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2018/10/13
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a Korean student applying to math graduate schools this year. I'm mainly applying to American universities but I will also be applying to some schools in UK and Europe.
I wanted to know if it would be worth mentioning my subject GPA in the statement of purpose. My overall GPA is 3.7/4.3, but my math GPA is 4.14/4.3, so there is a significant discrepancy here. I heard before that admission team would look at my math courses separately, but tabulating grades from math courses out of a 4-year transcript seems like quite a chore for the admission team. Thus I thought it may be better to summarize it for them somewhere (lest they focus on my lower overall GPA instead).
Would it seem quite unnatural to bring up such scores in a SOP?
Thank you in advance.<issue_comment>username_1: I think your SOP should focus on that, not your past record. The committee will have access to your grades and will focus most on the subject grades in any case. There is no need to *waste* words on things that can better support your candidacy. Yes, you are proud of your past work, but your CV already shows that.
Write about what you want to do in the future, how your interests and skills align with that purpose. If necessary, talk about how you fit well into the program you hope to join.
Make your SOP work to complement your CV, not to repeat it.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Allow me to describe some of what happens in the background when an application is sent to us. I direct a graduate school in a Russel Group university in the UK.
What you describe is a common technique in applications to our programmes. Applicants wish to draw attention to a perceived deficiency by supplying a perspective that mitigates or explains away the deficiency. "My overall GPA is `x`, but for core courses is it `y` and `y >> x`."
The fact of the matter is this: in my graduate school, you are ranked first by cumulative GPA. If you do not make the cut-point, then your application is assessed no further. Those that pass this hurdle move on to the next stage. We very rarely segment GPA into groups of courses (although most students and some academics think that we do). Stating that your GPA is a subset of courses is greater than the cumulative GPA is problematic for us for two reasons: (1) it emphasises that your performance is inconsistent and (2) that performance may be in areas that are important.
Let's take a recent example that was put to me by a master's programme director. The applicant's cumulative GPA was 3.7/4.0, but in her math modules in the last two years of her degree, her GPA was 3.9/4.0. The master's programme director wanted permission to accept the student on these grounds. On the basis of cumulative GPA, the student was ranked 45th our of 64 applicants. We had space for only 25 new students.
When we looked at the non-math courses, we noted that the student's main weaknesses were in computer science-related courses as well as in English for academic purposes. The picture that this student was giving us was that of a highly competent math person who was weak in computers and had difficulty expressing themselves in a ways expected of an academic.
Clearly, the applicant was not in the top 25. In fact, there were 19 others ranked higher than her on the ordered list. How would you be able to justify accepting this student in this context?
I strongly suggest that you provide evidence in your personal statement that you are a worthy candidate. GPA is only one part of that consideration. In fact, it is the easiest to determine because it exists in the transcript. Spending precious real estate in your personal statement trying to explain away a poor GPA by offering different combinations of courses that will produce a better GPA is not very wise, in my view. I want you to show me that you are a great fit for our programme.
Good luck to you.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/14
| 1,030
| 4,291
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a private math tutor, and I have an adult student right now (age 28), who is enrolled in algebra II in a community college. He is both very bright and has a kind of inferiority complex about academics because his siblings were much more successful than him in school and employment. This is his third attempt to pass algebra II.
He seems to struggle with math not because he can't do it, but for two reasons: because that's where he feels most inferior to his siblings, and because he has a hard time concentrating (perhaps has ADD).
The trouble is that when math gets hard for him, or when he's disappointed by a test result, he spends the sessions with me talking about anything but math, changing the topic when I try to bring it back to math. Or if I do manage to get in a couple minutes on math, he starts asking questions on peripheral topics that superficially seem like they are about math, but I think are really another way of avoiding the task at hand.
I've tried different ways of bringing him back to math, starting with using my body language (I'll, say, start writing with my pencil), then verbally suggesting we come back to math, then gently pointing out the pattern so he sees that he has to make a choice, etc.
One thing I don't do is criticize him. He's so vulnerable to shame, and so anxious (his voice trembles sometimes when we do math), that I have a feeling if I'm strict or demanding with him, that will be the end of all tutoring. He'll fire me or become even more intractable.
I've also tried supporting him by pointing out his strengths, and I do it honestly and with integrity : I genuinely see strengths in him and I can point to specific examples, so he knows I'm not flattering him.
As of now, he spends about 50% of our lessons avoiding math entirely like this. There are always other periods in which he learns, and the situation is not completely stuck.
I would like suggestions for how to handle this. Everything from how to more directly suggest or control our session activities, to how to support him in feeling less anxious and inferior so that he would more spontaneously choose himself to put in the effort.<issue_comment>username_1: Let me make a suggestion that may or may not target the real reason. I don't have a way to evaluate its relevance.
I've almost never had to give up on a student, but it has happened. The reason wasn't them or me, but just time. I've had students in math who were really terrible at it and didn't really know why. Nothing seemed to work for them.
But in exploring things, I learned that somewhere in their background some teacher (or several) just failed to do their job and let them slide by. In order to help them learn (I think it was) statistics, I would have had to take them back through elementary school math from the beginning. They had never learned to add or multiply properly.
Even worse, no one ever gave them any incentive to learn math, nor any insight into why it might be important. They never had any experience with figuring out how to translate a problem into symbolic form, much less equations.
I had to give up, just because I didn't have the time to teach them ten or more years of things they'd missed.
It is possible, I suppose, that someone has figured out how to short-circuit that process and bring a student up to speed relatively quickly, but at the time, I had no real idea how to do it.
My action suggestion is to give your student a diagnostic test of some sort, even quite informal, to find out if they are just missing so many basics that the new material has no foundation on which to build.
I'll note that in my personal case, I was neglected by one teacher and didn't learn my multiplication tables. I managed to overcome the problem and finally forced myself to learn them - just after I completed my doctorate in mathematics. Now, I can faithfully recite seven times eight = .........
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: You may not like this, and neither will he, but you will have to be robotically single-minded in that the next sentence out of your mouth will concern (and only concern) part (a) of exercise 5.2.
Either this works, or else he passes into a realm where he needs a therapist not a tutor.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/10/14
| 946
| 3,700
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<issue_start>username_0: I came to the US on 4th of August, 2013 from India on F1 visa as a Master's student. I was 1 day shy of being 24 and eligible for a late registration for Selective Service. But I had no idea that was even a thing back then.
Things happened and I was out of status for a while and my education was incomplete. On February 16th, 2017, I got my green card through marriage. I was 27 years and 6 months then, and not eligible for late registration for Selective Service.
Now, I have gotten admitted back to the college I was originally attending and applied for FAFSA. Today, I am 29 years old today and am ineligible for Selective Service.
**My situation:**
1. I have been approved for FAFSA by the federal government.
2. My college has a pending requirement with regards to my FAFSA: Verify Selective Service registration.
**My question:**
When I originally came to the US, I was eligible (and required, if I were to seek federal financial assistance) to register for Selective Service. I did not. Now my college requires proof that I've registered for selective service. So I tried registering, but the Selective Service registration website does not let me go past the first screen because my age indicates that I am ineligible for Selective Service.
1. Could I somehow apply for Selective Service?
2. Could I email my university and explain to them that I did not know of Selective Service to know I would need it in the future?
3. Should I just give up trying for FAFSA?
Thank you.<issue_comment>username_1: For the following, I will assume that you were on a F1 visa from arriving in the US until after your 26th birthday. In that case, you should have been exempt from selective service. If you had any kind of change in immigration status from a non-immigrant visa (such as having the F1 visa expire) during this time, well, that could complicate things and you really should talk to your university about it.
The Selective Service System's page for [Men - 26 and older](https://www.sss.gov/Home/Men-26-and-OLDER) suggests that you can get a [status information letter](https://www.sss.gov/Registration/Status-Information-Letter) to prove that you're exempt. You could ask your university's financial aid office if it's required in your case or not.
Reading more on the [Status Information Letter](https://www.sss.gov/Registration/Status-Information-Letter) page, I found the following (which suggests it isn't required):
>
> **Financial aid officers:**
> If the man falls within one of the following categories, a status information letter from Selective Service is NOT required if he can provide a copy of supporting documentation proving his case to your satisfaction. <...>
>
>
> **Non-U.S. male on a valid non-immigrant visa**
>
>
> For example, if the man entered the United States as an F-1 student visa and remained in that status until his 26th birthday, he would need to provide documentation indicating that he was admitted on an F-1 visa and attended school full-time as required.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I would start with the University. Likely they have an office of financial aid that knows all of the rules and regulations. They will probably be able to let you know if you still have an obligation to register for Selective Service and how to go about it. They might even be able to intercede on your behalf if needed, but that would probably depend on the size of the university and how many students have similar problems.
Failing that, you could try to deal with Selective Service, but I expect it would be harder to get advice from a large bureaucracy than from the university.
Upvotes: 1
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2018/10/14
| 1,050
| 4,186
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<issue_start>username_0: Here is the situation: I am working with 2 others on a paper A, and simultaneously by myself separately on a paper B (which is a thesis).
* A and B are on very much similar topics.
* I started with paper B slightly before we started working on paper A, but the ideas in paper B build upon the ideas in paper A.
* Moreover, paper A will very likely be published sooner than paper B. My plan at first was to cite paper A in paper B.
* However, my other 2 co-authors have now started to shift their idea about what domain of paper A should be, and they are shifting towards the topic of my paper B, and have even started to reinvent some of my ideas in paper B.
* Therefore, I am very concerned that this will cause a plagiarism issue: If we decide that paper A should contain many of the ideas in paper B, then ideally, I would want A to cite B: I came up with these ideas independently and for a different paper, so if A wants to use them, paper B (i.e. myself) should get credit for the work (since I put in all the work and came up with it first, and we originally didn't plan to put it in paper A). But paper A will likely get published before paper B is handed in as a thesis.
**Most importantly**: I need to hand in paper B as a thesis, and I cannot afford not to hand it in, or to make a completely different thesis. Therefore I need to be sure that paper B does not commit (self?) plagiarism.
* Is there a way for paper A to cite paper B (my thesis), even though paper A will be published before B?
* If no, how to avoid (self?) plagiarism in this situation? (somehow integrate parts of B in A while still recognising B as the original work that is a separate thesis and gets credit as such?)
* Is it generally stupid to work on two papers simultaneously like this? Did I make a big mistake...?<issue_comment>username_1: There is no particular problem with citing unpublished work. Just list it as such. There is no problem with citing work that will not ever be published in fact. Just name the author and list it as "private communication". Give a title if appropriate, or a description.
In the case at hand, it seems wiser to cite A within B as it is likely to be published first, but since you don't have the final version, it could be listed as "unpublished, in preparation".
Talk to your advisor, of course, about what he/she recommends here. I think in most cases the rules on a thesis can be, with permission of the advisor, a bit looser than for formally published work. You need to cite, in any case, but the fact that things are a bit tentative can be finessed.
As for plagiarism, cite your own work, whether joint or not, just as you would the work of another.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: **Ask your advisor** is critical here.
You want a record that you have clarified this issue before submission. Ideally, formulate it by email so that you have a written mail trail, too.
The problem is not so much the quoting (your idea of mutual citation of the respective novelty very nicely sums up what is, in principle, the correct thing to do). The problem is the fact that:
1. your advisor and the academic board needs to believe your version of where material comes from and that's best clarified ahead of time;
2. your co-authors in A might claim originality and accuse *you* of plagiarism (despite you knowing where things come from) - this is a serious danger when ideas pop up simultaneously, and even more so if you collaborated. They may insist that things are differently from what you report here and had originated with them (The Leibniz/Newton or Hilbert/Einstein disputes come to mind as prominent examples of this; the first a particularly infamous case, in the second a major priority dispute was averted due to the soberer mindsets of Hilbert and Einstein, but, until today, it still fuels historians' debates). You are probably nowhere near the virulence of these cases, but it still can get ugly.
**TL;DR:** clarify the situation as soon as possible, with your advisor, and, ideally, with a decent email trail to avoid any nasty surprises by the academic board (or your co-authors) later on.
Upvotes: 3
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2018/10/14
| 916
| 3,690
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm quoting a book (To Kill A Mockingbird) and using a quote where the n-word is used. Later I'm going to have to read that out loud while my teacher also has a copy. Should I censor the word when reading or writing it?<issue_comment>username_1: I'd suggest being faithful to the original. If you are quoting, you should provide the passage verbatim as it is in your source material.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: As this is for a class, ask your teacher. If it was for a conference, it would be ask the chair and for a publication it would be ask the editor.
My preference would be to first determine if the quote provides something that a paraphrasing cannot. If I could paraphrase the jist, that is almost always my preference, even if the quote is not problematic. If you must quote, then you need to decide if you need to censor (or provide a disclaimer) about the language. Your style guide might help you here (but that is like asking the teacher/chair/editor).
As for presenting it when reading your paper, I would probably just omit the word with a pronounced pause, unless the word was key. If the word is key, then everyone will understand why it has to be said.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The book you are quoting from is very well-known, and it is unlikely that an audience would be unfamiliar with the language it uses. If you were to quote it verbatim, I doubt that this would be particularly controversial. Nevertheless, it should also be possible to quote the book passage in an altered form in a way that is not misleading to the audience. In any case, when giving a quotation from any source, to illustrate some point, it is acceptable to alter the quote so long as you have a valid reason (in the context of what you are saying) and you obey some basic rules. If you are going to alter a quotation to avoid offensive language, you need to do the following:
* **Proper attribution:** Your alteration should be clearly attributed to you, so the audience knows that this is not a verbatim quote of the source. In written form this is accomplished by using the proper syntax for alterations (e.g., using ... to omit words or using [replacement] to replace words). In oral presentations you can get the same effect by showing the quote on the screen or by explicitly noting your change.
* **Don't mislead the audience:** Ensure that the altered language does not mislead the audience on any material point relating to your presentation. In this post you refer to the "n-word" rather than saying the actual word, but we all know exactly what you mean, so it would probably not be misleading to use this as a substitute term. I recommend *against* replacing a particular epithet with a generalised [epithet] replacement, since the content of the epithet is relevant to the story.
With these points in mind, have a think about what you want to get across with your quote, and whether there is any particular necessity to include the racial epithet. If you want to omit the particular epithet, but make sure the audience knows which epithet was omitted, you could write something like this:
>
> “Don’t you believe a word he says, Dill,” I said. “Calpurnia says that’s [n-word] talk.”
>
>
> ---- [*To Kill a Mockingbird*, Ch 4](https://cleveracademy.vn/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/To-Kill-a-Mockingbird.pdf)
>
>
>
For a spoken presentation of the same thing, you should always ensure that you do not mislead the audience on the actual material. If you are using the textual replacement above, it would probably be worth noting at the start of your talk that you intend to do this, and that the book is uncensored.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/10/15
| 195
| 786
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<issue_start>username_0: I want to apply for a PhD. I applied to 2 universities before and got rejected. Is it OK to send my PhD proposal to multiple universities at the same time in the hope that I get approval from one of them?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes.
In the United States, it is expected that applicants are applying to many schools at the same time.
I applied to around 10 simultaneously, for example.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes it is OK and normal to apply to multiple schools.
But you should tailor your PhD proposal for each application so that you explain why you would like to study in the specific environment offered by that school (e.g. particular academics you would like to work for, courses you'd like to take etc.).
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2018/10/15
| 2,754
| 11,637
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<issue_start>username_0: My PhD project is a very little part of a big study that my supervisor is currently running. I am already four months into my PhD and I just have a 3 years position to finish my thesis. So far I haven’t worked in my PhD topic because I’m helping her with other aspects of this big study. She says doing that is working on my project, however she asks me to write and do research in things that are not really going to be on my thesis. And during all our meetings so far, we haven’t really discussed my topic, the chapters of my thesis, my research questions, the literature I should be looking at, or the instruments I need for answering my research questions What should I do??<issue_comment>username_1: >
> And during all our meetings so far, we haven’t really discussed my topic, the chapters of my thesis, my research questions, the literature I should be looking at, or the instruments I need for answering my research questions
>
>
>
So, that seems to suggest a natural course of action. Let her know that at your next meeting, you want to focus on making concrete plans about your thesis. Then do it. Come with a list of questions and make notes. Be sure to bring up the topic of how the big study will tie in to your thesis work, and how she expects you to balance the time spent on both of them.
It sounds like maybe you've been pretty passive so far in your interactions with her. Clearly it's not working, so time to try being more assertive.
If she won't have that discussion, or won't stay on topic, then you probably ought to start looking for a new supervisor.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: There's quite a lot of missing information and context in your question. The best I would recommend is to approach this assertively, but non-aggressively. The reason is this: it could be the case that you are missing the point of your current work -- perhaps it hasn't been made clear or it was assumed that you understood -- and that your current tasks are honing your skills so that you can apply them to your own PhD.
There's a scene in the movie *Karate Kid* that exemplifies this well. The protagonist is asked to wax vintage cars by his teacher. After a long time of repetitively applying and removing wax, the student asks what this all has to do with learning karate. The demonstration that he was, in fact, learning karate all this time led to an epiphany.
The question for you is this: is your work so divorced from your thesis that you are, in fact, learning nothing of relevance?
Good luck to you.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Both existing answers provide useful perspectives, but one aspect that I feel is missing is: **how are you funded?**
**Option 1:**
If your PhD is being paid from funds of the "larger project", you will invariably need to do work that comes up in the scope of this project, even if not all of it will directly contribute to your PhD. Raising the issue with your supervisor that you only want to do stuff that directly relates to your thesis is unlikely to go over well. Of course, both, you and your supervisor, need to ensure that your work can ultimately be framed in a thesis, but you need to see this as a discussion of "how can we turn what I am doing in the project in a thesis?" rather than "I will stop doing work on the project and work on my thesis instead".
**Option 2:**
If you are not funded, or through a stipend that comes from an external source (e.g., a stipend from your home country, rather than a project acquired by your supervisor), using your workforce to contribute to this project becomes a bit more dubious. Even in these cases, it still often happens on a tit-for-tat kind of basis - you help your supervisor in their project and get something else in return. However, the parameters of this exchange should be much less of an automatism, and there should be more an open discussion between supervisor and student. If your supervisor continues to see you as free labor for the project, it may indeed be time to move on.
**Option 3:**
If you are funded by your supervisor, but through a different project, things tend to get a bit muddy. In theory you should work on the other project which funds you, and not on the "large project", but in reality borders between projects of the same supervisor tend to be blurry, and (again) refusing to work on a specific task may not go over all that well. In practice I would recommend threading this the same as Option 1 (make the best of it, and ensure that your work culminates in a PhD), but if you end up doing the work for multiple projects you may need to raise the issue friendly with your supervisor.
For all variants, it cannot be overemphasized how important it is that you are (1) proactive (as Nate correctly observes) and (2) transparent with your supervisor. You and your supervisor typically share the goal that both of you want you to finish in time, but for you the stakes are much higher than for your supervisor. This makes it imperative that you communicate what challenges you see actively and openly, and don't just expect that your supervisor will make things right for you.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: There's not really a need to have a "why am I doing other peoples' work?" conversation.
Flip the issue, and manage it in a positive way by *managing your own project's time aspects*. Instead of worrying about whether this is a side trip, I suggest working out a careful schedule with which to complete your studies within your time limit. A Gantt or PERT chart would be a preferred vehicle.
Now, once you have that, sit down and discuss it with your mentor. See if she sees any time issues you may not have anticipated, or has any other suggestions to offer.
After you've both agreed that this is a reasonable schedule, I suggest meeting with your mentor just to go over the status, and handle the inevitable changes that will come up. I think every two months will be a good starting point, unless higher frequency becomes necessary.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Thesis structures can be rather fluid for at least the first year of a PhD.
An anecdote to hopefully encourage you: The main topic I started on looked like a dead-end for over a year, starting about 6 months in. While that was making no progress my supervisor got me working on a loosely-related system, which turned into a first-author paper and a results chapter. Then we found a way to get results on the original topic as well, but the digression actually provided a nice introduction to the problem we were trying to solve.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: You have not provided a basis for whether you are required to do course work in your PhD Program of Study. When no courses are needed, four months in to a three year project is ... awfully short. In some respects, this is a "let me stick my toe in this water" period. When the three years includes perhaps a year or more of course work too, you are still well beyond the point here to worry. Allow that you will explore the topics that are presented by your advisor and find your strengths. After all, by the end of the dissertation, YOU should be advising your faculty advisor what is and is not appropriate to do because YOU will be the expert in your study. Also, a PhD should be based on YOUR choice of a topic, not on a choice handed to you by your advisor.
In any case, at some point, you should recognize the need to establish a Dissertation Committee and defend a Dissertation Proposal.
A Dissertation Committee helps the faculty mentor to guide the student to success. Our Dissertation Committees consist of four other faculty besides the advisor, with one outside the home department.
A Dissertation Proposal provides a foundation for both the mentor and the student to establish a common ground for the work. While it may include preliminary results, the proposal is NOT about work that has been completed. I believe the proposal should be more than just a "white paper". It should be written somewhat in the format of what is required by a national funding agency to solicit for research support. In the sciences in the USA, the template might be an NSF or NIH proposal. In engineering, the template might be a DoE proposal. I defer to other countries and disciplines to substitute their appropriate funding agencies and templates.
Our program asks the graduate student to defend a Dissertation Proposal in this way. First, the proposal is submitted to the Dissertation Committee. The Committee reviews the proposal over two weeks. The Committee can submit questions in writing to the student over this period. The student has one week to review the questions and reply in writing. The student then gives an oral presentation to defend the proposal and the answers to the questions. The Committee passes or fails the student to continue the research work.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_7: I won't tell you what to do specifically, but I will suggest an approach for making this decision.
The conundrum you present goes to the heart of the question of **what is a PhD candidate, really?**:
* Are you a student who's getting financial assistance to focus on your studies?
* Are you a hire of your funding entity (e.g. the supervisor's research funds), working towards fulfilling its needs in an "academized" settings, with a degree on the side?
* Are you an employee of your university as a whole - with it being an institute which does research and you being one of the people who carry out that research - who is a sort of a junior version of a Professor?
I suggest you have a look at these two questions here on Academia.SX:
[Education or employment: What is a post-doc? What is a PhD student?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/80071/education-or-employment-what-is-a-post-doc-what-is-a-phd-student)
[Why do universities fund Ph.D. students in the sciences?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/68912/why-do-universities-fund-ph-d-students-in-the-sciences)
(and specifically in my answers... but not just them.)
So I see your dilemma as an incompatibility of expectations: Your supervisor treats you as an being in the second category I described, while you yourself perceive your status, or intended status, to be more in line with the first and/or third categories. Also, the 3-year restriction on funding \* make for a harsh conflict of interests in the allocation of your time, and forces at a decision, albeit a temporary one, regarding your effective status.
As for concrete advice: If I were in your position, I would try to:
* Get my Graduate/Junior Researchers' Union to to give me advice and possibly to either intercede on my behalf or to back me in demanding that non-thesis-related work be contingent upon either additional compensation or extension of the funding period.
* If such a union does not exist, become active in forming one.
* Read up on all relevant regulations, for students and academic staff, to determine what rights and privileges are specifically afforded to you and to your supervisor, so that you at least know whether your supervisor has formal justification for requiring this work.
but that's not to say that non-thesis-related work is a bad thing, or is not useful to you, in itself.
\* - Speaking from the experience of most people I know and most universities and countries I know about - You are unlikely to conclude your PhD in 3 years. Either you get more funding somehow, or finish the rest while unfunded, or start doing work elsewhere while concluding the latter parts of it.
Upvotes: 1
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2018/10/15
| 1,382
| 5,447
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently an undergraduate student in computer science, rising senior.
I have had extensive research experiences throughout college at competitive universities and research companies (but no publications).
I do not feel prepared to pursue graduate school right after college (due to burnout, health concerns, and general need to prepare for PhD requirements such as recommendations, GRE, etc).
I also come from a low income family, and I would like to take a couple of years to save money, as well as improve my math skills and explore the subfield of CS I would really like to pursue in graduate school.
I know there is some debate surrounding the role of gap years in students’ will to pursue grad school, but I am certain this is the best choice for me.
I would like some advice on what sorts of roles to pursue post-college.
The answer to this question hasn’t been so straightforward for me because I have a couple of conditions that are especially relevant to my needs and aspirations:
>
> 1. I want something that offers a competitive salary (80k-100k a year in the Boston area)
> 2. I want to start working immediately after I graduate college
> 3. Unfortunately, I do not have the option of pursuing an unrelated activity for the 2 year duration (like, say, backpacking in Europe or
> teaching in China) due to my financial circumstances
> 4. I want to remain a competitive grad school applicant
>
>
>
I’ve considered a couple of options:
1. Working as a software engineer at a company
>
> Though I have limited experience in development (because every role
> I’ve ever had since the beginning of college has been
> research-oriented), I think I can use the coming year to update my
> engineering skills and land a role.
>
>
> Pro: *This sort of role would likely offer a more competitive salary*
>
>
> Con: *I’m not sure it would make me more competitive candidate for
> graduate school*
>
>
>
2. Working in research at a university or national laboratory
>
> Because I have extensive research experience from college, I think I
> have a good chance at landing a role like this.
>
>
> Pro: *I think this would make me more competitive for graduate school*
>
>
> Con: *The salary would likely not be competitive*
>
>
>
3. Working in research at a research company
>
> This would be the best option, but the hardest to land.
>
>
> Pros: *Likely offers a competitive salary, and will likely make me more
> competitive for graduate school*
>
>
> Con: *I don't think I can land a role like this easily after college, as they usually require at least a masters degree and favorably a PhD, with extensive research experience*
>
>
>
I would just like some advice on this situation. Are there some other options I could consider? Is a software engineering role my best bet? If you've been in this situation and in this particular field, what has been your experience? What did you decide to do?<issue_comment>username_1: Well, since I saw many very intelligent PhD candidates whoi did not succeed in implementing their ideas in an efficient manner, I would tend towards the software engineering solution. If you manage to do a bit research (e.g. 80% SE, 20% research), you can demonstrate that you are interested in an academic carreer.
But in fact all options are fine, and it will be a metter of luck, personal circumstances and opportunities which one is the best.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Try for #3, but if you can't get it, do #1 before doing #2. It might not help with your grad school applications, but it won't hurt either, and it gives you a completely different perspective. For example:
1. You learn a new skill. Sure, doing research teaches you things as well, but this is a new field that broadens your horizons.
2. You might decide against going to grad school completely (and who can blame you, given that $80k/year is [a lot higher than whatever stipend you get as a grad school student](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/111779/how-to-recruit-phd-students-when-industry-pays-so-much-more)).
3. Even if you do go to grad school, there's a good chance you end up in industry after you finish your studies, simply because of the strong competition for academic positions. If this happens, having some industry work experience is going to count a lot for your job applications.
4. You're further empowered to tailor your grad school experience to what you know is needed in industry. For example, you could decide to learn X instead of Y because you know from your experience that X was core to your day job while Y was much more fringe.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: You needn't attend graduate school to get a PhD, you can work at a research company and complete your PhD whilst working for them. Perhaps you can reconsider your options with this possibility. (NB: Not all research companies will offer this route.)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: A software engineering position probably doesn't improve your competitiveness for graduate school, unless your graduate school wants you to code (which isn't a requirement for a PhD in computer science). Is coding something you'd be interested in? If so, then the software engineering route would be advantageous. Perhaps more importantly, the software engineering route will make you more competitive to a research company after graduate school.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am halfway through my 2 years masters now. I am doing my masters abroad in Asia and slipped into a bit of an unfortunate situation.
I originally studied general science as an undergrad and during this time I discovered my nack for programming, machine learning. I had no previous research experience. I was especially interested in the application of machine learning in neuroscience. After listening to the advise of one of the Neuroscience professors at the university I am doing my masters now,I decided to do a masters in CS to get a more in depth-knowledge. He guaranteed me a spot in a laboratory in the CS department that works together with his lab, and also happens to be one of the best in the country. So far, everything was ideal.
Well, once I began my degree and entered the lab, I was given a big government project related to machine learning and neuroscience and was assigned as a leader. Everyone knew I had an interest in neuroscience, and no-one else wanted to work on this, so I was just assigned. It is a large scale research project, involving a lot of money with no concrete definition and I have to come up with a feasible research idea myself.
Well obviously, I have been extremely overwhelmed, have 0 guidance and assistance. Coursework here is also very unhelpful, the general mindset is, "don't care about your classes, learn trough your research". On top of this I am required to take a class out of each field within CS, hindering me in actually specialising within AI, and further burdening me as I have very little background knowledge in most other areas.
As mentioned before, I have no-one teaching me, guiding me nor assisting me. I am expected to know how things work already and publish a paper. There is great pressure for this from my lab-mates and professor and I am frequently met with disapproval as I have no results yet concrete research to present. Besides my main project I am supposed to improve some previous published work, this is solely Machine learning based but is again very challenging as I started from scratch in terms of coding knowledge etc. And again all by myself.
So for the last year I have been trying to not break down completely, working on the Machine Learning related project and thus improved my coding skills. But also lost all my motivation, ambitions and self-discipline along the way.
Regarding the project I am "leading", I keep being pushed to doing mainly machine learning research, which makes sense as my professor can only assist me with that. But I have by now 0 interest in the pure field of Machine Learning, am immensely frustrated and feel foolish as any idea of mine is dismissed as too simplistic. This makes me lose my motivation even more.
Not once in my life have a been so disengaged, apathetic and undisciplined as a student and I really really don't like it. Our professor only really cares about advising, once we are actually about to publish a paper. My other lab-mates all interned for one year before entering, but are in general incredibly smart and capable; publishing papers at top-tier conferences as a masters student is the norm here - not the exception.
My original approach has been to accept my situation, fake my way through and just write out a master thesis in the end and then escape. But looking back now, I definitely didn't learn as much as I could have, partly due to the lack of guidance but also my lack of motivation. And I absolutely dislike my attitude and seeing how much I changed from being a good, passionate student to what I am now.
So my new plan is, just doing the research I am interested in: Machine learning applied to neuroscience. Read papers, papers, papers, take online classes and brush up on knowledge I am lacking. Since I care about this field, I might actually be able to make myself work again.
This also means though, if I ever do end up wanting to write a paper, I will not be able to get any guidance, same applies for my master thesis. In the end this is similar to the first approach, only with me trying harder.
The other alternative is to just drop out. Recharge my batteries, and reapply to a program that matches my interests better. However I am scared of restarting and then realising I am still not able to actually work and study properly. Or the knowledge gap might be even bigger. Also in that case I will lose my generous scholarship, so funding will become an issue and I will live a financially more unstable life.
If I continue the way I have so far, I will still probably end up graduating , but it really feels like I will have wasted 2 years of my life and I am more than certain that I won't continue to work in this field, seeing how I am unable to motivate myself.<issue_comment>username_1: As far as I understood, you have a quite significant position but you were taken there before you feel ready to start something this big in scale. And more or less you have managed to keep yourself there even with many negative results up until now.
First, an idea will be too simplistic or out of the way if you don't know what others currently do in the field, and what would be the gap. You have pointed out that as a plan you will read many papers and try to publish in that area. Well, start with reviews, open the WebofScience and select highly cited ones first. Draw schematics of the research being done and tools used, and follow the future directions in reviews as well, and in the end, you will have more than one idea which is very suitable to follow.
After seeing the big picture, you willy-nilly start to feel that you may actually be able to contribute to that field and consequently to science in general if you work your way up there. After getting this idea, set up a time management software, there are many free alternatives and they really help a lot. You can also keep an agenda with notes in different colors in order of importance. This will remediate your self-discipline issue problem.
One last note: Guidance is good, but not obligatory. You may either find some informal guides through the net or other professors in some specific subjects to move faster, but you should improve your traits/skills as well, simply you should be able to guide yourself. You can finish even a Ph. D. and make good publications and conference talks with poor guidance, I have seen many examples in many disciplines.
I suggest you DO NOT GIVE UP. You have a position may very well be dreamed by thousands, and targeted by again many people. And once you get the reins you will start to feel capable and good, so you will fit.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_1: @username_3, with a reference to your story which I understand very well based on my small experience. First of all, I think you must not thinking of dropping your master as there is no reasonable, I do understand what you have mentioned, however, dont ever think that guidance could improve you as much as you learn on your own, believe me,sometimes we need guidance, but not so much as you think, and please dont compare yourself to your peers, they have spent one year before joining the program so they have more hands-on experience and you can be better as long as you are passionate, hard-worker, and having stamina. Definitely it likely moving a huge block of stone, but remember in the end, you will be successful, so don't leave this good opportunity, stay focused to the end of the line.
From my experience, in masters I had zero literally guidance, and I did all of my work on my own although the great challenges I faced, I managed to publish in conferences and having fellowships. To be honest, I liked little bit, however the only drawback sometimes, I would liked to discuss and share with other one experienced, but I managed to seek for support from professors outside my university when I stuck through using on-line platforms and in the end I gained the experience.
Now to show you how sometimes guidance and micro-manager PI could not be helpful, I have been a PhD student for a first year and I have resigned(forced) because my ex-PI is abusive and don't accept ideas out of the box and he wasn't so much experienced in this research, he didn't understand my ideas and underestimated although I was very passionate about my research.
To conclude, stuck to your position, do as much as you can, be perseverant, don't compare yourself to peers, and I am pretty sure that you are going to manage all of this. I think in the end, you are in a need for gainig more skills which is not related for being smart, so in the end you can manage that.
Wishing for you all the best.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I totally suggest you step back and drop
out. I am not sure whether this seems natural to others but what you describe looks completely out of line. A masters student is supposed to merely take first steps under direct scrutiny of a competent professor, as well as take specialized classes. From my understanding you’re thrown into managing funds, designing complex research strategies to generate high-profile papers with zero experience and background. In such a scenario I wonder what exactly are the local professors doing with their time. This is a recipe for disaster, compromising public funds, the institution, and your sanity. A very dangerous situation, in my view.
I suggest you leave as soon as possible before you break down, and search for minimally competent guidance elsewhere.
Mind such low brand of people may try to sabotage your chances elsewhere, so stay as far as possible from them after you leave. I suggest you seek a world-class institution for you masters training. Because it is training and guidance you need at this stage, not being wasted bare.
Good luck
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: My decision:
So after reading the advise, considering my mental and physical health I decided to do the following. I first talked to my superiors, explained my situation in detail, how I feel about everything, and inquired whether there will be any difference if I take this to our professor. Basically the conclusion was that the situation cannot really be changed simply because everyone is swamped in tasks, my project cannot be reassigned nor taken away.
So honestly, if things don't work out for the project than the responsibility lies within my professor and I will just do what I can do considering my current situation and condition.
I will finish my degree somehow and take a break from academia, there is always a chance to return later on. Quitting and changing to another institution isn't really much of an option because of financing. And actually, I am already at a world class institution. So basically I just decided to give in, but put my health first and well being first. I will not push through this at any cost, but I will try my best with a calm mindset and less pressure since others and I agree that the reason that I am in this mess is not really my mistake.
Upvotes: -1 [selected_answer]
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2018/10/15
| 2,179
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<issue_start>username_0: Some graduate students and post-docs have reported serious problems with their advisors and supervisors. Some of the problems are severe enough to be career ending. Not all problems can be avoided but it is possible that some can be if the student or post-doc takes some actions, especially in their first days of the new position. The goal is to build a solid and positive relationship with the advisor from the beginning so that small problems later don't escalate.
**What can a student or post-doc do, starting in their first days and weeks, to help assure a strong and positive relationship with a supervisor?**
There is no assumption here that it is all up to the student, but what can a person do in a new environment to maximize their chances of having a good and lasting relationship?
Students who have done this successfully and faculty members who can help students fit in are invited to give advice.
---
Note that I'm not looking to collect horror stories here in which things went terribly wrong. What can the student do so that the horror scenario is unlikely to ever become an issue.<issue_comment>username_1: I would say that one of the largest things that a student/post-doc can do to foster a relationship with their advisor/mentor is establishing expectations early. This can be in the form of goals, research statements, or mutually agreed upon research plans. One of my former universities had a research statement form that students and mentors were asked to fill out. It specified what the goals of the partnership would be, what types of funding would be provided, what publications (with authorship order) were foreseen, etc. The partnerships that actually took the time to fill out the form had a *much* lower "failure" rate in their relationship.
In my experience, many of the issues that arise between mentor and student center around differing expectations. Expectations about timeline, work load, authorship, copyright, publication rate, etc.
Now, of course, this is easier said than done. As a student, it can be hard to tell an advisor that you want to discuss "expectations." Some advisors would feel affronted by being asked to establish goals and plans. One thing that I have seen students do in this case is present their advisor with personal goals that the student wants to establish for themselves. This communicates several things to the mentor:
1. A willingness to be forward thinking and take responsibility for one's own work. It shows a "communication starts with me" approach to the relationship.
2. An actual structure for the mentor to build upon. It is much easier to advise a student that can build a basic framework for the metrics of the partnership.
3. A willingness to ask for feedback as a means of improving.
---
I will add an sort of post script to my answer: Some mentors are anything but. Vetting an advisor can be very important for ensuring that your relationship with you mentor is positive. Part of having a good relationship with your advisor is selecting a good advisor in the first place. (Which is much easier said than done). Not every mentor is in academia because they love students. That is a reality that does need to realized here. Some professors are in academia because they are too combative to survive in the "real" world. Attempting to foster open communication with a potential advisor can act as a litmus test in this regard.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Choose a good match between supervisor and student
==================================================
I think that having a good relationship with a supervisor starts with the match between supervisor and student/postdoc. Not every supervisor is a good match for every student, so it is not as simple as "good" supervisors and not.
I think sometimes students make foolish decisions about how they choose their supervisors: they join labs only because they are accepted or because of the reputation of an institution. They join labs without seriously considering other options, without interviewing in person, without meeting their PI, without having outside support systems.
Admissions systems in some fields and in some countries make it worse, and abusive people can be skilled at hiding it, but the advice I always give prospective students is that advisor choice is the most important grad school decision.
Post docs can be a bit more independent, and so they may benefit more from a fancy name or pedigree, but they should still consider what they will get out of a lab and how the mentor/mentee relationship there will fit their goals.
Communicate regularly and honestly
==================================
I think a good mentor/mentee relationship means that communication happens freely between the parties. For mentees, it is important to share information with your mentor at all phases of work and especially when there are difficulties. When students try to hide negative results, bad things happen.
As a student, be prepared to deal with (and not fear) criticism and to learn and grow from it rather than be afraid. Because you are learning, you will not be perfect. Expect that, and be prepared to make and learn from your mistakes.
Additionally, it is important to communicate expectations and goals at all phases of work. For every paper/project, figure out up front who is responsible for what, including authorship expectations. Check in with updated schedules as intended goal dates come and go.
Along with my first point, prospective/interviewing students and post docs should be asking current students and staff about the communication style in the lab and get some sense of whether this type of honest communication will be supported or not.
Develop other networks of support
=================================
Sometimes, advisors might be too busy to meet all of their mentees' needs even when everything is going well in the mentor/mentee relationship. Students can avoid getting into a situation where they are stuck if they build other networks of support. Many graduate programs encourage this by forming thesis committees early that consist of other professors who can be the start of a broader network, but even if this isn't mandated students should be looking for these opportunities.
Along with my first point about choosing a good match in the first place, students and postdocs should consider these other peripheral support networks when deciding on an institution. Don't get stuck in an institution where only one professor does anything remotely similar to what you want to study. Don't go to an institution where these other support networks are discouraged. Ask people about these things before you go.
Moving on
=========
These alternative networks will be critical if your relationship with your primary advisor deteriorates, which will sometimes happen even if the mentee does everything "right." It will always be easier to move on earlier on rather than later, when too much has already been invested. Still, it is important to address issues as they come up, before there is too much baggage.
By addressing problems early, it will be more clear whether the situation can be salvaged or not. If you wait to solve problems and try to hide or ignore them, they are unlikely to just go away and you will be stuck deeper.
Yet again, back to my first point: choose a supervisor who works at an institution that *will support you if things go wrong.* There should be policies in place to support students who have problems with their advisor. Avoid institutions who do not have those sorts of policies in place or that have no support system outside of your one advisor.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: ### Do your due diligence before choosing a supervisor
Many people skip this step, but it's incredibly important: **talk** to the prospective supervisor and their group, as well as any common contacts you may have, before signing on.
In particular, it's important to maneuver the interview schedule so that you have the chance to talk to the current students and postdocs of the group in a setting where the supervisor isn't present, and with enough time to let the conversation relax into a pace that allows for all the relevant aspects of the group's culture to bubble to the surface in a natural manner. And, if it is at all possible, do this in an environment as far removed from the strict halls of academia as possible (coffee, dinner, drinks at the pub, whatever you can get).
Don't just ask "is it nice to work here?", because the response will be polite and will therefore gloss over all the hiccups that can develop into serious problems. Ask the tricky questions: how is lab time allocated? how often are people left wanting for lab time because their project doesn't have a high enough priority? how often do students actually meet with the supervisor? how long do students generally wait to get feedback on drafts of papers or theses? how is authorship decided? have there been any issues with a student before? how were they resolved? is there e.g. resistance from the part of the supervisor to use the formal support mechanisms at the institution? how does the supervisor behave if they perceive that a student is under-performing? does the supervisor thrust sundry administration tasks to students or postdocs? if so, what kinds, and is due credit assigned properly?
There's a lot of things that can go wrong in a research group, and you won't find out unless you establish enough rapport with the existing students that they feel comfortable telling you. One effective technique is to provide a 'mirror': tell a horror story that you have personal experience with (someone you know, someone at your institution, etc.; the closer to you, the better), and it will often prompt them into saying things which are more specific and therefore more useful. And above all, be as honest as you can yourself, which will make it much easier for them to be honest with you.
Upvotes: 3
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2018/10/15
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<issue_start>username_0: I’m currently doing a PhD in neuropsychology, however 6 months down the line I have fell out of it. I realised I’d like to do research in a field such as health psychology or clinical psychology. Would it be possible for me to get picked for a postdoc position in one of those areas coming from a neuropsychology background? (Considering that I don’t want to be in a postdoc that has something to do with neuropsychology in any way, but more like developing a behavioural change intervention or researching about mental health without digging into the biological aspects of it) , or should I just switch to a different PhD?<issue_comment>username_1: I'm not going to answer your question. Rather, I want to note that this is one of three questions you posed -- the two others being found [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/118439/my-supervisor-is-making-me-work-on-something-that-is-not-my-phd-project-what-sho) and [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/118472/is-it-possible-to-agree-on-feasible-expectations-with-my-supervisor-or-should-i), all posted within the space of a few hours -- that paint quite a picture of dissatisfaction with your current situation. It's this overall state on which I want to comment.
It's common for PhD students in the early stages of their candidature to have doubts about many number of things. The questions you pose are among those issues -- satisfaction with their project, supervisory concerns, unclear targets, future prospects following graduation, waning interest in the original topic. You're not the first to experience these uncertainties and you won't be the last. To be honest, though, I'm not sure that a group of anonymous, well-intentioned individuals on a forum such as this can do anything more than say one of two things: (1) buck up and get on with it, or (2) quit while you're ahead. Importantly, I'm not sure what you want to achieve here.
The only way to resolve these issues is to discuss these with people who can help you reach a decision. My first response would be for you to discuss these issues with your supervisor, but it seems that you have some issues you need to resolve in that arena. I suggest that you seek support from your university's graduate school, your department's academic adviser, more senior post-docs or PhD students or your peers. Your partner, your friends, your parents and siblings can also offer valuable advice tailored to you.
Once you have received their counsel, then all that remains is to act.
Your greatest enemy here is time.
I wish you the best of luck, but more than that, I wish that you attain the degree of clarity you need to act.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I strongly disagree that it is a bad idea to switch fields, as I switched from mathematical modelling of cardiac electrophysiology to genetics of bowel diseases and this has worked out very well. Although this question was about biomedical science, not psychology, I'd like to refer you to it anyway, as in the accepted answer, I discuss the pros and cons of switching to a different field after your PhD. [Switching fields within biomedical sciences between PhD and postdoc?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/118140/switching-fields-within-biomedical-sciences-between-phd-and-postdoc/118143#118143)
Your question is not a duplicate of this one, but my answer applies to this one too.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: In a post-doc, you're a hired gun. You're getting hired to do a job. If you're qualified to do that job, you're not really switching fields -- you're extending your research interests. If you're not qualified to do the job, you probably won't get that post-doc.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: My supervisor told me I’d need 5 papers (preferably all published) in order to get my PhD degree. However , attending a PhD workshop, I was advised to discuss a feasible plan with my supervisor within my allotted time (3 years) . The formal guidelines of my faculty say that there are no number of papers or chapters to get your degree as this depends on the quality of the work done, however my supervisor says there are “informal” guidelines in the department that I should follow, this is having 5 papers for submission. Do you think there is a way I could fight this battle?<issue_comment>username_1: The answer to your question depends on the person who is your supervisor.
Ask your question to other students who have had her as their supervisor. Believe what they tell you. Ask other students who did not have her as their supervisor why they chose someone else.
Also, is it true that all other students in your department have had 5 published papers? If there are students who have succeeded with fewer, that is one sign your supervisor is unreasonable because she is making a broad claim contradicted by evidence.
If you still have 3 years in your program you should be able to switch supervisors.
Do not wait to switch. The longer you go in your program, the fewer people will be willing to take you on as a student.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: She has the right to make a numerical suggestion, since the guideline does not specify any number. The first thing is to determine if this is feasible. Check the thesis and publications of other PhDs coming out from her lab and if this has been the norm, then at least you know that i) it's been done (whether you can or not is another matter) and ii) she is not making an unreasonable request.
The second thing is to determine if you have the drive, time, energy, and determination to churn out five papers with publishable quality in three years in your field. And thus far is it likely to happen if you're 4 months in and she has only been treating you as a RA.
The third is to check if you really like to do this PhD with her. Your questions have a lot of resentments and mistrusts, on top of negative wordings such as "surrender," "fight the battle," etc. Do you really want to work with her? Or are you victimizing yourself a bit too fast too furiously? You'll need to ask yourself that. If you're only 4 months in and already hating her at this extend, I'd frankly suggest think, hard, if you want to stay.
Lastly, whatever the agreement will be, have it clearly stated in writing: How many, in what time duration. And what is considered "a paper." Don't guess her meaning by saying "preferably published". Define the meaning: is it a chapter with publishable quality? Is it a real submission with at least one round of review? Or is it actually published?. Notice that if your work does not pan out and you never have the papers put together you may just end up miserable and PhD-less. Use that as the benchmark and negotiate (not fight a battle.)
Upvotes: 3
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2018/10/15
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| 1,057
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<issue_start>username_0: **Simple question:** What alternatives are there to Google Scholar for finding citations, doing lit searches, and most importantly, downloading citation data in BibTex?
