of industry-led research?<issue_comment>username_1: 1) All organizations--including private companies--have indirect costs which need to be added to grant budgets. Like universities, private companies negotiate indirect cost rates with the government which apply to any contracts or grants awarded. The rates can be comparable to university rates, and at some types of institutions (nonprofits) they can be significantly higher! ([This *Nature* blog post](http://www.nature.com/news/indirect-costs-keeping-the-lights-on-1.16376) dedicated to indirect costs has a nifty graphic of the range of rates across institution types.)
2) If you are working in a private company, you might think you would be relieved of the burden of grantwriting altogether. However, then you need to convince the people above you in the company that the research/development project you want to pursue is the one that is in the best interest of the company. This might be more difficult than you are anticipating.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: A "bad deal" for who?
>
> I find it disheartening to find how much of a cut of total grant
> awards are taken by a university.
>
>
>
Note that for many grant mechanisms, and indeed probably the largest single grant agency (the NIH), overhead is not "a cut of the total grant award" but is added on to the total cost of the grant. If the overhead rate was lower, the amount you'd get for your lab would not be larger.
>
> Sure, there are overhead costs, but 40 - 60%? Come on. This seems like
> a terrible deal. Especially in some fields, such as software research,
> where faculty do all the work, rely very little on physical
> infrastructure, power, depreciation costs of facilities and equipment,
> administrative costs, etc, it makes such little sense to me.
>
>
>
Our institution has an overhead rate in the middle-high end of that range, and having looked at it, that rate doesn't actually cover the cost of administering research. I'm also skeptical of your claim that you use little in the way of overhead - I'm in a very similar field, and I derive a great deal of value from the overhead rates I pay. Additionally, overhead goes to things like startup packages, which are consumed in large chunks at a single time, but largely invisible to you.
Further, overhead rates tend to be institution wide, which means that it has to cover the *average* cost of research - for every cheap software researcher, there's also someone who has to maintain a cattle herd for their research, and a single overhead rate needs to cover both of those.
>
> Why on earth would a modern researcher obtain grants and give up half
> to an aging academic institution rather than working within the realm
> of industry-led research?
>
>
>
Why would you think this is true? Industry has an overhead rate as well - they're just allowed to roll it into the total costs of their research contracts, rather than being forced to keep it as a separate entry. Or are you under the impression that industrial research doesn't have to pay for electricity and internet and offices and administrative support?
Upvotes: 1
|
2017/09/26
| 947
| 3,893
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am from Eastern Europe with a strong research record. This year, I applied for similar professor positions in the US and UK. From 5 applications in the US universities, I was invited for interviews for 3 positions. I got one offer and one is still pending.
However, all 4 applications I submitted to the UK universities were unsuccessful. The last position was relisted after my rejection, which means they had not received strong applications.
I prefer to move to the UK since I still do not need a work permit. I am now confused if the standards and criteria for recruiting a faculty member is this much different in the US and UK. The 9 positions I applied for were all similar, full professor in the same field in mid-level universities.<issue_comment>username_1: 1) All organizations--including private companies--have indirect costs which need to be added to grant budgets. Like universities, private companies negotiate indirect cost rates with the government which apply to any contracts or grants awarded. The rates can be comparable to university rates, and at some types of institutions (nonprofits) they can be significantly higher! ([This *Nature* blog post](http://www.nature.com/news/indirect-costs-keeping-the-lights-on-1.16376) dedicated to indirect costs has a nifty graphic of the range of rates across institution types.)
2) If you are working in a private company, you might think you would be relieved of the burden of grantwriting altogether. However, then you need to convince the people above you in the company that the research/development project you want to pursue is the one that is in the best interest of the company. This might be more difficult than you are anticipating.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: A "bad deal" for who?
>
> I find it disheartening to find how much of a cut of total grant
> awards are taken by a university.
>
>
>
Note that for many grant mechanisms, and indeed probably the largest single grant agency (the NIH), overhead is not "a cut of the total grant award" but is added on to the total cost of the grant. If the overhead rate was lower, the amount you'd get for your lab would not be larger.
>
> Sure, there are overhead costs, but 40 - 60%? Come on. This seems like
> a terrible deal. Especially in some fields, such as software research,
> where faculty do all the work, rely very little on physical
> infrastructure, power, depreciation costs of facilities and equipment,
> administrative costs, etc, it makes such little sense to me.
>
>
>
Our institution has an overhead rate in the middle-high end of that range, and having looked at it, that rate doesn't actually cover the cost of administering research. I'm also skeptical of your claim that you use little in the way of overhead - I'm in a very similar field, and I derive a great deal of value from the overhead rates I pay. Additionally, overhead goes to things like startup packages, which are consumed in large chunks at a single time, but largely invisible to you.
Further, overhead rates tend to be institution wide, which means that it has to cover the *average* cost of research - for every cheap software researcher, there's also someone who has to maintain a cattle herd for their research, and a single overhead rate needs to cover both of those.
>
> Why on earth would a modern researcher obtain grants and give up half
> to an aging academic institution rather than working within the realm
> of industry-led research?
>
>
>
Why would you think this is true? Industry has an overhead rate as well - they're just allowed to roll it into the total costs of their research contracts, rather than being forced to keep it as a separate entry. Or are you under the impression that industrial research doesn't have to pay for electricity and internet and offices and administrative support?
Upvotes: 1
|
2017/09/26
| 978
| 4,104
|
<issue_start>username_0: I came across some job advertisements for faculty positions that stated
>
> Strictly No Agencies
>
>
>
This implies that some agencies apply on behalf of the applicants. Is it common? Is it possible at all? I mean do open positions without the above statement accept applications sent by agencies rather than the applicant?
I know that the recruitment for senior industry positions is outsourced and handled by agencies, but this should be a different case.<issue_comment>username_1: I have never, ever, encountered a faculty search - or indeed a postdoc search - handled by an agency.
Nor have I ever been contacted by an agency looking to handle recruitments as a potential candidate, despite getting ads on sites like LinkedIn that suggest I've been accurately categorized as faculty.
In the vast universe of possibilities, I'm sure there are exceptions, but my best guess is that this is boiler-plate language that goes in all job ads from that institution.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> This implies that some agencies apply on behalf of the applicants.
>
>
>
Not necessarily.
Another possibility is that agencies make unsolicited offers to recruit a candidate on the institution’s behalf.
While I don’t think that universities are likely to make use of such a service, I can expect that such offers can be annoying and even rejecting them wastes a considerable amount of time.
Also, the recruiting process is not limited to applications.
There may be agencies who make enquiries because they think that the job may be a good fit for a client – though it clearly isn’t and the client would never apply.
I am regularly contacted by recruiting agencies (and even companies) who could have seen with a short glance at my CV that I do not match their job offer at all.
In some cases, this process was at least semi-automatised as I received the same offer twice via different channels.
It thus wouldn’t surprise me at all if such agencies blindly offer their services to anybody posting a job ad (matching some automatisable criteria) on certain sites.
Of course, it is debatable if agencies that do not even notice that a job offer is academic will notice the warning in question, but adding the warning in question to a university’s general boilerplate costs almost nothing.
>
> […] do open positions without the above statement accept applications sent by agencies rather than the applicant?
>
>
>
I strongly doubt this; they just haven’t annoyed by recruiters to the extent that they created this boilerplate warning.
Note that in my (admittedly limited) experience, the existence of such a warning depends on the country.
I have never seen such a warning for positions in Germany, but almost every job ad from the Netherlands and Belgium had one.
This may be due to different attitudes towards and of said agencies in those countries.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: In private industry, when a company wants to recruit people it will often hire a recruiting agency. They will come to an agreement that if a recruiting agency can successfully place a candidate and the candidate stays for a minimal period (e.g., 6 months) then company will pay the recruiting agency a specified percentage of the candidate's salary.
When everything is on the up and up, both parties (the company and the recruiter) will be in full awareness and agreement. They may choose to formalize this agreement by signing a contract. The company could save money by "rejecting" a candidate and secretly encouraging him/her to reapply outside the recruiting agency, but this would be unethical and legally actionable.
Obviously no company wants to be in the position of having to pay out money to a recruiting agency that it never wanted to work with in the first place. Ideally if no agreement is reached, then the recruiting agency should not be owed any fee.
However, proactive, clear messaging can solve problems before they even happen. When we say "Strictly No Agencies" we mean we are not going to pay you for your unsolicited services.
Upvotes: -1
|
2017/09/27
| 492
| 1,990
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am an undergraduate student who is majored in Math now. I plan to continue my phD degree in Logics in Math. My ultimate job plan is to be professor (I know instructor first). So I really want to learn the employment of PhDs in this major.
Thank you for your time.<issue_comment>username_1: When you say "math" you will need to employ one of the first lessons that I believe is fundamental to the discipline: defining. With this, then you can start to build and focus in on your topic of choice: employment rates.
With this said, your best bet (if in the US) is to take a look at the [Bureau of Labor Statistics](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/math/mathematicians.htm#tab-8). In this case, the search parameters are for mathematicians, which loosely covers your search criteria. If you wanted to narrow down your career field, you can select a specific type to consider your aspirations and potential career given that different fields might have differing degree requirements (bachelors, masters, Phd etc.)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: For mathematics in the US, the American Mathematical Society collects a great deal of data (about employment among many other things) in their [Annual Survey of the Mathematical Sciences](http://www.ams.org/profession/data/annual-survey/annual-survey).
With respect to your specific question, unfortunately they lump logic together with discrete mathematics, combinatorics, and computer science; presumably logic alone would have too few data points to be very informative. (The inclusion of computer science here doesn't mean the AMS thinks that computer science is one small subfield of mathematics. That refers, I think, only to people working on theoretical computer science who received their degrees in departments of mathematics.)
[This pdf](http://www.ams.org/profession/data/annual-survey/2015ND-TableE4.pdf) has the table that most directly addresses your question, for 2014-15 doctoral recipients.
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/09/27
| 884
| 3,244
|
<issue_start>username_0: I was wondering if there was a rule regarding the use of acronyms at the start of the sentence in **Journal Papers**.
If so, is there a difference between the state of use of that acronym (i.e., whether it is being referred to as a noun or verb st the start of the sentence).
According to my understand and research, it seems that it is not advisable to start the sentence with Acronyms, however, there is no set reference for it.
Note: the use of that acronym is deemed necessary as it repeats over 10-15 times in the entire manuscript.<issue_comment>username_1: The first time the acronym is used, it should be fully written out\*. For example:
>
> The Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion (SPECTRE) organization features in a number of the James Bond films.
>
>
>
After that, it's perfectly acceptable to use it as the first word in a sentence:
>
> SPECTRE is led by the notorious supervillian, <NAME>.
>
>
>
As for whether or not it's acceptable in journal papers -- I'm currently in the middle of reading a paper from a top-tier computer science journal that frequently uses acronyms as the first word of the sentence:
>
> "...for code isolation. CERE finds and extracts the hotspots of an application..." ([1](https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2724717))
>
>
>
It's perfectly acceptable (at least in English) and encouraged, especially if it makes the paper easier to follow.
---
\*As pointed out by NateEldredge and aeismail, there's an element of subtlety in this rule. If something is common knowledge in your field -- for example, most computer engineers know that "CPU" refers to "Central Processing Unit" -- you can choose to skip the acronym if you want. The same goes for well-known/standardized unit abbreviations (as your audience in a journal paper would likely know what those abbreviations mean).
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In biomedical research you should always introduce an acronym in full at first use. Even if you add an accompanying acronym/abbreviation table, this rule still applies.
In addition, even if you have introduced an acronym earlier, you should not begin a sentence with the acronym.
These is a realistic example:
>
> The management of coronary artery disease (CAD) has seen momentous
> improvements in the last decades. Specifically, percutaneous coronary
> intervention (PCI) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) appear
> to improve symptoms and prognosis of patients with CAD, at least in
> selected high-risk subjects. Coronary artery disease remains however
> an important cause of morbidity and mortality, giving the aging
> population...
>
>
>
Some journals enforce even stricter rules. For instance, this is an excerpt from the [American Journal of Cardiology](http://www.ajconline.org/content/authorinfo) guidelines for manuscript preparation:
>
> Abbreviations are permitted, but usually no more than 5 or 6 per
> manuscript (at the Editor's discretion), and then they must be used on
> every page of the manuscript after they are initially spelled out
> (followed by the abbreviation) in both abstract and introduction.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/09/27
| 727
| 3,034
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have just finished a postdoc but will not start a new postdoc for a few months.
In the meantime, I will continue to do my research. The problem is that I registered for a conference while at my former institute and the conference will take place while I'm not officially employed at any institute. I also plan to visit collaborators during this time and will likely need a visa for at least one of the visits.
I'm hoping someone else may have been in this situation and have some advice:
What do I put as my affiliation for that and any other conference I might attend in the meantime? Will not having any affiliation affect my ability to participate in conferences or make research visits?<issue_comment>username_1: At a recent conference, a colleague "between jobs" in the same situation wrote just the name of the city where he lives as an affiliation. It looks like a sensible idea to me: it gives some useful information as to where you are in the world, and it does not require you to put false information on your badge.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I was unaffiliated for a little over a year between postdocs. I attended two conferences in that time and didn't list any affiliation. I also made two research visits, for one of which I received some funding from my host's research grant, and being unaffiliated (or 'an independent researcher', as my host put it) was no obstacle.
This might depend somewhat on country and research area, of course. And I didn't need a visa for either of the research visits, but I'd be quite surprised if not having an affiliation right now would be an obstacle to getting one (again a little depending on the visa-issuing country).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> What do I put as my affiliation for that and any other conference I might attend in the meantime?
>
>
>
No one (in any part of academia I have ever had experience with) cares as long as the information is factually correct. Some possibilities, all of which are perfectly valid, include: no affiliation (absolutely nothing wrong with that, and it will make for a good conversation starter when people see your name tag); the name of your current city or country; or, if you are in a humorous mood, "Earth", "Europe", or some more specific name of the region you are traveling through and possibly the means of transportation (e.g., "Biking across France").
>
> Will not having any affiliation affect my ability to participate in conferences or make research visits?
>
>
>
No. Or, to be more precise, it can only affect your ability to participate to the extent that it might make it more difficult to get a visa for certain countries; that you may have no research funding available during your gap period; and that you might get a flat tire on the way to the conference if you are indeed biking across France. (Or you might simply get distracted by the pleasures of traveling and decide that attending conferences isn't your highest priority right now.)
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/09/27
| 3,733
| 15,864
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm a graduate student (PhD, first year) in physics, and there have been a few times where I just can't figure out something regarding the material/subject of the class. Normally I just tell myself that since I'm a graduate student, I better be able to figure it out myself without the help of the professor, or any other "higher-ups" in my department for that matter. This usually leads to success, but not without a fair amount of work. Sometimes the end of my problem seems to recede faster than I make progress, and I usually have other stuff to do, so I get really tempted to just ask the professor, specifically by going to their office hours.
My question is, is going to office hours in a graduate course seen as a bad or "inferior" in US grad schools? I'm obviously not talking about spamming the professor with impulsive and ill-conceived questions.
**EDIT:** Some people in the comments are saying "Well you're a graduate student, and there are office hours, so obviously you can and should make use of them." Life isn't as simply black-and-white as that. The focus of my question is on the unspoken, possibly subliminal, perception of going to office hours as a graduate student which, by its very nature, is not explicitly stated in "official" text (e.g. syllabi, student conduct guidelines, etc.). Such latent social phenomena are present in every situation and culture. Stated explicitly or not, general academic culture expects graduate students to become independent researchers. I was wondering whether this underlying expectation affected the perception of going to office hours as a graduate student, which by definition is a partial **dependence** on the professor. This topic is nuanced by the various ways in which one could "go to office hours" (e.g. fully prepared, unprepared, in-between, etc.) and by the variation in perceptions of those various ways. Therefore I think it's nontrivial and worth asking about.<issue_comment>username_1: Grad students who come to office hours with good questions that show serious engagement with the material (e.g. attempts to solve the problem themself) are generally seen as mature, hard-working students.
It is also a good way to get to know faculty in your department, which can be useful e.g. if you are looking for a research assistantship, or recommendation letters, etc.
Personally, when I teach, I like when students come to office hours with good questions - it helps me see how students are understanding the lesson, where common points of friction are, and thereby improves the quality of my instruction. It also helps them do better in the course, which is of course a goal we have in common. But, I enjoy teaching and engaging with students. Some faculty in my department don't like teaching, and don't like office hours - but even those faculty members don't look down on students who make (good) use of them.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: One common mistake grad students make is not asking for help when they need it, either from professors or advisors, out of a misguided belief that they're supposed to demonstrate independence or ability by not taking advantage of the resources available.
No, it is not frowned on to go to office hours. If a professor goes out of their way to make a resource - like office hours - available to you, you should assume that it's intended to actually be available.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: My experience and answer only covers UK academia; the situation in the US might be different (or not).
In the UK, graduate students are paying fees to University and also often contribute to research. I would be unpleasantly surprised to see a colleague who would frown upon such student seeking guidance and support. But to be honest I never yet seen anyone who would frown upon a student coming to office hours.
What is expected of graduate students, though, is an ability to become **independent learners** and researchers through the course of their studies. So I would expect such students, in particular, to demonstrate a **significant attempt** to solve the problem, including (but not limited to) a list of literature they attempted to search/study to solve the problem. I would not frown on a student who came to my office hours completely unprepared, but I would perhaps send them back to the library to attempt to find an answer to their question first.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: No. While of course "lazy" questions (e.g., indicating not having paid attention at all in class, and/or not having read the indicated readings at all) are not good... asking for advice in how to solve problems is entirely reasonable, if only for methodological help.
The notion that everyone is as-soon-as-possible supposed to be "independent" is a bit misguided, I think, if taken at face value by naive novices. Namely, to fail to benefit by the hard-won expertise of one's advisor or mentor is just ridiculous. It is not the case that everyone has to make the same foolish mistakes over and over. True, it's good to *try* oneself, but even if one *does* "solve a problem", that solution may be awfully sub-optimal, and it is important to hear "the optimized solution".
Further, as mentioned in other answers and comments, office-hour discussions can be more open-ended and wider in scope than class-time, and one can learn a lot...
So, no, I don't see any need for any sort of stoic Spartan-ism, like the person who had stolen a fox, hidden it under his cloak, and allowed the fox to chew at his vital organs rather than make a sound. "Cool", but not productive.
Also, the claim that "everything's on the internet" is sort-of true, but not reliably in a good way. That is, as with many dynamics, the easy-but-suboptimal (or wrong) pseudo-facts/solutions tend to be widely available, while the less-attractive-but-correct ideas often get swamped by all that noise. So "go google it" is often not a good methodology for subtle technical things.
And in the literal physical books, normally there are no detailed discussions ("solutions") of problems. In extreme cases, such as Atiyah-MacDonald's "Commutative Algebra", not only are there no solutions, but the problems are mostly significant theorems in their own right. Where is one to find the prototypes for such things???
Again, I see no reason for everyone to have to recapitulate all the dead-ends that eventually led to discovery of effective ideas. It is a waste of time and energy.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: On the contrary. Students who never come to office hours, who never ask questions in class, may sometimes be regarded as if they understand the material less than students who ask questions and are engaged in the class. Coming to office hours to learn better is considered a plus, not a minus, so is asking intelligent questions in class.
Don't you think also professors go to other professors to ask questions about subjects they are learning?
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: The answer is like others indicated NOOO!
When I was a PhD student I was in my advisor's office daily. We were collaborating closely on a couple of papers. I found my advisor by going to his office hours, and eventually my questions started to push on the boundary of what is in the literature. At that point a thesis started to form, and we started collaborating heavily on a paper that addressed my question.
As a PhD student your job is to get up to speed as quickly as possible on the state of the art of your field. Once you get there, you start asking good questions about the world that nobody knows the answer to. Once that starts happening, you have a dissertation waiting to happen. The only way to find a question that nobody has the answer to, is to ask lots of questions. Until nobody around you knows the answer. And once nobody around you knows the answer you start to look at papers to see if people you don't know, know the answer. And if they don't know the answer, you propose to find the answer yourself.
That is the essence of science! Go to office hours and ask dumb questions. Ask them until people give you blank stares. Ask them until your professors say, I don't know. A good PhD student should push their professors to think just as hard as they push their PhD student.
Remember that the culmination of the PhD is when you defend your dissertation. The goal at this point is to be able to stand in front of a group of people that have PhDs and say, "I know how to ask good questions in this field and independently answer those questions. I am a researcher of the same quality as you folks are, and I am now your peer, and no longer a student.
TL;DR
Go to office hours and ask questions until it hurts!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: Depending on the dynamics of your department, I could see a couple of reasons why going to *office hours* -- but not seeking help more generally -- might be frowned upon (or at least seen as a bit odd).
Are office hours primarily for undergrads?
------------------------------------------
At institutions/in departments with a high undergraduate teaching load, "office hours" are often scheduled primarily with an eye to reserving that time to help undergraduate students. If you use that time, you might be depriving the undergraduates (who would typically have less easy access to the professor than a grad student, in my experience) of time they need to seek help. Of course, often times no one shows up and so if it isn't a busy time I can see no harm. (I've often had meetings with professors during their office hours with the understanding that if an undergraduate shows up, I'd bow out and head to the lounge or my office and the professor would retrieve me to finish the meeting once the student left.)
Does your department favor more informal interaction, as between colleagues?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another possible reason it could be seen as odd is that it might seem overly formal. While there is still a teacher-student dynamic among professors and grad students, it's more collegial than the dynamic between professors and undergrad students. Ideally, an advanced undergrad student is more or less a (junior) colleague of the professor. It would seem odd if a junior professor took themselves to be restricted to meeting with a senior professor during their office hours. There could be a similar dynamic in play here.
From my own experience, whatever it's worth, neither my grad student peers nor I ever made a special point to meet during office hours. Depending on the professor's disposition and how often they were in the office, for a quick meeting (say, less than 15 mins) it would be common to simply drop by, knock, and ask if they were free to chat for a bit. If they aren't, then you could also use that interaction to schedule a meeting. If the professor in question doesn't appreciate drop-ins, isn't in the office much, or the meeting would be on the longer side then a quick email to schedule a meeting would be the usual practice. If they said "I have office hours [whenever], why don't you drop by then?", then that's when you meet.
Are you depriving the professor of necessary preparation?
---------------------------------------------------------
Finally, depending on the nature of your question, the professor might need to prep a bit for the meeting in a way they wouldn't for a typical undergraduate office hours meeting. If you drop by during their office hours without advanced notice, they might not be prepared, resulting in a meeting that's less than fully productive. That's not ideal for you, since you don't get the best help, and it might cause them to feel slightly "ambushed" and slightly down about their lack of readiness. If a follow up meeting is needed, there might also be concerns (though very mild in all reasonable cases) that the initial office hours meeting was bordering on a "waste of time".
Another Voice in the Chorus
---------------------------
But, ignoring the specific issue of "office hours" and considering the more general question of whether it's frowned upon for a graduate student to seek help, I can only add my voice to the chorus of "No"s. (Obvious exceptions being the ones you note: bad to go in without modest preparation and clear purpose, and also bad to use these meetings as a crutch that prevents you from developing more self-sufficiency.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: While I agree with the "No" answers in principle, in practice I've noticed **quite a few teachers / teaching assistants unfortunately frown upon *anyone* coming to their office hours**. Especially in course without many undergraduates, some people assume that their office hours would simply go unused and they can continue whatever business they're pursuing as long as they're in their office. In rare cases I've encountered people who actually have the temerity to not be in their office during office hours (!)
So if OP, or anyone else, seems to be met with a frown, the reason could just be the surprise of actually having to carry out one's office hour duties.
PS - There was this one guy in particular who situated his office in a building on the far side of campus from where he gave his recitation, in this building where you had to take a spiral route to get to the top floor since some doors were closed during late afternoon hours when his reception hours were held. And of course, his office was at the end of the spiral. He had quite the look of surprise on his face when I opened the door to his office! ... that was my first-semester freshman year Calculus course, back in the day.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_9: I'll take a twist and talk not about office hours, but asking questions.
Sure, you *could* figure everything (or at least: a lot) on your own. It also takes time. In my opinion, even for a fresh PhD student, it takes too much time. So go and ask a question if you have someone to ask. Not necessarily a professor, a fellow PhD student or a PostDoc might also know the answer. If you are asking someone higher-up and would like to leave a good impression, invest into a search for a question.
So, rather than "how to do A?" ask "I would like to do A, but dunno how. I've looked into X, Y, and Z and they all seem not to fit. Could you help me out?".
The background is that most people in PhD and beyond, including your faculty, typically have seen things somewhat akin to your problem and might have an idea worth looking at. Conversely, esp. with peers, you might know something that might help other people.
At the end, harnessing knowledge of other people and collaborating with them on a range of topics would be more productive than trying to squeeze out a single answer while sitting in the ivory tower and meditating on the problem.
tl;dr: Talking to people does not hurt!
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_10: No, it is not frowned on. If anything, grad students who are afraid to engage are frowned. Just plow ahead and get what you need to learn the material. After all, that is what matters in the end. And people will respect more those who are not so worried about how they look.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_11: I'll add a caveat to some fine answers. It's fine to go to office hours as a graduate student. It's *less fine* to go to office hours without having adequately prepared. Work hard, give yourself every opportunity to solve your own issues, and then go to office hours ready to tell the prof exactly what you're having issues with, and how you tried to figure out.
If something is really time pressing, you might skip this step, but it doesn't necessarily look great, and doing it all the time will certainly not help your image.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/09/27
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<issue_start>username_0: At the University of Cambridge, PhD students are not required to publish papers in order to be able to defend a thesis. One consequence of this is that some supervisors, especially in more experimental areas (e.g., some fields of biology), adopt a policy of deferring all publications until after the end of the PhD, to suck up as much of their students' time as possible for lab work.
This has a detrimental effect on the PhD's career: at the end of the PhD, he/she cannot apply to most positions since virtually all of them require publications. So the student must convince the supervisor to leave extra time for publishing during the thesis, and some supervisors are clearly against it.
In such situations, what can the PhD student do? In theory, if there was postdoc funding available for the student immediately after the thesis, this could be allocated for publishing the accumulated results, but this is not the case.
Is there a way to pressure the university to require such publications, to minimize the amount of "paying technician"1 work? How can PhD students change this perverse incentive system?
1At Cambridge, PhD students in such fields end up *paying to work* (as technicians), instead of *being paid to work*, which is a huge incentive for supervisors to keep the status quo.<issue_comment>username_1: Programs do get reputations.
And a program that produces good students who don’t have publications, especially if they are a well known school, will still have good placement rates.
Faculty too can get reputations, positive and negative.
Post-doc and hiring committees take these reputations into account when evaluating applications. If we know a school or a particular faculty member produces (otherwise stellar) students who don’t have publications, we’ll use other criteria to evaluate them.
The same thing goes for faculty who are known to write over the top recommendations and those who write acerbic ones. They all get calibrated in the end.
Where it does hurt you is with industry positions as there, reputations aren’t as well known.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I don't know how you can change institutional norms, but with regard to your own career, I imagine that proving you *can* publish might be worth fighting for. That is, you may not be able to publish multiple papers as a student of this advisor, but is there some way to get a single paper out the door?
It sounds like it's worth having a difficult conversation about. Something like "Advisor, I really appreciate the training I'm getting in your lab. I feel confident that I'll be able to [stain my own cells, kill my own rats, etc.] on my own, when I have my own lab. But I want to learn how to get through the peer review process, too. Can we work on publishing a paper together, so I can see how you work through the process? I want to learn from your experience while I have the opportunity." That's one angle.