There are lots of specialized databases (e.g. MathSciNet, ACM, etc.), but I am not aware of any that index across all disciplines the way Google Scholar does. My research is quite multidisciplinary so these specialized databases are usually insufficient.<issue_comment>username_1: Paid options: [Scopus](http://scopus.com) ([bibtex export](https://libguides.usask.ca/c.php?g=218034&p=1445629)) and [Web of Science](http://webofscience.com) ([bibtex export](https://libguides.usask.ca/c.php?g=218034&p=1445132))
Free option: [Microsoft Academic Search](http://academic.microsoft.com) ([bibtex export](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/academic/articles/new-feature-citation-list/)).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I use Mendeley which offers a literature search function and stores my entire library of papers as a BibTex file.
Upvotes: 1
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2018/10/16
| 516
| 2,002
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm applying for research-based Masters in Oceanography. So far, I've lined up advisors at University of Massachusetts (an intercampus program), South Florida, Georgia, and New Hampshire. According to [here](http://www.shanghairanking.com/Shanghairanking-Subject-Rankings/oceanography.html),they are in top 150 globally for oceanography. Moreover, my current work supervisor says 3/4 are well-known.
I've also been talking to a UCSD prof. He told me he is unsure if he will be taking on students but is more inclined to accept a PhD student (since they'd be with him longer). I would really like to go to UCSD for my PhD.
Will going to a lower ranked MS have a big effect on PhD applications?
What can I do to distinguish myself in PhD application 1.5 or 2 years from now should the MS be low rank?<issue_comment>username_1: The ranking of the institution does not matter. The ranking of the institution in the subfield in which you work may have a small impact, but the main factor of importance is the prestige of your reference letter writers. If the writers are unknown, then their recommendations do not carry much weight.
Also, smaller departments with one or two famous people have the problem that if these people leave, then the rank/influence of the department drops a lot. To hedge your bets, a department with a greater number of well-known academics is better.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Don't get hung up on the ranking thing because it doesn't really matter when it comes to a PhD admission. Top things that make your application stronger are
* Skills you gained during MS and prior education/work experience
* Letters of recommendation (high impact)
* Writing sample (usually your statement of purpose/intent)
* Willingness to learn new things
* Your vision for a future career
That being said, try to find a program (either MS or PhD) that is best suited to your interests and that has the faculty expertise for you to learn from.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/16
| 694
| 2,847
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<issue_start>username_0: Why do some conferences have a variable number of reviewers for each submitted paper?
For example, I read on <https://redd.it/9nomv1> that the [AAAI 2019 conference](https://aaai.org/Conferences/AAAI-19/) has between 3 and 5 reviewers for each paper submission. Why isn't the number of reviewers the same for all submitted papers? Is that to make up for non-experienced or outside-the-area reviewers, or for reviewers who do not turn in reviews?<issue_comment>username_1: Editors usually invite more than the minimum amount of reviewers when they assign a paper for peer review, because not all invited reviewers will agree to do the review. A suggestion that I have seen in a guideline for editors (and which indeed mostly works well in my experience for this specific publication venue) is to invite 5 or 6 reviewers initially when aiming to get 2 reviews.
Occasionally an editor will be lucky and (almost) all invited reviewers will submit the review, leading to a higher than required number of reviews for this manuscript.
In other cases there will be less than the minimum number of reviews even though more reviewers have been invited, and the editor will have to invite even more reviewers.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The "number of reviewers" can mean three different things:
1. Is it the number of people invited to review?
2. Is it the number of people that accepted to review?
3. Is it the number of reviews actually shared with the author(s)?
Those numbers can diverge:
* **Invitation Vs Acceptance** (1. Vs 2.): The number of persons invited to review a paper and the number of people actually reviewing it can be different: sometimes, people decline, for many different reasons.
* **Acceptance Vs Production** (2. Vs 3.) : The number of persons reviewing a paper and the number of reviews shared with the author(s) can be different: in some cases, a reviewer will turn out to be too late, or not knowledgeable enough, or produce a review the editors do not feel like sharing.
I know a conference, [*Journées Francophones des Langages Applicatifs*](http://jfla.inria.fr/), that has the following principle (translated by me):
>
> Rejected paper have been reviewed by an additional person to ensure the correctness of the judgment: the rejected papers therefore receive at least 3 reviews.
>
>
>
The idea is that rejection needs to be well-motivated, so that the author(s) precisely understand what went wrong (clarity, relevance, technical incoherences, ...) and how they can improve.
That can also factor in the number of reviews actually shared.
But the bottom line, as username_1 wrote, is that editors can decide how many persons they invite, not really how many reviews they will be able to share, even if having at least two decent reviews seems like the minimum.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I am asking this question to seek some perspectives from graduate advisors.
My question is: what qualities of a student makes him or her difficult to supervise? It is all the more valuable if this is based on actual experience.
Note that "difficult" is open to interpretation. The student may not necessarily be a bad student or poor learner; after all, most of the people who are admitted to a graduate program has went through some rigorous examinations in their lives. Maybe a student is such a genius, that he/she won't listen to you, and hence that presents a difficulty.<issue_comment>username_1: The amount and time spent on asking questions is one major point.
There are students who come to your office almost every day and want to have every little detail explained to them, and there are students who you don't see for months, and if they talked to you earlier you could have told them right away not to waste their time on X.
Both extremes are problematic, and student and advisor should aim to find a middle path, e.g. agree on a fixed meeting date/time once a week.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Strange question, but here you go:
1. Knowing better than the advisor (in reality or imagination) and hammering that point in to the advisor
2. Knowing better than the nature of the matter at hand and continuing to hammer at it without it sinking in (thanks to Darkwing and computercarguy for the original suggestion)
3. Being disorganised
4. Having to be told to do the same thing repeatedly, without effect, without proposing an alternative, or without explicit (justified) refusal
5. Being unable to write, even while having results
6. Being a brilliant writer, making weak results look better than they are
7. Being perfectionist to the point of ineffectiveness
8. Being sloppy, so that everything that the student does needs to be double- and triple-checked for correctness; sometimes, reintroducing errors after they have been corrected already
9. Being afraid of success and/or one's own greatest enemy
One thing that *does not constitute* a difficult to supervise student is a genius who doesn't listen, but gets results and writes them up. It may give a dent to the ego of the adviser, but, like a dent in a Jeep, it's a dent worth having.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Grad students who do not communicate their problems / issues in a timely and effective manner can be tough to supervise. (I include the provision of incomplete information to the advisor in this category)
With such students, the advisor has to actively "interrogate" the student to find out what's really going on, and very often this is just not feasible. It means missed deadlines, results that are not trustworthy, and delays all-round.
Note: Students can be taciturn and still communicate effectively.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: As Tolstoy said, every unhappy student-advisor relationship is unhappy in its own way.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently preparing to submit my NSF mathematics postdoctoral fellowship application, with deadline tomorrow on October 17. You must be a U.S. citizen (or permanent resident, etc.) to apply. There is a line on the application to indicate this:
>
> **CITIZENSHIP (check one)
> \_\_ US Citizen or National \_\_\_ Permanent Resident \_\_\_Foreign National(give country: )**
>
>
>
In what I believe to be the relevant part of the application (the page **Application Form**), there is a field which reads:
>
> **I. Citizenship status: Do not wish to provide**
>
>
>
without any way to modify this.
There is an advisory listed on the NSF Fastlane main page, dated Oct. 1, which reads:
>
> The Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships solicitation (NSF 16-558) requires proposers to indicate U.S. citizenship status; however, the ability to update this information is no longer functional. Proposals that are not compliant with solicitation requirements may be returned without review. Please email <EMAIL> or contact the FastLane Help Desk at 1-800-673-6188.
>
>
>
This is rather cryptic. It seems to say that me not being able to update citizenship status on the application is in fact what everybody is experiencing. On the other hand, it also seems to indicate that nevertheless it is important to indicate U.S. citizenship status, and that my application may be rejected immediately without this information.
I'd naturally prefer not to have my application rejected for technicalities. Is anyone else going through the same issue right now? If so, what is the right way to address it? Is there a way to update citizenship status? Or is this matter inconsequential?<issue_comment>username_1: The office staff can update this information for you. If you call the number listed in the advisory (quoted in the question) they can walk you through this.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: This may be too late, but I ran into the same issue when applying for an NSF PRFB biology postdoc fellowship. They sent an email saying to provide your country of citizenship on like K (usually reserved for foreign nationals). I sent an email to follow up that all's good, and they said I did it correctly. Hope this helps someone!
Here's a screenshot of the NSF application:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y1NA9.png)
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I have seen many instances where authors used the term "reproducibility" and "replicability" interchangeably in the social and behavioural sciences. Sometimes, they distinguish between the "repeatability" of experiments (same measurand/same measurement conditions) and "replicability" (same measurand/different conditions). If the three concepts are differentiated than, in most cases, there seems to be an inherent hierarchy between the three concepts:
`repeatability < reproducibility < replicability`
Where a successful replication means that the same finding has been achieved with different data (or sometimes methods) and reproducibility means that it is possible to get the same results given the data and analytical means from the original study.
However, it occurs to me that at least in computer science this seems to be different.[[1](http://cogprints.org/7691/7/ICMLws09.pdf)]
I am not aware of the situation in other fields. Therefore, I am curious which definitions of repeatability, reproducibility and replicability are used in other disciplines.
What are the definitions most commonly associated to repeatability, reproducibility and replicability in your field?
Are the definitions the same but the concepts have substantially different meanings between fields e.g. because pseudo-random numbers generated by computer experiments are different from true randomness in biological experiments?<issue_comment>username_1: The American Statistical Association (ASA) has developed [Reproducible Research Recommendations](https://www.amstat.org/ASA/News/ASA-Develops-Reproducible-Research-Recommendations.aspx). The purpose of these recommendations are to create transparent science that can be recreated independently of the data creators and analyzers. These recommendations have been motivated by several high profiles examples of studies being either retracted or not repeatable. The [ASA includes definitions for Reproducibility and Replicability](https://www.amstat.org/asa/files/pdfs/POL-ReproducibleResearchRecommendations.pdf):
>
> Reproducibility: A study is reproducible if you can take the original data and the computer code used to analyze the data and reproduce all of the numerical findings from the study. This may initially sound like a trivial task but experience has shown that it’s not always easy to achieve this seemingly minimal standard.
>
>
> Replicability: This is the act of repeating an entire study, independently of the original
> investigator without the use of original data (but generally using the same methods).
>
>
>
I do not know *repeatability* fits into these definitions or if it has a formal definition. Also, this hierarchy seems to differ from yours. *Reproducibility* is using exiting data and recreating the same results using the described methods. *Replicability* is conducting a new experiment and reaching the same conclusions.
On a personal note, I have tried to reproduce studies while working with a statistician and most life science journal articles do not include enough details to exactly recreate analysis unless they include their script (e.g., Python, SAS, or R code used to analyze the data). We were trying to recreate simple linear regressions and ANOVAs to find case studies for undergraduate stats courses, but often got different regression coefficients and test statistics. For example, people often make assumptions about `NA` values or transformations that are not described in their formal writeup.
For examples of replicability problems, [search for psychology reproducibility problems](https://www.nature.com/news/over-half-of-psychology-studies-fail-reproducibility-test-1.18248). Also, notice the inconsistent use of the *r* terms here.
For examples of reproducibility problems, [this lecture](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gYIs7uYbMo&t=2s) describes how a forensic statistician uncovered the Duke Cancer Scandal a few years back. Although outright fraud was occurring, there were other serious issues with the data analyzes.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: In computaitonal research I would argue that something is "reproducible" if I can rerun your analysis with your code and get the same answer as you did. This might sound trivial, with differences really only being connected to pseudo-random number generation, but in fact this is far from the truth.
* Many computational studies do not provide their code.
* Even where they do, recreating the exact compilation/execution environment is next to impossible.
+ Are you using the same compiler and version
+ Are you using the same numeric libraries (BLAS/MKL) and the same versions
+ Does your system use the same precision in its floating point calculations
+ etc etc etc
You give me your code and enough information for me to produce and identical environment or (even better) your code is insenstive the environment, then your research is **Repeatable**.
If you describe your study sufficiently well that I can re-implement your study from scratch, without looking at your code and still get the same answer, then it is **Reproducible**
If I can arrive at the same conclusions as you, just from a description of its aims, then it is **Replicable**.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I've been studying microbiology for a while (undergrad sophomore). I've been finding something to do other than my regular academic work and projects.
Someone told me that Nature allows freelancers to edit some articles. Is it true ?
What are some other places where I can use my biology/writing/communication skills to help the cause of science and maybe even build my CV (last part is optional, I'm basically bored and will do anything if seems fun)<issue_comment>username_1: Commercial editorial services are available. You could volunteer to help or seek part-time employment.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Wikipedia has a dedicated portal called Biotechnology, which has some promising content right now. A formal categorization of topics is available, also major keywords have a longer description. The problem is, that many specialized articles are missing right now. They are only available in a dedicated research encyclopedia which is sold as a commercial product for 2000 US$. That means, there is a knowledge gap between the content in Wikipedia and the content in encyclopedias used by researchers. So if somebody has too much time he can try to transfer the knowledge from Academia into the public domain and create some Wikipedia stubs. This would help to bring Open Science forward.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: While working on my PhD I have diverged from the area of expertise of my supervisor and other people in the group. In particular that allowed me to find a near solution to a problem that was not solved for some time in the field where we all worked.
Towards the end of my PhD track I have started working on the draft for this, shared with supervisor and suggested that if they are interested, we can publish this together - even though all the work was done by me in this particular case, I still thought it would be a nice touch from my side, and also they might have given some interesting feedback e.g. regarding to connections to other literature. I did not really count on his technical feedback, as in all the humbleness I had quite some chances to see they are not very good at that - even coming to the point of making technical mistakes in the proofs, which were making the results wrong (in published papers).
So I have sent them several drafts of this paper, rather complete on last stages - just required writing some introduction and cleaning up here and there. They said that it may be a good idea to go with that. Yet, I have started working full time and as it happened, did not have enough time to complete this work (not much initiative was coming his side either). Imagine my surprise when a couple of years after I find out that the very same ideas were published in a journal paper by my supervisor and another person from a group where I have worked. No mentioning of my name anywhere (besides a link to one of my old papers, which dealt with a rather different problem).
Now, one of the things why I thought there was no rush in publishing my work is that it required me a lot of technical skills, which likely no many of the people working on that problem were equipped with - I am not sure how to make this sound less overconfident - but just let's say it was due to background, like you're having a physics degree coming to work on biology problems, and you're pretty much the only physicist in that little community. I was wrong in assuming that no one would attempt solving this problem, but I happened to be right in their technical skills: the proofs there are not correct at least in couple of places, as the authors (and the reviewers) overlooked issues there. Namely, similar results are correct under different assumptions, but not in the shape they are stated in this paper.
So what I think likely have happened is: *my supervisor did not really plagiarize my drafts (otherwise I would have expected at least the proofs to be correct), but maybe looked at the ideas there, shared with my former colleagues and they redid my job in their own way.*
I have asked my supervisor about what happened, and they have said that likely those colleagues just came with those ideas themselves. When I have asked, why did not my supervisor tell them to connect with me, as I have already did all this research, and we could have at least write this paper together, they have replied that they has forgotten about those works I have sent them. And did not suggest any way we could move one from there.
I think I made some mistakes myself: was too confident if not about technical skills, than amount of those required to get the paper accepted; I have not published that preprint even on arXiv, as first I have waited for the green light from my supervisor, and then I got distracted with my other job. Yet, I can only hope I will learn from this situation some thinks for myself from my own mistakes, but I still think my supervisor's behavior is rather unethical. My supervisor also works at one of the top 10 universities worldwide overall and in this field, and I certainly would not like my supervisor to teach students there this kind of behavior. So what can I do?
What do (or rather, don't) I have now:
* there were emails with my drafts sent to my supervisor's email account; however, I have sent them from my university email address and that got wiped out after I have finished my PhD;
* the paper published is not correct in it's correct shape: there are mistakes in the proofs - at least of the kind that stronger assumptions are needed to make the result hold, and then a rather big rewriting of the proof itself, at least in a couple of places, I did not really look into all places where those mistakes might have appeared, so maybe more, maybe not. It is a rather reputable journal, by the way, with one of the highest impact factors in my field.
* In this paper the reuse a relevant result discovered by me, from a paper I have published together with my supervisor, without mentioning it (and essentially rederiving it anew).
What do I look for: it would be good to have this achievement attributed to me, but I am not sure I do formally deserve that (I've developed those results, correctly, but did not publish them). My main concern instead is that I unlike unethical behavior, especially in academia, so maybe some discussion with a commission on ethics would benefit my supervisor, or in the worst case awareness of the community (even though that sounds a bit nasty and dirty). I have checked out the answers in a [related question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/54357/pi-published-my-work-after-i-graduated-without-informing-me-and-with-a-differen), however I am not sure they apply readily to my situation.<issue_comment>username_1: It seems that your results have been rediscovered by "*another person from a group where* [you] *have worked*" and published in collaboration with your supervisor, after your supervisor had forgotten that you'd previously discovered those results. You think
>
> [your] supervisor's behavior is rather unethical
>
>
>
But, I can't see any basis for that: The results were rediscovered and your supervisor had forgotten that you'd previously discovered those results.
You want "*this achievement attributed to* [you]," but it isn't your achievement, you've been beaten to publication. Nonetheless, "*the* [published paper] *is not correct in it's correct shape*," so you can publish a second paper that advances upon the published one, possibly in collaboration with the authors of the published one. (See also [My work was published before me. What should I do?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/54676/my-work-was-published-before-me-what-should-i-do))
Your comment explains that your results were written in a near complete manuscript (the original question did too, I missed that) and I'm left wondering why that manuscript wasn't completed in collaboration with your supervisor's co-author (or perhaps even without them). Maybe too much time elapsed, or perhaps the co-author had written a near complete manuscript too, independently of yours and possibly even before collaborating with your supervisor.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: You have a few options.
Option 1
========
Keep trying to convince your previous advisor to do something constructive to publish a revised version of your work. My advice on how best to make this happen is simple.
--> Good luck.
Option 2
========
Ask your advisor to publish an addendum/correction to the article that includes your name as co-author. The addendum can be in the Letters section of the journal. It needs only state something as simple as "The work published as ... was based on previous work that included these additional insights. ..."
Option 3
========
You are now a graduated PhD. You have the same authority and standing as your previous advisor. Indeed, you probably have a better appreciation of the topic that was published than he/she does because it was *your* focus but only his/her *mentorship*. Make your stand befitting your new ranking.
* Take the previous paper and complete it on your own. Include a reference to the newly published paper. Modify your work to show how your efforts improve upon and fix loopholes in the newly published work. In other words, show that your work is worthy because it contributes new insights to the established knowledge even with the recent publication in consideration. This is what publishing in science is supposed to be about.
* Add the name of your previous advisor as SECOND author.
* Send the paper to your previous advisor with a deadline such as this
This is a publication of research work that we did together in the years NNNN to NNNN. I had sent drafts previously and they were unfortunately never completed. I have now completed the document for submission. I am sending it to you to review as co-author. I seek your comments and corrections as soon as possible. Your prompt consideration is appreciated. Absent a reply from you in (three to four) weeks, I plan to submit this paper as it stands to Journal (XYZ).
The one caveat here is that you may run aground due to politics or ethics at the review level for your work. That is an entirely different battle that is discussed in other threads.
Option 4
========
Forget about it and move on.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: A colleague of mine has asked that I write him a letter of recommendation (LOR). I will call him Steve. He recently was denied tenure and is looking for a new position at several other universities. Steve is currently a co-author on three papers I am trying to publish. He has been extremely difficult to work with on these papers. (There is a reason he is being denied tenure. Everything is a battle with him). I am not in good conscience able to write a strong LOR for Steve. I am not even in good conscience able to write a LOR for him at all. I am of the opinion that he should never hold another faculty position again.
There are a few questions on this site, such as [this one](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2717/what-to-do-if-asked-to-write-a-letter-of-recommendation-for-a-weak-candidate), that suggest that I should tell Steve that I cannot write him a strong letter of recommendation. However, Steve also funded a graduate student that worked with us on all three of the aforementioned papers, so there is money and a fledgling student involved, not to mention my own publications. There are two concerns that I thus have:
1. By declining to write Steve a LOR, I fear that he will refuse to cooperate on the pending publications we have. (And he has not exactly been cooperative to begin with. Again, there is a reason he is being dismissed). This would obviously affect *my* publications that I have worked on for the past two years. (I regret even getting tangled up with Steve. But that's a discussion for a different day). Moreover, it would be rather unfortunate for the graduate student Steve oversaw if these publications are held hostage or squashed. This graduate student is deserving of these publications and her career could be quite negatively affected by not getting these papers published. Steve has already informed this student that if she does not comply with helping him obtain a new position, he will not allow her to defend her dissertation in a few months.
2. By declining to write a LOR for Steve, I also feel that I am declining to provide the search committees at Steve's potential employers valuable insight into what he will be like as a faculty member. I personally would be rather frustrated if I was on a search committee and was denied important information on the temperament and capabilities of a candidate because no one wanted to speak ill of an incorrigible and manipulative colleague. I would also feel rather angry if I was an applicant to one of Steve's potential employers and was passed over because no one dared write a negative letter about a weak candidate. Unlike the case of declining to write a letter for a weak *student*, allowing a potential faculty member to obscure his actions as a professor can have a much larger impact in my opinion. (Poor students fail out and are dismissed from the program; poor professors dodge and scramble, all the while affecting their students and colleagues).
I am uniquely equipped in my department to write at length about Steve's capabilities as a faculty member. I have done by far the most work with him out of any of the faculty. Steve already has a letter of recommendation from our department chair that expresses Steve's strong ability to obtain grants (one of his few positive capabilities). Steve likely could find one or two other faculty members to write him positive letters (even if they have to stretch the truth in order to save face before Steve). He obtained such letters for his intermediate review (done 3-4 years before applying for tenure as a means of gauging if a potential tenure candidate is progressing on the path). Because no one wanted to step up and write Steve a letter of *reservation* (i.e. "I have reservations about this candidate"), he continued to do the things that ended up leading to him being denied tenure. It cost the department time and money, as well as engendered a distrust of our department among the university administration.
With these two thoughts in mind, should I decline to write Steve a letter of recommendation?
---
**ADDENDUM**
I will admit that there is potential for a revenge factor here. I also feel that it is important that actions such as Steve's not be perpetuated. I am able to provide concrete examples and commentary on his fitness for a faculty position and would refrain from ad hominem attacks.
Because the LOR process would be kept private, I feel that I would have enough time to still submit each of the three publications Steve and I co-authored before Steve could possibly find out I had essentially blacklisted him. All three papers are in their final "submission-ready" format. We are literally just waiting for Steve to finish applying for new positions so that he can give the final submission approval as an author.
I have spoken with department administration about Steve's student. They are considering what to do in terms of interventions.
To address the people worried about litigation for defamation: I am not excessively worried about losing a defamation case. Campus police records, written statements by multiple graduate students, previously recorded statements by faculty, email records--all are likely admissible in court. I would be able to satisfy the *onus probandi* requisite for defeating a defamation case (in my opinion). In a prior life, I worked as counsel for a large school district. My specialty: Employment law. This includes defending the district against employees and students who claim they were "defamed" by negative reviews/termination. *While perhaps warranted in general, I am ultimately not looking for legal advice on this matter. I have an attorney on retainer and understand basic tort law.*<issue_comment>username_1: There is quite a bit going on here.
First things first: you seem to suggest that it is a code of honor among academics to never write a weak or negative recommendation letter or to omit all weak points in a letter. I think that's too strong. Indeed, when people suggest declining to write letters, I think they are mostly thinking of letters for *students* of whom they do not have a strong opinion, rather than a clear, qualified negative opinion. I would say rather that you can write a letter for whomever you want, and omitting weak points that you feel are crucially relevant to the position being applied to is an ethical lapse.
In your case, you say that you have strong feelings and strong evidence that your colleague Steve should not get another tenure track job. Given that, I think the correct thing to do is to write a letter for him. In that letter, you should take extra care that your criticism be 100% factual. Indeed, I would mostly or entirely restrict yourself to reporting the facts. You should be able to trust a hiring committee to put the pieces together correctly.
As an aside: getting a tenure track job is a significant achievement in the current job market. Getting a tenure track job *after being denied tenure* is much harder still. The idea that Steve can get another tenure track job **using letters from the department that denied him tenure** boggles my mind. I think that's essentially impossible: any positive things said in such letters will have to be outweighed by the fact that the department as a whole denied him tenure! (Or possibly the department supported him and his tenure was denied at a higher level. Even so, it would be hard for department members to make a convincing case.) A nice letter from the chair about grant support is not going to cut it.
There are some other aspects to your question that I find more alarming.
>
> Steve has already informed this student that if she does not comply with helping him obtain a new position, he will not allow her to defend her dissertation in a few months.
>
>
>
That's really horrible. It's so horrible that in my view if you know about that and are not doing anything about it, you become somewhat complicit. Can you not take this student as your own? I think you should (or find some other way to ensure the student lands on her feet).
>
> By declining to write Steve a LOR, I fear that he will refuse to cooperate on the pending publications we have. (And he has not exactly been cooperative to begin with. Again, there is a reason he is being dismissed). This would obviously affect my publications that I have worked on for the past two years. (I regret even getting tangled up with Steve. But that's a discussion for a different day).
>
>
>
Indeed maybe you should not have collaborated with someone who is as uncooperative and immoral as you say Steve is. Some academic investments don't pay out. You don't need, and apparently don't want, to be held hostage to this person for the foreseeable future. It sounds like you have no guarantee that the work will come through successfully no matter what you do and that it very much depends on Steve's future career. I would seriously consider decoupling from him, even if that costs you a certain amount of academic work.
In summary: I suggest honesty all around while making extricating Steve's poor student from the situation as your top priority. Steve is trying to strongarm his student from a position of no power -- the university administration is not going to support him; on the contrary, they have already dimissed him! You should not pretend that you approve of Steve's actions. Neither should you try to "blacklist" him: just let the facts speak for themselves.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: This turned out to be too big of a comment, so I post it as an answer.
It seems like you should cut your losses. As username_1's (great) answer says, not all investments work out in the end. If you're already tenured this should be fine.
The **really** worrying aspect of the situation is the grad student's situation. If it comes to it, wouldn't it be possible to compensate the hypothetical lack of publications with a strong letter of recommendation for her, explaining why these publication weren't submitted? You're probably the only person with power who knows about the situation. Help her.
As a final note I'd like to mention that another important thing to take into account is that Steve is not the only one with bargaining chips here. Withholding these publications will certainly affect his possibilities of getting a new job in academia.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: First off, I would get some kind of documentation of him threatening to prevent the Student from defending her dissertation. Either capture an e-mail he sent to the student, or get some kind of recording of the conversation. That is a unconscionable course of action. Your department chair should be able to tell you what they can do for the student to help secure their future.
I've had similar problems in the past where coworkers asked me for letters that I could not in good conscience provide. My method was to provide a full copy of the letter to the coworker first, before sending it to anyone. Then, I told them to their face "This is the letter that I wrote. You can decide for yourself if this is what you would like submitted on your behalf, or if you'd like to ask someone else." This method would avoid Steve having any defamation case, since he has consented to the "publishing" (giving it to anyone) of the piece. However, make sure to be fair. List his positive qualities (like being very good at getting grants) also.
In fact, I follow this practice for *all* of my letters of recommendation. I don't like talking about people behind their backs, good or bad. Also, since this you mentioned the "revenge" aspect in your edit, I will also say that delivering not-so-glowing recommendations to someone's face is pretty satisfying.
As for your collaborative work, I would avoid the sunk-cost fallacy. I would be wary of the fact that Steve is clearly already not well thought-of at your institution, and I wouldn't want to put my name on a collaborative work with someone like that regardless. If he does end up job hopping to other institutions, it becomes pretty likely that he won't be well thought of in those places as well, and having your name on a work with someone like that could harm your reputation more than help it. The same is true of the student.
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: What tools do you use to manage co-authored papers? This is similar to questions active [4 years ago](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2071/what-are-useful-tips-and-tricks-for-collaborating-remotely) and [5 years ago](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1261/simplest-way-to-jointly-write-a-manuscript). I assume tech has changed since then.
Co-authored projects I have been on have used Dropbox to share files or shared files through many emails. This does not seem particularly efficient.
Update: In my field, almost everyone uses MS Word.
I use Trello for solo-authored work. It has the option of inviting collaborators but I have not tried it. I am also interested in reproducible workflow and have some of my code on Github. I am exploring the Open Science framework, too, but have not used it to manage an entire co-authored project.<issue_comment>username_1: The best option is Github I believe. But it pretty much depends on what do you use for writing papers? Do you use LaTeX or other typing softwares like Microsoft Word or LibreOffice which is the free and open source cousin of Microsoft Word. If you use LaTeX, which I recommend it personally and probably many other people here too, you could create a repository in Github and put your tex files as well as bibliography files and then simply you could share that repository among your collaborators. The reason why I like LaTeX instead of using Microsoft Word is that tex files by themselves are human readable files in comparison to binary .doc files. As a result, you could track and maintain your version control for your paper like a code. Otherwise it's not easy and trivial to track binary files (e.g. .doc files) by Github or other version control softwares (e.g. [Data Version Control (DVC)](https://dvc.org/)) Also, it is possible to link that repository to [OverLeaf](https://www.overleaf.com) and that makes sharing/writing much easier. But for more accurate solution in order to fulfill your needs you need to mention what is your main writing software for preparing papers.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Our lab uses Box, largely because our institution has purchased a license for it.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as an ideal solution, but one advantage is that it saves a history of past versions, so if two people make edits at the same time at least you can go and get the prior version to merge them, though it doesn't make this obvious or 'automatic' the way a git-based solution would.
You can also lock files while you are editing them, but it's not particularly obvious and it requires people to actually manually lock the files, which I find people don't usually follow through with.
Outside the lab, I mostly do collaborative efforts (that are documents rather than code) with shared Google docs.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: In my experience, the important part of writing things jointly is to give everyone the time and space to write at their own pace. This means that one of the most awkward things to do is to send around a single word document to which everyone then adds a version number. That's because this mode means that only one person can write at any given time -- independent of whether that person has the time to do that right now, or whether someone else actually just had a good idea worth putting into the document. It also inevitably leads to situations where someone edits an older version and then some poor soul has to figure out what the changes were and port them forward to the current version -- further blocking everyone else's progress.
So whatever mode you adopt, make sure you have a way to ensure that everyone can write whenever they want. MS Word documents just don't allow for that, but that's not a problem: There are many other ways you can use, and in some of these cases the final version can be converted either into MS Word, or into another format that can then be submitted to whomever needs to get the document in the end. Examples that I have used in the past are:
* For things that don't require extensive formulas, just use a Google Document. Everyone can add and edit whenever they want to add and edit, including concurrently while someone else is working on another section. The final version can then be exported in MS Word, OpenOffice document, or PDF format.
* If you need formulas but don't know latex, just use Overleaf.com. Again, everyone can add and edit whenever they want and concurrently if necessary. The end result can be exported as PDF.
* If you know latex, you can also just work on the plain latex files and share them via github. Github has mechanisms to resolve conflicts if several people started writing at the same time, starting from the same version, but commit them at different times.
Of these options, github is probably the most awkward mechanism because your changes are not recorded immediately, but only when you upload them (possibly causing conflicts with changes others have made). The advantages are that you can work offline, and that you retain a perfect version history if you ever need to find out who wrote which line. The latter seems to rarely be a concern when writing papers, proposals, presentations. The former is a concern, but is becoming less of one as everyone tends to be online all the time these days.
Upvotes: 1
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2018/10/16
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<issue_start>username_0: As a part of TA work, I need to give questions for major exams. I need to evaluate the answer sheets of students later.
Let us consider the following simple examples of questions:
**1) Briefly describe natural numbers.**
The answer to this question is not unique. It depends totally on the student's perspective on natural numbers. And the answer is generally long.
**2) How many natural numbers are there in total? Is 6.6 a natural number?**
The answer to this question is too short (Infinite, No). The answer does not depend on the student's perspective on natural numbers. It tests the knowledge of students regarding natural numbers.
I want to give questions of second type, which can test the student's knowledge and intelligence in detail and **avoids long answers, ambiguous answers, long evaluation time, partial marking, unnecessary bargaining for marks by students, etc.**
But some of my colleagues and faculty are saying that it is similar to multiple choice questions and fill in the blank questions, which are not recommended for major exams, which need long answers. I am confused, but strongly want to give answers of type 2 (single line answers).
**Assume that there is no copying during exams.**<issue_comment>username_1: The best option is Github I believe. But it pretty much depends on what do you use for writing papers? Do you use LaTeX or other typing softwares like Microsoft Word or LibreOffice which is the free and open source cousin of Microsoft Word. If you use LaTeX, which I recommend it personally and probably many other people here too, you could create a repository in Github and put your tex files as well as bibliography files and then simply you could share that repository among your collaborators. The reason why I like LaTeX instead of using Microsoft Word is that tex files by themselves are human readable files in comparison to binary .doc files. As a result, you could track and maintain your version control for your paper like a code. Otherwise it's not easy and trivial to track binary files (e.g. .doc files) by Github or other version control softwares (e.g. [Data Version Control (DVC)](https://dvc.org/)) Also, it is possible to link that repository to [OverLeaf](https://www.overleaf.com) and that makes sharing/writing much easier. But for more accurate solution in order to fulfill your needs you need to mention what is your main writing software for preparing papers.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Our lab uses Box, largely because our institution has purchased a license for it.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as an ideal solution, but one advantage is that it saves a history of past versions, so if two people make edits at the same time at least you can go and get the prior version to merge them, though it doesn't make this obvious or 'automatic' the way a git-based solution would.
You can also lock files while you are editing them, but it's not particularly obvious and it requires people to actually manually lock the files, which I find people don't usually follow through with.
Outside the lab, I mostly do collaborative efforts (that are documents rather than code) with shared Google docs.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: In my experience, the important part of writing things jointly is to give everyone the time and space to write at their own pace. This means that one of the most awkward things to do is to send around a single word document to which everyone then adds a version number. That's because this mode means that only one person can write at any given time -- independent of whether that person has the time to do that right now, or whether someone else actually just had a good idea worth putting into the document. It also inevitably leads to situations where someone edits an older version and then some poor soul has to figure out what the changes were and port them forward to the current version -- further blocking everyone else's progress.
So whatever mode you adopt, make sure you have a way to ensure that everyone can write whenever they want. MS Word documents just don't allow for that, but that's not a problem: There are many other ways you can use, and in some of these cases the final version can be converted either into MS Word, or into another format that can then be submitted to whomever needs to get the document in the end. Examples that I have used in the past are:
* For things that don't require extensive formulas, just use a Google Document. Everyone can add and edit whenever they want to add and edit, including concurrently while someone else is working on another section. The final version can then be exported in MS Word, OpenOffice document, or PDF format.
* If you need formulas but don't know latex, just use Overleaf.com. Again, everyone can add and edit whenever they want and concurrently if necessary. The end result can be exported as PDF.
* If you know latex, you can also just work on the plain latex files and share them via github. Github has mechanisms to resolve conflicts if several people started writing at the same time, starting from the same version, but commit them at different times.
Of these options, github is probably the most awkward mechanism because your changes are not recorded immediately, but only when you upload them (possibly causing conflicts with changes others have made). The advantages are that you can work offline, and that you retain a perfect version history if you ever need to find out who wrote which line. The latter seems to rarely be a concern when writing papers, proposals, presentations. The former is a concern, but is becoming less of one as everyone tends to be online all the time these days.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: As a researcher in CS, I give often presentations, where I always ask about the feedback from my colleagues. I personally don't like to put equations in my slides because I believe that nobody will have enough time to read the understand the equation (especially because in CS the equation is a tool to solve the problem and not the heart of the topic). Instead, I enrich the slides with intuitive figures and demonstrations. I've heard some professors encouraging the same approach, but in my current group, my professor and my colleagues believe that equations illustrate the complexity of the method and we should put them.
I don't think this is a question of preference, therefore, I would like to have more opinions about putting or not putting equations in presentation slides and why.<issue_comment>username_1: Ultimately, it boils down to a question *why* people do presentations. In your text I see two reasons:
* presentation is the way to explain your research and results to others;
* presentation is the way to show other how complex is your research and how difficult was it to obtain and understand the results.
People who are mostly inspired by the latter tend to show how much they know about the subject.
People who have mostly the first motivation think about how much their audience will learn about the subject.
I personally believe that the success of the presentation (or a class) is measured not by how much you told, but how much the audience received from you. So I side with your approach — keep long formulas to papers and only use short equations and a lot of visuals in your slides.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I find that in addition to other concerns, the time spent per slide is a significant factor. For example, some people zip through a slide every minute or two: obviously that's two fast for anyone to digest a complicated equation. On the other end of the spectrum, conceivably one could give a presentation with one fixed slide showing for the entire talk, and this would be a fine strategy for highlighting one particular equation which is the focus.
Using slides in my lecture courses, the ideal situation is to have a theorem/equation on a slide and then also some exercises, so that everyone is viewing/reflecting on it for an extended time. In college algebra and below, I use just a single slide every 30 minutes, and that works out fine. That's not exactly your use case, but it highlights my point: the more time you're willing to spend on a particular slide, the more reasonable it is to be considering an equation on it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: You are starting from the wrong point if you are asking the question of whether to use formulas in isolation.
When you write a presentation, a paper, a proposal, an expose, or anything else, here are two questions you should ask yourself:
* Who is my audience? What is their prior knowledge? Why are they there and what are their motivations for attending/reading? What do *they* want to take away from you provide them with?
* What is my own motivation? Do I want to teach them something new? Do I want to illustrate how smart I am? Do I want to give an overview of a field that everyone in the audience should understand, or do I want to impress a few key people?
If you have answers to these questions, then (and only then) should you start writing. You will find that, maybe unsurprisingly, the question of whether to use formulas will have different answers depending on your audience and what you want to achieve. If you are giving a job talk and you want to provide depth to your talk, then formulas are probably a fine approach. If you are giving a department colloquium that should have broad appeal to grad students and professors alike, then maybe using words instead of formulas is the better approach.
The point is: It all depends -- on the audience and what you want to achieve.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: I teach in a mathematical field (statistics) and I always encourage my students to minimise equations in their presentations, and never present equations that they are not going to go through and explain clearly to the audience. Sometimes basic equations showing your model form are useful, but sometimes you can give an explanation without the aid of mathematics. In any case, you should only show equations *if they assist the audience in understanding your work*, and if you are willing to take time in your presentation to go through each equation and explain it.
Including mathematical equations in a presentation solely to "show the complexity of the research" (i.e., show off) is academic masturbation. It bamboozles the audience for the purpose of aggrandising the speaker. Don't do it --- push back on their suggestion to the contrary.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I struggle with this question myself. This is not a philosophical answer, but two practical tips that might be of use for making presentations in LaTeX:
* It is quite easy to make buttons that link to another slide (for Beamer, see end of [this page](https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Beamer_Presentations:_A_Tutorial_for_Beginners_(Part_3)%E2%80%94Blocks,_Code,_Hyperlinks_and_Buttons); I believe also possible in PowerPoint). So, you can make high-level slides and add a button called "details" that links to an equation slide. That way, if someone wants the technical background, it is easy to reference and pull up. I think this is a way to show you are prepared for detailed questions without having to cover all the math.
* When I do include equations, I like to use `\underbrace` and `\overbrace` to write in words what the different parts of the equation mean [like so](https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/30090/how-can-i-get-text-underneath-an-underbrace). This could make it easier to follow, particularly if people get confused by the notation.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I submitted my paper in IEEE Transcations of XXX and got a rejection. But the comments were really helpful and has helped me a lot in improving the paper. But, unfortunately, I cannot resubmit that paper to this same journal again and now I am looking for another journal.
I am writing a proper response again every comment and thinking to submit the response letter as part of the submission to the new journal. The basic idea is to let the reviewers know that this paper has been reviewed (by reviewers of another journal) and improvements has been made. Will it somehow improve the chances of acceptance. (as I am in the final stages of my PhD now)
What does the community say?<issue_comment>username_1: I wouldn't do that, actually. Use the comments of the reviewers of the first journal to improve the paper as usual. Simply submit the revised paper to the other journal.
It is actually better that they look at it with a fresh viewpoint, rather than having their view possibly clouded by the opinions of others. Let your paper stand on its own.
You will get additional comments, of course. Hopefully they will also help you improve it further.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Don't do this. What'd you actually highlight would be:
* Your paper has been rejected by another journal before (not a good sign; think of it as "if we publish it now, we're actually publishing another journal's rejects, and we're supposed to be a good journal!!")
* You're not acting professionally. It seems like you've simply taken your submission to another journal and submitted it to ours, *without* having edited it to fit our requirements. If e.g. your cover letter also says "to the editor of journal A" and we're not journal A, your submission would be in trouble.
* We can't use the original journal's reviewer comments & your responses. We don't know who the reviewers are. We can't tell if the reports are legitimate. We can't see if confidential comments were submitted.
Let your paper stand on itself, and don't send additional package with it.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Depending on the field, your approach might be beneficial.
1. If the pool of potential reviewers is small, a reviewer might reject a paper he already rejected for the IEEE Transaction of XXX without having a closer look.
2. The editor can scan through the comments from the last review process and estimate how far your paper is from getting published. If the review does not request very major revisions, it might help you.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: Keep this very clearly in mind: **The referee reports from your initial submission should be considered, by default, as confidential communications between you and the initial journal. You cannot send them to the new journal without explicit written authorization from the editor of the initial journal.**
(This isn't *quite* a hard-and-fast, always-the-case standing imperative, but you should think very carefully about how and why you break the confidentiality of referee reports, and you should read carefully any statements by the initial journal regarding confidentiality. If the journal tells you that reports to are confidential, you break that, and they find out, they won't be pleased and you'll have a rather harder time the next time you submit to them, if nothing else. And there's a nontrivial chance that the new journal will be less than impressed by the breaking of confidentiality.)
Thus, you should weigh very carefully just how much useful information you can transmit in a response when you're not allowed to quote the comment that you're responding to. In principle it might be possible to broadly describe the types of concerns that were raised and then go on to talk about how you've edited the manuscript to fix those, but that letter just isn't going to be very effective.
All of which, of course, is over-ridden by the fact that this is a terrible idea to begin with, as already explained by username_1 and username_2. If the initial submission's reports were useful in pointing out flaws in the manuscript, then by all means fix them *in the manuscript*.
(In particular, if the reviewer pool for your topic is small and the new journal independently selects the same referees -- by no means an uncommon occurrence -- then those referees will be pleased to see that you've addressed their previous concerns. It happens with some frequency that referees will reject a paper on journal A and then get contacted by journal B to referee an unchanged manuscript; nothing spells death on a journal submission quite like that.)
Remember: the reviewers are part of the audience for your paper; in fact, they're the *only* members of your paper's audience that have both an explicit incentive to read your paper carefully and care about its contents and correctness, together with the opportunity to communicate all of their concerns to you. If there are parts of the paper where they didn't understand, or where they raised arguments which you would like to engage with, then address that *in the text of the manuscript itself*, where it will be available to the future readers who, like your reviewers, are likely to have similar concerns. Shifting those responses to a cover letter where they will be invisible to your audience does your readers a disservice.
Upvotes: 4
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2018/10/17
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<issue_start>username_0: Generally speaking, peer reviewed journals will not publish research on human subjects that did not receive IRB approval.
If a study was done *without* the proper IRB approval, but the study itself was ethical and clearly *would* have passed IRB approval if it had been properly submitted, is it generally possible to get a post-facto IRB approval that is sufficient to publish in most journals, or is the work forever "tainted"? Is the fact that post-facto IRB approval is not often considered an option because it literally *isn't* allowed, or because research conducted without IRB approval almost always contains ethical infirmities that would have prevented IRB approval from the start? In other words, is the requirement to obtain IRB approval truly a "You absolutely *must* have *prior* IRB approval", or is it *really* more like "You absolutely *must* not conduct research unethically, and obtaining prior IRB approval is part of Best Practices in accomplishing this, because nearly all proposals that you or I might come up with are actually unethical and we need the wisdom of the IRB to show us the light and put us on the right path. If you forgo prior approval, you are wading in crocodile-infested waters, and you will have no one to blame but yourself, not the IRB, not your mom, not your advisor, but only you yourself, if you get your leg bitten off"?
To be clear, I'm not asking whether it is possible to "whitewash" unethical research to make it look like no one was harmed when in fact people were harmed, but about institutional procedural violations in otherwise ethical research. I am well aware that one of the primary *reasons* for seeking prior IRB approval (other than because journals expect it) is to avoid committing unethical acts, so for the purpose of this question, assume that the researchers either just get lucky or are just so competent in ethical practice that their actual research demonstrates sublime virtue (just without IRB approval).
**Clarification**: Some people have seen fit to warn me that I am in danger of losing my job. *I am not currently facing this issue*. I'm simply curious as to what *would* happen or what *typically* happens in cases like these - that is, whether there are Best Practices on how to mitigate the fallout or even how serious it truly is - whether this is more of a "Calm down, it happens all the time, all you have to do is write an apology letter, sit through a five hour 'naughty, naughty bad boy, sit in the corner' lecture, be ritually spanked on the rear by your department head or the Dean, accept a 5% penalty pay cut for six months, and go through a retrospective IRB review." or a "Your career is doomed, don't dream of ever teaching or doing research ever again, you will be lucky if you ever find work cleaning floors."<issue_comment>username_1: As username_3 has noted, publication is the least of one's worries in that particular context - you're talking about the kind of thing that people get fired for.
There's really no mechanism for "Oh, we totally *would* have approved this" post-hoc IRB approval. Indeed, there's an argument to be made that conducting the research *without* an IRB approval is inherently ethically suspect - in the same way that driving without a seatbelt on isn't only dangerous if you get in a car wreck. You are skipping the step meant to protect study subjects. That alone is a risk.
At this point in your scenario, the only real option is to seek the guidance of the IRB, and see what paths are available. This is absolutely one of those "This gets worse the longer it goes" situations.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: The human research ethics committee is in place to ensure that human research is undertaken in a way that safeguards the dignity, rights, health, safety and privacy of those involved. This assessment is difficult to make by the investigator because he or she has a vested interest in proceeding. Thus, an independent body is required.
In the institutions in which I've been involved, conducting human research without ethical review is, quite simply, research misconduct and subject to investigations and disciplinary actions. *A priori* ethical review is required. Regulations are in place that specifically disallow approval of research that has already been conducted.
I've been a member of institutional review boards and have chaired three -- one based in a hospital and two in research-intensive universities. I've been involved in these investigations in the past. As the original poster implies, most are found at the point in which the journal requires evidence from the IRB and the author quickly shoot an email to the office requesting one. In these investigations, it is often the case that there is a lack of training in the expectations and regulations of human research and offenders usually fall in three categories:
* inexperienced researchers, including students (often poorly supervised) or practitioners with no research training
* researchers trained "elsewhere", including those from countries with little to no requirements for ethical review
* researchers from fields that don't usually involve human subjects
My worst case was a person from an electrical engineering background who collected data on body image for an app he was developing. During these sessions, the person gave advice that drove one participant to self harm. During the investigation, the offender did not think that ethical review was necessary because the questions were "innocuous (his term)".
As I said, in most cases the consequences are far less severe than this. For example, a common scenario is a young doctor who collects information from patient files, performs a few statistical tests and write up the results of this audit and sends the publication to a journal that then requests evidence of IRB approval. In cases like this, IRB approval *is not* provided and the doctor is placed under supervision.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: The main purpose of an IRB is to protect human *research* subjects. If you are doing research, even a seemingly harmless questionnaire needs approval. If you are not doing research, you can give humans that same questionnaire (and a lot worse). IRBs do not have a role in the use of humans in improving "process".
If you want to make your students happy, a department can give a questionnaire, swap out the water cooler with coffee and sugar and heavy metal music, repeat the questionnaire, then swap out with decaf coffee, artificial sweeteners, and classical music, and repeat the questionnaire again. This is a lot like a research project with key differences often being the lack of a randomized control group.
Under the guise of improved process, you can get away with a lot of things as long as you do not violate any laws or OSHA regulations. Companies do in house marketing studies all the time (do people like red or green or sweet or savory food, is this device too loud/quiet). As it is not research, it does not fall under the remit of an IRB.
Sometimes the data collected during this *process* evaluation look publishable. You might be able to publish them straight up, sometimes a journal will ask for IRB approval. In this case an IRB might grant you approval for a retrospective study. If the data however are deidentified, do not include any PHI/PII or biological, it might not be considered human use, and therefore the IRB would not have a role to play. The IRB might also decide that your process evaluation was in fact research. At that point they may decide you engaged in research misconduct. If that is the case, you could be in for a world of hurt.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Many US journals demand a statement to the effect of "This research was conducted under the ethical principles of the Belmont Report", and European journals would ask for adherence to the Declaration of Helsinki. At the very least, Journals often ask for the name of the IRB, and IRB's hold to Belmont or Helsinki standards for medical research.
My understanding is that both guidelines require outside review before you "do stuff" to human subjects, and that if the outside review was not conducted, you don't meet the guidelines. You can't just go to the IRB for a do-over -- the violation has already happened.
I recommend a conversation with your IRB. There will be grey areas. I know one facility that required IRB review for beta testing software (!!!!!) but most IRBs would scoff at the idea.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: This could *possibly* happen when data collected for internal use is repurposed as part of a research study.
Institutional Review Boards are supposed to oversee *research* involving human subjects. Per [45 CFR §46.102](https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?m=10&d=12&y=2018&cd=20181012&submit=GO&SID=e0cdeb93287085ad6a33e8aca4a4ca57&node=pt45.1.46&pd=20181003#se45.1.46_1102), the relevant regulation in the US, defines research as:
>
> (l) Research means a systematic investigation, including research
> development, testing, and evaluation, designed to develop or
> contribute to generalizable knowledge
>
>
>
The "generalizable" part means that organizations can collect data that might otherwise be covered *if it's part of their regular operations.* For example, a hospital might track post-operative infections by operating theatre for quality control. They could use this data to determine if staff need to be retrained, or if a specific operating room might be colonized with some bacteria. The critical point is that this information is specific to a particular place, surgical team, etc.
If you had a lot of this data, you might try to make more general statements. For example, you might want to build a regression model that predicts surgical outcomes so that you could argue that *this* type of surgical team, or *that* cleaning procedure should be used more wildly. *This crosses the line into a research activity and needs IRB approval.* Likewise, if the data isn't already being collected, you'll need IRB approval to start collecting it.
Nevertheless, you can request IRB approval to examine any existing records. This can be done after the records have already been collected for their non-research purpose, but should be done before starting the research part of the project.
This is the only example I can think of where an IRB retroactively "blesses" the use of previously collected. There are also some categories of "Exempt Research" per [45 CFR §46.104.](https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?m=10&d=12&y=2018&cd=20181012&submit=GO&SID=e0cdeb93287085ad6a33e8aca4a4ca57&node=pt45.1.46&pd=20181003#se45.1.46_1104) However, our IRB--and I think this is pretty standard--claims that the IRB itself needs to determine that a proposed project matches one of those categories; you can't just opt yourself out.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: There is a lot of misinformation in the answers and comments on this page, so I would advise the OP and other readers to be cautious about accepting anything on the page (including my own answer) as accurate. Ask an IRB or research ethics professional. An honest one will direct you to a specific federal regulation, OHRP or SACHRP guidance document, or principle from an accepted code of ethics (Belmont Principles, Declaration of Helsinki, etc.) OR admit not knowing or not being sure of the specific citation. For example, one commenter states, "Announced 2018, and phasing in by early 2019, the rules were changed by HHS so that PIs can self determine for certain exemptions." This is patently false. HHS made no such change.
Federal regulations did not before the revisions to the Common Rule, and do not now,
>
> specify who at an institution may determine that research is exempt
> under 45 CFR 46.101(b). However, OHRP recommends that, because of the
> potential for conflict of interest, investigators not be given the
> authority to make an independent determination that human subjects
> research is exempt.
>
>
>
Specifying who has authority to make such determinations is thus left up to institutions. The vast majority of IRBs do not allow investigators to make this determination.
Similarly, the regulations do not provide an exhaustive list of what penalties to impose for a failure to submit a protocol to the IRB *before* conducting human subjects research. I'm not sure they provide any list at all (and it's difficult to provide a citation for what doesn't exist), though, if memory serves, for research conducted or supported by a federal department, they *do have* reporting requirements (to that department and/or the OHRP) for serious or continuing noncompliance and in some circumstances this topic falls under that category. Again, the specific corrections and penalties are left to the discretion of the institution (except in cases in which reporting to the OHRP is required and the OHRP requires suspension or cessation of research activity). Institutions commonly employ a number of sanctions, varying in severity, e.g., requiring re-consenting or re-contacting to get consent, blocking funding, requiring remedial training for the protection of human subjects, suspension of that research or all research by that PI, refusing to accept theses or dissertations (for students) based on that research, etc.
Again, don't rely on my answer, check my citations and check with an IRB or research ethics professional, preferably one at your institution. You might also try looking for answers on IRB Forum or SBER Network, two discussion communities on PRIM&R's website. They require registration on the site, but I believe they are free. Many of the posters are experienced professionals.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: [Choosing your research area](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5579/choosing-your-research-area)
Relevant and adding to that.
I am planning to pursue a PhD (currently at masters) and have many research interests. Some of my interests are more attainable and my knowledge in the domain is good enough to make contributions and publish papers and get a PhD faster than usual. However I feel that those research areas have small impact as compared to other and makes me not want to dedicate a significant amount of time to something I know will probably impact a very small slice of the pie.
Other research interests I don't know as much about, or what I know is from a class settings. Some of those interests I didn't enjoy working on in the past as part of my courses but I am still considering a PhD on them. Mostly because they can have a much larger scientific impact.
My main motivation for doing a PhD is the scientific impact that my research can have and how I can help solve problems that can have some sort of application.
Research Interests Include:
AI, Reinforcement Learning, Machine Learning with specific applications in Software Engineering and/or Social Networks, Robotics, Motion
**So here are my questions:**
* Is it acceptable to apply for a PhD program that I know not as much about but am willing to learn?
* How would it reflect on a PhD program application diverse research interest topics with more than a handful faculty?
* What should be my main motivation behind choosing a topic?
* What questions should I be asking to narrow down my interests?<issue_comment>username_1: Essentially, your supervisor pays for your PhD from their limited funding. So you need to publish quality papers as soon as you can. They are not interested in your interests generally but their own.
You have to find out what drives you and then search for the right supervisor/research group. There is no established algorithm for finding your inner voice. I would say that you are not interested in a PhD program at this point for the right reasons; and since I don't know the first thing about you, I could be totally wrong. It would be better to go work in the industry of your choice to help focus your thoughts.
You need more time.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: If you have a relatively open set of research interests, I would focus much more on finding an advisor who you believe you will get along well with on a personal level. "Success" (which is admittedly an ambiguous term) in a PhD often matters much less on *what* you are studying specifically and much more on how engaged and dedicated you are to the research process as a whole. It is very difficult to be engaged in research on a topic you love, but with an advisor you despise.
I would not be too worried about getting trapped in a certain research field long term. You doctoral work is a relatively short portion of your research career as a whole. I have already changed my research focus twice in my career (MS was one topic, PhD was another, full-time employment is yet another). And I still have three plus decades of research to go (so my research career is still young). I did what work my advisor was interested in, put my own flavor into it, then changed my focus as necessary in my employment.
As for your research making an impact, understand that *very, very, very* few doctoral researchers make a ground breaking impact as a PhD student. Most PhD researchers go their whole career in fact and only impact "a very small slice of the pie." That is how research is modernly. You can make an impact in any of the research fields you listed. Don't sell yourself short of course, but also be aware that most people with PhDs do not in and of themselves change the world.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: University retired researchers often get privileges to use Libraries etc. When a retired member uses the university library for research are they obliged to mention the university affiliation in subsequent publications?<issue_comment>username_1: TL;DR. A retired member of staff should **use any affiliation assigned by their previous employer**. If no affiliation has been assigned, then they should ask their previous employer.
---
>
> University retired researchers often get privileges to use Libraries etc.
>
>
>
Such privileges are presumably associated with a title: Universities generally control access to resources (such as libraries), hence, some form of access token is required and that token must be associated with an owner. The owner is typically affiliated with the university in some way, which merits a title. Some titles aren't sufficiently formal (e.g., graduand) to merit affiliation, others are.
>
> When a retired member uses the university library for research are
> they obliged to mention the university affiliation in subsequent
> publications?
>
>
>
If the university has assigned the retired member a (sufficiently formal) title, then that title should be used. Otherwise, it is unclear whether the university considers the retired member to be affiliated with the university, hence, claiming affiliation would be misleading. I'd recommend asking the university in this case.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: One can be affiliated as an independent researcher and acknowledge the usage of university library.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Thats the question. I'm writing a paper in Spanish and I need to cite (APA) several citations in Spanish of books written in English that doesn't have translated versions. My reviewer is telling me that I need to be explicit about it but I don't now how to do it. Should I write "Name (2001, translated by me)"?
I have it clear for the reference, put it on brackets with my translation, but I don't know how to do it in text.
Any help is greatly appreciated.<issue_comment>username_1: Your suggestion "Name (2001, translated by me)" seems good to me. Or else "Name (2001)" and then include translation information in the reference.
However, in a formal paper you would not say "translated by me". Maybe "translated by the author" or "translated by AB" your initials, or even "translated by <NAME>" your name.
If there are several of your translations in the paper, maybe say once at the beginning: "Translations are by AB, unless otherwise attributed".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Here's what blog.apastyle says (<https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2014/11/lost-in-translation-citing-your-own-translations-in-apa-style.html>), and it sounds reasonable:
>
> Luckily, the solution is quite simple: If you translated a passage
> from one language into another it is considered a paraphrase, not a
> direct quotation. Thus, to cite your translated material, all you need
> to do is include the author and date of the material in the in-text
> citation. We recommend (but do not require) that you also include the
> page number in the citation, because this will help any readers who do
> speak French to find the translated passage in the original. You
> should not use quotation marks around the material you translated, and
> you do not need to use the words “my translation” or anything like
> that.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: Last year, I submitted a post-doctoral fellowship application but didn't get it. This year, I thought about submitting basically the same research statement; slightly updated and refined, but having the same project in mind.
My thoughts are that my improved track record this year, and having two letters of invitations to top universities, which I didn't yet have last year, would make the difference.
Is it a reasonable/ethical/smart strategy?<issue_comment>username_1: Submitting a rejected proposal to the same funding agency is rarely a good idea. It has already been rejected for a reason and it was not revised to solve the issues why it was rejected, so it's not likely to be successful again. Funding agencies often have a "[3 strikes and out](https://epsrc.ukri.org/funding/applicationprocess/basics/resubpol/rua/)" rule saying that after 3 unsuccessful proposals you have to take a cooling-off period and use it to improve the quality of your research/applications rather than keep bombarding the agency with low-quality proposals.
Quite often the funding bodies also have a specific rule saying you [can't resubmit unsuccessful proposals](https://epsrc.ukri.org/index.cfm/funding/applicationprocess/preparing/preparingnewproposals/) at all. Sometimes this even include proposals being rejected from other agencies. This is necessary to reduce the burden on their peer review panel.
Of course, it is always very frustrating when your good application is turned down. Naturally, you want to reuse it at least partly. I recommend you to check the rules of your funding agency to make sure this is allowed and won't backfire you.
Good luck.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I did exactly this and was successful, but I'm going to recommend against it. In my situation, I submitted essentially the same project to roughly the same range of funding bodies two years in a row. In the second year, I tweaked my proposal, I had more publications, I had a stronger CV, and I finally had my proposal accepted re-applying for a very competitive fellowship. However, I also got flat rejected from all other fellowships to which I re-applied (including those that longlisted me in the first round).
In my situation, what little feedback I received from rejections universally stressed that the project was strong but that I needed more publications to appear a suitably reliable candidate. I had only one publication for my first round of applications, but 3-4 for the second year. For the fellowship I received, the initial rejection basically said they thought the project ought to be funded but that they lacked enough funds that year and waitlisted me. I didn't get it in the end, but then when reapplying next year I was successful. As mentioned, I wasn't even longlisted for the other fellowships to which I re-applied, three of which had listed me in the first round.
It seems this will be field-dependent (I'm in the humanities) but will, as noted, depend most on the funding body. The instutition at which I finally won the fellowship was very invested in the project and wanted me to resubmit the same thing. Everywhere else was mildly interested at best.
To conclude, I'd recommend against doing this unless you have a solid reason to believe the same funding agency is likely to accept a project they rejected the first time. Having lots more publications, though helpful, is unfortunately not enough on its own.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: When I was a master student I worked in a PhD proposal with my master's supervisor. I applied with that proposal to obtain a scholarship from the university, however because I did not get the scholarship, and she didn't have money for paying the research expenses for the study I couldn't pursue the project.
Recently, checking the university page of my former supervisor, I saw advertised the same proposal I wrote and submitted for the scholarship application, exactly with the same words, same theoretical framework, same research questions, etc., she did not change a thing, and she is now advertising it as a "possible PhD project" for a new student that would like to apply for it (and probably get the money we needed for the research). Is that considered as stealing work? Can I report her somehow? I wrote all the proposal with constant feedback from her so I don't know if that gives her full authorship of it?<issue_comment>username_1: It was a proposal, not a publication. The ethics would depend at least a bit on how much she contributed to the effort. But it isn't necessary for her to leave the research undone if you have gone away and she participated. She can certainly follow up on it, even with another student. It would really only be unethical if you brought the proposal to her, relatively complete. In would have been better had she contacted you before proceeding, of course. I don't know if that was possible.
But if you are still in academia, you might be able to get back into this research, even if not as her student. You need to contact her with a request to participate, reminding her of your earlier work on the proposal. You might be able to achieve an authorship position, provided that you continue to contribute. But your past work probably won't be enough.
Note that I'm basing this on the fact that a proposal for research isn't the same as the research being completed. It is a proposal to study something. It is primarily an *idea* that might go somewhere.
If you can't participate, for whatever reason, you might still be able to get an acknowledgement in whatever results from the idea. You have to ask, of course.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Depends. Did the submission form say they owned the proposal you submitted? (This is common in consulting).
If you are feeling unkind, publish the proposal online someplace, RIGHT NOW, and call them out for plagiarism if/when the proposal gets used.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: You say you "wrote it with constant feedback from her" which means that intellectual ownership is difficult to disentangle. It is quite possible that s/he *totally* stole your ideas and there is nothing you can do about it. It is also possible that all the sensible bits resided in fact in *their* feedback and that you are a being bit big-headed about your contribution. But this kind of theft is extremely common in academia so do not think that I choose their side by default. However, that *is* what the system will do.
Now, things could be a little bit different if it was all your writing that now appears word for word on their website. Then you could write to their head of department. Who is still very likely to say "Tut tut, it seems Dr so and so has been a bit naughty. My, my. Now run along now little one."
Don't think I am being cynical or blasé. I am just trying to spare you any further heartbreak. Academia is where the politics are the most vicious, because the stakes are so low.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I'd want to get perspective on what I feel is an unjustified case of academic misconduct.
I am taking a mathematics subject and part of my assignment was to submit answers to questions given.
One of the questions I was unsure of what method I should apply, I searched on youtube and found tutorials on how to solve this problem. I should make it explicit the **direct answer** was not part of the video, however, using the same method I could substitute my values and get the correct answer.
I may be accused of plagiarism and apparently, my use of the video was unfair and plagiarism. I suspect it's because I used the same symbols which in retrospect I could have, should have changed however I still feel this is unjustified and comparable to applying the chain rule or any other mathematical principle taught through the increasingly powerful use of the internet.
Do you think there are ground to challenge this? I thought I was doing my due diligence sourcing methods, not direct answers.
Do you think this fair?<issue_comment>username_1: Whatever it was, it wasn't plagiarism. Whether it was within the rules set by your professor is another question. But, assuming that the rules permitted online research to answer the question, then that is all you did. You will have to judge conformance to the rules of your course.
If someone has accused you of plagiarism they are probably using the word incorrectly. That doesn't mean, of course, that you aren't without fault. That is for you and others to judge.
Using the same symbols in mathematics can hardly be faulted in any case, as many of them are standardized and used in the same way throughout mathematics. They might, however, have been a tip-off that you went outside the allowed bounds.
But, for your own educational progress, I hope you don't go to the web too soon to get such questions answered. Struggling with a problem expands your mind in a way very different from finding a solution or a solution framework. If you want to be a mathematician, you need to develop that skill.
Note that exercises given in almost every course, aren't given for the purpose of finding an answer. The professor already has the answer. The purpose is to help you grow your mental abilities. Work on the hard problems. If you want to learn more, work on harder problems.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> ...I was unsure of what method I should apply, I searched on youtube and found tutorials on how to solve this problem...using the same method I could substitute my values and get the correct answer.
>
>
>
That is not plagiarism, that is learning: You were given a problem, you found a method that could be used to solve your problem, and you applied the method to your problem. That's exactly how we learn.
By analogy, suppose I'm asked to find the area of a circle, but I don't know how. So, I search the internet and discover that the area of a circle is π·r2. Now I'm able to apply what I've learnt to solve the problem (assuming I know the radius *r* or diameter *2·r*). That's how we learn, that's not plagiarism.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: I concur with @username_2 's answer. What you did was fine, unless the assignment specified "don't look anything up".
I think what you should have done was include in your submission exactly what you told us here:
>
> I was unsure of what method I should apply, I searched on youtube and
> found tutorials on how to solve this problem.
>
>
>
with a reference to the link that helped you.
Had you done so the worst case would be an accusation that you misinterpreted the rules (which may not have been clearly stated), not that you cheated in any way.
This is what I provide my students for guidance: <https://www.cs.umb.edu/~eb/honesty/>
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> I suspect it's because I used the same symbols which in retrospect I could have, should have changed
>
>
>
This may well be the case. And I can understand the attitude behind it.
It is one thing to find an alternative source to teach you what you need, learn from it and apply what you've learned to a given task. This is perfectly fine (most of the time).
However, looking up the solution to your task, *copying* it, only putting in different numbers, and handing that in as your own work will look much more inacceptable.
No, you should *not* have just changed the symbols! That can be seen as an attempt to cover your 'plagiarism'.
What you should do in the future is:
If you find (part of) a solution to your task in some literature, pick it up and *understand* it. (That's *not* to *memorize* it!)
Then put aside that literature and with your acquired understanding solve the task manually. This will help you avoid the accusations of plagiarism (no guarantee, depending on how much the source's solution differs from what you're expected to provide) and at the same time help you learn the required/requested skills *and* prove that you've done so.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a teacher assistant for a big course and I am expected to conduct weekly quizzes. Last week, my bag containing a week's worth of quizzes got stolen. My question is what should I tell my students and is there a fair way to make it up to them?<issue_comment>username_1: Oops - that doesn't sound good. You should definitely report it to your administration and maybe there are established procedures for such cases.
Furthermore, you should not re-use any of the questions in this test in this or later courses.
One could assume, that one of the students stole the bag to avoid a bad grade, but I would recommend to assume some random person stole it - it helps in keeping a good relationship to your students.
To come to your relevant question: Is there a fair way to make it up to them? - Maybe not. If you just don't count the test, a good result of student A would not count towards the final grade. On the other hand, if you force them to repeat the test, student A might perform worse then before, and student B might perform better - which would be unfair as well.
I would do the following: Tell the students about the situation. Tell them, if the bag returns (maybe the thief throws the exams away since they are worthless), wou will return the results as soon as possible. Otherwise, don't include the test in the final grade.
If you want to give a bonus: Offer them that they *may* repeat the test if they want, but if they don't, it just does not count.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Report it to the police. Report it to the department.
You don't have anything that requires making up to the students. Of course you should be fair to them and not let this hurt them (e.g., no grade for this quiz, but allow students to take an optional alternative assignment to take its place).
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_3: Not had a bag stolen, but lost a quiz (online system), best thing is tell the students directly that it happened and you will deal with the grades appropriately.
What is "appropriate" may need to be checked with the dept. head etc but once the students know you are on the case and are fair to all, it works out fine...
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: 1. Report it to the department.
2. Show regret for what happened to the students.
3. Use e-learning platforms to deliver and store the quizzes in the future.
You don’t do much harm to collect one less data point on their score - unless there is a very small number of quizzes - all it does is to reduce the variability of the scores.
In other words, a bad student can make one or two very good quizzes, not ten. (Say you have ten quizzes. If you loose one the precision of your algorithm is reduced by sqrt(10/9) that is almost nothing).
Be empathetic with the students. The students pur their own time in the quiz, and will feel cheated because their effort vanished in the wind. All you can do now is to explain what happened and apologise to them.
For the future, you should consider delivering quizzes using e-learning platform so that you can always retrieve a digital copy. Many platforms offer the ability to deliver quizzes that involve computations as well. Also, you can automate the grading, thus saving you lots of time and reducing subjective bias.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: As an undergraduate I had a professor who kept a rather messy office, with papers piled everywhere. One day he came into lecture looking quite embarrassed. It was a day to turn back the graded homework from the previous week.
Well, it turns out that his desk was so messy that the only 'open' place to put the pile of graded homework to give back to us was to stack it on the edge of his office trash can. You can guess what happened - yup, the helpful janitor folk came by and took out the trash, including the stack of homework.
He took the blame (and a little ribbing), and gave us all an A for the assignment. He also cleaned up his office a bit...
In your case, it isn't your fault, but I would just punt on the quiz and give everyone either an A, or don't count it.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_6: I would let them know the truth of what happened, give everyone an A on that assignment/quiz, but try to push your Professor/Teacher to put a question or two from that missing quiz on the midterm/final.
This provides another opportunity for the students who actually studied the material a chance to showcase their knowledge, and they won't feel like they wasted their time learning that week's material.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: First and foremost, seek departmental advice. There is likely a procedure for this situation, either within the department or the institution as a whole.
Think about what you would want as a student, then balance that with what is fair to the people that studied hard for the quiz. A possible compromise could be to strike this test from the grading scheme, but offer students the option to complete an alternative examination on the topics covered, then mark them on the existing scheme. This would allow the students that feel that they have a strong grasp on this topic to prove it and earn a higher grade, and those that don't would be unaffected.
E.g. (Assumes 10 quizzes worth 10% each. All students have 80% on first 9 quizzes)
Student A declines optional test. 80% \* 9/9 = 80% final grade
Student B accepts optional test. Aces it (100%). 80% \* 9/10 + 100% \* 1/10 = 82% final grade
Student C accepts optional test. Only gets 50%. 80% \* 9/10 + 50% \* 1/10 = 77% final grade
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: This isn’t the students’ fault so they shouldn’t be penalized. There are many obvious non optimal options like disregard it completely or give 100% to all (not fair to those who prepared). A different option is to include 1 or 2 extra questions to your next exam or final exam, weighted slightly differently, the content of which comes from the quiz material.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: As others have commented, report it to the department/relevant authorities and seek guidance from them **before** making a decision or telling the students that the quizzes got stolen.
This is **not** your fault. Someone **stole** your bag. Even with extra extra precautions, there is always a chance that exams or important documents are stolen/lost.
Remember that quizzes/exams are methods to 1) Certify they have learned a given subject and (more importantly) 2) Give them feedback about their current knowledge of the subject. The first objective serves the contract between you and the university/society (you certify that students that pass know the material). The second objective serves the contract between you and your students (you help them learn). By giving them all full grades/not retesting them you are not complying with either.
If it were up to me, and the schedule allows for it, I'd definitely make the students retake the quiz or at least as @username_8 suggested include the material in another test/quiz.
I'd explain to them that quizzes/exams are samples of their knowledge. We usually don't retest students on material they have passed for efficiency's sake, but to do so is not unfair by any means.
If a student knew the material the first time you took the quiz, he should know it the second time and have no issues retaking the quiz. If a student didn't know it and now has extra time to study he may have an advantage wrt the first quiz, but you can't know that since you lost those samples. So the only fair way to deal with this is to make them retake the test.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: Back in school, I had a teacher who was somehow… beyond all things.
On year, at the end of the school year, he suddenly noticed he hadn't written any quizzes or whatsoever and he had no ground to take grades on.
So he quizzed the pupils one after the other and made some (AFAIR quite fair) grades in their answers.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_11: I would do it like this (beyond obviously reporting etc):
Give students an extra test that repeats the quiz (with new questions obviously). Tell them this test will not hurt their grade in any case, so they may safely skip it if they don't want to do it. Then score the test accordingly:
1. If the missing tests don't get found: the missing test gets considered as receiving average of all other tests. So, if the student had 80% average of all other tests, the missing test is scored 80%.
2. Now, give them better mark of the missing and extra test (actual score on the missing test if found, said average of pt1 if not found).
For example, one student might have received 80% on the old test and 90% on the new one - he gets 90%. Another got 90% on the old and 80% on the new - he also gets 90%.
I believe this is the fairest way you can do it, because:
You aren't giving 100% score for no reason, which wouldn't be fair to good students.
You aren't requiring people to retake the test - if they felt they are doing well enough, their score won't get worse if they don't.
Yet, if students want to, they can retake the test, where you are again making sure this extra effort isn't able to hurt their grade, even if they do really poor on the test.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_12: For your current problem, report it and omit it from the final grade. Rearrange weights if necessary.
For the future: My office copier had a "scan to email" function. I used to sometimes backup quizzes/exams to my email account. It took very little time, and prevented this issue and other potential cheating issues.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_13: There is a lot of information missing, therefore there is no Perfect Answer. There are way too many options what, how and why has happened to you. The level of how much did you screw this up is also very sensitive to your actual background.
Anyway, report it honestly to the professor in charge of this lecture. Report it to the department. Report it to the police.
If you act on your own and...
* **give all of them A** you "punnish" ones that prepared for the exam and deserved the A by putting them on the very same level with a slacker that just showed up. Maybe the theft was motivated by this equalisation and get "all As" from you was the purpose.
* **give another test** you allow them extra time to prepare compared to the ones whose test were not stolen. The extra time might be another purpose of the theft. The ones who learnt for that particullar day and forgot it a day after are also affected, because they have to re-learn it one more time. Personally I have no sentiment for such students.
* **write the test off** you change the rules on the fly.
Without the full knowledge of the professor, who is the one reponsible for the course, you commit a misconduct no matter what action you take.
On the other hand, in cooperation with the professor you can finish the courses with limitted harm to the students. I'd vote for assigning new test, if it is the only test in the course. If it is one part, I'd change the criterion from say 70 pts of 100 to 56 pts of 80 when the lost test had 20 pts total.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_14: The OP is "a teacher assistant for a big course". I don't know the policies for the OP's department, but it would be very unusual for a TA to be in charge of deciding how to handle grades in an exceptional situation.
The first thing to do, if not already done, is to report the theft to the police.
The second thing to do is to report it to the primary instructor for the course. They should decide what to do about grades, taking into account departmental policies.
Most of the advice in other answers would be good advice for the grading decision maker.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_15: If you want to "make it up" to the students, that's simple: Repeat the quiz with the exact same questions.
The reason: A good student would go through the questions after the quiz was taken in order to know all the answers, since all the quiz questions are questions that they should new. A less good student won't bother. So all your dedicated students who spent extra time on learning without expecting any advantage in grading will receive a nice bonus.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Many students have asked for a letter of recommendation to support their grad school applications at US universities. Most of them aim for business schools, but many also go for science.
Now, admission committees to American undergraduate programs consider not only the prospective student's school performance but also their "well-roundedness". But how does that matter for graduate programs? Should I appeal to that in a letter of recommendation and if yes, how should I do that? One student actually asked to write a letter that makes him appear more well-rounded.
How much does this weigh in for grad school admissions? Are there differences between scientific disciplines to consider?<issue_comment>username_1: Undergraduate institutions are interested in building a student body that will work well together and develop on many fronts simultaneously. They look at many things beyond academics, such as sports and various student organization activities. Socialization is a goal.
In graduate school the concerns are much narrower and more academically focused. However, at that level being well rounded can mean having fairly (or very) broad academic interests. At the doctoral level people specialize, but prior to that, universities expect that students will have a broad education that will support them if economic and political conditions change. In fields like Business, it seems obvious that having a background in History or Philosophy can be a help, both in the narrow and broad sense. But even in science and mathematics, knowing something outside the narrow field can help you do the technical work as well as help assure that you aren't leaving too much aside as your interests narrow. Such knowledge is also useful if some art or science needs to be applied.
So, if you are writing letters for graduate school, stressing *academic breadth* is a good thing, though of course, the student needs skills in the chosen field.
Upvotes: 1 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: **Why be well-rounded?**
Well-roundedness for undergraduates is partly about being adaptable and therefore prepared for a college education. Someone who both has good grades and also competes in athletics, holds a job, etc. has perhaps shown some experience in balancing their different responsibilities. Additionally, someone with a breadth of experience is more likely to *actually know what they want to do next* rather than sort of just blindly going with the flow.
**Usefulness of well-rounded experiences for potential graduate students**
I think this last part applies best to the appropriateness of well-roundedness for graduate school. Someone who has shown multiple interests and is now choosing to specialize one is probably making a more informed decision than someone who hasn't. As an example, if they've gathered experience in math, physics, and engineering and are now applying to a physics graduate program, they probably know physics is actually the field that excites them most. They also might carry in some extra skills that not everyone in their graduate program would have: programs in the biological sciences or business, for example, can really benefit from incoming students with quantitative or computational skills.
**Knowing what sort of recommendation letter to write**
As far as how to write recommendation letters, I would recommend *asking the student for some feedback.* Prospective students should have some idea of why they are asking certain people for recommendations; when I applied, I asked for one professor who taught me in courses on the history of science, completely outside my field of interest. I hoped to convey some breadth of experience by asking for that letter.
My other recommendations were from people more in my field and were better positioned to talk about my potential for research (which is still the most important thing in a graduate application). If those people had written about breadth instead of their opinions of my research potential in my field, they would look quite odd and probably not be helpful.
Upvotes: 1
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2018/10/17
| 728
| 3,416
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently finalizing my master's thesis and am working on the discussion and limitations part.
I did some relatively standard statistical tests on my data, which gave promising results. My supervisor suggested trying some machine learning to create a predictive model. While I did take a basic machine learning course during my master's, I am by no means an expert in this area.
Now, my machine learning model performed pretty okay. But, since I only know some basic machine learning, I'm sure better results might be achieved with other machine learning methods I have not tried due to lack of expertise. Is it appropriate to mention this lack of expertise as a reason why I did not try to further improve these models?
Note: I tried 2 different ML methods/algorithms, which were suggested by another member of staff.<issue_comment>username_1: Rather than describing this as a limitation, I would present this as an area for future research. For example,
>
> *Machine learning methods X and Y* produced promising results for predictive modeling. An area for future research would be to optimize these as well as explore *methods, a, b, and c*.
>
>
>
and then build upon this with details to be an appropriate length (probably a paragraph or two).
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Like in the other answer by @RichardErickson, I would suggest you frame this as a future direction rather than a limitation per se.
However, your general question seems to be whether you should reveal your own personal limitations in your thesis, and for that I would strongly say **no, never**. It's normal and reasonable to not pursue every possible avenue around a research project: time is simply finite.
That said, your lack of experience or understanding of a technique should never be used as an excuse. Part of doing research is learning new techniques. In your specific circumstance, it sounds like you've already covered that base fairly well by applying two different machine learning techniques; your supervisor can help you determine whether this is completely sufficient or not, depending on the results. Your thesis (and any publication) should make clear how you applied those techniques and allow a reader to assess the appropriateness of your approach based on their own expertise.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: It is not generally appropriate to cite your own lack of expertise for failing to pursue a particular line of analysis in research. The reason is that an academic work is supposed to be an *objective* analysis of the problem, and so the reader will want to learn about what methods are scientifically useful to deal with the research problem at hand, not about the personal skills of the authors.
Of course, there are certainly cases where authors of an academic work do not have the skills to extend the research in a particular direction. That is what is happening in your case. Instead of mentioning the limitations on your expertise, you should simply state the method you used, and then note that other methods might be applicable to the situation, and these constitute an avenue for possible further research. It is not necessary for *you* to be the one that does that future research ---since you lack the necessary expertise--- but you can still point out that other methods might fruitfully extend the analysis.
Upvotes: 1
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2018/10/17
| 803
| 3,556
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<issue_start>username_0: I am in the second year of my masters program and am sure that I want to go straight on to a PhD position when I finish in July of next year. I'm aware that some funding deadlines are as early as January to start in September of the same year, so should I start contacting potential supervisors as early as now (October)? I will be doing some cold emailing to people I have had no prior contact with so it seems good to set up a relationship sooner rather than later, but this may be too soon!
I have a fairly unremarkable CV with no publications to my name, with a possible but not guaranteed one coming in February, which I've heard may be an issue. I am looking to contact researchers who are doing work very close to my thesis topic so hope that this will sway things in my favour.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, now (October) is an excellent time to start contacting potential supervisors. Some funding applications will be due as early as December; the academic year is in full swing, and they will certainly be thinking ahead to plan next year. And you still have time for a polite follow up, or to look elsewhere, if - as is not uncommon - you don’t get an instant response to your first query.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Funding is a key issue. If you can get external funding then you will be snapped up, otherwise you will enter the competitive application phases for a finite amount of money allocated to whatever PhD projects are being offered by the universities you are interested in. You should spend some time on findaphd.com to see whats out there, in particular with attached funding, but not having funding immediately shouldn't stop you applying. At my institution, supervisors are required to approve applicants on the basis of their suitability - not whether or not they come with funding already in place.
So, contacting potential supervisors early is only to be in your favour. They will be interested in finding the next student to complete the project and your being keen, showing confidence and with some gusto will stand you as a good prospect - all other academic matters considered. Contacting them now before the heavy teaching/assignment/marking loads are underway is definitely the best foot forward.
>
> no publications to my name, with a possible but not guaranteed one coming in February, which I've heard may be an issue.
>
>
>
Sorry what would be an issue here? You are not even whats called an early career researcher yet, so why would it be expected that you have a publication list? I know some acheive this at Undergrad or Masters level, but publications are not a prerequisite at all. A bonus perhaps - but nothing else. In fact, I know of several PhD students who finish and go on to long post-docs and still don't produce papers until their second year of the post-doc. They do tend to produce several papers at this point though.
Final note on the cold call approach. Just be polite, express interest in any relevant works that the supervisor has been involved in i.e. "I read your paper on XYZ with interest and... it is relevant to my study because... etc.", and make sure you highlight your strengths, skills and experiences that are relevant to the position. Assuming this will be via email, dont forget to include an email signature showing your contact details and ideally send from your academic email account of your current institution.
All considered then, just go for it. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Best of luck.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/17
| 651
| 2,940
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<issue_start>username_0: As I understand about writing a research project report or master thesis report, it must be complete, self-sufficient. The readers can understand the report/book by reading it thoroughly without the need to consult other sources.
I can think these two ways:
1. just stated that "the complete mechanism is discussed in [1]."
But this options make the report not self-sufficient.
2. paraphrase and cite the original source
This is what I am doing.
But I worry that the paraphrase is so similar to the original writing because what I am trying to explain is a physics mechanism which I think it is hard to explain it in another way, especially the structure of the explanation.
I really appreciate any suggestion.<issue_comment>username_1: You can quote (within reason) and/or paraphrase quite freely as long as you cite the source. For some things there are only a very limited number of ways to state something accurately so "using the same words" is not an absolute prohibition in certain fields. There are scales of measurement here. But in those situations in which you need the exact words (such as, perhaps, definitions), quote and cite.
Plagiarism is when you try to represent another's work as your own. You aren't doing that here. Copyright infringement is when you copy another's words without permission or other justification. Normally, academics expect that short phrases may be quoted from their work. For longer passages, however, it is wise to seek permission from the copyright holder, of course.
However, there may be another way in some circumstances. Sometimes it is possible to take older work and summarize it in a way that loses almost nothing. Rephrasing work in a simpler form may help both you and your reader to understand it better than the original sources. It isn't always possible, but may be worth the effort. This takes insight, which is worth cultivating.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: **You should ask your supervisor.**
It's hard for us to know how deeply you need to describe this mechanism for your manuscript to be "complete." I think most likely you are misinterpreting the requirement for a thesis to be complete/self-sufficient with an unnecessary level of detail from already published work.
In some ways, citing previous work *does* make something complete because the reader can go to that source for more information, all you need to do is properly convey *what* the general idea is (summary) and *where* to find the information (citation). In some contexts, reproducing the identical language from that prior work may be appropriate *with proper citation*: sometimes there is just really one way to write something (such as an equation or terminology; you would not be serving anyone in your field anything if you switch some variable conventions around or if you substitute synonyms into a brief phrase in an attempt to not "plagiarize").
Upvotes: 1
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2018/10/18
| 1,067
| 4,559
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<issue_start>username_0: When you submit a paper / manuscript to a peer-reviewed venue, the organizers usually forward your work to 2-3 other "experts in your field" to assess your work.
I'm curious how this process of selection works, i.e. how is this pool of reviewers put together? and how are the best people from this pool chosen once there is a paper to review?
Is there an official list that each venue maintains and to which people can sign on if they want to be reviewers? (If so, I've never seen any "calls for reviewers" so how do they get people?)
Do organizers cold-call people/professors and ask them if they were willing to review a paper? If so, how are these people selected? [I realize that this might differ considerably, so I'm happy with anecdotal evidence, too]<issue_comment>username_1: In the journals I help edit (all in the medical fields), there are five ways we find reviewers for our manuscripts:
1. They have published with us before
2. They were nominated by the authors, editors, other reviewers or peers, or members of our editorial board
3. Our associate editors approached them through a scan of authors of papers on the same topic
4. They have volunteered to be placed on our list of reviewers
5. They work for us as consultants and are paid on a per-review basis (this is mostly relevant when we need specialist expertise such as in statistics or economics)
Once you are found, you are placed on a pool from which we can make selections on the basis of affiliation, expertise, seniority, etc.
As you can imagine, this is a rather valuable resource. We guard this list jealously and do not share this with other journals.
In my experience the response rate is typically 33%. That is, if we require five reviews, we will invite fifteen people. Thus, the pool needs to be deep in order to receive the requisite number of reviews for our purposes.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Answering from the perspective of computer science conferences:
There is a committee, usually dubbed the "program committee". This is a group of of people that are invited by the conference organizers and this committee is formed in advance of papers being submitted. The size of the program committee varies from a dozen for a small workshop to [thousands](https://nips.cc/Conferences/2017/Reviewers) for big machine learning conference. The list is usually published and will change from year to year.
Sometimes the program committee does all of the reviewing. Papers are assigned by program chairs based on a bidding process. However, they may also bring in sub-reviewers. Sub-reviewers are third parties that are cold-called to review a paper because of their relevant expertise. Selection of sub-reviewers is up to the program committee members. Usually, they ask people they know, or if they are lost they look through the references of the submitted paper.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Examples from my experience:
* Anyone who has an account in the editorial management system for whatever reason. This could be former authors, former reviewers, former editorial board members, people who've written to us explicitly asking to be a reviewer, etc, as long as they have not indicated they are not willing to review or are not currently blacklisted (e.g. if a reviewer writes a very poor review, we might blacklist).
* Author-suggested reviewers (which we try to use sparingly since they often know the author personally)
* Reviewers suggested by other reviewers (e.g. if we invite, they decline but suggest X, we will invite X)
* From the references of the paper. If the paper is well-written then the introduction would give lots of related works, and the authors of these related works would be suitable to review the paper.
* Searching via Google Scholar, Web of Science, etc using keywords for the paper (sometimes but not necessarily the author-provided keywords).
* Personal contacts.
To choose people from the reviewer pool: choose the person with the closest-related expertise, as long as he/she is not already overburdened (e.g. already has an outstanding invitation, or has done three reviews in three months).
Cold-inviting reviewers does happen, and is a natural result from some of the methods mentioned above. It's not generally perceived as socially unacceptable however. If the reviewer doesn't want to review for the journal, they can decline indicating they're permanently not interested, we leave a note on their profile, and they're excluded from future searches.
Upvotes: 3
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2018/10/18
| 394
| 1,598
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<issue_start>username_0: I have a paper selected in a very prestigious conference in our field. Is it appropriate if I ask the contact person that I am interested in chairing any conference session? Note that I am a Ph.D. student as of now and not a faculty member or qualified Ph.D. doctor.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, it's okay to volunteer to chair a session, but there is not a lot of benefit to it and you might be turned down. People may see it as unusual, since it's not a prestigious job (certainly nothing to list on your CV).
It's important to have a chair who can keep the session running on time, provide appropriate introductions, and sometimes ask a question if there are no questions forthcoming from the audience. These are fairly easy tasks, but if I was organizing the conference and I didn't know you, I probably wouldn't agree to let you chair since I don't know how capable you are in these regards.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You need to be able to stand up and stop big shots from talking if they exceed their time. I have seen chairs turning the mic off for people overrunning their time. Do you want to be the one shutting up some big guy?
Plus, you should think of questions to ask for every talk in your session, to avoid silent embarrassment after the talk if nobody else asks questions. There are cool talks where this is easy, but for some tedious ones this can be like squeezing blood from a stone.
I should say, it's a bit like in the army: if you are asked to chair, do it without making a fuss, but don't volunteer...
Upvotes: 3
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2018/10/18
| 586
| 1,714
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<issue_start>username_0: I know about tools like [CitNet Explorer](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi5hPGR2o_eAhUMgHMKHbFTB3IQFjAAegQIAxAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.citnetexplorer.nl%2F&usg=AOvVaw01-A_uQFe03PdGig2vJLGA) and [VOSviewer](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjVj_6X2o_eAhUJCRoKHfuGAJEQFjAAegQIBRAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vosviewer.com%2F&usg=AOvVaw3iSbIxFmAYcupPSgHzKSvc), but they only work with Web of Science, which doesn't contain many papers I'd like to have in the network.
Is there any software, which does the same thing with data from Google Scholar?<issue_comment>username_1: To my knowledge, at the time of writing, Google Scholar does not define an API to access data, so presumably no software exists. Beyond Google Scholar and the tools you've already mentioned, you could try <https://www.semanticscholar.org> or <https://aminer.org>. (I'm a little unsure what you mean by *citation network*, so perhaps they don't satisfy your needs.)
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You can use a package called Scopus2CitNet to convert the .CSV table of citations downloaded from Scopus to a format that is readable by CitNet Explorer. The tutorial video and links to download the package is here:
[Tutorial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_1ClVf77AE), [R package](https://github.com/MichaelBoireau/Scopus2CitNet/).
For VOS I would suggest you also try getting data as a .CSV from other databases like "[Dimensions](https://app.dimensions.ai/discover/publication)".
Remember to save your search terms as a text file for the "methods" section of the review!
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/18
| 1,054
| 4,129
|
<issue_start>username_0: I was recently asked this question by an academic colleague and realised I didn't know the answer.
Academic X is about to retire from a computer science department and has a set of undergraduate lecture slides he is very proud of. He would like to put them online so they are available to the world. Where can he put them?
[The arXiv](https://arxiv.org/) is not suited to hosting lecture slides. There is [wikibooks](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page) which is a possibility but the quality isn't great and it is in Wiki markup I believe.
The university he works at has no permanent location to host retired academics' work sadly.<issue_comment>username_1: Archive.org (not to be confused with arxiv.org) aims to be the world's library. According to its FAQ,
>
> The Internet Archive focuses on preservation and providing access to digital cultural artifacts
>
>
>
It cites the destruction of the Library at Alexandria as the kind of loss of cultural heritage which it aims to avoid, so preserving an academic's teaching material should be perfectly aligned with their goals.
The FAQ also has a large section on [uploading content](https://archive.org/about/faqs.php#Uploading_Content). I suggest you pass that URL along to your colleague.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: The lectures could also be collected to be posted on sites such as these.
<https://www.udemy.com/>
<http://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses>
<https://www.onlinecourses.com/lectures/>
I might also recommend to compile them in PDF format and find a self-publishing source.
<https://outskirtspress.com/selfpublishing>
<https://oedb.org/ilibrarian/the-academics-guide-to-self-publishing/>
<https://leanpub.com/>
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I would recommend that you put your slides somewhere widely indexed (so, very findable! things that are captured by google scholar, for instance) and run by a non-profit on top of open source software. You ideally also want things that give you a DOI -- a permanent link to your work. This helps us in academia combat the corporate capture of scholarship and can help your work be more widely used/circulated amongst your colleagues!
Here are a few of my suggestions that meet the above criteria:
* [Open Science Framework](https://osf.io)
* [Zenodo](https://zenodo.org), which lets you search on presentations specifically so users can more easily find your work.
You could also use DataCite's repository finder to help you search more fruitfully: <https://repositoryfinder.datacite.org/>
I would also advise you to choose a good license for your work, like CC-By or CC-By-NC. You can read more about creative commons licenses here: <https://creativecommons.org/>
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: It is also possible that your department's Student Association has a website with study material.
The collection at my association includes mostly past-year's exams, but if the slides are actually high quality on their own (without Academic X talking), it could likely be made space for them.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: As a wildcard approach, and depends on the content.