Another angle (and I am aware that this is a sort of a "pull yourself up by your bootstraps," "work harder" kind of answer, and you're probably already trying to fit 25 hours into a day), is there some way to minimize the amount of time spent doing technical work? Even another hour a day might allow you to have a paper (at some stage in the review process) on your CV by the time you are applying for jobs. A paper under review would show that you can publish, and that, with your letters and institution's reputation, might get you where you want to be.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/09/28
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<issue_start>username_0: What is a standard opening salutation for a letter of recommendation to be posted on mathjobs?
One possibility might be, "Dear hiring committee", or "Dear search committee".<issue_comment>username_1: There is the widely used
>
> To whom it may concern:
>
>
>
and also
>
> Dear Sir/Madam:
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Most of my math recommendation letters do not have an opening salutation. They have the date at the top right, and the first sentence orients the reader with something like "I write to recommend Dr. X to you for..." If I recall correctly, this is fairly typical for such letters. I am more confident in saying **it doesn't matter**: in general, the format for these letters is all over the place, and no one cares.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
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2017/09/28
| 2,627
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a young (female) professor in a (U.S.) department with a small graduate program and a research expectation. I usually teach Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and try to save Tuesday and Thursday for research (where possible). On MWF, I'm quite good about meeting with students, even if they stop by outside of office hours (or on any day during exam weeks). My week or more homework assignments are generally due on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday (there's no good place for students to drop them off outside of class and I like discussing them as they turn them in) so I get requests by students who have put off their homework to meet on Tuesday or Thursday, even when I mention this preference in advance. I've yet to come up with a nice response that I'm satisfied both:
1. Reminds students I'm busy with other work (despite the fact that
their tuition pays part of my salary).
2. that still encourages them to keep reaching out for help and encourages them to think of me as the approachable professor I try to be (at least on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday).
Suggestions for a nice email response?<issue_comment>username_1: Your attitude sounds overly apologetic to my ears – students cannot reasonably expect that you're available for a meeting on a specific day of their choice. I would answer as follows:
>
> Thank you for your interest in a meeting to discuss the homework. Unfortunately, I am fully booked on Tuesdays. However, a meeting on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday would be suitable for me.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I've yet to come up with a nice response that I'm satisfied both:
>
>
> 1. Reminds students I'm busy with other work (despite the fact that their tuition pays part of my salary).
>
>
>
There is no need to "remind" students of anything. They likely neither know nor spend any meaningful amount of their time wondering what you are up to when you're not teaching them. Nor is it any business of theirs where your salary comes from.
>
> 2. that still encourages them to keep reaching out for help and encourages them to think of me as the approachable professor I try to be (at least on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday).
>
>
>
It is commendable that you want to be approachable, and to be seen as approachable, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. However, from the students' point of view it is likely to be seen as inconsistent that you are so approachable on those days and yet refuse to meet them on other days. In my opinion, any attempt to explain the logical reasons for this inconsistency is going to have very limited (if any) effectiveness -- the students simply don't have a good enough understanding of what the life of a professor (or any professional of a similar age and career status) looks like to be receptive to your explanation.
The upshot of this analysis is that you need to accept that setting the boundaries that you need to set to get your distraction-free time for research is going to make you look slightly less approachable and/or likeable in the eyes of the students. The problem is not one of finding the right words to put in an email, but instead of accepting that "nice" and "approachable" is sometimes inconsistent with "gets things done".
>
> Suggestions for a nice email response?
>
>
>
Here is my suggestion:
>
> Dear [name of student],
>
>
> I am afraid I am not available to meet with you tomorrow. As I mentioned in class and in the syllabus, my office hours are [insert office hours], and I may have limited availability to meet at other times on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but I am not available on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you have an urgent need for help, feel free to try talking to [name of TA] or to a fellow student. I do very much appreciate that you are seeking help to improve your understanding of the material, which is a positive thing that sadly not enough students do, and look forward to seeing you at my office hours sometime soon.
>
>
> Best,
>
>
> [your name]
>
>
>
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: The grad students should understand that you have TR set aside for research, so just tell them that. Undergrad students, especially lower-div students, are not going to understand why you can't meet with them when you're already sitting in your office doing "nothing." (And they are more judgmental about "unhelpful" female instructors.) So any of the boundary-setting emails suggested in other posts are fine, but be prepared for the fact that it's not going to go over well with them.
A better long-term solution is to manage when and how often you get *all* HWs and to plan on a certain amount of day-before help. Electronic submissions or other alternative assessments might also help you keep your research days uninterrupted.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I hate to burst your angelic bubble, but you are the boss, not the students. Some women professionals may tend toward being played by colleagues or underlings because they don't wish to seem aggressive, mean, un-approachable, etc., etc. Traits males in the same position have and display with regularity.
You have a TA, right? That person should be doing the work, not you. Your office hours should be set and adhered to. It's not your job to offer a short order, cafeteria-style set of office hours. Stick to your office hours and keep your door closed the rest of the time. Make sure your office hours are posted on your door, and that's it.
The people who have responded, excepting Elizabeth, are trying to be just as nice as you. You will get more respect if you stop being so worried about being liked and concentrate on getting your PhD, or Nobel, or whatever. The suggested e-mail is laughable, absolutely silly. Why all the fol de rol?
If you must respond by email (thus taking away your very important personal time) simply send them your office hours and tell them you look forward to seeing them during those times.
As an undergrad I never saw my full professor, I went through my TA. As a graduate student I was able to confer with professors, but was on my own, excepting for my thesis material.
Grow a spine and take care of yourself, your not their mother so stop trying to be one.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_5: In addition to other answers, how about something like
"I'm afraid that I have a [research paper|grant proposal|referee report|...] that I have to finish soon, and I have to reserve my Tuesdays and Thursdays to make sure I can do so."
I wouldn't explain yourself at all to students who are disrespectful, but polite students might appreciate learning that you (like all faculty members) are under a lot of pressure yourself.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: The practical answer is just say no and tell them to try on the other days. Don't bother to explain a reason.
Some suggestions:
1. Consider to write your policy handout or whatever to make clear that you are available some days and not the others. Maybe X times for drop-in (the office hours), Y days for appointment, Z days off limits.
2. Consider to change your method of instruction to more examination and less homework projects. In particular homework that requires help from the instructor (since you are not available to give it). Nothing wrong per se with either method of teaching/assessment. But given the practicalities.
3. (for your psyche) I would disaggregate the issue of research universities and undergrad subsidy of research versus the issue of what you need to do. You are in a situation where the school expects both research and teaching. There just is not the same commitment to undergrads at a research uni as there is at a non research uni (liberal arts college or military academy). It's just a fact of life. The schools have made their choice what to do. You have made your choice where to be. And the students have made their choice to go for a brand name versus dedicated instruction. You can still keep people reasonably happy by drawing boundaries and accomplishing the twin missions. Just don't confuse the overall debate versus you getting things done now in the situation you are in. The meta-issues of Harvard versus USNA are different topics than the issue of how Mathprof does a reasonable job at Harvard. And make no mistake about it. You need to get the research done. Especially if you are not tenured. This is the priority.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: Your system has an inherent contradiction.
Here are some ideas to get you started in thinking about a solution for future semesters:
1. Since you need two days to yourself, and students need a day to visit you with homework questions, plan your lectures for TWO days a week, for example Monday and Wednesday, or Tuesday and Thursday. Pick an appropriate day for the extra office hours.
Or teach, for example, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, with homework due on Friday. In this case you could make yourself available to help those who are stuck, on Thursday, and then you'd have Monday and Wednesday to yourself.
2. Get a TA who will hold office hours the day before homework is due.
3. Have the students hand in two submissions for each homework assignment, where the first is the scaffolding for the second.
4. Give full credit for homework turned in on the official due date, and some smaller amount of credit (e.g. 80% or 90%) for homework turned in a couple of days late.
5. Set aside two blocks of time on Tuesdays and Thursdays to provide homework help remotely (via email), and let the students know what those blocks are, for example you will check your email at 12:30 and at 4:30.
**In the meantime**, take some class time to explain very, very clearly that you are unfortunately not available on Tuesdays and Thursdays to help with homework questions, and tell them that what separates the women from the girls and the men from the boys is that the women and men will *plan ahead* based on their instructor's availability to help with homework questions.
Your unavailability on Tuesdays and Thursdays could be due to:
* a long commute
* childcare constraints
* receiving chemotherapy or some other treatment, or supporting someone who is in treatment
* a second job (for this we would imagine that you are not full-time)
* needing to finish up your PhD
* etc.
My point is that the students do not need to be told why you're not available on the two pumpkin days (i.e. the days you turn into a pumpkin).
My theme is based on the Faber-Mazlish idea *Take Time to Teach* expectations.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/09/28
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently a master's student in computer science, thinking about applying to PhD programs. As I detailed in [this post](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/95809/should-i-leave-out-research-in-my-nsf-fellowship-application-if-im-not-getting/95926#95926), I had the audacity to ask my advisor why he hadn't let me work on projects that he allowed other students with equivalent qualifications to work on and instead had me working on a project that, according to one of his co-authors, was not publishable (it was more of an industry thing and they were just going to stick it on the internet somewhere). In response, **he fired me from my gave someone else the TA position he had said I would have and now isn't even responding to my emails**. (And he refused to answer any of the questions I'd asked him, btw.)
**Is it even possible to salvage my chances of getting into a top PhD program after this?** He's a famous professor and very well regarded in his field. A letter of recommendation from him would have been CRITICAL in my applications to PhD programs. Now, I not only don't have a publication to my name, but have NOTHING to show for a project I worked three months on. I know that conflicts between advisors and students are typical, but do they typically result in a totally burned bridge without even a LOR? Presumably, my potential bridges with everyone he knows (several professors in other schools) are also burned for me as well!
I suppose I can try to find someone else in the department to do research with, but
1. this setback has delayed my application by at least a year, and
2. the only professor in my area who seems nice enough to work with is a very junior professor, and my understanding is that [a LOR from a well-known professor is critical](http://web.archive.org/web/20150616152158/http://matt-welsh.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/so-you-want-to-go-to-grad-school.html). (I've met all the other professors in my school in my chosen specialty and they all come off as complete assholes.)
I am left with a few questions:
1. Did I just completely blow my chances? If not, **how can I possibly get on my feet to be a competitive PhD applicant by next year?**
2. **How is it possible to find a nice, supportive advisor??** I had done my due diligence: I talked to several of my advisor's students, and they had nothing but good things to say about him. I'm not sure what other sources I could possibly find. A friend of mine did the same with a different advisor, only for his true colors to come out after several months of working with him as well. Is it really just a roll of the dice, where even if I get into a PhD program, odds are the advisor is going to turn out to be an asshole?
3. **In the future, am I just supposed to keep my mouth shut even if I have reservations about the project I'm working on?**
UPDATE: This experience (and a couple others) soured me on academia completely and I ended up going into industry instead. So far so good.<issue_comment>username_1: Some profs lord their power over their students as they have the student future in their hands. This gives them a sense of God"ish" power and when its questioned, some profs act out. The result can be something like this. Even asking fair questions of them, can drive them in to a passive/aggressive rage. They may not raise their voice, but you'll know you've stepped in it when they don't reply to your emails and won't respond about your thesis.
Sadly, the best course of action may be to simply play the game and go throw yourself on the mercy of Mr. God and appeal to his vanity/ego. With such folks, that is usually their softest spot. :)
Todd
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If you are a student in the US, consider reaching out to your institution's ombuds services. They are usually an informal and neutral third party that can arbitrate disputes such as this. Although I can't elaborate on the terms of your termination (what does your contract say, are you at will?), knowing of this avenue of resolution may serve you well.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It looks that your relations with this professor are coming to an end, and you can't rely on his future support. That's a shame; however, there's still a plenty of fish in a water, and hopefully enough time to get some.
1. Why don't you focus on establishing some contacts with another professor or lecturer in your university? Maybe someone slightly less senior and/or less famous, but still sufficiently established so that their LOR would matter? You probably attend classes of other professors, perhaps doing some sort of projects with some of them? Could it be expanded into a collaboration resulting in a publication or a research report?
Are there other TA/RA positions advertised? Or maybe someone is seeking an hourly-payed students to collect some data for their experiment? A professor is running a Math Society or a club?
2. You probably did your homework studying this professor really well, but sometimes the relations simply does not work out. Maybe he is not a very good person; maybe you could've been a little bit more delicate (or cautious) with the language you chose to make your inquires. Maybe you should've waited until the contract is signed before hinting your unhappiness with the arrangements. It is impossible to say at the moment; and there are more urgent matters pressing. The understanding will eventually come.
3. Many people adopt the strategy of "keeping your mouth shut" and are successful in academia. Many did not, and they are successful, too. Academia is diverse, and in parts it is still a place where academics are allowed to be weird and insubordinate as long as they deliver outstanding research and excellent teaching. But the flip side is of course that sometimes someone else is behaving inappropriately led by his/her ego, or a sense of entitlement, or simply as a result of heavy sleep deprivation, and you occasionally become a collateral damage. It is important to remember that we all are people and try to treat others in the same way you would like to be treated yourself.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: (1) If you're in computer science, then even failing to get into a PhD program immediately after finishing your master's degree is not an insurmountable road block. There are even industry projects you can work on to improve your application.
(2) Yes, it is ultimately a roll of the dice. Some advisors are, in fact, just assholes who will ruin your career, and there's no amount of due diligence that will completely remove the chance of finding one. It's horribly unfair that a choice that will determine your career and entire life will depend on making a random die roll, but there's really nothing you can do about it; you have little power as a prospective grad student. (And don't expect much understanding or sympathy here; this board is mostly composed of people who have made that roll, and don't realize the amount of luck involved or that there was a die roll in the first place. The same remark applies to a wide variety of such die rolls in life.)
(3) Few people will say so explicitly, but yes. You have little power in the advsior/student relationship; and as a student (and not even one of his PhD students), you're probably beneath his notice. It is also massively unfair, but see point (2).