But how about somewhere that they can be maintained and developed further, such as Github?
For Comp Sci, this is a well known resource.
Alterantively, if the view is that they are fixed in content, it might be possible to format as a e-Book and publish via Amazon or elsewhere.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I would suggest creating a personal web page using one of the freely available alternatives such as [github](https://pages.github.com/)/[gitlab](https://gitlab.com/pages)/[bitbucket](https://pages.bitbucket.io/) pages or maybe [google sites](https://sites.google.com/). This is a free solution which is easy to implement, is indexed by search engines, and allows virtually perpetual storage of the course information.
Having a page dedicated to the course with all the materials gathered together and properly annotated seems to be a better solution compared to keeping a pile of pdfs (or even worse, ppts) at e.g. Slideshare.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/18
| 829
| 3,640
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<issue_start>username_0: What does it actually mean by the sentence "tuition is paid for by the supervisor" ?
Why would the supervisor pay the tuition fee for a PhD student?<issue_comment>username_1: Different schools, departments and supervisors approach tuition payment differently. As far as I'm aware, most universities demand that tuition get paid somehow. Some universities might not collect tuition, but given what you've posted, I surmise that your university does. Where the tuition funds come from is how it will vary.
I've seen these different approaches:
* The department / school pays tuition automatically for all of its admitted students. This is rare, but it does happen sometimes. It guarantees that the student won't have to pay tuition and can focus on research that the supervisor and student decide on, without having to pursue other external funding sources for the tuition. In this case it generally wouldn't matter who your supervisor is.
* The department / school pays tuition pays tuition only for the students that hold a job within the department (e.g., teacher assistant, research assistant, researcher, lecturer, etc.).
* The department does not offer to pay tuition, but the supervisor already has guaranteed funding (e.g., through external grants or donations), so the supervisor has guaranteed to pay your tuition with that money. In this case, whether or not your supervisor pays your tuition depends on which supervisor you have.
* Neither the department nor the supervisor offer to pay your tuition. You are expected to pay for it yourself (e.g., via student loans) or apply for external funding (e.g., grants and scholarships) yourself to be able to pay for tuition.
The sentence "tuition is paid for by the supervisor" makes me think that it is up to the supervisor's discretion whether or not they will pay your tuition (e.g., make it contingent upon whether you are making progress and / or pursuing a topic that the supervisor approves of).
In addition to tuition payments, you should also consider where your income / stipend will come from. Sometimes your stipend comes from similar money buckets like those listed above for tuition.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Tuition is supposed to cover various costs associated with having the student at the school, such as building maintenance, IT support, instructor compensation for classes the student takes, campus security and so on.
In some disciplines, many PhD students are in a situation where they would refuse to attend school if they had to pay tuition for it, so financial support schemes are set up where the PhD student's tuition is covered by someone else. This way the program gets to attract quality PhD students. A lot of the time the department or the PI will have a fund, grant or endowment which is used to pay for grad student tuition. From the grad student's perspective, it looks like no money is changing hands because they are not charged anything, but actually money is moving from an account controlled by the department/PI to an account controlled by the university administration.
Probably that is the meaning of the remark you quote. It doesn't mean the professor literally pulls out his wallet and slaps down a pack of $100 bills. It means that the professor will or has arranged some sort of funding so that the student doesn't have to cover her own tuition.
I wish you best of luck in your graduate career, I had been hearing about the financial troubles of Yahoo Inc. for some time and it is exciting to see you resolve this difficulty by exploring opportunities in research and scholarship.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/18
| 624
| 2,498
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<issue_start>username_0: I recently agreed to review a journal paper (in theoretical computer science). After I started to read it in depth, I found out it is much harder than I expected - over 60 pages with over 20 theorems with detailed proofs. Also, the topic is not exactly my expertise - I do not know a lot of the related works that the authors base their results on.
So far, I managed to verify about 10 of the shorter theorems. They seem correct, though I have some minor comments. The other theorems seem so long and complex that it will take me weeks to review, especially if I would need to read and understand the theorems in the cited papers that these theorems are based on. What should I do?
I thought of writing to the editor and explaining the situation in detail. Maybe the editor will be able to find another reviewer that will verify the other theorems. But I do not know how such letter will be perceived. In particular:
* Is it common for a reviewer to review only a part of the paper, and leave the rest of the paper to other reviewers?
* On the other hand: is it my duty, as a reviewer, to complete my review, regardless of how much time it takes?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Is it common for a reviewer to review only a part of the paper, and leave the rest of the paper to other reviewers?
>
>
>
I have done that on at least two occasions. Sometimes it is the only honest option.
>
> On the other hand: is it my duty, as a reviewer, to complete my review, regardless of how much time it takes?
>
>
>
Not really. It is commonly considered a duty of a career mathematician to contribute to peer review of mathematical works (at least) proportionally to their own publishing. Whether you achieve this by refereeing some really tough papers or a lot of simple ones is up to you.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: ### Consult the editor
Adding to @darijgrinberg's answer: Consult with the journal's editor(s) before making any decisions.
They might:
* Tell you more about what's common in a situation such as the one you're in.
* Possibly decide they want to switch reviewers or divvy up the review work
* Tell you what they expect from you (including telling you or hinting at you what they would regard as unethical).
* Pressure you into continuing (not such a great outcome - but I have to add this in fairness)
Don't feel awkward or inappropriate about taking this up with the editors, it's the responsible thing to do.
Upvotes: 5
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2018/10/18
| 705
| 2,859
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<issue_start>username_0: So I just took a very simple, all-multiple choice test. I will straight up say I did not cheat, put bags phone etc across the room from where I sat, and the test was very easy. I marked all questions that I’m not sure of with an asterisk, and then when I went over the test papers, I wrote down the questions in the palm of my hand so I could check for answers immediately after handing in the test and getting out of the room. This is something I suddenly wanted to do so I know what I did wrong immediately and get a slightly clearer idea of how I did. I probably should’ve just asked the TA for an extra scrap of paper to make it transparent but I didn’t think of it at the time. I handed in the test and waved him goodbye. I’m not sure if he saw that stuff was written in my palm when I waved at him, but he just said like have a good one. Now that I think about it, this is far from cheating but probably an ambiguous move that might stir up misunderstandings. Just in case I took a picture of my palm with the contents to show that the contents are not like cheat reminders, just a list of the questions I didn’t feel confident about in the test so I could check them later, but still I’m worried that misunderstandings will crop up later and I will be swept into confrontations. Should I be concerned about my academia integrity standing?
Also it’s not an exam, not sure why the testing tag shows up like that. It’s a normal quiz.<issue_comment>username_1: I'm going to just guess here that there won't be any problem. If there were, you'd likely have been challenged when you left the room. I'll also guess that no one even noticed.
You seem to have a decent sense of what is allowed. If you are challenged, just tell it like it happened and your thinking about what you did at the time. No one but your instructors can judge, but I think the issue is past you. Probably fine to just relax.
But note, also, that none of my statements are definitive. Too hard to make firm statements from a distance.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If you're really worried about it than ask the TA. Simple as that. That said, if you were in trouble for this I have to believe you would have been contacted by now, so you probably don't have much to worry about. In the future it's probably best if you're not sure to simply ask what's allowed. That removes any suspicion from you right off the bat.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Also, in addition to other reasonable answers, a key point is not only to "not cheat", but to avoid any *appearance* of cheating, as much as anything because this distracts other students, but, yes, also because an *appearance* of cheating is what gets people into trouble. That is, don't cheat, *and* avoid small actions that may give the *appearance* of cheating.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/18
| 1,404
| 5,941
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<issue_start>username_0: I have now experienced multiple instances where a group of researchers involved me in a grant application where the total awarded funds were quite small compared to the number of researchers in the group. Thus I find the benefit of a successful application very small compared to the time spent writing the application (the awarded funds are likely going to be divided by the number of researchers in the group). I have also been quite good at getting funding from other partners or private entities (only a small share from companies), so I find it hard to stay motivated for these public grants. Yet, it remains mysterious to me why other researchers in the group stay motivated -- they would be better off doing their research than writing this complex grant application for an overall small sum. I must say I have quite a bit of experience in academia, and almost always got easy funding (not public funds) in the past. It looks like some researchers enjoy "winning" a grant regardless of how small the funds are.
Do you have thoughts on this? I feel odd that I'm not sharing their enthusiasm; and it looks like I'm missing some key element.<issue_comment>username_1: I'm not sure if this "answers" the question, but my belief is that people apply for grants for a combination of one of two reasons:
1. they want the money itself
2. they want the record of succeeding in getting the money.
While true of both public and private money, part of the prestige is that grants put their money where their mouths are. And public ones -- especially with longer histories can bank on those names (whether the banking is always warranted is of course another question).
Your point is vis-a-vis 1 and could be restated as (A) more money is available through other means or (B) the amount of work vs. amount of money is a bad deal.
But the defense of pursuing famous public grants centers around 2. These public funding sources are (A) well-known, (B) perceived to have solid review processes, and (C) they are seen as prestigious because of (A) and (B), which should also make them (D) highly competitive.
These features tend to make them attractive for career purposes. This is especially true when the quality of research is being evaluated by people who are not in the same field. I've got no idea what the Annual Peanut Factory Conference C's level is, but that the Snickers grant comes with $10,000,000 or even $1000 tells me that nut researchers would have competed to get it, and that you getting it means something.
In Japan for instance, Kakenhi from the government and how much you've gotten is a metric for getting jobs. In the USA, having gotten NSF or DOE grants can also help you in the future to get better positions or money.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In the UK, the criteria for getting an academic job with a remit for research (as opposed to a 'teaching-only' contract) or getting a promotion often include "grant capture" or "research income". Some institutions take this very seriously, and have even compiled statistics on "research income" by field as benchmarks (e.g.: "to get a promotion to level X, you need to be in the top quartile for research income for your field"). I get the impression that this is more important than the quality of the actual research (much easier to compare a few statistics than to actually read the research publications!).
Why public grants are a bigger deal in the UK
=============================================
The major sources of **public** funding provide grants on what is called a "[full economic costing](https://www.ukri.org/files/legacy/documents/fecfaq-pdf/)" basis. This means that the grant provides some support (usually not 100%, but large enough to be a big deal) for the estimated generic costs incurred by the university for office space, non-specialist equipment (e.g.: computers), administrative staff, and other such things. The word to stress here is "estimated": in practice, "full economic costing" often results in **profit** for the university, allowing it to pay bigger bonuses for senior management, erect shiny new buildings to impress the international students, and so on.
Conversely, most **private** sources of funding will fund only the **direct** costs of the research. So, although the value of the grant seen by the researcher may be the same, the total amount seen by the university is lower.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: According to [iayork's answer to this related question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/137392/84834), getting public funds provides tangible benefits compared to (some) private ones:
1. Someone who manages to get a public grant today will likely be able to get another public grant in a few years' time, increasing their worth to their department.
2. Public grants provide overheads that help keep the department running.
3. (From JeffE's comment) Getting a public grant implies your peers think you will be able to spend the money well, which is significantly more prestigious than getting your rich uncle to fund you.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: The value of the grant is certainly important but so are the conditions of use of the grant. It’s great to have a large grant to pay 3 postdocs but what if you need to buy equipment? Contrariwise, what if you can only buy hardware but cannot pay people from this grant? The list could go on: travel restrictions, reports to fill, publication restrictions or embargoes, intellectual property, etc.
Smaller government grants *tend to* come with fewer strings attached, and can often be used as seed money: you pay a student out of this to try something out and make preliminary work to see if the idea “has legs”. If it looks promising, you then go for the bigger but more targeted grants.
There is also often a hierarchy of grants and the smaller ones function as gateway grants to larger ones.
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<issue_start>username_0: It's no secret that computer science is a heavily male-dominated discipline. It's so male-dominated that some people have [given up trying to attract more women](https://academia.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/3919/my-answer-on-writing-ads-to-attract-female-phd-candidates-was-deleted-why). Yet Carnegie Mellon not only has close to 50% women in their [undergraduate CS classes](https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2016/september/undergrad-women-engineering-computer-science.html), they have lots of female faculty. Why?
I'm also interested in what any other institution that's been successful at achieving something resembling gender parity has done as well.<issue_comment>username_1: We are a smaller German University of Applied Science and most of our courses have a certain application field in addition to computer science (usually about 70% computer science, 30% application related). The application fields "media" and "medicine" seem to motivate many female students to start studying, even if they later decide to work in the automotive industry or somewhere else.
Furthermore, our university strongly invests in diversity actions, we are trying not to discriminate anyone, and we are trying to promote female students e.g. as student assistants / tutors (which is not hard, since we are usually looking for the best, and most times we are having more female top students than male ones). But for the younger female students it is good to see that others succeeded or are very successful.
Once you crossed the 30% mark, the feeling is that it's not "special" or "strange" if you are female.
One point where we have to improve is the number of female faculty members, but this takes time.
But still, motivating more students to study computer science is a high priority!
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: At the risk of sounding like a broken record:
>
> I'm especially interested in answers from female computer scientists at CMU.
>
>
>
Well, go ask (some of) them directly - don't expect them to stumble onto this page...
[The staff directory](https://www.csd.cs.cmu.edu/directory/faculty) is available; you'll need to figure out which ones are women by the photos and the names though, and pick out a few people to contact. Or you could start by contacting the Dean or whatever CMU call the head of the School of Computer Science.
The School of Computer Science at CMU also has a dedicated Women @ SCS website, which you should check out, both for immediately-relevant material and for names of women faculty and management personnel which you could contact directly (i.e. put those at the top of your list of people to contact). Thanks to @user3067860 for noticing that site!
PS - As commenters suggest, you can't just start asking specific questions with long answers right away, you need to make sure whoever it is you contacted is willing to converse regarding these issues.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Carnegie Mellon gives an answer [on their website](https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2016/september/undergrad-women-engineering-computer-science.html):
>
> The steady climb of women enrolling in these fields at Carnegie Mellon highlights a combination of factors: a strong commitment by leaders at the university, college and department levels; influential pipeline programs for middle- and high-school students; targeted recruitment; closer scrutiny of applications; support and mentorship programs; and attention to diversifying the faculty.
>
>
>
A second, speculative answer: Carnegie Mellon is wealthy. Computer science is where they invest the most. If they want to attract more women to their computer science department, they can use their money to do it. Many of the factors they list cost money. They may be decreasing the diversity of other universities.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: The phenomenon you have observed, where some programs have great difficulty attracting female CS majors (and faculty) and others are approximately 50%, is a classic example of a "tipping point" phenomenon. Tipping point phenomena were modeled in economics by Nobel prizewinning theorist <NAME>. They were popularized by <NAME>.
The intuition is this: Everyone faces certain benefits and costs from pursuing a CS degree. The benefits include income, intellectual challenge etc. The costs include hard work, eye strain, etc. In addition, minority individuals face the cost of being an "outsider" in the environment. This "outsider cost" is typically modeled as increasing in the segregation of the field. So a field with 90% men would have a higher outsider cost to a woman than a field with 60% men.
The tipping point comes into play when looking at equilibria. One equilibrium is that there are very few CS women. This is because the outsider cost is so high that only women who highly value the benefits (income, challenge, etc.) have a net positive utility from the CS major. But, if you can nudge the system off this equilibrium and get even a few more women, then you can decrease the outside cost enough that a few additional women find CS net positive. And then these women's presence decreases the costs further, and so on. You progressively tip the scales of cost/benefit such that you reach the second equilibrium of 50/50.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: To your question of other institutions getting gender parity: Until visa and exchange rates started making things harder, Australian universities had a lot of Iranian postgraduate students. I noticed that the proportion of women in this cohort was very high, and when I asked some of those (female) students about this they told me that computer science is a popular subject of study for women in Iran, and that they felt very accepted in the field. Articles such as [this one from Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyguttman/2015/12/09/set-to-take-over-tech-70-of-irans-science-and-engineering-students-are-women/#1635748044de) seem to bear this out. I hesitate to draw any conclusions from this, but it's an interesting example of a place where computer science in not assumed to be a male-oriented field.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: If you want to attract some contingent of students to your institution, then provide an attractive work environment for them. It is really as simple (complex) as that. It doesn't have to be just the male/female breakdown here, but it applies there of course.
First, consider the [answer here of user username_4](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/118694/75368) who suggests a tipping point. But how do you get to the tipping point. Others have suggested money, but I'm pretty sure that is insufficient, though it may be necessary.
First, how many women do you have on the faculty? Is it enough? Why not. Is it harder for them to get tenure? Why is it harder to get tenure? Women (in the US, at least) often have societal demands put on them that they can't avoid and that makes a rapid advance to tenure impossible. In a related case, I had a brilliant female colleague who had to delay her career to take care of an ailing mother. Men almost never have that problem as someone else (a woman) will do that instead. Women also need to have accommodation made for childbirth as no one else will take over that burden. Men don't have to delay family or choose between career and family. Single parents are usually (not always) women. Do you pay young women enough that, especially if they are single parents, they can afford proper childcare without sacrificing their research? Rigid rules around tenure and salary work against you here. Tailor the system so that it is consistent with your overall goals and flexible enough to accommodate special situations.
So, work to build up (and tenure) your female (or other "minority") faculty.
Next is the question of how welcoming the environment is for students. Look not only to universities with a better balance, but look also to small women's colleges (and Historically Black colleges). Why do students want to go there? The faculty has a lot of women, of course, but not all. However, the environment has a lot of people who "look like me." (Tipping point again). But, beyond that, those places also seem to me to be better at mentoring young students. In many of them the faculty and students are on first name basis with one another. The professor becomes a role model, not just a teacher.
So, make sure mentoring happens. This can work for everyone, not just women.
Next, is the actual work schedule sane or insane? Do you require long hours in the lab that may be possible for men (who have external support for the daily tasks of living) and not so much for women (who often are left with those tasks. Does your environment lead to burn out for some? That is unhealthy for everyone and leads to extreme stress. Some questions on this site suggest that it is more common than it should be. Some of the techniques for reducing stress, by the way, require additional time and effort. That may be harder for those with outside responsibilities. On a related note, is your work schedule so intense and competitive that backstabbing among students (or even with professors) happens? Do you have a way to make that stop? A number of questions on this site indicate that it happens more than it should. Even people "stealing" the research product of others.
So, assure that the work schedule is sane and not overly stress inducing.
Next, how are women treated day to day by both faculty and other students. Is there some low level of sexual harassment that is tolerated? Are you sure? There are faculty who prey on students, of course. Are you sure that you have a way to both recognize that and to force it to stop? Do you have formal standards of conduct that apply to both faculty and students. Note that mentoring (of both males and females) can help here. A quiet word from a mentor can change behavior when needed.
So, make sure that no one needs to deal with the "ick factor".
Next, who's questions and opinions are valued? Is it only extroverts who get a chance to say anything or to represent a working group? Does your faculty have sufficient training to assure that every student's ideas are valued? Fairly simple, but required, teaching seminars can improve the classroom/lab environment. They will probably be resented by some, but you have to ask, what is important? If you *only* value high pressure ego driven research progress, you will attract only people who are comfortable in that environment.
So, consider your values and find ways to operationalize them, not just talk about them.
And note that you don't have to sacrifice research quality or output to do these things. Take CMU, for example.
For what it is worth, I never had a situation in which I thought a female colleague was less able than her peers, including myself. I have a pretty big ego, of course.
---
And yes, I realize that I answered a slightly different question.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: At my low-diversity STEM Ph.D. program (arguably top 10), the biggest change we made during recruitment week (a week where accepted student applicants visit the school) was that we hosted a women-only social event. Current female Ph.D. students in the program chatted with female recruits socially. No men were present. Shockingly that year we went from maybe 20% of female recruits accepting offers (in the past) to 100%. I think the event showed that we as a program acknowledge that being female in our field comes with additional challenges, and having a safe space to talk about those challenges is important. I think it also created a sense of social cohesion with the female recruits. They liked each other, they liked the possibility that they could all go to school together. They also got to ask really important questions about the program that they may have felt uncomfortable asking if there were men present. Literally, nothing else changed, this one small change to recruitment week had such a massive effect.
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<issue_start>username_0: I am thinking a bit ahead of time and I would like to do some networking with some groups in my research field, for probably a future postdoc opportunity with them after my PhD. However I am afraid my supervisor prevents me to do that, she doesn't seem very happy with the idea of me doing some research stays somewhere else, or even going to conferences, and most likely she would connect me with anyone during and after my PhD, so how could I do some networking ??<issue_comment>username_1: I think that ignoring or going around your advisor/supervisor is a very dangerous practice. It could leave you without a degree or, even with a degree, without good recommending letters.
But if you have to give up face to face networking, there is no reason in today's world that you can't correspond with other professionals on common interests. All you need is an email address. If you also have a web site with valuable resources for others, then others can find you as well.
International collaboration is a very common thing these days, and while occasional face to face meetings is desirable they aren't, strictly speaking, necessary.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I have a few suggestions.
* Check out LinkedIn and join groups based on your field of interest. Simply having a profile and stating your field of study will help people find you. Comment on articles, or even write posts, because it will help people see your name. Don't be scared to message people you don't know.
* If you have the money, let your supervisor know you're taking a week or whatever off and go to the conference yourself.
* If you don't like the last point, look up speakers at conferences and point out ones to your supervisor that would be applicable and helpful for your studies. Remind her that it may bring you more insight or better ideas for your own work. Let her know that you can work on your studies during non-conference hours if necessary.
* Watch for alumni events within your own faculty. If there are none, ask other professors or the department head if they know of any talks coming up that may be of interest. Just because you have a supervisor doesn't mean you can't talk to other professors.
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a PhD candidate from Asia currently visiting a prestigious university in Europe. Recently I've noticed quite some "strange" behaviours of male "colleagues" around me (by "colleagues", I don't mean that we work on the same projects or from the same office. They are just people who work at or visit this place: faculty members, PhDs, or research staff).
For example, these gentlemen seem to be giving me a bit of extra attention: following me to the pantry; "appearing" several times at the same time at the place that I'd show up; or even try to wait for me when I leave. (Please don't suggest that I might be overreacting - I am quite confident that I'm not exaggerating here.)
Honestly, I am more annoyed than flattered. I want to focus on my research and want to be able to have healthy, normal, constructive working relationships with these people. I don't want any extra attention other than that I am a dedicated and capable researcher, and a nice person in general. However, because of these strange behaviours, I have to try to distance myself from some of them who I have had some friendly exchanges before. I've become a bit cold and unapproachable to them - I guess I am trying to say that I am not interested in anything romantic, and I don't want any attention in that matter. I guess some people might say, well, just tell them openly that you are not interested. I simply am not able to do that: first, they don't say anything or do anything that would allow me to bring up this topic; second, some of them might not even really want to pursue a relationship (they are married, or too young/too old for me anyway), but just kind of show some sort of admiration I guess.
However, I also feel very uncomfortable about that. I am by nature a nice and friendly person. I really feel bad about being cold and unfriendly to other people. Also, I want to have a circle of contacts that I can talk with about my research and their research, and get feedback and/or inspiration from that. I am not sure how I am able to have that type of positive working relationships in this kind of situation.
To clarify a few things...
1. These male colleagues are decent, respectable, and in some cases, brilliant and achieved people. There is no inappropriate advance from them or anything creepy in this (or it would be rather easy to handle the situation). It is just the continued, affectionate attention that is making me uncomfortable.
2. I am not sure this is associated with my newness or novelty. I have been here for eight months now and I did not notice this kind of attention at the beginning. Instead, I noticed the association with me slowly building up myself professionally here. I'd assume these male colleagues are slightly more refined than the general public and would look a bit further than a pretty face for a pretty mind (not that I am suggesting I am any or both of these). If this is true, then I would assume this issue would not go away as time goes by, but might hang around or even intensify as I become more established as a capable researcher. In that case I would have to find a solution for myself in the long term.
3. After second thought, I guess I wouldn't be able to take the "dressing down" advice. I like to dress in a classy and elegant way and that makes me feel good (it is like I enjoy making my room clean and nice and that makes me feel good). I don't see anything wrong with it and don't want to punish myself with other people's reactions to me. In fact, I have become more convinced that the solution to this type of issue is not to make women less feminine/attractive. There should be other solutions where we can be ourselves and still be comfortable around male colleagues. I don't know what those solutions are though.
Please give me some advice on how to handle a situation like this.<issue_comment>username_1: I can understand that this is a very annoying problem, and I am truly sorry that you have to deal with that.
Order of business number one is probably to make sure that you are not reinforcing this kind of behavior - it's ok to be a bit cold when people "randomly" drop in on you whenever you happen to get a cup of coffee, and don't even appear to be charmed when they start imitating your style of clothing. In short, try to hang out with the people who act naturally and don't make you feel uncomfortable, and be a bit chilly towards the ones that do. Nothing at all wrong with that. Note that I am not suggesting to be actively unfriendly towards them, just keep your distance and most people will get the message soon enough. Unfortunately, some may not, and in these cases remaining distant is probably the best option.
However, even more importantly than that, I would suggest to find allies. Surely, you are not the only decent-looking girl in the entire organisational unit? Be proactive about this and try to befriend other people in a situation similar to yours. This has two advantages: firstly, you can be fairly certain about their intentions, and secondly you can share and validate your concerns, and discuss how they deal with this behavior. Find a trusted person, and talk openly to them about the behavior of your co-workers. Maybe some of the people that you have seen as creepy are in fact just friendly and/or weird towards all new hires? Having allies is also really important if the problems escalate to a level where you feel you need to report it - if other people have also observed that A, B, and C are acting really strangely towards you, it is much easier to make a case that you are not just imagining it.
Finally - and I understand that this may be little consolation right now - I would assume that the novelty factor of having you around will cool off sooner or later. At that time it should become easier to develop normal workplace relationships with your colleagues (although I understand that by this time you may not really *want* to have too much of a relationship to some of these guys anymore).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I am a male researcher who has worked alongside attractive female colleagues from different countries. I come from a sexist culture, where casual relationships are common. I think I can provide some general advice.
First and foremost, you have to understand the "fresh meat" *physiological phenomenon*. You're new to the place, and people are still checking you out (literally) and getting used to your presence. Men are particularly struck by attractive new comers in the scene. This effect should subside after some 2-3 months after they get used to seeing you around, and others arrive to divert their attention.
Furthermore you perhaps fit in some mode of local fetishist stereotype. Asian ladies are frequently a fetish in western societies. In this case I recommend you do *not reinforce* the fetish by avoiding behaviours and displays associated with the idea. If you think this is the case, and you correctly identify what they're fantasising about when you flutter around.
Finally, just manage your own circle of friends and learn to deal with physical attraction as a background noise to building up a true friendship with someone who's attracted to you. With time, people will appreciate you for what you are instead for what you look like.
Anyway, don't worry. Your *aura* should be weaker soon enough, naturally.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: If there are any female faculty that you trust, I would go and talk with them about the situation. This would accomplish a few things.
1. Documents your concerns if anything ever escalates.
2. Allows for you to share your concerns with another person, who may be able to give you insight specific to your situation.
3. Allows you to verify if your colleagues are indeed being more than "just friendly." (As in, a third party may be able to silently observe some of the behavior and verify what is happening).
4. May open avenues administratively for departmental intervention such as a general email about sexual harassment or the like.
You do not even need to mention specific people in your conversations. This faculty member does not even need to be in your direct department.
I also would be prepared to "friend zone" these men if necessary. One challenge with female/male relationships is that it can be very difficult to read soft signals. There were girls I knew in school (I am male) that I wanted to get to know better. I would chat them up after class. And, I'll admit, I even went walking by their apartments a few time in hopes that they would be outside and we could talk. I did not have any nefarious intentions; I just wanted to make them like me. Even if they brushed me off a bit, I was not always really fast at taking a hint. I would just think they were having a rough day, or were busy. (Sometimes this actually made me want to stick around them more to make them feel better—I was naive). However, when one girl directly told me "I am only interesting in being your friend" that is when I realized that I was bothering her. We went on to have a congenial relationship at school, but did not do anything outside of school. Be prepared to directly tell your colleagues that you are only interested in keeping your relationship professional.
While you may not really want to directly tell these men that their attention in not wanted, that will honestly be the most effective way at fixing the situation I feel. This is especially true if you do not want to radically alter your lifestyle (e.g. leaving school at 2 a.m. so that they cannot wait for you).
If your colleagues are decent guys, they will not ignore stronger signals that you are not interested in their attention in they way they have been giving it.
If your colleagues are still too dense to take a clue (or blatantly ignore it), this is when it could be helpful to have an established dialogue with a female faculty member. You may need to initiate an administrative intervention.
Do not be afraid to sever a relationship if you have to. No one does themselves any service by trying to be friends with someone while simultaneously trying to keep their distance from them.
The clothes thing is odd, but I'm honestly not sure what you could do about that. The department cannot begin sending out emails saying "No one may dress like Lily." If you see someone that is blatantly copying you, I would call them out on it. Perhaps if they see that, yes, you did notice their clothes, and that, no, you were not amused, they will stop matching your clothes. This could be done in a joking manner if that makes it easier:
>
> Woah Jim, you are wearing the exact shirt I was wearing yesterday! Have you been in my house? (said while chuckling and in the presence of other people)
>
>
> I see you're wearing plaid. I have one ugly plaid shirt that I only wear on laundry day. Do you like wearing plaid? It makes me sort of dizzy! (Ha ha ha.)
>
>
>
In closing, the fastest way to get this unwanted attention to end is to end it directly, either by telling the men themselves, or getting a person in authority to do so.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: It might actually be good if your colleagues see this and come to realize that you aren't interested and that you find it awkward. I don't doubt that this is happening to you, males can be that way (nope I'm not saying it is okay, just that it is common)
Some of the attention should wear off when you aren't as new, and haven't responded in an encouraging way to any of it. You might try shortening your answers instead of being intentionally cold since you say you want to be seen as friendly. (Keep being cold to the ones you've already started down that path with, or they may take it as encouragement)
>
> I guess some people might say, well, just tell them openly that you are not interested.
>
> I simply am not able to do that
>
>
>
If you don't want to say anything to them, I guess about the only thing you can do is dress in a way that is less flattering to your body style.
Please note that:
* I am not saying or trying to imply that "you asked for it" because of how you dressed
* Nor am I saying/impling that you should have to put up with it.
You asked for help and constrained my advice by saying you didn't want to be blunt, so this is what I have.
I'm not familiar enough with your culture or your university's, but there is a *small* chance that something you're doing is being perceived as encouraging and you aren't aware of it.
Speaking to a female colleague (another candidate or faculty member, **not** a female researcher or administrative staff person) could help with this.
You could also speak to someone (female; preferably attractive) from your culture and ask for ideas.
---
P.S.
>
> ... some of them might not even really want to pursue a relationship
> (they are married, or too young/too old for me anyway), but just kind
> of show some sort of admiration I guess
>
>
>
Yes, some of them are just being nice, they want to be friendly with the 'pretty girl'. If you can "talk shop" with them and they speak to you as equals, it is a good indicator that it is okay to be pleasant to them.
Don't assume that all of the ones who are "too old" or "too young" know that fact.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I will answer here because it may help to have a female perspective. I will note that most of my points are covered by the male answers. The thing that is missing is a firsthand perspective, which I can bring.
First, the thing you are experiencing is very common for women in your position. Many, many women who are youngish, attractive-ish, and pleasant have this problem with men in their departments or cohorts. It is important to acknowledge this because I am not sure if that is commonly known among male academics.
Second, this tends to get better with time. Over time, people will get used to you and your appearance. They will notice that you are focused on research not relationships (especially not on relationships with them). I had this problem in my PhD program to a certain extent. I would say by the end of my first year this became a much lesser problem, and by the end of my second year this had gone away.
Third, you can employ some basic strategies if you want the attention to dissipate faster. It is ridiculous that you might need to change from a perfectly appropriate style of dress to one that is dowdy, but it might help. Many of my female colleagues have found that wearing glasses, particularly rather nerdy ones, helps men to take them more seriously. I myself did this. I also dyed my hair darker and stopped wearing makeup on a regular basis. Finally, it can help to dress less femininely. For instance, avoiding skirts, ruffles, flowers, happy colors, etc. Note that I am not saying that there is anything wrong with the way you dress or with wearing these things in a professional setting. I am merely saying you may be able to manipulate the visual cues and get the desired result.
I do believe this strategy has some substantial drawbacks. One drawback is that I typically feel better when I look put together, and it is grating to have to make these changes. It is totally unfair that the men’s behavior becomes your problem. However, these strategies do sometimes help.
---
Edit: I've thought a bit about your update, which states that the behaviors you are concerned about have grown over time. In this story, the colleagues’ intentions seem more ambiguous. As a foreigner, you could perhaps get away with asking a naive question which gets at the intentions of the parties involved. You could say something like, "I have noticed that people often wait to walk with me to the pantry or lunch. Is that a professional custom here or should I read something else into this? Is that something I should be doing for others as a professional courtesy?"
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_6: This answer will be very different, I hope, from the others here. It is based on a different assumption. I assume that you want to be a success in this place and want to actually work with your male colleagues, not just to avoid their, possibly improper, advances. This advice should apply not only to women, of whatever physical appearance, but also to minorities in the workplace, whether racial, ethnic, religious, or whatever.
For some balance, go watch the movie Hidden Figures about a group of women who made the US Space program work by doing the computations needed to get to space in the age before computers existed. They where called "computers" actually, and had very low status, though many of them were brilliant mathematicians.
The way to succeed is to be better than everyone else. At least 25% better. Maybe more. Outshine everyone. Become the person that other go to for answers and solutions. Become the resource that everyone needs.
Interestingly, you don't need to be the best at *everything*. But if you are the one everyone goes to for some small but essential part of the common work, it can be enough.
Again, it is unfortunate that the world seems to be wired in such a way as to make that necessary, but it generally is. Furthermore, though you need to work harder than everyone else to do this, it can be the path to success. Even then, it isn't guaranteed. As I noted in a comment here, in at least one case the scientific work of a woman led to a Nobel Prize for her male advisor. The world isn't especially fair, it seems.
Defer to no-one in scientific skill or knowledge. Help those people you work with so that they have a vested interest in your success.
But also, and this is essential, don't try to work alone. Fine allies to work with and protect you as needed. Those allies can make your life easier, but can also help make the world into a better place so that advice like this isn't necessary in the future. Nor the advice given in other answers. here.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: The reality is that as an Asian female in a European research group, you can't avoid being "different" from the typical member of the group you are in. You physically look different, you probably dress different, you have a different accent, and you probably have different social norms.
As such, some of your work colleagues will be trying to hide the fact that they are terrified of you, and some will be strongly attracted to you. And some may be both of the above simultaneously!
The best strategy here is to figure out which people are *neither* of the above, and start by developing good working relationships with *them.* As your "novelty factor" wears off over time, your problems with the others will diminish.
Note, I haven't mentioned the gender of the other group members here, and that was deliberate. In my experience (as a male!) interpersonal conflicts between two females can be *much* worse than between either male and female, or male and male. If that has not been your experience so far, living and working in a non-European culture, be warned!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: This answer might be a little bit to pragmatic, but I think it will bring about the desired effect.
Basically, find a way to tell these men that you are in a relationship and are not currently looking for a man, regardless of whether it is true or not. If they are as polite and kind as you are saying in your question, this should get them to back off.
As to how to get this point across, there are a variety of ways it can be done. An easy way is to get a picture of a man, and stick it on your desk, where these guys can see it. Even better if you can pose with a friend at a restaurant.
Of course, it is unfortunate that you would need to do any of this subterfuge at all, and I have certain ideological issues with this plan. However, it is pragmatic and efficient.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: I know this feeling very well and I actually think this is in many cases not purely related to romantic/sexual interest (as suggested in many answers so I will focus on a different aspect and based on the additions to the question). In my personal experience many guys are just trying to build a friendly relationship (even if they wouldn't mind more) but with so much effort that it becomes unnatural and annoying.
If you want to have a purely work based relationship with someone, try to keep the conversations in this direction. Do not answer non-work related questions at length and do not show much interest in their stories. This doesn't mean you have to become cold or rude to them. Maybe think about a collection of research topics/questions that you can bring up if the conversation becomes personal and then you can change the topic without seeming distant. (This has the additional positive effect that people will probably think you are really smart and a dedicated researcher.)
If you are getting any "special" treatment (anything, like being invited to coffee), try to bring other people into it or share. This can always be seen as humble/social but diffuses any intimate atmosphere.
The average person will stop certain behaviors after some time if they are not reproduced at all. If they do not, this is normally a big red flag.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: >
> Please give me some advice on how to handle a situation like this.
>
>
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I note that you just ask how to "handle" the situation. You don't ask us how to make them go away (but if that is what you are interested in, feel free to update or comment).
>
> These male colleagues are decent, respectable, and in some cases, brilliant and achieved people. There is no inappropriate advance from them or anything creepy in this (or it would be rather easy to handle the situation). It is just the continued, affectionate attention that is making me uncomfortable.
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Aside from measures to stop the males from their behaviour, how about re-framing for yourself, by looking to how this behaviour comes to be (and I notice specifically that you say that those guys are good-natured and not creepy; this answer only makes sense if everything is good-natured, not overtly sexual, and not a power-play).
Evolution turned out so that for most mammals, it is the male that has the job of actively finding, proposing to, and winning a female to produce offspring. Females, instead, usually have the job of trying their best to *keep males away*. This must be this way as the female can biologically only produce the offspring for one male at a time - the male obviously does not have this limitation, instead it must get as many offspring on the way as it can, to increase the chances of distributing its genes.
So far, so good, this at least tells it that both the behaviour of the males in your vincinity (reacting to your presence) and your own instinct (trying to get them away) is, biologically speaking, perfectly normal and to be expected. The fact that they are still gentlemen (not creepy, not actually "doing" anything untoward) also tells us that they are quite able to suppress their instincts in your institution, to keep them from acting in any way more uncomfortable or unacceptable - so society and its constraints absolutely do seem to work quite well.
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> However, I also feel very uncomfortable about that.
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There is still that. You already got a lot of answers which tell you ways to change the behaviour of your colleagues (dressing down, being 25% better than them, lying about being in a relationship etc.). Those probably work in some way or other to change the colleagues, but they require you to lie or change your outward behaviour; depending on your disposition, this may be even more uncomfortable for you, and would be a very straight way into unhappiness for me.
So, another possibility is to make yourself not feeling very uncomfortable about it is to see how it is:
* It is normal behaviour for a mammalian species.
* It is sufficiently curbed by society so that you are neither in danger, not have to fend off actually creeping advances.
* It shows you that you are - speaking objectively/statistically - a very nice person. Don't change that!
I know an example in my company who has your "problem" - very friendly, charismatic, intelligent, knowledgeable, with a huge network of people. You can imagine what happens if he enters a room; everybody (male and female) zooms in on him.
I've known him from the time when he obviously could not really handle it; it was a *huge* burden (and not in a sexual way, all work related). Everybody was heaping a lot on him - because he could and would do anything that everybody else just couldn't. At the end, he radically changed. He is still all that I listed above, but now he just does not accept advances (like being asked for help, being asked to do jobs, being asked to speak with XYZ, and so on) *at all*. Zero. He still does his job (which is on the C-level of the company), but *he* goes out to people, not the other way 'round. You can see how it worked wonders, he looks more healthy and relaxed than ever, the stress level has gone down a lot, and he still performs as well as before.
So: pick your fights. Yes, they happen to appear where you are, but so what. As long as they do literally nothing but indirectly let you know that you are probably the greatest being in their lives, just ignore it. Be glad, smile (just not at them specifically). You're probably making their day.
>
> I am by nature a nice and friendly person. I really feel bad about being cold and unfriendly to other people.
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Whatever they actually ask of you, deny (in a friendly way). I.e., if they want to hold open doors for you, or pay your meals, or go with you anywhere, or whatever; just deny it. I can't tell you how because you haven't really given examples. Ignore them as if they were air, even after noticing them, but not turning yourself into something unfriendly that you do not wish to be. If your sights cross, give them the same small nod you would give everybody else, and then simply go on with whatever it has been you've been doing.
At the end, they will either lose interest, or they will actually talk to you (in which case you can tell them in friendly but firm terms that you are not available), or, if they keep doing what they're doing, they will reduce themselves to clowns of the evolution, which you can maybe handle with humour.
This is quite difficult, and admittedly more a journey than a quick fix; but if you can get yourself to make it a fun journey (play with their reactions, objectify them in a good-natured way), then it can be a fine thing and *much* easier than trying to change *their* behaviour without changing yours in a way you do not wish to.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: All this is fine:
*"I wouldn't be able to take the 'dressing down' advice. I like to dress in a classy and elegant way and that makes me feel good ... I don't see anything wrong with it and don't want to punish myself with other people's reactions to me. I have become more convinced that the solution to this type of issue is not to make women less feminine/attractive."*
... but you have to expect that if you are conventionally attractive, you will attract the masculine gaze. That is also **normal**. Particularly with elevated hemlines. You can tell someone who hits on you to "beat it". If they come back for more, tell them to leave you alone. And if that doesn't stop it, find out who their supervisor or department head is.
You have every right to dress in a tasteful, elegant, and feminine manner and you have every right to be treated with professional dignity and respect. Personally, I **like** it that attractive women appear as such in the workplace and I don't hit on them (my wife might not approve if I did). But you cannot expect that if you are attractive and dress attractively, that you will not catch men's gazes. But they should respect you and your position enough not to hit on you at work.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_12: (American dude with a PhD here)
One subtle way you might indicate that you're open to professional and maybe friendly connections with these fellows, but not interested in romance with any one of them, would be to find moments where you can invite a group of them to get lunch, coffee, dinner, whatever together, or even ask them to attend a practice run for a presentation you're preparing. This establishes a sense of camaraderie, while putting it in a clearly communal rather than diadic context.
For the ones who either don't realize they're subconsciously acting out an attraction to you, or who are maybe consciously interested but decently aware of social cues, this will steer them toward the kind of interaction you'd welcome with them. Sustained interaction with these guys will likely yield some friendships as well if desired.
Unfortunately, there may be at least some of these guys who are oblivious to your disinterest, or (the creep case) aren't interested in leaving you alone just because you haven't shown any reciprocal interest. My suggested approach might kinda help with them, in that it cuts down on time they're spending around just you. Ultimately, if they end up still being a big presence, the advice given by others here will be more applicable.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_13: >
> I have to try to distance myself from some of them who I have had some friendly exchanges before. I've become a bit cold and unapproachable to them.
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>
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I suspect that this tactic will probably be enough to work - it is likely that this will put them off from continued interest. Indeed, I suspect that even if you backed it off from "cold" to just neutral, that would be enough to dissuade continuing pursuit after a period of non-reciprocation of interest. With most men, I think you will find that if they are interested in you then they will try their luck for a period of time after they first meet you, and if that interest is not reciprocated after a reasonable period of time, they will accept that and get on with other pursuits. If there is a continuing problem after a longer period then you might need to escalate to some greater response, but you can probably just wait it out.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_14: Most answers so far seem to address the question at a level where they silently *assume* that there is a problematic behavior. Maybe I'm insensitive (and being a nerd, this is even very likely), but let's dissect the points that you mentioned:
>
> For example, these gentlemen seem to be giving me a bit of extra attention:
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Others already mentioned that being "the new one" may cause some curiosity in any case. Beyond that, you did not clearly say in how far this "attention" goes further than the usual attention that "seniors" tend to show towards "juniors": There is often the feeling of being in the role of an "advisor", even when this is formally and technically not the case.
So I have to assume that this refers to what you described next:
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> following me to the pantry;
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When one of my colleagues grabs his mug and walks towards the pantry, I'd likely say: "Having a coffee break? Wait a minute, I also need one...", or just follow them silently. (Male colleagues. And I'm not gay, for that matter...)
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> "appearing" several times at the same time at the place that I'd show up;
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You are working together. If "(randomly) being at the same place as other people" is problematic, you should consider remote work. (That's not meant to be cynical. That's really an option to consider for someone who is lacking certain social skills. Note that this would not *improve* your social skills, though. I can tell that for sure...)
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> or even try to wait for me when I leave.
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When I'm about to leave and ready to go, and notice that one of my colleagues shuts down his PC, I'd wait for him, to maybe have a short chit-chat on our way out.
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> (Please don't suggest that I might be overreacting - I am quite confident that I'm not exaggerating here.)
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I do suggest that. When you feel "uncomfortable" in a social environment or during normal social interaction, you cannot simply accuse others of misbehavior and attribute this to your "young-ish"-ness, "attactive-ish"-ness, "asian-ish"-ness or "woman-ish"-ness. Sometimes, feeling uncomfortable, insecure, annoyed or even anxious among others has other reasons. I feel this all the time, and I'm an old, ugly, caucasian man.
So, this is certainly going to be downvoted a lot. I know that when a question comes up here on stackexchange that says nothing more than "I'm a woman and feel uncomfortable, what should I do?", some people hastily start talking about the oppressive sexually discriminatory misbehavior of men, up to a point where any answer that even dares to ask where the actual problem is will be downvoted into oblivion. But seriously: We **have** to figure out where the limit is, and whether there are reasons for feeling uncomfortable that other people can **not** be blamed for.
Upvotes: 3
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2018/10/19
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<issue_start>username_0: I have seen colleagues present the same data analysis multiple times over several years.
By present, I mean two things. First, present the work to other faculty and PhD students in departmental seminars and informal brown bags. Second, I mean present the research to journals by submitting it for peer review.
Each time I see the work presented, the data analysis is rather similar to the last time I saw it presented. But what the study is "about" changes significantly, sometimes using different theories and claiming to have a new research question.
What does not change is that the paper claims to test hypotheses derived from whatever theory they are using. The hypotheses keep changing, but the analysis doesn't change.
The changes to the theory and research question are explained as having the previous paper rejected at a journal and needing to change the "framing" of the paper or responding to reviewers who "didn't like" the way the analysis was presented.
Is the behavior of my colleagues ethical?<issue_comment>username_1: **What venue are they “presenting” the work in, and does it carry an expectation of originality?**
*Publishing* multiple minor variations of the same piece of work would indeed generally be considered as unethical, or at best borderline-ethical “salami-slicing”. That’s because publishing carries an expectation of originality/novelty: you’re not supposed to publish the same work twice. This is deeply entwined with the ways that publications are used as a metric of productivity. However, it sounds like this isn’t what’s happening here, if your colleagues haven’t succeeded in publishing the work.
Whether *presenting* multiple minor variations of the work is ethical depends entirely on what venue they’re presenting in (major conferences? informal workshops? the departmental seminar?) and whether it has an expectation of originality like publications would.