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2017/09/29
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<issue_start>username_0: Note that I am currently an undergrad.
One month ago, one of my professors agreed to let me work on a research project with him. After a few weeks of not hearing anything from them, I emailed the professor asking about the project (1.5 weeks ago). He replied saying that he would be contacting a collaborating researcher (at a different institution) in the project within two days and can discuss a roll for me with them. Based on the language of the email, it seems that he had been waiting for me to email him. He said that he would contact them in two or so days, so 1 week ago, and then get back to me.
I still haven't heard back from them and so I am wondering if it is inappropriate for me to email the professor and ask about the project a second time? (note that based on the current situation, we can only email each other and not talk in person). I realize that many times going through such a process can be a bit slow but I am in a position where a recommendation letter from this professor (who is well known in their field) would be significant, as he could then talk about my academic experience with him as well as my research experience with him.<issue_comment>username_1: First and foremost if you have the option to visit their office, I would highly recommend doing so before sending the second email. Because I have had professor that have lost my email in the dozens or hundreds that they receive daily, and a simple office visit was sufficient enough to clear it up
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Professors get tons of emails and a significant proportion of them will slip through.
If you can not go in person then: Yes, write again but be careful about the tone. Make sure that it does NOT sound like an accusation ("You promised to write within 2 days but you didnt!"). Better along the lines of: Sorry to be bothering you again but I was just wondering if there are any news on the project we had in mind? etc I want to again express my strong interest into this project and I would be really happy to work with you on it.
Upvotes: 0
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2017/09/29
| 1,072
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<issue_start>username_0: My professor (say Mr. X), a theoretical physicist, is in charge of a course on Math Physics in the undergrads. He had co-authored a book on Statistical Mechanics but he never mentioned anything about it to us, since it had no part in that course on Math Physics.
Now, that course was 2 semesters back. And in this semester, I have to study Statistical Mechanics, and this course is conducted by another professor (say Mr. Y). Mr. Y named a few standard books that almost all universities follow (Reif, Greiner, Huang) but not Mr. X's book (BTW X and Y are not enemies). But I came across X's book in google books and I liked it very much. But there is no soft copy of the book available on the net.
What I want to know is:
>
> Should I ask Mr. X to give me a soft copy of that book?
>
>
>
The book is not old at all ( published in Dec 2016 ) and well available in the market. I dont know whether it sells good or not, since it was published only 10 months back and very people among my friends and seniors know about this book (although Amazon shows it out of stock). The book is really good and I have a nice relation (as student and teacher) with Mr. X. But there are commercial sides also that he might think, regarding the book.
So will he be offended if I ask him about a soft copy of his book?
In that case, how should I approach him?<issue_comment>username_1: If you are asking whether it will get you in trouble, the answer is no. You are allowed to ask questions at an institution of higher learning. Never be afraid to ask questions, unless it’s illegal. For example, if you were to approach this professor and say that you couldn’t find his textbook on any of the popular pirate sites like the pirate bay, yeah, that might get you in trouble.
But asking if you could get a copy of his book would not get you in trouble given the assumption that you attend there. He might be willing to loan you a copy given that you are trying to learn. But could he get offended? Definitely. If he took the time to research and publish this work, and you do not want to pay for it, that could definitely offend him. It won’t get you in any trouble, but it also could be seen as a little bit rude because you didn’t think his work was worth it enough to purchase. You have to understand, around 50 years ago, there wasn’t the World Wide Web like there is today where you can just go find everything and hopefully get something without paying for it. If you wanted something you bought it, publication or otherwise.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: As an author I'd feel uncomfortable when someone asks me to share a digital copy of my book. I find it very much different from sharing digital copies of papers. An author of a journal paper gets these days a digital offprint (basically a pdf file), which one can share privately with colleagues. However as an author of a book you get (at least in my discipline) several free hard copies, which one can distribute among the dearest colleagues, but as their number is finite one may not be not always willing to share these with students. Sharing digital copies (which can be the technically last proofs the author gets before the book is printed) of the book may be a breach of the contract the author signed with the publisher, and one would feel uneasy if one has to choose whether to break the terms of the contract or to say no to a nice student interested in one's work.
So if I were you (and as I myself do when I miss a book written by someone I know well) I'd try one of the following: 1) request that your library purchase a digital (or print) copy of the book; 2) order the book via interlibrary loan; 3) buy the book. Otherwise you may send the author a nice letter saying that you are very much interested in their book and asking if they could advise you how to get hold this hard to find publication. (But again if you are at a university that has a library with access to ILL it would imply that you find it easier to trouble the author rather than order the book via ILL; hence I'd resort to this solution only if you are at an institution that doesn't provide other access options [which is surely the case in many countries with undeveloped library systems], and your request would look more reasonable if you explain in more detail why you cannot get the book without the author's help).
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]
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2017/09/29
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<issue_start>username_0: I only have knowledge of American universities: I know of junior faculty that serve on graduate admissions committees in the STEM fields -- at top schools such as Harvard. The things that I hear from them are quite interesting, for instance, how strong the recommendation letters are from the undergraduate applicants at top schools - that virtually all letters say that those students are the "best" that those professors have ever had. But why do junior faculty such as "Assistant Professors" or "Titled Instructor" serve on graduate admissions committees? To me, the admissions process for graduate STEM programs are so important that I feel the committee should consist of senior faculty instead.<issue_comment>username_1: If junior faculty members aren't allowed to sit on an admissions committee, then by the time they become senior faculty they won't have had any experience of sitting on admissions committees. The junior members need to learn how to become senior members and this is just one part of it!
I also don't think that graduate admissions decisions are quite so monumentally important (or tricky) as you imply; for top institutions such as Harvard you will already have a self-selected pool of very good appplicants to choose from, and I imagine it's difficult to make a bad pick.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: As an applicant the decisions of the admissions committee are critical, as a faculty member, they don't really matter as long as you get it close. In the worst case, a school passes up a future Nobel Prize winner for someone who fails their quals and life of the department goes on. In contrast, Assistant Professors also sit on faculty hiring committees where a mistake means another faculty search and possibly the loss of a tenure line.
As for why they sit on the committees, there is a ton of admin work in a department, and some of it truly needs to be done by Full Professors (e.g., tenure and promotions) and you need to use people where they can contribute.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: In addition to other excellent answers, I would add a pragmatic (and even cynical) viewpoint: serving on admissions panels includes a lot of boring paperwork which is not visible or recognised outside the university (e.g. does not lead to peer reviewed publications). Since the currency of academia is fame and prestige, senior members don't want to spend their time on admissions panels (and they have a lot of other administration duties to take care of). Since they usually have enough gravitas to say no, the unprestigeous task inevitably falls on younger colleagues.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: As other people have said, tenure-track assistant professors have to do a certain amount of departmental service to get tenure, and being on the graduate admissions committee is a good way to do this. Lots of committees require work thoughout the year, which ends up taking a lot of time. Grad admissions basically means that you have to spend a day or two reading files and then attend a couple of meetings to hash out who gets admitted. High impact, low commitment.
One thing from your question that hasn't been addressed is the fact that at some departments grad admissions is handled by "Titled Instructors", who are not on the tenure-track. At least in mathematics, this does happen at a couple of places like Princeton (where the senior faculty are particularly effective at avoiding departmental service and which doesn't really have a tenure track), but it is very far from the norm. In the **vast** majority of departments (including fancy ones like MIT and Chicago), non-tenure-track faculty are not expected to do any service at all.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: TLDR: A combination of self-interest and the [pigeonhole principle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigeonhole_principle "pigeonhole principle").
As a junior faculty member in the sciences, I've been advised by a few mentors to be on the grad admissions committee. Junior faculty need to build up their research groups, and the graduate courses they teach will be populated by the incoming students. Choosing students who could fit in those two roles is highly valuable to a new faculty member - but less critical to well-established groups!
In addition, it is to some degree unavoidable. Everyone does some service work in a department - this can be acting as chair, serving on university-wide committees, reviewing tenure cases, organizing seminars, redesigning curriculum, hiring faculty, dealing with admissions, etc. Some of these are restricted from junior faculty (e.g. no one without tenure reviews tenure cases or chairs the department, I think), and others are merely inadvisable because they require huge time commitments and better knowledge of the department (curriculum redesign). This means things like hiring committees and admissions committees are often mixed junior/senior groups - there are not enough senior people to do all of this work alone!
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: In addition to the other excellent answers given, there's also a number of other considerations:
* In programs with funding coming primarily from grants, programs with lab rotations, etc. these junior faculty will be expected to host and mentor these students as well as potentially serve as their advisors. How receptive do you think they're going to be to "Hey, you had absolutely no input in this decision, but this student is going to need to hang out in your lab for the next six months"?
* Junior faculty can represent new directions for the department. For example, my department is currently hiring a number of more theoretical/computational faculty. They will *all* be "junior faculty" - and yet the department is hoping to recruit students who will work with them. Would *you* want to be evaluated by an admissions committee whose entirely unfamiliar with your field, qualifications, and what would be expected of you? Ones with entirely different expectations of what should be "required"?
Upvotes: 0
|
2017/09/29
| 494
| 1,989
|
<issue_start>username_0: Assume an editor has sent out a manuscript to reviewers. Let's say the manuscript has potential but with mixed reviews; some reviewers say accept whilst others recommend revision/reject. The editor recommends re-submission. So the manuscript goes through the usual revision-resubmission-revision-... process.
As an editor, does he/she need to all reviewers to be thoroughly happy before accepting the manuscript? Can he/she accept/reject the manuscript based on the majority rule?
Note, some journals have a limit on the maximum number of re-submissions, meaning the re-submission process cannot continue forever.<issue_comment>username_1: First of all, reviewers give a recommendation. It is the editor who makes the final decision.
It is possible to have an editor going against the reviewers opinion.
An example is this [article](https://www.geosci-model-dev.net/7/1247/2014/gmd-7-1247-2014-discussion.html).
It is open peer-review, so you can read the reviews and the answer of the editor. He says in his comment:
>
> I decided to continue the review process even though 2 of the 3 reviews recommend rejection.
>
>
>
So the answer is no, an editor does not need to receive unanimous recommendations from the reviewers to make a decision.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The editor has the final say. The reviewers provide advice for the editor to act on as he or she sees fit.
There is no need for all (or indeed any) of the reviewers to recommend publication for the article to be accepted.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It is common to have disparate recommendations and priority judgements from reviewers.
As an editor I strive to follow the majority, as even an editor can be questioned if he departs too much from the reviewers' opinion.
Indeed, the key freedom and autonomy dimension of an editor lies in the choice of which reviewers inviting in the first place, much less in how to micromanage reviewers' reports.
Upvotes: 1
|
2017/09/30
| 737
| 3,258
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<issue_start>username_0: I was discussing this topic with an older professor of mine who had published more than 90 papers and couple of books in his field. The papers are highly specialized and half of them are with different co-authors from the same or a different field.
Since he has so many papers, I asked him if he was able to remember and / or explain all of his published papers to a random guy or student on the street if he's asked to do so. His answer was, of course, 'not really'. Since his papers were highly specialized and he tends to change his research interests over time, his memory of the papers tends to fade. He'd still be able to remember and explain the methodology and results of any of the published research, but not in detail or without first re-reading them.
My question is, how much is expected from a scientist to remember from his papers? If you get asked to explain some of your papers, what of the following would you do:
* Just explain what's in the abstract (if you remember), or
* Tell them to just read the paper themselves, because 'everything is there'<issue_comment>username_1: People usually do not ask: "explain this paper" they will read a paper and may ask a more specific question about a part they did not understand.
The professor may or may not be able to answer. If he wants to, he can look up the paper or the answer to the questions asked. His experience and knowledge will probably help him to find the answer faster than the person who asked the question. If he does not want to, or cannot answer the question because he forgot, does not have time, or for any other reason, the person asking is simply out of luck: they will have to ask someone else or do research themselves to find the answers they are looking for.
Nobody can remember all the details about 90 highly specialised scientific papers, especially if they involved lots of work by different authors that may have been done decades ago. Professors and other scientists are human beings: they forget things and make mistakes just like everyone else. This is not a problem.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: One of the main reasons for writing a paper is that you no longer need to remember what's in it, because you can go back and read the paper.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: One of the reasons I write papers is so that I don't lose insights that I worked hard to discover! I certainly cannot reproduce from memory the technical details of my papers except for the most recent ones (though I generally can remember the basic gist of them).
I actually write a huge number of notes to myself that I never publish or distribute. I put a lot of work into figuring out other people's work from my own point of view, and if I didn't write it down that effort would be wasted.
I periodically get emails with questions about my older papers, and I generally have to spend a bit of time re-reading them before I can give an intelligent answer. I've also had the following common experience many times. Someone (say, one of my graduate students) asks me a question. I'll get excited and we'll talk for a while without answering it. A few hours later, I remember that I once wrote a paper answering it!
Upvotes: 5
|
2017/09/30
| 394
| 1,713
|
<issue_start>username_0: How to address reading courses in cv for Phd application for pure math? I can only think of listing topics we covered in the course. But that seems to me very pointless since professors know the major topics of most math courses without reading that. However, I think independent readings are important experiences for math students, they definitely deserve a place in my CV.<issue_comment>username_1: If it's a reading *course*, then it should have had some sort of course title for administrative purposes. If it didn't, it should be possible to make up a sensible title which would be as informative as a standard course title, and designate it as "reading course in..." along with the rest of your courses.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: It would be helpful to list the topics you looked at, and their sources. Even "standard" courses, with standard names, vary wildly depending on the choice of textbook or other sources, and depending on the instructor (who may be the author of notes or textbook for the course!)
Similarly, "reading course in X" tells far too little, just as saying "standard course in X" would. Prior to the enforced uniformization of applications to our grad program, as occasional Dir of Grad Studies in Math, I required applicants to not only tell the course name, but also, even more importantly, the (title and) *author(s)* of the text(s)/source(s) for the course. Reading courses treated the same way.