This varies between fields and subfields, and between conferences within subfields. In pure maths (at least in the subfields I’m familiar with), conference presentations have no expectation of originality. You can present the same piece of work every year for a decade, and people won’t be very excited or impressed, but it won’t be considered as unethical. In computer science, on the other hand (again, in the subfields I know), presentations at major conferences are like a smaller version of a journal publication, and as such, are explicitly required to be original: re-using material between them would be unethical. But in less formal settings (e.g. local workshops), again there’s no such expectation of originality, and re-use of material (with or without variation) is fine.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: It is difficult to say whether it is ethical or not; it also will differ based on what the conferences say (e.g., do you have to explicitly state that the work has not been presented elsewhere?). There is also a gray area here: There is nothing wrong, for instance, with a secondary analysis of previously collected data.
But a colleague who has nothing new to tell *for years*, has probably a much bigger problem anyway...
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Original research may constitute research containing at least one of:
* original theoretical frame
* original interpretation of primary material
* original primary material ("data," "text," "object of analysis")
(Source: Australian HERDC standards, if in doubt use the last year that the publications were collected)
One of the responses to the imposition of Fordist-Taylorist labour conditions in "The University" has been for scholars to reduce the scope and originality of research projects.
Whether this is ethical largely depends on your discipline's and institution's ethical and employment frame work, and the tolerance of journals for similar works. For example, permuting the literary texts while keeping the theory and analytical tools constant, will probably result in rejection in a literary journal: the scope for replication is smaller in literary studies.
Outside of ethics I would suggest that this is risky from a labour and employment stand-point; that departmental colleagues, unless rigorously cynical yet highly solidaristic, are likely to throw you under the bus; and, that higher level bosses at school, faculty, college or university level are going to strongly test your belief that tenure still exists.
On the other hand, as long as the volume of papers in preparation and received for publication meet standards, and if the deficiency in originality is made up for in other papers, seeking collegial support for a difficult to bring to publication piece of research is fine. Even if it bores at departmental research seminars. Maybe they need a new coauthor?
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: In light of the recent comment by the OP, I think a lot of speculation can be removed from the answer. I fully agree with the [answer by username_1](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/118700/4249) regarding different possibilities which he covers.
The colleagues in question have been fighting for some time to publish a specific piece of research they've been working on. **None of this seems unethical**:
* The work has itself never been published as a peer-reviewed publication.
* Changing the manuscript in response to the reviewers comments (as OP says) to improve or adapt scope, level of detail and presentation style is in fact expected.
* Updating the manuscript over time with new references, but also new findings and conclusions is expected, especially if this is an ongoing work.
* Presenting the work at departmental seminars is an established way to get feedback.
In fact, I have a publication now that I started to write in the first year of my PhD, started to submit in the 2nd, and finally got accepted almost 5 years after starting it initially. It was a survey paper, so I can make limited parallels, but the level of detail, target audience, presentation style, etc. have all drastically changed several times over based on the reviewers comments as well as the target journal.
I'll just echo [username_2's answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/118701/4249): rather than being unethical, spending *years* to publish a result probably speaks volumes about your colleague's quality as a researcher. This should also be taken with a grain of salt however, as there might be valid reasons in persisting to publish one specific result (while continuing your other research activities): see my example above, but also [MSER descriptors](https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=%22Robust+wide+baseline+stereo+from+maximally+stable+extremal+regions.%22&btnG=) (Google Scholar search link to show the number of citations) got rejected from many top-tier Computer Vision conferences before being accepted and popularized, and the story of early days of deep learning as one example with a really big impact.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/10/20
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<issue_start>username_0: As a Computer Science student, I have to deal with a lot of new information every day. While learning new concepts, we also have to learn multiple programming languages at the same time, learning mathematics and a lot of other stuff. I am a very committed student, and i invest almost all my time into university, so my Grades are really good.
The problem that i encounter all the time, is that i am overloaded with information, that i can't process as i would like to.
Five days a week, for about 8 hours a day, we get presented a lot of material. At my university, it is common practice to present about 50 to 100 slides per class each week. So at the end of each week, 300 or often more new slide are given to us students.
Me, as a writing and communicative type of learner, I try to summarize all the content, that we study every week.
But with the semester going on, the stack of unprocessed slide (and taken notes) grows bigger and bigger. And it really freaks me out. (And from experience I know, that at the end of the semester, the pile of notes is put into a folder and never looked at again...)
I feel more stressed each week, i can't really focus on all the assignments, that are also given to us every week, because i know, i have to summarize all the information for the upcoming exams at the end of the semester. I often have the feeling, that, if i don't sum up the content and make a lots of notes, i will forget the things i´ve learned in class.
I have tried a lot of things, to minimize the efford of summarizing: I tried using Tools like Evernote or OneNote, creating Documents for each topic, I even created my own InDesign-Summaries (which looked admittedly really nice ;D). But at the end of the day, the problem seems not to be the way, i summarize information, but the way i process and consume the information.
For programming, as a computer science student you need not that much knowledge of the languages, you can just google it. But for the rest of it, there's a lot of stuff to know.
**Question:** What could I do to reduce stress from my studies and become a more effective learner?<issue_comment>username_1: It is hard to diagnose a problem at a distance and I'm not sure I have a good sense of the core issues, but one thing seems to stand out in your post. I wonder if you are trying to treat every fact and bullet point as of equal weight, value, and importance. That normally isn't true, even in technical subjects like CS. A good lecturer will come to class with a few (about 3) important points that need to be made. Everything else will support those. You want to walk away from the class knowing what those are.
Of course, some professors will walk in with a big powerpoint deck and just run through the slides as if they are all important. Those lectures may sound good, but a more focused approach would be better for them and for you. You can't affect that, of course. But if it is possible for you to do it, try to get the professor to distribute those slides prior to class. My strong advice is to print them out on paper, maybe 2-up or 4-up, and take notes directly on the printed slides. No more than a few words per slide. Don't try to capture every word.
I also wonder what you mean by "summarizing" your notes. Some people would, again, mean trying to capture every thought. Capturing them by typing them isn't actually very effective in getting it into your brain, as opposed to your computer. What you want is to *distill* the notes into the few key ideas that make the rest of it easier to grasp.
However, don't neglect to do the assigned exercises. That is where real learning occurs. Focus *especially* on the assignments.
---
If your university/professor permits, it might be worth forming a study group with some (three or four) of the other students. Get together a few times a week and exchange ideas about what is important and also ideas about how to learn the stuff.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Good for you for trying to analyze and improve your process. In some sense, in that way, you are already thinking like a Computer Scientist.
All evidence points to the fact that your "summarise all the content" strategy is simply not working. Perhaps this was a strategy that you were taught in high school (U.S. age 15-18), and worked for you previously. I'm sure this was of benefit, and allowed you to digest and think about the material in your own way. But now this is clearly (a) taking more time than you can budget for it, and (b) making you extremely unhappy about falling behind on your accustomed process.
Consider this: The lecture slides presented by your professors are *already* significantly summarized/cut-down versions of a textbook or other written presentation of the material. So one can argue that maybe it's not really worth having a summary-of-summary on hand. Other options could be: (a) Read the slides closely enough that you simply *understand* what they are saying on the first pass. (b) Focus during the lecture closely enough, and ask any questions, such that you walk away mostly knowing what was covered. (c) Read the associated textbook for the desired second-perspective, ideally before the lecture.
Two personal anecdotes:
* Late in my own college career, I finally discovered that I was personally better off *not* taking notes during a lecture, and simply watching/listening with full focus, and relying on the book to fill in any details later. Nowadays you have the lecture slides as an added middle-ground resource that we didn't have ~30 years ago.
* As a lecturer, I was told to use a certain process for grading homework that, guess what, I constantly fell behind on, felt anxious and guilty about, built up during the semester, etc. It was critical for me to redesign the homework process in a way that was tractable and productive. *Find a study process that makes you feel joy, excitement, and curiosity about starting it.* (Or conversely: Take whatever makes you excited and curious and energized and build your study process around that.)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I'll take a broad swing, there is nothing CS-specific in my answer. In fact, my own experiences are from mathematics, I know of people who had similar experiences with medicine.
I'll go from a generic view to more personal specifics.
Epiphany
========
You learn, learn, and learn, keep on collecting information. It seems unneeded, forced, and definitive too much. Then, at some moment, you have a *satori*.
You suddenly release that all those loose factoids *fit together*, there is a *system* behind them. This system makes it easier to understand and "make fit" further factoids and even whole methodic approaches and design patterns in the later studies. You suddenly find out, you can learn faster and gasp the material with more speed.
Actually, in the later life (if you keep on doing this), your learning speed increases further, the famous "ability to gasp complex concepts" that many job adverts want is just miraculously there, etc. Mostly it's not connected with such a cathartic "now I know how the world works" moment, it's the first breakthrough that is so hard. But it's always a nice feeling when it finally happens.
What to do
==========
Keep on. Stay at ball. **Continue learning.**
You are not the first, and not the last, who has difficulties in understanding "why do we keep learning all this". As far as I know, little can be done to help you understanding the "why", because it actually makes perfectly sense to the lecturers. It just needs to do a "click" in your head. It can take years. No, really.
So, what immensely helps, is to **get another perspective**. Read a yet another book, possibly: one being touted as a "different view on things". Talk with your fellow students. And please, please, listen to professors and tutors. In many cases the spoken, informal description of things facilitates much better understanding than a fully correct formal description, typically found in books.
Learning types
==============
Aside from "not understanding why are we doing this" you seem to have a somewhat related problem. You are not getting the information into your head fast enough.
It is related to the "epiphany" thing above. When you finally have a "system" behind the facts and methods you are learning, it is much easier to store more (conforming) facts in your head.
But the minutely problems with learning might suggest that you use different "learning type" approaches than you are. Two things from my personal experience, but you might be radically different in this regard.
* Focus on listening to the lecturer and **understanding**. Too many students are preoccupied taking notes. (I have a feeling, it is even worse digitally. Pen and paper, anyone?)
You might be able to find the material in its formal form online, in a book, or where not later. You might not be able to find an understandable informal explanation of the issue the lecturer gave you orally, when you were to busy coping the formal thing down.
I would say that your goal in a lecture is not obtaining enough learnable material for later revision, as *funny* as it may sound. Yes, you'd need to obtain it later. But your (minor) goal is to find out, how to obtain it. Your major goal in a lectures is to **obtain understanding**. "Listen to the music, not to the song."
* **Taking *handwritten* notes** works best *for me*. You might be different. I can remember much better the things I have written down. When revising for exams I was writing notes *of my actual course notes* with book knowledge thrown in. Even worse, for final revision I had notes of the notes! It helped.
It might be hard to listen to the professor *and* to make notes simultaneously, especially in early semesters. It is a learnable skill, however. You'd become better with time. My personal suggestion is to prioritise listening and understanding to making notes. You will always be able to pull that proof, that exact statement of a theorem, that corner case, and that exact taxonomy from a book or online lecture material. Conjuring *understanding* is harder.
You seem to be on a right way. **Experiment more and find out what works better.**
An old (and may be not-so-appropriate nowadays), but quite true statement is that freshmen rather learn how to learn than learn something useful yet. It's in the later semesters when the actual knowledge is transferred. You'd still have trouble both ingesting it, if you are not fast enough, and understanding it, if you missed the foundations from the freshmen years. So, take this saying with a grain of salt.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: I would like to give a slightly different perspective. You already say that your grades are really good and that you have no problems with the understanding, but you seem to invest too much time to try to remember all details. You definitely have to think about your goals in university!
Do you want to become a walking knowledge base? Then continue with your approach. Do you want to have the best possible grades? In my experience, the step from the second best to the best grade takes the most time to study because it requires you to answer all the most detailed questions (something that might be mentioned briefly on a single slide). But usually remembering all details is not necessary for achieving good grades on average, because many questions are more about basic concepts, the application of an algorithm or sometimes even slightly modified exercise questions. And in the end, a degree with some worse grades is better than no degree because you abort university due to burn-out and depression. I have a friend who went the second way after having only top grades...
You want to be a good computer scientist? Then there are other skills that are more important than knowing details from lectures. And you learn those by doing an interesting and fun side project. Maybe you program a game or get a Raspberry Pi to build some cool stuff. Mentioning this later in an interview can even give you an advantage over someone with a better grade in discrete math IV, unless you want to do a PhD in discrete math.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/10/20
| 479
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<issue_start>username_0: I have recently completed my MS and joined as a Ph.D. candidate in the same university. But I want to move out. I am filling the application for an other position where they have asked the following:
>
> Please give the full contact details for you at your permanent institute.
>
>
> If you do not have a permanent institute, you can use the Leave empty button to
> leave this page empty.
>
>
>
There are options to mention that I am currently a Ph.D. candidate. Is it a good idea to mention that I am currently a Ph.D. candidate? I am asking this because someone have told me that if you are currently a Ph.D. candidate, universities don't give much attention to your application.<issue_comment>username_1: I can't really see how it is a plus, but it could be a big negative.
The obvious question is going to be: *why is this student leaving his current university?* Doing a PhD involves a pretty hefty investment for both sides, and you're about to leave a university in an attempt to go to another. Universities want to be convinced that you will make it to graduation.
I would expect you to have a very good reason for this (trying to go to a better ranked school after starting at one isn't a good enough rationale to me).
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Excuses:
1. Personal (...)
2. Spouse moving to the same city
3. Better institutional ranking
4. Want to explore a different research area
5. Job situation in the particular industry
**More problems switching if:**
6. The school is ranked similarly
7. Research area is similar
8. Both supervisors know each other (they usually do)
9. You are past the first year in a PhD program.
Usually, there is something deeper and all parties know it. In the digital age, lying does not work as expected, or for too long, so it is not an option.
Upvotes: 1
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2018/10/21
| 1,564
| 6,890
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a first year undergraduate student of mathematics. Nevertheless, I have (self-)studied a total of 19 (UG and PG) books, cover to cover already, at home not in classes. The method of studying was to study a book (i.e. for first time) without doing the exercises with understanding at least 80% of it; in other words, "reading" or not involving in all technicalities. Afterwards, for second time I analysed every line of the book with doing all exercises.
However, even with twice study I have forgotten almost all of the 19 books. To be precise, if I take a test one week after I am finishing a book (the second cycle of studying) I would get a *perfect* score; on the other hand, if I take a test about 6 months after that initial test I would get 5%-10% score!
Quite the opposite, I do remember every mathematics that I have learned in high school and I will probably remember after 20 years!
I thought about that quite a lot and I cannot figure that out why is there such a big difference. Or more practically, what can I do to learn university mathematics as 'mind-sticky' as high-school mathematics?<issue_comment>username_1: Estimating well one is know mathematics is tricky. I offer some ideas for figuring out whether you are learning all the material you go through and whether you are actually forgetting it. (The questions are something you should think about, as this website is not intended for extended dialogue.)
How well do you do in classes?
==============================
You are doing a huge amount of self-study, which show in your performance in mathematics and mathematically oriented classes, like physics and statistics. How are they going? Compare also with your peers. If you excel at them, it is a good sign that you are learning things and not forgetting them immediately. If they do not go well, there is a problem in your study methodologies and you should fix that.
Is it easier to learn a subject that builds on top of a previous one?
=====================================================================
When I took the first linear algebra course, which was about calculations with matrices and vectors and some proofs, I did not feel I understood anything (in spite of getting a good grade). On the next linear algebra course with abstract linear spaces I noticed that the material from the previous course was easy and I had in fact learned it. This pattern repeated, for me.
Typically, in your mathematics studies, you learn the same thing over and over again, in more and more abstract settings. If you can grasp the idea in an abstract setting, it usually means you have also learnt it in the less abstract one (even if it did not feel like that). How does this work for you?
Memorization and re-learning
============================
You are not supposed to remember all details of mathematics by heart. Rather, you are supposed to be able to reason about it on a more general level ("Is this true?" "Could I prove this?") and maybe be able to reconstruct an identity or theorem by considering typical examples and counter-examples and coming up with a proof, given time. Some proofs are difficult and hard to come up with, while many are manageable. Also, when you do need a theory you have studied before, you should be able to re-learn it very quickly.
How to learn mathematics
========================
Do lots of calculations and exercises. When facing a definition, try to come up with an example and a non-example. When facing a theorem, try to see if you can remove or weaken the assumptions and see what, if anything, goes wrong.
There has been much more written about this and it is too broad a question to answer here.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: In order to learn anything you need to cause physical changes in the brain. This requires repetition and reinforcement. The brain actually re-wires itself by forming new connections between neurons. Your initial reading is probably doing little for you as you just pass over the material. If you read, for example, The Iliad, it is a nice story, but you won't remember much of the detail of it after you finish. Only a few things will stand out. And mathematics is worse because it is the connections between things that are essential.
Your second pass, doing all the exercises is better, but apparently not enough.
Engage with the material.
As you study take notes as you go. Summarize each chapter of the book. Write down the three most important ideas in each chapter. Better yet, each time you have a "study session" write down what you think are the most important ideas (but not everything). When you finish, go over those notes again and write down the three most important ideas.
When you go back to study for another session. Try to remember what the important ideas were from the previous session. If you can't go back and review your notes.
Periodically, review your notes. You don't have anyone to give you an exam, which is the trick professors use to get you to review, so you will have to make that part of your regular process.
If you take notes on index cards you can carry your summary cards with you for review. If you have to wait for anything for a few minutes, you can pull out your cards and shuffle through them. You can also rearrange them and create mini-decks of important ideas.
But the idea is to force the important concepts from short term memory into long term. Memorization isn't the goal, however. It is making the remembered ideas useful. Connecting one idea to another. A math problem seldom depends on only a single idea for solution. You need to combine them. Memorization alone won't do that for you, but solving lots of problems will. There used to be (and may still be) books you could buy that had nothing in them but exercises. I once used those books to help solidify my knowledge.
You can also make up problems for yourself. If you want to know what, for example, derivatives can tell you about the shape of a curve/function of a certain kind, graph a lot of such functions by hand, on paper. If you graph, say, 100 rational functions by hand using the first and second derivatives, you will get a feel both for rational functions and for derivatives.
It is that sort of reinforcement that leads to learning.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: 19 UG and PG books is like a total math education through a MS. To cover that in less then a year or two, without professional support to guide you through the tricky spots and correct any fundamental mistakes, means you are going way to fast. To really learn material, you need time to digest it. To expect to learn a book/topic a month is not reasonable. Given the number of exercises in a typical math book, I would expect even an experienced mathematician to struggle to complete them in a month.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/21
| 1,148
| 4,714
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<issue_start>username_0: I have just started a thesis-based masters degree.
My supervisor has asked me to help with another student's project. So I am working with another student of my supervisor. We work together and send him a report weekly. We send reports on time.
One time our report had a mistake, the professor got mad at me (at that time I sent the report to him). He told me unpleasant things and I got really disappointed at that moment and it happened two times. It was weird because firstly he was very good with me and this behaviour was very unlikely. Secondly, he was not mad at my colleague (another student) we were working together.
Both of us wrote and sent that report and both of us made that mistake. Why he was not mad at him? did he tell any bad thing about me to the supervisor?
What should I tell to my professor? I feel very bad. He made me feel that I am useless.
I heard that my colleague has a bad reputation of gossiping about others to the supervisor.
I should add that my colleague, thinks that he is the boss in the lab and he sometimes bullies me and tries to correct me in everything even when we are filling a form which is not related to the project.
How can I handle this situation?<issue_comment>username_1: Writing your Masters on a supervision, is a higher level thing than your previous studies, it is like as if you would be a professional member of the faculty. Of course you aren't, but with the eyes of the people working there is it some similar. This is why you are in deep water now, and this is why you are surprised by the suddenly hardened expectations.
First, you can't be sure, if your partner is gossiping. Even if he does, what could he say to the prof? The contact between the prof and your partner should be surely very fragile. He likely doesn't have anything what the prof would really need, but both of you need something very strongly, to which the prof is the gateway: your Masters degree. No, his position isn't better even a little bit, than yours, even if he is gossiping.
Second, doing masters' supervision is a higher thing in the eyes of the prof as leading the ordinary lectures, but not too much. You are not important. You are part of his daily work, and surely not a super-important component of his wannabe Nobel medal.
Furthermore, you are doing Masters in the first time in your life, while this prof is working with students since years, or decades. He is surely a much stronger player as you could imagine.
On these reason, I think it is improbable that the partner is gossiping. He has simply nothing what the higher levels would need.
However, the critics of the Prof have probably a factual part: what he said, what his problem is with your work. You also suspect an unsaid part. You have no way to know, what is it, even if it exists.
The rational thing to do: *fulfill everything what the prof said*. Fix the problems of the said part. *Doing that, you might likely induce him to revalue his thinkings about the unsaid one, too.* In any organization, if you are working well for it, it should provide a protection for you. If you do your task well, there won't be important any more, what your partner did (or not).
P.s. It might be a personal matter of taste, but I was always surprised, what could be useful in doing papers in pairs or in groups, even in the rare cases if it is allowed. It will be *your* note, *your* degree, so it should be your work. Maybe if there is something, what no one can do alone, it is okay, but there should be very clear distinction, what are you doing and what the others.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: It sounds like an unpleasant environment to me. But still, this is one incident, right? So it might make sense to wait a little longer and see if this was a one-off or fits into a pattern.
If this turns out to be a pattern, you shouldn't stay in this lab beyond your Masters degree. If you really need a publication from your Masters degree (something that's not at all required in my field, for example), you should actually consider going to a different lab. If you feel like your supervisors anger, or your colleague's backstabbing, is too much, go to another lab as well.
While you are in this lab, there is surprisingly little to 'handle' about the situation. Just do your work, as separate from your colleague as possible, ignore your supervisor's anger but do try to get as specific feedback from them as possible, finish your Masters on time, get your recommendation letter and leave.
This answer sounds incredibly jaded and that's because it is quite self-centered: this is just a way for you to get through your Masters as painless as possible.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/21
| 549
| 2,376
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<issue_start>username_0: Last week I met my mentor (and also my potential supervisor) for my PhD. He suggested me to read a paper which is also related to my master's thesis.
I read that paper and some questions popped into my mind and I want to share them with him. Also, I would like to impress him and show him I fully understand the paper. I wonder how I should talk about the paper with my potential supervisor.<issue_comment>username_1: Organise a meeting with him, sit down and say "Bob, I have a couple of questions about that paper you suggested I read last week". And then ask the questions.
Don't overthink this. It really is that simple.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: If you're trying to impress your supervisor, which is totally reasonable for a new graduate student trying to establish himself, there are a several things you could discuss.
1. Mention the good things about the paper, and how it compares to related work.
2. Mention the shortcomings in the paper, if you mention shortcomings not mentioned in the paper itself, even better. Go further and mention how these shortcomings could be fixed.
3. Suggest how you can build on top of this paper for the masters thesis you intend to embark on.
4. If there are things you don't understand from the paper make an effort to do your homework and try to understand them. If after your best effort you don't understand something, mention to your advisor you are not quite sure about a particular thing. If your advisor is a reasonable person he/she will try to explain the concept to you or point you to relevant resources if he/she doesn't understand it.
At a high level you should think critically about the paper. Weigh the pros and cons, and think about how you can use this paper in your research. These are just some general questions to think about when reading any paper.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: 1. Unless your observations contradict a foundation of the paper, mention its positive points.
2. If your observation derives directly from the paper, show the logical connection, and how it may enhance the paper's points.
3. If your observation is tangential to the subject matter of the paper, show the tangential relation, and if there is a semantic relation.
4. If the field of study admits for some formal proof, give some sketch of how you might prove your point.
Upvotes: -1
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2018/10/21
| 702
| 2,998
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<issue_start>username_0: I had worked on a project for my bachelor thesis in 2012 and in 2013, I moved to Germany for further study. Now when I am facing several interviews for Ph.D. and the supervisors ask if I have published my bachelor thesis or not. So I was thinking to add some computational data and publish my work in a good journal. But I noticed my supervisor with another student had already published my work in 2015 and I didn't know anything. Another student had a similar project(we worked together when we were working in the lab, we just had different solvents/medium for our samples) so he merged both projects together and published it and my supervisor was the first author. And anyone can find my thesis if they search in my university website with my name and the project name. Now my question is what steps I can take? It's my work and I worked for 1 year on this project and they didn't even mention my name anywhere or never asked me about this. Should I write to my supervisor regarding this? or should I inform the publication house?
(I did not have any contact with my supervisor after I graduated)<issue_comment>username_1: There is probably little you can do formally or legally. Not citing your thesis was a lapse, but getting that changed is not likely to happen. You can, of course, point people directly to your thesis.
I don't see any ethical issues with the publication itself. The work was, in some sense, unfinished. It is natural to want to finish it and you weren't there to help. But you should have been cited. But the ethical lapse was in failure to cite, not the publication itself, assuming that it was an extension.
But you might also be able to obtain a letter from your old supervisor explaining that the publication in question incorporated prior work of yours. That might be enough for your current purposes.
However, you might also be able to publish your thesis unchanged with original dates attached. It would be a late publication but if you can convince a journal to publish it, you could establish priority on at least some of the ideas. Your university will verify that the work was done prior to the new publication's date. If you change/update it, however, you lose the advantage of priority.
But try to work first with your old supervisor.
Another option is to extend not only your own old work but the publication itself. Then it is new work. You can cite your old thesis and the newer publication in this work. Ultimately that is what you want to be able to do, of course.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I don't agree with @username_1 that it was a lapse! It was bluntly unethical.
If you are in a situation where you don't need your advisor's approval or recommendation, you might want to consider filing a complaint to the ethics committee of your university. Of course, contact him first and demand that he will add your name.
I am just a MSC student, but I don't see how I am wrong.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/10/21
| 558
| 2,428
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<issue_start>username_0: My Masters adviser (computer science) is demanding I hand over all my work including data sets, code and configurations. I do not want to be overly specific just in case. This seems fishy... or am I paranoid.
* Notes:
He demanded that "we" publish an additional paper in addition to the thesis. I told him that I did not have time for anything beyond the department requirement of a thesis. He got mad and now its been one thing after another each week. Now, he wants the entire project handed over. The entire experience since my decline of additional paper has been hostile.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, you are paranoid, but your paranoia might or might not be justified. There are parasitic advisers who abuse students by stealing data, ideas, and career progress. But there are also advisers who take their role seriously and want to check your work and make suggestions for improvement.
Ask your adviser's former students if they shared these things with the adviser.
Ask some faculty you trust who are not involved in your projects what they think of the request. Try to get a sense of whether it is normal in your department/field of study for this to happen.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: This sounds like he sees value in the work and wants it completed. It also sounds like you are refusing to collaborate in its completion and so he feels that he has to carry it on alone. But you hold the data he needs to do so.
Whether he is entitled to the work or not depends on how much he contributed to it. But no researcher likes to leave ideas unfulfilled so he is frustrated and probably acting badly. But if you refuse, absolutely, to help, then you are probably acting badly also. Unwillingness to go beyond the minimum requirements isn't a very strong recommendation.
It would be good if the work could be completed and papers written with your name attached to them. Even if he does the work and lists you as second author in some publications you have gained something.
But withholding the work won't get you or anyone anywhere. Others may actually do the work following similar but independent lines of thought leaving you out entirely. Parallel, independent, work is a very common phenomenon.
If he hasn't contributed anything and you intend to finish the work independently then the story might be different, but that sounds unlikely from what you write.
Upvotes: 3
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2018/10/21
| 894
| 3,910
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<issue_start>username_0: Suppose one is starting their math PhD in the US and is considering doing research in logic. Let's roughly split "logic" into "pure logic" and "applied logic".
How hard will it be for them to get academic positions to a math PhD with specialization in logic (given that they don't come from a top logic department, like Berkeley, or even Wisconsin; but from a group I university). Would it be easier if they have a PhD in pure or applied logic? In the latter case, how possible is it to work in two areas? (E.g. if one does applied logic related to computer science/natural language, is it possible to eventually become a professor in both math and computer science/linguistics?)
(I understand that many answers will say that it depends on the research that the PhD did/adviser/connections, etc., but let's just assume that the research if fine (not exceptional), the adviser is a more or less known logician. I just wanted to estimate how hard it is to get academic jobs for a logic person compared to pure mathematicians, as well as if it's possible to work in two areas if one specializes in applied logic.)<issue_comment>username_1: Having any narrow specialty narrows the jobs you will be considered for. Many job offers specify a sub field. Often it is to find someone to fit into an existing research group. Given that logic is pretty narrow that will narrow your possibilities. The same would be the case if you specialized in classical real analysis.
But a lot of advertisements leave the field open. But most of your teaching would likely be more general than your specialty. If you are well prepared generally, to teach mathematics, then you will probably be fine. But don't expect to find too many job offers that specify logic, whether pure or applied.
In the best case you will get to teach a logic course or two and find a few students to work with.
But if you are also generally well educated (you mention linguistics), then you may fit well into any program that stresses interdisciplinary work.
Once you have a degree and a position from which to work, the direction of your career is pretty much up to you.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: The perception, at least within logic, is that finding research positions in logic is even harder than in most specialities in mathematics - most research hiring is restricted to a specialty, and there are rarely new positions created in mathematical logic.
I'm not sure how true that perception is. As far as I can tell, every field perceives hiring as very tight. There are more qualified people than available jobs in all fields of math; there are fewer positions in logic than, say, algebra, but there are also fewer new PhD's in logic, and I don't know of any data on how the actual ratios compare. But it's certainly hard to get an academic position in logic, and every year very good researchers decide to give up pursuing academic positions.
My impression is that logicians do slightly better than the average mathematician at getting positions at schools that are less research oriented - schools that are hiring based mostly on teaching ability, but want their professors to also be doing some research. (Partially, I think, because those schools often want people who can teach a variety of undergrad classes, and many logicians these days are trained to be able to do that.) But that obviously depends on being a very good teacher.
Regarding applied logic, it's *very* rare these days for someone with a math PhD to get hired to an interdisciplinary position, at least in the US. Someone who's already established can sometimes can an honorary position in another department, but they still have to be hired (and eventually tenured) by their home department. I think that's different in Europe, where there's a lot more mathematical logic going on in CS departments.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2018/10/21
| 1,190
| 5,204
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<issue_start>username_0: Between
1. [Doing a PhD by joining a predetermined research problem](https://www.kit.edu/research/phdprograms.php)
2. [Doing a PhD by formulating one's own research problem](https://www.wi.tum.de/programs/doctoral-program/applicants/)
is it possible to say that option #1 is a more advantageous choice in terms of future career?
Why or why not?<issue_comment>username_1: The criteria you set are not determinative in any way. What matters, actually, is the significance of the problem you research and the quality of the results you produce. Those things can be more or less for either of your options.
If you want a great career, solve hard problems and help future students to follow in your lead. Whether you or someone else sets the original problem has little significance.
You don't know much about the significance of a problem until you attack it, unless it is a classic, unsolved, problem in which case it is hard almost by definition. Not taking the lead from someone who has more experience than yourself leaves you open to working on an insignificant (even if hard) problem.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: By selecting route one you are taking advantage of the potential that as your supervisor is more knowledgable of the field and so will know:
1. What the important/fundable/publishable problems in the field are.
2. Be able to judge if a project is likely to be successful
3. If a problem presents the correct amount of challenge to a graduate student.
Thus if you choose option one, your project could be more likely to be successful and produce publications and lead to fundable options in the future. This does of course rely on the supervisor actaully being better at these things than you. While not all supervisors will be (or will care enough to think about them), on average this will be true.
On the other hand, if you choose route 2, then you will be able to demonstrate independence and initiative, which are highly valued attributes in the postdoc job market. A stock postdoc interview question, at least for me, is: "Name a situation where you had an idea independently of your supervisor and followed this idea through to its conclusion".
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Within the context of my own experience (engineering), here are some thoughts:
1. PhD is overrated. Consider going to your chosen industry. Work for five years. Understand the problems and work on your favorite problem (on your own time if need be) while getting paid instead of accruing loans. If you can't live without a PhD, do go back to the graduate purgatory by all means.
2. Later career depends on the country you reside in and your subject area. For example, your PhD in journalism is not going to be very helpful in the Middle East. I can't think of a clear answer to this question. Usually people with advanced degrees in engineering require extensive company support to achieve something important (The company keeps the patents and all you have is a salary and bragging rights until the job ends). Even this can't be done remotely, so be prepared to relocate and compete with the rest of the world's PhDs with similar plans.
3. People in the software business can do somewhat better, but require significantly more time, if the group they are working with has fewer members. Nevertheless, they can collaborate more efficiently and don't need to relocate as much.
4. Humanities and other fields are often region- or language-specific. Advanced degrees in law are even more constrained. A degree is economics would be fairly globally accepted at job interview with a large bank or a multinational. This discussion will become subjective quickly.
Not many in the engineering industry care about your publications, or whether you came up with your own (challenging but impractical) problem and managed to solve the same. Here we are not discussing problems that end with ominous words such as 'conjecture'. It would be a folly to choose something that challenging for your PhD work. Your supervisor will often forget to mention that since they will have nothing to lose by cheering you on. Not everyone will be this cruel though. Supervisors with limited industrial funding would be more focused and goal-oriented. Those with tenured careers and stable sources of funding would let you dabble for years as long as publications keep coming. Choose wisely.
1. If you have the ability and understanding to come up with your own practical problem
to solve, then start a company. Let others work for you. Don't work for others. You can start small.
2. Pre-determined problems are dished out by industry or other financially stable parties looking for cheap labor, mostly. On the other hand, getting a job in a similar setup remains a possibility afterwards; unless of course, you want to explore the postdoc market further and eat canned food.
3. World is an increasingly job-unstable place as far as engineering goes. Consider how relevant, stable and global your particular industry is or will be in the next 25 years, so that relocation/online work remains a possibility.
4. Excuse my ignorance about other fields.
Upvotes: -1
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2018/10/22
| 1,412
| 6,250
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<issue_start>username_0: I have just completed my first year of a 50/50 coursework/research masters program in physics. I have a supervisor, but have not yet started the research component, which is meant to run until the end of next year.
After a year of graduate study I've realised that a lot of the theoretical physics done at my university is still too applied and not mathematical enough for my taste. I also feel like I need significantly more mathematics to carry out research in the areas which interest me most. Also, after looking at the areas of active research in both departments, those of the maths faculty interest me much more.
Because of this I want to transfer from my physics program to the equivalent maths program (both at my current university). I dual majored in maths and physics as an undergraduate, so I meet all the requirements and have even completed three subjects that I should be able to use as partial credit in maths. My concern however, is with leaving my current supervisor. I haven't yet started on a research project with him, but I'm worried about leaving and really don't want to inconvenience or disappoint him.
Has anybody else had a similar experience, and is this at all common? How did you handle leaving your supervisor? How did they handle you leaving? Is this likely to effect me if I end up back in the physics department for a PhD (i.e. is it likely I'll be "blacklisted")?
Thanks in advance for any advice, I'm feeling quite lost and would really appreciate it.<issue_comment>username_1: Programme transfers are pretty common and most modern universities have established procedures in place to allow this to happen. At my university -- a research-intensive one in the UK -- this would only be allowed if you meet the following conditions. For the sake of clarity, I will call the programme *from which* you wish to transfer **programme A** and the programme *into which* you wish to transfer **programme B**.
1. You meet the *entry criteria* of programme B. In most cases in which programmes A and B are related, this is not a problem. The greater the difference, the smaller the likelihood that these criteria will be met. The most common cause of grief in our experience is potentially different English language thresholds. For example, programme A might have an IELTS requirement of 6.5 while programme B might require IELTS 7.0.
2. You have no outstanding incomplete requirements in programme B.
3. The programme director of programme B is willing to release you. This is relatively easy because most programme directors have no desire to keep anyone who doesn't want to be there.
4. The programme director of programme A is willing to accept you. The programme director will want to review your academic qualifications and performance. This review may involve an interview or skills demonstration. For example, you might need to demonstrate facility with a piece of lab instrumentation or software.
If you meet all four criteria, then the question becomes about inter-programme credits. Depending on the coverage of the taught components of programme A and its overlap with programme B, you may be asked to take courses to make up the taught credit load for programme B.
Finally, you will be asked to choose an academic supervisor who will oversee the research component of your degree.
If you want to transfer out of a programme, I suggest that you do so now. Unlike PhD programmes, master's degrees are churn out students at a much faster pace. Thus, the academic supervisor you have in your original programme isn't likely to have developed a strong working relationship with you. I wouldn't overthink the issue that you are inconveniencing him or her much. This happens quite often and is the reason that policies are in place.
Finally, if you are professional about your reasons for departure and your approach to the process, there is no reason why you will be "blacklisted", should you then try for a PhD or post-doc position in your original programme.
Good luck to you.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> My concern however, is with leaving my current supervisor. I haven't yet started on a research project with him, but I'm worried about leaving and really don't want to inconvenience or disappoint him. ... Is this likely to effect me if I end up back in the physics department for a PhD (i.e. is it likely I'll be "blacklisted")?
>
>
>
Since you have not yet started any research project with your supervisor, it is unlikely to be inconvenient to him to have you transfer to another program. Unless your supervisor is an extremely resentful individual (which would be rare in academia) it would be highly unlikely that he would take any negative view of you for wanting to change to a preferred program of study, and it would be similarly unlikely that you would suffer any long-term consequence if you wanted to come back into physics.
As with any situation like this, the key is to be polite and thankful for the existing help you have been given. Tell your supervisor your reasons for wanting to change to study mathematics, and thank him for all the work he has already put in supervising you. Although it is unlikely you will inconvenience him much, it is not a bad idea to pre-emptively apologise for any inconvenience you may have caused him, and let him know that your decision is about your preferred program, and is not due to any deficiency in his supervision.
If you do this well then you will be able to leave on friendly terms with your present supervisor, and you will ensure that you have not "burned your bridges" with your move to another program. There is a reasonable possibility that your supervisor might even like the fact that you are pursuing more mathematics, and might be interested in doing research projects in physics with you later, once your mathematical skills have improved.
Anyway, don't be nervous --- most academic supervisors are friendly and want what is best for their students. Sit down with your supervisor and lay out your plans. Be polite and thankful and put yourself in a position to be able to come back later if you decide to renew your interest in research work in physics.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/10/22
| 1,646
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<issue_start>username_0: So I'm faced with an ethical dilemma and want some second opinions on how to approach this situation with a poorly calculated decision that my professor made.
So we have groups of 4 people for group projects which were created randomly by the professor. A new student joined the late (1-2 weeks after) and my team member volunteered to have her join our group when every group already had 4 members. However, it's been 3 weeks already since the group projects started and the professor decided to ask our main team member who has been our unofficial team lead to change groups because a student from another group is dropping the class at the last minute so that she can balance out the teams I'm guessing. She spoke to the team member whom she wanted to move privately before the weekend after class and then decided to inform the rest of the group that he's moving to another group. The person moving was the person who volunteered to add the new person into the group.
So naturally, I was infuriated in the manner in which she decided to supposedly balance out the head counts and that too a month into the quarter and also for choosing the group member who has been our primary facilitator.
I replied to her email saying that I wished she had talked over this with the whole group and suggested that she move the member who joined our team late since she invested less time and effort into the project than the rest of us. She replies to that email saying:
>
> `I am disappointed to hear you call out another person in the group, asking her to be excused, without giving her an opportunity as well. Please see me after class next lecture.`
>
>
>
Clearly I didn't want any member to leave, but I thought it made more sense to move the newer member to a different group as she would leave behind a lot less of her efforts and thus would be the least disruptive way to do it. I spoke with the rest of the group after this reply. 1 other member said that it should either be nobody leaving preferably, but if 1 must leave it should be the newer member which I agreed to 100%. Even the newer member was understanding of the situation and said that she's willing to let the professor know that she doesn't mind volunteering to leave, but hesitated when her reply said that her decision was final.
So I don't want a target on my back, but this professor is making my remarks seem more controversial than they really are. What would be the best way to further communicate about this with the professor?<issue_comment>username_1: Programme transfers are pretty common and most modern universities have established procedures in place to allow this to happen. At my university -- a research-intensive one in the UK -- this would only be allowed if you meet the following conditions. For the sake of clarity, I will call the programme *from which* you wish to transfer **programme A** and the programme *into which* you wish to transfer **programme B**.
1. You meet the *entry criteria* of programme B. In most cases in which programmes A and B are related, this is not a problem. The greater the difference, the smaller the likelihood that these criteria will be met. The most common cause of grief in our experience is potentially different English language thresholds. For example, programme A might have an IELTS requirement of 6.5 while programme B might require IELTS 7.0.
2. You have no outstanding incomplete requirements in programme B.
3. The programme director of programme B is willing to release you. This is relatively easy because most programme directors have no desire to keep anyone who doesn't want to be there.
4. The programme director of programme A is willing to accept you. The programme director will want to review your academic qualifications and performance. This review may involve an interview or skills demonstration. For example, you might need to demonstrate facility with a piece of lab instrumentation or software.
If you meet all four criteria, then the question becomes about inter-programme credits. Depending on the coverage of the taught components of programme A and its overlap with programme B, you may be asked to take courses to make up the taught credit load for programme B.
Finally, you will be asked to choose an academic supervisor who will oversee the research component of your degree.
If you want to transfer out of a programme, I suggest that you do so now. Unlike PhD programmes, master's degrees are churn out students at a much faster pace. Thus, the academic supervisor you have in your original programme isn't likely to have developed a strong working relationship with you. I wouldn't overthink the issue that you are inconveniencing him or her much. This happens quite often and is the reason that policies are in place.
Finally, if you are professional about your reasons for departure and your approach to the process, there is no reason why you will be "blacklisted", should you then try for a PhD or post-doc position in your original programme.
Good luck to you.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> My concern however, is with leaving my current supervisor. I haven't yet started on a research project with him, but I'm worried about leaving and really don't want to inconvenience or disappoint him. ... Is this likely to effect me if I end up back in the physics department for a PhD (i.e. is it likely I'll be "blacklisted")?
>
>
>
Since you have not yet started any research project with your supervisor, it is unlikely to be inconvenient to him to have you transfer to another program. Unless your supervisor is an extremely resentful individual (which would be rare in academia) it would be highly unlikely that he would take any negative view of you for wanting to change to a preferred program of study, and it would be similarly unlikely that you would suffer any long-term consequence if you wanted to come back into physics.
As with any situation like this, the key is to be polite and thankful for the existing help you have been given. Tell your supervisor your reasons for wanting to change to study mathematics, and thank him for all the work he has already put in supervising you. Although it is unlikely you will inconvenience him much, it is not a bad idea to pre-emptively apologise for any inconvenience you may have caused him, and let him know that your decision is about your preferred program, and is not due to any deficiency in his supervision.
If you do this well then you will be able to leave on friendly terms with your present supervisor, and you will ensure that you have not "burned your bridges" with your move to another program. There is a reasonable possibility that your supervisor might even like the fact that you are pursuing more mathematics, and might be interested in doing research projects in physics with you later, once your mathematical skills have improved.
Anyway, don't be nervous --- most academic supervisors are friendly and want what is best for their students. Sit down with your supervisor and lay out your plans. Be polite and thankful and put yourself in a position to be able to come back later if you decide to renew your interest in research work in physics.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/10/22
| 1,466
| 6,342
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<issue_start>username_0: I would like to submit an abstract for a poster presentation, I'm just worried that if I tell my supervisor before submitting, she might say I shouldn't do it, because she rarely wants me to be away from the office. So I was thinking on submitting the abstract and once I'm accepted telling her I've been selected for presenting at that conference. What do you think about it? Would this be a good strategy for attending a conference when having a strict and closed minded supervisor?
P.S. Our research is not about any kind of product or patent we're developing for a company, so no privacy issues apply in there.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes you could.
**I'd strongly suggest you not do it.**
Your supervisor has a lot of power over you - they aren't someone you want to upset.
It is unfortunate that your supervisor is not supportive of you trying to seek out conferences to present at, but you should address that issue with them rather than try to go behind their back. I would suggest trying to find another supervisor before I would suggest trying to undermine the authority of your current supervisor: there just aren't enough positives for you on that path.
Note that if your supervisor deserves authorship on your work, either omitting their name as an author or submitting without the approval of someone listed as an author could be considered academic misconduct. In some fields, authorship by only a student without their supervisor is common, but if you aren't in one of those fields you should be especially careful.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I would recommend the opposite of [the answer of <NAME>](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/118805/75368) unless you have explicitly been told in the past not to submit things. You aren't going behind her back, you are just being professional. It seems to me to be a mistake only to try to counter explicit instructions.
I'm assuming, of course, that the work is yours alone and that shared authorship is not an issue for this work. If it is not yours alone then you need permission from your collaborators to publish and they may have a right to shared authorship. In some fields almost all work is collaborative. In others it is almost all the work of a single person.
However, there are two other issues. One is the payment of conference fees and travel expenses. You can't really expect her to cover these unless she has approved of them in advance. The other is how to deal with the time you will spend away. If others depend on your presence, say in a lab, it could be disruptive.
I would suggest that you submit, but expect that you might not be able to actually attend. Sometimes that can be worked out with the conference committee and sometimes the author has to withdraw, which can be a bit embarrassing.
But it seems a mistake to me to make a decision based on what she *might* do. Just be prepared for what she does and to accept final decisions if necessary.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I fail to see how logistically this can be done. If her name is on it, the submission will usually assume all authors agreed on the final version. She will get an e-mail and find out that you faked her approval.
If the work does not have her name on it, then she can be right not to give you paid leaves to present it. In that case, pay for yourself and spend your day offs to attend it. Think of it as a workation, learning tour, etc.
Another possibility is to apply for travel scholarship. These are usually a sign of approval from the organization on the work's quality and that may push her closer to saying yes.
More importantly, submitting an abstract behind her does not address the root cause that she does not want you to be absent. Perhaps start from there, during annual review or periodic meetings, list "going to a conference" as a goal and start the negotiation there. List possible "win-win" for you and her (the research team.) Express firm interests and ask for guidance. Be upfront about if you need her grant to support you or you'll pay, etc. Perhaps she was worried about funding. You may also suggest attending local conferences to cut costs, or remote meetings to make sure you're not missing important affairs at the base.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: The real issue is to find out, why she does not want you to be away from work. It could be that she feels you or your research are not yet ready or that she knows you are on a though schedule with your project anyway. The reasons might be good or not, they might be valid or not.
Talk to your supervisor to find out more about her reasons. Maybe you can address them or convince your supervisor, that you should attend at least one conference per year.
If money for travel expanses is rare, you can apply for travel grants, apply to conferences nearby, or pay them from your private money. The experience might be worth the money.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: ### The real problem is your relationship with your supervisor, not the submission.
>
> ... my supervisor ... rarely wants me to be away from the office.
>
>
>
This is your real problem. Or rather, the situation where you believe your supervisor is holding you back and doesn't have your best interest at heart.