To repeat: the standard catch-phrases/labels of course names absolutely do not describe the content... so, yes, please do give more details. These details are not at all implied by the general, vague, cliched titles.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
|
2017/09/30
| 872
| 3,658
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am reading a review paper which includes hundreds of useful citations for my paper. I would like to import some of the citations into a bibtex file. The only thing I know to do is to search them on google one by one, and then click on "export bibtex".
Is it acceptable (ethical) to ask the author of a paper for the original bibtex (Latex) file?
Or I wonder if there are any program could do the repetitive job: searching each citation on google one by one and export the bibtex from google scholar.
---
Thanks for the Scopus answer. It works for most of the published (not working papers, though) papers!!<issue_comment>username_1: My feeling about this is that if you don't personally know the author, it's weird and tacky and will probably result in being ignored. Even if you do personally know the author, it's still kind of weird and tacky. But there's nothing unethical about it.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: As an alternative solution, if your institution has access to Scopus, you can find the paper there and see the citation list and export it in Bibtex. Web of Science has a similar feature.
To answer your question, however, it is not really unethical, but would likely be seen as a weird request.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: I would consider this a perfectly reasonable, if unusual, request.
That probably has a lot to do with the culture of my field; most papers in particle physics are uploaded to [arXiv](https://arxiv.org) as LaTeX source (though `.bib` files are often not included), which is then made available to download along with the rendered PDF. This facilitates a cultural expectation that source code to the paper should be available to readers, not hidden. So I would consider sharing the BibTeX file associated with a paper to be a reasonable thing to do, a professional courtesy of sorts - similar to what sharing a copy of the paper itself is or used to be.
Other fields may think differently. Still, in most cases I would think it's fine to *ask*. The author can always say no or ignore your request, if they don't want their file to be shared for some reason.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: The context can often make a big difference. If you are an experienced researcher, then this request would be seen as weird and possibly annoying since you could easily find these .bib sources yourself without bothering busy people. However, if you make it clear in your request that you are a high school student without proper [experience and] resources, and also make clear that you don't want them to go to any bother to accommodate your request, then I think that most people would be happy to help, and it wouldn't be awkward.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: There is the Arxiv API that can be used for this purpose.
You can read the [documentation](https://arxiv.org/help/api/index) and programmatically make requests for the papers that you need, asking for the various fields as an output. You can send these requests as you want from the browser or any other programming language. In python for instance you can use [urllib.request](https://docs.python.org/3.8/library/urllib.request.html#module-urllib.request).
Furthermore, someone already did this and it is [freely available on github](https://github.com/nathangrigg/arxiv2bib).
For physicists there is an alternative using the [INSPIRE](https://inspirehep.net/) API that is documented [here](https://github.com/inspirehep/rest-api-doc). It can be used to automatically request for the bibtex entry without the need of composing it by hand by reading the various fields.
Upvotes: 1
|
2017/10/01
| 336
| 1,410
|
<issue_start>username_0: What is the best way to alert Elsevier or Clarivate Analytics -- for instance, if I see a potentially predatory (or just really low quality) journal indexed in Scopus or WoS or if I see recent changes that possibly indicate a lowering of standards by the journal (such as a dramatic increase in the number of articles published)?<issue_comment>username_1: You should not rely on indices and metrics to judge the quality of a journal. Rely on the journal content and on colleagues who have experience with the journal's review practices. There is no reason to alert any index.
If your library is paying for the publication, you might suggest the librarian bring it up with the publisher's sales staff.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: First, Elsevier or Clarivate Analytics already monitor things like dramatic increases in the number of articles published. It's why excessive self-citation can and has lead to journals getting delisted.
However you can still write to them to highlight potential problems. If you want to do this, the best way is to use their "contact us" forms on their website. [Here's Scopus's page on it](https://service.elsevier.com/app/overview/scopus/), and [here's Web of Science's](https://clarivate.com/contact-us/support/?language=en_US). Be prepared for the exchange to go like any other investigation - you may be asked to provide proof.
Upvotes: 3
|
2017/10/01
| 583
| 2,663
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have seen postdoc job adverts which were asking for as many as three recommendation letters, despite being supervised positions and inviting freshly graduated PhD students. Is this practice common and reasonable?
As a more practical question, how should an applicant deal with this situation?
It seems to me that it is not unusual that the only person a student worked with extensively is their advisor. In fact it would even seem like a good thing to have an advisor who does not lead a large group and has time to work closely with all their students. Yet such students would find it rather difficult to obtain three recommendation letters.<issue_comment>username_1: In my experience in Mathematics, three letters is very common.
So who to ask for these three letters? The better your letter writers know you and your work, the more meaningful their letters can be. But this does not mean that you must have worked closely for an extended period of time with them. Perhaps there are others that are familiar with your work, for example because they are on your thesis committee, or they have invited you to give a talk. Depending on the types of positions you are applying for, you can also have a letter that focuses on your teaching skills.
Finally, an advisor that has plenty of time to work with you, does not preclude you from also working with others. In fact, the value of building a network of colleagues cannot be underestimated. This does not necessarily mean collaboration with others, but it is important that you get out there so that your peers become aware of you and your results. These are the people that eventually may have to decide to hire you or not, or could write a letter for you.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes, this is pretty common but also depends a lot on the position and the people responsible. I've got postdoc positions without recommendation letters and I've needed 3 in case of an internship during PhD.
Demanding more than one letter has several advantages. You will get a much better pircture of the applicant, also in respect of his social and networking abilities, which is a very important skill to have (you should definitely build up your own professional network if you are in the final stages of your PhD/start of postdoc).
Even if you only ever worked with one supervisor you should have contacts available who know you good enough to write a letter of recommendation. Maybe cooperation partners, former colleagues who became professors in the meantime, supervisors during internships or even just professors who's classes you attended and who know you well.
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/10/01
| 839
| 3,294
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm 22, and I'm one year into my PhD in History. I immediately started my PhD after finishing my master's, working with the same supervisor. Throughout the years, I've started to become more and more anxious when it came to writing essays and doing research. I hated working on my master's thesis, but I nonetheless grabbed the opportunity to start a PhD, because I convinced myself that it was something that I would be good at, I wanted to overcome my anxiety and challenge myself mentally, and the stipend is very decent. Now I'm one year into my PhD, and I'm constantly anxious and depressed. I feel like I've accomplished nothing, I have huge problems concentrating. My head feels so scrambled right now, that I can barely figure out my research questions and key thesis. Whenever I read articles on my topic, I feel like I can barely manage the information. I feel stupid and totally inadequate. Communicating with my supervisor is horrible, since I go mute from anxiety mid-conversation.
I feel trapped in my PhD. I feel horrible, but I also feel like I can't quit, because I would disappoint so many people and regret it for the rest of my life.
Any advice on coping with these issues, and getting back on track? Any particular advice on how to start delineating a research project? Am I already in a hopeless situation, or can I still 'save' my PhD?
Edit : My university doesn't offer counseling for PhD students, but I have been seeing a shrink for the past year. I don't know if I'm improving or not.<issue_comment>username_1: This is the reason you gave for pursuing a PhD:
>
> I hated working on my master's thesis, but I nonetheless grabbed the opportunity to start a PhD, because I convinced myself that it was something that I would be good at, I wanted to overcome my anxiety and challenge myself mentally, and the stipend is very decent.
>
>
>
You don't say that you were anxious about writing the thesis, you say that you *hated* it, which sounds to me like you simply don't like doing academic research. But that is the whole point of a PhD. Furthermore, the only career a PhD in history really prepares you for is research and teaching, and you don't say anything about your feelings about teaching.
So it sounds like you enrolled because of extraneous expectations from both yourself and others. Getting a PhD is not a merit badge, it's very specific training for a very specific purpose. There are plenty of other ways to show that you are smart. And "losing" one year is no big deal, especially when compared to spending even more time going down what might well not be the right path for you.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Sounds like it's time for a leave of absence. A letter from a medical or mental health provider could be helpful in arranging this.
Lower the stakes for yourself by postponing any long-term decisions. You can withdraw from the current semester and take a break (we don't know for how long yet) *without burning your bridges*.
I'm not going to *push* medications; but I will go so far as to say that you might want to ask your medical provider about possible medications to support the psychotherapy, and then discuss the options, pros and cons, etc., with him or her.
Upvotes: 0
|
2017/10/01
| 1,097
| 4,801
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<issue_start>username_0: I am applying for a fellowship that would allow me to start an independent research group--something between post-doc and faculty levels. Part of this application requires that I explain my choice of host university. My question is whether I should include family reasons alongside professional ones in my justification statement.
The university I'm hoping to work at is strong in my general field, though the academic fit could be a bit better (e.g. more faculty with complementary interests, more labs with relevant equipment/resources I could use). The main reason I'm choosing this university is because of family reasons: my partner has a good job at this university already, and since we have a small child together, I can't reasonably move elsewhere without totally disrupting my entire family.
After hitting the standard points (the strengths of the university and department, relevant faculty interests, professional development opportunities), should I also mention my family situation?
On the one hand, I'm worried that some reviewers might find it inappropriate for me to include personal asides.
On the other hand, I think including this aside is a good place for explaining why I have a bit of a gap in my CV (I took family leave and am looking to return to academics), and why I'm choosing a place that the reviewers may think isn't ideal. My CV mentions that I took family leave, but of course this small line item could easily be missed. I'd normally use my cover letter to explain my situation, but in this case cover letters get stripped before the application reaches the reviewers.
If it's relevant, this is in the UK, in the natural sciences.
Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: I would argue a firm ***No***.
Why? Because when you apply, you are presenting yourself as a candidate for a position in organization.
As an overly simplified model:
If an organization needs to make widgets and don't have enough widget makers. The organization will hire the best widget maker.
In no way does a widget maker's partner/child impact the maker's ability to make widget.
You put forth your best professional reasons why you are the best fit, not personal ones.
For a more personal story, a PI that I've had the pleasure of knowing was married, running a non-profit, and was raising a child while he/she was completing his/her Ph.D. Did at any point during that process slack was given? I would surmise not. He/she has to perform to the same standards as his/her peers to earn the degree.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I've been involved in a few searches where this issue has come up. Sometimes it helps the candidate, sometimes not so much.
When it helps: In trying to decide whether to bring a highly competitive candidate to campus for an interview. No one wants to go to the trouble and expense of an on-campus interview for a candidates who isn't going to accept an offer. Knowing that a candidate has compelling personal reasons for wanting to live in the area makes it much more likely that a seemingly over-qualified candidate will be taken seriously.
When it hurts: Any time it looks like location is the *primary* reason the candidate wants the position. It's great that folks want to live and work and retire in our town; it's not great if they're willing to take a job they don't particularly want in order to accomplish that. It's even worse if they aren't able to speak to the specifics of their "fit" with the institution much beyond "I really want to work here".
In your particular case, I'm not sure that there's any upside of sharing this information. Your reviewers are already going to know that out of all the host universities you could possibly choose in the world, *this* is the one you prefer. What they don't know is *why* this is your first choice. If they learn that it is due to your spouse's location, they may wonder what would happen if your partner gets a different job, or your relationship hits a snag. Those who sympathize with the host institution may also feel that it deserves someone who loves it for itself, so to speak. It will be better for you if they believe simply that it is because you feel that this is the place where you can do your most brilliant work—which is probably true, as it's hard to be brilliant when your home life has been turned upside down—for a variety of reasons including your "standard points". At most you might want to say that you are familiar with the institution, and feel comfortable there.
As far as signalling why you have an employment gap—are you submitting letters of recommendation? If so, perhaps one of your references could speak to this issue. That was how I handled my own parenting-related employment gap when I returned to the workforce.
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/10/01
| 384
| 1,652
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<issue_start>username_0: My colleague has been presenting our work overseas. I'm primary investigator and first author on the work/papers. Should I or can I be including these presentations on my CV?
My context is that I'm a doctoral student in healthcare discipline and using the CV for grant applications.
Thank you!<issue_comment>username_1: Credit for a presentation doesn't go only to the person who gives a talk or presents a poster. Everyone involved in the work should be acknowledged.
The standard practice I've used is credit everybody involved in the research on the poster. So if I give a poster presentation, I include any students, postdocs, or colleagues who collaborated on the research. I also indicate who the presenter was if it wasn't me.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: When research that will be published with multiple names on it is presented by someone, I think the most appropriate thing to do is list all of the names of the people who did the research and mark whoever the person/people who presented it with "(presenter)." For example:
>
> Alpha, Beta (presenter), and Gamma. *On the Naming Family "-yan"*, Oral Presentation at the North American Conference for Naming Conventions.
>
>
>
I would do this both on listings where you presented and on listings where you didn't. The motivation here is that the *act of giving the presentation* is rarely what you're getting credit for. What you're getting credit for is the research and potentially the fact that you were invited to present the research at the conference. This is true of you even if you weren't the person who went.
Upvotes: 1
|
2017/10/01
| 744
| 3,200
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a moderator for an online forum for a particular module at a distance-learning University.
Part of the job is to answer questions regarding course materials, the other main part is to be on the watch for inappropriate content (rudeness, giving answers away, etc)
In the event of students being rude to each other (which is rare), I wonder what the best approach is. For example:
>
> I think your given use of fleebles to induce warbling is not a good
> idea for [reasons]. You must be really up-yourself to think that.
>
>
>
In this situation, am I better snipping the last part out (and leaving in the bit relevant to the discussion), removing the whole post, or even leaving the post there and only acting if the victim is offended. (Maybe there are other options out there?) I generally lean towards snipping, but I wonder if deleting the whole post is "cleaner" (I don't like deciding what can stay and what has to leave)
If the post was racist/homophobic/sexist/etc. then I would delete the whole post and report the student, I'm looking at cases which are rude and deserve a reminder to "be nice".<issue_comment>username_1: Snip the last part out, send a private message to the poster reminding them of the behavioral standards expected in the course forum.