Now, you've not told us much about what kind of research you do; what kind of interaction and collaboration you have with your supervisor; whether you believe she is mis-supervising you, or stunting your activity, or whether it's just a question of focus of efforts; etc. But this is a bad situation to be in. Either you are being mistreated, or there is a severe failure in communication between you two.
I suggest you discuss this relationship (perhaps confidentially at first) with co-supervisee's of hers, that you trust; with other grads in your department; or even describe it for us in a different question here on the site. How did it get to be that way? Did you voluntarily choose each other, or did some circumstances forced one or both of you into this situation? Do you feel you're benefiting at all from her supervision? That she's helping you develop as a researcher and as a person? Have you tried bring some of this up with her before, and failed, or were you worried she'd react angrily/vindictively? etc.
Upvotes: 3
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2018/10/22
| 2,017
| 8,741
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<issue_start>username_0: I started a new graduate program in September. After a few weeks weeks, I chose to withdraw due to personal/health concerns.
One of the reasons I accepted the offer of admission was because it included a scholarship that covered tuition. After I withdrew, they took away the scholarship (expected) but they also charged me tuition for the first semester (unexpected). They did this because, technically, I withdrew a few days after the "last day to drop classes without financial penalty" deadline.
I am no longer a student, but they are still requiring me to pay ~$1500 to cover the tuition. I can't afford to pay this; I was not expecting this additional expense since the scholarship was supposed to cover it. If I don't pay it right away, they will charge interest.
Now the easiest option (but perhaps unethical) seems to be to just walk away without paying. But if I want to apply for another graduate program some time in the future, I will need a transcript from all past institutions. And if I want a transcript from this institution, they need me to pay the ~$1500.
This seems ridiculous; effectively, it will cost $1500 to get a transcript that does not contain any grades. It just says that I withdrew from all classes.
**Would a graduate program generally require a transcript that does not contain any grades?** Alternatively, is there any precedent for a situation where a scholarship is revoked but tuition is still required after withdrawing?
For context, this is a major Canadian university.
**Update:** Thanks for the responses. After reaching out to the department and explaining the situation, it was determined that financial services had made an error when they revoked the scholarship. Basically, the scholarship acted like a tuition waiver and it was not correct to cancel the tuition waiver (and thereby charge full tuition) when a student withdraws.<issue_comment>username_1: A lot of this question comes down to what you can do vs. what you should do.
You should pay the university, at least in installments over time. If you withdrew after the deadline to do so, then the university and teachers expended effort to put you into their system, and prepare for you to be a student. If you try to just blow them off, they could pretty easily take you to court and force you to pay, since you likely agreed to a set of terms and conditions upon signing up for classes. At the least, they could mess up your credit by giving you a delinquent account.
That said, graduate programs would want records from every institution you attended in general. The idea is that it is up to them to decide what is important and what is not, not up to you. Thus, it is academically dishonest to withhold the information from them. Further, the transcript likely is not blank. It will list the classes that you signed up for, and give you a "W" in each one most likely (that is what US institutions do), since you dropped after the deadline. Some schools count those against your GPA, some don't, so it could affect how they calculate your GPA coming into their program.
So that's what you *should* do. *Could* you not include the transcript? Yes, it is possible that they would fail to notice the missing transcript. It is also possible that you'd make it 1/2 way through the program, and then they'd figure it out, and you could get thrown out.
I'd talk to the university about setting up a payment plan so that they don't tank your credit or go to a collections agency, then include the transcript. $1500 isn't worth the danger that someone will find out and throw you out years later. As for precedent, I had a similar situation where I had to withdraw from a semester after the deadline because my sister became very ill, and I had to be an at-home caretaker. The university didn't refund me anything. From their perspective, they had reserved spots in the classes I was taking, and they couldn't let anyone else into those spots because the course was too far along. I was forced to eat that cost, and formed a payment plan with the university business office.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: There are two issues at play here:
1. You received (or had opportunity to receive) goods or services at a cost and now you do not feel you should pay for said services.
2. You have asked if a graduate program would require a transcript from a school you attended but received no grades from.
My answer to these questions would be as follows:
1. If you did not withdraw from the university before the withdraw deadline, you indeed owe them tuition. This is how tuition works. You receive services from the university and you pay them for said services. Failure to attend class does not remit one's tuition obligations. That is the precedent. In essence, laborers came to your house and painted your living room. Originally you had agreed for them to paint your entire house, but you decided you no longer wanted the whole house painted. Do you still owe the painting company money for painting your living room? (Answer: Yes).
There may be several paths you can take in regards to the tuition charges. You can set up a payment plan with the university. This will allow you to pay back the tuition over time while also avoiding your credit being destroyed by your account being sent to a collections agency. Another approach you could attempt is to speak with the university and seek to have your tuition charges dropped because you *could not* attend class. Be prepared to prove that claim (if true). This would be a path you could take if you were hospitalized for the extent of the semester and you were incapacitated to a degree that rendered you unable to take the appropriate administrative actions and withdraw earlier. The university is extremely unlikely to remit tuition charged to a student who had claimed, yet unprovable, difficulties in attending class.
2. As for whether you need to provide transcripts for a university you never received any grades at, I would guess that it is rather unlikely that an admissions committee would require your transcripts **if you sought prior direction from them on the matter.** Simply email the graduate coordinator and say
>
> "I attended the University of ABC123 during September 2018. Due to health issues, I withdrew from all of my classes before final grades were issued. As such, any transcript from U of ABC123 will be effectively blank and will not contain any grades. Will the admissions committee still be looking for this transcript?"
>
>
>
If I received an email like this from a student I would probably reply and tell him or her that we would place a note in his/her file mentioning the situation and that they should not worry about sending a transcript. (Although, if I knew that the student owed another university $1500 of tuition, he could send us whatever he wanted and I would probably still reject his application. There would be no way that I would go dancing with that type of baggage).
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I'll limit my answer to the first question only.
>
> Would a graduate program generally require a transcript that does not contain any grades?
>
>
>
Applications to the graduate programs at my university are processed centrally through the Graduate School, which I direct. We require all applications to be accompanied by official transcripts from previous institutions. In the normal course of affairs, we would require the same of you, especially in the situation in which you have claimed attendance (or at least acceptance) into a graduate program.
Of course, you might simply omit the claim that you were accepted into the program and we would be none the wiser. However, I think that this would be unwise. This is because you claim not only to have been accepted into a "major Canadian university", but also to have received a scholarship. This is quite an achievement by any metric. That you withdrew from the program on non-academic grounds does not diminish this accomplishment. Certainly, an application to our programs with such evidence makes your case quite compelling.
The transcript you will receive from the previous university will not be blank. There will be a note attached that you withdrew from the program on such a date. It will generally list the courses you were supposed to take and have corresponding notations that you were registered from them and were withdrawn, too. Finally, if your scholarship was merit-based and administered by the university, your transcript will also show evidence that you received a scholarship. This is part of the evidence that we would be assessing in support of your claim.
Good luck.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/22
| 696
| 3,033
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<issue_start>username_0: Let's say that a person assigned male at birth identifies as a woman. At which stage of their transition process would they be allowed to claim themselves as a woman in the context of college applications or scholarships? Is merely identifying as a woman sufficient? Or maybe legally changing your gender is required?
Or if we look at it the other way around: At which point would a person assigned female at birth be required to identify themselves as a man in college applications?
Note that this question is of practical value as there are presumably hundreds of thousands of people in the US who identify with a different gender.<issue_comment>username_1: In the US, every university is different, though some State systems have several universities that follow the same rules.
In general however, your gender is self defined. You are what you say you are, though some people will want to argue with you about it. Gender is a very complex phenomenon, and none of the aspects of it are purely binary. There is your "plumbing", which has more than two forms. There is your brain, which determines how you think of yourself. There is your hormonal system, which has something to do with how you feel. None of these are binary and for some people they are in conflict with one another. Trying to give a formal definition is a fool's game, though some try to play it.
You are what you think you are. Universities are more likely than not to respect that, with some exceptions for religious colleges. It isn't so simple/nice for pre-college education which can be overly influenced by conservative political/religious factors.
The news in the past couple of days has indicated that the current administration might try to "define-away" transsexual people by defining your "sex" as your plumbing at birth. But, funny thing, that isn't binary, and some people are born with intersex (mixed) genitals. Humans are complex. Trying to define us to be simple, is, again, a fool's game.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Virtually all universities will follow the policies regarding gender identity that are promulgated by the U.S. Department of Education. To do otherwise would mean putting their access to federal funds at risk, since Title IX of the Civil Rights Act bans discrimination on the basis of sex by any institution that receives federal government assistance. Many institutions have an official statement somewhere (on their Web site, in the course bulletin, etc.) stating that the abide by these federal guidelines.
The Department of Education enunciates their interpretations of the law through what are known as "Dear <NAME>." The ones covering the question of how gender identity is defined may be found [here](https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/lgbt.html), on the agency's Web page. In light of the current political situation, the Department of Education's rules cannot be seen as stable, at present, but the current state of guidance can be found there.
Upvotes: 3
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2018/10/23
| 663
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<issue_start>username_0: Some papers have the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) which uniquely identify them, some other have an oai identifier (e.g. oai:arXiv.org:1402.3722). Even though I inspected the metadata of different sources like [core](https://core.ac.uk/), [microsoft academic](https://academic.microsoft.com/), and [semantic scholar](https://allenai.org/semantic-scholar/) I couldn't find a unique identifier which is used among all sources of research papers.
How are all scientific publications uniquely identified?<issue_comment>username_1: Research publications predate the digital age, so only a fraction has a digital identifier. The unique identifier traditionally used is the full citation, of which various formats exist to suit discipline-specific needs. It is very likely for a full citation to be *unique*.
(However, automatic data analysis may not be able to recognize the *identity* of diffently formated citations of the same publication. That's DOI's strong suit.)
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> How are all scientific publications uniquely identified ?
>
>
>
Formally, they aren't: There is no system to uniquely identify publications. But, author(s), year of publication, and title are typically sufficient to uniquely identify publications, because authors typically publish different works with different titles and it is unlikely that distinct author(s) with the same name(s) will publish in the same year with the same title. Moreover, it is even more unlikely once publication venue is added and distinct once page numbers are added (assuming no two publication venues share the same name in the same year). So, a full citation should suffice to uniquely identify publications, but there may exist (with low probability) publications that cannot be uniquely identified.
(Uniquely identifying authors of a publication is more problematic.)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I work at Crossref and we run a registry of DOIs with attached metadata beyond such as funder acknowledgements, whether it's been retracted, etc. Our DOIs (about 100 million) are specifically citation identifiers and also persistent links. DOI is also the ISO standard for identifying research publications. 11,000 publishers use Crossref but yes they have not all gone back to their print archives to digitise them and assign DOIs yet, books especially are lagging behind. It integrates with DataCite DOIs for data and software citations (about 10 million of them), and with ORCID iDs which identify authors & contributors (about 5 million so far). There is also ROR.community starting up to uniquely identify research institutions. All these are open community-governed nonprofit organizations. ArXiv is pretty much the only publisher that doesn't (yet) use DOIs. Centre for Open Science does for all the other 'Xivs', as does BioRxiV etc.
Upvotes: 5
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2018/10/23
| 1,228
| 5,093
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<issue_start>username_0: I was wondering if there are any computer science related conferences or journals that review their submissions publicly. So everyone can see what the authors submitted and what the reviewers responded with.
I was told that this will create bias between academics but I don't think that will be the case because if someone give a biased review then the community will see that and he will probably hurt his image.
Edit:I have a stack exchange concept on my mind.<issue_comment>username_1: *Fair warning: I'm going to pretend that the question is: why do all the conference/journals use blind peer review?*
The rationale for blind peer review is simple: if the authors knew the reviewers, they could try to maximize their chances to get published through many unethical means (bribing, threatening, ...). Even without going that far, a reviewer would be tempted to curb their criticism with an author they know, especially if they hope to get a job at their institution or collaborate with them (btw this is why the standard is more and more often double blind review: the reviewer doesn't know the author either).
This is why blind review is the standard: while not perfect, it ensures a certain level of honesty and objectivity in the review process, and in turn a certain level of trust in the accepted papers.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: <https://openreview.net/> I wish all the journals/conferences did double blind reviews, it is the -only- ethical way. There are many single blind review systems that makes me cringe. Last time, I had a lot of bias and unjustified assumptions due to this. Making them publicly available is a step further, so you can find venues that do that by following the link.
edit: I read your question wrong. Why are you interested in non blind reviews? Well, I think on openreview, if you pull your submission out then the name of authors, and reviewers (not sure) will show up. I think this is to prevent future accusations of stealing ideas.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: You are looking for conferences or journals that have open reviews, that is, the submitted papers are visible to everyone, as well as the reviews. Possibly, the reviewers are even known to the public.
There are a few such conferences and journals. The [Semantic Web Journal](http://www.semantic-web-journal.net/) is a computer science journal where [all submissions are visible to everyone](http://www.semantic-web-journal.net/underreview) and reviews are made public. By default, reviewers are known, unless they opt out and be anonymous (although their reviews become public). Authors of rejected papers can ask to have their submitted papers and accompanying reviews removed from the web site if they want. [This journal is quite successful](http://www.semantic-web-journal.net/blog/journal-impact-factors-2018) and has created a trend in the area of Semantic Web research to provide open reviews in related conferences. The [European Semantic Web Conference 2018 had open reviews](https://2018.eswc-conferences.org/call-for-papers/#panel-58-5-0-0).
This is not the only example of open review process. I have seen another journal adhering to the open review process, although I don't remember which one right now.
Studies on the respective merrits of open vs. single blind vs. double blind reviews seem to be inexistent or very limited at the moment. Studies comparing reviewing policies seem to be focusing mostly (as far as I know) on comparing single blind vs. double blind, ignoring the open review scheme. So it is hard to say whether it is beneficial or not. There are people who are strongly against open reviews (citation needed, but I talked to some of them) and there are people strongly in favour of it (citation needed, but I talked to some as well).
I am myself a supporter of open reviews. I reviewed papers openly. You can see my open reviews for the Semantic Web Journal there: review on [ActiveRaUL: Automatically Generated Web Interfaces for Creating RDF Data](http://www.semantic-web-journal.net/content/activeraul-automatically-generated-web-interfaces-creating-rdf-data), review on [Semantic Web Machine Reading with FRED](http://www.semantic-web-journal.net/content/semantic-web-machine-reading-fred) (first submission), review on [Semantic Web Machine Reading with FRED](http://www.semantic-web-journal.net/content/semantic-web-machine-reading-fred-0) (revised version), review on [Semantic Web Machine Reading with FRED](http://www.semantic-web-journal.net/content/semantic-web-machine-reading-fred-1) (last version), review on [loomp - mashup authoring and semantic annotation using linked data](http://www.semantic-web-journal.net/content/loomp-mashup-authoring-and-semantic-annotation-using-linked-data), review on [Survey on complex ontology matching](http://www.semantic-web-journal.net/content/survey-complex-ontology-matching). I would disclose all of my reviews if I was allowed to do so.
I made other open reviews that have been removed because the authors requested it.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2018/10/23
| 1,611
| 7,038
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm in my 3rd year of postdocs and started to apply for Lecturer positions in Computer Science the UK (the entry level permanent faculty positions). As part of my interview process, I am required to give a 15 minute presentation about my current research and my three year research plan, and am looking for some advice on how to do the latter. **The focus of the research plan presentation is not only on the ideas you propose, but in major part about how you plan to obtain funding for it and how many research staff you can bring in from that funding to support your research.**
I've looked through some other questions regarding [UK faculty applications](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/88541/4249), [research plan writing](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/77658/4249) and [content](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/87080/4249), which offer some good advice. However, I am looking for advice specifically *targeting early-career researchers applying for their first faculty position*.
The two specific aspects I am concerned about is the transition from postdoctoral positions where shorter-term career plans are the norm, as well as my relative inexperience with grant writing (I've recently been included in the late stages of grant writing by my advisor, but that's it).
Of course I am not planning to take the answers I get here my only source of information; I have an advisor happy to discuss this with me and give me specific tips, and have been looking up information about [funding for new faculty members online](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/76423/4249) as well as through chatting with fresh hires in my department (with some hinting they rely on the informal support and sharing of more junior research staff from within their team while applying for initial external funding).
So, considering that I've never held a faculty position, have limited experience with grant applications (but an understanding that it is an acquired skill as well as very competitive and thus uncertain), never independently proposed a research project (tho I am always active in proposing and typically independent in choosing which approaches I want to apply to problems), and never formally worked with a PhD or a postdoctoral researcher for full the duration of a project, the questions I have are:
* How "confidently" am I supposed to write the research plan? Should I write it assuming I will have a student / research postdoc available to work with, or should I also present a plan for the situation where I do not have "my own staff" for a while?
*One major consideration is that UK faculty typically has about 40% of their time dedicated to research (rest is teaching and admin), as opposed to research staff (PhD students and postdocs) with 90+% of their time dedicated to research. Therefore the amount of research that one realistically can conduct would depend substantially on how much funding one manages to secure.*
* How many backup grant options do I need to include? I understand there is some grant options specifically targeting fresh faculty in the UK, so should I demonstrate that I plan to ask the appropriate parties for funding, or also try to cover the case of no applications being successful?
* **To summarize: I am concerned and would like advice about the level of confidence in the tone of a 3-year research plan for a fresh faculty member.**
I worry that, on the one hand, including many backup options could be seen as "setting myself up to fail", while, on the other hand, too confident a tone would make me come across as somebody not understanding the competitiveness and difficulties in obtaining funding due to my lack of experience.
The level of detail is clear from the format: it's a 15 minute presentation with some time for questions, so I won't have time to talk in much detail, but I might be asked to elaborate on any aspect of it. All in all, I am a fair deal nervous, and I'm not even sure I'm asking the right questions here; any advice from the perspective of applying for a first-time faculty position would be great.<issue_comment>username_1: My situation was a bit different as I went directly from my mathematics PhD to a faculty position (in the US). But when I finished the doctorate I had a file drawer full of speculative ideas and ideas left unexplored from the work on the dissertation. If you have such a thing, or could create it, you should 'mine' it for ideas that are yet to be explored. These should be easy for you to discuss since you already touched on them in your past, though if you haven't already recorded them you have some work to do. For such work you can probably speak with confidence.
Fifteen minutes isn't very long, so you don't need a lot of material. But you might think about the fact that since you will also be teaching, research that students could potentially participate in could be especially valued. Also, you have likely gained insight into a wide range of ideas that are at least peripherally related to your current research. That wide range opens doors to a moderately broad "area" of research that increases your likelihood of success in exploring at least some of the ideas. While research is necessarily narrow for a given idea, there are related areas, most likely, that increase your range and hence your desirability as a colleague.
---
Sorry that I can't speak much about UK funding, but in general, "interesting" ideas are also interesting to funders. Likewise, appearing to a funder as someone with a lot of ideas (and therefore potential) is also an advantage.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I see from comments that the interview is past, but here's still some thoughts on this that might be useful for someone else.
I would say that your results at a 3-years horizon don't depend that much on funding prospects, mainly because you're not starting with those funds from day 1, and as a new lecturer you're certainly not expected to have an army of postdocs working for you in the first couple of years.
You might spend a few months writing the grant proposal, then the process will take some more months, and then from decision to start date there's more time... so assuming success you might be able to hire someone to start in a year at best, more realistically two. Then would you start immediately with postdocs? Unless you're one of several investigators in a larger project, that doesn't sound realistic. Rather you'll probably be supervising MSc projects, and you might hope for one or two PhD students to start within those three years, and with any luck get their first paper or two. I think what you need to pitch is a set of ideas that could form a grant proposal and some realistic-sounding MSc and PhD topics.
The bottom line is that you're being asked for a 3-year plan to see whether you can actually prepare a plan that involves medium- to long-term goals, rather than just think of the next development of what you're doing at the moment.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/23
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<issue_start>username_0: Last year I was doing a PhD in an area I happened to not be interested in after a while, and I decided to change PhD project which end up taking me to a different university and different country.
At the moment my topic is good, of my interest, but I don't like the way my supervisory team works, more specifically, I am not making too much progress on my PhD thesis, because I'm helping with other stuff and my supervisor already said that is the way in which the department works, so is either accept their system or quit.
Plus, I've been having a hard time to adapt to this place, my work is all in English but I am in a non-English speaking country so my life is not that easy in that sense. I don't speak the language of this place, and I am trying to learn it but it would take me a while, plus I feel isolated as well and with very few friends, therefore I am deeply missing the city in which I was doing my former PhD.
Due to those reasons I've been thinking on applying to a project of my interest in a city nearby where I used to be, but I don't know if this would be seen badly by supervisors. And instead of being helping myself, start being considered as quitter and not suitable for PhD research.
What is your advice? Should I just endure here and try to finish on time despite the way of working of my supervisors, and then leave?
If you were a supervisor and I tell you this story would you take me on for a project or you'd consider me as a student that is better not to accept?<issue_comment>username_1: You lay out a lot of the problems you would face. Most potential supervisors would be at least a bit skeptical of you and your commitment. You would have to find someone who would accept you and only he/she could make a decision.
Before you jump, you should talk to potential supervisors in person and lay out what your problems have been and what your potential is. Only they can really answer this question. It is likely that you would have to have some special skill that the professor needs.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Only you can decide how unhappy you are in a given situation, so what action you should take is up to you.
I can tell you how such a CV would come across to me, though. It wouldn't be positive. It would look like your decision-making process doesn't have enough thought behind it, and that you're likely to make important decisions and then change your mind.
The quality of work you've done might get you an interview after someone has drawn such conclusions, it may not.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/23
| 1,245
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<issue_start>username_0: I am interested in astronomy/astrophysics and cosmology. It is my understanding that choosing the best supervisor/team to work with for the PHD is more crucial than choosing the best (and most reputable) university.
If the above statement is correct. How can one identify the desired supervisors/teams? Probably the best way to to this is to read papers. The researchers that publish the most papers are clearly active in their field. But how can one, without even knowing these researchers find a way to locate the researchers who seem to be making good contributions to their field?
To put it in a simpler manner, does a website like arxiv.org and others have a way to identify the most active researchers (or teams that work on a specific problem)?<issue_comment>username_1: Google Scholar and Research Gate are two general resources for finding a researcher's impact in their field. ArXiV also can provide some general information on who is recently publishing in the field. Individual/group websites can also provide some input as to the overall reputability of the professors in question.
I would consider compiling a small collection of universities you are most interested in on the whole, then researching the professors at those institutions. While university reputation is not an exact indicator of individual output and impact, the two topics are on the whole correlated. It is relatively likely that a well regarded university is going to have well regarded researchers as well.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Most active does not mean most impactful or most influential. Reading papers on your own, you will have a hard time distinguishing good papers from mediocre work. Your best bet is to get recommendations from people who already work in that field. Ask professors at your own university for recommendations or opinions.
If you have a specific problem you are interested in working on, then it does make sense to search for papers on that problem and do your own reading. But you will still want to get advice from one or more people at your own institution who work in that area (or close to it).
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Check their Google Scholar pages and see how many citations they receive and whether they have recent works etc. Check whether they participate in top tier conferences and published in top tier journals. Check their former students and try to find what they are doing / where they are working now.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Just to add to the other answers, once you have found a shortlist of possible supervisors you can ask their current/recent students for their opinion. Most academic departments will have contact details for current postgraduate students.
I myself am a PhD student and have happily answered a few queries about my supervisor.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Other answers suggested asking professors or asking students. I suggest you:
1. Figure out what you want to do after your PhD, as specifically as possible
2. Find people who are doing that
3. Ask them who would be a good supervisor for your PhD
This strategy will get you the answer most customised to your needs.
Several of the answers suggest using Google Scholar or similar. Google Scholar will tell you which supervisors are producing nothing, but it will not tell you the difference between supervisors who publish a small amount of good work and those who do a lot of poor work but effectively manipulate the citation statistics.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Firstly, a good idea is to roughly estimate reputation through citation metrics. Determine 3-5 most reputable journals in your field of interest (typically that would include Nature & PhysRev Letters for physics). To find these journals, go through some major lab publication lists to compile the names, and then look up citation metrics for them. Look through your shortlist of labs & professors and you'll see some of them would get 2-3 papers in these per year, while others maybe can get there once per several years. Also you can directly look up citation metrics for professors on Google Scholar or similar services.
Now, while reputation and citation metrics are important, it tells little about their ability to handle PhD students. To get an idea about that, for each lab compile a list of recently graduated students and try to find where they are now. Are they at major world-known universities/labs? What are their positions - are they jumping from one postdoc to another for years, or do they have a more respectable position after just one or two postdocs? What did they publish while studying, are their papers in reputable journals, are they well-cited? And not the least important, how many years did it take them to graduate? If an average student spends 6+ years on their PhD, it's probably a red flag.
When researching publications, discard any conference & poster presentations - students can get plenty of those with very little effort. Look only for legitimate publications, and ensure they are well-cited (ignoring self-citations).
Typically, reputation of labs is well-correlated with university reputation. Of course, there are some dying labs in respected unis, there are some great labs in otherwise mediocre ones. But start from top universities. After reading through publications and citations for a few hours you'll pick up on familiar names and get the general idea about the major influencers.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 1
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2018/10/24
| 1,813
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<issue_start>username_0: I was writing a 3-question examination today (undergrad) with 1200 other students when our professor comes in after ~2/3 of the exam and changes a question to make it solvable. This was a 1.5 hour exam where each question was designed to take 30 minutes so unless you did the other two questions knowing that question was impossible to solve and waited for an announcement on instructions of how to solve, you would not be able to finish. When I walked out of the exam, you could tell that everyone was mad that this changed question could have impacted their overall mark by 15-20%. What should I do to help out myself and my fellow classmates who were screwed over by this change? Has anyone ever had a similar situation?<issue_comment>username_1: This does happen sometimes, despite a professor's best efforts to check the exam beforehand. Professors are humans and make mistakes.
You can write a polite email to the professor (or whoever is in charge of grading the exam, if different), letting them know that you feel this had a disproportionate negative impact on your score.
That's about all you can do. It is ultimately up to the professor (or grading committee, etc) to decide what to do about this issue, if anything. They might:
* Do nothing, reasoning that although the correction was unfortunate, it affected all students equally.
* Give credit to students who made an appropriate attempt to solve the impossible version of the problem.
* Adjust the "curve" or other statistical correction of the exam score to take this into account.
* Discard the question's score, and reweight the scores on the other questions.
* Discard the entire exam and hold a new one.
* Discard the entire exam and reweight other exams in the course to compensate.
In principle, if you don't agree with the professor's decision, you may be able to appeal to some higher authority. This would depend on your university's regulations, and my guess is that it would be unlikely to succeed, if the professor did anything halfway reasonable. I'd consider that any of the above options would satisfy that.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes, these things happen. No one is perfect, not even a professor. But what you need is a fair resolution. One would be to just cancel the exam and adjust grading rubric accordingly. Another, not quite as good, would be to reschedule another exam.
But you need to find a, hopefully polite, way to let the professor know that some people spent a lot of time on an impossible question and others did not. Even giving everyone full marks on that question isn't fair due to the frustration that some experienced.
If the professor is focused on teaching and not just on grading, then it should be possible to work out a solution.
With 1200 people it is hard to form a delegation to meet with the professor, but that would be a logical step.
But if this just happened, it may be that the professor will announce a suitable accommodation at the next meeting. If not, you might bring it up with the TAs for the course. I wouldn't escalate it to any formal complaint, however, until you have more evidence about how the professor intends to deal with it.
---
My advice to the professor, however, is that if you give a diagnostic that you know is invalid, you need to drop it entirely. It can't be finessed.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Other answers respond to the questions raised in the main body of your message, I'd like to comment on the broader question (asked in the title), *What should I do if my professor changes the question mid-exam?*, with particular reference to
>
> unless you did the other two questions knowing [the other] question was impossible to solve and waited for an announcement on instructions of how to solve, you would not be able to finish.
>
>
>
Exam strategy can help here: I recommend considering the entire examination script before writing. If you're able to identify an issue with any question, then immediately raise it with invigilators. (They should promptly raise such issues with the professor.) This maximises the window during which a professor can respond to the issue. Divide the remaining time between questions, with the goal of maximising your score. If you were able to identify an issue with a question, then that question should be delayed, because you might receive additional information during the exam. Returning to the question:
>
> What should I do if my professor changes the question mid-exam?
>
>
>
Be prepared: Anticipate this possibility and adopt an exam strategy that optimises your advantage.
---
Response to comments
>
> You're not answering the question. You're giving advice about [what] one can do before a change [of an exam script] to reduce the impact, not what to do in response to a change.
>
>
>
and
>
> The question of *How to preparation for when a professor changes the question mid-exam* would be well answered by this. What to do *after the fact* is the OP's question. Unless you have a time-machine allowing the OP to follow your advice "preemptively", this does not answer the question.
>
>
>
After an event such as the OP's, one must reflect and consider how to improve themselves. My answer explains how the OP should improve themselves for a similar such event in the future. I consider this to be a crucial part of the OP's response.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Consider not doing anything.
The issue isn't time sensitive. Its not like the grades can't be changed after the fact. It's very reasonable to believe the professor is going to analyze the grades that came out of the exam and find a solution.
The professor will have information you don't have. While you know your exam was affected, and you can estimate how it affected 1199 other people, the professor will be making decisions with all 1200 graded exams in front of them.
Now if the professor hands you back the graded papers and doesn't do anything to resolve the issues, that's a good time to start making noise.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: One of my professors had a blanket rule that was applied to handle situations like these -
You must solve the question to the best of your ability. If the missing piece of information can be simply substituted by a variable, say 'x', your answer must be in terms of 'x'.
If you think that a question is not solvable, you should prove so in your answer. If you are successfully able to do it, you get full points for that question. Based on the difficulty of said proof, they also awarded bonus points, thus turning a potentially problematic situation on its head.
This worked wonders. The students were thrilled when they were able to successfully do this, and the professor had achieved a higher goal than what a simple exam would do. In fact there were unconfirmed rumours of the professor 'making a mistake' on purpose every once in a while. You can suggest that your professor adopt a similar policy in the future.
As for what you can do now, your options are limited. People make mistakes. You can contact the professor via a polite email and make your concerns known. You can also ask what strategy they would apply, to make it fairer. Whatever they do, it's probably not going to be 100% fair anyway. If they do nothing, or their strategy is blatantly unfair, that would be the time for you to take your complaint further if need be. But any half decent strategy is probably going to get the support of any grading committee(s) and/or department heads.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/24
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<issue_start>username_0: Here's the situation: She was an undergrad, I was a grad TA. At that point, our interactions were totally professional and limited to the classroom. However, she and I both since graduated and left the college/city where we got our degree. I now am at another university working as a postdoc and she is working outside of academia. We ran into one another and started spending time with one another. Our relationship has been platonic, but I get the sense that it could go further, which I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to. I can't imagine that there would be legal problems with pursuing a romantic relationship, but would there be ethical or professional concerns (as an early career academic)?<issue_comment>username_1: There are professional/ethical rules at many universities relating to dating between students and staff, but these do not extend to imposing a permanent moratorium on dating between people who have previously attended that institution. Essentially you are asking if there are any professional or ethical issues in dating another adult who has no connection whatsoever to your current employer. I cannot see any issue.
Upvotes: 8 <issue_comment>username_2: All the relevant ethical guidelines I have ever heard of relate to romantic relationships with someone who is *currently* your student, professor, boss or subordinate. None of them would apply here. Nor do I think that the circumstances would lead anyone to think that there *was* a relationship while she was your student, particularly given the lapse in time.
I see no problem.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: I have two colleagues who have since married ex-students. This happened several years after graduation and they are, well 3 out of 4, all working at the same institution...
No issues, even the employer is fine.
But the employer is **VERY** clear about non-appropriate contact / behavior with current students...
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: I see no problem with it, as long as your employer is fine, which I don't see why they wouldn't be. You're working in an entirely different city than where you worked/graduated, and now work for a different college that she's not affiliated with at all. I see no issue with that whatsoever.
If you want weird/moral/ethical dilemmas, try this on for size: my wife (happily married 7 years and counting) used to be my little sister's babysitter/chauffeur. She's 6 years older than me and lived down the street when we were younger.
Cue my parent's divorce, and getting us 3 kids to school was a challenge due to now only one parent, no one being old enough to drive, the buses not coming near us, etc. I was a freshman, and the high school was close enough to walk to, but the middle and elementary schools were further away, so my little sisters needed a babysitter/chauffeur
My mom hired the girl down the street (future wife) to drive my sisters to and through it all, we started hanging out as friends. Junior year came, and the weird talk about feelings came, etc, etc, etc. Because of this, she chose to quit taking care of my sisters for moral/ethical reasons (she wasn't fired; my parents didn't even know).
I graduated in June, proposed in November, and we were married by May of the next year. Still going strong, though we weirded out my family a bit at first ;)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: If she is outside of the Academia *now*, no one on the Earth can say anything. The whole ethical problematic of the romantic relations is rooting in that it may cause distrust in your impartiality, if you are grading her work. It is because it is not enough to be impartial, you should also seem impartial.
If such a relation happens, the most typical reaction of the community (and the co-workers) is, that they totally ignore it. It is not their business and they follow it. Furthermore, everybody wants to keep a distance from any hot topic, and it is hot.
It would be even likely so, if she would be inside the academia, but in a different institute or department. If she would be your co-worker or student, then you should likely follow some regulations, for example you wouldn't be allowed to grade she in any sense (you should ask a co-worker to do this instead you).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: It depends when the relationship was initiated. If it was strictly professional when you were a TA and then this new friendship/potential romantic relationship was formed after it should be fine. It would be a different story if you were for example flirting or messaging when you were a TA as that would be viewed as the romantic relationship starting to develop when you were in a position of power and you could definitely get in trouble for that.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: Let's forget specific rules and regulations for a moment and think about *why* dating students is forbidden. There are two main reasons:
1. The possibility/likelihood/perception that you will give preferential treatment to your partner over other students (e.g., higher grades, better access to facilities, etc.), even if this is done subconsciously.
2. The possibility that you are abusing your position of power over the student to coerce them into dating you.
Clearly neither of these applies to an ex-student. Doubly so given it was a few years ago. Triply so when you're now at a different institution and the student isn't even in academia any more: you're no longer in a position to grant favour and you no longer have power that you could abuse. The institution you first met at is no longer in a position to tell you what you can do, and the institution you're at has no reason to care about your relationship with somebody outside that institution.
If they were a recently ex-student, it's possible that people would think something had been going on while you were their TA but, at this level of removal, that doesn't seem like a credible allegation.
Upvotes: 4
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2018/10/24
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm reviewing a paper after minor revisions, and can partially see another reviewer's comments in the response letter.
The other reviewer asks the authors to do X, but the authors argue that it's not worthwhile doing X. I've done things like X myself, and have found it not worthwhile (for the precise reasons the authors state). Thus, I strongly side with the authors on this matter, and I'm thinking about whether I should inform the editor. I'm not sure if I'm meant to do this...
**Question**: As a reviewer, is it inappropriate to make unsolicited comments on another reviewer's comments?
A related question is [In peer-review, is it common for a reviewer to be shown and asked to comment on other reviewers' reports?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/32181/8469) However, I have not been asked to comment on the other reviewer's comments.<issue_comment>username_1: From my point of view, it is a task of the editor to make sure that you as a referee only get those parts of the communication which are meant for you. Since the response of the authors to another referee's comments is now available to you (intended or not), it is quite impossible to not factor it into your own consideration.
Therefore, I would point out to the editor that, strictly speaking, this thread of the comments is not originally yours -- but now that you have got insight to those points, you can just add a remark saying that in your professional opinion, you deem the authors' response convincing.
This makes clear to the editor that there *might* have been a mistake in providing that part of the communication to you, and the editor can decide for themselves, whether your stated opinion should be taken into account for the ultimate editor's decision, or not.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: It is appropriate. You're acting in good faith after all, the editor is likely to be interested in what you say, and you're not harming anyone.
This is however the kind of thing to put in the confidential comments to editor box. The authors don't need to know of friction between reviewers.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]
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2018/10/24
| 1,256
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<issue_start>username_0: In my department (math, US, medium-sized public university), the current practice is that undergraduate students declare a major when they enter, and are assigned a faculty advisor. The advisor is always a full-time faculty member, and will normally continue to advise them until they graduate. The student meets with their advisor at least once per semester to discuss what courses they should take in the next term; the advisor is also available to help with degree planning, academic difficulties, bureaucratic problems, advice about careers and grad school, etc.
There is a proposal from our administration to change this by hiring a "professional advisor," a staff member whose full-time job would be to fill this role for each student's first 1-2 years. (After three semester, they would be assigned a faculty advisor as before.) The hope is that this will somehow help with "student success", i.e. retention and graduation rates, which are lower than we would like.
I am curious about the pros and cons of this approach. I assume this has been tried at other institutions, and it would be interesting to know what effects were observed (either anecdotally or backed by research).
Possible pros and cons that we have identified:
### Pros
* Saves faculty time
* Students may be too "intimidated" to approach a faculty advisor with their problems. A professional advisor might be easier for students to work with.
* A professional advisor could come in with special training or education on advising students, and common student issues. Faculty advisors usually just have to pick it up as they go along.
### Cons
* Students will not work with their faculty advisor for as long (about 2.5 years instead of 4). This will reduce the strength of their academic relationship.
* Math faculty may be better qualified to help address academic difficulties in math classes, which are frequently encountered by first- and second-year students.
* The professional advisor would not only advise math students, but also those in other areas of science. There are concerns that the advisor could unduly influence students to change their majors away from math, which is considered a "difficult" major, if they start to struggle academically. There are even concerns that implicit bias on the advisor's part could lead them to do this disproportionately on the basis of gender, minority status, etc.
* Math faculty are involved in designing the requirements of the math major, and so are best qualified to advise students on how to satisfy those requirements. Also, since they actually teach math courses, they would be better able to help students decide which courses would best fit their interests.
I wonder how these work out in practice, and if there are other issues we haven't thought of.<issue_comment>username_1: My university has gone through multiple systems for advising new students, though none exactly corresponding to the proposal you describe. The biggest problem we in the math department perceive is the last on your list of cons: advisors from outside the math department don't know which classes a (potential) math major should be taking. They can read the list of major requirements, but don't know to give advice like, "course A isn't a prerequisite for course B, but most students take course A first so it's probably a good idea to take it first", or "course C isn't required for the major, but can be counted as a technical elective and is extremely helpful background before going into the more advanced required courses".
(For interested math faculty, the examples I have in mind are: A = linear algebra, B = real analysis, C = "transition course".)
I haven't spoken to colleagues in other departments about this so I'm not sure whether they see the same problem.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I've been to schools with both systems, so I'll give my perspective as a student:
The Third pro you list (a professional advisor being more specialized) is HUGE. Students get very frustrated when their advisor doesn't have the answers that they want, and in my experience, most of the questions that students ask are for administrative stuff, like, "How do I sign up for classes" or "Can I skip this prerequisite?" that a qualified advisor would be able to easily take off of your plate, and would probably be able to handle more quickly, which would improve the student experience.
Addressing the cons: You should not be concerned about an advisor steering students away from your program. That would be horribly unprofessional for them to do, so that would be something I'd wait for it to actually happen before addressing it. As for the fact that they might not be as qualified to deal with certain problems, it would just be a common part of their job to come and find information that they aren't qualified to give. The lack of a long-term faculty relationship is a real concern though.
Additional thoughts:
Providing a single point of contact for students is a very valuable thing indeed. A person whose sole job it is to listen to students and address their problems has always been very helpful for me, because I never felt like I was bothering them when I went to ask them a question, which is how I felt any time I was talking to my normal faculty advisor. It also makes it easy to know who to go to with a question early on. You don't have to remember your specific advisor, you can ask anyone and everyone will know who the advisor is, and be able to point you to them.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/24
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<issue_start>username_0: Recently, I have graded exams (50 pcs.) together with a colleague from another department. I felt like my colleague was awarding too many points for wrong/incomplete answers. For example, awarding points for just writing information of the question (value and units of parameters) on the answer sheet; or awarding points for copying one of the formulas on the formula sheet to the answer sheet while not specifically described in the grading template
During the grading of the exams I have discussed this with my colleague and decided to mostly follow his 'point awarding system' so that it does not create an unfair grading between sub-groups of the total population. Afterwards, I have discussed this again, but I feel like my colleague is not keen to change his grading style.
What are the next steps that I could take? Is it necessary that the whole university should have the same grading style?
ps: The course is given by their department and I have helped since this year because it overlaps with my expertise. It has a pass rate of ~50%.
ps2: It's not that his point awarding system is so loose that students with a 3/10 will suddenly be awarded a 6/10 but it will certainly change the outcome of passing the course for some students.<issue_comment>username_1: ### Have each person grade different *questions*, not different *students*.
Consistency in grading is important, and it is unfair to the students if their grades depend substantially on the allocation of their work to a grader. For this reason, if you must split grading duties with another colleague for a particular assessment item, it is best to split the grading duties *for the questions* rather than splitting the grading *of the students*. So, for example, one person grades Q1-3 *on all papers* and the other person grades Q4-6 *on all papers*. That way each student is graded by the same person for the same question. (Logistically, each of you should grade your questions on half the papers, then swap.)
It sounds like this ship has already sailed, and you have made the rookie mistake of splitting grading for the students, with different people marking different students. It also sounds like you have tried to discuss this with your colleague, but you have exhausted attempts to change *his grading*. In that case, even if your own grading style is superior to your colleague, adapting to his grading level *for this assessment* is probably a reasonable second-best option, simply to maintain consistency of the level of grades awarded. In future, try to avoid the problem all together by splitting grading over questions instead of over students.
Upvotes: 9 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It's the instructor of record who is ultimately responsible for the conduct of the course, including grading\*. As it sounds like you're not the instructor of record, but rather just someone who is helping grade, it's not really your place to determine what is or is not appropriate grading.
If you have a disagreement with another grader on how to mark exams, and can't resolve it using the information already provided to you (you said the grading template was insufficient to do so), then it's appropriate to take it up with the person in charge of that course (the instructor of record), and see what they say about it.
Now certainly you don't want to bother them about every little grading detail, but if it's a case of large-scale differences, where philosophical differences on how to conduct grading would substantially change students' grades, that's exactly the sort of thing the person in charge of the course should mediate.
Note that things get a little more complex when it's a team-taught course, where there are a number of "primary" instructors. However, in these situations it's normally the case where each instructor takes the lead on a certain topic. As such, they should be considered the primary opinion on issues specific to their topic. (Concerns which cut across multiple topics should be decided by mutual consent of the "primary" instructors.)
---
\*) With the proviso that certain courses have to meet department or accreditation standards. But even in those cases, it's the instructor of record who is responsible for making sure that those standards are followed.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: If a significant number complete works have been graded by different people, you may consider adding a correction so that works done by each grader have the same mean grade (and, ideally, the same variance). This doesn't eliminate all the inconsistencies, but at least makes the grading statistically fair.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: First, [@username_1's suggestion](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/118898/7319) to split grading vertically rather than horizontally - questions rather than students - is good and practical irrespective of anything else.
That being said, I suggest you consider the following:
1. Give up the fantasy, or perhaps better put: the conceit, that grading is consistent. It isn't, due to a zillion factors: Exams not of consistent difficulty; student population distribution of capabilities not in sync with grading curve shaping; sense of severity of errors differs for the same person for the first encounters and for latter encounters; moods change; unconscious biases (for example: against people with sloppy handwriting); and so on.
2. Try to schedule a grading policy discussion of all graders and the exam authors, before the next exam is given (next semester?). In that discussion, bring up some specific scenarios requiring finer judgement rather than simply "how many points for which question".
3. Consider arguing for rougher-granularity grading in the course. I'm a fan of Pass/Fail (or Pass/Fail/Excellent), and dislike number scales, especially 0..100 or fractional grades. I can be confident about looking at someone and saying "Yeah, you understand what we've taught here, you pass." or "No, you don't get it - you fail." And if someone is borderline, then it's a matter of policy whether to pass or fail them (I would tend towards fail personally). But I really cannot justify why someone is a 63 while another person is a 64.7. I feel I'm only helping some arbitrary industrial mass-manipulation mechanism by assigning these kinds of numbers to people.
PS - These three suggestions are mostly orthogonal.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: At my institution it is typical to double-mark 20% of submissions for the purposes of standardisation / moderation.
This might mean 80% gets single-marked and 20% gets double-marked, or it might mean that two markers assess 60% each (2x an overlap of 10%). For low-weight assessments this is seen as a recommended best-practice, while being mandatory for high-weight assessments.
**If such arrangements for standardising / moderating marks do not exist within your institution, perhaps it is worth suggesting that this (or something similar) is implemented.**
*Without knowing your department, it is difficult to say whether it is appropriate (or feasible) to suggest this be implemented for your current cohort of submissions, else be part of a push for implementing broader change.*
---
*A few notes about the process, for the curious:*
Where there is a difference between multiple markers for any individual submission, then it is for the markers to settle upon an agreed mark. Where an agreed mark cannot be settled upon, then it gets escalated within the department for mediation.
Where a significant difference between multiple markers across multiple submissions is identified, then the entire cohort must be double marked (and any differences in mark reconciled as described above). Our benchmark for a "significant difference" is a mean deviation (correction) of >= 7%.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: An excellent discussion and am enjoying reading the comments. As an undergraduate, I confronted bias, extreme in two cases, in grading during my first 2 years. Only through perseverance and mentoring from two professors was I able to overcome it. Thus, the governing principle in my own teaching career was to **let students succeed or fail on their own merits**.
Like @einpokum, I abhorred the bell curve believing it to be both antiquated and unfair. One gorilla in the room is the fact that some students on every campus, primarily through various organizations, especially Greek letter ones, have access to exams and papers than non-connected students do. As a graduate student I lost a number of papers graded by professors who left them outside departmental offices. And, as a professor, a couple of papers submitted to me I determined had been plagiarized. Protecting the fairness of student evaluation is an institutional responsibility.
In my own experience, after my 1st year of teaching at the college level, I instituted what I called **developmental grading**, believing that teachers are responsible for providing a framework in which all students have an opportunity for success. This is a concept I learned when in nursery school from two very intelligent teachers, and it's remained in my consciousness every since. Their application was solely environmental. The approach I used was also environmental, but focused on student evaluation, and was three-phased:
1. Students took an exam, which was graded by me and later by others as the numbers of students in my general courses increased, from less than 20 when I began, to over 100.
2. Once grades were known, students could apply to take the exam again for half of the points for each question that they "missed" in the initial exam. These would be added to their earlier grade.
3. If still not satisfied, they could take an oral exam before the entire class who would then evaluate their performance.
Although there were several who opted for #2, none applied for option 3. I was hoping for at least one to determine how the students would respond.