I don't see any reason to remove the whole post, if there are parts that are appropriate. Removing the whole post makes it seem like your motivation is to punish the poster, rather than to keep the forum professional and constructive.
I would recommend against leaving rude comments there until/unless someone takes offense. This is a forum that is hosted and moderated by *you*, not your students. It is your responsibility as an educator to create a constructive learning environment (to the extent that you can). It's not your students' responsibility - they have to be responsible for their own actions, but they shouldn't have to be responsible for making you respond to other students' actions.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You can also consider imposing a stricter rule where you remove all comments that are not directly related to the subject matter. You can also let the first comment that goes off topic stand and then intervene in such a thread by saying "the previous comment strayed off topic, let's get back to discussing the topic". That comment that strayed off topic can then serve as an example of a conversation that will be stopped on the forum.
An email list that I'm a member of where researchers discuss a specialized topic is moderated in this way. Sometimes someone gets carried away and starts to discuss politics that's tangentially related to the topic matter. The moderator of the list will then call on the participants to stop discussing this, but this typically happens after a few such posts.
By keeping a short leash on anything that deviates from the topic, you make it difficult for rude comments to creep in. The rule is easy to apply uniformly, if you only intervene when there is a rude comment, then you may be accused of unfair moderation as there may have been similar comments in the past that you've let stand.
Upvotes: 2
|
2017/10/01
| 693
| 2,949
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently tailoring my CV for Ph.D. applications (STEM). I am applying to various schools in USA and Europe, and most of them are competitive.
Given that I will have a Master's as well as >5 years of research experience in my field, I would like to list most of what I have done/been awarded -- all of which is academically relevant, including roughly a dozen publications -- and am trying to fit everything into my CV/application profile.
Some schools specifically recommend that the CV be around 2 pages long, others make no mention. Some schools have specific fields for listing awards/publications/etc, others don't. However, the shortest I've managed is 4-5 a pages long without crowding the pages with information. Should I keep trying to make it 2 pages long? How long is too long?<issue_comment>username_1: You should list all relevant experience in your C.V. and application. Two pages is a rough guideline for the typical master's or Ph.D. candidate coming directly out of a university with limited research experience. This does not describe your situation. So if you *need* more than two pages, it's certainly appropriate to go over that limit. Where I would try to save some space is in the presentations and posters section—perhaps you could list invited talks instead of all your talks.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Imagine a professor on an admissions committee, with many times as many applications to review as open places in the PhD program. Given a four or five page CV, there is a risk they will skim rather than carefully considering every line. They may not notice the most important items, because they are buried in less important material.
It may be a better strategy to edit down to the things that are most likely to make them select you. You should list all your publications - that may account for half a page. Beyond that, select the most impressive awards, not necessarily everything. Select the most important and relevant achievements.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: A CV is the highlights of what your done from which the other side extrapolates your average performance, so the more good quality work you can put in the CV the better. I would thus recommend no more than 2 pages, personally preferring one page. No one reads all the details anyway.
Check every line in the CV for the question, how does this show I'm uniquely qualified for the position?
For a PhD I'd be looking at persistence in the face of adversity, ability to power through difficult problems, ability to problem solve and innovate.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: It's hard to tell you because it also depend of the culture.
I know that in France, if you are a junior, we like a one page CV. If you have 10 years of experience, you can increase to two or three..
One or two could be the best. It's not about how long it is, it's about how relevant your experience is.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/10/01
| 636
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<issue_start>username_0: There are lots of questions about how undergrads should address professors, but this is about the opposite. Context is North American research university.
My instinct and personal preference is to ask undergraduates to address me as Professor Lastname or Dr. Lastname until I let them know otherwise. And I have no problem with explicitly saying this in my syllabus for a class.
But then sometimes I think "actually why aren't I addressing students as Mr./Ms./Mx/(or some honorofic) Lastname".
Should I do so? Do you do so?<issue_comment>username_1: It is disrespectful to demand more respect from your (adult!) students than you give them. So you should either both go my first name or both by last name. At least this is true in by culture (Central Europe) - I would think it is the same in Northern America.
So, unless it is a cultural thing everyone does in your area to call younger people by their first name, by respectful and call them as you want to be called.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: In North American universities, I've seen both approaches used, so there's no "definitive" answer to this question. Just do what makes you most comfortable.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: How does the student sign off their own email? Although students differ in what they write, often by cultural background, this is their opportunity to hint at what they'd like to be called, and I think it's fair game, and even good manners, to use this. For instance, many Chinese students adopt an English name for convenience, and transgender students may have chosen an alternative name from the one they enrolled with.
So if they use their first name only, or indicate a preferred name clearly by some other means, then it's reasonable to use that in response.
If a more complex name or title is used in the sign-off then I tend to be more formal, often using the full name in the order given to avoid assumption of given name vs family name (since order various by culture, and the student may have reversed it to what they think is expected, etc).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: I give students the option to call me by my first name or as "Mr. Lastname". In turn, I address students by their first name. Context: I'm a lecturer in engineering at a public school in North America.
One consideration that has not been brought up here: it is hard for me to reconcile gender fluidity with English honorifics. That is, while I might presume a student is a mister, that student might see themselves as a miss (or some convex combination of the two). In light of this, I have sharply decreased how often I use Mr/Ms.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/10/01
| 426
| 1,776
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<issue_start>username_0: I will start soon an Assistant professor position in USA in Engineering. During the first 2 years the summer is paid. From the third I hope to get funded with grants. Is it badly seen if I spend the summer to work at distance in my home country?
EDIT: I will have 2 PhD students in the start-up, mine will be a computing lab so 99% percent of things and supervising can be done remotely.<issue_comment>username_1: It is not unusual for faculty to spend several weeks or even months elsewhere during the summer. Here in the U.S.A, I know several professors from Europe who travel to their home countries to meet with collaborators back home. So long as you are genuinely working, this should be fine. How you choose to spend your research time is generally at your own discretion, so an arrangement like the one you propose should not be a problem.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: A lot of this will depend on your department's culture regarding 9-month appointments. There are at least two different aspects of this I can think of:
* How are 9-month appointments actually viewed? In some places I've been, 9-month positions, especially if the pay is spread over 12 months, are functionally just "75% Hard Money" positions, and there's a pretty clear expectation that you're working in the summer, etc. rather than "an unfunded summer is a summer off". If the summer ends up having a lot of committee meetings, etc. that could be a problem.
* How are long absences viewed? There are some departments, especially those with lots of field work, being gone all summer would be quite typical. There are others where it would be extremely conspicuous, and probably be the source of some concerns about collegiality come evaluation time.
Upvotes: 4
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2017/10/01
| 388
| 1,530
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<issue_start>username_0: I have received my admission letter for a graduate program from a Canadian university. However, the letter contains no information about funding. I have already talked to my professor about the availability of funding. I contacted him again more than one month ago and he said that he will send me a letter of financial support. So far he has not sent me said letter. What should I write to ask him again for this letter? Could you please tell me how I can contact him or provide a template email? I am an international student and I need to apply for the visa.
Best,
Nikki<issue_comment>username_1: I would write something along the lines of:
>
> Hello Professor,
>
>
> I am writing to follow up on the letter of financial support we had
> discussed a while back. I was wondering if you had a chance to write
> it, or if you needed more documentation from me. Please let me know if
> I need to do anything on my end.
>
>
> Best, Nikki
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I sent an email like this. again he said I will send you the financial support letter. But he did not send me anything. Could you send me a template of an email which shows my concern about visa process? any other suggestion?
Hello Professor,
I am writing to follow up on the letter of financial support we had discussed a while back. I was wondering if you had a chance to write it, or if you needed more documentation from me. Please let me know if I need to do anything on my end.
Best, Nikki
Upvotes: 0
|
2017/10/02
| 374
| 1,594
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently seeking reference letters from professors for my masters application. It struck me that the professors that I'm close with, who know me on a more personal level (through projects, work, etc.) are not as academically renowned as some other professors *who may only know me as one of the many students who got an A in their course.*
I would like to know how their reference letters fare when used to apply for masters in prestigious universities. Is a more personal reference letter better, or a letter written by a more well known professor?<issue_comment>username_1: A letter should highlight your skills, which usually only come out when working closely with somebody. Getting a letter from a renowned professor saying that you were sitting in his lecture is no more useful than listing this course on your CV. Hence, go for the "personal" (I guess it is work-oriented, rather than saying "Woofas is a nice chap who always entertains at our pub quiz night") letter, and highlight the course with the awesome professor elsewhere.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: If the renowned scholar can give a good letter, highlighting your skills and achievements, you should opt for this option. Of course, if the renowned scholar writes a lukewarm letter, it is better to have the enthusiastic letter from a lesser known scholar.
Also, in contrast to common belief, a letter of recommendation does *not* necessarily have to come from someone who knows you personally. Letters come to highlight your professional achievements, not your persona.
Upvotes: 2
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2017/10/02
| 4,836
| 20,841
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<issue_start>username_0: I just had a lecture from someone who has been a senior scientist (and has completed a PhD, post-doc) at a hospital for already 15 years. So I'm assuming this person is experienced in giving talks in English. However, almost one out of three words was completely unintelligible because of a very strong Spanish accent where every word gets morphed into a Spanish-English hybrid word.
I spoke to two people after the lecture and they both said they couldn't follow along because of the strong accent. The questions after the talk were also not about the lecture but about the speaker's field. My impression is that the talk was a waste of time for the two dozen people present.
Now I wonder if the speaker is aware of this problem, my guess is no and as such I feel the need to bring this to the speaker's attention. If it was me I'd very much like to know that I have a problem communicating because I feel like a lack of communication skills can be a very serious barrier to being a good scientist but I don't know if she feels the same way.
My plan is to use an anonymous email address to send this feedback, sandwiched between two compliments to avoid coming off as a negative person.<issue_comment>username_1: I agree with the commenters that as a listener to the presentation you should probably avoid commenting on the lecturer's clarity (eg because of poor English) unless you are in very friendly and constructive terms with her.
However, I think you could still politely tell her that the presentation was interesting but you couldn't follow perfectly given the poor sound/background noise, and so you would like to receive a copy of the slideset. Then you could suggest to make the slides more self-explanatory.
Your question is more interesting however from the viewpoint of moderators or scientific committee member. In such a case, they have the explicit responsibility to the audience that lectures are clear and understandable. Otherwise, what would be the point of inviting people to lecture at all? Most importantly, a genuinely constructive feedback will be important for the lecturer himself, to avoid future embarassments.
A simple suggestion for anyone with language difficulties is to create/modify a slideset by adding as many self-explanatory phrases as possible. This creates redundancies for a competent lecturer, but saves a poor one. Eventually, such a slideset will only leave the room for poor pronunciation, but all key messages will be firmly delivered.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Some people either make no effort, or have strong difficulties polishing their strong accent. It might depend on the original language. For the English/American native, some people with Roman background language (as I do) fall in this category.
The state of energy of the person can play a role too: when one is sick, stressed or tired, efforts can be difficult. When I give a lecture in English, I notice that after one hour my natural accent begins to show up.
I agree that university authorities are more responsible for the add value of a lecture. Yet, if you tell them, the impact on how they will translate the issue to the lecturer might be far different, from not taking care to harsher remarks.
As your motivation stands between these two extreme options, I would avoid a written comment, perhaps even more with an anonymous email. But that might be a cultural thing; I'd prefer a direct talk, face to face if possible, in the line of your planned email, for instance to check whether the problem is the same in individual talk: thank the person, ask for the slides, pointing that due to accent-related misunderstandings, you might have lost key aspects of the talk.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: This *might* be productive in a direct conversation, if you are able to establish rapport, and if you can steer the conversation in a productive direction. You could start by asking her to clarify some key point you were interested in. Stop her as soon as there's something you don't understand, and if necessary ask her to spell the word you don't understand. The goal at this point is to succeed in communicating with each other.
If you are able to accomplish that, then you could say
>
> Thanks for clarifying that point. That is really interesting for me. I didn't understand what you said on that point during the lecture -- to tell you the truth, I was only able to get the meaning of some of what you said, and that made it hard for me to follow the arc of the presentation. I'm not very good at understanding nonstandard unfamiliar accents. So I have to rely heavily on the visual with a lot of speakers. Your slides about (topic B) helped me a lot, because they had a lot of detail.
>
>
>
That is a conclusion that helps the speaker move forward in a positive direction.
---
Additional notes.
Often one needs to crank up the belief in oneself in order to get through the PhD and other hurdles in academia. This sometimes leads one to a slightly Aspergeresque attitude of "I can find the words I need to express myself; mission accomplished; I'm not interested in how well other people are understanding me." Step one is to establish rapport.
Sometimes this rapport can result in the stronger English speaker having some influence over the other. Sometimes it results in the stronger English speaker getting tuned into the other's speech patterns better, and perhaps also developing empathy for what has led the other to his or her current state of mediocre English. This happened to me with respect to my advisor. For the most part I'm one of those people who finds horrible English, or horrible French, or horrible Spanish, excruciating, like chalk going the wrong way on a blackboard; and it continues to torment me later like a stuck song (ear worm). Once my empathy with my advisor was established, certain patterns, such as his tendency to omit words, got a lot less on my nerves.
---
Today I had a brainwave. If the speaker's English is that bad, the hosting department should provide an interpreter.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: It's unlikely that a non-native English speaker who often interacts with native speakers is unaware that their English is difficult to understand. Do you speak another language? How would you feel if someone sent you an anonymous email informing you that you were completely incomprehensible? Especially if you already knew that people often had trouble understanding you?
On the other hand, you are correct about communication skills. Nonetheless, it's possible for someone to communicate well during a lecture or presentation despite having a difficult accent or weak skills in the target language. You might try offering feedback about how they could improve their presentation *given* their current language skills, but only if you know that such feedback would be constructive and welcome.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I think that your plan is based on number of possibly wrong premises. And even if they were mostly right, I doubt such a plan could have any reasonable success. Let's see my reasons.