Only after the 2nd phase was completed did the class go through the exam together to share their thoughts about each question and the expected answers. Later, this was modified for students to go through the exam with student assistants or other professors depending on the course.
A second principle in my evaluation, which students ultimately learned, was that the three previous exams had less impact on their final grade than how they did on a comprehensive final; and, that these exams and the follow-up discussion were designed to help them perform better on the Final. In fact, a student could do poorly on all other exams (barring poor attendance or otherwise failing minimum parameters), get an A on the final and achieve an A for a grade. For some students, no doubt, it appeared as a gift, but they earned a better grade. Why? I believed that finals were designed not to achieve a percentage of a grade in relation to all other criteria, but to test what they *comprehensively* learned overall about the subject of the course. Grading final exams was one of my base pleasures, as well as the gourmet coffee I imbibed to get me through them. :)
I might add that exams were not the only factors entering into a final assessment, but book reviews, reports about speakers or activities on campus germane to the class or quizzes which they triggered by not asking questions when prompted by my question at the end of each class--are there any questions? Like many of you, I suspect, teaching involves learning complex concepts and reducing them to an 8th grade level so that most first to second year students can comprehend what it is we are talking about.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: The responses you've already gotten are truly excellent. I just wanted to add one small observation. You say that you've been grading these exams
>
> with a colleague **from another department**
>
>
>
and that
>
> The course is given **by their department** and I have helped since this year because it overlaps with my expertise
>
>
>
By your own admission, you are, more or less, a guest in their department, doing them a favor by helping out. That means that the grades are, ultimately, **not your responsibility**.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: Separating grading by question, not students is a great answer. But if that's not possible, try to agree on a rubric, i.e., how many points are attached to each aspect of the answer you're looking for.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: I have been asked to become a [MathSciNet](http://mathscinet.ams.org/) reviewer. I personally find the database very useful, but I am a bit held back by the fact the database is kept behind a paywall.
What is actually the licensing/copyright status of reviews submitted to MathSciNet? Do authors keep the copyright and are allowed to post copies on their websites (like the [AMS license for its journals](http://www.ams.org/publications/authors/ctp))? If so, does anyone actually do the latter?
The information is nowhere to be found on MathSciNet, and actually I have never seen anyone releasing their reviews somewhere else.<issue_comment>username_1: ### Option 1: Refuse on principle.
Do seriously consider telling MathSciNet you'll gladly accept, if they were to drop their paywall and make their content publicly accessible; which they will likely refuse.
But if you do this, don't just leave it at that, but rather engage with AMS policy-makers to at least make the case for opening up MathSciNet; and also make this known to your colleagues and encourage them to do the same. I'm not saying you *must* do so.
### Option 2: Use the Standard Trick.
Now let's assume you're willing to contribute, but don't want at least *your* review to be hidden off from the world. So, as @NateEldredge suggests in a comment - AMS says they "must ask each reviewer to grant all rights etc. etc."
Well this is where the **standard trick** comes in - which is also useful for journals and conferences which try to one-up you legally by requiring you sign over your rights: Just before sending them your review, put it up on your personal web-page or blog. Use a relevant license such as [Creative Commons](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/93393/creative-commons-for-academic-library), GFDL or others. Once you've done so - even if you sign away your rights, you can re-acquire them from the on-line version... if you want to be air-tight legally safe a bit more, make sure at least one person you can count on has downloaded a copy, and thus has the rights - you can then argue that he gave you rights again after you've signed yours away.
Caveats:
* I have not had any interaction with MathSciNet, this is general advice.
* IANAL; and while I have some legal experience, that is always country-specific.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Here are some answers to your questions: Yes, MathSciNet is behind a paywall. Yes, we ask reviewers to give us copyright to their reviews. Yes, you can post your reviews elsewhere.
In return, for each review, we put US$12 on account at the AMS (up from the US$8 it was a few years ago) for the reviewer to use to buy AMS books, to pay (part of) your AMS membership, or to pay for other things (such as t-shirts). The credit is in the form of "AMS Points".
Why the copyright? This helps us to copyright the whole database. Copyrighting a database is rather different from copyrighting a journal or a conference proceedings volume.
Can you post the reviews? The reviewer letter says, "You may post your reviews on your website, circulate them to colleagues, distribute copies to your students, and make other customary scholarly uses. You may even include your reviews in journals, books, and databases in the particular field(s) of mathematics to which they relate, provided that first publication credit is given to the AMS."
Why the paywall? Creating and maintaining MathSciNet is expensive. It costs millions of dollars per year to run it. The subscription model allows us to cover the costs. It would take a lot of donations or ads to make up for that.
Why so expensive? We work hard to make sure that we get things right. In order to do this, Mathematical Reviews has a staff of 80 people. That includes 18 PhD mathematicians who serve as editors. We also have people with advanced library degrees and experience that ensure that our bibliographic data is complete and correct. We have cataloguers who ensure that we correctly identify authors. We have copy editors who help out with the reviews and check references. We have a whole department who work with the reviewers (and their reviews). We have an IT department.
I hope this is helpful. If not, post a comment!
--
username_2
Executive Editor
Mathematical Reviews
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: Do I still need to write e.g. "willingness to pay (WTP)" when there is already a list of abbreviations containing WTP at the beginning of my paper?<issue_comment>username_1: I would say that it isn't essential, but it might be a service to your readers to do that. They will, then, see the term used in context as well as its abbreviation.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I agree with username_1 100% that it is not strictly necessary. However, the question is raising a red flag for me.
The purpose of academic writing is to *communicate ideas as clearly as possible to other human beings*. If you include the full words, does it increase the clarity of the sentence? If you're unsure, ask a colleague to read over a bit of the paper. My strong suspicion is that they will prefer to see the word written out the first time, and will want to use the key only secondarily (if they forget an abbreviation.)
Always keep the four C's in mind when you write: Clarity, Clarity, Clarity, and Clarity. All else is just formatting.1
1 - And as [De Novo](https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/94155/de-novo) observed, formatting is also clarity. ;)
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<issue_start>username_0: I have read several papers written by the professor and want to ask for him to collaborate with me, that is, to help revise my paper and finally make it publish.
I'm concerning with:
1) is it okay to do this?
2) how to effectively ask for help?
3) is it safe to deliver an unpublished work to others?
If not appropriate, what can I do?
Any suggestions and help will be appreciated. Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, it is ok to do this, but you are asking for *collaboration*, I think. The other person may not have the time or energy for it, of course.
It is safe with almost everyone, but there is a certain amount of poaching of ideas in academia, so be sure the professor has a reputation for ethical practice.
I would send an email stating that you have a draft of a paper that touches on some of the ideas of the professor and ask if he would be willing to collaborate on its completion and publication. Don't send the paper initially, but say something about it. The working title might be enough if it is descriptive, but you might want to include something about the direction of the research.
By the second email, make sure that you have worked out the authorship question if that is important to you.
Note, that by raising the issue you also raise an expectation that you will share your current work. It might be embarrassing to back out, though it might be necessary depending on how the communication goes.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There is no single answer to such a question as you deal with people. Regarding whether they will collaborate or not, it really depends on the professor, their style, their current available time to get involved in your work.
But it is very unlikely that collaboration can happen without prior introduction in a venue, or through another third party who knows both of you. You can target a venue where they speak there, and approach them and chat with them to get some sense whether they are interested or not. Follow your heart in these matters. If you do not feel comfortable to the person or get a feeling they are not taking you seriously, forget about them and do not waste your time and ideas with them.
From your post, it seems you are almost done with your work and you want someone to revise it. This can be achieved by submitting your paper to a reputable conference, where experts in the fields are reviewers. You can check some venues where this professor you are interested in is reviewing (not guaranteed though, but if they are an active researcher in the field, they can be in the committee of some conferences.
Is it safe to deliver unpublished work to others? Again, depends on the person. It is better to deliver it for official review where there are some rules governing the process and other parties involved.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I am assisting a statistics course in a university, and my main job in the course is conducting problem solving sessions. The course is taught in English, and students interact with me in English. However, there is one particular student who keeps using their native language. Whenever he does that, I reply in English, hoping that he would start using English. But he doesn't.
I am sure that everybody does understand what he says because all the students are from the same part of the country. But I find it quite awkward. On the other hand, I feel that if I request him to use English, he might take it offensively, or he might not be able to express what he wants to say clearly. Should I simply ignore this particular case and move on? Or should I tell him somehow? If yes, what is the best way to convey this?<issue_comment>username_1: My professor who spoke French was very clear: ask in French, if you asked in English then she did not hear. If you asked in French about how x compared to y then both languages were acceptable.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: My suggestion is that you either let it go, if everyone understands what the student has said, or that you explore the situation with the student during office hours. Perhaps it is just easier for this student to say subtle things as needed in his/her native language than in English. It is fine if you make an explicit request, but be prepared to yield if the student has good reasons.
It is fine that you continue to reply in English, but it wouldn't be fine if you somehow embarrass the student about language use.
Be thankful, actually, that the student is willing to participate and ask questions no matter the language. Too many students leave questions unasked when other students have the same questions but also don't ask them. That makes education less efficient.
If this is the US, by the way, we are a multilingual country already, in spite of what some "nativists" want you to believe and want to impose on you and me.
Of course the answer would be different if this were a language course, rather than statistics.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I am assuming that learning how to discuss statistics in English is not specifically part of the course syllabus. If it is, you should simply tell the student to speak English.
If the students' questions are otherwise good, assume the best - that the student simply does not feel confident asking in English.
I have had similar situations in courses before. My approach has been to tell the students that I prefer that they ask questions in the language the course is given, but if they cannot, just ask in another language I can understand, and I will translate the question and answer in English.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: If you want a non-confrontation approach, simply repeat the question in English before answering it.
Hearing the translation may help the student in question see how to phrase their questions in English. It also give a polite hint that the question should have been asked in English.
Upvotes: 8 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> I am sure that everybody does understand what he says because all the students are from the same part of the country.
>
>
>
I will be blunt: what is your problem then? It's a statistics course, not an English course. Unless you are following some dogma that your local language is, for some reason, not good enough for statistics or whatever, then I don't understand the problem. The student asks a question that everyone present in the class understands, and you answer in a way that everyone understands.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: It sounds like you are not sure why student is not following a language rule, and you ask our opinion. We do not know, too. You can invite student to attend your office and discuss it with them. The purpose of discussion is not to understand student's reasons and let it slide. The purpose is to understand student's reason and work out a strategy to resolve them. If student has poor language ability, you can work out a recommendation to take a crash course in English. If student finds the requirement discriminatory and refuses to follow it, you can suggest them to file a formal complaint and intermit their studies until the complaint is answered. Or perhaps there is no valid reason for this behavior — in which case it has to stop.
**tl;dr**: talk to the student.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: Most likely the student is patiently waiting for you to realize that there's no reason to speak in a language that's foreign to everybody in the room if they all share a native language.
Possibly he's worried about the native language suffering "domain loss" where eventually nobody uses it to talk about technical things because everybody has been socialized to use English for that, and he is deliberately trying to counter that tendency. He may actually be spending extra mental effort translating his question from the textbook's English vocabulary into the vernacular, in support of that worthy cause.
So the course description says the course is taught in English -- but you need to ask yourself *what is the purpose of that?* Back in my university days there were plenty of courses that were announced as being taught in English; this was a way to say *it is okay for international students to sign up for this course*. If any international students did show up, we'd stick to English for their sake, of course. But if they didn't and the lecturer happened to be native too, everyone would *naturally* switch back to our own language. Why wouldn't we?
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_8: I used to be a student in a very similar situation. As I remember, the professor simply interrupted the question with the phrase: "In English please".
Maybe the student does not have enough confidence to speak in English, otherwise, ignoring such a request seem to be highly disrespectful behavior and you should not worry about being assertive with him.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_9: "I'm sorry, but this course is taught in English. Please, ask your question in English."
========================================================================================
That's it. If the student struggles with question, eg can't find correct words, help them. But it's their job to ask in English. You should help them do their job, but you can't do their job.
The purpose of teaching something in a foreign language is to improve student's language just as much as understanding of the subject. Or, more precisely: to improve area of language particular to the subject. Otherwise, it would have been taught in local language. Using foreign language sacrifices some understanding in order to teach the language. Accepting non-English question defeats this purpose. Your course is just as much about statistic as it is about English.
*Disclaimer: all of the above is written with assumption that learning English is an important part of your course, as it is where I live (Poland). There are 2 other options: that the course was meant for international students, but none had shown up and finally that the whole English thing is just an advertising move to make your uni appear "international-ish". Based on your concerns, I assumed that (in your opinion) the English is actually important part of the course. If you have any doubts about the rationale of using English when all participants share a common mother tongue, you should ask your superiors about it.*
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: You may ask to the student that helps you to translate the question to English language. I think that's a kind way for help people to start talking in another language.
After a few days he will start to ask in English and your request, won't be necessary.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_11: Is English the language they will be using in the workplace/research/whatever context they will be using statistics in? Are the books in English? The rest of my response is under the assumption that both questions are a "yes".
Teaching in a foreign language is doing a disservice to the majority of the class who already agreed to speak English, possibly for reasons like the ones listed above. While cross language use should be used to clarify definitions or bypass language barriers (that's part of your value as a bilingual teacher), allowing a student to unnecessarily assert the use of a different language is putting that student's social/political agenda above the needs of the rest of the class.
My opinion is rooted in experience with an English-Spanish medical student who was often looking up and asking me about the English names of various medical terms because some of his classes were taught in Spanish, but the medical profession he was pursuing would be English speaking because that's what language the research was in, that's the language where the money was, that's the language the important social connections used. Mixed terminology doubles the workload because they are often definitions for words that didn't exist in either language of the students vocabulary from the start.
It's also rooted in experience with native Alaskans, most of which were under intense cultural pressure to learn and know the native language, but due to the lack of practical applications for it, many of the youngest generation were faking it or just learning the minimum amount to avoid scrutiny. Even if it is widely understood in that region, and they appear to be of the correct ethnicity (if applicable), or are related to native language speakers, that doesn't mean they were raised in the region, that doesn't mean that they are fluent.
At the very least all questions should be translated into English to prevent students from requiring both language's terminology to understand the context of the answers you're giving.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_12: It wasn't clear from the question whether the use of english was a requirement of the class. If so, then it may well be a requirement of your job as well. And if so, then you need to enforce the requirements if you wish to keep the job. Check with your professor about if (and if so precisely how) you should go about doing that, then you are safe from any fallout if the student gets embarrassed or whatever.
Now as for why you shouldn't simply let students flout rules, there are additional downsides the other answers might have missed:
It can be difficult to accurately translate the nuances of a problem or concept back and forth, causing students to be mistaken on some points on the homework/exam. You will likely make real mistakes in translation too. And they will point the finger of blame at you when they complain about their grade to the prof.
It can just generally be quite a bit harder to use two languages at the same time versus just sticking one, even if it's not your first. It takes effort and a little time to change your thinking back and forth. Some students may not be able to keep up, and will miss things as they reorient to the language switches, thinking you said "A=B", when in fact you had said "given C, A=B". Again, blame will be on you when they write this wrong answer on the exam.
Overall, as the tests are certainly in English, students who have not been practicing doing the problems and understanding the concepts completely in english will have a disadvantage. Unless you are there with them for the tests to help them translate every question to be sure they get its point, they will likely miss every question that has a nuance or "trick" to it, and requires careful reading. (not to mention putting downright scary-looking responses on essay questions).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_13: If it is a course given in English:
All questions should first be posed in English ..
How you handle this depends on some factors regarding this Student:
1: Why does this one student not pose questions in English ?
* A: If the student is unable to have a discourse in English then the student should not be enrolled in the course, if another person was in charge of enrolling the student - the student can't help that - so try to accommodate them.
* B: If the student is merely asking because of a social issue - every one speaks Chinese here but I need to speak English - (it is silly to them therefore they refuse to speak English) - That is an attitude problem. In this case ignore the question and move on.
From experience :
I had worked for an International company and in certain locations around the world the courses were taught in English - even though the native language (of Instructor and other students) was not English. For the benefit of those who do not know the native language ALL questions should be asked and answered in the Course Language. This is not only courteous, but holds true to the course description and guidelines.
If the student is unable to express their question in English, the instructor should request the student to ask the question in the native language and then interpret the question back into English for the rest of the class , If need be answer the asking student in the native tongue and then also provide the answer to all students in English.
In one class the course description was English, the English speaking students were outnumbered 8 to 2, so the instructor decided to teach in the native tongue and have other students translate .. This SHOULD never be done.
The course guideline stated English - the English speakers did not signup for the course to have it translated to them. This is akin to having a statistics class as the guideline but ending up taking a calculus course instead. The English speaking students were offended, because the guideline said English - if it had said Chinese they would not have enrolled in that offering.
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<issue_start>username_0: So I'm doing a research project on a problem in graph theory and my conference deadline is just 3 weeks away. I need to develop a novel approximation algorithm for this problem and test it on synthetic data. I've already read a bunch of papers and have done a bunch of experiments to discover certain properties of graphs, but I haven't started writing the algorithm nor the paper. The good news is Is it possible for me to do this in 3 weeks (assuming I work a total of ~200 hours)? A deadline extension is completely out of the question. The good news is that I have an expert professor mentoring me and he'll help make the paper more mathematically rigorous. Does anyone have some advice as for how I can finish this in 3 weeks? Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: I will be honest: If you expect to do real research starting from zero within 3 weeks, then you are probably on the wrong track. If that was so, then research would be easy and we would live in a world where we know and can do much more than we actually can right now. Research is difficult and takes time.
To your particular question: We of course don't know. We don't know what your concrete research project is, and we don't know how much you already have. I suspect that just *implementing and debugging* an algorithm you already have thought about in detail will take 3 weeks unless it is trivial. But you seem to still be in need of some of the thinking, the testing, the evaluating, the writing up results, etc.
The only person who can really help you with this is your adviser. Talk to her -- in fact, I may suggest to travel back in time and go to her about 3 months ago so you can work out what needs to be done in the time between then and now!
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: **You won’t know if you can do it until you give it your very best shot.** All we can say is that what you are asking about doing is very difficult. Some people might be able to cobble something together in 3 weeks. It won’t be as good as it might have been if they had, say, 3 months, but some rare very talented and hardworking people might produce something halfway decent.
Other people won’t come up with something good even in 3 months, or 3 years. It depends. We don’t know you, and we don’t know how hard this goal is.
I suggest that you give it your best effort. Even if you “fail” (in the narrow sense of not producing a minimum viable paper by the deadline), I believe it will be an educational and very rewarding experience to work extremely hard for the next few weeks in an attempt to meet this deadline. It will both advance your research substantially, which will yield some useful benefits in the future regardless of whether you meet this particular deadline, and teach you a lot about yourself and what you’re capable of. In my opinion, most people (especially younger, less established ones) use maybe 15% of their true intellectual capacity. Learning how to make the most of your potential is an incredibly important life skill that separates almost all successful people from everyone else, and trying to meet a crazy, impossible-looking deadline is a fantastic way to get on the path to acquiring this skill.
Finally, I don’t want to be guilty of giving you any more reasons to procrastinate by giving you long psychology blogs to read, but [here](https://waitbutwhy.com/2013/10/why-procrastinators-procrastinate.html) is something that might give you a bit of hope/inspiration. Good luck!
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/24
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<issue_start>username_0: I have submitted a manuscript to a reputable journal, the article was rejected because it didn't pass the grammar check. The journal editor also mentioned the low quality of the figures.
My ex-supervisors never trained me how to write a research article. I would be grateful for recommendations to improve my writing style.<issue_comment>username_1: The issue here isn't writing a paper in a "more scientific" way; it's just writing more correctly and precisely. To be brutally honest, the writing in the original draft of this question is so poor that I would immediately reject any article written in such a style. It's not merely technical writing: there are problems with basic usage, grammar, and syntax.
The best way to improve is probably to work with a competent and experienced writing tutor who can help you identify the mistakes you are making and how to fix them. However, this is unlikely to be a "quick fix" unless you are willing to devote substantial time and effort to make your writing better.
Online tools like Grammarly can attempt to point out problems but they are neither completely reliable nor, in the long term, suitable substitutes for personally understanding the guiding principles of standard persuasive or technical writing.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The problem is not your writing style, it is your writing itself. Your English is not up to scratch. From the original question you wrote, first two paragraphs:
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> I have submitted my manuscript to a reputable journal and I had received rejection as **the the** file **didnot** pass the grammar test **in addition to the quality of the figures**.
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> To be honest, I have never get **a help** from my supervisor either **in master** or **ex-PI** during the first year of PhD to write in a scientific manner, although I **was reading** many times, but I feel **yet not confident**.
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I highlighted issues with your text:
* duplicated 'the'
* 'didnot' should obviously be 'did not'.
* it's clear from the context that "in addition to the quality of the figures" actually means "in addition, the quality of the figures was not sufficient". But it's bad writing regardless since the entire sentence needs to be read before the phrase gives the right meaning (without the context it actually implies the figures are of high quality).
* you cannot get 'a help'. You get 'help'.
* 'in master' should be 'during my masters'; 'ex-PI' presumably not necessary since during the first year of your PhD your ex-PI is probably your supervisor also, i.e. write "... from my supervisor either during my masters or first year of PhD".
* past continuous tense is clearly inappropriate, use present perfect: "although I have read many papers".
* "yet not confident" is artistic writing appropriate in poetry and such but not in scientific writing: "...but I do not feel confident yet".
There's no easy solution to this; you'll simply have to learn English better. If your institution offers classes in English or assistance with writing, utilize those. Otherwise, you will probably have to self-educate, with books on English grammar.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I do not think there is going to be any substitute for competent, sustained feedback. I understand you do not have access to English writing classes.
The best help is going to be to find a friend or colleague who is good at written English, and is willing to help you. Initially, anyone who can write well should be able to help. Later, you will need specific advice on writing papers from someone with a good publication track record.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/25
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<issue_start>username_0: During my short career as a researcher I observed a few seemingly unethical behaviors by Editors and Associate Editors:
* being asked to include a particular new author in order to be accepted
* being asked to cite articles with no apparent link with my article
* being told by the conference TCP (one of the top conference) to reject all the articles I review
* In one unique case, I reviewed an article and recommended strong rejection, it was subsequently accepted without revision. Reviewing the authors profile and handling editor, I found one of the author is an Associate Editor for another journal. It appears that both help each to publish articles in their journals.
All the above experiences were observed in well-reputed journals and conferences. Given all this, how what can I do to "clean this mess" in academic the journal/conference review process?<issue_comment>username_1: I am putting my answer here and will like to hear from community members as well. I hope there are people out there who will like to take practical steps as well.
I my opinion its hard to change the people but we can change the system. To assure fairness of review process it should be mandatory to publish article along with whole review process, including reviewer's comments, author's responses, and identity of handling editor.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: There is not a lot that you can do change the system. However, there are certain things you can do in the various instances you describe:
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> being asked to include a particular new author in order to be accepted
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If the person has no good claim to authorship, I would politely refuse such a request and explain why this person is not an author. If they refuse to publish your paper, then submit elsewhere.
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> being asked to cite articles with no apparent link with my article
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If there is no apparent link, then you can't cite it. I would respond with something like "We do not see how this article is related to our work. If the reviewer wishes to explain the relationship, we can include a citation."
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> being told by the conference TCP (one of the top conference) to reject all the articles I review
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There is little point in reviewing the papers if the decision has already been made. You can politely refuse the review request.
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> In one unique case, I reviewed an article and recommended strong rejection, it was subsequently accepted without revision. Reviewing the authors profile and handling editor, I found one of the author is an Associate Editor for another journal. It appears that both help each to publish articles in their journals.
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It's up to the editor to make the accept/reject decision, not the reviewer. Sometimes reviewers get it wrong and the editor has good reason to ignore their recommendation. However, it sounds like you believe this to be a case of corruption. There is little you can do about this other than refusing to have further interactions with these journals. You can tell others about what you have witnessed. Presumably others have witnessed it too. If news of this spreads, then it will (deservedly) harm the reputation of the editor.
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> All the above experiences were observed in well-reputed journals and conferences.
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This is unfortunate. Such behaviours should bring journals and conferences into disrepute.
On the individual level, you can choose where to submit your articles and which review requests to accept. There are many factors to consider when choosing where to submit. Of course, prestige is a big factor, as publications in prestigious venues helps advance your career. However, you can include reviewing practices as a factor. You can also refuse review requests from venues that you believe will ignore your reviews. And, if there are venues that you believe are doing a good job, you can support them by submitting and reviewing.
If enough people begin to avoid venues with questionable practices, then that will have an effect on them. Likewise, if people support venues with good practices, then those will go up in the prestige rankings.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/25
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<issue_start>username_0: Context: Say author A writes: "the authors B in Ref [30] found two consequences of the standing posture i.e sitting in the workplace on the health of industrial workers".
Actually, it should be "the authors B in Ref [30] found two consequences of the standing posture i.e **not** sitting in the workplace on the health of industrial workers".
From the original reference i.e [30], the authors B have implied the latter i.e "not sitting" and A didn't include "not..." mistakenly.
Also, it is well known that standing posture does not imply sitting. A has made and detected the error in his published survey paper and its a mistake on his part.
Should this error be overlooked? or Does it require an Errata or Corrigendum?
Note that this error does not in anyway affect the conclusions, deductions and contributions made in A's paper. It is just a portion where he/she reported from literature. Also, the mistake can be verified by everyone who checks back at the original reference.<issue_comment>username_1: I suggest that you write to the Journal to point out this error. It is, after all, still an error and needs to be corrected.
If someone were to write to us describing such an error, one of our editors would confirm the validity of the claim. If upheld, then this will result in a small correction (perhaps one to two lines) to be printed in the next issue of the journal. This is the practice at least in the journals in health and medicine that I help edit.
In the electronic versions of the manuscript, we would make the change in-house and release a new version of the paper with a notation at the end of the article specifying the change. That way, no new versions would be released with the error still in place.
We would issue an apology, too, and a statement that the inferences and conclusions were not affected.
This error would not be significant enough to alert indexing services. Also, this would not trigger a need for us to investigate the source of the error or to review our processes.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It's a very small error and clearly just a typo, so don't worry too much. Probably best to notify the Journal as they might have an opportunity to change it, but if they don't I think anyone reading it would thing "wait that doesn't make sense or fit with the rest of the paper. Oh, they must have missed out the word 'not'." and then carry on reading.
Upvotes: 3
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2018/10/25
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<issue_start>username_0: My class is currently further learning our relational database / SQL as part of the course.
The lecturer we have currently is restricting us to learning specifically Oracle SQL syntax rather than allowing us an option to using PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, etc.
When we brought up our preference in the use of alternative systems due to working with those mentioned above in work placements or academic study from the year prior, we were talked down to for even discussing the matter.
Is this permissible within the UK to restrict students from using a preferred database syntax / software environment?
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*Edit to add:* thank you for your insights and feedback. The post was made on behalf of myself and half a dozen class members who did not know the best route to address the matter, but now have a clearer understanding thanks to this community. For what it's worth, I can confidently say myself and my fellow students are confident with Oracle, MySQL and other SQL Basics from prior education, projects or employment and don't have an issue learning something new to keep progressing.<issue_comment>username_1: **No, they can't. But they can make you fail the class.**
Lecturers usually have free rein over the specifics of the material taught. Therefore they are free to choose any technology or dialect as long as it is within the area of the course.
Nobody can force you to study anything but if you want to pass his exam or the course by e.g. submitting lab problems, you have to play by their rules.
They might not know any other dialect and therefore be only able to teach (and grade) Oracle SQL. Or they might consider it the best dialect, e.g., because of wide industry use.
Finally, although I would be annoyed by this as well, sometimes you have to suck it up and just pass the course. Lecturers that teach the same (obsolete) material for 20 years are unfortunately a reality in academia. At least you might learn what to avoid in the future.
Upvotes: 8 <issue_comment>username_2: Unless there is something in the course description saying otherwise, the lecturer can choose the syntax for all submitted coursework and exams. Picking a specific syntax makes the lectures less confusing, as well as simplifying testing and grading of coursework and exams. To pass the course, you will have to learn Oracle SQL.
You may be confusing "requiring you to learn X" with "restricting you from learning Y". In the long term, you will have to learn a lot of material during your career, and it will not always be feasible to get classes in exactly what you need to learn. Independent study can become essential.
Consider repeating some of the coursework using the database of your choice, for your own education.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_3: Teaching involves more than just doing the lecture, you have to prepare the materials, be familiar with the content, prepare exercises, exams, etc.
How do you suppose the professor would do that without restricting the dialect? Or how can the professor *be fair* to the students without restricting it?
Example: "We favour Oracle, but we accept any other dialect". So the student that chooses to do it in pgsql would be at a disadvantage because the material was not prepared for it, the syntax is different, examples won't work, etc...
But then we add pgsql because it is well known. But it would make no sense to add pgsql and not use mysql too. When does it stop?
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> Can a lecturer force you to learn a specific programming syntax / language?
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>
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Of course they can. Teachers are generally in charge of designing their course in whatever way they think is best suited to reach the intended learning outcomes. In some cases (especially more project-oriented courses) this may mean leaving the choice of technology open to students, but for other courses strictly mandating what students should use may be preferable.
Further, while I won't comment on the usage of Oracle specifically, there still may be good reasons to *not* use what you have been using before. Particularly, learning a different SQL dialect can be a very valuable lesson in itself. It makes you understand better what exactly is part of SQL (the standardized language) and what is part of the specific implementation that Postgres uses.
Finally, practicalities often dictate that teachers mandate certain technological ground rules. I have often had the case that I strictly required students in large classes (400+ students) to adhere to specific technologies and even submission templates, because it was not acceptable from a grading time perspective that TAs would need to spend time getting a solution to run before they could start grading it. Clearly this is an extreme case, but you still need to understand that letting each student pick their own technology escalates quickly in terms of grading effort.
**That all is to say, you can certainly address (for instance in the teaching evaluations) if/that you feel that the pedagogical goals of the course could be better reached when using a SQL dialect that you already know, but a formal complaint has no legs to stand on.**
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_5: Take a step back: How many students are in the class? I'll guess 100. Each student will have their own preferences -- different SQL dialects, different learning speeds and styles, different topics, different assessments, etc. The lecturer cannot accommodate all of these preferences, so there is a need to compromise.
It may be only 10% more work for the lecturer to accommodate your preferred SQL dialect. You may think that's reasonable. But if each student has something similar to accommodate, then suddenly the lecturer has 1000% more work. That's clearly not practical.
From the lecturer's point of view, it is essential to keep the course workload under control. If he or she begins accommodating requests, it can get out of hand very quickly. Being strict is a skill that lecturers have to learn. If you want someone who tailors everything to your preferences, hire a private tutor.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_6: When I took a course in numerical methods eons ago, the first few assignments were to be done in Fortran 77. After doing some in Fortran, the professor then moved on to assignments in APL, SPITBOL, and C, each meant to demonstrate how different languages allowed problems to be attacked in different ways. No class time was spent in teaching these languages, we were expected to read the manuals and figure it out for ourselves in the week or so available. And, I learned a lot about a bunch of different languages and constructs that I still use today.
But, you can bet dollars to donuts that an assignment to do in APL was only accepted in APL. If it was supposed to be SPITBOL, you might get away with SNOBOL (although you really needed recursion) but Fortran wasn't going to fly.
Yes, for many reasons, a professor can define the parameters of assignments, including specifics such as the allowable programming language.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_7: Most universities in the UK communicate information about their courses and modules by so-called course and module descriptors. They are often a part of your course handbook or provided in the module information pack.
Read the module descriptor and take a look on Learning Objectives for the module. They describe the skills and knowledge which you will obtain after a successful completion of this module. Your lecturer is here to help you acquire those skills.
* If the LOs say you will learn a language/syntax, then this is what you need to learn. Presumably a choice of language is well justified since it made it into a formal document (which is a part of your learning contract).
* If LOs say you will learn how to manage a database, then you have to manage a database using any suitable language. If the lecturer wants to impose a restriction, she/he should justify it using objective reasons, e.g. this program is outdated, this is not suitable for the task, this is proprietary and University does not have a license for it, etc. Forcing individual preferences on students without academic need for it is not cool and only shows that the lecturer has limited skill set and can't be bothered to learn more. This is not a good example to follow.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: I have used many languages throughout my studies and career and you can be sure of a few things
1. In School, the teacher is always right, so either get on board or get off
2. There is never going to be a single perfect language to use that will be used by everyone everywhere (SQL vs mongoDB, C++ vs JAVA, the list goes on and on)
3. Learning different programming languages is a necessary skill for a programmer
It's great a professor is forcing students to use a less popular language or a language that is not preferred. It helps prepare you for the real world where you will come across a job/situation where you have to use a programming language you've never used before. The hurdles of learning a new language in school will help with the hurdles of learning a new language in your future job.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_9: Rephrased a bit, your question says:
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> Can a lecturer base their course on a specific dialect of a tool?
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>
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I can and I do.
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But I'd like to highlight a bit different aspect of this. A proper university-level lecture is (almost) never about concrete tools and languages. **It's about concepts.**
I am teaching Functional Programming this semester. The lecture material is telling about Haskell. The exercises are in Haskell. If someone would submit them in ML, they'd surely fail. But the concepts of functional programming is what this lecture actually is about. And concepts do not change.
I fully expect the students to be able to program in ML, Swift or what not, as long as it's a functional programming language and they have adapted to the syntax. Surely, they'd miss some concepts. Surely, they'd have some concepts they did not encounter in the lecture. But the basic approach, the generic mindset, and most of the concepts will still be there. And *this* is what my course is actually about.
In fact, they might never write a single line of Haskell in their life after they have got their grade. And it's still make them better programmers and computer scientists.
---
I can basically replace words and get the same statement about relational databases. The fact that you learn Oracle should have little impact on your ability to use MySQL (or what not) later in your life. Quite a number of large companies use Oracle anyway. Perhaps your lecturer is more fluent in Oracle than in something else, or maybe your department got that big shiny Oracle licence that'd be a shame not to use, or something completely different. The reason is irrelevant, you have to learn Oracle.
What you actually learn is foundations of relational databases. These foundations apply to all the \*SQL things and even some that are not. Everything else is a minor adaptation to syntax and local quirks, which is not a subject of university education.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_10: ### In general yes, but perhaps not with artifically "pushing" a specific commercial tool
I agree with [the](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/118985/7319) [multiple](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/118986/7319) [answers](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/118990/7319) as a matter of principle - teachers can and do choose how to teach their classes, and have much leeway regarding choice of tools for the students to use, as well as form and syntax for homework submission.
That being said, if the teacher of a course forces the use of a tool and/or dialect which:
* Is only provided by a single commercial entity
* (perhaps) Requires the students to expend financial resources on gaining access to this tool
* (perhaps) Requires the university expend financial resources on gaining access to this tool
* Has more commonly-used, freely-available and well-regarded alternatives
* and the teacher refuses not provide a (minimally credible) rationale for exclusively using the tool
... then this may be ethically problematic. It is effectively a form of coercive commercial advertising on the teacher's part - if not artificial revenue-generation for the provider of such a tool - and may be contrary to the academic institute's regulations, or possibly to state laws.
Now, I'll grant that this is tricky business, since we're talking about regulating academic freedom with somewhat extrinsic considerations, so it would have to be rather egregious. I doubt that saying "Use the Oracle SQL variant" meets the above criteria, since for the purposes of your course it's probably effectively the same thing as ISO SQL; or can be trivially adapted from other SQL variants; and apparently there's an "Express version" which you can use for free. But in the kinds of cases I described above it is not as cut-and-dry as other responders to your question suggest.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: Yes, I am in control of my classes and will decide what in your work is worth points and what is not. I'll tell you that up front, with plenty of time for you to drop.
Not only will I demand you use the syntax and language I am teaching (for my own grading ease and consistency of results, like performance timing), but I will demand you follow my code formatting rules for indentation, tab stops, limits on line length, variable names and how to case them, and commenting within your code to help me see what you have done and why you are doing it.
Because the butt-sore truth is, when you get into the real world, you will find that writing working code is not enough, your code needs to be maintainable and readable by others. And chances are, you are going have to read and debug TONS of other people's code, and you will appreciate this then.
Before I was a professor I was a division manager in charge of code for a public company. Newbies are often given testing and debugging tasks to get them familiar with the code and systems and to evaluate their expertise and productivity.
So first, IRL programmers move on to other companies, departments, or roles within the company. So not only do we have to deal with code by programmers no longer with us, the senior programmers are often working on deadline for critical NEW projects, and they don't have the time to debug their own code from years ago, or even answer questions about it.
That makes maintainability of code very important, because hardware and software libraries and operating systems and compiler / interpreter release change much faster than our code base, and break our systems. The code must be legible, easy to understand, and easy to follow. I don't want any "black box" code that just "works right" because when it stops working, I don't want to rewrite it to fix it.
So I enforce that in my classes too. Yes your code has to work, but that isn't the whole grade. You must use the tools I gave you, or you don't pass: Because real companies have standards, even down to the **editor** you use, and my assignments are an exercise in you using the tools given, not just getting the right answer.
You must also write code that obeys my code formatting and commenting guidelines, those are worth a letter grade. Because IRL if you gave me (your manager) that as a coder, I'd have to send it back to you for proper formatting, and there goes 1 or 2 days of your pay and productivity because you can't follow simple list of written directions.
The equivalent in the classroom is your grade, so -10 for mistakenly thinking that getting the right answer is all that matters to the company. **How** you got the answer is important, and Maintainability of your code after you are gone or no longer maintaining it is also very important.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_12: Hmm, I don't wish to be rude, but this seems like a rather bizarre question. It's like saying, "The professor is insisting we work from textbook X. But I'd prefer to use textbook Y." It may be that you could make a good case that Y is a better textbook. But if the class is going to be coherent, all the students should be working from the same textbook.
If everyone used a different dialect of SQL, then the professor would have to include discussions of all the different dialects in every class. Not only would the prof have to know all the dialects and all the differences, but he would have to take class time to discuss these differences constantly, rather than concentrating on the basic points. For students who are already thoroughly familiar with SQL, discussing differences between different dialects might be interesting and useful. But if the point of the class is to teach SQL, such digressions would not only be a burden on the professor but on the students. Students would have to be sorting through, what dialect is he talking about now? Does that apply to me or is that one I'm not using? The level of complexity would be greatly multiplied.
And how would he grade assignments? Is he supposed to have all these different dialects installed on his computer? And keep track of which student is using which dialect and be sure to test with the right one?
What if someone said, "I don't want to use SQL at all. I want to use Mongo"?
What if someone said, "I don't want to learn about databases. I want to learn about writing flat files"?
What if someone said, "I don't want to learn about databases. I want to learn about the French Revolution"?
Where would this end?
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_13: I agree with all the other answers: of course the lecturer can do this, and is likely to be using Oracle to grade your work.
I write to add: I think you should *avoid* Oracle extensions to or deviations from SQL, unless they greatly simplify the answer into something elegant. The specific difference I have in mind is **Use standard SQL JOIN syntax**, not Oracle's old WHERE based syntax. The former can express relations that the latter can not, the latter is not accepted by other RDBMSes, and I can't believe your lecturer would be using a version of Oracle so old it didn't also take the SQL standard syntax.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_14: For what its worth, with Oracle and PL/SQL you will get not only the core relational database and SQL experience, but also some hands-on experience with some aspects of a commercial database and its extensions to the standard. This will enable you to pick up just about any of the other standards-based RDBMS systems on your own and it will instantly feel familiar. You may not have another good opportunity to learn a commercial database prior to getting into the job market, and having Oracle PL/SQL on there will look great and possibly open some employment opportunities that would not normally be available to new graduates.
I'll add my own experiences to the pile for contrast. The lectures for my *Introduction to Object Oriented Programming* class in the mid-90's was taught in *Fortran 77* (a *non*-OO language) because the (tenured) professor didn't know C++ and this was his last semester before retirement. He lectured using his notes (written on punch cards) from an earlier *Data Structures* class (based on an unrelated textbook), while the programming labs were taught in C++ by graduate students who actually knew what they were doing (thank you, Hamid). The exams were [blue-book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_book_exam) (written essay) and required answers to Object-Oriented programming questions drawn from the C++ lab assignments...written in *Pascal* - a language that none of the students in the class had been taught but were presumed to already know. Every student received a 2.5 and the professor retired. I learned OO programming from a graduate student during a two hour-per-week lab assignment, while his attention was split among 15 other students.
Another example from the following semester (more relevant to your situation). My *Database* class was taught without databases at all. There was no database, no SQL. The programming labs were entirely in C and involved assignments like implementing core data structures to support relational tables in memory, creating different indexes based on binary trees, etc., and writing queries using table scans and then the indexes, then evaluating their performance using big-O notation and refining the indexing methods. Even though I did well in the class, it provided no practical experience with any DBMS or query language. It was a Computer Science course in the purest form. In retrospect, the concepts stuck with me and it did help me to understand how to debug queries for performance.
In summary, at the university level you need to choose your battles wisely, and I hope this convinces you that your current course is not so bad. It is up to you to find ways to get the most long-term value out of your courses.
Upvotes: 1
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2018/10/25
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<issue_start>username_0: The role of supervisor is a key role. The relationship between the supervisor and the students should be healthy.
In this context, in India, there is a lot of difference between male and female students. If a male supervisor frequently holds meetings outside of the workplace, male students can participate without any fear while female students cannot.
How does a female student reject the invitations of a male supervisor to meet outside of the workplace (such as in the supervisor's home)? The purpose of the invitation is to discuss the developments or updates in research.
Many incidents like [1](https://www.deccanherald.com/city/metoo-snares-iisc-professor-699756.html),[2](https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/26-year-old-jnu-student-accuses-professor-of-sexual-misconduct-1190639-2018-03-16),[3](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/varanasi/bhu-professor-accused-of-sexual-misconduct-suspended/articleshow/66357882.cms) etc., have occurred and hence female students have to think about their safety but at the same time they still have to work around the supervisor's workload. (He may not get time during his working hours to review his scholar's progress.)<issue_comment>username_1: You can work with groups of students to have the university impose certain rules. You can then just use the rules as the "excuse".
You can, perhaps, attend such "gatherings" if you always go with a friend or relative. The friend may be bored, of course, but offers some "cover". In some cultures this is expected, actually.
You can fairly safely attend larger gatherings. Or gatherings in public places.
You can suggest another place to meet when invited. One that feels safe to you. It is probably fine to say that you would "be more comfortable" in the place you suggest.
If you need to work with someone you can't trust, do so electronically, using email and such.
But men aren't entirely safe from predators either, though it is normally a more common problem for women.
If you get "predator vibes" from a professor, work to find someone better and less selfish. Spread the word if you can do so safely. The grapevine can, of course, warn you of the bad actors.
If you do accept an invitation, be sure someone trusted knows where you will be and when you will return. Set a strict time limit on the duration of the meeting - say an hour.
But even if you get good vibes, be vigilant that the relationship doesn't change to one that is less professional.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: While I know India is not the US (or any other country I am familiar with), but some norms should be universal and a student should not have to subject themselves to things outside the norm. Something like
>
> Dr. Smith, it is nothing against you, but I do not think it sets a good precedent for us to meet under those conditions. Is there a time we can have the meeting at the university?
>
>
>
Now, Dr Smith may get very mad and take it out on you, but if they are the type of person to do that, do you want them as a supervisor, and more importantly, do you want to meet them alone at their home.
Upvotes: 5
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2018/10/25
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm applying for PhD programs in Computer Science, which allow a year of rotation and courses, before the student officially joins a lab for their thesis. I've had research experience in Computational Biology, but being a Math major, I've had a relatively (relative to average CS graduates) large number of courses on (or related to) Theory CS (I took quite a few advanced courses on topics closely related to Theory CS).
I have two questions:
1 - Do admissions committee generally view an applicant in my situation more qualified for doing a PhD in Theory, or in Comp bio?
2 - Assuming I'm considered more qualified for Comp Bio, is it a bad idea to express interest in working in CompBio, and claim I want to work with an advisor in that area, while I actually plan to do my PhD in TCS? I mean, given that once I get in I'll have the freedom to choose my advisor and I'll have enough time and opportunities to even gain research experience in a different area, could there be any negative consequences in expressing interest in CompBio (and even introduce some vague research ideas), and then if admitted, try to work on TCS?
(moral issues with doing this are of course a different story)<issue_comment>username_1: Apply for and do the PhD you actually want to do.
The skills gained by having research experience are generally subject transferable, so if you want to do theoretical computer science, explain what skills and knowledge your research experience in computational biology gave you that would be applicable to that field. It could even be something as simple as saying "my experience in researching x topic in computational biology got me interested in computer science as a field of research, which I want to explore further, focusing on theoretical topic y".
Don't try and game the system. Be honest about your interests and the experiences that have led you to them.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Assuming that computational biology and theoretical computer science are housed in the same department, I see no reason that you would not be able to later switch as you saw fit.
When I applied to PhD programs, I expressed interest in matrix theory and abstract algebra. I ended up moving to applied math relatively quickly. I was assigned a temporary advisor when I arrived. She helped me transition administratively to the other discipline. It was a matter of her signing a form confirming I had found a permanent advisor. Note that not all programs will even assign you a temporary advisor.
I have never heard of a program that retrospectively looks back at your application and confirms whether or not you actually studied the topic you had proposed when you applied.
Such a practice as you have described is actually somewhat common I would think. Interests change. There is nothing inherently immoral about changing your research interests. (I would avoid outright lying, however).
As for how qualified you are for either subject, that is impossible for me to say. Demonstrable experience in computational biology is not going to hurt your application. Neither are numerous classes in theoretical CS. Note that, based on the research interests of the faculty, one field may be favored over the other for admissions purposes. If they have one theoretical CS professor and 10 computational biology professors, you are betting against the odds to say you really want to study theoretical CS.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/26
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<issue_start>username_0: In a *semi*-hypothetical situation, assume that I'm a postdoc at a certain university and my supervisor pushed (forced) me to work on a journal paper that I hated but finished eventually. I say I hated it because the work is so silly, not at par with my previously published excellent work and will be published in a mediocre journal. My concern is that it may hurt my CV and compromise my profile. I should also say that it is not in the exact field in which I have been building a profile.
Although I have finished the paper, can I possibly tell my supervisor that I don't wish to be named on it?<issue_comment>username_1: I'm sorry that you had such a poor experience. I think that you'd be right to politely ask to withdraw your name from the manuscript. However, bear in mind that the supervisor may be offended by your choice, and that person would have to recommend you to others. So, act wisely!
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: You certainly *can* refuse to be named as co-author, but at this point it's probably easier just to sign off publication, unless there are stronger reasons than you've given.