>
> I just had a lecture from someone who has been a senior scientist (and has completed a PhD, post-doc) at a hospital for already 15 years.So I'm assuming this person is experienced in giving talks in English.
>
>
>
I've met along the years many senior researchers, even native English speakers, who where definitely not experienced in giving talks, *at all*. If academic researchers are frequently experienced speakers because, at least, they have teaching duties, some researchers from research institutes are really "lab rats" who rarely deliver talks. To give you an example, a few years ago I was attending a poster session in a conference and I told one of the presenters (a native English speaker) that I was surprised that his work had been accepted as poster presentation and not as an oral one. He told me that it was actually accepted as oral presentation, but he asked for a poster one because he doesn't like to deliver talks.
>
> My impression is that the talk was a waste of time for the two dozen people present.
>
>
>
Talks can be a waste of time for other reasons than terrible language: slides with unreadable results, talk targeted to the wrong audience etc. I certainly attended many talks that could be considered a waste of time for almost anyone in the rooms, and a large fraction of these talks were delivered by allegedly experienced speakers.
>
> Now I wonder if the speaker is aware of this problem, my guess is no
>
>
>
In my experience among non-native speakers of English, most of the people is well aware of their level of English and of their pronunciation: your guess is likely wrong.
>
> I feel the need to bring this to the speaker's attention.
>
>
>
Would you feel the same need if the talk were a waste of time for any other reason? And note that preparing readable slides is usually much easier than fixing pronunciation. And are you planning to do such an action for all the useless talks you will attend in your life?
>
> I feel the need to bring this to the speaker's attention.
>
>
>
As I said, the speaker is probably well aware of this issue, *but can you offer any solution that the speaker is not already aware of?*
Improving pronunciation is not something that can be done easily, especially if one is not keen on languages. The speaker might have had good reasons for not having been able to improve pronunciation more than that. Time and money can be two of them. I don't know how many languages you speak -- you speak more than one, right? I speak Italian, my native language, English and French. My level of English is decent, but my level of French is basic. I cannot make great conversations in French, just short sentences, and sometimes I've been misunderstood (e.g., I once asked for a book called *Rue des Maléfices* and the clerk searched for *Roue des Maléfices*). I'd love to improve my French pronunciation because I spend most of my vacations there but, guess what, I really cannot find the time to do this. Or I'd like to learn German, because I have many German colleagues and I also found some nice physics book in German that I'd like to read without Google translator. Again, I cannot find enough time to learn German even at a basic level.
To conclude, *don't*.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_6: **Don't send the email**. Based on my experience, I predict that the anonymous email you are proposing to send almost certainly won't tell the speaker any information she does not already know, only something that she is either in denial about or that she is (for whatever mysterious reasons of human psychology) helpless or unwilling to do anything about. On the other hand, especially due to its anonymous nature, the email is quite likely to come across as hurtful and to cause her negative feelings such as guilt, self-loathing, low self-esteem, depression, etc., that would make her situation worse without leading to any progress towards resolving her accent/language problem.
There is a time and a place to offer people negative feedback that might help them improve, e.g., when such feedback is directly solicited from you or when you are a person whose job it is to offer such feedback. That time and place is not your current situation. So don't.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_7: Being part of an international research community means, and has always meant, a) learning the lingua franca (so to speak) of the field - some of us are lucky enough to skip this step because we were born into it - and b) learning to understand the wide range of accents that the language will necessarily be spoken in, again much simpler for us native speakers.
If because of auditory disability or "tin ear" you can't understand non-native speakers, then your ability to interact in the international community will be greatly limited. You can try only talking to locals or using only written communication, but you'd be better off trying to improve your skills through practice.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: If your advice is not successfully actionable in the short-term, it may not be considered that constructive by the recipient.
**So no, do not send her that feedback.**
That being said, ask the organizers of the event (or the faculty in charge) to provide transcripts of the talk in advance the next time around, especially if there is any doubt about the ability of their speakers to speak English clearly.
Do not ask for the slides. The slides are designed to be incomplete (and for good reasons). What you must ask for is the transcript. And by transcript, I do not mean that the speaker should read her own transcript while giving her presentation. Reading a script, while making it sound natural, is extremely difficult.
Ideally, the speaker's own notes (the one she has on the podium) should only of consist of a few keywords and key topics that the speaker doesn't want to forget to mention during her lecture. It should not contain full sentences, let alone paragraphs. So in that sense, the lecture shouldn't match the transcript perfectly. But even when it doesn't match the lecture perfectly, a transcript for a speaker, members of the audience do not understand, can still be very useful.
Providing a transcript in advance may not be what you're used to in your academic field, but it is possible and it's actually a pretty standard practice if someone does a presentation in front of journalists (even when the speaker is a native English speaker). For journalists, supplying a transcript in advance helps catch mistakes before they get reprinted, whether the speaker makes the mistake when speaking or whether the journalist makes the mistake when quoting the spoken words of the speaker.
From the point of view of the organizers, that will require pre-screening potential speakers, by previewing previous talks, or if that's not possible, by talking to the potential speakers directly. This is also a standard practice in some Academic circles, whether the screening process is made obvious or not.
Furthermore, as a non-native English speaker myself with a pretty strong French accent, I'm suggesting that whoever does that pre-screening is a non-native English colleague with an obvious accent himself/herself.
And instead of simply rejecting a talk because the speaker has too strong of an accent, a good pre-screener should still encourage the speaker to still speak at the event, but to supply a transcript in advance at the very least (in addition to any tentative improvement to his accent or delivery), and if that transcript is not possible by a specific deadline, to reject that talk for that event.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: Contrary to the majority of opinions here, as a non-native speaker, I would say that an anonymous email would be helpful. It won't give you any brownie points, and may hurt the speaker's feeling, but it will be helpful to the person regardless. **In general, we already give one another too few honest feedbacks out of politeness** -- anything in the other direction would be a valuable change.
The most popular answer here asks: "Would you give the feedback if it were about any issue other than English?" I concede that it's not the norm to do so, but it doesn't mean that such a feedback wouldn't be helpful. Indeed, my advisor gives me feedback on the structure of my talk, its graphs, and its typos -- why not my English as well? (In fact, he does comment on when I need to slow down or fix a grammatical mistake).
The speaker may be aware that he has an issue with language, but he may not realize *the extent* of the problem. There's a chance that the feedback may help, and it sure can't hurt, so why not?
Granted, since you do not play the advisor role to the speaker, I would absolutely advise against a direct conversation. Most likely, it'll make the speaker feel resentful towards you, no matter how helpful your advice is. (Such is regrettably human nature). But an anonymous email would work perfectly well.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: I agree with you that the speaker should be told. Contrary to other aspects of a talk (slides clarity, order, etc..) which are somewhat optional and left to the speaker's interest in making a good talk, intelligibility of the speech is a minimum requirement. Not taking care of this is probably hurting them badly.
Last time I attended in a very similar situation one of the more senior speakers approached the unintelligible speaker and flat out told them : "Do you know it's very hard to understand you when you speak"?. I was there and made a little joke to lighten up the comment and we walked away but the speaker most likely got the message.
So, there's one way. If you do not have the seniority required to give unrequested advices in person tho, your suggestion seems fine to me. Send an anonymous email explaining that you had a very hard time understanding the talk. Just make sure you are passing out the right message, that you are trying to make them aware of what you felt was a big issue making communication difficult and not shaming them for it.
As to what people have said in other answers :
1) the speaker might be aware of the issue, but not of its severity. This might give them the push they need to act on it.
2) there's plenty of free and little time consuming ways of improving pronunciation (movies, pre practicing talks, YouTube videos, slowing down when speaking )
3) I don't think you are 'shaming' the , no one asks for British English in academia and accents are usually never questioned..as long as they can reasonably be understood
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: **Yes, you might want to send the email**. I think it will have good and productive effect overall, and help the speaker further in her career a lot. Such criticism, though very unpleasant and even hurtful to hear at first, opens the opportunity to self-improvement.
Your act thus shows that you do care for the speaker. Much more than a person who simply wants to minimize his or her in-comfort, shy away from confrontation and leave the speaker alone and deserted without knowing that secretly the community ignores and disdain her.
As for the fact that the email is anonymous, something that have alerted many commenters here, I disagree with the overall opinion. Academia is full of anonymous feedback, most of which has the potential to be much more hurtful and cardinal than a somewhat amusing email about one's accent. I'm sure the speaker got many harsh and brutal rejections through anonymous peer review, throughout her career, and she's not going to break down because some guy decided to write an anonymous email, peculiar as it sounds. Indeed, academia itself has reserved the right for people "not to stand behind their own opinions" and ideas, so that they feel protected to speak freely, through endless forms of anonymous feedback (reviews and student's feedback, to name a few).
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_12: **No,** unless you are explicitly asked. You could simply look arrogant, the speaker could hate you, and the speaker's supporters could also feel resentful. Your reputation could suffer, or at least I don't see how it would grow. Moreover, criticizing the person is *not your job*, and anonymous feedback takes your time.
If you think you lost time while listening because of the accent, you might bring this to the attention to the host of the person or to the session chair. It's the job of the session chair, the host, the mentor, or the supervisor to provide criticism and feedback to the speaker. If you really wish to, talk to these folks personally and utmost politely; don't leave any written trail.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_13: People often resent unsolicited feedback because the person giving it doesn't recognize that truly empathetic feedback requires effort on the part of the person giving it. Constructive feedback must give a path forward for the person to correct the problem.
I would try this strategy: Purchase [Mastering the American Accent](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1438008104) for this person, and make a nice inscription:
>
> I truly enjoyed your recent presentation, and I felt disheartened that I was unable to understand much of it. Your research is relevant to mine, and fundamentally important, so I was hoping we could find a way to improve communication. I am available any time to help you with American pronunciation and accent-if you so desire.
>
>
>
Sign it with your real name.
If in fact you do not care about learning from this person, then leave the issue alone.
Upvotes: 1
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2017/10/02
| 6,331
| 25,252
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm very conflicted regarding applying to (American) PhD programs vs. not doing so and finding a job in industry to have more money.
The thought of doing a PhD makes me feel financially irresponsible; yet, I have concrete research interests and would be doing a PhD for the right reasons. I've also been told that my application would be strong for some good schools, so I feel I'd waste a valuable opportunity.
How do you decide to do a PhD, knowing that it's the "poor" route to take for the next 4 to 6 years of your life? It feels like a reckless move, but at the same time, a dream worth pursuing, and that nothing in industry could possibly come close to digging deeper into my research projects that I've started on.<issue_comment>username_1: In many STEM disciplines it is financially irresponsible. To not understand that would be deceiving yourself. Don't do a Ph.D for money. Have other reasons to make it worthwhile.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: [This article](https://www.wes.org/advisor-blog/salary-difference-masters-phd/) shows that a PhD in Engineering makes only ~7% more than a Master's in Engineering in total lifetime earnings.
If your PhD is related Machine Learning/Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision, etc. (unfortunately mine is not), it is worth a lot. A PhD student from CMU once told me that data scientists graduating from his group earn $200K to $300K in their first jobs (including RSU, sign-in bonus etc).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: I would argue that there's more to making the decision between master's and Ph.D. programs than concerns about fiscal responsibility. Fiscal responsibility is wonderful—and a skill you'll need to master as a graduate student and beyond. Equally important, though, is determining if you want to be in a research role, or if you are satisfied with doing a job in industry for a number of years (or possibly the rest of your career).
If what you really want to do is research, then you're likely going to be unhappy after a while in industry, even if you're making good money.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I don’t think that getting a Ph.D., especially in a “STEM” field, is irresponsible. You get a stipend, you leave without added debt, and you can find decent employment after.
But it is the case that if you’d want to maximize earnings, getting a Ph.D. is not generally a good strategy. The reason people get a Ph.D. is usually because they want to have a research career, not because they want to make as much money as possible. And that’s what you tell yourself if you need to justify getting a Ph.D.
It wasn’t hard for me to justify to myself — I don’t generally make decisions only around what will make me the most money, and I didn’t in the case of going to grad school.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_5: You should try and actually compute the costs, including the non-monetary ones. The non-monetary benefits include: the ability to make your own schedule much of the time, getting to the level where you can do independent research, time to learn things that may not be of immediate benefit to your employer, five years of waking up when you want (most days), etc.
I found those benefits invaluable. The ability to do independent research for example will stay with you for the rest of your life. I'd argue even that you can't possibly know the benefits of this skill without actually having experienced it. Computing raw PhD vs BSc/Msc salaries will not give you the truth.
A PhD degree is five years of focusing your entire energy on yourself. Do it!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: >
> How to silence the voice...
>
>
>
PhD is a an investment with a very long term maturity. I.e. you may not see the benefits of you having got a PhD until you are 40-50. But there are huge financial benefits to it that may make it financially responsible to get a PhD early on in your life. Here are some:
1. With a PhD you will be employable as long as you want to. You will always be able to find a decent paying teaching job even if you are over retirement age, whether at a local community college or somewhere overseas. Without a PhD, your risk of finding yourself unemployed in your later years is much higher.
2. A PhD gives you a lot of transferable skills. You will be able to switch jobs easier and switch careers, should your main specialization become obsolete decades into the future.
3. PhD does increase your salary. While you lose a bunch of big paychecks early in your career, your PhD/skills do not devalue like money. 30 years into the future $500,000 may be equal to $50,000 of today's dollars. Your research skills will be every bit as valuable.
4. You will become generally smarter. You will read a lot more books, papers, analyze more data, and learn to solve harder problems. Life is long. An uptick in intelligence can save you a fortune over a ~50 year period.
5. This is my favorite. It will change your values. You will become a different person with a different set of needs. World's problems will seem more personal to you, while your own problems will seem common and trivial in the grand scheme of things. It seems too abstract and questionable, but financial implications are real. You will buy less expensive and luxury things, as they will give you less joy, and entertain yourself more intellectually, which costs less. E.g. choose to take some time to read a few books on your to-read list, rather than going shopping for a new expensive phone or car.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_7: When you go to the industry, how do you silence the voice that tells you you could be spending your time advancing the knowledge of humanity, rather than devising new ways to make people look at an internet ad, or helping big stock exchange companies aimlessly move money from account A to account B, without any net gain for the world?
Upvotes: 8 <issue_comment>username_8: You also took the University. Being a university student pays less than starting a job immediately (red line in the chart below), right?
But in the long term University graduates (blue line in the chart) earn more. Same goes for PhD students (green line)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_9: I decided to do a PhD by looking inside myself and asking "*What is the ultimate purpose of your life in the short time that you have on this planet?*". This is obviously specific to me and may not help you. I think doing a PhD is a subjective decision that you need to decide about it based on your personal desires, goals and preferences. As a result, I believe in this context, "poor" or "reckless" are also subjective and can depend on your personal perspective because, for me and many people that I know personally, doing a PhD is hard for many reasons but is not considered poor or reckless as we enjoy working toward the goal that we have.
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To be honest, I believe that this voice you mentioned is always with me whenever I need to make an important decision. After receiving my M.Sc. degree, I went to industry and took a job that paid well and I enjoyed doing but, the voice told me incessantly that I was just fulfilling someone else's dream. After starting to pursue a degree, the voice came back saying "You are giving up a comfortable life for 4 years of hard work to gain what?" (curse words removed! :)). Therefore, the voice that you are referring to will probably never stop. This is not a bad thing by itself as I believe it can be utilized to make a more informed decision. I understand you that making this decision is hard, but remember that after making a decision, it is important to adhere to it and know that sometimes it is not a bad idea to ignore the voice for a while.
**Side note**: Jazz music and a pair of good headphones help me a lot silencing the voice!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_10: >
> ...a dream worth pursuing, and that nothing in industry could possibly come close to digging deeper into my research projects that I've started on.
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You already answered your own question.
One thing to add is what type of work you want to do now and in the future. Having a PhD would not guarantee you development/research projects while working in the industry, but it would help you a lot. And if you are interested in working development/research projects (either industry or academia), maybe that is more life fulfilling than than maximising your salary in a job that you dont like.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Your main concern is being "financially irresponsible" but that is meaningless without specifying some objective that would not be satisfied by a PhD salary.
You make it sound like life's ultimate purpose is to earn as much money as possible. Wouldn't financial responsibility then mandate that you progress via prostitution and organized crime to a career in politics?
So without spelling out *which* financial responsibilities would not be met by entering a PhD program, you cannot expect useful answers.
A grandfather of mine was an industrial sewing machine mechanic working in construction. He received a promotion to some department head position and handed it back several weeks later, including the considerable pay raise, because the change did not match his interests and leanings and enjoyable skill set. He had a family and house to support. Was that financially irresponsible? Not in my book. It was financially inconvenient, definitely.
But leading a life that you can feel good about is a responsibility that sometimes clashes with earning as much money as possible, and while having more money rather than less when everything else is equal may be good, everything else is not always equal.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: I had very similar thoughts as I was starting a mathematics PhD 5+ years ago, so I'll tell you a little about my experience.
1) During graduate school I was fortunate to earn a decent stipend. With this and fairly modest living, I was lucky enough to finish without debt. I realize this isn't possible for everyone, but it is definitely possible for some. (It also helped that my institution was in a midwest city--rent was cheap.)
2) I now work at a small liberal arts college doing exactly what I want to do. The amount of freedom I have is tremendous, and I can't imagine a job that would be a better fit for me.
3) It was definitely challenging to watch my friends "grow up" faster than me. While I was still in school and eating pasta/rice/ramen for most meals, they were buying houses and new cars. But now I make comparable money to them, I have a job I like more, I get to set my own schedule, and I have the summers "off." Definitely worth it, in my opinion.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_12: Irresponsible is as harsh word. If you pay your own way you are responsible.
Financially responsible is how you manage your money. There are athletes that made millions and died broke.
Start saving 4-6 years late means you need to save aggressively but just manage it.
I would rather brown bag to a job I like rather than a $20 lunch for a job I took for the money.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_13: I am not going to use statistics but I am going to give you feedback from my personal experience: it made a lot of financial sense to me. I am earning way more than I would, not only, I can very easily get a new job (much easier than if I did not have a PH.D.) which also means many more choices, and you get a lot more respect on your job from day one. I think, if you have the qualities to do it, it would be (financially) irresponsible not to do it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_14: If at the end of your life, when you are laying in bed, waiting for death, someone asks you if you had a happy life, then which answer would satisfy you more: that you had a lot of money and could buy whatever you wanted to, or that your research has been a valuable contribution to mankind?
The answer to that question is the answer to your question here. If you choose the other, you will regret it for the rest of your life.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_15: It depends on how financially disciplined you are. If you tend to inflate your lifestyle to match your income, then you will be equally financially irresponsible no matter what path you take. However, if you are good at saving/investing then the financial consequences could be huge. At one extreme, if you are investing 66% of your income, you should be able to retire after 10 years. In this case, delaying retirement by 6 years seems like a large price to pay. You could always do a PhD after you retire if you still find the drive to do so. I wish I had understood this before doing my PhD.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_16: First, I suggest that you don't try to silence voices. Yours is a valid concern, even if there are ways to address this concern. In addition to other fine answers, I suggest you take time to discuss this with friends, preferably older ones who can share experiences of having taken each of the two "roads".
Another way to deal with this situation is try to be a little more light-hearted about it. In that context I very much recommend you read:
[Life's big decision: A PhD or the lottery?](http://ronaldazuma.com/phd.vs.lotto.html)
======================================================================================
by <NAME> (who's [a](http://ronaldazuma.com/) PhD himself).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: In America the financial situation is even worse in comparison to Europe. The problem: You would have to pay insurances mostly yourself and only get a 30% less salary in comparison to e.g. Germany.
Nevertheless, I can tell you out of my experience that 90% of the PhDs are so frustrated at the end of their limited contracts that they just swap over to industry. Research is not really what most people hope for. In most cases you anyway have to work on projects given by a cooperation partner/boss. Then you hope to get a Nature paper with what you obtained from the project lottery or start working on a small side project (and lose time because you have to follow the main project still).
If you are lucky enough to place a potential Nature paper, maybe your boss asks you to hold some results back for political reasons (someone else working longer in that lab shall publish his shit results maybe earlier and the impact of his paper shall not suffer because of an overlap, or there are contradictions because they faked data), or that someone else shall become the first author because he is higher, and everything was just a waste of time.
On the other hand it can be an amazing experience, because some Labs just work. Unfortunately, you sooner or later have to take another PostDoc and you may enter a Lab which is not like your first one. Also keep in mind, that you periodically change your environment and you are usually all alone in 3 year intervals. I know some scientists which lost also their relationships or divorced.
Welcome to bullshit science!
Addition: Don't start a PhD somewhere where you have to work 4-6 years. Try to find an opportunity for max 3 years.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_17: The question cannot be answered because it is based on a **false premise**: that is, that there *is* a recurring "voice that tells you you're being financially irresponsible by spending 4 to 6 years doing a PhD".
In my decades in academia (STEM) I've hardly ever seen or heard any serious scientist having this supposed "voice". On the contrary, most scientists with a job I've met are happy with their work, and deem industry as something that is not suitable for their purposes and aspirations.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_18: Where is the voice that tells you that a PhD is financially irresponsible coming from?
If this is the voice of self-doubt, you will need to come to terms with the sacrifices involved in following your dreams. All plans have tradeoffs.
If this voice has been foisted on you by other people, then you should spend some time figuring out how you really feel. If your goal was to come to stack exchange displace the old advice with new advice, you'll find that the voice of the crowd, no matter how loud, never inspires confidence the way your own voice can.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_19: Getting a PhD requires a lot of perseverance. Let me share an anecdote about my son. He wanted to be an actor in musical theatre. We were at a meeting at the school he eventually decided to attend and a mother asked the program director what her child should take so the child had something to fall back on if acting didn't work out. The director's answer said a lot: your child should probably find a different career, because you have to have an all-in commitment to theatre or you won't make it. You have to ask yourself if getting a PhD means more to you than just about anything else. Otherwise, you may not stick it out. I went to grad school with others who maybe were more gifted than I but who dropped by the wayside. I probably wanted it more, a lot more. I suggest you have to ask yourself some hard questions before deciding your course of action. Leave financial success out of it. I haven't become rich as a liberal arts college professor, but I have had a satisfying life. What is it you really want to do? We can't answer that question for you.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_20: I did a PhD in theoretical physics. This is usually the royal way to never have the problem of getting rich.
I did it because I loved science and it was a great adventure. I met a population which I would not have had the chance to meet otherwise.
It was a fantastic time.
I then realized that I would not be a good scientist. It is not that I would be bad (I loved to teach for instance) but going to high tech industry helped me to choose the optimal way: enough science to keep me entertained all the time, and a different environment/goals. And money too.
The fact that I had a PhD was important: I was lucky enough to meet people who understood that if someone went through a PhD in physics, they have at least some perseverance. I got two fantastic jobs because of that.
**So when you say *"knowing that it's the "poor" route to take for the next 4 to 6 years of your life"*, I say *"knowing that this is a 4-6 years investment, and a really, really fun one"*.**
EDIT: I was not poor either. I got all sorts of grants, worked at CERN (where the salaries were excellent) - and the environment I worked in was not particularly interested in money so it ended up not being my main concern anyway.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_21: >
> I'm very conflicted regarding applying to (American) PhD programs vs. not doing so and finding a job in industry to have more money.
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Your parenthetical points to an answer no one put forward yet, though it seems you were at least subconsciously aware of it from the start. You could apply to PhD programmes in countries where the route to the degree is much faster than in the US. Not only is it faster, but in the UK, you typically start doing research right away, whereas in the US you first do a bunch of coursework, pass some tests, and only then start doing research.
Personally, I've tried *both* and while I didn't save time that way, I did learn which one I found more to my liking. In addition, there's something to be said for *life experience* above and beyond money and education. Living in a foreign country (even an English-speaking one) is an interesting way to garner some experience that you wouldn't get sticking around your home country.
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Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_22: You need to realize that you just need to stay alive long enough to die. I mean that in the cheeriest way possible. **Your real currency is time**. How do you want to spend that? Academia? Fine. Industry? Fine. Just spend it on something you think is valuable enough to account for your life.
Money is so over rated, it is sad that we measure the value of a human being by it. How will you be remembered by your children, your friends or history? I know you may think that you have to sock away money for your children's college fund or something but the people that are telling you that are those that profit from your money sitting in their possession.
Doing a PhD because it improves your job prospects is totally the wrong reason to do it. You should be doing it because you love the work and want to contribute to it. As already covered by other answers it doesn't really make economic sense apart from a few fields.
On the point of how much time it takes, there are more ways to accomplish this such as moving to another country that has a more streamlined approach to PhDs. You could also do the work part time and work part time if you think you are being irresponsible by not earning a wage.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_23: The reason for doing a PhD should be to hunt for the deep rooted satisfaction and happiness of actually getting **really, really good** at something. Money is arbitrary and something most of us don't have much control over in life. You can't decide where rich people will put their money. It will always be out of your control.
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But the happiness of getting really good at something... No one can take that away from you.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_24: I think I understand what you are thinking.
It can feel "financially irresponsible"
to spend 4-6 years studying for a PhD,
because when you are a PhD student,
you are earning a relatively low salary (say 30 K USD a year);
while your classmates who decided to work in industry
may be earning a much larger salary (say 100 K USD a year).
I recommend that you **do your research**
so that you understand your employment prospects after you get your PhD.
While your question is primarily about PhDs,
I would say more broadly that graduate degrees are not created equal.
For example, if you graduate with a law degree
from a poorly ranked law school,
it may be difficult for you to find a well-paying job.
Quoting from the article
[Law Graduate Gets Her Day in Court, Suing Law School](https://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/07/law-graduate-gets-her-day-in-court-suing-law-school.html):
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> She now has student debt of $170,000, with loan interest around 8 percent. Her law degree was not a ticket to a stable, well-paying career, but an expensive detour before she went on to work in a series of part-time positions, mostly temporary jobs reviewing documents for law firms.
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After you have done your research,
you can then **make an informed decision** about whether to do the PhD.
Finally,
even if you choose to do graduate studies in a lucrative field,
you could still end up unemployed due to circumstances beyond your control.
For example, the article
[Burdened With Debt, Law School Graduates Struggle in Job Market](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/business/dealbook/burdened-with-debt-law-school-graduates-struggle-in-job-market.html)
tells the story of an unemployed graduate of Columbia Law School.
We can't escape the fact that "time and chance happen to us all",
but as long as you make the best decision that you can
given what you knew at the time,
you can choose to live without regrets.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_25: If a magic fairy came to you and offered your three times as much for flipping burgers than what you can make with either a MSc or a PhD would you do it?
I feel there is more to life than money. In fact I don't think we work for money but for the things we can buy with the money we make. I'd be an unhappy gentleman if I had a pile of gold but no books.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_26: **You Don't**
That voice is an important voice. It is one you need to hold onto and remember when future students ask you about getting a PhD. It's the one you remember when one of your students is essentially being asked to give the university a short-term, interest-free loan to the university while they wait for reimbursement for a conference trip. It's the voice you think of when you read the debates about paid vs. unpaid undergraduate researchers, and how affluence unlocks academia as a career surprisingly early.
What you do is you think about your values. Money has an obvious, concrete, and tangible value. It turns into cars, and rent checks, nice meals and flat screen TVs. The benefits of academia are genuinely there - there's more intellectual freedom, and the chance to do a lot of unstructured work that is (less) driven by immediate business or financial needs. And that has value.
You sit down, and you ask yourself how much value. You never silence the voice reminding you there is an alternative - the cost:benefit analysis of academia requires that voice. And you revisit that voice on occasion, asking if the choice you have made still serves your interests.
TL;DR: You don't silence it, you embrace it, and you subject it to periodic analysis.
Upvotes: 2
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