Most reputable journals have processes that require all credited authors to sign off on publication, so you can't be credited as an author if you don't want to be\*. However, this may mean that the paper can't be published at all - your supervisor shouldn't be claiming sole author credit for something that is largely your work, and even a mediocre journal is likely to balk at accepting a paper if it learns that one of the authors is unwilling to be associated with that work.
Publishing this paper probably won't help your career significantly, but from the description you've given it doesn't sound likely to harm it either, *especially* if it's not in the field that you're aiming for. I changed career and I have several publications on my CV that have no relevance to my current career; I doubt any of my co-workers have even bothered looking them up, let alone passing judgement on whether they're a valuable contribution to the literature.
\*Some loopholes may apply. I had an ex-boss who listed me and another researcher as co-authors on a poster and conference presentation, even though he knew we had significant objections to the content. While the associated journal required sign-off from all authors on published *papers*, this was not the case for conference material. We had to write in to request that the "error" be corrected for the published proceedings.
Upvotes: 3
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2018/10/26
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<issue_start>username_0: This is related to [the "what to say in a diversity statement" question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/60094/faculty-positions-what-to-say-in-a-statement-on-diversity), but I'm asking something slightly different:
>
> Who reads a Diversity Statement in a faculty application (exact sciences/CS/math) at an R1 institute?
>
>
>
Anticipating answers like "anyone on the department can read it", let me be more specific: Who *usually* reads diversity statements and takes relevant decisions on their basis? Is it faculty members? Is it administrators? Are they generally used as a first screen, as an appendix to the teaching statement, or as a tiebreaker?<issue_comment>username_1: It depends on how serious the university you are appliying for is in encouraging diversity.
In every case, the persons responsible for diversity / minorities / ... will read it and bring in their opinion.
I'm sure, at my institution every person in the selection committee will read it, and it will affect the decision. If your research record or teaching performance are not good, the diversity statement will not save you. But if there are two people with similar performance, it will make a difference!
Some insitutions are haveng point based evaluation sheets for applicants - it is up to then to decide how strong the influence of the diversity statement is. But usually those factors are not public.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The purpose of having a diversity statement is that you can honestly say that you have one if anybody asks.
The people who will read them would include:
* People who are told they have to read them.
* People who have nothing better to do.
* People who want to confirm that you really do have a diversity statement.
Don't assume that anybody takes any relevant decisions based on the diversity stament. The people who make decisions will either continue to be fair to all candidates, or will continue to be prejudiced. Writing a diversity statement won't change that.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2018/10/26
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<issue_start>username_0: Many have suggested me to include a sentence like this while asking for recommendations:
"Do you feel that you are able to give me a strong reference?"
I am afraid that my third referee, who was only a professor of one my courses, knows me but not well enough to give a "strong reference". So if I asked him this way, he might ignore my request.
I could also tell him that this is the third letter, so he does not have to exhaustively write about my every strengths. But telling him that he is only the "third” might be considered impolite? Because, emotionally, everyone wants to be regarded as an important person.
What shall I do?<issue_comment>username_1: No, do not do this. It is an immediate insult, and done so from a point both of need and of ignorance. At best, the person would (as a good grandfather or grandmother) understand your militantly naive foolishness, and lack of intent of insult, but... Don't
Also, most application systems do not "rank" letters, so all your letters of recommendation will be taken with equal weight... depending on the degree of acquaintance the writers claim to have with you.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: This answer basically echoes the comment of <NAME>.
I agree that calling it the "third letter" may offend the professor, so I wouldn't use that phrasing. But the general idea of acknowledging that the scope of the letter will be limited, and that you have other letters as well, seems fine.
>
> Dear Professor A,
>
>
> I am applying to grad schools, and I wondered if you would be willing to write me a letter of recommendation. I know that the only course I took with you was BASK 301, and so I understand that your letter would only really be able to discuss my work in that course. But if you feel you would be able to write a strong letter on that basis, I would greatly appreciate it.
>
>
> I am also requesting letters from Professors B and C, who will be able to write about my [other coursework / research / internship / relevant skills / etc], so I feel that between the three of you, a committee will be able to get a broad sense of my record.
>
>
> If you are willing, the letters would be needed starting on [date].
>
>
> Many thanks!
>
>
> Sincerely, etc.
>
>
>
If the course involved particular elements that you think would be helpful to discuss in the letter (e.g. a project on which you thought you did noteworthy work), then you can mention those specifically.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2018/10/26
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm an undergraduate student and recently I've been trying to find a private tutor to help me further expand my knowledge (outside of a scope of my courses). I've discovered one of the TAs advertises themselves as a private tutor. Would it be ethically wrong to hire them? Are there any potential issues/conflicts of interests?
As far as I know there is nothing strictly forbidding it in the university codes and I would love hiring them - I'm quite picky when it comes to the teaching style and in case of the TA in question I already know it'd be a great fit.<issue_comment>username_1: as long as the TA is not involved in grading the course (or preparing exams / tests, etc.) it is ok (might still not be a good idea because they can influence other people), but at the moment the TA is involved in any grading / tests etc., it is a clear no-go!
There are many related questions like
[Is it ethical to give (paid) private tutorials for a student in a module I am TA'ing?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/58225/is-it-ethical-to-give-paid-private-tutorials-for-a-student-in-a-module-i-am-ta?rq=1) (see the "related" column to the right).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Let your TA decide.
There is nothing wrong with asking, especially if the material to be tutored lies outside the scope of your course.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: As a lecturer, I would feel that my TA possibly has a conflict of interests if they are also working as a tutor for one of my students. Among other things, TAs are often asked to solve through the final exam, to check correctness. So even if they are not involved with marking, they have access to confidential materials, and they can inadvertently leak some of this knowledge to the student they tutor.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2018/10/26
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<issue_start>username_0: Consider the following scenario:
Assume you try to publish a paper in a journal, but before sending the paper, you place the paper on Arxiv.
Then, the journal rejects the paper because of it lacks novelty due to an improper literature survey.
Furthermore, Arxiv does not permit permanently deleting papers.
What can you do?
Leaving the paper on Arxiv will haunt you for all time.
Should you replace the pdf with a dummy pdf?
The previous versions will be intact and the people searching for her papers comes to know all those flaws. Is there any way to remove the paper from Arxiv?<issue_comment>username_1: Adding something like "After submission of the initial version, it has come to our attention that our main result is a rediscovery of a prior result by XXX (citation)." to the comment section of the arXiv metadata and the frontpage of the article itself should be an elegant way to handle this.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: As per another [answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/119042/22768), it's an option to add "it has come to our attention that our main result is a rediscovery of a prior result." But, that assumes *no novelty*. Although that's what the OP claims, it is rarely the case that two independent works discover exactly the same result. Hence, you could consider if there is any novelty, distinguish your work on that basis, and publish those results, possibly in collaboration with the authors of the initial discovery.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: If you really think your article now has no value whatsoever, then you can withdraw your arXiv submission, following the instructions on [arXiv help: To withdraw an article](https://arxiv.org/help/withdraw). The article’s arXiv front page will then be replaced by a withdrawal notice; you can include a comment explaining the reason. (This is basically the official preferred alternative to your “upload a dummy pdf” approach.)
However, it’s very rare that an article is really completely valueless! Chances are it has *some* differences from the overlapping work, in the approach or the viewpoint or the technical details; if nothing else, it gives an alternative exposition of the material. If on reconsideration you think this is the case, then just upload a revised version, prominently explaining the extent to which it’s a rediscovery of earlier work (definitely in the abstract and/or introduction, perhaps also in the arXiv comments field), and if you feel it’s appropriate, also highlighting what *is* different or novel in your version.
With both these courses of action, the previously submitted version(s) will still be available if anyone really wants to look at them — that’s essentially unavoidable. But under normal circumstances, it’s extremely unlikely anyone would go looking for them, and even more unlikely that they’d hold it against you.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: The paper has value in, the very least, independently corroborating another scholar's work. Depending on your field, this can vary in value. For example, in the social sciences, independent corroboration is a strong indicator that the effect being examined is a real phenomena.
Also, sometimes it is not necessarily the idea, but the process of generating the idea which is important.
I think in today's climate where there is a crisis of reproducible results, I dont think you should feel haunted at all.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/26
| 386
| 1,630
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<issue_start>username_0: In some C.V. I see the statement "To appear in X Journal" in front of some papers. What is the exact meaning of that? Does it mean that the paper has been submitted to X journal?<issue_comment>username_1: It probably means more than that - it indicates that the paper has been accepted. If it's just been submitted, there's a nontrivial chance of rejection, so it might not appear; however after a paper's been accepted it's very rare for the paper not to be published, so one can say "to appear".
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Based upon the context, I would treat *to appear* as a synonym to *accepted* or *in press*. This article means has been accepted, but not yet published. Most journals have a lag between acceptance and online publication (conversely, others journals now post the accepted manuscript almost immediately after acceptance). This lag can be due to a backlog of other articles ahead of yours, copy editing, formatting, or other procedural delays. Before online early access, articles could spend months or longer in this status (e.g., an article was accepted for quarterly publication and had to wait multiple quarters to be published).
Another question asks about how [article status](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/12988/how-submitted-to-appear-accepted-papers-are-evaluated-in-a-cv) is evaluated by search committees.
I would also add that you likely have no way of verifying *to appear* other than waiting. I have heard about search committees and tenure/promotion committees asking for copies of acceptance letters, however.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]
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2018/10/26
| 1,246
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<issue_start>username_0: Hi I am a perfectionist electrical and electronics student who struggles with studying because I cannot focus on the subject or context as I cannot let go of the questions or details that trouble me. I always feel like I must be an expert regarding the subject and be able to answer all the questions that one might raise no matter how stupid or unrelated those questions are. That is why I am not academically successful and satisfied. What mindset should I adopt to overcome this situation? I feel totally frustrated and hopeless. I tried out psychological help but it keeps coming over and over.<issue_comment>username_1: Dealing with details is what makes good engineers (of any type so I don't get roasted), that way bridges don't fall down, rockets don't fail and the lights stay on...
Try and work out **where** you need to go for detail and what you can just accept...
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I tried out psychological help but it keeps coming over and over.
>
>
>
First this is important. If you have received any behavioral or medical interventions you'll need to discuss with your health care providers and let them know you're not progressing.
---
My overarching question back to you is: ***Have you considered aspiring to be a perfectionist in time use and efficiency?***
**Collect necessary information before studying**: Make sure the materials you need to study are handy before engaging the study: syllabus, texts, notes, assignments, etc. Minimize wandering off for extra materials along the way.
**Set goals and time**: Before studying, state clearly what the goal is and how much time you'll allocate to it. E.g. "I'll spend 2.5 hours in this lab report, and I will spend no more than 2 lines of text for each point I wish to score."
And it's fine to set up a time for deep diving as well: "Tonight, I'll spend 1.5 hour and binge reading/searching this theory. I don't know what would come out of it, but I will enjoy this adventure and bonus for me if I can find a few new insights."
**Go through a set of checklists before doing anything**: Have a set of "mantra" before committing to anything. It's up to you what they should be, but generally focus on return of investment. Here are some I always ask myself:
* Is the objective of this work "SMART" enough? (SMART: Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time/duration is clear.)
* Is this work in alignment with my value?
* Is this work going to propel me forward in [whatever endeavor: studying, career, etc.]?
* What will I likely gain if I do this work?
* Is there any other work I can/should do which will bring a better gain?
Ask this before, and ask this whenever you change your focus or attention onto something else. Keep a diary on your daily time use efficiency and review them often.
**Have a "mind dump"**: When strayed thoughts invite, instead of immediately engaging them, jot them down somewhere. It can be a paper pad on your desk, Evernote/OneNote, post-it, voice messages, etc. Put them in one collection point, and revisit them during your "wild hunt" time.
It may be more useful to see these strayed thoughts as a group periodically. You may found that something you wondered last month was resolved in the class this week. By putting these questions together instead of deep diving into each of them immediately, you can better see the landscape.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I can't deal with psychological issues, of course, but there is another side to this. When you deal overly in detail, you run the risk of missing the big picture. Insight into why a system works as it does can be as valuable as knowledge about its intricate details. If you miss this (missing the forest for the trees) you may not be able to integrate all of the "knowledge" that you have gained.
I suggest that you build yourself a habit of stepping back to look at the bigger picture on a regular basis. Hourly if you are working hard or daily.
Buy yourself a deck of index cards. Periodically take a blank card and write on it the "key idea" underlying what you have been looking at since the last card. What is the big picture here? Why are these details important.
These cards become a sort of table of contents of what you have learned. If you can force yourself to look at the overall system, even if just for a moment, you can build a habit of capturing the big picture.
But, for it to work, you need to make it a habit and to do that you may need to really force yourself to do it initially.
The advantage of index cards over, say, your laptop, is that a card can only hold a small amount of information - a couple of sentences. You can also carry them around with you, including a few blank cards, and review or record new thoughts. They can be sorted, etc. You can even take a small set of cards and create a new card to summarize the big idea contained in that set, leading to a hierarchy of "big thoughts".
I can't guarantee that this will get you out of the microscopic view situation, but it can help you avoid missing what it is really all about.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/10/26
| 554
| 2,393
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm looking to clean up our citation database and would like to be able to record the institutions that authors are affiliated, especially in cases where a publication is reporting on a collaboration beyond a single lab or institution. However as far as I can tell, Zotero, Mendeley and Papers (Mac) don't support the ability to associate each author with a particular university or institution. Does anyone know of any citation or bibliography management software that enables this level of detail in capturing citations?<issue_comment>username_1: Try Scopus. They support a tracking system where you can export scientists' work and obtain their respective affiliation per publication. However, it might be a bit tedious depending on how many scientists you want to investigate.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Depending on how you define *citation or bibliography management software*, you can get part of the way there in the LaTeX world. The [biblatex package](https://ctan.org/pkg/biblatex?lang=en) in conjunction with the [biber program](https://ctan.org/pkg/biber?lang=en) supports data annotations. With biblatex/biber the database files can be in a variety of formats, but the most common is probably a [bibtex](https://ctan.org/pkg/bibtex) `.bib` file (yeah the LaTeX world is confusing). Assuming a `.bib` file, for each entry you would add a field `author+an` with a value similar to `1=University A; 2=University B; ...; N=University N` to denote the affiliation of each author (I think it can even support a list of affiliations for each author). With biblatex and biber you can store the author specific affiliations in the data base and get access to them when citing, but this is only part of the way there.
I am not aware of a nice graphical front end for managing bib files that directly supports data field annotations. The database is a plain text file, so maybe a text editor counts ...
I am also not aware of any biblatex styles that utilize data annotations, so you would have to roll your own. While updating a style to print the annotations is relatively easy, at the user level you are pretty limited. J Doe at University A and J Doe at University B are going to be treated as the same person. There is no user level support for sorting based on author name and then affiliation (or even affiliation of the first author).
Upvotes: 1
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2018/10/26
| 1,092
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a senior finishing dual degrees in chemistry and mathematics and missed an exam in an upper level chemistry course due to a brief hospitalization which was fully documented. I was granted a make-up exam by the instructor along with a few other students. Our exam was 14 pages long, five pages longer than the original, and incredibly difficult in comparison. Several questions were structured in such a way that knowledge of very obscure and minute details from the 800 plus lecture slides and 200 plus pages of text was required. Without exaggeration, the make-up was perhaps 5 or 6 times harder and significantly longer for the same amount of time. I have no doubt that I failed and will be lucky if my score is even 60%. What actions, if any, should I take? I plan to talk the instructor when my grade posts, but I doubt that is going to get me anywhere. After spending at least 48 hours studying in the last two weeks, this feels very defeating.<issue_comment>username_1: Given that exams are difficult to create, especially make-up exams, it is just possible that it will work out when the instructor sees the results. I doubt that it was any sort of 'retaliation'. Wait for the grades and have a conversation.
It is too early to take action until you see the actual results and their effect.
Let me note that for some sorts of exams, writing intelligently about the problem is enough. If the problems are especially difficult then it may not really be possible under exam constraints to find a proper solution. But if what you write is "sensible", and demonstrates that you have the required knowledge, it may be enough, depending on the person interpreting the results. In any case, it is pretty much impossible to treat the results as "equivalent" to those of the normally given exam. A sensible instructor will recognize this.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It's been a long time since I took a university course but I wonder if you might be unduly concerned about the makeup exam? From what I hear, professors are very prone to use Bell curves when marks aren't what they hoped for. For what it's worth, I once taught a database course at a college when a friend who had the gig normally had a conflict and couldn't do it. I wrote a pretty straight-forward exam with no trick questions or indeed anything terribly challenging but the marks were disappointing, mostly in the 60s and 70s. I'd already heard vague general rumours about colleges and universities belling up marks so I asked if I was supposed to be belling up the grades. The department head strongly encouraged me to do so. On reflection, I decided that the exam was perfectly fair and I could not justify altering the marks; I submitted exactly the grades the students had earned. I never heard further about it beyond one student expressing his disappointment that he hadn't gotten a mark of 90+ as he had with the other courses in the program.
If Bell curves are truly rampant in academia, then this may well solve your problem.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Late, but I suspect the right answer is somewhere between the other answers.
As username_1 says, I think you should wait until the results come out before starting any sort of formal process. It could be that your grade will be better than you hope, and certainly it's hard to complain that your grade is unfairly low before you even have a grade.
On the other hand, as Daruiod's (edited) answer points out, I do think it is unlikely that your professor just accidentally made the exam way too hard. This probably was a strategic move. The suggestions about including other students in your complaint, and talking to the professor before grades come out, also make sense.
So, in summary, my recommendation is to:
* Talk to the instructor (politely) before you get your grade, and say that you understand that the makeup exam is harder to prevent strategic sicknesses, but you have a well-documented illness and you hope that the grading will reflect your knowledge. The professor won't lose face if he gives you a good grade the first time, but his position will be a bit more entrenched after he returns your graded exam.
* If despite this he still gives you an unfairly low grade, you will have no choice but to appeal. Don't talk to the professor again, but go to the department chair or whoever is in charge of grading procedures. Professors typically have wide latitude in such matters, but manifestly punishing you for an illness/disability just might be enough to win such an appeal.
Upvotes: 1
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2018/10/26
| 1,222
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<issue_start>username_0: How do you decide how much money to request? Must you have a detailed list of costs? How much money can be taken by the PI, for instance, for summer pay? I really don't understand how the numbers are reached; they seem totally arbitrary to me.<issue_comment>username_1: For senior personnel (like the principal investigators) the NSF limit salary to 2 months salary for each person per year, which is held across all NSF-funded grants (so if you are listed on 100 NSF grants you still can only get 2 months per year for yourself in total).
As to the budget questions - yes, you'll need a budget, plenty of supporting detail and reasoning, and yes there are lots of rules about everything from computer equipment to salary for clerical workers. Most common questions can be answered by reviewing the [NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide](https://nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappg18_1/index.jsp). There is no single rule of thumb on how much to ask for, as the range of awards varies quite widely (and for the NSF is usually stated in Dear Colleague letters or public grant invitations on specific topics), but in general if you don't have a really good idea of how much things might cost to go into the budget for what to ask for, the panel will probably quickly notice you haven't thought things out in enough detail and reject it easily in an early round. You can be reasonably assured that someone - and probably many people - will look at each line item in a submitted budget, so they will need to be sensible, clearly defined, and obviously necessary or highly desirable for ensuring the success of the project. If the budget given does indeed seem arbitrary to someone who has looked at hundreds of grant requests in the last month (or week), that will not bode well for the likelihood of success.
If you are affiliated with an institution that applies for NSF funding in general, there is probably a dedicated staff member (or a whole department) dedicated to supporting grant requests, so you should also definitely reach out to them to get information on what sort of support is available - which is much easier than trying to figure out everything on your own. They may have templates, workshops, guides, internal reviews, etc. - or at least, some institutions have all that. Check to see before doing it all the hard way.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: As a research administrator who has worked in CS, Electrical Engineering, and Chemistry and submitted applications to more than 15 federal sponsors in the last eight years, I recommend all PIs do four things when unfamiliar with a funding announcement:
1) Review the program announcement, BAA, RFP, or solicitation for any explicit limitations. Pay attention at the beginning to see if there are additional rules you must learn and adhere to-- NSF, NIH, DOD, and NASA all have additional rule books that are referenced in the solicitation.
2) Go to the data repository for the sponsor (if federal) to see what kinds of projects are funded at what level. (NSF is here: <https://nsf.gov/awardsearch/advancedSearch.jsp>)
Some programs will be easy to search for with the advanced search. E.g., "CAREER" requires the program name in the title. Make sure you limit by directorate if applicable, as they do not have the same funding policies.
3) Contact the program officer and ask what the expected funding levels are. NSF is famous in some directorates for not posting a max, and yet actually having a maximum. I have heard faculty joke that NSF means "Not Sufficiently Funded." It's not a joke.
4) Contact your assigned research administrator and ask for a budget. You need to know if you are being realistic in your demands for your scope of work, but also for the specific program you are applying to. Institution rules may limit your effort to an amount (perhaps 3 months, maybe more) or time frame (summer vs. calendar). You may have to contend with a large IDC rate, and the choice of sponsor will change the role IDC plays in your budget--NSF awards inclusive of IDC; NIH awards IDC on top of direct costs. Engaging your research admin will elucidate these issues for you. Being inquisitive and letting them know you want details will be very helpful; many admins truncate advice to PIs, because they assume they don't want to know too much and are very busy. Budgeting is highly complex and should not be done by a PI (although that can happen at smaller schools). Consider also taking time to look at your sponsored programs website for more help on policies, including effort policies, rate agreements (fringe and indirect costs), computing policy, and policies on user fees or other facility costs if applicable. This will facilitate your conversation with your research admin.
Final note: take the budget justification seriously. I saw a senior PI this week get their entire 15k for foreign travel (conferences) cut by DOD due to lack of justification. OTOH, I recently got my more junior PI approved for double that amount on a DARPA I submitted in June (also for foreign conferences). Convince them you know why you are asking for money and that you actually understand what things cost, and you are less likely to see budget cuts, particularly in the case of NSF and DOD.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/27
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a grader for a CS course at the college institution I attend. The professor I am TAing for is a full-time employee at a company. He is teaching this CS course on top of doing that. The first exam and homework assignment have been collected. He has effectively told me that he "trusts my judgment" in the grading and is not giving me solutions to grade the exam and assignment against.
Is this a fair practice? Whether the solutions are supposed to be given me was not established before I started as grader.
I'm just unsure since I have not heard of this type of situation happening. In my experience the professor has always given solutions to the grader. I am unsure of what to do at this point.
Edited Update: Prof still wants me to use my own solutions and the CS dept has decided as long as he is "supervising the grading," he is permitted to allow this. I will be grading them with my solutions. I suggest for anyone to possibly contact the department for the official policy. In terms of whether it's a fair practice, I see that the discussion still stands.<issue_comment>username_1: **Ask to be paid for *all* the work you are required to do.**
Most graders are employed on casual rates and paid per hour. If that is the case then you should speak to the administrator in charge of employing you and confirm with him/her that you will have to find the solutions to the assessment problems and determine an appropriate marking scheme (for partial marks) as part of your grading duties, and that this will take you extra time. Make it clear that you expect to be paid for the additional time you spend on the work, and get confirmation that this will occur before you start working.
If you are usually paid a flat-amount for grading, or an amount per script, and this usually includes being supplied with solutions, then you should again raise this matter with the administrator that is in charge of employing graders, and get confirmation that you will be paid extra for the additional time you spend finding solutions to the assessments and creating an appropriate marking scheme. Again, make it clear that you expect to be paid for the additional time you spend on the work, and get confirmation that this will occur before you start working .
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I think you have misphrased the question. The question should say "The professor isn't giving me a rubric"; if the professor isn't giving you the solution, then presumably he isn't giving you a rubric, either, which is more of an issue. Unless there's no partial credit or anything along those lines, it's the professor's job to decide not only what answers will be accepted, but how many points each question is worth, and what level of answer receives how many points. Even if you solve the questions correctly, that won't answer those sort of questions. Plus, what a correct answer is can depend on the course. To take a math example, some teachers might take 9 pi as a correct answer to "What is the area of a circle with radius 3?", but there are probably math teachers out there who insist on 28.27. If the professor has solved the problems himself, then he is making you redo a lot of work. And if he hasn't, that's rather odd.
So rather than asking for solutions, for which he has come up with the dodge "Just solve them yourself", you should ask for the rubric, for which it's going to be harder for him to pretend that he isn't avoiding something that he should be doing himself.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: I can't tell quite what your concern is, so I'll address both.
**Is it OK for a non-professor to write solutions and design a rubric?**
In my experience (large US universities, STEM), this is extremely common. I disagree a bit with others saying that only professors can make such determinations (though of course the instructor of record *can* make such determinations if they are inclined to do so).
**Is this abusive toward the TA?**
How are you being paid?
* If it is hourly, then there is no issue; you should solve the problems and make a rubric however you see fit, and then bill for that time as normal.
* If it is a set stipend, then there is usually a nominal time requirement (in my university it was 20 hrs/week for grad students). If making solutions will put you way over this, it's fine to raise the issue with the professor and/or with the administration (in fact, you may technically be required to do so)
One other tip -- you might consider taking the top-performing students' solutions and using them as a starting place for your own solutions. Of course, you'll have to be sure you're grading those students fairly and catching any errors. But I've found that the I can often create a solution set just by mixing and matching solutions from the top ~3 students and adding a few expository details.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: No, there is nothing wrong with the instructor expecting you to solve the exam yourself. If you're being paid to grade this exam, then you should be operating at a level much, much higher than the level of the students taking it. If the time allocated for them to take them exam was 90 minutes, then you should probably be able to solve it, 100% correctly, in 20 minutes. This is a relatively small amount of time, and it's also time well spent, because it forces you to think through all the steps of the solution.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: No, this is not fair practice (here I mean 'fair' as in fair to the students being graded). That's because without knowing what the ideal answers are it's awfully hard to grade fairly. For example take this question:
>
> Explain how mirages form. (3 marks)
>
>
>
You probably have some idea how mirages form. Realistically, grading this question would depend on keywords. These processes X, Y and Z are involved in forming mirages, and each one is worth one mark. Or is it? Maybe the professor taught in class that only X and Y are involved, in which case each should be worth 1.5 marks, since it would be extremely unfair to expect students to say Z.
What to do: speak to the professor about the questions that you can't easily grade. Don't ask him for ideal answers or a grading scheme (since those he's already left to you); ask instead "what did you teach for this question?"
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: Where I taught, it was spelled out in the TA/grader policy that the professor *had* to supply the rubric. So you might check what the written rules are at your school. They might be on your side.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: Although it is generally believed that grades in one's PhD program are deemed as unimportant (so I am not asking whether grades are important for PhD students or not), I still see many PhD students include their GPA in their CV and I guess there might be a reason for them to do so.
I wonder if any company in industry or postdoc admission committee in academia need to look at the transcripts of job applicants (PhD students).<issue_comment>username_1: >
> I wonder if any company in industry or postdoc admission committee in academia need to look at the transcripts of job applicants (PhD students).
>
>
>
There are 200 million companies globally, so the only possible answer is that some will and some won't. As discussed [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/107685/why-is-phd-gpa-considered-irrelevant), it usually does not make sense to use it for purposes other than internally tracking the students' progress. But as discussed [elsewhere](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/107603/what-does-an-industry-recruiter-want-to-know-my-ph-d-gpa-for), people do this anyway.
If you're asking whether there are any possible reasons for doing so, I can imagine the following:
* To verify that they have the degree in question [though you don't need a transcript for this]
* To see what kind of courses they took and what they already know [though this discounts whatever they learned in research, which is the whole point of a PhD]
* To see if they failed classes or had to repeat classes [also not a good predictor for research]
* To compare applicants against one another [but impossible to normalize]
Note also that in some countries, PhDs have no coursework and so there is no transcript to look at.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Industry generally doesn't care after your first job (at your first job, school is the only thing to go on). People put their GPA because they think it looks good. It certainly can and does impress people, but always looks a tad boastful and silly (but don't be too dissuaded if you have a great GPA, because this is a scenario where you need to sell yourself and boast). Schools often can't even easily access the transcripts of people who graduated more than 15 years ago; they only rarely get requested.
Like everyone else, industry does care that your degree is real, but that is often done via a separate verification process that is easier and separate from transcripts. Many will take an official transcript as proof (and many others will take an unofficial one).
Postdocs are a different story. In academia the transcript is obviously much more valued for rating people. Though it's often completely up the the prof doing the hiring. At the official school level, they are mainly interested in verifying your degree in order to give a postdoc title.
By the way, probably the biggest reason GPA's at the doctoral level are ignored is essentially grade inflation. At research schools, many grad classes just give everyone an "A" for showing up. Or even difficult classes will curve everyone to only "A"'s and "B"'s. Because even a mediocre GPA at the grad level can lead to dismissal. Doctoral students are assessed in other ways instead.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: In academic mathematics in the U.S., I don't think anyone cares about Ph.D. GPA, even apart from the fact that it is most often meaningless, since in advanced grad courses it hardly makes sense to "assign grades".
Rather, for postdocs, what matters is publication record and letters of recommendation, and to some extent one's research and teaching statements.
Upvotes: 1
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2018/10/27
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<issue_start>username_0: Currently pursuing a Bachelor if Finance, but I have a huge interest on Statistics. I was wondering whether BSc in a non technical subject (With technical I mean Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science etc.) affects a potential academic career in Statistics.
Can MSc and PhD in Statistics or Applied Mathematics enable an academic career in these fields?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> I wonder if any company in industry or postdoc admission committee in academia need to look at the transcripts of job applicants (PhD students).
>
>
>
There are 200 million companies globally, so the only possible answer is that some will and some won't. As discussed [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/107685/why-is-phd-gpa-considered-irrelevant), it usually does not make sense to use it for purposes other than internally tracking the students' progress. But as discussed [elsewhere](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/107603/what-does-an-industry-recruiter-want-to-know-my-ph-d-gpa-for), people do this anyway.
If you're asking whether there are any possible reasons for doing so, I can imagine the following:
* To verify that they have the degree in question [though you don't need a transcript for this]
* To see what kind of courses they took and what they already know [though this discounts whatever they learned in research, which is the whole point of a PhD]
* To see if they failed classes or had to repeat classes [also not a good predictor for research]
* To compare applicants against one another [but impossible to normalize]
Note also that in some countries, PhDs have no coursework and so there is no transcript to look at.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Industry generally doesn't care after your first job (at your first job, school is the only thing to go on). People put their GPA because they think it looks good. It certainly can and does impress people, but always looks a tad boastful and silly (but don't be too dissuaded if you have a great GPA, because this is a scenario where you need to sell yourself and boast). Schools often can't even easily access the transcripts of people who graduated more than 15 years ago; they only rarely get requested.
Like everyone else, industry does care that your degree is real, but that is often done via a separate verification process that is easier and separate from transcripts. Many will take an official transcript as proof (and many others will take an unofficial one).
Postdocs are a different story. In academia the transcript is obviously much more valued for rating people. Though it's often completely up the the prof doing the hiring. At the official school level, they are mainly interested in verifying your degree in order to give a postdoc title.
By the way, probably the biggest reason GPA's at the doctoral level are ignored is essentially grade inflation. At research schools, many grad classes just give everyone an "A" for showing up. Or even difficult classes will curve everyone to only "A"'s and "B"'s. Because even a mediocre GPA at the grad level can lead to dismissal. Doctoral students are assessed in other ways instead.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: In academic mathematics in the U.S., I don't think anyone cares about Ph.D. GPA, even apart from the fact that it is most often meaningless, since in advanced grad courses it hardly makes sense to "assign grades".
Rather, for postdocs, what matters is publication record and letters of recommendation, and to some extent one's research and teaching statements.
Upvotes: 1
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2018/10/27
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a math PhD student in a foreign country. When finishing my papers, my advisor (who is a big name in the field) always proposes me to submit them to a journal. The problem is that so far none of these have been top-tier journals. On the other hand, in my mind, there is no doubt that the results are good enough to be published in really good ones, and I have also confirmed this fact after giving talks at conferences. In addition, in one of these papers, he/she was signed as a corresponding author, even when I did 99% of the job. Why would someone do this to his/her student?<issue_comment>username_1: First of all, journal quality is not an objective thing (measures like acceptance rate and impact factor and so on really do not mean that much, and can be gamed). There isn't necessarily universal agreement about which journals are "top-tier". So consider the possibility that your supervisor simply has a different opinion about the reputation of these journals than you do.
The advisor does have a responsibility to give advice that they believe will be beneficial to students, including advice about where to publish. (Of course, the student also has a responsibility to educate themselves about publication options as best they can, ask questions to try to understand the advisor's suggestions, and speak up if they disagree.) I'm not sure what you mean about whether it is in the advisor's "best interest". It is not like they will get paid more if you publish in *Acta*, but it does generally reflect well on an advisor if their students are successful.
But there is a serious trade-off of submitting to top journals: **time to acceptance**. The peer review process in math is much slower than in many other fields, and top journals are very selective. Even if your paper is "good enough" for a top journal, that doesn't mean that it will be accepted by the first one you submit to, and it may be under review for several months before being rejected. Then you have to start over. As a PhD student, you really want to have papers *accepted* before you begin to apply for postdocs or other jobs. A paper that hasn't been accepted anywhere, even if it's an awesome paper, doesn't help your job prospects much, because there's no independent confirmation that it's awesome.
So at this particular stage of your career, it *could* be very sensible to submit your work to a less-than-top journal, even if you think it has a chance to be accepted somewhere better, because it's more important to get it accepted *fast*, without having to go through several submit/review/reject cycles with different journals. This is something your advisor ought to take into account when suggesting journals. But it's a balancing act between the considerations of "publish in the best possible place" and "get accepted on the first try", and you should of course speak up if you have a different opinion about how to balance those.
(If your advisor is a co-author, this same balancing act could apply to them as well. For instance, they might have a promotion decision coming up, and they want to have the paper accepted *somewhere* before that happens. Sometimes different authors may have conflicting needs in this regard, and they have to reach agreement somehow. Personally I think that the needs of more junior authors, such as PhD students, ought to be weighted more heavily, but that is just me.)
I also want to comment on the "corresponding author" question. People around the world seem to have different opinions about what it means to be corresponding author. In my part of the world (US), it's my impression that being corresponding author only means what it says: this is the author who corresponded with the journal (sent in the submission, filled out the forms, etc), and who is the best person for a reader to reach if they have questions about the paper. Around here, it doesn't carry any particular prestige, and it isn't meant to imply that "this person did most of the work". So on that basis, I wouldn't say that there was anything wrong with your advisor being corresponding author. (For one thing, your advisor probably has a more stable email address, since you are going to graduate before too long.) There may be some benefit to being corresponding author as a student, just to get practice with the journal submission process, but it's not really a reputation benefit.
(If "corresponding author" has a different connotation among people in your part of the world, or more importantly, the part of the world where you intend to apply for postdocs, then the previous paragraph may not apply to you.)
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Is in the best interest of supervisors that his/her students publish their research results in Top journals?
>
>
>
All other things being equal, of course it is.
>
> in my mind, there is no doubt that the results are good enough to be published in really good ones
>
>
>
With all due respect, I am willing to bet that your sense about these things isn’t nearly as well-calibrated as your advisor’s. Unless you already had several papers accepted at top math journals, the fact there is no doubt in your mind is essentially meaningless.
To be clear, I’m not saying you are necessarily wrong, just that your confidence is very likely misguided, even if you got great feedback about your work at conferences. Talk at conferences is cheap; referee reports recommending acceptance in a top journal are a much more rare kind of feedback.
>
> Why would someone do this to his/her student?
>
>
>
There isn’t a rational reason why an adviser would want their students to intentionally undersell their achievements by submitting to a lower-tier journal than the paper is suited for. The (overwhelmingly) most likely explanation is that your adviser is giving you the best career advice she can, and simply does not think your papers have a high chance of being accepted in a top journal. Keep in mind that there is nothing offensive or negative about having such a belief; she may well think your papers are excellent but still have a more nuanced understanding than you of how few even excellent paper are groundbreaking and competitive enough to get accepted in a top journal.
As for the timing issue that Nate brings up in his answer, I think that could factor to a minor extent in the advice your adviser is giving you, but probably if she thought your papers were good enough for a top journal but thought submitting there might be risky because of the time delay this might incur, she would explain to you the considerations, tell you her opinion about the odds, and let you make the final decision yourself. So I’m guessing that’s not the main issue here.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> Why would someone do this to his/her student?
>
>
>
You're assuming bad faith. While that is not impossible it's also less likely than a failure of communication between you two.
You should tell your advisor you want to talk to her about the issue of choosing targets for publication. Tell her that you'd like her to tell you about:
* The strategies different researchers in your field employ.
* Her strategy - for graduate students, and perhaps even for her publications without grads.
At this meeting, after being given an explanation of the general policy/strategy - ask her something like "Ok, so I want to apply this as a thought experiment to some of the papers we co-wrote. Let's take paper Foo. etc. etc. etc. [try to explain how the strategy should have applied to your paper here ]. Does that sound reasonable?" ... and with this you've asked her to justify her recommendations on (one of) your papers in a rather non-confrontational way. Since your description ends up with a submission to different journals than the one she had suggested.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: Well, ask her how your advisor chooses the journals she wants you to submit. You can also include your past articles in this question. I am pretty sure you will learn from the answer.
Some reasons for how to choose a journal:
* Better fit: Even if you could publish in Nature or Science, research about quantum optics might be better suited to some journal on quantum optics. Your peers won't read Nature or Science anyway.
* Acceptance rate: Some journals receive way to many articles. This creates extra work if you have to resubmit to another journal.
* Quality of review: Good reviews helps to improve a paper. You as a young researcher will profit from a thorough and constructive feedback. Sketchy or harsh review does help your writing and research.
* Time to publication: If it is short, you will profit more from the earlier publication compared to the more prestigious journal. Especially as a PhD candidate this is in your interest.
* Costs: In many cases a publication costs money, e.g., for color figures, too many pages or to make it open access. Your advisor might know this and want to save money.
* Politics: They might want to support some group, they are friend to or disliked by a specific journal.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/27
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<issue_start>username_0: I've been in distress for the last several months because of this. My PhD advisor somehow decided to start her own field research in the same region where I have been working on for a few years now. Then when I was doing my fieldwork last time, she was there too and she used the same resources I have - contacts, measurement equipment and lab, etc. It became awkward for not only us but also for other researchers involved. Even worse, once I told her that I wouldn't be able to help 'her' project (I'm busy with mine!), she started cutting me off from my resources, withholding information, etc. She's still my advisor and I am wondering where I should go from here - too late to change advisor but this is getting too toxic. When I consulted other professor, he said it was pretty normal that multiple researchers do similar researches at the same time in the same region. But is it common between advisor and her student as well? Any advice will be appreciated.
PS: I have my research fund. Although my advisor wrote recommendation letters for me to get the funding, I've never been her research assistant.<issue_comment>username_1: First of all, journal quality is not an objective thing (measures like acceptance rate and impact factor and so on really do not mean that much, and can be gamed). There isn't necessarily universal agreement about which journals are "top-tier". So consider the possibility that your supervisor simply has a different opinion about the reputation of these journals than you do.
The advisor does have a responsibility to give advice that they believe will be beneficial to students, including advice about where to publish. (Of course, the student also has a responsibility to educate themselves about publication options as best they can, ask questions to try to understand the advisor's suggestions, and speak up if they disagree.) I'm not sure what you mean about whether it is in the advisor's "best interest". It is not like they will get paid more if you publish in *Acta*, but it does generally reflect well on an advisor if their students are successful.
But there is a serious trade-off of submitting to top journals: **time to acceptance**. The peer review process in math is much slower than in many other fields, and top journals are very selective. Even if your paper is "good enough" for a top journal, that doesn't mean that it will be accepted by the first one you submit to, and it may be under review for several months before being rejected. Then you have to start over. As a PhD student, you really want to have papers *accepted* before you begin to apply for postdocs or other jobs. A paper that hasn't been accepted anywhere, even if it's an awesome paper, doesn't help your job prospects much, because there's no independent confirmation that it's awesome.
So at this particular stage of your career, it *could* be very sensible to submit your work to a less-than-top journal, even if you think it has a chance to be accepted somewhere better, because it's more important to get it accepted *fast*, without having to go through several submit/review/reject cycles with different journals. This is something your advisor ought to take into account when suggesting journals. But it's a balancing act between the considerations of "publish in the best possible place" and "get accepted on the first try", and you should of course speak up if you have a different opinion about how to balance those.
(If your advisor is a co-author, this same balancing act could apply to them as well. For instance, they might have a promotion decision coming up, and they want to have the paper accepted *somewhere* before that happens. Sometimes different authors may have conflicting needs in this regard, and they have to reach agreement somehow. Personally I think that the needs of more junior authors, such as PhD students, ought to be weighted more heavily, but that is just me.)
I also want to comment on the "corresponding author" question. People around the world seem to have different opinions about what it means to be corresponding author. In my part of the world (US), it's my impression that being corresponding author only means what it says: this is the author who corresponded with the journal (sent in the submission, filled out the forms, etc), and who is the best person for a reader to reach if they have questions about the paper. Around here, it doesn't carry any particular prestige, and it isn't meant to imply that "this person did most of the work". So on that basis, I wouldn't say that there was anything wrong with your advisor being corresponding author. (For one thing, your advisor probably has a more stable email address, since you are going to graduate before too long.) There may be some benefit to being corresponding author as a student, just to get practice with the journal submission process, but it's not really a reputation benefit.
(If "corresponding author" has a different connotation among people in your part of the world, or more importantly, the part of the world where you intend to apply for postdocs, then the previous paragraph may not apply to you.)
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Is in the best interest of supervisors that his/her students publish their research results in Top journals?
>
>
>
All other things being equal, of course it is.
>
> in my mind, there is no doubt that the results are good enough to be published in really good ones
>
>
>
With all due respect, I am willing to bet that your sense about these things isn’t nearly as well-calibrated as your advisor’s. Unless you already had several papers accepted at top math journals, the fact there is no doubt in your mind is essentially meaningless.
To be clear, I’m not saying you are necessarily wrong, just that your confidence is very likely misguided, even if you got great feedback about your work at conferences. Talk at conferences is cheap; referee reports recommending acceptance in a top journal are a much more rare kind of feedback.
>
> Why would someone do this to his/her student?
>
>
>
There isn’t a rational reason why an adviser would want their students to intentionally undersell their achievements by submitting to a lower-tier journal than the paper is suited for. The (overwhelmingly) most likely explanation is that your adviser is giving you the best career advice she can, and simply does not think your papers have a high chance of being accepted in a top journal. Keep in mind that there is nothing offensive or negative about having such a belief; she may well think your papers are excellent but still have a more nuanced understanding than you of how few even excellent paper are groundbreaking and competitive enough to get accepted in a top journal.
As for the timing issue that Nate brings up in his answer, I think that could factor to a minor extent in the advice your adviser is giving you, but probably if she thought your papers were good enough for a top journal but thought submitting there might be risky because of the time delay this might incur, she would explain to you the considerations, tell you her opinion about the odds, and let you make the final decision yourself. So I’m guessing that’s not the main issue here.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> Why would someone do this to his/her student?
>
>
>
You're assuming bad faith. While that is not impossible it's also less likely than a failure of communication between you two.
You should tell your advisor you want to talk to her about the issue of choosing targets for publication. Tell her that you'd like her to tell you about:
* The strategies different researchers in your field employ.
* Her strategy - for graduate students, and perhaps even for her publications without grads.
At this meeting, after being given an explanation of the general policy/strategy - ask her something like "Ok, so I want to apply this as a thought experiment to some of the papers we co-wrote. Let's take paper Foo. etc. etc. etc. [try to explain how the strategy should have applied to your paper here ]. Does that sound reasonable?" ... and with this you've asked her to justify her recommendations on (one of) your papers in a rather non-confrontational way. Since your description ends up with a submission to different journals than the one she had suggested.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: Well, ask her how your advisor chooses the journals she wants you to submit. You can also include your past articles in this question. I am pretty sure you will learn from the answer.
Some reasons for how to choose a journal:
* Better fit: Even if you could publish in Nature or Science, research about quantum optics might be better suited to some journal on quantum optics. Your peers won't read Nature or Science anyway.
* Acceptance rate: Some journals receive way to many articles. This creates extra work if you have to resubmit to another journal.
* Quality of review: Good reviews helps to improve a paper. You as a young researcher will profit from a thorough and constructive feedback. Sketchy or harsh review does help your writing and research.
* Time to publication: If it is short, you will profit more from the earlier publication compared to the more prestigious journal. Especially as a PhD candidate this is in your interest.
* Costs: In many cases a publication costs money, e.g., for color figures, too many pages or to make it open access. Your advisor might know this and want to save money.
* Politics: They might want to support some group, they are friend to or disliked by a specific journal.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/10/28
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<issue_start>username_0: I have had an admission for Spring semester (2019) with funding for PhD in Physics at a USA university. In my application, I mentioned that my area of interest is biophysics and experimental condensed matter physics. However, if my area of interest got changed (Assume for high energy physics or Astrophysics etc.), what happens then? Do the first two years for all PhD Physics students are the same in USA universities?<issue_comment>username_1: In Math or CS this would probably be no problem at all as you haven't yet chosen an advisor. In Physics or Chemistry, however, in fields that require a lot of lab work, you may possibly already be assigned to a lab. If that is the case you might have some difficulty switching after you start.
I think your best course of action is to raise this issue with the institution to see where you are precisely and what your options are.
While I think it likely that without an MS you have some flexibility at entry, only the specific department can give you the proper advice. Talk to them.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Since you've been admitted to what's presumably either a single institution, or a small number of institutions, it's probably more useful to try to figure out how things are handled there than what is typical. I would suggest scouring department websites, and maybe contacting your graduate coordinator, or graduate student representatives first.
That said, if you care for generalities, here are a couple. First thing to note is that the stated research interest is unlikely to be binding. If you can find an advisor to work with, that's all that matters, regardless of field. Changing interests is fairly common, but perhaps not between two extremes. However, the selection of admitted students tends to depend on the available funding, which varies with field. Thus, being able to switch to e.g. astrophysics isn't necessarily easy in practice, particularly if it's a small department. (Now, if you come in with your own funding you can do whatever you want, at least as far as the department is concerned. Of course, whoever granted you that funding might think differently...)
Second, there tends to be a number of mandatory courses for all students, and also field-dependent mandatory courses, and elective ones. (Obviously, biophysics and high energy require very different courses.) Due to these electives, and being able to take classes in different orders, the first two years would not be the same for everyone, but time isn't necessarily wasted if you change interests either. Further, a lot of students find their advisor during/after the first year, and would start their research during the summer semester and second year.
Yet, as I said, that's just a quick rundown of the typical situation. You'd most likely be better served looking up the rules and options for your specific situation.
Upvotes: 1
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